Welcome to the UC Application Guide, a place where you will learn all what is needed to make a successful application on the PC (Pound Chat). I will share with you all the tricks and tips I have learned in all my years of applying and of being chosen to adopt unconverted pets (3 times by petpage APPs and once by neomail APP) and of adopting UCs out myself. As a disclaimer, this guide will not guarantee you of being chosen as the new owner of the UC you’ll be applying for, instead, is more of a guideline with things that might be helpful when starting this process. It is highly recommend that you do not immediately buy unconverted neopets, to put up for adoption. Without further do, let’s start!
What is an UC application?
On Neopets, application refers to a pet application process made in order to try and adopt a pet that is up for adoption. Pet applications come in many forms, but the most common three are board applications, neomail applications, and petpage applications.
1) Board applications are the shortest kind of APP processes and are mostly selected when a pet is UFQA (Up for Quick Adoption). In this ones, the foster of the pet asks for the interested applicants to post on a Neoboard, either by staying and chat or just posting the reasons of why they wish to be selected to adopt. Usually they don’t last more than a couple hours and if the pet adopted out is an UC, those boards can be very chaotic and fast.
2) Neomail applications are APPs that contain only text sent through neomail. They can range from one to several neomails depending on how much the foster allows this, since some might ask you to stick the neomails in a blank petpage if they are longer than one so applicants don’t overflow their inbox. Usually, all UC adoption processes allow neomail APPs and some are only focused on this when the process is short.
3) Petpage applications are the longest and most common form of apps. These applications allow for the most creativity and can range from simple text on a page to an elaborate petpage with graphics, coding, and unlimited character space for writing. These applications are most prominent for formal application processes but can appear for quick adoptions as well.
What types of adoption processes are there?
There are two types of adoption processes: formal adoptions and quick adoptions.
1) Formal adoptions are processes that normally take a month or longer until the deadline, and are fairly common when it comes to UC adoptions due the amount of interest and the time needed for the foster to get to know their applicants and plans for the new pet. These tend to have many Petpage Applications with much content and work.
2) Quick adoption processes are adoptions that tend to last a week or less, sometimes even a couple days, and have been becoming more popular due the lack of time that fosters want to give to the processes since most of the time people adopt out their UCs due quitting the game. Also this allows to avoid a lot of the over-work by applicants and skip a little of the drama that adoption processes can bring.
Why making an application?
There are different reasons of why people apply for UC pets, being one of them that some people might not be able to get the UC dream pet they desire by trading, and applying opens up the perfect opportunity to obtain it. Others might have been stalking certain UC for a time and when it comes UFA, they decide to try and apply with the hopes of getting it. At the same time, applying is a very creative process for many people since it encourages you to work on plans and characters for pets, and eventually also use some coding and drawing skills on the process: so a lot of people apply multiple times and save the content for future pets.
Not only to keep the pet is why people apply for them. Many UC fosters also allow retrading. Adopting an UC to retrade is a great way to start a trading chain towards the end goal you might have, but is always good you keep in mind how far your goal is from the pet you decide to apply for. It wouldn’t be a great help if you get selected to adopt an UC Werelupe if your end goal is an UC Royal for example!
Choosing a pet to apply for
So you’ve decided to apply for an UC pet, right? Then the first thing is to select for which one. Fosters usually post on the PC letting others know about their UFA pets, but even if you miss their posts, you can ask on the APP Chat for a list of current UCs UFA on the PC. This is the most important part of the process and the one you must pick very carefully since you’ll most likely spend a good amount of time on the process and is only good to do it for a pet you’re 100% sure about. It’s necessary to choose a pet that you love and one that gives you enough “drive” to complete an application. Go for your dream pet, a pet whose name you really like or a pet you can later trade nicely for your real dream pet.
When you see a pet that interests you, make sure that you read all of the adoption rules for the pet first before starting on your application. Be sure your intentions are allowed with the rules of the foster (not all fosters allow to trade for example, or apply to give to a friend) and that you’re able to follow them before starting your application. Once you’re sure about the rules, it’s time to decide what kind of application you’ll be making.
Making the content of your application
When making an application, there are many ways in which you can approach it, in the end; it will really depend on your creativity and on what things you want the foster to know. But, in order to get you started, I’ll help you out with an overall basic structure, which most people follow when making an application, no matter if it is neomail or petpage. In applications, the most basic sections are…
1) Introduction: Start with a small message welcoming the reader, introduce yourself and give out the important details. If you’re applying for trade or keep for example, also disclaimers about you or if you are not a native English speaker can go here too. Settle the mood for the rest of the APP, maybe share some songs for the reader to play while reading, or encourage everyone to have a good time.
2) About Me: Most fosters like to read about the person who is applying so is a good idea to include this section, making a subsection about yourself in real life and one on you in Neopets, where you talk about what you enjoy doing in the game. Is important that you don’t make the entire APP about yourself though, and consider this just a section, since the most important on the application will be the ones about the pet you’re applying and the reasons of doing so.
3) Why the Pet: This might be one of the important sections, in which you can be honest with the foster and tell them your reasons of why you’re applying for their pet. In my experience, it pays off to give dedication to this section and find more reasons than just “I think the pet is pretty” sort of thing. If you’re taking your time for applying there must be a good reason, so you let the foster know what it is!
4) Future Plans: Somewhere in the application, have a future plans section explaining what’s in store for the pet if he/she came home with you. List anything you think you might do, but make sure you have proof, whether it be for the pet you’re applying for or shown through your current pets. One of the worst mistakes that could be done is promising things you have never done or don’t do with your current pets, since fosters do check accounts and they will notice that there’s not a lot that backs up your promises of future plans.
5) Conclusion: Some little space to make a closure on your application. You can take this section to thank people who helped you, to the foster for the opportunity or to leave credits about things inside your APP.
The sections said before are just the start of the process of APP making and please don’t just stick to this! UC Applications tend to be very creative so if you are good with stories and artwork, be sure to include sections dedicated to this on your APP. Maybe too about the character for the pet, if you’re into that. Options are limitless and when more creative the better! Usually, applicants write stories to go along with the pet they’re applying for. Some of these stories take place outside of Neopia and some of them also take place inside of it. The setting is up to you, the plot, everything. Your imagination is the key to writing a good story; go wild! You’re in power here (but remember to follow the rules).
Giving style to your application
Now that you have the content of your application, is time to give it some styling! This will be mainly useful if you plan on making a petpage application. In order to make an APP more appealing, a layout is necessary. Layouts on Neopets are limited though; in order to help close security loops, Neopets only allows HTML and CSS to be used on its user-editable pages, and even then, there are limits on what you can do. Don’t let that scare you though! There are plenty of amazing things you can do, even within the Neopets filters.
There are many pages inside Neopets and outside dedicated to premade layouts that you can use for your application but even if there are premade layouts for you to use, a lot of fosters prefer handmade ones because it shows that you give dedication and work to the pet you’re trying to archive. You don’t need to be a great coder to create a handmade layout, you are allowed to modificate premades (leaving the credit in the end!) and make a new one based on different ones you find.
Once you have your layout, you can start playing with fonts, giving them different colors according to the design of your application, and adding images that go according to the content. Is necessary that your APP doesn’t become a huge page with just blocks of text, since that won’t allow a good reading experience for the foster, and they might end up just skipping a lot of the content due looking boring.
For the images, the most valuable thing is when you decide to include handmade draws or graphics. This boosts up the creativity and dedication inside your APP and you’ll have more chances of making an impression on the foster. If you do not know how to draw or make graphics: fear not! You can always include adoptable made by others, request art on the App Chat or the Art Boards, or just include general Neopets images: like screenshots of the future customization of the pet you’re applying for, toys you’ll be buying for it, etc. Possibilities are endless.
Interacting with the foster
Let’s say that now you are already aware of how you’ll style your APP and of the content you’ll include with it. When these two things are out of the question, one stands still: the foster of the UC Neopet you’re applying for. This is an important thing to deal with, since the foster is who will judge you and decide if you’re worthy of getting chosen for their pet or not.
Fosters are people, and like people not everyone is the same. Some fosters want to get to know their applicants and encourage them to chat with them by neomail or in the boards they create. Other fosters don’t like this since it increases the feeling of people trying to “suck up” to them in order to get their pet, and rather like to just read APPs and decide by that than getting to know the applicants personally. What ever is the case, you have to make sure to don’t bother the foster too much: do not send them neomails unless is necessary, they already get a lot of those when adopting an UC out.
Act natural, be yourself and don’t try to impress them or force yourself to chat with them nor reply to every little thing they post (in case they allow chatting on their boards). Looking too pushy or fake will decrease your chances as well and the worst you can do is making the foster don’t like you: you might have the perfect APP and account but if you bother the foster and they start to dislike you, you’re doomed.
At the same time, there are some fosters that will have a preference over their friends than the rest of the applicants; some even state this on their rules. If you encounter this kind of foster, I recommend you to reconsider if applying for their pet is worth it or not, since most of the time they will end up adopting out to a friend (or they had in mind adopting out to them from the start).
Dealing with competence
When you decide to apply for an UC Neopet, one of the things that you will have for sure is competence, meaning, the other users that decide to apply for the same pet as you. Depending on the UC that is UFA is the number of competence that you’ll be getting, but often, the number is not lower than 80 or 100 applicants.
One of the first things you need to do is to don’t get discouraged by the numbers. Being confident and trusting in your work is one of the first things for success. A big turn off for the foster, and your fellow competence, is seeing people who whine on boards about the competence on the pets they are applying for. Yes, competence can be scary, but it must not be a decisive factor on wherever you decide to apply for a pet or not.
You must be friendly to the people who apply for the same pet as yours, drama and fights between applicants can be something very common (some applicants saying the other stole ideas from them or a friend, pointing out fingers or just being rude in general are things that happen a lot in this processes) and they just hurt more than helping. If you start drama or fights, you’re most likely to be disliked by everyone else, including the foster, and this will end your chances of adopting the pet.
Your competence is just as you: people trying to follow a dream and get a pet they want. Treat the others like you would like them to treat you, and adoption processes can be a very nice way to make new friends!
Learning and retrying
Finally, be sure that you don’t get discouraged if you are not chosen to adopt the pet the first time… or the second, or third! Being an applicant is a process of learning and improvement. Rare are the cases where people get chosen on their first attempt. With time, you’ll be able to increase your skills on graphics, drawings and writing, and even if you don’t get chosen to adopt the UC pet you seek, you’ll thank this opportunities since they help you to work on your account much more than if you weren’t trying to archive a goal.
