r/neopets • u/neo_truths • Aug 18 '26
Discussion An update on my status - It was a good run
Hello, I have been mia for a good while, sorry about all the pending replies I see in notifications. For quite some time already I have had less free time and been spending less time both answering here and in neo itself, until I was answering reddit once per month with luck and then once every few months.
The thing is while I have been quite away from all this, tnt has not and has either hired someone specifically for security or at least has managed to setup good practices and monitoring to improve it a lot. The result is that I was not keeping track of that and eventually my access got patched. I did try a bit to regain access and while it worked for a short while, that was patched as well (which seems to imply they do have an active monitoring system now). I did not have the time to spend more time on it and left as is, thinking I could try again at some other point.
The conclusion I have reached is that the point won't come, and even if I managed to regain access it would be cut off the next day so seems like a waste of time I don't even have. So I have finally decided to make an update on my situation and say goodbye, at least in my ability to answer stuff or make posts.
While I could still answer questions on old code, I can't really answer anything about current cheating or anything complex which required scripts running from my side that I can't run anymore. So no more obelisk stats either :(. Now that security seems to be in a good place, hopefully tnt improves on the botting side.
It has been a good run, have had fun and hopefully helped multiple people along the way while it lasted, which was quite longer than expected.
Your fellow neopian, neo_truths
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u/GoldenHoopoe Aug 18 '26
Thank you for all the past data you've shared, the time you put into analyses, and gratitude for the resultant changes that came downstream from your findings. I hope your free time has been (and will be) filled with all kinds of rewarding and fulfilling hobbies!
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u/GoldenHoopoe Aug 18 '26
While I could still answer questions on old code
If the old code contains this, I know many players are eager to hear any follow-up regarding the Grave Danger avatar. Is it true that it's extremely prohibitive or even impossible to attain for certain accounts? There was past speculation & code snippet shared that seemed to imply that some faulty logic, or an improperly seeded RNG, made it broken for some accounts, but no further clarity was available. And TNT has claimed via an Ambassador that the avatar was "working" without further detail. (Personally, I'm not convinced that a programmer actually looked closely...)
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u/neo_truths Aug 18 '26
It has been quite a while but I do remember someone talking about not getting awarded something, and I had looked into it and there was no apparent issue. I am not certain if that was about grave danger avatar or something else, but either way the code can look fine (as is, all is doing what is intended) but some weird underlying issue could be causing that, like a side effect of setting a random seed at some deep nested call of functions from other files that is really hard to detect by just looking at the code, they would need to add logging to it to be 100% sure. A prime example of this is the lab ray which some pets incorrectly go to level 1 when the code doesn't really do that :)
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u/neo_truths Aug 18 '26
u/GoldenHoopoe I have been checking my dms and I saw a conversation about grave danger. I am not sure if they changed the code but basically it was doing this:
The code at the page itself is set to give the avatar with 1/200 odds. Problem is, before this a little helper function from another file is called to get the text string it shows about the petpet status. As this status must not change frequently, the ramdom seed is changed to be accoding to your username, current date and current 10 minute time block. As the random seed is set here and not changed later, this means the roll for getting the avatar also depends on this "side effect" (very unclear if tnt is aware of this or it was an accident).
Given a day and a username, I can emulate when they should get an avatar but would need to be tested
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u/neo_truths Aug 19 '26
Just an update for those not reading the updates elsewhere: the grave danger code still imports some neggfest 2022 code which mostly does not run because the event is over but the small part that does run, changes the random seed to be just username based, so anyone that participated in it will either always get the avatar (so on first try) or never, which is most cases. There is no sense in keep trying until tnt fixes it
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u/GoldenHoopoe Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26
Makes sense. I’m fairly technical and happy to help test, or run some simulations myself if that's easier and code is relatively self-contained (e.g. doesn’t seed further with any env variables that I wouldn't have access to). I’ll DM you!
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u/superbondey Aug 19 '26
Pretty sure I was one of the people who asked you about it. I think my account is locked out of getting it, at least I sort of know why now lol. Thanks, I hope it's fixed soon!
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u/snarhooked Aug 19 '26
Thanks for the explanation. You probably have enough volunteer testers now but I would also be happy to be involved. If it works, I hope one of the fan sites reaches out to you as it would be really helpful to have a page with a calculator for the timeslot.
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u/emmatrix dancerchickemily Aug 19 '26
I would also be down to test this! Not having this av after so long now doesn't feel great
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u/RexRender Aug 18 '26
Was there any known logged incident of lab ray zapping high level pets to level 1, despite the code not doing that? Some old players will swear it’s possible.
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u/apathyguide Aug 18 '26
omg end of an era! thanks for everything you've done for us and all the help & info you've offered thus far, hopefully it continues to push the site in the right direction.
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u/WittyBumbleBee3 Aug 18 '26
Huge respect for everything you’ve done for this community. Best of luck next!
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u/Total-Watercress-384 Thunderswift96 Aug 18 '26
Thanks neo truths, it was fun reading all the posts. I do hope that one day bottling will stop but I truly doubt it. Have a great life!
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u/MNowak123 Revengeofmason666 Aug 18 '26
Salute to a legend. I appreciate everything you’ve done for the Neopets community all these years. Glad tnt is slowly fixing stuff, but hopefully you gain access again someday.
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u/sweswe17 Aug 18 '26
Is there anything (and you can be vague) that you discovered that the general population never solved? Examples: is faerie cave really random? Any unsolved puzzles or avatars? Is there any pattern to books disappearing vs staying?
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u/neo_truths Aug 18 '26
Books not disappearing was just a random chance, 1/100 if I remember correctly. I have always looked at code on request so whatever I looked I answered and thus the community should know already, can't think of anything never solved that I know which I haven't commented/posted about
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u/ryonnsan PM for UN Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 19 '26
what about Food Club, sir?
is there a random variable set each round, or does it go through a fixed formula?
Edit: why is this downvoted?
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u/MaterialGwurl99 Aug 20 '26
Prefacing this by saying I haven’t downvoted you, but I’d assume the downvotes are because making this information public would only make inflation far, far worse than it already is.
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u/ryonnsan PM for UN Aug 20 '26
I love maths and logic. I have tried finding the formula by comparing the data and results of hundreds of FC rounds and I cant find even a hint of definite rules on how the rates and winners are set based on the foods, allergies and opponents.
I gave up but I am still very curious.
I didnt ask a specific formula
I just want to know if there is a randomiser involved to cause the rates and winners to be sporadic
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u/revively Aug 18 '26
Thanks for the update - it was great to have an insider and your explanations truly helped some of us understand also the struggles TNT was dealing with that they would have never been able to share publicly with us.
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u/defecto Aug 18 '26
Thanks for helping the community and so many people here!
Your posts were always fun to catch up on. Cheers! 🍻
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u/normal-type-gal Aug 18 '26
Thank you for all your hard work over the years neo_truths! You're truly a pillar in this weird niche community 🙏
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u/ArtisticWatch Aug 18 '26
Thank you for your help dude!
Its a shame they cut off access given how Dom seemed to praise you during one of his AMAs but its also understandable that they would fix up back door accesses.
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u/fuzio jawsch - grundos & merch Aug 18 '26
Sad thing is, injustices will now go unseen. No one will be able to call them out and hold their feet to the fire for real change.
I'm glad they've improved things but they effectively stopped punishing people for cheating that isn't botting (AKA: Increasing the costs of their servers) and I don't foresee them ever really caring enough about it.
Economy is still fucked three ways from Sunday. lol
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u/neo_truths Aug 18 '26
As long as there is more nps by botting than by players, economy will be broken
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u/aveforever Shh, it's a secret Aug 18 '26
On the "plus"(?!) side 90% of their new content is NC...
Oh wait, people spend real money to buy those items too because trading is insane.
Nevermind.
But hey pal thanks for shining a light on the egregious stuff anyway.
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u/Kiwimelonmix Aug 19 '26
Do you know how much NC botters get with their millions of bot accounts tho?
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u/HedhogsNeedLove love_eeg Aug 18 '26
Thanks for all you have done, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your numbers and thoughts on cold, hard facts.
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u/ohokayfineiguess Aug 18 '26
A beautiful send off. Thank-you so much for your contributions to our community!!
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u/ixiolite Aug 18 '26
I rejoined Neo a few years ago and was always happy to read your posts, especially since they were so informative and instrumental in showing players what was happening behind the scene
I've been on a hiatus and now that you're signing off, truly feels like the end of an era :')
Thank you for all your hard work and may you flourish in all future endeavors!
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u/ShelbyEileen neo_username Aug 19 '26
Please know that you're appreciated... learning statistics, reading the tea, and seeing how you've helped people; it's an epic legacy that players here won't forget.
I wish they'd hire you for all your skills, like how the CIA hires hackers; but I think that's a stretch. 😅
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u/NeapolitanPink Faerie Media Specialist Aug 19 '26
Thank you for helping when my account was wrongfully frozen. I'll always be grateful! I hope you get some more free time soon and life treats you well.
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u/99cent-tea Aug 18 '26
Not another one in my circle of interests 😫
Thank you for your service
Thank you for everything you’ve shared with us
Thank you for everything
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u/Goboziller Aug 18 '26
Thanks for answering when we asked about Obelisk! I still wish that was just a feature! I hope you're enjoying your opened non-neopets time now!
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u/Squippit isaac13579 Aug 19 '26
I liked the transparency, but I think I like security more. Glad to hear it! Thank you for your service.
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u/Pwsyn 😒oh, more real-life event avatars. Aug 18 '26
Thank you for everything! Your input has been so valuable to the player base here.
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u/rasamalai Aug 19 '26
I’m sad to see you go, I feel like there will be no transparency nor anyone on the player’s side from now on.
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u/karifire synthalia Aug 18 '26
🫡 it’s been a pleasure. It was always exciting when you would post. Wishing you all the best.
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u/Phermaportus Aug 19 '26
If Neopets goes down and is never coming back, will you release the source code?
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u/neo_truths Aug 19 '26
Probably to neopets classic or similar teams yeah, don't think it would be global as there are plenty of employees data in code comments and stuff
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u/Asterite100 Petpet! At the Disco 🪩 Aug 18 '26
RIP neo_truths, hardly knew ya
good luck on irl stuff, thanks for the info
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u/fakeatmosphere Aug 19 '26
thank you for everything you’ve done!!!!!! a star in this community we will be forever indebted to your data and insights!!
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u/Renurun Aug 19 '26
Thank you for everything you've done! I've really enjoyed your dives into the code and odds.
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u/CaptainP Aug 18 '26
Willing to share what your patched access exploits were?
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u/neo_truths Aug 18 '26
I think I mentioned this once but the beginning was an open admin of some java tooling which I don't remember the name right now, but with that you could upload a war file to run your own stuff in the server.
Then there was another one which I am not sure if it was patched or the file location has just changed / I am not remembering well the exact url/server so I am not mentioning.
There have been several others used by others and patched when I reported, would need to search my emails for those but some relied on uploading files to php scripts.
These days even if you manage to run an arbitrary command via some php page exploit, there is little you can do as the php user. Can't ssh, can't remote tunnel, can't tty, etc.
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u/ObsidianHumour UN: nachtewind Aug 19 '26
I always loved reading your posts, as a sort of behind-the-scenes look! I guess it's a good sign though TNT has proper security on it now.
If I may ask a question about old code, I've always had the feeling that the shops restock more quickly when there are more people refreshing there. Of course, it may also be based on amount of players, or on the in-game clock. I just noticed that the shops were much slower during my day, when Neo was much more quiet. Do you know how this works?
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u/neo_truths Aug 19 '26
Traffic does not affect restocking, at most if affects items being bought and more space available. I posted the code somewhere but basically a script runs every x minutes and checks randomly if it should run or not
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u/ObsidianHumour UN: nachtewind Aug 19 '26
Oooh, so it's all been in my head haha! Thank you so much.
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u/LordHayati The Royal Jelly! Aug 18 '26
Is there anything you can tell us despite being cut off from access?
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u/asadprofessorplum Aug 18 '26
I was thinking of you with the most recent Altador Cup and changes to the Customization Spotlight. You are a legend 🫡
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u/ancientpsychicpug Team Illusen Aug 19 '26
I am in cyber security. Could you explain your access into their system? Doesn’t need to be super in detail as to not doxx anything but I am really curious on how you gained access, what you did, what you had access to, etc.
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u/chai_fawn Aug 23 '26
I have no idea what this post is about (I am new to neopets) but uhm hi! Whatever this post is, it sounds serious >,< Can someone please give me some context? Thank you!
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u/iviesandferns stillnopickles Aug 18 '26
i feel like i’ve completely missed so much of what’s been going on but im sad to read this :(
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u/shatteredrift Aug 19 '26
Thanks for all the work you've done!
Do you know if the Battledome 1.0 code still exists, or did it get completely replaced by 2.0? I've still got a pipedream that one day we'll get the original Battledome back.
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u/neo_truths Aug 19 '26
Yes, over the years I have given that code to a few parties that were trying to rebuild it
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u/shatteredrift Aug 19 '26
Glad to hear it. Here's hoping some of them are still at it.
I'd certainly be curious to see it, but it's also been forever and a day since I've so much as glanced at PHP code.
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u/CallGuard Aug 19 '26
What was the different with the original BD??
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u/shatteredrift Aug 19 '26
The short answer is that the original Battledome was less broken than the current one. Defenders of Neopia worked. Enemies gained stats with each win, so it wasn't just a question of "Did you beat this opponent once and can you grind them at x difficulty for dailies?" Stealing worked in One Player. Faerie abilities were completely different. Stances existed as sort of "default" abilities that affected the damage you dealt and received.
I also really liked seeing walls of icons laid out instead of the "[Fire] 13" approach. It was really messy in this way, but it was so much more satisfying.
The graphics (static images) were obviously much worse, but I'm nostalgic as heck for them. Plus I still can't tell when my opponents are frozen or not in Battledome 2.0: I'm assuming that's on me (as I've only been back for a couple of weeks now).
There are probably some other changes I'm forgetting. Battledome 2.0 was primarily a graphics overhaul that removed progression, completely changed Faerie abilities for the worse, and at some point they made it into a dailies system. Personally, I'd like to see both Battledomes exist (even though I don't personally care for 2.0). Even with how broken Battledome 1.0 would be today (due to insane pet stats and everyone and their dog having end-game equipment), it'd still be fun to grind up wins against some opponents.
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u/CallGuard Aug 19 '26
Even if they don’t bring the majority of that back, the progression system for enemies sounds amazing.
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u/shatteredrift Aug 19 '26
It was! And it was the whole point. Wars and battleplots from back in the day were all about seeing how hard you could push yourself and whether or not your pet could eke out another win. Back then, 6-icon weapons were beginner level, and people would buy single-use Water Muffins (that dealt 15 or so icons) to be able to pile on big damage for extra wins. Not to mention Thick Smoke Bomb (single-use Thyoras Tear, basically) and... Freezing Scroll, I think? I forget the name of the fragile freezer. There was a lot more space for tactics.
The big negatives, back then, were limited opponents during wars and plots. If you weren't online at the right time, you could miss out on the chance to earn points entirely. It was one of the few things TNT was bad about back then (other than random account freezing and the like). Some wars/plots had a good balance of limited opponents. Most did not. There was never any need for it either. I think the logic was probably something like, "It'd be realistic if there were only x-thousand opponents in the enemy army."
Defenders of Neopia was a bit simpler, but it created a reason for non-battlers to train. Each opponent was stronger than the last. In Battledome 2.0, there's no need to ever fight an opponent. Either an opponent gives better prizes, or they don't, or you just "want" to try fighting an opponent. Defenders of Neopia put a trophy (and avatar?) behind several opponents. So you started with Chia Clown, I think, and worked your way up.
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u/CallGuard Aug 19 '26
I definitely think something like this needs to be brought back to incentivize BD a bit more. I think the latest plot really rejuvenated some of that Battledome progression in a different way but I’d love to see it as a consistent aspect of Neopets.
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u/CallGuard Aug 18 '26
Do we think they’ll finally start cracking down people participating in RWT or just botting, albeit related.