Possibly the most irritating main account dilemma ever!

[Usul_Princess]

Nearly every single NC'er has had the problem with arranging their pets/dream accounts in such a way where one pet is used as a Boochi shield for a potential color changing RE problem. Most people will either actually use a baby pet or a lab rat to solve it indefinately. I do have a problem though:

It's finally my main account that will be fully completed: With 4 female unconverted pets beginning with the letter A, who all have painted petpets and petpetpets attached.

I'm at a complete loss on what to do. I either have to screw up the aestetics on that account entirely to make it less uniform, Use a converted baby female pet with the letter A (Which *is* an option, but I mean it would be a baby MALE chomby if I had to choose. @*%!$) If you don't know the history behind baby pets with me, I had 8 baby pets, and a baby themed account at one point. All hand painted. All of them trashed after the revamp, and they can't wear/carry anything to hide their fugliness or microscopic size. I'm thinking of just creating a female baby kacheek, because that wasn't one of my former 8 pets, and looks surprisingly cute after the revamp. But it feels like such a waste considering that's not what I wanted my 4th slot to be. The other color changing RE is Maraquan, and there is no mara Kacheek but still....everytime I see most baby pets it makes me twitch uncontrollably.

There won't be a poll on what to do because I just want thousands of other ideas thrown out there to help me figure out a final descion before I go mad thinking about it.

[Officer 1BDI]

The other color changing RE is Maraquan

I have never heard of this RE, to be honest. I'm pretty sure there's an RE that will splash your active pet with Rainbow Fountain water and turn them into a random color, but I've never encountered it.

Honestly, if it were me, I'd bite the bullet and use the baby pet as a shield. The risk is just too great for me, but I'm biased because I've lost a cherished pet color to Boochi the same day I painted the pet (gawd, the odds of that...).

[Ailiel]

I would go ahead and have the account you want and enjoy it while you've got it. One thing I've learned in over eight years on Neopets, NOTHING is permanent, they may change things at any time, so if there's something you'd enjoy, you'd better enjoy it now while you have the chance. Because tomorrow all of your pets might be uglified, and it will make the whole point moot.

In other words, I don't worry about the booch. What can you really do? Keep an active pet, and a useful pet slot, with a pet you don't really like, just on the remote possibility that a pet might turn into... a pet you don't really like?

Should such a thing ever occur, I'm sure I'll be disheartened, but I'd rather spend my time enjoying the pets I have now, than worrying about the off chance that something could happen to them in the future. It is just a game after all, and it's not like I'd be loosing something of real monetary value.

Your mileage may vary, of course. It's definitely a very personal decision. I also have four unconverted pets on my main.

[Kamil]

I've got that problem now too - but the solution I'm going with on my main, where I'm pickiest, is to use a royalgirl Peophin as my guard, and then allow the three grandfathered pets to keep her company.

I'd love to have all four be old-skool art, but the risk is simply too high now. If Chaffey gets hit, yeah, sure, it'll cost 1.7 mil to remake her -- but at least I can remake her. If a grandfathered pet is nuked -- there's no coming back from that. No matter how much money you try throwing at the problem.

So you might try looking the new art over and see if there's something you like and consider using that instead of a baby pet. If you get hit you'll hurt a bit financially but you'll be able to remake the pet, and while I've lost one to Boochi myself (as you know =) I've only had the one hit. I've had a crap-load of misses, two in one day, once upon a time, but only the one hit in four years of pretty consistent playing.

So it's up to you, of course, but I decided to chance it, simply for the pleasure of having a prettier main than I would with a steady lab pet.

[Madge]

My advice is to just bite the bullet. Boochi may or may not visit you, but in any event, your pet shows up on each page of the site, and do you really want to look at something ugly?

I got sick of having my lab pet on every single page I visited, so I've made my favourite pet (Pirate lupe) my active pet, and I have just stopped worrying.

At the end of the day, boochi is very unlikely to hit you, and the blue random event can be avoided by keeping your pets happy, and the rainbow fountain or invisible events you are just going to have to hope not to get.

If you live in constant fear of boochi, it seems pointless, imo. Of course, if he does come and you lose your treasured pet, then that is a problem, but think outside the box - if my lupe gets hit, I'll paint her royalgirl and stick the pirate accessories on the royalgirl base simply because doing so would amuse me. Maybe there's some other answer to the small chance of getting hit by boochi that might satisfy you.

I just figured I would offer my rather radical opinion on the whole boochi thing; of course, if this is definitely something you want to live in fear and agonise over, then my advice should be ignored.

[mellaka]

As someone who's had my Boochi-bait pet Boochi'd three times (the most recent event being the day after I had re-painted him from the previous attack), I can certainly understand your fear. (Boochi has also missed my pet two times already this year.) Yes, my pet was "only" Halloween, and now ghost, since I can't bring myself to spend the nps to paint him Halloween yet again, but it still caused an enduring reluctance to have any pet I'm not prepared to lose active.

So, I'd have to go along with Kamil's advice - try to see if there's something that you like that can be replaced, and make that pet your active one.

That said, I'm going down to one pet on my main account soon, and will be very upset if I lose my mutant draik to Boochi. But at least I know his color is replaceable, even if I can't see myself paying 6 mil or whatever draik transmogs go for these days to do it.

[Wingsrising]

I think I also agree with the advice to see if there's something you like that could be replaced (even expensively) if necessary.

It's times like these I'm very grateful my battle pet is blue with no plans to change her. Gives me a built-in color-change-event guard no matter what else happens!

[Usul_Princess]

I decided to use a series of lab rat kaus, or transfer another baby pet over until I can think straight. I created a blue Kau today. Her name is Auriiene . Who knows, maybe I'll keep her. Baby PB's are not that expensive, and Lord_Nelly was a baby Scorchio for 4 years on my main, and he was the active pet and never got an RE. Plus, Baby Kaus look absolutely no different since before the revamp, except for the size. Thanks guys. I needed to be less pissed off today

[23639377]

Probably too late to post, but if Boochi visits my account (and misses), will he come back again?

[Huggles]

Possibly. Getting the event once doesn't change whether or not you can get it again.