What's the point, if your font is unreadable?

Everyone likes fonts that match their avatar, even spending hours to find that perfect font. And it is just wonderful to finally see your font up on those boards, unique and original. Well, sometimes the fonts are so decorated that nobody can understand what you're saying! They can't read through all the swirls and loops, and just give up and ignore you. If you are ignored, what's the point in going on the chat boards anyway? Another thing to remember about fonts, is that they only appear if you've got them on your computer. You know that little font list that appears in Microsoft Word when you want to change the font? Those are pretty much the only fonts you'll be able to see. That means there are people everywhere who can't even see your lovely font! When choosing a font, you will probably get better results choosing a nice, but common font that everyone can see.

Colours are another wonderful addition to the chat boards, you can set them to match your avatar perfectly! However, there are some colours that should be avoided. White is the most obvious. What's the fun in making people highlight your text if they want to read what you have to say? You are less likely to find a good chat group with a white font, because others don't want to take the time to read your messages. White text is one of the easiest ways to get labelled as annoying. Perhaps try a light blue or pink instead. If you do use light coloured fonts that may be hard to read, making them bold will also make them easier to see, and less obnoxious.

Don't pick on others.

Nobody likes talking to rude people, or people who verbally beat them up. If you break the rules on the chat boards by posting offensive messages, not only will everyone hate you, but you'll probably be frozen by the end of the day. Neopets is supposed to be fun, and there's no better way to become known as a lousy person than ruining everyone else's fun by insulting others and being offensive. Also avoid the idea that everyone hates you, they will not unless you are giving them a good reason to! Saying things like "I h8 u all!" is one of those reasons, doing that will earn you a very unfortunate reputation on the boards. If you are nice to others, even if they don't agree with your opinions, they will respect you more and not call you a n00b. Hey, you might even make some new Neofriends.

Chatspeak can make you look very unintelligent...

You know what's worse than somebody writing in white? It's somebody writing in a way that is completely illegible at all! I will not condemn chatspeak, but I can give you several good reasons not to use it. First of all, I've seen people who take the short forms and abbreviations so far, that you can hardly understand what they are saying. That's a good way to be labelled as annoying! If you must use chatspeak, use it within reason. Second, sometimes people who use chatspeak hardly look intelligent at all(not to mention lazy). A large percentage of people on the Roleplay boards will even consider you illiterate if you use chatspeak! If you want people to take you seriously, type like you know what you are saying, and know how to spell it properly. Third reason for proper writing, it will help you in school! If you try to write properly all the time, school reports, essays, and even simple assignments will seem much easier, because you won't have to worry so much about the spelling and grammar!

This is not a good excuse for chatspeak: "most every1 here duz not spell rite, we just like 2 abbreviate alot of words so we dont hafta write that much. u can call us la-z if u want, i dont give a care." These sorts of statements can be insulting to serious writers, it suggests that you don't care about the reader enough to spell things properly and write them out in full.

Play your own games, to keep your pets warm and happy.

There is always somebody on the boards who will beg you for neopoints or items. "Donate to the poor!" they say, and try to make you feel bad because you worked hard for your neopoints. If you are short on cash, it is much more productive to play games than annoy the people on the chat boards. Flash games don't cost anything, and you can make a lot of np by just playing each game three times even if you don't get any high scores. If you don't have the proper flash player on your computer, download it, or play games that don't require flash. Neggsweeper only cost 30 np a play, and Pyramids 50 np. There is no cost to start a game of Neoquest, and you will have hours of fun playing it! For the more adventurous, the Stock Market might be the way to go, and restocking a shop can double what neopoints you earn in games, if you have a fast connection. With all those alternatives to begging, you can be a millionare within the year and not annoy anyone.

There are better things to do than bump the boards.

Although this is a minor issue, have you ever been really annoyed to visit a chat topic and see nothing but "Bump" for thirty messages in a row? If you think you have something important to say, bumping your boards repeatedly is not the way to go. Instead, try to find someone else's topic where you can post and be seen without being out of context. For example, inserting your opinion on Animal Testing might not go so well in a chat topic discussing the merits of Hamburgers.

However, bumping maybe once or twice if you are waiting for a friend to join a board is usually acceptable if you have already set a time and place for the chat. These are generally private chats though, and aren't bumping desperately for attention.

Don't get caught in a pointless plot.

What is more useless than the message, "Type this message onto 10 other boards then go to the lost desert paintbrush stall and you will find a random paintbrush and 100,000 np on the floor. Worked for everyone else so far." on the chat boards? Absolutely nothing. That also goes for the trading post. It is only guranteed that it really hasn't worked for anyone so far! When you follow those sorts of directions, you've left your username attached to all sorts of pointlessly annoying messages that people are going to despise you for. Not only that, but you will feel so embarrased when you show up in the Lost Desert realize you've just been sucked into a silly chain message... It is in the "Wall of Shame", you know.

The most common chain messages involve paintbrushes and millions of neopoints. There is no easy way to get neopoints and paintbrushes, aside from finding it on the floor, so you should always be wary of these offers. Most, if not all of them, are scams.

Try not to yell, it's not very nice.

Caps may seem cool, but there are some things you should be wary of before using them. First of all, it is a general convention over e-mail and most Messenger programs that all caps denotes yelling. People on the chat boards will not like being yelled at! You may find that they are quicker to be rude or ignore you if they think you are yelling at them, especially if you are one of those people who are either sarcastic, or just rude(which should be avoided anyway).

IF I STARTED TALKING LIKE THIS, IT FEELS LIKE I'M YELLING AT YOU, RIGHT? ESPECIALLY IF I ADD EXCLAMATION MARKS AT THE END!

Choose a readable font, and a visible colour for your messages.

Be nice to others on the chat board, and most of them will be nice to you.

Keep chatspeak to a minimum.

Don't beg, play games instead!

Bumping the boards repeatedly is frustrating for other players.

Chain messages don't work for anyone.

All caps is like yelling, and that's unpleasant.