Limiting Pets


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Oriette

8:51pm Feb 11 2019 (last edited on 6:40pm Feb 12 2019)

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Posts: 450

I feel like a lot of the issues I have covered already are being brought back up without regard to the solutions that have been proposed. I understand! There's a lot to read here! I will try to respond to as much as I can but I don't want to rewrite the same things over again too much. ^^ 

Please, for the sake of this discussion, be willing to read what has already been posted! 
If I didn't respond to a point it may be because we've already proposed a solution to it.
Thank you all!

Q: TOO TIME CONSUMING TO FEED
The only thing about this that should be time consuming is buying the food and placing it in your food pen. No one is suggesting that you should hand-feed every single pet you own.
+
I have also already stated that food should be easier to buy in bulk, award more food points and more free & easy food should be made available. Together these things would make feeding your pets much quicker, easier, cheaper and hopefully almost effortless.
Yes, if you have thousands of pets this will be more time consuming over all - and it would be a choice we'd all have to make: how many pets we keep vs how much time we want to invest.

And again - I really think that if you have time for a virtual pet site (especially if you have time to do seasonal egg hunts) buying food a few times a month is really not that time consuming. I have a serious medical condition that keeps me in pain & unable to work. It can be overwhelming and there are days I don't touch my computer either. I understand life has its burdens. I also don't think that means we shouldn't make this game more balanced in favor of people that play the game regularly.
Again, this isn't asking you to spend HOURS more per day, or even per week. 

Q: YOU'RE JUST TRYING TO NAME GRAB
Frankly, no. I stated this in my first post, and if anything I expect to be someone that ends up selling or giving away names. My account has its fair share of decent names, and my motivation for this comes solely from my desire to see more people active on the site. My intentions were never to attack anyone or try to "steal their names". I have invested a lot of time and effort into this game as well. I have worked as a staff member and have been around since the fairly early days of the site. I have nothing but good intentions in suggesting this. 


Q: DEAD PETS DECREASE PETS IN CIRCULATION
This is a legit concern that I fully understand. However, with enough preparation and forewarning, any users active enough to sell pets for kir will be able to stock their pens before there is any risk of losing pets. I'm sure we would be given months, at LEAST, of warning before something like this changed. The pets at risk of dying are on inactive accounts already. Those people will not be responding if you rmail them to buy a pet. If a pet is in their rancher shop and not priced competitively enough to be bought for Kir, and they aren't around to feed it, they won't be around to haggle with you either. We should look at pets on inactive accounts as already being dead and out of circulation. Even if that user comes back in a year, that hardly counts as a pet being in circulation.
And again - these pets would still EXIST but be in their graveyard. No one would lose any pets, only names.

Q: NEW USERS CAN'T AFFORD THIS
Actually, I foresee this being easiest for new users. For starters, they will know to feed their pets right from the start - it will be a natural part of the game for them. Plus, they will have few pets to start with. As for affording it, again we should make free food more plentiful so especially new users can take advantage and gather/save up free food they find in REs and egg hunts and dailies.

I think it may be hard to imagine what I'm trying to suggest with fixes to the food sources, so let me give some examples:

+ A frequent new RE that awards you with a Chest of Apples containing 25-50 free apples!
+ NPC shops let you buy 20 items at once & these items may have higher point values
+ NPC shops start stocking much higher quantities & varieties of food
+ A farming feature that lets you plant free food & harvest daily
+ Pets get hungry slower - only need to restore 10 hunger points every few days

No one should lose pets instantly or overnight.
Everyone should be given fair warning prior to a change like this.


Q: PEOPLE WILL LEAVE
Yes, maybe. But people have already left. And it's not just old users - it's largely new users that we can't seem to retain because of stagnation problems that this is trying to address.
New users are almost instantly discouraged by the way things currently are. Old users see no reason to keep working on their account and they stop logging in.

I hope the point I am driving home here is that:
A) This should not be an unreasonable amount of work for users
B) We need to be willing to make some sacrifices if we don't want to see Res decline further










Bowie

9:05pm Feb 11 2019 (last edited on 9:46pm Feb 11 2019)

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Posts: 669
I agree sacrifices need to be made, but sacrificing collections doesn't seem like a step in the right direction. If we didn't want to encourage collecting, we wouldn't have as many creatu species as we do. I just don't see there being a way for users to know what creatu is hungry, especially when they have 1000 plus pets, and it still seems silly to expect to feed them all. I think someone pointed it out, but the Showroom really would become useless and not a Showroom anymore. I still believe something needs to be said for those that go on an extended vacation or leave due to unforeseen and unexpected problems; they shouldn't have their names wiped and cleared because they weren't able to stock their pen before they left. Because, yes, I understand that we would make it harder for creatu to die, but that doesn't mean every user knows for sure when they will need to stock that pen (especially in cases like I just mentioned; unexpected leaves of absences). I also still believe there would be less creatu in circulation if this was implemented, regardless of whether active users stocked their pens in anticipation or not. I would like to think that a lot of users won't like the effort to feed pets they aren't planning to keep/pets they want to sell. 

I'll stop here, but I still don't support this after reading most of the comments. The bottom line for me is that I only want to feed pets on my profile, not ones I have in my Showroom or Rancher. And I should only have to feed the ones on my profile, and not be penalized for wanting to have a larger collection that I used my own tu to buy. It would be a shame to have to give up really cool designed creatu or pick and choose designs, because we have some really cool pets here and I want to have as many as I want and can afford to buy initially, not as many as I can afford to feed or think about feeding. 



Ginger Mirabilis by Zen
Fuzzball_NZ

9:34pm Feb 11 2019

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Posts: 49
So you are saying Ori that the site should reward people for being more able bodied than others?.. seems discriminatory.

If I'm stuck in a hospital bed the likelihood is I'm not logging in to spend hours buying food.

If you want a suggestion that makes sense, give users a daily logon bonus
Oriette

9:50pm Feb 11 2019

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Posts: 450
I think that accusation is a bit uncalled for. That is not remotely what I have suggested. I'm not asking anyone who plays to take on a task that is any more complex than what is already a part of the game. In fact, it is just about as simple as logging in. If you are incapable of logging in from time to time and spending a small amount of time to feed your pets, I'm not sure how much success you're going to have with the rest of this game.

I appreciate that this concept is difficult to get on board with, but I hope this thread does not devolve into personal attacks and insults. 

A daily log on bonus is a great idea that I fully support! However, it doesn't give enough incentive on its own to make users more active on the site, or address other issues that this solution would.

-

In response to Koopa, my friend I'm sorry but several of those points I addressed previously, such as an alert system to warn of hungry pets. If you are stocking your food pen it should automatically feed pets that need it, eliminating any need to know who is hungry. I hope that helps, and some of my earlier posts address other points. :) I understand it's not an easy idea to get behind though and I appreciate your feedback.





Rae

9:56pm Feb 11 2019

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Posts: 28
"So you are saying Ori that the site should reward people for being more able bodied than others?.. seems discriminatory."

That's not what she's saying at all and you know that. Shame on you.

Ori is trying to come up with ideas to save this site's low, low activity. A daily log in bonus won't fix the faults that this site is dying. It will only continue to encourage the "AFK gaming" that this website is and the activity of users will continue to decline until it eventually dies.

If you're going to start twisting words and meanings then this discussion with you is over. That blatant attack on her character when she is nothing but a decent and respectable person is low and you're taking this too far.


Halloween

10:03pm Feb 11 2019 (last edited on 10:05pm Feb 11 2019)

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Posts: 2,939
What about quests or holidays that require you to buy food,
For points towards prizes? If they need food,
And so does everyone else's sr pets,
Wouldn't the shops not being able to keep up with demand?

Patrick came up with somthin,
Like growing your own food.
If gardening is a thing..and the food you grow,
Gives you 30 hunger points each.
Then maybe 3 years of this,
Maybe I can see this change happening.
Food will be abundant,and everything will be ready.
But this change,has to have a better solution,
Not just picking at the shops.

Someone said,maybe we can get a free bag,
Of seeds with every hatch.

Its just a big change too fast,
When users are used to an old way.
We are able to collect so many.

If everyone was forced to restart,
Then I see fair game.
Right now..
I still don't support this.




In 38 colors, and a thousand black
Gondras later... I rise over my
Army as the Gondra Queen!
\r\n\r\n\r\n
Zydrate

10:05pm Feb 11 2019

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Posts: 2,700
Perhaps it would be possible to do a test run of this, possibly a week or so? It wouldn't be long enough for anyone's pets to die or lose their names, just long enough for everyone to get a feel for how it would work.



Officially the Albino Veram King.

53/100 albino Veram

Halloween

10:06pm Feb 11 2019

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Posts: 2,939
I don't see fuzz attacking anyone,
Just the idea.

So stop it!



In 38 colors, and a thousand black
Gondras later... I rise over my
Army as the Gondra Queen!
\r\n\r\n\r\n
Fuzzball_NZ

10:07pm Feb 11 2019

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Posts: 49
Im speaking from the perspective that I have cancer, spend alot of time in hospital and dont want to come back to nothing Rae,

Its not an attack on her character it is fear that because I am not able to login that I will lose everything, with all due respect please read what I have said properly.

You get me wrong Rae with all due respect, I dont want to lose everything because I am not able to logon because someone I know died, is sick, I'm having surgery.. any number of real life issues that seem to be being ignored.


Breeze

10:10pm Feb 11 2019

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Posts: 354
I agree with Oriette. In no way should people feel they are being personally attacked or should feel the need to attack others.  It also seems like people are getting upset and feeling personally attacked not really listening to what she has to say.

This is a very difficult and frustrating topic to many, especially since this is a suggestion to change the course of the way Res has been for a very long time.  But this is the perfect time for others to speak up and voice their opinion of what we should do instead.  

I am not well educated on pet sites, but doesn't it cost money to keep a server running?  Doesn't Patrick have to pay the people who help him continue to develop the website? What is going to happen in 5 years with the way things are going?  The user base is very small, are there enough users to keep this site running and help generate more revenue?  That's the main concern (mine, at least) as to why we need to keep things fresh and churn out new ideas so that it brings in new users, while not wholly inconveniencing users who have remained loyal to this website.

People on res are trying to look for ideas to help new users come and stay, but also appease to users that have already played on here for a long time.  No matter what decision is made, someone will be upset, it is inevitable. There were people that were upset that the rancher/merchant classes were taken away, there were people that were upset when they retired Omni/Kioka/Liyure -myself, included-, there were people that were upset about the new egg hunting system, but that is just the way things are. 

Res needs to appeal to new and old users, but it can not remain stagnant.  And if anyone has any other ideas to help increase user activity, then please, state them.  But I think it is unfair to take Oriette's opinions and ideas in a negative light because she is only looking to do what is best for the website.  I really like that this is getting people talking, don't be afraid to voice your own opinion.





Breeze

10:22pm Feb 11 2019

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Posts: 354
Fuzzball, that's the thing.  This should not be looked at with fear. You are okay, don't worry.  This is something we just all way to look at and see the positives and negatives of.  Your opinion is welcome and valued, but we want to ensure to you that we are not trying to make you feel like you will not be able to compete with others.  

This is not something that will be used to take advantage of you.  You're safe here and your thoughts matter, but understand we are just looking for ideas that will help this website flourish.  So you disagree with this idea, which is 100% perfect, but what will you do to help bring new users, and to help those users stay?  

Oriette's idea is an idea. That's it. Nothing has changed yet, and nothing may change.  However, if something like this does happen, it's not going to be as detrimental as many people feel. And you know what, if something does go severely wrong, I have faith that Patrick and his team (because I don't know who else works on this site I'm sorry OTL) will take steps to assure that things are adjusted asap.

Patrick cares about this site.....a lot. Like. A lot.  He's dedicated a lot of his time over the years we have played on here  He's not going to do something irrational and make people feel like the times they've spent on this website was for nothing.  Every decision and change that has been made has been for a reason, not just to make users feel like they are being shafted.  





Patrick

11:26pm Feb 11 2019

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Pegasus

9:23am Feb 12 2019 (last edited on 10:06am Feb 12 2019)

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Posts: 1,585
If the food pen fed my whole collection, then it wouldn't be so bad. I'd just dump a few hundred apples every so often and my pets will be fine. 
I'm on the fence, but I can see how this will be beneficial. I can still collect colours for KIR in my graveyard or something, I'd rather have them nameless than have dumb names like petr6473

That being said, if this were to be implemented, there would be about 300 or so pets whose names I cared about. I wouldn't care to feed the other 1000 pets. I'm not going  to manually feed 300 pets everyday while the others lose their name, so what can you suggest for this? I like to keep duplicates for Kir's quest.

If we got a few months to prepare, I suppose I could dump them all on my profile and let them die naturally.



Shadly

10:48am Feb 12 2019

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Posts: 2,315
the rich are the ones who can afford to stock their pen and keep their rwns
the poor suffer because they cant keep up; their RWNs die and the rich take them. how is that not obvious



Zydrate

10:57am Feb 12 2019

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Posts: 2,700
This isn't ABOUT anyone's RWNs. This is about making changes to the site that will encourage users both old and new to be more active.

As for those of you who are complaining about the amount of food and required, Ori has given multiple solutions for that MANY times already, such as food REs, reduced hunger loss rate, and increased amount of food in NPC shops.

You can still keep all of the pets that you've worked to obtain over the years. You just have to put slightly more work into it. It already does not take very long to buy food for Food Pens.



Officially the Albino Veram King.

53/100 albino Veram

Oriette

1:46pm Feb 12 2019 (last edited on 6:39pm Feb 12 2019)

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Posts: 450

Thanks everyone for keeping this discussion on track! :)
Glad to see more productive feedback.
& Hey Pat ;D

Q: WHAT ABOUT THE PETS I DON'T WANT TO FEED
Very valid point Pegasus! I was actually just thinking about this, because I am in the same boat - I would let quite a few of them die, but I wouldn't want to buy Potions of Death for all of them, or have to manually feed the rest. I think an answer to this would be a place we can put pets that WON'T eat from the food pen. Conceptually it could just be called a "Pasture" or "Pen", etc. I guess it's a bit morbid, a place to keep pets that you want to starve to death, but maybe a nicer spin could be put on it than that lol. In any case, I agree!

We need a place to put pets that won't be fed.
This could (possibly) be a temporary mechanic just to aid in the transition.




Q: THE POOR WILL LOSE THEIR RWNS
& THE RICH WILL TAKE THEM
I understand why it may seem that way on the surface,
but I encourage you to think about it a bit more.

For starters, how many RWNs/RNs are "poor" or new users currently sitting on? Or even overall pets, for that matter. If you consider yourself among that demographic, how many do you have? Do you think that your pets worth keeping would be that much of a burden to feed, especially considering that you would have access to more free food?

Again, daily FREE food should be made easy to obtain (see my numerous posts about this already), so the burden
shouldn't be that great on poor users. Perhaps a dynamic system that
makes free food easier for users that are new or have a smaller amount
of tu on their account could be put in place as well, like the "soup kitchens" on other sites.

If anything is going to give poor users an equal chance at obtaining RWNs/RNs, it's this system. Grabbing names from graveyards will be just as easy for poor users as it is for wealthy users. Everyone will be able to browse what names are waiting in graveyards, they can "snipe" them and sell or keep them, and poor users are suddenly on the same level as wealthy users.

It's hard to say how many names users will be able to grab when this starts happening - but I highly doubt any one user will be able to grab 100+ names. Even if one user could grab that many, they would be forced to feed them as well - which means they would probably sell the majority of those names.


Q: IT'S JUST A BIG CHANGE TOO FAST
No one is saying this change would be suddenly put into place tomorrow or even WHEN it would/could happen. I am NOT on staff, I have NO say in what changes get made, I am merely proposing this idea. I'm certain Patrick and the rest of his hard working team would need time to code these new features and they would give us all plenty of warning and help in adjusting. Pets are not going to suddenly starve to death tomorrow, this is not a legitimate concern.


Q: OBTAINING FOOD
Okay I think this is the last post I'll make about the issue of being able to obtain food to feed your pets. I understand it's a very valid concern and if no other changes were made to the site it's true this system would not work - but I have suggested numerous ways to improve the access of food that would be COMPLETELY NECESSARY to make this work. If you are still concerned, please read the first and second posts on this thread.

I welcome any more ideas about ways to obtain food or change NPC shops! If you still think my suggestions are not enough, please explain why or offer alternatives. :)

Thank you for reading my ridiculously long posts, I swear I try to keep them brief!









Zydrate

1:58pm Feb 12 2019

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Posts: 2,700
Perhaps there could be an NPC shop type thing where people could turn in pets or eggs they don't want for food? Possibly 1-4 items per turn-in? That way if someone gets a nattie or egg or something that they don't want but don't feel like sending it to the Forest or selling it in the egg market, they could get food in exchange for the pets that they do want to keep.



Officially the Albino Veram King.

53/100 albino Veram

Juke

2:00pm Feb 12 2019

Content Manager


Posts: 3,122
I haven't read through most of this because I feel like a lot of it is just attacking or asking questions answered in the first post lol :x

But I think this is a good idea. Right now I don't spend very long at a time on Res -- usually just hatch and leave.
I'd *love* an excuse to stay on more, even if it's just to feed things.

One thing to help could be selling Very Large packs of food in the CS. Not for a lot, maybe 20-30 cash points, some credits.

I'm wondering too, actually, if Rancher Shop and Showroom pets would eat from the same food pen? I'm thinking it would be nice to be able to separate the food pen into "categories" like showrooms and assign certain pets to eat from each one. For instance, I have Food Pen A and Food Pen B. I can assign all of X species to eat from A and individually assign however many for B.

If that makes sense, oops.



XAllurcore

2:29pm Feb 12 2019

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Posts: 1,018
I will be more on board if you can have an option to feed all your creatu with an everlasting food item at once. Why buy food to keep up with feeding with them all when I have an everlasting food item that I have to feed one by one? Sure they are good with hunger but I'd have to take them all out, category by category, profiles and rancher and needing to remember what I priced them at.
I am pretty active, not around 100 seasonal eggs during hunts active, but active I thought. (Which feeding my legs one by one like I stated would take me hours to do with no time for anything else, my time would be spent feeding one by one or trying to afford food and do my daily things) I spend a ton trying to do squishy quests because stocks were changed with no warning and was sudden which the change was made a week or so before mentioned in updates. I also frequently bought a ton of eggs before the stock's were changed. 
Speaking of stocking up on eggs. Events, there are events where buying and handing in food come into play. Which will make you have to chose...do I feed my creatu or be able to participate in events?



Zydrate

2:41pm Feb 12 2019

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Posts: 2,700
Yeah, it would be very helpful if everlasting food items were coded to work in the food pens. It would also be nice if, like Ori suggested,  to have a "pasture/pen" where we could put pets that we don't want to have fed.



Officially the Albino Veram King.

53/100 albino Veram

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