Discussion: Lets talk about the community

[beastly.]

but usually people came out of a trade both owning new pets they liked or needed; even if the trade was a little unfair. There was no list, no "is this a fair trade" topic and no people interfering with trades.

Do you like ninjas? 'cause this is how you get them. There's a reason why the site is absolutely plastered with "don't trade until you know its value" messages on Dec 18th.
It's very common for people who know better to offer some "common" rares for someone's list pet that's marked as unknown but is known to grow into a very rare and someone ends up being cheated out of a hard to get pet.
Most especially the URs which are the rarest pets on the site.

I'm sorry you're having such a hard time with getting the absolute rarest pets on the site but since you're not taking helpful advice on how to get them and continue to make snide remarks about people's intelligence, this is still nothing but a rant thread.

people usually used their own brain

i don't think taking cookie's words out of context are a benefit to anyone; they were referring to people using their brains/head rather than the list to decide whether they liked a trade or not. that has no correlation to intelligence or a perceived lackthereof. rather than following a rigid "my pet is worth this because this list said so", they are simply saying that people once traded because they liked a pet and thought the trade was fair. there's no need to get so hostile about a topic that isn't even directed at you, or anyone for that matter. turning a discussion into a nasty argument is exactly what isn't supposed to happen. this isn't someone whining about being unable to obtain a valuable pet; it's a discussion on whether that pet is really as valuable as the list makes it seem. if you don't like the topic, then you can simply ignore it. it's perfectly possible to get a fair trade for dec. 18th pets without scamming people out of them; however, greed often overcomes humanity.

anyway, on the actual discussion, i think demand is the biggest flaw with the list. i attempted to trade my grinner for a red cerberus earlier and despite the grinner being higher on the list than the cerberus, the trade was cancelled with "grinners have bad demand". i don't see why there is a list at all if people are going to twist it to benefit them most, whether it is fair or grotesquely unfair. i simply wanted the cerberus as it's a dreamie of mine, so i was willing to trade down by the list to obtain it. i'm quickly losing hope in securing any of the pets i label dreamies, but i enjoy collecting other pets as well so maybe it will come with time. after all, the other day i secured scourge, one of my big dreamies, even if the trade was unfair to me thanks to that demand again. you have to overpay to get anywhere with "valuable" pets, as fair trades simply don't cut it anymore.

i've noticed there are many pets with high demand but they are called low demand? the ur flower pot, for example, is on a lot of user's dreamies lists, wishlists, and when i auctioned mine for a brief period, i received quite a few bids. many were unfair, mind you, but they were still numerous, and i had many a scam attempt when i got it on december 18th. overall, a lot of people really want the flower; but it's said to have terrible demand. i feel like demand is more of a tool for that greed, and that by saying a pet is "low demand" even if it's truly not, it excuses people to pay far less than the pet is actually worth. i don't allow trades for my flower pot anymore because i think it's adorable and one of the most unique pets on the game and i'm not willing to give it up for a quarter of its worth just because a list says it has bad demand.

i haven't been around long enough to compare the olden days to these days but the community has some flaws that even a newer player can spot. of course, it's not going to get better just because we discuss it. more users join every day and those users could be kind or they could be riddled by greed. either way, i enjoy chickensmoothie even if every day is spent wading through a sea of unfair trades and cancelled trades with the nefarious phrase "i can get more".

[nickjr]

I'm actually reminded of this thread now haha

@OP Not sure how much of this you've heard: We had a giant discussion from December 2016 to January/February 2017 about the Rares List and the conclusion was that we wanted to make a rarity-only list because "demand" keeps getting misused in reference to the current List. The new list would be based on rarity change dates and pet counts. We've made some progress but unfortunately it's slowed to a crawl because one of the drafters of the rarity-only list seems to be MIA while the other people trying to get it set up/analyze pet count data are busy with real life and other CS stuff (e.g. at least one of them has been actively involved in trying to figure out the values of some of our oldest/most valuable items for the last week or so and is still doing so).

[Cookie1992]

but usually people came out of a trade both owning new pets they liked or needed; even if the trade was a little unfair. There was no list, no "is this a fair trade" topic and no people interfering with trades.

Do you like ninjas? 'cause this is how you get them. There's a reason why the site is absolutely plastered with "don't trade until you know its value" messages on Dec 18th.
It's very common for people who know better to offer some "common" rares for someone's list pet that's marked as unknown but is known to grow into a very rare and someone ends up being cheated out of a hard to get pet.
Most especially the URs which are the rarest pets on the site.

I'm sorry you're having such a hard time with getting the absolute rarest pets on the site but since you're not taking helpful advice on how to get them and continue to make snide remarks about people's intelligence, this is still nothing but a rant thread.

people usually used their own brain

I do know about these ninja actions and it makes me sick that people actually do this just to gain, the thing Im talking about is not december 18. I encourage everyone to step in if they notice a new player gets scammed by someone who knows the growing pets worth perfectly well. I could do nothing but cheer if the staff would actually call it a bannable offence for knowledgable players to scam new players out of their december 18th pets.

What Im refering to in the first quote is how all year round trading went. Sometimes you would take a loss but be happy with what you got none the less, the next time I would be the one that would take a loss but again be happy with the trade. These days I often see people canceling a trade they felt really good about, only because some other player tells them they should ask for just those few rares more.

No offence but I do not find "go find yourself off-site tradeable stuff" very helpful advice, Im playing here because I like this; that doesnt mean I like to play FR or what ever else there is. Also Im by no means making sneers about anyones intelligence; I just have the feeling people tend to blindly follow others or worse a guiding tool. This is meant as any form of rant topic, I ask for peoples view on something I have ran into for quite some time. Id actually like to see if anyone out there has an idea to get a friendlier trading community, not just for me but for everyone and especially newer players.

If I eventually get the pets I want or not, that is not the discussion what so ever.

I'm actually reminded of this thread now haha

@OP Not sure how much of this you've heard: We had a giant discussion from December 2016 to January/February 2017 about the Rares List and the conclusion was that we wanted to make a rarity-only list because "demand" keeps getting misused in reference to the current List. The new list would be based on rarity change dates and pet counts. We've made some progress but unfortunately it's slowed to a crawl because one of the drafters of the rarity-only list seems to be MIA while the other people trying to get it set up/analyze pet count data are busy with other stuff.

Honestly I have heard little about this as Im not a forum goer by no means, im here to collect pets and only times I usually got in the forum was to find people to trade with. The fact you say this was discussed in 2016-2017 and nothing seems to have changed yet means to me there should be more pressure on the isse; which this topic kinda does :p

[Bilaz]

What Im refering to in the first quote is how all year round trading went. Sometimes you would take a loss but be happy with what you got none the less, the next time I would be the one that would take a loss but again be happy with the trade. These days I often see people canceling a trade they felt really good about, only because some other player tells them they should ask for just those few rares more.

THIS, so much. You don't know how many times I've offered people perfectly reasonable trades, even overpay on my side, that they were 100% happy about and ready to accept... Only to have them then go to the fair trade thread where they are told 'Your pets have demand, you can get more' (while I was already overpaying to take in consideration demand) and then they cancel on me.

It's as if Jokers, Shimas, Ravens, etc. are just profit generators.

[ThunderCedar]

I'm probably going to sound stupid or blinded or delusional... but can I stop by with a bit of positivity for a moment? This is a thread about discussing the community... not necessarily ranting, isn't it?

Here's what I think.
Yeah, the trading system has changed a lot for me in the 2 years I have been here. It used to be easier to get most pets. But you know... I really wouldn't call the community rotten. People still love to help each other. Just because it's easy to come across a selfish user doesn't mean there are too few lovely ones now. I've met users on here that really love to help when they see someone else who needs it. I can't give names I assume, but gosh. Old and new players, they'll do what they can to give another player a hand with hoards and collections within the limits of what they can afford. Although, arguably, some might be expecting something back for their kindness - many don't expect nor accept anything in return. Like honestly, I love online games and I've never quite met a community with so much kindness in it. Sure it's not like it used to be in the trading aspect but I'd say the majority of people have remained kind and caring. I've seen people receive trades where the other user is overpaying.. and edit them to make them fair.

I really like this community despite its few bad apples in the bunch. I'm usually a big pessimist but I can still see that.

I'm not saying nothing needs to be fixed or that people should stop trying.
What I'm saying is.. really, it's stupid but it is true. Improvement starts on a personal level.

Be the kind of user you want others to be.. and encourage them to be the same. The community will be a lot better that way...

More great things about this community include:
-Memes
-Free pets forums/giveaways
-Events

Remember how the community always seems to come together so nicely during summer events? It always makes me so happy. It's such a fun time for everybody who gets to participate

[nickjr]

^ Definitely true. If I ignore the trading aspect of CS (not trying to be sarcastic), then the community is really great. I love reading through or peeking into (depending on how much time I have) the discussion threads every month and every event And there are people who are nice traders as well <3

[Inigo.]

Hmm well I really have almost no experience with the list as I only got my first list pet this 18th. But the list does kinda scare me as it seems really complicated and lots of things factor into it? The demand thing kinda makes it weird to me because list pets (from what I understand) can be worth a certain amount of pets or other list pets yet in reality are worth way more or way less because of demand? And obviously thats impossible to measure but idk. It also makes some pets just unattainable because of their list value? Maybe I just don't know enough about it and my thoughts are irrelevant to this subject.

But I don't think the community itself is bad. I've noticed if I'm trading for less hard to get or in demand rares and uncommons its pretty easy to get what I'm looking for and everyone seems to be nice. And during events swapping is pretty easy most of the time and the event discussion boards are very fun to read and post on.

[incognito!]

Another thing I've found strange upon my return from a hiatus from Chickensmoothie is how re-release pets are valued - I have noticed users these days tend to value "true dates" as if they have more worth than re-releases... obviously, there's always been users seeking true dates especially for lining up their collection and I myself have overpayed for a true date... but only with an '09 uncommon. Lately though, I've seen true date swaps with high main list with advent or higher as incentive to accept a trade for a true date.

They're worth the same, so I'm wondering why this is happening... I've seen trade threads and auctions where the user said "I value true dates higher"

Anyway, I'm sorry if this doesn't fit here. Just an observation.

I joined in 2012, so I don't consider myself an oldie but it was the 4th year of CS... it's been 5 years so I'd consider myself seasoned. The community has definitely gotten huge but there are plenty of kind people in it.

[houndoom]

Another thing I've found strange upon my return from a hiatus from Chickensmoothie is how re-release pets are valued - I have noticed users these days tend to value "true dates" as if they have more worth than re-releases... obviously, there's always been users seeking true dates especially for lining up their collection and I myself have overpayed for a true date... but only with an '09 uncommon. Lately though, I've seen true date swaps with high main list with advent or higher as incentive to accept a trade for a true date.

They're worth the same, so I'm wondering why this is happening... I've seen trade threads and auctions where the user said "I value true dates higher"

Anyway, I'm sorry if this doesn't fit here. Just an observation.

I joined in 2012, so I don't consider myself an oldie but it was the 4th year of CS... it's been 5 years so I'd consider myself seasoned. The community has definitely gotten huge but there are plenty of kind people in it.

i did actually want to mention this too. its as if suddenly slapping a "TRUE DATE" on a pet makes it a gold mine. like...its the same pet. whomst cares. and the community /has/ changed and it does seem like its easier to find the "rotten apples" if you will, but isnt that the case with any community that grows in numbers? i think its a conscious decision we all make- do we enjoy the Pixel Pet Website for what it's meant to be: light hearted fun? Or do we consume ourselves over why Greedo McRavendogsareworthnons cancelled our trade?
Choose which parts of the community you want to indulge yourself in. Personally, i let this be an escapism, instead of something extra stressful. And it all happened the moment i decided i dont actually care about having a complete collection or about trading as a whole and i started chilling.

[storme]

Another thing I've found strange upon my return from a hiatus from Chickensmoothie is how re-release pets are valued - I have noticed users these days tend to value "true dates" as if they have more worth than re-releases... obviously, there's always been users seeking true dates especially for lining up their collection and I myself have overpayed for a true date... but only with an '09 uncommon. Lately though, I've seen true date swaps with high main list with advent or higher as incentive to accept a trade for a true date.

They're worth the same, so I'm wondering why this is happening... I've seen trade threads and auctions where the user said "I value true dates higher"

Anyway, I'm sorry if this doesn't fit here. Just an observation.

I joined in 2012, so I don't consider myself an oldie but it was the 4th year of CS... it's been 5 years so I'd consider myself seasoned. The community has definitely gotten huge but there are plenty of kind people in it.

huh, really? maybe i’m not looking hard enough/paying attention but i usually find that traders don’t mind re-releases. some do, but they explain that they prefer their collection in order. i’m the same way - it kind of bothers me when they’re not with their littermates but it doesn’t mean i won’t ever accept rereleases or consider truedates more valuable. it’s just a personal preference, although yeah some think truedates are worth more when they’re really not.

if i wanted a truedate, i’d maybe throw an old uncommon or a recent rare on my side, but otherwise, no. not worth too much overpay. finding users who’d swap with my rerelease without me losing too much fodder generally isn’t too hard, i’ve found ^^ although i admit sometimes it’s after 20+ cancelled trades that i find the right trading partner :’) my patience is running thin sometimes with trading nowadays.