Suggestion: Special Birthday Pet (Poll added/changed)

[gallifrey falls.]

I got this idea from a CS blog I follow on Tumblr, but the ask was submitted on anon so I can't give credit to their username. PM me if you were that person so I can give credit! I thought it should be brought to the attention of the wider CS community, so here we are!:

CS should have some sort of special birthday pet you can receive for your birthday, but that you can only get once and you have to log on the day of your birthday. If you miss it, you can get it next year.
The pet could be any of the linearts CS has done (dog, cat, horse, etc) maybe with the exception of Malk pets, since Malk is retired. Or keep it to a certain selection of animals, like dogs, cats, horses, ponies, rats, and chickens.
For design, it could have 3 different ones to choose from, but each of the pets has the user's birth month on it. Hopefully, this shouldn't be too much of a hassle to design, since only 3 designs (simple ones) have to be made for each month, and it only has to be done once. To cut down on the time spent even more, 1 design per month could also be done. I just figured having more than 1 design might be cool for people so they can pick which one they like the best.
It wouldn't have to have a rarity since maybe it shouldn't be tradable? Or be given a rarity so common it wouldn't affect the CS economy since everyone will have one eventually. There could be an option for people not to get the pet, if it isn't tradable, so people who only want to collect certain things don't have a pet kicking around in their groups they can't do anything with.
On the person's birthday when they log in, they could get a PM saying happy birthday and a link to a special adoption page. The person picks which kind of pet they want (again, any lineart CS has done or a certain selection) and from there they either get that pet in the 1 design offered or then get taken to another page where they pick from the 3 or so designs. Once that happens the pet is on their account and they can do what they like with it.

These are just very rough ideas, so feel free to give me your thoughts on this and if you have any further ideas! ^^


Edit: PrettyPieK suggested not having a birthday pet like this, but since its the 8 year anniversary of CS, that CS could release a special birthstone litter, and you would get the birthstone pet of the month you were born in! You would either only be able to adopt one of the pets (your birthstone) and/or the pet would be untradable since the pet is meant to special to you.
I added a poll so people could say what they think of this idea!

[nickjr]

Been suggested a few times in various forms, and the block that always comes up is that CS doesn't have everyone's birthday on record. CS only asks for your birthday if you log in or sign up in the US.

... I mean, I guess they could just ask everyone for their birthday, but that kinda feels bad (to me, at least) if it's just for this purpose

In regards to this particular suggestion: Due to how rarities are calculated, it's probably better if these pets either are untradeable or never have their rarities calculated until after a couple of years. Would this be a one-time thing? If it's not a one-time thing then I guess a couple of years would be enough for the rarity to be brought down to uncommon or so. (Think about the pets that have an adoption limit of 1. Imagine 1/12 of that; I don't think we can "combine" the rarities of pet, so... yeah. I'm not sure if that's in Rare territory or not.)

[gallifrey falls.]

Oh, I didn't realize birthdays we're only asked for in the US!
I did figure this would only be a one-time thing, so maybe what CS could do is in the case of someone not having a registered birthday, on the 1st of the year they could get the chance to design a birthday pet, since they would know their own birthday? Not a perfect solution, but a possible one.
But yeah, I figure it's easier if these pets wouldn't be tradeable so that rarities odnt have to be calculated or anything.

[nickjr]

Ooooor just let the user pick their month and then proceed as if the site had their birthday on record and it was their birthday lol

I was digging around my old posts (wow I was a brat) and found a link to here; the second paragraph in particular has some concerns to think about

[krinkov]

Then people will set their birthdays to the day after they register

[gallifrey falls.]

@nickjr
Yeah, that makes more sense! Or, even though you said you didn't particularly like the idea, we could have everyone list their birthday when they joined. People wouldn't have to enter their actual age (for those outside the US who have never entered their birthday) if they didn't feel comfortable with it, but it would be a way for the site to keep track of them.
That also address the concerns Tess brought up in your link. People would have to wait for their birthday to come around because even if they made a new account so they could get the pet faster, they could gift or trade the pet to their main because the pet would be untradeable. The site would know their birthday and they wouldn't be able to adopt the birthday pet until rollover on their birthday.

@ ᗪIᖇTY ᗪᗩᑎ
Sure, but that would be the only birthday pet they would get. This would be a one-time thing so they couldn't get it again. And since the pet wouldn't be tradeable they can't trade the pet to another account if they created a second account to get the birthday pet sooner.

[gallifrey falls.]

bump!

[FriedApplePie]

This would actually be really neat to do! What about having pets based on your birthstone for your birthday month? For example mine would be opal. ^^

If only they could do it this year since it'll be the ten year anniversary, it could be considered a way to show gratitude for the members. It could be like a custom pet, where they show no rarity. It could be basic dog lines with different designs according to their birthstone. Although Malk pets would be amazing to do, since the majority do adore them.

One of the major negative sides to this is that you will still have people who would want to trade for them to collect each month of the year, you may even have hoarders for them. One way to prevent trading for them would be to make it able where you can only adopt one to begin with. Most people would possibly keep it then if they knew they could only get one, or to simply make them where they're unable to be traded for would be an option.

This idea may not happen, but it would be an adorable thing to have. ^^

[gallifrey falls.]

This would actually be really neat to do! What about having pets based on your birthstone for your birthday month? For example mine would be opal. ^^

If only they could do it this year since it'll be the ten year anniversary, it could be considered a way to show gratitude for the members. It could be like a custom pet, where they show no rarity. It could be basic dog lines with different designs according to their birthstone. Although Malk pets would be amazing to do, since the majority do adore them.

One of the major negative sides to this is that you will still have people who would want to trade for them to collect each month of the year, you may even have hoarders for them. One way to prevent trading for them would be to make it able where you can only adopt one to begin with. Most people would possibly keep it then if they knew they could only get one, or to simply make them where they're unable to be traded for would be an option.

This idea may not happen, but it would be an adorable thing to have. ^^

I didn't even think of birthstones, that's such a good idea! Mine wouldagreeperidot.
I agre that if they did this, the pets should probably be untradeable since you would have people wanting to collect each month, but it would be more special if you just got the one.

[vileqveen]

i definitely support the birthstone idea! you should add a poll to see how many supporters you get! :>

(i would say zodiak but i think theres zodiac pets that are rare?? so maybe not zodiac based)