they'd be an interesting addition to the mechanics on cs and provide extra to do for those that want to complete the year other than seeking the monthlies, since knowing who had one would be less clear and they could be hunted if you chose to pay more attention to pound times.
ideally:
- there would only be a few variants so new players would find it easier to spot and identify them.
- the supply would be roughly uncommon - rare in distribution.
- the way they would be generated would either be that if a sufficient amount was removed from the pound, a set amount would be added after it closed, or there would be a chance to obtain one as an additional bonus upon adopting an item from the lost and found (not a pet- pets get snatched up very quickly, but often many small items are left in the lost-and-found.)
- they would be eternally available or year-locked, but the amount distributed would change to keep somewhat consistent with the uncommon/rare rarities.
some upsides:
- new players would have an easier time identifying a somewhat valuable pet/item- with others in the pound, especially items, having knowledge of demand/rarity/value in guides biases the pound slightly towards older players.
- they wouldn't be too rare, but would give players a small leg up.
- they wouldn't detract from the other things available. also, if they were generated upon adoption, they would help out players with slower internet connections that might otherwise find it hard to get a rare.
- they wouldn't be too hard to obtain.
some downsides:
- they might get boring quickly.
- they wouldn't be rare enough to be prioritized when adopting if supply being added was the method.
- they would prioritize players in less common timezones and those with more time (however, the latter is already the case for events, so it's not too big a factor.). they would also force you to adopt a surprise if generated upon adoption, but this is also the exact same case for banners during events, dec 18th, and zebras(?), so I don't think it's too big an issue. they also might encourage players to grab items/pets they don't want or need.
- they wouldn't grow in rarity, and thus would likely be less valuable than others of their rarity. in addition, it would be hard for the site to determine their rarities, so perhaps only items would be a good idea.
any thoughts on the topic would be appreciated! I don't expect this to be made a real feature because there are so many problems, but it's fun to try.