[urgent] this site really is actually dying

[Mr.Sifaka]

I've read all of this and I 100% agree, when I first joined it was fairly friendly, but i've noticed how it really has died down That being said, since ive only been on for 2 years I cant say for sure what it used to be like. I agree in the fact that its really hard to get good pets, I have yet to get any

gosh, im sorry. honestly the best way to get good pets is the pound, giveaways, free pets (if you are quick enough), dec 18th, or secret santa. though with secret santa you do have to get good pets for them too, which can be tricky but its worth it for sure
i hope you can get some good pets sometime! good luck ^^

[mrs]

Quick question does this site have a mobile app? Not mobile version, but an App?

No. Last time I looked there was no app.

Yea, they've [staff] has said there is no point in an app since the website has a mobile format, even though the themes there can't be changed and imo its not really well optimized.

i wouldn't call this website mobile friendly at all ngl so.. poor excuse

website is dying with how little is being done about it, it's slowly but very surely creating itself its own tombstone

[SpiritX]

My history and a problem
I joined December 2019. I’m not sure what kept me in the game, but I collected somehow. I don’t know how anymore. But I think it started with gifts c: And the fact I joined near the Dec 18 thing by coincidence, haha. I think it sorta shows my lack of memory is a sign the game hasn’t been too interesting to me. It was a very new experience though. Think a problem is what do we do on this game? Just collect? Kind of boring D: Needs a few more fun things. Many hiatuses. I’ve never come across bad people.

Why do I play now
Currently, I only now play to get better stuff to then trade for art, my passion, using my old accumulated stuff. I also trade for offsite. Flightrising is also very old (2014) but has a more effective user base. I think some aspects could be utilised?

Closed species (community)
I’m big into closed species on TH but not CS. Feels confusing, overwhelming and unwelcoming ig? Like how do I start understanding :(? TH is easy to ask and randomly join. Same for lots of forum minigames (not like, “user above avatar: kiss, date, marry,” but like hunting stuff.)

[Rindepie]

only somewhat recently i have interacted with the community outside of being coppa, but even then i tried my best to have my voice heard via gifting and such. one thing however, i (still) log in each month for pets and events, and now i'm kinda hype for limited time items and store pets. i also check in for the mid month update too, but now i don't care as much anymore.
things have definitely gotten tighter, seeing familiar faces in forum games.. seeing less discussion in general.. heck, even quite hostile with things like trades and stuff. i'm not sure how to fix how dead this site is becoming. i'm not sure if it even is fixable!

[StarAttack]

Yea, they've [staff] has said there is no point in an app since the website has a mobile format, even though the themes there can't be changed and imo its not really well optimized.

i wouldn't call this website mobile friendly at all ngl so.. poor excuse

website is dying with how little is being done about it, it's slowly but very surely creating itself its own tombstone

That's a shame. Ease of access and modernization of this site to a mobile app would go a long way in saving it. A mobile version is not the same as a mobile app, you can't get new users if they don't know it exists. Think about how many people have phones and scroll through new apps compared to randomly scrolling on the web. I love this site and I would hate to see it disappear, but that's just my opinion.

[Purgatory K9]

My take on an official app:

Even though staff has already said there's no point for having an app, I also think it would strongly benefit the community and possibly bring in more members.

As someone who is on mobile 90% of the time, I've gotten used to how "mobile version" works.

If we don't get an app, I think mobile version needs a big revamp...it's fairly outdated. The site in general just seems outdated.

Who will do this though? Poor Nick is already piled high of things. I think maybe hiring a couple more coders would help run things more smoother and quicker.

[barbwirebrat]

My take on an official app:

Even though staff has already said there's no point for having an app, I also think it would strongly benefit the community and possibly bring in more members.

As someone who is on mobile 90% of the time, I've gotten used to how "mobile version" works.

If we don't get an app, I think mobile version needs a big revamp...it's fairly outdated. The site in general just seems outdated.

Who will do this though? Poor Nick is already piled high of things. I think maybe hiring a couple more coders would help run things more smoother and quicker.

i think bringing more coders onto the team would do wonders for the longevity of this site! totally would love to see a more modernized rehaul. i hate to keep bringing lioden up because i know they’re super different in terms of design but they completely revamped and recoded their site not too long ago and i noticed it definitely drew in more people!

[KiwiKoala]

I played from 2008 - 2012 and just came back to the site last month. Originally I left because before UR pets it was possible to collect every pet, and after they were released I slowly got more and more discouraged about being able to get all of the pets I liked. I came back because I missed the community and want to catch up on the 10 years of pets I've missed. It helps a lot that now my pets are actually worth enough to help me get my dreamies.

I was surprised to see how active the community still is and have been having a great time trading in the past month, so maybe my perspective is too detached to be helpful. I have no idea if it was more or less active before, but it is definitely possible for people to come back. And people leaving out of frustration doesn't mean the game is dying. This site is child-friendly and will always attract a new generation who wants to collect cool pets and have fun on forums. Modernizing it to cater to new tastes would probably be a great idea to draw new eyes too.

EDIT: I'll also say that I think the 'site' and the 'game' are two different things. The site is the forums, which are primarily art and roleplay based. The game is pet collecting, organizing, and trading. The game is meant to be played in the background of your interactions on the forums, which is why it's stayed so simple through the years. If anything, I'd say the forums could use an update. I'd add more support for gaming communities and interests beyond art and roleplay.

[Lanayru]

Since there's some app talk going on - I'd actually be somewhat against a dedicated CS mobile app? App development requires its own skillset entirely (and I'd assume it's somewhat different for the two main OS) and getting apps into especially Apple's app store is apparently somewhat of a pain. I don't think these hurdles are something Nick and whoever else may be helping him code should spend time on right now.

What I WOULD love to see is improvements to the mobile browser version of the site! The fact that it's still lacking not only themes but entire core functions like being able to search threads easily is a bit baffling to me. I'm aware you COULD use the PC version of the site on mobile but that gets really hard to navigate, especially on smaller devices.

[Ariete]

I've been playing for 11 years, and I'd like to put some input if that's okay!

I really love the way CS is, and I would HATE it if all of a sudden there were things like daily reward systems, lotteries, quests, etc., basically making CS a carbon-copy of FR, Lioden, Furrypaws, whatever. I think it's a big part of the reason I've stayed for so long.

I don't feel forced to log in (daily rewards for example), there is no dailies (CHORES) like gathering on FR, it's calm to be here for me. If I miss a couple days because I'm sick, then no stress!
I'll sign up on a new browser-game, like Dappervolk, and a few weeks later, I dread logging on. But I feel as if I have to or otherwise I miss out. CS events are different for me I guess, they happen the same times every year, and I look forward to them. There isn't too many events like Animal Crossing Pocket Camp either.

Adding my agreement to this sentiment as someone who originally joined in 2011.

I think the issue is fundamentally that the Internet and the way we use it has changed. Instead of being one among many, CS is now a slow-paced site among thousands of places all about quick rewards and constant activity. The amount of stuff CS gave us was genuinely thrilling 10 years ago. I don’t know how you’d change anything without completely changing the core of CS.

On the same note, I think a big part of why trading is so hard is simply because so many years have passed. I’m sure when the rarity system was developed in 2008, nobody was thinking about how hard it would be to get a complete collection in 2022. I don’t really agree with how trading is treated now, and I do think that trying to keep going with the same model as when we had only 4 years’ worth of pets to contend with is making things far more difficult than they could be.