[urgent] this site really is actually dying

[Lavish ❀ Lioness]

Yeah, I’ve felt it die. I only joined in late 2019, yet things seem to have changed a lot within the past few years. The trading community makes up such a large chunk of CS, yet it is so difficult. Coming back for after about a year, why are the recent store pets going for so much? Why is it so hard to trade for a normal rare dog, or a very recent event pet?

When I first joined, I wanted to collect all the store pets. It wasn’t so hard to trade normal rares for store pets, but now? It feels impossible! Collections are so hard to complete and trading has become difficult and boring. Not to mention what someone else did here, the auctions are completely dead. I don’t remember having to wait almost a full day to bump my posts in there. The most active it really gets is at rollover for a short amount of time, while I’m asleep or during events, and it’s a shame when I really loved my time on this site

I agree about the auction threads, nobody seems to be bidding. I’m currently auctioning a popular OMGSR, but nobody has bidded on it and it’s been a couple of days. I feel like a lot of users will feel the same way.

As for a store pet collection? You’re correct, it’s very much improbable. You also have to include the Skelebun which is worth like 12+ nons now. No wonder you can’t bid on that, nobody has nearly enough pets to cover that gap.

Hey Disney, how easy is it to trade someone flight rising gems? I've never played FR before, but if the gems over there are cheaper than the dollars over here - then I want in!! 😅

[JunYura]

I'm still pretty new to CS and was able to get lots of pets I wanted within a month or two. The free pets forum is pretty active imo and I did drop like 5$ on some C$ because there was something in the shop I wanted. With the remainder I got a few pets I really wanted. They were old-ish uncommons and 2020-now rares, I don't care about rarities really. Just cute and good designs...I know I probably wont ever get some on my WL but eh. (Like that qt bee)

Still yet to meet anyone on here and actually talk to them, but y'know I think that's just a people problem in general. I see this even in video games.

I do wish this site was a little bit more like neopets in the sense of adding its own characters, lore, character shops that refresh, more events, maybe random events by refreshing and little games would be great but I know that would take a lot of effort and time to make. Honestly, all I do now is check this every month for adopts, store pets I might like and then use the excess C$ to trade and the Free pet forum. I am an artist but I haven't done commissions since my DA era lol. I only make things for myself if I feel like it now. This site honestly tempts me to do them again and that would be another thing to do if I get to that point where I feel like I have everything I wanted.

[*~*PenderGhasm*~*]

Hey Disney, how easy is it to trade someone flight rising gems? I've never played FR before, but if the gems over there are cheaper than the dollars over here - then I want in!! 😅

Not that you asked me, but the difference on FR is that you can farm currency a bunch of different ways, like mini-games, or battling your dragons -items drop, and once you have a nice stack of them you can trade them for currency, treasure or gems. There's a pretty good market for items because you can trade certain ones in for more space in your lair for more dragons, and people always want more space for dragons. It's a LOT easier than farming chicken dollars, let me tell you.

You wanna be careful when you trade gems for CS pets so that you don't get scammed, but generally, people advertising buying pets for gems aren't going to scam you, and as per cs's new rules you have to declare your username on FR, so it's a bit easier.

[sanitizarium]

i've been on cs for almost 7 years now and while i'm likely reiterating what many have said already, i'm inclined to agree. every year i see less and less activity, and i've seen a lot of the playerbase migrate to other websites or just straightup drop off the internet. i also agree with the fact that trading is near impossible now; prior to 2019, the trading side of this website was fairly balanced and it was easy to seek out a certain pet you want. today, the trading community is just as big relative to the size of the current playerbase but it's become so, so much harder to actually get a specific pet now, especially if you're a new or returning player. it's a shame, since myself and many others i know used to enjoy their time here a lot, but it's stagnated hard in the past few years.

[LLHBBB]

i quit this website back around may for good after eight years of playing through this and a previous, now deleted, account. if you don't start out with 20 nons worth, you're screwed. there's no way to profit on here without being a total scumbag, or being a god at art, and flight rising gems and C$ are inflated to the point that a non will set you back $100. there's rarely any new players, driven away by the toxicity, greed, and generally closed-off, elitist nature of traders.

this game is becoming unplayable, to say the least, and this comment will come off as rude and abrasive, but i'm hoping people will see that i care about this site, even though i can't see a light at the end of the tunnel, unfortunately. without art and closed species this website would be entirely, completely, and irredeemably dead, and big closed species themselves are always funneling themselves offsite anyways.

I agree. I’ve had to use FR gems to get valuable pets recently, because they are cheaper to buy than Chicken Dollars. If I’m being honest, I’ve spent a lot more money than I should and I still feel that I’ve made no progress.

very common issue. this website can be horribly addicting for how "casual" it's purported to be. won't say how much i've spent on here just to have to give valuable stuff away that nobody wanted, and thankfully i translated some of that money back in my flight rising account so it isnt a total loss, but for what? rarely any improvements for this website from upper management. not going to say my full thoughts on that particular issue but it is clear as day that, though many staff do care, there is also no real incentive for them to do so once they burn out.

I too have spent a very lot of real money to get the collection I have. Way more than I should have. You used to be able to trade off site with Flight Rising for the amounts listed in the conversion charts & that's when I was able to complete my collection. You could also trade c$ for slightly more but nothing like it is now. I now rarely do any list trading unless I'm offering on the VR/list trades based on what they are wanting or if someone reaches out to me. I have no clue what the values are anymore because I just can't keep up which is why I just locked everything up. For the most part it seems to just double what the conversion charts say are fair. I know there are people out there that feel I should spread the love but when you have spent enough money to buy a new car it's hard to just hand stuff out for free. I mainly just adopt the new monthly pets & try & buy extra's to try & get one of each & buy the store pets & now items. Then after the new UR's come out I over pay for them so I can have 1 of each. I also have a hard time saying what I'm thinking correctly so often people read what I write & misinterpret it so I'm sorry for that. I'm old so tact isn't always portrayed properly when I type....

[Bowno]

I'd just like to say I'm new here and the amount of pets and their 'values' makes me not want to bother collecting.
Scared to even look into trading under the fear of offending someone because of how weird values on things are.
I just come here every so often, mostly just to look at the pound.
I havent bothered with a real wishlist because I feel like its not even worth it to try to actually get into things, so instead I have a crazy WL just so I can see what things in the pound are. lol.
Wish I coulda joined when the site was newer, I feel like I coulda been able to get into things a bit more.

[DisneyLuv]

I'd just like to say I'm new here and the amount of pets and their 'values' makes me not want to bother collecting.
Scared to even look into trading under the fear of offending someone because of how weird values on things are.
I just come here every so often, mostly just to look at the pound.
I havent bothered with a real wishlist because I feel like its not even worth it to try to actually get into things, so instead I have a crazy WL just so I can see what things in the pound are. lol.
Wish I coulda joined when the site was newer, I feel like I coulda been able to get into things a bit more.

I understand where you’re coming from. I was a new player once and it took me a long time to get a grasp on values, and what I would need to even consider completing a collection. I’m here if you need any guidance or help, because I’d love for you to be able to enjoy the better parts of the site also.

[TheWranglerDani!]

i joined in 2016 and forgot ab the website for YEARS and since i've been back on i have BARELY been able to get trades and c$ and i agree w the fact that most people now on this website are INCREDIBLY rude, i miss the way the game was in 2016 tbh it was so fun and trading wasn't like worth actual money

[barbwirebrat]

I think it has to do with trading, and how hard it’s becoming to get the pets that you want or need. People are getting tired of putting the effort in, with very little success or reward. Only users with valuable pets or lots of C$ get anything worth trading, and it’s very hard for new players to succeed. Overpay is expected for nearly everything now. People are simply unwilling to negotiate with others. I know a lot of users that have quit because of how rude other users have been towards them, for simply sending a trade. Trade politics have gotten very bad. It’s why we’ve lost a lot of older users.

I love this site, but there are some days where I’m at my wits end myself. I’ve been trying for literal years to complete just one collection, and now that I’m down to three valuable pets, it’s nearly impossible to negotiate unless you’re overpaying. I dunno, those are just my thoughts. We’re not really acting as a community anymore.

i can’t agree more and im so glad you said this because it needs to be known. trading on this website is an absolute pain, which is super unfortunate because that’s basically one of the main functions of the “game”. the new rares list is basically useless because no one person values a pet the same. 1 non (using horror’s list) is worth 2000 c$, which translates to over $100 usd, which is just… holy smokes, it’s absurd. i’ve been on this website since 2012 and it’s definitely downgraded in the 10 years i’ve been playing. a lot of the community and moderators are disrespectful or unfair and there’s generally nothing to keep old players around aside from events and december 18th. it’s pretty sad to have witnessed such a nosedive firsthand but good things can’t last forever i suppose.

EDIT: i just wanted to add that i think a huge part in this websites downfall is the fact that it really hasn’t changed since it’s launch. sure, the forums can keep you busy for a little, but if you’re not a role player or don’t use the oekaki feature then the entire game consists of trading, collecting pets and dressing them up which gets incredibly monotonous after a certain amount of time. i think one of the reasons flight rising has such an active community is the variety. there’s mini games, breeding, an rpg system and an active community. chicken smoothie has always been a pet collecting simulator and nothing more.

[makingmerrymusic]

I am noticing, as a (semi) new player, that it seems to be impossible to get pets of a certain rarity. There are certain pets where if I traded everything in all my For Trade groups, I still wouldn’t have enough to get them. It makes it discouraging to collect much of anything- I’ve kept my spirits up by trying for more recent pets, but even with those I feel a bit lost on where to start.

I am intrigued by the comment about the player base being older. I am an adult who found this site last year, but I played games like this all the time as a kid. I don’t know if younger people seek this out as much anymore or not! For my part, I would also likely be more active on this website if I did not have a full-time job. But I do have a hard time staying active outside of events.

I wasn’t here for this site in its prime, but what all of you are saying seems to be in line with what I’ve observed.