Do dates really matter?

[ButterflyChaser]

I answered yes, but for me rarity matters more than dates alone. But where I am more flexible is if it is, say late 2013 to 2019. I was on hiatus so it would be silly for me to try to match those dates, but I will edit, cancel, or procrastinate over a trade that asks for a 2009 rare/vr and they try to offer something after about 2017. That is unless the pet they are offering has ridiculous demand and can't be obtained any other way.

I also balk at trades if they try to pass an older common/uncommon for a newer rare/vr. If I really want the pets offered, I may go along with it or if I feel nice, but otherwise I hope for something of equal rarity.

Also I prefer true dates over rereleases. I make an individual decision per trade if I feel it is worth giving up my older true dates for relreleases. (this reasoning is mostly because of an organization issue over anything related to dates though.) I do try to separate pet categories so that timing in the month doesn't change the organization of the litter too much, except if two litters of the same group were offered that month. But when it comes to year differences, the rerelease sits in a different page than the rest of its litter and that makes it hard for me to find the pet later.

[Papilio Ulysses]

If we're talking old pets vs new pets of the same rarity, then I personally say yes, rarities absolutely matter! You better believe I'm not trading my old rares+ for new ones. Old pets are just objectively harder to come by than new ones and thus worth more.

I too believe that dates help establish value. Yes, the new rarity system reflects the objective value of pets much better now. But the number of pets that are in actual circulation (available for trade) is still a hidden metric. It goes beyond just pets sitting in the groups of active accounts. Newer pets are more likely to be up for trade. Conversely, older pets are still more likely to be in locked collections/hoards. I've noticed this even with rarities as low as Very Common. It gets even more noticeable when you factor in the demand for the different species.

ETA: Date are also important to me for organization, especially to keep littermates together. Rereleases (namely non-UR pets) can sometimes make groups look messy... and the pets can also be a hassle to locate because they are out of chronological order.

[WanderLostGirl]

dates (and time) only matter to me because i want things in a certain order XD
-if i could sort pets manually dates would never matter to me again

after that theres trade value to think of, some folks will date trade and dont care if its not 'the right' date, but others will turn down overpay because they werent created on the right date (currently im guilty of this when people want the ONLY one of a pet, esp older pets, because i know i wont be able to get them back in most cases)

dec 18 pets are possibly my least favorite, because ill never be able to sort them with the rest of their litters XD
also in my first year here i got dec 18 doubles and someone duped me so now i have fomo on trading things away ^^o