This Needs to be Discussed.

[mediscout]

i've seen this too! i've noticed that you can't get by with JUST swapping out missed outcomes either unless you get REALLY lucky, so it's especially painful as a collector. you have to quite literally stalk the monthly swap thread and hope that you come across somebody who has the outcome that you're looking for. i get that it's supposed to be challenging, i mean that's the whole point of this site, but seeing people hoard specific outcomes just for later profit while collectors are desperately looking for them is a bit disheartening.

[scmarshtacky]

has this happened to you? please, i want you to share your experiences below, so we can hopefully inspire some sort of change.

I don't try to overcharge on any pet without a rarity, but I will admit that if I see everyone in the trade thread asking for one specific outcome from a litter, I'll put any extra I have into a storage area until it gets its rarity. Most of the time I find that the pets weren't particularly rarer. I guess just hype or bad luck caused more people to be looking for it.

If I'm looking for a pet that everyone else is also asking for, I don't even try the trade forums. I just start clicking on random users that are online at that moment and seeing if they have a double that I could trade for. This has a higher percentage of success I've found than posting on the monthly trade forums and allows me to trade more fairly for something.


I will say, as a returning player, trying to get the rares from the earlier months of 2024 wasn't easy, and I got all but one I think from off-site trading just because people weren't willing to part with the outcomes. All in all, I don't necessarily mind it right now. I'll probably mind it more, when, in 2027, all of them are VR and really hard to come by.

The thing is, there's NOT a dramatically rarer outcome every month. But because nobody knows if there will be one, nobody is willing to trade even slightly less common outcomes because they're afraid of getting burned.

This person sums it up really well. Because I don't know what litter might have that one rare outcome, I can be afraid of trading things carelessly.

[Wookieinmashoo]

I was against the monthly rares and I still am. I don't mind getting uncommons or maybe very uncommons, but anything higher just becomes frustrating because there's not enough to go around.

What's more annoying is that a good majority of EU and rare pets are what you would expect. Dogs, lions, pps, and rainbow colored pets. Do we really ever get those rare monthly rats and ponies? Only if they're PPS

It also makes some people feel guilty for wanting to hoard these pets.

[Minimanta]

This mentality has really always been a thing. Been here since 2009 and it has always been a thing. Shiny, popular pets has always gotten hyped up and valued far above their worth.

The only thing that vote did was amplify that mentality many times over. But it did also introduce a new phenomena. Because people expect there to be monthly rares, if someone missed a pet and don't get it within minutes of posting on the swap thread, then they must have missed The Rare One even if it's just a simple missed VC. And once a pet is suspected of being The Rare One then its value is almost always inflated.

I've always been against monthly rares, we were a lot of people who predicted this would happen and it boggles my mind that anybody didn't see it coming. Of course this would happen.

I was against the monthly rares and I still am. I don't mind getting uncommons or maybe very uncommons, but anything higher just becomes frustrating because there's not enough to go around.

What's more annoying is that a good majority of EU and rare pets are what you would expect. Dogs, lions, pps, and rainbow colored pets. Do we really ever get those rare monthly rats and ponies? Only if they're PPS

It also makes some people feel guilty for wanting to hoard these pets.

We did actually get an EU pony:


And the only actual rare monthly was the PPS otter from March, all others are EU.


And the last time we got an EU monthly was actually back in October, we still haven't gotten one this year (not counting March 'cause they're still unknown). But the damage was done the second that vote got voted up. That amplified mentality of over-valuing simple monthlies is firmly here to stay I'm afraid.

And I'm also exclusively talking about monthlies here, that was what the vote was for. But of course the mentality is also dripping into event pets, like the LNY PPS snakes (which aren't even EU+) and the ladybug PPS snake amongst others.

[The Muse]

now i did see someone mention the waiting game, but i will say the waiting game gets difficult when more and more pets have this false rarity inflation, and with all the users on the site, we may not find ones that wont sell it at a lower price.

i have personally never seen people adjust the prices after the archive is updated, ive seen people do auctions instead, in an attempt to try and get more than what its potentially ‘worth’.

what i think is the worst part is that all of these prices tend to involve C$ and not pets. people will only ask for C$ for it and not accept any other offer. obviously theres issues with this, as many people cant agree how to apply a value to most pets, so how can someone trade an older pet they may or may not have when someones only accepting C$?

im very grateful for everyones input so far; i truly think that continued discussion could bring abt a solution to this, whether it has to involve staff intervention or not. if we start a large enough group of collectors with the same mindset, we could all simply trade amongst one another

[raccsnax]

I don't have anything new to add but I agree that the "rarer" outcomes need to become more accessible. Like either very uncommon max or don't release an euc every single month. They're just yet another thing for people to price gouge and make the trading experience a bummer for everyone else.

[Juliamon]

And the only actual rare monthly was the PPS otter from March, all others are EU.

Just a tiny correction that the PPS Draft from April was also rare! And is, incidentally, a pastel rainbow PPS.

[winx]

Like the ladybug snakes, i like that idea. It makes it harder, so everyone stops just trying to get old rare pets but also the newer rare pets. It also creates more diversity for the pets; pets in CS mostly stay the same, with newer pets being common and older pets being rares. This can create some new pets people trade for. It's a great idea to do at least one rare outcome each month.

i have personally never seen people adjust the prices after the archive is updated, ive seen people do auctions instead, in an attempt to try and get more than what its potentially ‘worth’.

what i think is the worst part is that all of these prices tend to involve C$ and not pets. people will only ask for C$ for it and not accept any other offer. obviously theres issues with this, as many people cant agree how to apply a value to most pets, so how can someone trade an older pet they may or may not have when someones only accepting C$?

That's just called buisness, profit and personal preference

I was against the monthly rares and I still am. I don't mind getting uncommons or maybe very uncommons, but anything higher just becomes frustrating because there's not enough to go around.

It also makes some people feel guilty for wanting to hoard these pets.

By having not enough to go around, theres a variation to the economy here, where we work hard to get the this-month rares. It's similar to like, those 2008 OMGSR, there's not enough to go around, so if you want one, you have to trade alot more. The varietion is good, as the game won't be too repetitive.

That also happens with rares, but people still hoard rares.

i've seen this too! i've noticed that you can't get by with JUST swapping out missed outcomes either unless you get REALLY lucky, so it's especially painful as a collector. you have to quite literally stalk the monthly swap thread and hope that you come across somebody who has the outcome that you're looking for. i get that it's supposed to be challenging, i mean that's the whole point of this site, but seeing people hoard specific outcomes just for later profit while collectors are desperately looking for them is a bit disheartening.

Again that's just how buisness and profits work. People want to earn c$, and you want the pet. It's a fair trade imo.

[squeegi]

while i agree that sometimes people to tend to play too much into demand for the "rarer" monthly/event outcomes (on both sides- both the people seeking overpay and those who offer overpay), i dont think its a "problem" that we should seek to fix. being opposed to occasional rare outcomes because they're hard to find/trade for just seems.. silly, to me. if it was super easy to collect every pet, no one would play on this site. plus, having the chance for rarer outcomes every month makes it accessible to new users, and have it be something that EVERY user has the chance at is great! it promotes people to adopt monthly pets and creates hype for trading! like, its a chance at a free rare. i say, just be glad for the chance, and enjoy trying to trade for it :)
the result of the "inflation" is just human nature, nothing we can do to disallow people from seeking to trade their high demand pets off to the highest bidder. of course, if someone has a pet that seems to be in crazy demand, people will want to get the most value from it in a trade.
just throwing in my two cents, as someone who doesnt really take collecting too seriously. i understand how it can be frustrating, but i think it's just an unavoidable part of any game with a rarity system.

[Unbeknownsk]

while i agree that sometimes people to tend to play too much into demand for the "rarer" monthly/event outcomes (on both sides- both the people seeking overpay and those who offer overpay), i dont think its a "problem" that we should seek to fix. being opposed to occasional rare outcomes because they're hard to find/trade for just seems.. silly, to me. if it was super easy to collect every pet, no one would play on this site. plus, having the chance for rarer outcomes every month makes it accessible to new users, and have it be something that EVERY user has the chance at is great! it promotes people to adopt monthly pets and creates hype for trading! like, its a chance at a free rare. i say, just be glad for the chance, and enjoy trying to trade for it
the result of the "inflation" is just human nature, nothing we can do to disallow people from seeking to trade their high demand pets off to the highest bidder. of course, if someone has a pet that seems to be in crazy demand, people will want to get the most value from it in a trade.
just throwing in my two cents, as someone who doesnt really take collecting too seriously. i understand how it can be frustrating, but i think it's just an unavoidable part of any game with a rarity system.

Well said! 👏