After reading almost everything people have said I have gathered my own thoughts and opinions
For the main question, Bigger or smaller openings, more or less?
At first I wanted bigger and less, but after reading, smaller and more feels like a better outcome for everyone. Different users are on all the time and being able to hit all the different timezones as much as possible feels the most fair, even if the pound is drained in 3 minutes, there are other methods to combating that.
If it were me, I think it should depend mostly on the circumstances. How to break even? I don't know how the pound functions and don't know the stats on if or not the pound has stayed at a steady 780k pets for the past 5 years or has been on a constant increase or a contestant decrease. Imo 750k is absurd for a hoard. What CS crisis are we preparing for? While I dont think we need to drain it completely, narrowing it down to a 250k or something and trying to remain a steady flow around those numbers is ideal. Pound has reached 300k pets? Make more/bigger openings. Pound has dropped under 200k? Make less/smaller openings. Though again, I don't really know how often the pound is pumped full of more pets and if or not it is possible and safe to decrease its hoard and try to remain around a much smaller number.
If all else fails and the pound has 500k VCs and below, whats stopping a release of a second, larger if not more frequent pound that only has Cs and below or something, something to try and make the numbers more even if that is a problem. Just food for thought,
About the Pound pet group.
I gathered some pros and cons
Pros for seeing the current pound options
You can see if there is a super rare pet and be able to laser focus on it, you can decide if you want to stay up that extra hour or sneak on for a chance of a pet you want, or see that theres nothing super interesting and move on. You can discuss the options and get excited.
Cons
Trade/message bombing. You get a super rare pet and instantly harassed with people trying to trade you for it, as myself has indeed experienced it. Super rare pets are screamed to the world meaning the pound will be drained insanely fast as more than usual people try to snag that OMGSR and miss out. That and the overall disappointment and frustration one could get upon seeing many rare options but their first page selection offers next to near none
Pros for seeing nothing at all
You cannot be harassed for getting a rare pet unless you shared it, that or the chances are reduced drastically. The pound is a true surprise as you never truly know if there's an OMGSR or not, there is no sudden huge lag spike or drastic increase in users in a single pound because nobody knows if there is a raven dog in there or not. Everyone is blind going in, nobody is at an advantage. Nobody can complain since they never really knew what was in there to begin with and only a fraction of it will be shared in the thread. (Though ofc fustration will exist, I believe it wont be as bad)
Cons
You cannot get excited as before, no OMGSR hype. You cant decide if or not you want to try the pound because you cannot see it. You cant look just to see the options and wish people luck, its all gone. Its pretty much a small part of CS has been removed.
Pros to opening up the entire pound
It's a mix of both above, you can see the options, but you are blind to which ones are going to be picked. You can still discuss if not moreso on what could be released this hour, or if a pet has been sitting for years and maybe its time is coming soon to be dropped off at its new home. Nobody is at an advantage for knowing whats being dropped cause you still dont know, but you can still see and explore the options. There should still be no huge lag spikes since nobody knows if that OMGSR is dropping this hour or not.
Cons
Still a mix of both, people can still harass you for your OMGSR and people can no longer decide if or not they want to try for the pound cause they dont know the options. The huge spike in users and the hype when a super rare pet is going to drop is gone cause nobody knows still.
Im on the fence, but believe all or nothing are the better options. Sure it's fun to know what's coming, but not everyone will know and being blind puts everyone on the same page. Nobody is at an advantage for knowing as for most new people (and still many older players) know not of the existence of see the upcoming pound drop and know not of what to expect or click.
Pet randomization
I love this idea, cause it takes putting fairness onto a new level. You cant just bot click the first pet or super speed your internet to it, you have to take a moment to look. Everyone does, it might even make the pound last a little longer cause not everyone is snagging the first pet in second 1 and making the pound go from 1.2k to 700 in the first 15 seconds. Does it make the pound a little more challenging? Sure, but it does so for everyone, nobody is at a huge advantage and its no longer who can click the first pet the fastest, its luck. You cant always get a rare old pet every time.
That being said, I can see why it hasn't been implemented and may never be. When it comes to direct pet organization that does anything other than sort by date, I see nothing. I know everyone here would ADORE the option to sort your pets by name or rarity or even species AND rarity. Maybe even organize it manually. Something like Xanje's sorting if you know that game. I know people probably asked for it, and I personally don't see it to be that hard- it must be. Cause I don't see it implemented. I don't know why, there must be a reason cause it's such an amazing idea to help so many people with huge 1k+ pet groups who are drained to click each and every small box to move them page by page (Heck, an option to see more pets on the screen would be awesome)
So I can see randomizing it being a challenge and to not be considered, I could be eating my words later, but considering the lack of any sorting that isnt dates, I hold no hope. Even if I would love a randomized pound group to give everyone fair chances.
Altering the pound as a whole
Example, Dec 18th.
I have no idea how I should feel about that option. On one hand, I like to see and pick the pet I want on screen. I like to be able to just click the one that says its on my WL and go on with my day. But on the other, I like the randomness of the box, there is no competition.
But there is no choice. And as someone whos been active for at least 5 Dec 18ths, the rarest thing I have snagged so far was a single T7 ex-list dog. And my friends have been pulling ex-list nons worth. It's very disheartening but still nobody's fault. (And some people are probably even more unlucky than me)
I don't think if we were to completely make the pound random grabs for everyone will be a good thing, even if it does allow people with slower internet a chance to get a VR+
If it were to be implemented still, having it be infrequent if not designated "random pound days" would be a better option. Like instead of completely rewriting the pound, you still have it as is, but some days its replaced with random pound or random pound is added (If there is too many pets in the pound and it is decided to reduce it from near 800k to 200k or something)
Just add different options, idk, just a thought.
Best case, make some polls lol. Its easier for people to click to buttons and have their voice heard rather than making a huge post like me
For the main question, Bigger or smaller openings, more or less?
At first I wanted bigger and less, but after reading, smaller and more feels like a better outcome for everyone. Different users are on all the time and being able to hit all the different timezones as much as possible feels the most fair, even if the pound is drained in 3 minutes, there are other methods to combating that.
If it were me, I think it should depend mostly on the circumstances. How to break even? I don't know how the pound functions and don't know the stats on if or not the pound has stayed at a steady 780k pets for the past 5 years or has been on a constant increase or a contestant decrease. Imo 750k is absurd for a hoard. What CS crisis are we preparing for? While I dont think we need to drain it completely, narrowing it down to a 250k or something and trying to remain a steady flow around those numbers is ideal. Pound has reached 300k pets? Make more/bigger openings. Pound has dropped under 200k? Make less/smaller openings. Though again, I don't really know how often the pound is pumped full of more pets and if or not it is possible and safe to decrease its hoard and try to remain around a much smaller number.
If all else fails and the pound has 500k VCs and below, whats stopping a release of a second, larger if not more frequent pound that only has Cs and below or something, something to try and make the numbers more even if that is a problem. Just food for thought,
About the Pound pet group.
I gathered some pros and cons
Pros for seeing the current pound options
You can see if there is a super rare pet and be able to laser focus on it, you can decide if you want to stay up that extra hour or sneak on for a chance of a pet you want, or see that theres nothing super interesting and move on. You can discuss the options and get excited.
Cons
Trade/message bombing. You get a super rare pet and instantly harassed with people trying to trade you for it, as myself has indeed experienced it. Super rare pets are screamed to the world meaning the pound will be drained insanely fast as more than usual people try to snag that OMGSR and miss out. That and the overall disappointment and frustration one could get upon seeing many rare options but their first page selection offers next to near none
Pros for seeing nothing at all
You cannot be harassed for getting a rare pet unless you shared it, that or the chances are reduced drastically. The pound is a true surprise as you never truly know if there's an OMGSR or not, there is no sudden huge lag spike or drastic increase in users in a single pound because nobody knows if there is a raven dog in there or not. Everyone is blind going in, nobody is at an advantage. Nobody can complain since they never really knew what was in there to begin with and only a fraction of it will be shared in the thread. (Though ofc fustration will exist, I believe it wont be as bad)
Cons
You cannot get excited as before, no OMGSR hype. You cant decide if or not you want to try the pound because you cannot see it. You cant look just to see the options and wish people luck, its all gone. Its pretty much a small part of CS has been removed.
Pros to opening up the entire pound
It's a mix of both above, you can see the options, but you are blind to which ones are going to be picked. You can still discuss if not moreso on what could be released this hour, or if a pet has been sitting for years and maybe its time is coming soon to be dropped off at its new home. Nobody is at an advantage for knowing whats being dropped cause you still dont know, but you can still see and explore the options. There should still be no huge lag spikes since nobody knows if that OMGSR is dropping this hour or not.
Cons
Still a mix of both, people can still harass you for your OMGSR and people can no longer decide if or not they want to try for the pound cause they dont know the options. The huge spike in users and the hype when a super rare pet is going to drop is gone cause nobody knows still.
Im on the fence, but believe all or nothing are the better options. Sure it's fun to know what's coming, but not everyone will know and being blind puts everyone on the same page. Nobody is at an advantage for knowing as for most new people (and still many older players) know not of the existence of see the upcoming pound drop and know not of what to expect or click.
Pet randomization
I love this idea, cause it takes putting fairness onto a new level. You cant just bot click the first pet or super speed your internet to it, you have to take a moment to look. Everyone does, it might even make the pound last a little longer cause not everyone is snagging the first pet in second 1 and making the pound go from 1.2k to 700 in the first 15 seconds. Does it make the pound a little more challenging? Sure, but it does so for everyone, nobody is at a huge advantage and its no longer who can click the first pet the fastest, its luck. You cant always get a rare old pet every time.
That being said, I can see why it hasn't been implemented and may never be. When it comes to direct pet organization that does anything other than sort by date, I see nothing. I know everyone here would ADORE the option to sort your pets by name or rarity or even species AND rarity. Maybe even organize it manually. Something like Xanje's sorting if you know that game. I know people probably asked for it, and I personally don't see it to be that hard- it must be. Cause I don't see it implemented. I don't know why, there must be a reason cause it's such an amazing idea to help so many people with huge 1k+ pet groups who are drained to click each and every small box to move them page by page (Heck, an option to see more pets on the screen would be awesome)
So I can see randomizing it being a challenge and to not be considered, I could be eating my words later, but considering the lack of any sorting that isnt dates, I hold no hope. Even if I would love a randomized pound group to give everyone fair chances.
Altering the pound as a whole
Example, Dec 18th.
I have no idea how I should feel about that option. On one hand, I like to see and pick the pet I want on screen. I like to be able to just click the one that says its on my WL and go on with my day. But on the other, I like the randomness of the box, there is no competition.
But there is no choice. And as someone whos been active for at least 5 Dec 18ths, the rarest thing I have snagged so far was a single T7 ex-list dog. And my friends have been pulling ex-list nons worth. It's very disheartening but still nobody's fault. (And some people are probably even more unlucky than me)
I don't think if we were to completely make the pound random grabs for everyone will be a good thing, even if it does allow people with slower internet a chance to get a VR+
If it were to be implemented still, having it be infrequent if not designated "random pound days" would be a better option. Like instead of completely rewriting the pound, you still have it as is, but some days its replaced with random pound or random pound is added (If there is too many pets in the pound and it is decided to reduce it from near 800k to 200k or something)
Just add different options, idk, just a thought.
Best case, make some polls lol. Its easier for people to click to buttons and have their voice heard rather than making a huge post like me
