We need your feedback: Bigger, less frequent pound openings?

[Sunfyre]

The number of rare+ in each pound has dropped by over 50%, is this listed in an update somewhere? I don't see it being talked about but I've been able to prove it by pulling pound rare lists from pre-easter and as far back as October. Why the change to distribution?

Bump to this question, there is a proof to that in this thread: Forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=4928735 (look at first page and then last page %)

(this is why users viewing what's in the Pound can be important)

[Gamezelle]

The number of rare+ in each pound has dropped by over 50%, is this listed in an update somewhere? I don't see it being talked about but I've been able to prove it by pulling pound rare lists from pre-easter and as far back as October. Why the change to distribution?

Bump to this question, there is a proof to that in this thread: Forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=4928735 (look at first page and then last page %)

(this is why users viewing what's in the Pound can be important)

Hadn't noticed but yes indeed.
We went from an average 6% + rare pets to 4% or even less starting April 10th.
There is also a decrease of VR pets at the same time (We went from 3-4% to 1-2% ).

Wonder why ? The batch size is the same, and besides the few crazy days we recently had, the Pound opened as usual.

[LunaLate]

The number of rare+ in each pound has dropped by over 50%, is this listed in an update somewhere? I don't see it being talked about but I've been able to prove it by pulling pound rare lists from pre-easter and as far back as October. Why the change to distribution?

Bump to this question, there is a proof to that in this thread: Forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=4928735 (look at first page and then last page %)

(this is why users viewing what's in the Pound can be important)

Hadn't noticed but yes indeed.
We went from an average 6% + rare pets to 4% or even less starting April 10th.
There is also a decrease of VR pets at the same time (We went from 3-4% to 1-2% ).

Wonder why ? The batch size is the same, and besides the few crazy days we recently had, the Pound opened as usual.

Looking thru the pet group for the next pound opening, I realized that there are many more recent pets than normal. I almost every day check the upcoming pound pet group, for about the last 6 months, and I’ve noticed a change in the last week or so. There are normally more new pets in there after events but this is so different now I actually think they changed the ratios somehow. HALF of the upcoming pound is fulled with pets from the last 2 1/2 years. Only 400 or so are from before 2018. I don’t have any numbers for how many used to be in there from before, but it has never been this lopsided before.

Not very many people saw this the first time I posted it but I’m sure they’re showing less older pets than they used to.

That’s what I’ve been saying too!! I noticed this like a week ago. There are WAY more newer pets than there used to be, it’s very obvious when you look at the pound group, it used to be recent years had about 10 pages each of pets but now about half (33 pages) are all 2022 or newer pets!!

[Pallastronomy]

Now that’s it been pointed out and I’ve watched the numbers over a few pound openings, it definitely seems there’s been a drop in the amount of rares. Seems weird they’d be asking specifically asking for pound feedback and then roll something like that out without saying anything.
Here’s hoping we at least get some kind of verbal confirmation

[schlottis]

In agreement with those above saying that the pound pool rarities/age seems skewed. Didn't see a single pre 2016 pet in my refreshes.

Some people in this thread also mentioned the use of botting, both scripting to grab pets, and the discord reminder bot.
During the pound's opening today - recorded at 23:32 UK time, a few minutes in, there were 1155 users online.
When the pound closed - recorded at 23:34 UK time, the number dropped to 861 users online.
At the time of writing - recorded at 23.40 UK time, the number has dropped to 734 users online.
(Numbers recorded from the 'Who is Online' section at the bottom of the forum page).

So how many people are logging on explicity to grab something from the pound, then going offline again? No wonder the lag spikes so aggressively on the initial load in to the opening.
I would love to see if anyone else has data on the topic.

More pounds opening will change nothing if people are always on alert somehow as to when it's availble, unless a longer cooldown is implimented.
Less pounds opening but with more pets changes nothing, the amount of pets to offset the influx of users on opening times is not enough to justify the increase in amount.

Neither fix resolves the situation. Either smaller pounds that vanish in seconds but happen often, or larger pounds that vanish in seconds but anyone in an inconvenient timezone suffers for work or sleep or school.
There has to be change on a much larger scale to how the pound works, or introduce an alternative pet distrubution function to replace it. This is not sustainable with the current user base.

[Darkcloud!]

In agreement with those above saying that the pound pool rarities/age seems skewed. Didn't see a single pre 2016 pet in my refreshes.

Some people in this thread also mentioned the use of botting, both scripting to grab pets, and the discord reminder bot.
During the pound's opening today - recorded at 23:32 UK time, a few minutes in, there were 1155 users online.
When the pound closed - recorded at 23:34 UK time, the number dropped to 861 users online.
At the time of writing - recorded at 23.40 UK time, the number has dropped to 734 users online.
(Numbers recorded from the 'Who is Online' section at the bottom of the forum page).

So how many people are logging on explicitly to grab something from the pound, then going offline again? No wonder the lag spikes so aggressively on the initial load in to the opening.
I would love to see if anyone else has data on the topic.

More pounds opening will change nothing if people are always on alert somehow as to when it's available, unless a longer cooldown is implemented.
Less pounds opening but with more pets changes nothing, the amount of pets to offset the influx of users on opening times is not enough to justify the increase in amount.

Neither fix resolves the situation. Either smaller pounds that vanish in seconds but happen often, or larger pounds that vanish in seconds but anyone in an inconvenient timezone suffers for work or sleep or school.
There has to be change on a much larger scale to how the pound works, or introduce an alternative pet distribution function to replace it. This is not sustainable with the current user base.

Honestly, ban the bot. That's the solution. Players should get on the site, look in the pound group themselves. Traffic to the pound shouldn't be driven by automation, it should be a natural reward of logging onto the site and checking the page, and setting yourself a timer if the page is giving a time til open. If they really want a reminder, subscribe to the thread that post the pound pets group breakdown as they post whenever the group gets refilled in preparation for the pound. Use the site, not bots.

[avaloafe]

In agreement with those above saying that the pound pool rarities/age seems skewed. Didn't see a single pre 2016 pet in my refreshes.

Some people in this thread also mentioned the use of botting, both scripting to grab pets, and the discord reminder bot.
During the pound's opening today - recorded at 23:32 UK time, a few minutes in, there were 1155 users online.
When the pound closed - recorded at 23:34 UK time, the number dropped to 861 users online.
At the time of writing - recorded at 23.40 UK time, the number has dropped to 734 users online.
(Numbers recorded from the 'Who is Online' section at the bottom of the forum page).

So how many people are logging on explicitly to grab something from the pound, then going offline again? No wonder the lag spikes so aggressively on the initial load in to the opening.
I would love to see if anyone else has data on the topic.

More pounds opening will change nothing if people are always on alert somehow as to when it's available, unless a longer cooldown is implemented.
Less pounds opening but with more pets changes nothing, the amount of pets to offset the influx of users on opening times is not enough to justify the increase in amount.

Neither fix resolves the situation. Either smaller pounds that vanish in seconds but happen often, or larger pounds that vanish in seconds but anyone in an inconvenient timezone suffers for work or sleep or school.
There has to be change on a much larger scale to how the pound works, or introduce an alternative pet distribution function to replace it. This is not sustainable with the current user base.

Honestly, ban the bot. That's the solution. Players should get on the site, look in the pound group themselves. Traffic to the pound shouldn't be driven by automation, it should be a natural reward of logging onto the site and checking the page, and setting yourself a timer if the page is giving a time til open. If they really want a reminder, subscribe to the thread that post the pound pets group breakdown as they post whenever the group gets refilled in preparation for the pound. Use the site, not bots.

keep the bot. i’m not chronically online all the time and cannot continuously check this website. i am an adult with a house and full time job, so i love being reminded automatically when it’s close to the pound opening. AND the lost and found for that matter. i’m only on this site these days for pet collection. i’m sure a lot of others are too. there’s nothing wrong with coming on just for the pound, and then logging off again. there’s absolutely no harm in that. :) the pound bot does literally NOTHING besides give reminders (which is also good for banners during events) and give an image of what rare+ pets are in the next opening. that is something EVERYONE can do by looking at the pounds profile and viewing pets ^^

you also CANT ban the bot. it isn’t made by CS admins/apart of CS in a way. it’s made by an individual user. so even if cs mods take away being able to see the next pet opening, the bot will still remind us that it’s opening soon. :3

[Darkcloud!]

Honestly, ban the bot. That's the solution. Players should get on the site, look in the pound group themselves. Traffic to the pound shouldn't be driven by automation, it should be a natural reward of logging onto the site and checking the page, and setting yourself a timer if the page is giving a time til open. If they really want a reminder, subscribe to the thread that post the pound pets group breakdown as they post whenever the group gets refilled in preparation for the pound. Use the site, not bots.

keep the bot. i’m not chronically online all the time and cannot continuously check this website. i am an adult with a house and full time job, so i love being reminded automatically when it’s close to the pound opening. AND the lost and found for that matter. i’m only on this site these days for pet collection. i’m sure a lot of others are too. there’s nothing wrong with coming on just for the pound, and then logging off again. there’s absolutely no harm in that. :) the pound bot does literally NOTHING besides give reminders (which is also good for banners during events) and give an image of what rare+ pets are in the next opening. that is something EVERYONE can do by looking at the pounds profile and viewing pets ^^

you also CANT ban the bot. it isn’t made by CS admins/apart of CS in a way. it’s made by an individual user. so even if cs mods take away being able to see the next pet opening, the bot will still remind us that it’s opening soon. :3

I'm pretty sure there's a way for CS to protect/hide whatever code the bot is pulling to make the announcements, and force the creator to enter it manually. Or disallow site scraping- other pet sites do so.

I'm in the same group as you. I don't make every pound, and it's fine. The pound should be a natural reward for participating in visiting the site whenever you do (on your phone, or on your computer). I see a lot of people on this thread arguing that new players need to study the pets and learn pets, which is time consuming too.

In order to appease everyone, there should be no offsite resources used for advantages in the pound. Everyone should only catch the pounds they would naturally run into, and all pets should have to be viewed manually by players who want to know the values.

[WarriorcatKitty]

i... am not sure i like this idea, it's already nearly impossible for me to ever find a chance to catch the pound opening, it seems to only ever be open at very inconvenient times for me, like very early morning. (like right now, it would open at 7am for me, im not going to get on CS as soon as i wake up, if i wake up at all by 7.)

less frequent openings would just mean i- and a lot of others- would never get to use the pound at all.

I feel like smaller but more frequent openings would actually be much more enjoyable. you'd have a lot more chances, even if they are smaller ones. and even if you just get commons each time, it's still much more fun to get something rather than nothing.

[Buster2918]

keep the bot. i’m not chronically online all the time and cannot continuously check this website. i am an adult with a house and full time job, so i love being reminded automatically when it’s close to the pound opening. AND the lost and found for that matter. i’m only on this site these days for pet collection. i’m sure a lot of others are too. there’s nothing wrong with coming on just for the pound, and then logging off again. there’s absolutely no harm in that. the pound bot does literally NOTHING besides give reminders (which is also good for banners during events) and give an image of what rare+ pets are in the next opening. that is something EVERYONE can do by looking at the pounds profile and viewing pets ^^

you also CANT ban the bot. it isn’t made by CS admins/apart of CS in a way. it’s made by an individual user. so even if cs mods take away being able to see the next pet opening, the bot will still remind us that it’s opening soon. :3

I agree that the bot (if it just gives notifications) should stay- and like you said, it would be impossible or very difficult to prevent any and all bots from doing something such as notifying users of pound openings and such. Idk much about the bot being spoken about, as I just set timers on my phone, but if it's not a bot on site snatching pets at the speed of light with some sort of coding, I do not see a problem. It is not cheating or exploiting. These users are just putting in more effort than the average player by being efficient with their time and should not have this harmless option stripped away from them to be forced to check the site. I check the site every once in a while, but I'm not going to be refreshing more than 3-10 times a day for the pound. I have far more to worry about in my daily life, and in a world where technology and automation is becoming more and more advanced, it's efficient to embrace it so long as it's not an exploit. (I mean, that's efficient too, but it would be against the rules for sure.)