P U P wrote:Seasonal wrote: I really don't understand the issue with some pets being very hard to obtain - that's the point. Not every person is going to have every pet. The point of the re-release is that generally every pet maintains their value, so that they don't end up completely unobtainable. They're still going to be hard to get, and they should be hard to get.
My statements of "there should be more pets in circulation" and "pets shouldn't cost hundreds of real dollars" don't mean there shouldn't be any pets that are hard to obtain. I've already accepted that store pets are never going to be re-released, since staff have been so adamant about reminding us every time it's brought up, so those can still exist as the highest tier pets that are near impossible for new or average users to obtain.
Let me ask, why
shouldn't every person be able to get every pet? Why should only the oldest, richest users be able to obtain a complete collection? Why is achieving a full, complete collection a goal that should be unobtainable?
I don't believe every pet should maintain their value at all. It seems completely unhealthy for the site's longevity and attractiveness to new users to keep letting pets increase in value over the years. Eventually we'll end up with those original t7 advent dogs costing 1000 C$ each. Then what?
I genuinely see where you're coming from and I think it is a bit of a shame that there's so many pets that are near impossible for newer players to get, but I think honestly there's a divide here in how this type of game is being viewed. :0c
petsites like CS, neopets, even flight rising (though it's mostly keeping up with the times) have always had old/LE stuff that's nearly impossible for newer users to get. you could almost call it an industry standard, really. it's not necessarily the most ideal playing experience for everyone, it's just kind of "it is what it is" territory. I don't really see players on flight rising for example frequently raising the idea that FR staff should bring back retired "breed change: imperial" scrolls (this was a very limited edition item given out during the site's early testing days. it's virtually extinct now, and breed-changed imperials are nigh unheard of. there's also a couple of "familiars" that are virtually extinct except in very old or wealthy players' collections.)
of course, on neopets, as an alternate example, staff said for years and years that "unconverted" pets would never be brought back, then after more than a decade of players vying for it, they changed their minds and agreed to put in the work to reviving them. this was a hugely popular decision (that hasn't yet come to pass, unfortunately. looking forward to when it does, though). [disclaimer: I don't think store pets should be re-released here though, because many of those pets were bought explicitly on the promise they would never be rereleased, and unconverteds on neo never had such a premise.] but neo has other items like stamps, books, petpets, etc that are retired and can't realistically be gotten anymore.
if you compare all these petsites (which sadly, I think are slowly being abandoned across the web) to modern multiplayer games of all shades (console, mobile, pc, etc), it would seem super unfair to bar new players from cool items or weapons or what-have-you because the point of those games is to draw people in with the kind of experiences you can build from having the coolest, best stuff. I get that, I don't play a lot of those types of games myself, but my siblings do, and they love them! they get a ton of joy out of achieving their goals in-game and building their collections over time.
but I think it's inherently a different type of game, where your play experience is limited by how achievable those goals are. I think the underlying premise of places like CS is a bit different, where the goal of "complete collection" is not necessarily meant to be the ultimate aim of every player. very few areas of the site are revenue-based for one thing; a lot of CS pets are labors of love created for free to adopt for free. CS doesn't feel like a game where you're "supposed" to play for completeness. there's no real "supposed to" about the site, I feel like. those really hard-to-get old pets are challenges for the types of players that really enjoy challenges.