[ToxicShadow]

Heyas!

Over time, I have noticed that a number of users end up with pets (I'm focusing on breedables in this idea) that they no longer feel inspired for and, many times, don't seem to have luck selling some of them off. Especially seeing as Evelon's market can be pretty slow, since we have a limited number of users.

Then I began considering what sort of things could be done to help users unload these pets they no longer want but don't seem to have luck selling or trading away.

Here is my basic idea. I could host a thread that is an "equal exchange," venue for breedable pets. There would be categories for each breedable species. How it would work would be that a person offers up a pet. Say, I throw in a Lucain. That Lucain that gets advertised as an available pet, and the user that offered it up earns a point. That point stays recorded, until they wish to redeem it. One Lucain point = one Lucain. So when someone puts up a Lucain they like, they can use their stored point to trade it in for a new Lucain. Basically, it adds up to trading one Lucain for another but, if there isn't one they like at the time they exchange theirs in, they earn a credit.

The only requirement for the pets exchanged would be that they cannot have any breeding restrictions, so that their value is all essentially the same.

Would anyone have any interest in something like this?

I know I have a few pets that I would likely use for this. I would also be happy to answer any questions or hear any suggestions about it.

[Kylo]

I really like this idea as I have a few lucains I really can't use to save my life and no one wants to buy them at all.

[Jaykobell]

Quite honestly I think this could be a very cool and refreshing official feature, even. We could even include other options, like offering pets for prizes or holidays, or what have you. There's lots of options and things we could offer if we set it up as a shop, for example. Unless you wanted to keep it more low key?

[ToxicShadow]

If you like this sort of idea for an official shop, then I certainly would not be opposed to it becoming such a thing! Expanding upon it could definitely be interesting, as well. I didn't know if the staff would be interested in such a thing, which is why I figured I would host it, if users showed interest.

If it was official and had prizes and such, I think it would open up the potential to trade in more than just breedables, as well, which would be neat. I definitely know that some users have Seasonals and such that they don't have a use for.

[SpringsSong]

I would be highly interested in something like this, since I'm in the same boat as Tal with a few of my own Lucain. -nods-

[zapdragon555]

Love love LOVE this idea; while I myself don't have any breedables to offer, I think this would be a really great feature to add to the site. :3c

[GrayGriffin]

I'd like it as a trade for seasonal items as well, since right now I'm less up for trading and more up for selling, due to my low KS count.

[Mojave]

Just popping in with a few questions before I add my support.

1. This is designed to move undesired pets. The problem is still that the pet is undesirable, for whatever reason. I'm more that open to trying this, after all, if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. It just seems similar to sweeping a pile of dust from under carpet to under another. :/ Instead of sitting in our shops/imp docs, they'll be sitting in this 'bank', not moving because literally nobody wants that pet (seriously, does it have tentacles coming out of the wrong hole or something?). (( <that was me trying to be funny. Forgive me.))

2. Then there's the question about how we spend the points. Say for instance someone decided a put one of the popular auction pets in there and EVERYONE who has points wants that pet. Is it first come, first serve? Is there a 'snipe guard'? Some of the players are able to get online at work, the rest of us for short periods of time each day, and others once every couple of days. Are they just SOL?

[ToxicShadow]

To answer your questions...

1. While there is the chance that a pet may sit in the system for a long time, it still solves the immediate problem of it sitting with a user that just does not want it. It essentially operates on the idea that, "one man's trash is another man's treasure." I've seen pets that were not able to be traded away, but when their prices were ridiculously lowered, they sold. In this sort of system, a person can get rid of a pet they know they wont use, for a credit. Chances are, at some point, they will find a pet they at least liked better than the one they put in. I have also seen many cases where some users really disliked the appearance of one pet, while another user absolutely adored them.

Optionally, if pets do not find new homes in very long periods of time, they could be given out through other methods. Such as offered free to new users, used for User hosted event prizes, and so on.

2. My initial idea would be first come first serve, perhaps with a limit of how many pets one can get within a certain span of time. Say maybe two weeks or a month. How I imagined it was not an auction, where people bid more and more of their credits. It was intended to be one credit = one pet. Another way to handle that issue would be to have Users apply for the pet (similar to Morey), except that very few users do that sort of thing in the first place, so I doubt it would be helpful. It would just make things more complicated and take even longer without moving pets, so I'm against that idea.

I don't see any real harm in first come, first serve, anyway, as it operates in the same way that regular trading happens. (And how the existing shops, like the Brewery, operate.) If someone puts up a desirable pet in their trades in the morning, it can be sold that very same morning, such as if it is BINed or the seller just wants to move it fast, before other users get the chance to offer. I think everyone, at some point, has sold pets quickly.

Since you're asking, specifically, I thought of one of your sales in the past for example of things moving fast. I remember one instance in which you sold Reno and Roadie within hours, before I even saw them for trade and, though I wanted Reno and was disappointed, it's just a thing that happens. I'm fine, no harm, no foul.

In how Evelon operates today, if someone really likes a pet's design, they could try to arrange a breeding with it and use a Palette Potion to breed something similar to its parent.

However, another optional way of handling a desirable pet could be raffle style. Whomever has points can mark their interest in a pet. After no new users show interest in say 24 hours, everyone that is interested in it is entered into a raffle. Then, whichever name is drawn gets the pet in exchange for one of their points. All other users keep their points, since they don't win the pet.

And I will say, I have no idea what, "SOL," is supposed to mean. Lol.

[zapdragon555]

SOL means shit outta luck, Toxic~ x3;

I wonder if instead of providing points, GT could be given? It would be relatively the same system, without having to introduce a new system of points. 1 custom Lucain would be worth 20 GT, 1 bred Lucain worth 10 GT, 1 seasonal pet worth 5 GT (or however many dollars it costs to buy one), etc.

Although that does then allow people to spend the GT on whatever they want, rather than a completely equal exchange (1 Lucain = 2 BBv2s or the like), but I think that might be okay? I dunno though, just throwing it out there~

Also I like first come first serve better than raffling things off, honestly. There's no fairness/unfairness about it, it's just when a pet gets put up and when it gets taken down. Then again that's easy for me to say because I'm online a lot, but idk, maybe put up a poll about it? See what the general population of users think.

[Kyrit]

Although that does then allow people to spend the GT on whatever they want, rather than a completely equal exchange (1 Lucain = 2 BBv2s or the like), but I think that might be okay? I dunno though, just throwing it out there~

It would also mean that people could endlessly buy randoms, get 15 GT for whatever random they got, and enter and endless loop of flooding the system with breedables without having to actually pay for anything. If this idea were to run on any sort of currency rather than an equal trade system, it would need to be given its own in-shop currency to keep it from ruining the economy like the Farms did back when they were around.

That aside, I do see this as a shop that would function well. Not with a system similar to Morey's, since his system has failed time and time again, but with the initial system suggested. Equal trade, no raffle/auction, just trade your pet in, get points, come back later to trade for a pet you do like. As Toxic said, just because you don't like the pet doesn't mean everyone doesn't. Worried about auction pets and the like? Sell them in your trades like normal, and then if they don't get the attention you thought they would and you absolutely don't want them anymore, theeen you could trade them to the shop.


Opening the shop to non-customs/breedables would make things a little more complicated due to the great diversity in price range of seasonals and the like, but I think with some ironing out it would work. Granted, starting it out as a place just for breedables and adding in extra functions if it proves viable would be the best idea though. Better to start small and work your way up than to set the bar too high and come crashing down.

[ToxicShadow]

Lol, thanks for the explanation, Zap. I am SO far behind on internet lingo.

I will say that I am definitely not down for in trading the pets for GT. GT is intended to be a RL Cash = GT system. Earning GT in ways other than purchasing it, trading users for it, or winning it from contests just doesn't seem right. Then, there would be too much GT into the system. Also, I don't think we should be so easily able to get GT from pets that we most likely used KS to get (since it is most likely that the majority of pets entered in will be bred pets, which don't cost GT to create). Most customs are made because they are wanted and, though randoms are a thing and may not always suit whomever ended up with them, most randoms are attractive enough to be sold to other users for GT, KS or other likable pets.

If the shop worked out well with using breedables/customs, I agree that it could later be expanded to include other pet options. (If it became an official shop, that is.) I think a good way to split up Seasonal pets (at least Christmas and Easter pets, which have KS values), would be to split them up into categories by price. Such as...

50 KS - Free
100 KS - 51 KS
150 KS - 101 KS
200 KS - 151 KS
250 KS - 201 KS

Regular retired pets (aside from Kuhnas) would all be in the 50 KS - Free range. War pets could potentially all be in one category of their own, not like seasonals/retired, since most war pets are generally rare and generally worth the same. (Maybe only split by War? The previous war and this war, if users preferred.)
The more difficult ones to figure out would be Halloween pets, though we would just have to figure out what 1 CP equals in KS and calculate from there. (Like what conversion was used in the Halloween shop when we traded CP in for KS.)

[ToxicShadow]

All that said, if the staff really are considering making this idea an official shop, I could always try my hand at setting it up for breedables as my own thing to test the waters with it? If it gets a decent response, then it can be changed into an official shop? That is, if giving it a test run seems like a good idea? I figure whatever pets are placed in it and whatever points exist can just transfer over to the official shop, if it becomes one.

I wouldn't want to go ahead and just set it up without running it by the staff, since you guys seem interested in using the idea.

[Kyrit]

I'm perfectly happy with you testing out the waters if you'd like. That's just my opinion, but yeah. I've got nothing against it.