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

[Yukki]

After the latest updates I haven't been able to catch anything better than newer uncommon, although I always caught and old rare and higher before. Usually there are no any old or rare pets on my page, all pets are non wishlist from 2018 and newer. Very disappointed with the current Pound. I also noticed that it has become very difficult to be the first to click on a pet. I beleave increasing the Pound size also wouldn't help.

[valentina*]

I think we should decrease the 3 hour cooldown of pound/lost & found adoptions. the lost & found can be open for so long with a few hundred undesirable items in it that delay the next pound or l&f opening. if the choice is to keep the more frequent pound openings then the 3 hour cooldown should be lowered substantially to actually make it possible for more openings to happen a day.

I say this now as the current l&f is going on 2 hours of being opened when it could have closed earlier if the cooldown was 1.5 hours instead of the current 3 (which is still a huge improvement from the previous cooldown of 24 hours).

[Emma_Buns]

yes

[boygoneghost]

IMO, I struggle to get into the pound with the way it is already. Even if was open once a day for longer with more pets a feel like many people might not be able to access the feature. I saw a few others mention that having a smaller group with more frequent openings would likely be a better solution.

[Trphlthdl]

Honestly I think their should be a pound or lost and found every 2 hours and lower the pound size to 500 make it so you can also accept 1 pet per pound. Or I think the pound should be just empty entirely

I would also like a situation like this.

I also would be in favor of this. I joined CS shortly before the 10th anniversary, and as a newbie I had no idea what pets were valuable and which ones were OMGSC, so pound openings were a full roulette to me and I didn't often get anything good. But then the 10th anniversary hit, and with it the small-pounds-every-20-minutes event, and it was SO. MUCH. FUN. Were the odds any better? Not really, but that was fine because I knew I could just try again soon.

I'm not saying they should do them THAT frequently again, but like, maybe the first week of every month could have small, more frequent openings, and the rest of the month would have the more standard openings. Maybe even with a few larger ones peppered in throughout the month?

also the l&f should have its cooldown halved but that's another discussion for another time

Yes, THIS all the way. That was the most fun I've had on the site in a long time. The number of pets would have to be changed to 250 to more closely match the current release rate thats been determined to be more effective for long-term pound supply, but yeah a pound every 2h with 250 pets and making the cooldown period every 12 hours would be great! Also agreed that LF should have it's own cooldown halved, its far less popular than the pound, so that would likely be far better.

[The Last Raven]

I feel like I barely see the pound opening anymore. It seems to constantly be the Lost and Found which then takes hours to close because no one wants the last 300 items that are left.

Yes, THIS all the way. That was the most fun I've had on the site in a long time. The number of pets would have to be changed to 250 to more closely match the current release rate thats been determined to be more effective for long-term pound supply, but yeah a pound every 2h with 250 pets and making the cooldown period every 12 hours would be great! Also agreed that LF should have it's own cooldown halved, its far less popular than the pound, so that would likely be far better.

I greatly appose the tiny openings idea. On the few chances I do make it to a pound opening, the first 200-300 pets are taken in literally the first second of the opening. That means the majority of people getting on for the pound would not get a pet at all.

[Darni]

After the update last night on rollover I just hope we get more communication and updates about everything because I felt like I was being gaslit seeing the amount of even uncommon+ go down in the pound and feeling like "surely they would announce testing this tweak." I hope they read everything on this thread and all the insight and feelings people have posted. It was an interesting experiment and hopefully they got the data and information they needed based on everyone's reactions and moving forward things get better and improve.

[Orgetzu]

Personally, what appeals to me about bigger Pound openings is not having to get there within literally ten-fifteen minutes to get anything at all. At the very least, I want bigger Pound openings during events, because during events, the Pound closes within five minutes, tops. And it's not fun when I don't get a chance in, but I also feel bad when other people don't get a chance in cause they stepped out to use the bathroom or grab food or something at just the wrong time. Smaller, more frequent openings just means all the speedy grabbers who don't have lives outside of the site will be the ones draining the Pound, and the rest of us won't get anything ever.

I do think adjusting the cooldown timer on the Lost and Found would be good, though. I can agree with that. The first 500-800 items in the L&F go fast, because they're old, rare, or just nice in general, and the rest trickle away slowly, as people go, "I guess this is okay", and the last 300 or so (more or less depending on time of day) sometimes last into the three hour mark where people can grab again and drain out the last few tiny items.

I wonder, though, if there's a middle ground with the poll options. I wouldn't mind buffing the Pound a little in exchange for less frequent openings (maybe 1500 pets and roughly 2 times a day?), because it would give people slightly greater opportunity to get in while not reducing the frequency as much. And during events, put it to something like 2000 pets per opening, but only once a day.

Alternately, just shift the system entirely. The thing that frustrates people about the Pound is the competition aspect, and the fact that it's unpredictable. What if instead, the Pound got new stock every hour (or just when that batch runs out), and people could just grab something every twelve hours? Not based on when you last grabbed, just based on cycles. 12am-12pm, and vice versa. So you're guaranteed two pets per day, and you can wait until the next stock cycle several times if you don't like any of your pickings. I don't know how good it would be, but I know it would definitely be less frustrating. And I think that alone has value worth considering.

Ultimately: I would much rather have fewer Pound openings if it meant everyone has a chance at actually getting in, instead of just the handful of people who can be online always and have fast devices + internet. Even though that usually includes me.

(I do love the spread of rares over a minute, as well as the Already Taken flags updating immediately. Those have saved so much frustration and I love them. I'm glad some nice changes are being made that benefit everyone.)

[Darkcloud!]

Seconding the thoughts on the Lost & Found. Given the chance, I am glad to take a second small something not on my wishlist like extra coal, gingerbread house parts, paint splats etc. that end up lingering and keeping the l&f open for hours, they are always useful for dressups!

Lowering the cooldown on the L&F while potentially raising the cooldown on the pound if you get a rare+ sounds like a great way to get more items back out and circulating/being used while also giving a wider range of users a chance at a good pound grab.

[answrs]

After the update last night on rollover I just hope we get more communication and updates about everything because I felt like I was being gaslit seeing the amount of even uncommon+ go down in the pound and feeling like "surely they would announce testing this tweak." I hope they read everything on this thread and all the insight and feelings people have posted. It was an interesting experiment and hopefully they got the data and information they needed based on everyone's reactions and moving forward things get better and improve. :)

gods, same. honestly I would have really liked to know that said test was happening, because it was very disheartening to get *maybe* a 2021 in the first go at opening with 1200 left, refresh, and even the 202Xs were half taken by then.

so like. glad to know the site wasn't spiting me *specifically* and it was on purpose but i feel a bit.... miffed, i think.

also concurring on the reduction of lost and found cooldown, I wouldn't mind grabbing like a piece of coal or candle or whatever to help clear it out. like obviously not an immediate thing (I don't think anyone's suggesting that but covering my bases), but like an hour? hour and a half? that definitely gets a solid window for anyone popping in there a chance at the good/decent items, and then we can more easily divvy what's left, if that makes sense.