New Players Opinion

Sorryunlucky · August 2011

Hi guys, I hope this isn't against the rules, but I'll like to praise the website, but add in some bad points, as everyone's opinion is different don't go over the top if you dis-agree with my humble opinion. Good points: I enjoyed the dog section and the dog buying, breeding and training it's all realistic. And the people are all friendly, but I have a bad points list, which I wish could be resolved. The game is fantastic and fun but the bad points kinda ruin it, for me. Bad points: The buying a dog from the kennels is full of dogs for sale with a price like "-1" or another number with a minus, it's impossible to buy a dog with a minus in front of the price (I'm a coder and I know it's a simple piece of HTML to block symbols and letters in the input box), and when you order the dogs into price range all the minus numbers show up first and it takes all day to get to the real prices. You need a premium account for most things. And all good things are limited. If the game is aimed at kids, realistically they ain't going to buy premium their parents will and most parents are against buying virtual stuff. I know you need to make money off of the game but please remove the limit on the dog breeding it's the only income source I can get while not being a premium member. Also when you click the "Take Next Turn" by accident it's classed as jumping a week ahead when I didn't select a dog as I clicked it by accident. But still... it's better than some dog breeding games I've come across. As I said I enjoy the game and find it fun but the bad points are hassle.

Frostbight8 · August 2011

Sorryunlucky wrote:

 The buying a dog from the kennels is full of dogs for sale with a price like "-1" or another number with a minus, it's impossible to buy a dog with a minus in front of the price (I'm a coder and I know it's a simple piece of HTML to block symbols and letters in the input box), and when you order the dogs into price range all the minus numbers show up first and it takes all day to get to the real prices.

Do not take any of this the wrong way, I just want to explain a few things. -1 actually has a purpose. Many players use it to signal that the dog is for bid. Most of the time, when a dog is for bid, the player isn't sure of a price and wants to see what they can get for it. Or sometimes, it'll be be up for a negative number, with bids blocked. Then the player is just "showcasing it" for the world to see. If you're interested in a dog marked with a negative number, just message it's owner, asking about it. Most of the time they'll be happy to sell it and neogotiate a price. Like you said, this community is great. :P

Sorryunlucky wrote:

 You need a premium account for most things. And all good things are limited. If the game is aimed at kids, realistically they ain't going to buy premium their parents will and most parents are against buying virtual stuff. I know you need to make money off of the game but please remove the limit on the dog breeding it's the only income source I can get while not being a premium member.

I think this is a major way the game makes money. The reason everything is limited is because they want to encourage players to upgrade their accounts. If new players had everything that came with the upgrade, there would be no point in upgrading. I actually find most of their prices fair. 25 USDs for a year upgrade. On other websites, It is 25 dollars for 6 monthes.

Sorryunlucky wrote:

 Also when you click the "Take Next Turn" by accident it's classed as jumping a week ahead when I didn't select a dog as I clicked it by accident.

I was upset about it jumping a week at first, too. But I realized, with how this game works, it would be kind of hard to measure it by the day.

lovefrompaige · August 2011

Frost wrote:

Sorryunlucky wrote:

 Also when you click the "Take Next Turn" by accident it's classed as jumping a week ahead when I didn't select a dog as I clicked it by accident.

 I was upset about it jumping a week at first, too. But I realized, with how this game works, it would be kind of hard to measure it by the day.

I have to say, out of the countless of other dog sim sites I've played (And theres a lot -_-) I love this tool. Everything is ran on RL days which drives me crazy! You're expected to log in EVERYDAY and feed your animals. . . Some people can't do that. My little cousin was down visiting me and we didn't have internet, she was going crazy cause she thought all her horses were going to die lol In my opinion, that tool rocks. Yes, it does suck when you accidentally skip a week and all your dogs age, but thats what boarding kennels are for. You can board your dogs there and they won't age. (: Plus you can take them out at any time and they gain Adaption & Courage points. ^^

FlyTM · August 2011

Sorryunlucky wrote:

 The buying a dog from the kennels is full of dogs for sale with a price like "-1" or another number with a minus, it's impossible to buy a dog with a minus in front of the price (I'm a coder and I know it's a simple piece of HTML to block symbols and letters in the input box), and when you order the dogs into price range all the minus numbers show up first and it takes all day to get to the real prices.

As Frost said players used them for things, I use it so I know that dogs in my kennel are imports as its hard to keep track of them.

Sorryunlucky wrote:

 You need a premium account for most things. And all good things are limited. If the game is aimed at kids, realistically they ain't going to buy premium their parents will and most parents are against buying virtual stuff. I know you need to make money off of the game but please remove the limit on the dog breeding it's the only income source I can get while not being a premium member.

Again the game needs to make money, but I'v found it cheaper than most games I'v played, I paid what 60$ every 3 months for xbl? when I just can pay 32$ or whatever the rate is for me at the time I renew every year to have a sponsor on here... plus I'v found most parents now days do buy stuff like this, or maybe just the people I know who live around me are full into gaming just like me and my set of different games I play. If you want more income ways, you can always do the 3 main easyest thing in the game, "Buy, Neuter, Release." You can always ask a Sponor breeder to breed your dogs also

, you may even find one who would do it for free.

BabyBean13 · August 2011

My mom's kinda against spending real cash to buy virtual things that have no use other than for the game. But she doesn't really care as long as it's my own money that I'm wasting ;P As previously mentioned, upgrades are what bring in the money for game sites -whether it's this game or any other. The perks for upgrades are additional things free accounts can't access -this could be new realms to travel, more kennels, new skills to learn, better items to acquire, etc depending on the game. All it really is, is just encouraging people to give them money XD But hey, a site's gotta run somehow. People are pretty cheap now a days and wouldn't give donations so how can you just rely on giving people everything once they join and hoping they donate? This game is actually great for learning real life skills. How to interact with people, manners, respect, patience, math skills. Can learn about different animals people own, can find posts on the forums that talk about people's problems they're having and either have for future reference or can help you out now if you're going through it -which also allows other people to comment just to support you and try to help, and so many other things. To me that's all a bit more important than upgrading your kennel for whatever perks you're interested in and you get those things absolutely free. Taken for granted really, so this is a moment of appreciation

Upgrades are initially purchased using real money, but that doesn't mean You have to be the one paying it. If you have anything of value to someone who has the means of purchasing things using real money, can get you one with a trade. More often than not someone's auctioning off either an upgrade or a kennel that's already been upgraded. These are usually bought with vpc which means it'll cost loads of vpc but that means you've learned how to Earn it. Some people take trades of gifties (purchased colors that aren't original to the breed) or 10x4s or imports or other things. Things take time. Not to mention some kind-hearted people actually do special events that give you the chance to acquire one for Free. As for taking turns. It does get quite annoying sometimes if you make the mistake of clicking the button, not meaning to. It happens. But I like this system better than real days cuz I hate having to log in Every single day to make sure whatever animal I have stays healthy and not taken away. Which I guess teaches you responsibility as if you were caring for an actual dog but most people with common sense know their animals need to be fed every day >.> (given the exception of certain animals, though very few). Hmm.. I think that's it for now.

PaperWings · September 2011

Sorryunlucky wrote:

You need a premium account for most things. And all good things are limited. If the game is aimed at kids, realistically they ain't going to buy premium their parents will and most parents are against buying virtual stuff. I know you need to make money off of the game but please remove the limit on the dog breeding it's the only income source I can get while not being a premium member.

It isn't just "kids" that play on here, you have to remember that. I know a lot of teens that are working and able to pay their way. Otherwise, they save up money in game through selling drawings, banners, layouts, eventing etc and then buy upgrades from other players with game cash or bid in auctions. And as mentioned, not having full access to game features is an incentive to upgrade. And servers are not cheap these days, especially ones that have to manage high bandwidth, so admin1 and admin2 need to keep the server bills paid. I think not having full access to game features is a good way to join the community, and make friends as you have to ask people for their services or trade. A lot of people, if approached without rudeness, will offer a lot of their services (mainly training/breed) for a reduced price, and even known to do things for free if they think they are really helping a dedicated new player. If you are that into HTML like you said you are, then you should look at the commissions section and see what sort of layouts people are offering and try offer a similar service. People love purchasing things.

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