hold on new traits - what do y'all think?

[Illuminatra Resident]

(10-27-2014 03:19 AM)Kayleigh McMillan Wrote:  I'm all for boutique kitties!
They are fun to make but at the current market mindset better to hoard.
At least that is what I do with my TLC kitties.
I don't like some calculator marks my hard work down to the point it is not even funny anymore.
Some projects take ages: wrong genders, kitties which refuse to listen and all ;-)

I think though and mainly hope the future of KittyCatS! will indeed be boutique kitties gosh I'd love to buy and maybe even sell them.

I agree with this reply to the fullest extent. Listen, I'm ALL for having the most recessive traits/furs, but I think the true beauty to being a breeder is by making something that you can truly call your own. It takes JUST AS MUCH work to make a couture kitty as it does to make the most recessive. As Kayleigh stated, you're constantly having to wait for the correct genders, etc. It's a pain in the arse, but it's so worth it when you finally get what your heart desires.

As far as too many new traits... I can't really comment on this. I haven't tried pulling new traits/furs, because I'd rather just buy them but I think I may try just to see what I get/if I get anything. I will say that I was quite surprised to see so many discoveries back to back. It was a lot of fun reading what everyone was finding. Awesome work everyone!

I don't want to be that girl, but y'all ... Instead of worrying so much about the future, just enjoy the now. You will never be 100% prepared for what's to come, so just enjoy KittyCatS! & SL while they're still around. Yes, things have slowed down significantly, but if it's hurting you just cut back a little bit. This is supposed to be fun for us, we shouldn't be stressing out over SL!

Wishing you all the utmost positivity & love!

-Lumi

[doubledareme Resident]

Its not about new traits coming out its about retiring the old traits. The new traits would be valuable and the older once collectable if they would retire them after 18 months. They need to think recycle. There are too many traits because they don't do this. Its not because they bring new ones out..that keeps it exciting.

Thats just what I think...

[Kendrah Vantelli]

(10-26-2014 05:20 AM)Dimpz Morane Wrote:  

(10-26-2014 04:18 AM)Icestron Resident Wrote:  I would like to suggest that there be no more new traits for a while - and would like to know what the wider community thinks of this?..

Hello Icestron

Good topic discussion to be held here.

I love new traits, so always welcome them. Its been a looooooooooooooooooong time since we had new traits, so they can be expected now at Halloween, Xmas and in the new year with the Valentine and Easter Collections.

So my answer is we have had such a long hold already. We need new traits to freshen up the secondary market.

I so agree, it's been a SUPER LONG SUMMER with nothing new and it's time to let the NEW traits flow and please Retire a lot of the Older Traits. I think everyone is excited and looking forward to some NEW STUFF to breed out.

[Tad Carlucci]

At least, make sure that the number of trait values retired equals the number of trait values introduced.

Otherwise, the odds of a Starter containing a new value drop.

With Fur and Eyes, people seem to be relatively happy when Starters select from a set of about 40 values. But it only takes a few cycles introducing 6 and only retiring 3 for the odds to drop off sufficiently for people to start feeling discouraged.

I'm not saying this isn't what they've been doing, just observing that it's what they should be doing.

Remember, though, that we're only talking about Starters, here. While retiring trait values can have an immediate (psychological) effect upon market valuation, it takes quite a bit longer to have a significant effect upon breeding results.

[Quantic Kimono]

well, from 12 starters I had at least 4 new eyes in 3 weeks. To me this shows that one has at least 1/3 chance of getting something new (considering that I have not found not even 1/4 of my starters traits). By reading the comments, probably I should be happy with it? :-s

[Aubreygrace Starlight]

Quantic idk about that LOL out of like 20 halloween cats i have only gotten 2 new traits. But I am happy with what i have because i did get a new breed and new eyes but I ams tll continuing to see what else may be hidden behind the starters. New traits are for fun and thats why breed, for fun

[Kayleigh McMillan]

Starters are fun!!!
Exclusive special edition traits even more, thank you Kittycats :-))

[Easnadh Swansong]

(11-06-2014 11:54 AM)Kayleigh McMillan Wrote:  Starters are fun!!!
Exclusive special edition traits even more, thank you Kittycats :-))

Agree. Starters are fun to breed with to try and discover what they are hiding. Of course having them hide and pass on traits you don't already have in your collection of boxes is a nice bonus.

[Draven Schapire]

As much as I enjoy getting new traits, I'm never fortunate enough to be in the "first run" of people who get them and usually end up buying the ones I like once the market is flooded with them and the bottom drops out. What gets my money is the boutique cats... my friends will tell you I'll go to a market or auction hunting a specific cat for a breed, and end up bringing home something I didn't need at all because OMG SO PRETTY!

I agree with equalizing the new traits with the retired ones. I've heard quite a bit over the past year people saying "I just can't keep up, there is too much new stuff to follow." I think the problem for me is they all hit close together... we have Halloween and Christmas cats followed pretty closely by the Valentines and Spring/Easter ones, then a long spell of nothing where those of us burnt out by the onslaught of LE starters fall back and regroup, and everyone else complains there's nothing new lol. Maybe spreading them out more would help, and not release *so many* at one time. (I also wondered if they were running out of ideas... I mean Odyssey FrazzyWave? Just how many whisker shapes can you invent? For the record I love them, but you see my point I hope.)

In summary, not fewer new traits, just fewer at once, and maybe spread out a bit more over the year so there's less market fallout (and breeder burnout). And retired ones equal to new ones. Just my 2 cents :^)

[Tad Carlucci]

One thing you have to remember is how new trait discovery works.

Step 1) Someone at KittyCats smashes the Enter key, committing the new traits to the database. This is the ONLY point at which KittyCatS has any control. They choose how many new traits to commit, and the rules (that as, the dominance, and whether only in Specials, or in normal starters as well).

Step 2) People purchase the starters, or Specials, which MIGHT contain the new traits.

Step 3) People breed those starters.

The timing as to WHEN those new traits appear is NOT under the control of KittyCatS. It depends, somewhat, upon luck. But luck mainly determines WHO finds those traits. The main determining factors are how many starters are purchased, in total; how many an individual purchases, and the breeding style chosen by each individual.

Assuming everyone, on average, breeds randomly (which is not that bad an assumption, given there are about 30,000 breeders of widely varying knowledge, skills, and time commitments) we should expect about 1/4 of the new traits to be discovered in the first generation, and an additional 1/4 of those not-yet-discovered to appear in each succeeding generation.

So, when asking KittyCatS to slow down on the RATE of new trait discovery, what you're asking is for them to break up the Special Collection (even if it's not apparent to us).

But, then, the complaints would be that the "really good stuff" was NOT AVAILABLE to those who purchased early (that is, before Halloween) as opposed to those to waited to the end (say, a month later, on the last day the Halloween Specials were available).

Personally, I'd rather see complains about too many (a valid comaplaint), too quickly (not valid), than (valid) complaints about bias against early adopters.