Additional variant of breeding: setting pairs

This is what I want as well, my #1 solution. I definitely think the current system needs revision, but a fully realistic "only alphas breed" system would be extremely limiting for breeding. I think the best solution is mated pairs - it takes inspiration from wolves' real reproductive system, limits breeding more than free-for-all, and is interesting mechanically. Free-for-all is way too unlimited and just as unrealistic as the current harem system.

I don't think genetic perks are necessary. Isn't the perk being able to breed for free, as opposed to paying a studding fee? Giving a bonus to tier II bases and markings runs the risk of making studding obsolete once players get enough valuable males.

Cooldown for splitting seems fairer than mating for life.

An addendum I'd like to discuss is no-limits studding. By which I mean your stud can be in a pair and still be used as a stud, or a female in a pair can be impregnated by a stud (cheating with a special visitor I guess? lol). That's how I originally envisioned a mated pair system. It offers a little more flexibility, and I think preventing paired females from using studs would just deter pairing. This feels like a balanced choice between breeding your female to her designated partner for free, or your choice of stud for a price. Because the cost is the main deciding factor, right? Extra caveats like her not being able to still use studs feels a little overcomplicated and unnecessary.

I think one of the perks we could consider is maybe any pups from a breeding pair would get a small boost in whatever roles their parents have. It wouldn’t be a huge bonus maybe like 5-10?

support. I will accept restrictions if creators are against allowing us to breed any males.

I've seen a huge increase of just extreme penalties that just seem unecessarily punishing and it makes me not support. a 50 day cooldown is just way too long as well as other penalties I've seen. So due to that and how restrictive and punishing people want it to be it seems, I revoke my partial support.

^ Technically the penalty right now is infinite. XD Having to skip a heat is way more merciful than what we have now and you could still just breed all your females to studs if you want.

@Mossfoot, it doesn't change the fact that there shouldn't be a penalty at all? People are thinking of the proposal the wrong way. Instead of fighting so hard to preserve the current stud market, which is already broken and not very realistic for the structure of wolf packs, we should be looking at this as an entirely new system with no need for punishments or benefits to weight it because by its nature those already exist. 

If you choose to not engage in the stud market at all and only use breeding pairs within your own pack you will be:

1. Limited to breeding wolves that you traded for, befriended or bred yourself. 

2. Likely have trouble maintaining clean bloodlines because it is such a closed network.

3. Potentially be excluded from a lot of rare markings that are easier to buy/breed if you engage in the stud market

4. Be limited in the number of litters you can have because for every breeding female, you will need to give space to a breeding male, and then give MORE space to their puppies. This will severely limit the number of litters/pups you can have. 

Alternatively, the benefits you receive by using breeding pairs will be: 

1. LORE, which is a huge reason so many people are upset with the stud system in the first place.

2. Passing on male genetics/stats!

3. Higher prices for male pups/male wolves in trading market!

4. Not having to pay for a stud every time you want to breed.

And ALL of that is without adding in benefits or penalities. I think these are reason enough for a player to want to engage in BOTH the stud market and the breeding pairs. 

^ Penalties have a realism benefit IMO. If you can break up pairs with no cooldown, then you effectively have unrestricted breeding among the whole pack. You raise a good point about the inherent pros and cons of the two breeding options. I was wondering about a potential situation where late-game players with lots of rare wolves won't really need to use studs anymore, and wondering if that's something the devs want, but you're right that there's still a space cost.

So I think this is an ideal system, with or without breakup penalties. :)

@Mossfoot, I don't think players should feel forced to use the studding system. I can't speak for everyone but having a playstyle shoved at me sucks the fun out of it. For me, changing the current breeding system is about increasing player choice so I disagree with the idea to introduce a system that is just slightly less limiting than what we currently have.

@Mossfoot, thank you!

I'm not up for arguing realism. The game has many unrealistic elements to begin with, so I feel that how real or unreal individuals want to play it should be personal choice. 

As for the late-game players, I believe that rare markings will continue to ebb and flow with trends no matter which system we are on. And the ability to maintain all will be even more limited with breeding pairs (because it takes a lot of space to keep female + male + puppies vs just female + puppies), so there will always be people who want to stud to keep up with trends/keep space for more litters.

This isn't actually my ideal system, unfortunately, and the more penalties that get slapped on it, the less I like it. However, it is ultimately a preferable system to the one breeding male stud system right now as far as I'm concerned! So it has my secondary support!

This is my favorite alternative to the current breeding system that I've seen. It would still leave plenty of options for people who wanted to focus on having and selling puppies by having a pack of all females and breeding them at every available opportunity, but would give a better option for players wanting to have more room for their own lore and roleplaying. I think it would also be really helpful for new players, especially as the game goes on and more and more people have high level studs with tons of markings. I think this method would keep them from getting locked out of the market so badly and allow a less overwhelming method of trying out breeding (there are SO MANY studs on the market and if you don't have a breeding project you're working toward you're shelling out at least 100SC just to get some more pups into your pack). I know I would find it more fun to have mated pairs and only need to go to the stud market when I wanted specific markings, rather than just for the sake of having puppies. I think it would also significantly help the puppy market at the trading center, as there would actually be people interested in buying males. Females will almost certainly always be more valuable, but there's no reason not to give the males a bit of a boost. 

I don't think any perks or penalties would be needed at all. People could just choose the gameplay method they prefer, which would allow for more diversity in breeding projects, what kinds of studs they were looking for, what kinds of puppies people want to buy, and just overall be a healthy boost to the market, I think. The only penalty I think would be needed would be one to allowing you to break up that mated pair. There'd be a lot of options there, from not allowing it at all, or at least not without a heavy price tag (similar to how you can't remove your breeding male without a tough penalty) to just having a cooldown from when you last bred, similar to a female's heat. And I don't think that would be a big deal - if you wanted to breed one male around the pack, rather than go in for mated pairs, that's what the breeding male is for, and that mechanic wouldn't be changed.