Add a Pup/Wolf selling/compensation mechanic [14/12/20 - New Community Suggestion Added]

Hi devs!

My idea stems from the disheartening feeling I and no doubt other players get when you end up having to chase some wolves (mostly pups probably) because you need the den space and they don't quite meet the 'I'll keep you because...' threshold or at worst you need to cut back on the hunger/mood item use...
All those item resources and rollovers invested in the those wolves up until the point of calling it quits and chasing them is ultimately wasted unless you can bypass that choice because you're lucky enough to catch a fellow player's interest in the form of a trade offer or auction. That's why I think the game would benefit from a canon in-game mechanic that will 'buy' or offer something in return for pups/wolves you want to let go of rather than just reverting to chasing or trading with other players.

Just knowing that there is some form of return available would be amazing! It wouldn’t even necessarily have to be SC offered up in exchange for wolves 'sold'. It could be anything from currency to lead/mother wolf exp (rationale: they gotta be strong to let their babies go) , items (think of it like they're coughing up something that you fed them before they leave haha) or even energy regen. Perhaps they could even join the chased wolves in explore after the level 10 cap as well?

A few rollover cooldowns on NBWs or newly traded wolves will hopefully stop people from abusing the selling system but I would keep trading and chasing cooldowns as they are. Or just a cap (like the amount of SC the Racoon has per rollover) on how many wolves you can do this with per rollover would work.

In order for my idea to get added to the game, I think the following will be required from the devs: [artwork], [coding], [writing].

FAVOURED IDEAS UPDATE FROM COMMUNITY INPUT (14/12/20):

1. Suggestion by Lakira:
   What if you could give pups to wolves you meet in explore? Not the 'enemy' ones, the ones you can befriend... There could be limits, like only female wolves taking pup, limits to the amount of pups and so on. Then there would be a chance that the wolf gives you something in return.
   ...
   This would require a bit of [coding], but you might be able to use the acorn-trade mechanic with a drop-down menu?
   You would also need some [writing], but not much.
   Example/Idea: "A friendly wolf appears. She wags her tail and comes up to you. Making friendly small talk she mentions her pack's difficulty having pups. You happen to have to many mouths to feed..."
   With buttons like "Offer pups" which pressed shows a drop-down menu of all your pups, a "Befriend" button that lets you try to befriend as usual, and a "Leave" button when pressed could have some text like "You show your sympathy for her plight, and continue on your way" and takes you on to explore as usual.
   If given pups simple text like "The wolf thanks you profusely, then turns and walks away with the pups trailing happily behind her." Then if you get something just add text like "It seems the wolf left  -insert reward- behind, you might as well take it".
2. Comment from Silverfrost after suggestion by Lakira:
   Perhaps the pups you give away can pop up in explore later. It would be a lot better than puppies disappearing into nothingness. 
3. Suggestion by Websteak & DogBlud:
    Add another NPC (like the quest snake) who - once per day - would ask the user to deliver a puppy to an adoptive family. The adoptive wolf/wolves are picky, though, and are looking for a specific trait. Examples could include a particular base, marking, number of markings, eye color, certain stat, anything! It would have to be made be very clear that the wolf will not come back to your pack to avoid people accidentally giving a desired wolf.
   I would say 'small amount of SC' should be for the default forfeiture of a pup while this 'desired pup adoption' should reward a more substantial amount equivalent to the Quest Snake. Chances are, people are going to feel compelled to give up a pup they really wanted to make ends meet if they're low on SC. May as well make the reward closer to what the Quest Snake doles out if you're able to fill the 'order,' with items/etc tacked on if you meet additional trait requests with a single pup.
   

   What happens to the wolf after is up to the players! Lives a happy life in another pack? Sacrificed to the RNGeities? Sent off to a human genetic testing lab? Goes on an epic adventure? Eaten by the snake? Who knows!
   Another option would be to "Ssssshow me a wolf" and you could get the option of whether or not to let it go with the snake.

   
   

I really like this idea. The market is kind of wild right now as everyone tries to figure out the value of everything, and while I'm sure it will stabilize in future, right now it's really hard for me to get rid of wolves without chasing them. Even if the compensation was small I'd love to have a mechanic like this!

I think it would also help clean up the market a bit. There are some wolves that no one really wants, and it would be a good way to remove them from the economy.

I like the fact that we can chase NBW in just a couple hours, personally- but I would love this even if the compensation was strictly for bred wolves/pups, and didn't include NBW. That would prevent people from abusing the mechanic in that way but still have some sort of benefit for those pups lost to the void. 

I really like this idea. I like befriending wolves to see their stats, but I sell them low on the trading center because not that many people are interested in NBWs.

Yes please! The trade center is filled with pups and nbws that no one wants.

I think having extra cooldown time for nbw is fine. Maybe 1-3 rollovers? 

I absolutely do not want to wait any amount of roll-overs to chase claimed wolves with low stats.  Two hours is long enough.  If they added a third option with benefits it should be restricted to pups or wolves with heritage.  

i would love to have an option like this. i end up breeding a lot of pups that i dont want, and no one else does either. and i dont have enough room in my den or time in my LIFE to raise all of them all the way to adulthood, train up their stats to make them more sellable, and THEN hopefully get like 70 sc out of it. its just not worth it. it always feels like such a waste to even bother breeding.

i'd love to get SC out of chasing a wolf. but i'd also be perfectly happy with something like. a 15% chance to get food or amusement items for chasing a wolf. and i think placing a cap on the number of wolves you can do this with per day or extending the cooldown for NBW and traded wolves would also suit me just fine, since otherwise i tend to wait days before selling wolves in the trading center anyway.

In flight rising, throwing your unwanted babies into the void gave every player in your "clan" bonuses if yours did it more than any other clans per month. i know that "clans" in this game aren't implemented (yet), and even if/when it is, it wont work the same way as in Flight Rising. but that could also be a fun way of going about it.

sounds good.

I've seen lots of pet sites offer ways to get rid of dragons no one wants with compensation- usually a small bundle of currency that usually is less than what you would get for a sale or anything else- and I think that would work here nicely.

Sometimes these sites try and upgrade the payoff for more levels or stats, which would be fine but certainly not needed.

I think best would be a payout of a random small selection of toys/food/herbs/etc like 1 or 2, and definitely not enough to make the wolves a more profitable means of getting those items but certainly doesn't make chasing feel like a dead-end option either.

A baseline of sc or items or something for wolves you're getting rid of would also help keep the wolf market from tanking completely to 0, because you know that, if nothing else, that wolf you're selling is at least worth x amount. I think keeping this feature to pups & adols only would discourage 'abuse' from NBWs far better than any rollover limits might.