Checking Interest for a Traveling Pet Game ^^

auvember • 1 day ago

If this goes in a different forum, sorry, I wasn't totally sure.

Long story short, I have pulled so many Ajanoids from the cave it's not even funny. I currently have ten (Ten!) extra Ajanoids, not counting the two I decided to keep for myself. At first I was irritated, but the more I looked at them the more enamored I get.

First, they're super cute. Second, their lore is adorable too - they wander all over, exploring various places with wonder. Little baby explorer rocks.

Thus it occurred to me a traveling pet game, similar to ones I've seen on other pet sites, might be fun to do, and lore-accurate to boot!

Basically, one (or maybe multiple) Ajanoid would be the traveler, being sent between accounts and equipped with a new travel at each stop. The eventual goal would be to collect every travel 😊

I suppose it might work something like this. People who want to participate would submit their names to a list. When you receive the Ajanoid, you give it a new travel, and then keep it on your account for a set time (maybe 24 hours? maybe longer?), and then transfer it to the next player on the list. You could resubmit your name to the list after a certain amount of people, so you could host the Ajanoid more than once. Optionally there could be a sort of "story" part where people could write what the Ajanoid does in their new location.

After all travels are collected, the Ajanoid could be given away in a raffle, using the list of names as tickets.

The main issue with this idea is the possibility of the traveler being stolen, since nothing stops someone from just keeping it. I'm optimistic most people would adhere to the honor system though, and the fact that it would be very shamefully obvious who swiped it would be a disincentive to anybody else. I'm also willing to restart the game with a new Ajanoid if it does happen.

Please let me know if there's any interest in this game or not! This is the type of game that is most fun with a lot of people, so I think I won't start it if only a handful of people are interested. Also let me know if you have any idea or criticisms! Thank you 😊

Pinging some people I've seen active around the site, sorry if this isn't your interest:
@snowywinter @gngdia @merit @ravensong @minnie298a @rainbow @heatherm19 @myriadium @lexian @kataclysm

Please feel free to ping your friends too!

lexian • 1 day ago

@auvember That actually sounds like it could be kinda Fun - I can imagine as a little added bit of fun/storytelling Folks could edit the Ajanoid's Creature description to note it reached 'Such and such's Cove' where it observed some 'Swirling Moons' etc 🤔 (Just a thought though, don't let me overcomplicate things haha) 😅👍

myriadium • 1 day ago

@auvember ooh i think this is a fun idea! i rlly like the idea of a community writing up a description story for the ajanoid!

ravensong • 1 day ago

@auvember - I know of a creature that hopped from user to user and different users added different stuff to the profile and whatnot!

cranberrycat1 • 1 day ago

@auvember this sounds like a fun game! I would love to participate if enough people want to play it 😊

snowywinter • 1 day ago

Ooh! we've had a few forum games like this in the past.

And I've had a lot of fun participating in a couple

the only problem is is eventually someone comes along and either intentionally keeps it for themself, or goes on hiatus from the game and doesn't bother to pass it along.

I actually ran across the one of them recently and honestly it was a mix of happy and sad emotions. I was glad to see it was still alive at least.

Nothing against new players but my advice is only let people participate who have been here at least a few months or show they have a good grasp of doing trasfers reliably. AND once it's immortal & has a fair number of entries, start only letting people who have already participated play or have good standing in the community. When people show up out of the blue when the project has been going on for a few months already, that's ususlly when the creature is taken for keeps.

Hoping this project can keep going for a while if it happens! Really wishing it luck. All the ones in my time here didn't last long. But There was one before me that went on for about two years (I think that one was a feeding and toys projects.) I participated in one with travels, and I think there was another with poems that I was following along with the thread (but couldn't ever think of my own entry.)

(edit: hee ^^ I naturally gravitated to this thread. I didn't even know I got pinged. I appreciate it though.
Do pings work after the fact? They never used to, then they did, then they didn't. I'm out of the loop I haven't tried so long. Wonder if @jarsha might be interesed. @highfiveguy? @daisycat
Wish I had time to go find the old threads to see who participated in those old games, who's still active, etc. ...and a "banned" list of those who kept the creatures for keeps before the projects wrapped.

Also, might I also suggest, if people want to use a Cash Shop travel to add to the Ajanoid's collection, it can be up to their discretion to send it off with a regular travel that has already been used before?)

merit • 1 day ago

I love this idea! Absolutely sign me up to participate 🪨

daisycat • 1 day ago

@auvember
Such a great idea and use for your overabundance of Ajanoids!
I'd love to participate when / if it happens. :-)

I did this for my guild a while back. The creature acted as a yearbook and guild members passed the creature along, each person writing their own blurb in the profile. There was the expected issue of some users taking a bit of time to accept the transfer and / or send the creature to the next person. But, with it being expected, some grace is given.

I think starting with one Ajanoid would be good, but starting with more than one would be less wait time! However, if there's two or three sign-up sections / lists of users for two or three creatures, there is the possibility that the user may look at the list for the wrong creature and send it to the wrong person. Maybe each Ajanoid's profile could make very clear at the top which one they are. Maybe the names of the creatures too, but only if you'd want a naming convention.

Edit: Thank you for the ping, @snowywinter! I did not get notified for it, but I do see it. < 3

mildred • 1 day ago

On my side to bump the topic for visibility AND I figured I should also link the forum post of how I organized the creature transfer event as an example.

stormwarden • 1 day ago

ooh i love this idea so much!! 😃 it reminds me of a story i read of social media somewhere of a plushie traveling the world and getting souvenir pics and whatnot XD would def be down to participate ❤️

gngdia • 1 day ago

Thanks for the ping! I'd love to be part of this, it's a nice idea!

auvember • 20 hours ago

I'm very pleased with the positive response from everyone! I guess that means I should start writing everything up for it!

@lexian @myriadium @ravensong I think it would be great if people left a little piece of story on the creature's page! I want to include that as an optional but encouraged part of the game 😊

@snowywinter Your advice is very good, I think an account age-limit would reduce the risk of players quitting without warning and leaving the creature on their account. Perhaps a 3 month age requirement would be suitable?
Having more quality standards when the Ajanoid is immortal would be wise too, though I am not sure how to measure it. Maybe you would need a vote of confidence from two/three active players to join?
If you ever find any lists of banned players that would be helpful too ^^
Also, I'm not familiar with cash shop travels, are they not included in a creature's item collection? When I check a creature, currently there are 1,900 travel agency items possible to use, do Cave Cash items not show up in that list?

@daisycat Honestly if I was confident I could organize it nicely I'd send out all ten of the Ajanoids at once! Thinking about a little swarm of Ajanoids wandering "around the site" so speak is such a cute image. Alas, practicality reigns, that would be far too chaotic. In the meantime, I think perhaps starting with one Ajanoid and then phasing in additional ones later might be the best idea. Currently I've randomly named them with weird/rare words, so they're fairly recognizable, if not thematic.

@cranberrycat1 @merit @stormwarden @gngdia and everybody else, thank you for the interest! When I officially launch it I will ping everybody who posted here wanting to join 😊 If anybody else wants to be pinged, please go ahead and post!

lexian • 20 hours ago

I can't wait! 😄

snowywinter • 18 hours ago

@auvember I was thinking four months, but 3 sounds fair.
Overall it's more of a word of caution for expectations. There really should be more a focus on the fun of what the project can be, and lots of new players turn out to stick around. (I wouldn't want new players feeling left out and excluded, but at the same time, just wanted to give a heads up that it has happened before when one would be like "oh, me next!" then just *poof!*)

While we're still passing the creature around I don't think there's anything wrong with being a bit more careful when the creature has gained more stats, items, stories... but if interest is starting to wane, I see nothing wrong if we as a group decide that it can go to a more permanent home (and if that happens to be a newerish player, that's okay.) - just not if someone comes along with dishonest intentions and claims it.
(or maybe we could hold a raffle among those that participated?)

But I digress, biggest point in the reply - the use of Cash Shop travels.
They do show up in the items used lists. (exception to items used before the lists were implemented.)
My point was more along the lines that people with the CSt most likely aren't going to want to send them with the creature because of the expense and rarity. (Just dawned on me that you may not be aware they are reusable. They are.) They're most likely going to want to take it off and keep it for themselves as opposed to gifting it to the next player, or worse, it gets destroyed when the next travel is added. (I actually forget if it gets destroyed, or if it comes off automatically. or If it needs to be removed manually like other travels. Been so long since I changed one out.)
So why then would someone use one then you ask? To help add to the traveling Ajanoid's collection of course. and Have a story to go along with it too. : )

auvember • 11 hours ago

@snowywinter Right, I agree with you. I'm going into this with tempered expectations for "success" as in the Ajanoid completing all the travels, but I think it can still be a lot of fun in the meantime. Hopefully if we include a few small limits on participation we can prevent both accidental and intentional keeping of the Ajanoid to some extent, while still keeping it open and fun for everyone!

For the end of the journey, I think a raffle would be ideal, among all the people who participated. Whether that is when all travels are collected (a huge task!) or when there isn't as much enthusiasm or interest anymore, either is fine 😊

As for Cash Shop travels, I understand now! I do know that they are reusable, but it slipped my mind since I just haven't ever used one, so I was thinking about it wrong. If a player wants to use a cash shop travel, that seems fine, they could just take it off and have the creature travel-less when they go to the next player. Since that person will be equipping a new travel right away, it seems pointless to add one that will get covered up immediately anyway. Unless I'm missing something about the mechanics of it still ^^'

snowywinter • 11 hours ago

@auvember
I'm lmbo. I was having a derp moment and thinking the creature couldn't be sent along without a travel >.< (like site mechanics impossible.) (I think my own inclination to have it not be in a blank white void was taking over my line of thinking.)

I'd be fine though if someone else opted to not send it with another travel after using a CS one though.

minervaandmars • 2 minutes ago

I would also love to play this! I love the idea of a community story for it as well. 😊