I am absolutely against nicknames because, after thinking it over, I realized that no one would be truly happy. On paper it sounds like an excellent compromise, but in practice it wouldn't change anything- tbh, it might even end up making things worse for the pet community.

You might have Steve, but you wouldn't be happy because there's another Steve that's more special than yours, by virtue of being the "original". It brings to mind a quote from an old book I read... "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others."

Is that really the direction we want to go with pet names?

If a pet is special, it should be due to the effort its owner put into it, not because of a name, or because they're the "original". That kind of thing only breeds drama between users. (complaints of hoarding names, begging people for their petnames, etc etc....) Just get rid of it all, go with non-unique so everyone has a truly equal opportunity to create their dream pets/characters.

I was super excited months ago to see staff were in favour of non-unique names. Started making plans with how I'd like pets and would have been more than happy spending CSC on pet slots and to work on pets. Seeing as it's most likely going to be just a nickname system, eh, I think I'll just pass and be part of the population that logs in once a year to keep my original names. I'll stick around and see if there's a poll or if they decide something else, but I just think nicknames, as others have said are convoluted and don't really solve much. One of the issues I have is making pets as tributes to the actual pets I've had. Even though I could have any name and then just nickname my cat Harriet, it would just be much simpler to name her Harriet at the start. I don't feel like thinking of a bunch of words or whatever to associate with my pet just to nickname her with what I actually want her to be. And once you've gone through the process of finding name after name after name is taken by someone else, you just give up even trying to find words or names for that pet you had ideas for. And I hate having numbers or random letters thrown into a name to make it work and a nickname system is not going to change that. I get it, some people love trying to make things work with finding words or alternate spellings of names for their characters, but I don't. I hate it. I tried one name clearing and I'll never do that again, it was too stressful and I didn't even get the name. Not worth it. Tried an alternate name when I lost the clearing battle and hated it so I pounded the pet. Nicknames aren't going to solve any of that for me, sorry. If the original name is unsatisfactory then covering it up with a nickname isn't really going to fix that, for me at least.

And if we're talking CSC purchases here, let's go back to my example with my tribute pet Harriet. If I were able to get the name I want without a convoluted system in place, I would: 1.) Spend money to buy a pet slot or name change an existing pet 2.) Spend money on an Angelic potion 3.) Either directly pay an artist or buy CSC for an overlay 4.) Spend sP on TC slots (meaning spending time on the site to get more sP or buying CSC to sell for sP, which I have done) 5.) Plus any TC items that cost CSC or high amounts of sP to obtain (gives me a goal to work towards, thus spending more time on the site)

And that's just one pet, I have had quite a few IRL pets I would love to make into tribute pets. Plus fan pets for games I love...

TL;DR: I really want to get into the pet aspect of this site, that and the wardrobe are what drew me in here in the first place, but I'm honestly losing more and more interest. Hearing staff in support of non-unique pet names piqued my interest again. The proposed nickname system has lost that interest.

So, I was on Dappervolk for a few hours and they also have non-unique pet names, and I think I've got warm with the Idea. I was one of the people who have been ABSOLUTELY against it, but to see what other people do with names I also own, kinda made me happy and inspired me.

So Subeta Staff, u have my blessing, go for it :P

Whatever staff chooses to do with the pet name situation, I wish they'd just make a decision and implement it. Please. It has now been half a year since staff first committed to making changes.

The US is about to go into another lockdown if current trends continue, and most people will have a LOT of time on their hands - time they could be investing here if they had a reason. If Dappervolk has taught me anything in its short time open to the public, it's that pet sites aren't dead. They can still draw in new users (and profits) if implemented correctly.

Keep coming back to this topic to see if there was some sort of news from staff. Sad to see how this matter (and Pets in general imo) is treated tbh...

This.

I was kinda on the fence about this until I read this point from you. I've had the privilege of unique names for years. However I think now it's time to move on and let new players make their own characters and have good names too.

I was initially against the idea of making pet names non-unique. I like my unique names, and feel happy that I came up with them/found they were free/have them. I've thought a bit about it and I see that there are a lot of people for this idea and that it would reignite their interest in the pet aspect of the site. I think that's more important, than wanting names to stay unique because I (or anyone else) don't want other pets to also have those names. I agree a lot with the idea that the other parts of the pet also make it unique, not just the name. And it could be interesting to see what direction others take on a pet with the same name as mine, if anyone were to take them. It will be the same to me if unique names stay, so I am more trying to reconcile myself with this change which I expect will probably happen based on the energy in this thread and staff responses (and agree would be better for the site overall).

As for differentiating originals and "copy" pets, I wonder what would be a good choice. An icon next to the name or something was mentioned, which could be neat. But ideally it would have to be something simple that won't clash with any profile aesthetics, like the text heart to like a pet. Everything else on the standard profile is text, except the gender icon and the stat bars. You can hide the stats if you want or change the styling, and the gender icon has some presets to choose from. So I feel it would be tough to pick one thing that would appeal to everyone or at least not ruin anything. I guess if you can hide it it doesn't matter (depends on if it would count as misrepresenting the pet). I would enjoy something here that wasn't so minor as to be pointless (like changing the url from /pets/petname to users/pets/petname), but not so big and cool that it would still make having a unique pet name more desirable than a copy (ie making a "copy" shouldn't still be an inferior choice). I guess maybe just some text under it like Original would work (Similar to the "(Legacy)" text old pets have). Any choice made should not reinforce the idea of unique names as more desirable, but just show the difference as a neat little thing, or fall away if the pet is adopted out like the Legacy text does.

I don't like the nickname idea as a compromise, I don't see that as a replacement for non-unique names at all. It would either have to be restricted to certain pages (like an overlay on the petpage vs. one you pay to have visible everywhere), or cover up the real name everywhere. The former scenario still also makes having the unique name much more desirable. The latter, well, why not just fully implement non-unique names instead? What's the point? If it's to appease those of us who wanted unique names to stay, I wouldn't feel like I still had my unique name at that point if it wasn't clearly visible in some way (For scenario 1 It would also feel weird seeing "my" petname some places but not everywhere, on another pet). As a side feature it could be fun, however, like a changable nickname you could put into your petname anywhere (in quotes), or one that would only be visible on the pet's leash or profile (maybe under the real name as well). Some characters have more names after all (not sure if people would use this feature, but since you can't mispresent the pet's name some might?)

Another thing I thought of, this might open the door more to choosing "non-desirable" names, such as very long ones, weirdly spelled words or names with numbers or punctuation in it. People have mentioned that picking a name like this often means you couldn't get the name you wanted (and implying that other people will definitely see it as such, which I think is true). If names were non-unique, anyone with a name like this would choose it intentionally for aesthetic or other reasons (like the character's name is literally just a number, for instance). I think we might see more creative names (another thing is it's a different thing to seeing that the name you wanted is taken by one pet, as opposed to 50 pets, which might also spur more creativity in names).

A bit long, but this is a big topic with a lot to discuss. In short I am mostly for this idea now, don't like the idea of nicknames as a compromise/replacement, and am curious what choice will be made in differentiating "original" pets from "copy" pets.

I absolutely think marking the "Original" pet is a really good compromise for unique vs. non-unique pet names, honestly. Let the people who had to fight for names feel special (And I sure wouldn't mind having a little award for having had to wander around the city looking for Wi-Fi for one of my pet names hehe) while still letting everyone have the names they like

Because it was easy to miss:

From here.

So that's exciting!

Waiting with baited breath on the update. I hope it's a good solution / compromise.

Might be after the fact, but I've just recently made a "new" pet (my active), and it completely reignited my desire to actively play the site. I had something to work on, and it's on the exact name I wanted to use. Now I'm committed to filling out this pet's TC, raising its stats, all that. Not sure I'd have spent money on a subscription otherwise. It's dripped into me working on my existing pets, too.

If someone had created this name already, I'd have written it off as a lost cause and just gone about checking the news once or twice a day. The pet aspect of this site has been sidelined for longer than it hasn't been, and I think we need all the modern improvements we can get. Unique names were a product of their time- coming from sites like neopets (a real bastion of modernity, I tells ya) that have bustling back markets for pet names. Then you turn around and look at sites like Dappervolk, which I've been sinking almost all of my time into since opening, and it's been so fun for me to name my pets whatever strikes my fancy. I can name pets after the entire elder futhark, because nothing is barring me from doing that.

Basically, give us an incentive to use the site. Letting me give my pets their truly intended names is what will open my wallet. Just sayin.

I'm really excited to see how this turns out! I am really looking forward to potentially having all my rl birds on here.

I used to play a pet site, I can't recall its name, and all pets were identified by their ID number. The owners however, could name their pet whatever they wanted. The owner could even have all their pets named the same, and nobody was ever upset. I remember feeling relieved that i could name my pets whatever i wanted even if the name wasn't unique.

Better have the name i want even if there are 100 others with the same name (in real life is the same) than having to think of roundabouts with weird spellings or who knows what else..

Very very excited to see the news for this!

I haven't been keeping track of this. I'm very quiet and hate making waves. But I do have feeling about this. Tbh I've spent soooo much real money on name changes and swaps that hearing that it might be for nothing is really upsetting. I hope I didn't just throw all of that time and money away all for nothing.

I feel like those who come from the perspective of someone who doesn't spend their own money on this feature should not really have a say in it. Imagine giving me enough money to name change over 50 names (more than likely) and I'll just walk away and you get nothing out of it and tell me how u feel. :( shrugs I hope that the site is able to evolve in a way that doesn't feel like they are punishing old users who helped support the site financially and can still make things fun for everyone. I'm not looking to debate, I understand everyone has their opinion. :( just airing my feelings

The important thing to remember is that it wasn't for nothing. If you spent money on changing names, then you did it so that you could get some benefit out of it from that time on. We may think that "from that time on" equates to "forever", but it really doesn't. I don't think anyone actually believes this site will last forever, so there was always going to be a time when the money you spent on this site would no longer mean anything. It's just that that time may be coming up sooner than previously expected, and for a different reason.

It's the same with anything you spend money on. If you went to a concert and bought premium tickets and enjoyed yourself, and then found out that the next year the same band was giving away free tickets to their next concert, would you feel like you had been cheated out of your money the year before? Hopefully not. You received the experience you paid for.

However, if this is implemented, I think there should be some sort of opportunity to refund people who just spent money changing names they didn't have to, like say, in the last week/month. I know I would be upset if I had just done a name swap and then learned the next day that name swaps were meaningless. Depending on how non-unique names may be implemented, Keith and the gang should make sure to implement some sort of fair price difference exchange for people in that situation. Watching how they're handling the whole gold account subscription thing, I hope that they learn from that and have a plan in place beforehand.

I have spent an embarrassing amount of money naming and renaming my pets over the years, but that doesn't mean I have more right to the names I own than anyone else. It simply means that I got to enjoy them for a time, and when that time is over, I'll probably spend my money on something else. There's always something that can be worked on.

I have spent a bit for name changes over the past few years, yet in ways, I would welcome this since I would always love to finally have my OG's name. I have her name in Japanese - Kuroe but would be lovely to have her English name.

Also have had luck in catching pet clearings, locating names available to retake (was surprised to find Maryland not retaken) or finding pets in the pound I had kept tabs on prior.

As lovely as some misspellings are, there are certain names I would want for the actual name. Such as in case as my father's name who recently passed - I located the female version Dannielle in the pound but I would want either Daniel or Dan like how I have the welsh version of Margaret for my mum.

A few names, yes, I kind of want to have the only one on site - in sample, Jenni. Mainly cause she is a memorial pet and I really wouldn't want to see another person running around with a pet named Jenni - this person was my best friend and sister for most of my life and it's one I sort of want to keep to myself but I can't stop someone else from wanting that name and to be honest, most of the names, I wouldn't mind if someone else had - would be nice to see what ideas folks invent for certain names.

I do hope this idea goes through, it's bad enough having to suffer finding nice names on a few other sites, would be nice to have something different here.

I'm interested to know what the final verdict will be, and glad to know we'll have an answer one way or another within a week. Regardless of which direction the site decides to go, I hope it's one that'll help the site grow.

I hope it's the choice where I stay, but if not it's been a ride and I'll cherish the friendships I've made.

I'm also very curious of the possibility of a pet council and what that might lead to. There's so many avenues for pets here; those who park OCs, fanpets, memorials, users who favor the spotlight, artists, people who create programming sorcery, it goes on. The potential for input and suggestions is endless and so many little things that could go for miles.

The pet community has been severed and disjointed for years (the only active boards are really those involving pet names and spotlight) and whatever happens I hope it helps bring people together if nothing else.

I'm also someone who has spent real money on name changes and pet slots here, and I think it would be wildly unfair to only let people who have spent cash to weigh in on this. I'm hoping for some change around here that can benefit the entire community, including us who have spent money on this feature, but also other people who put tons of hours into Subeta who care just as much about it even if they don't have $ to spend on it. I agree with Kniga, this money hasn't been wasted because we've played this site for years and enjoyed it. Imagine not spending money on it over the past dozen years because we knew it could one day change maybe? It's tough to face change head on, but we should remind ourselves that just because it's been one way for a long time and just because we've spent money on something, doesn't mean it should stay the same forever. Especially when there are improvements and progress to be had. :)

Besides, it's not like we are losing the pet names we have. If this change goes thru, nothing really changes for our current pet setup. I personally don't feel a sense of loss here.