Like already said here, unfortunately (and I emphasize this word) the greater internet as we know is dwindling. it's not appealing to the coming generations, like pet sites, forums and blogs... they don't have the features the younger look for to pass the time (apparently, sketchy mobile apps and big console/pc games streaming). in general, a smaller number here may be better for the site to run smoothly, but I do miss the heyday of these places, with lots of users online. it felt like... arriving at a party? lol.

but I don't know, i'm older now, I like a quiet place, a friendly community, so I like it here. i just don't know how long we can still expect to have it, and i feel kinda weird and sad about it.

so I'm staying here and will be faithful for a while longer.

Reddit is so corporate and yet so subversive, I wouldn't want Subeta to have a "strong" presence there. You'll never convince me half of the really "active people" on Reddit aren't bots nowadays.

I think 1,000 concurrent players would be amazing. I want to say it was averaging 900 when I first joined..I think? May be rose-colored glasses. I KNOW there were at least 600 10+ years ago.

Subeta has never been nostalgic in itself for me. I found Subeta when I got nostalgic for Neopets. But as anyone who played NeoPets back in the day knows, it's been crap ever since it got sold the first time. (I was Googling and apparently the new owners made a bunch of half-assed NFTs? And their Cakeworthy collab was just stupid, it was promoting nostalgia using NEW art! Pointless! And tried way too hard to be edgy. Clearly a bunch of kids faking a retro aesthetic without understanding its soul.) Ahem.

I always come back to Subeta because it is the only truly successful pet site.

Not gonna lie, I saw that "Your Neopets are Still Alive" shirt with the second wave art before the dressup and seriously wanted one.

I think a lot of the reason there isn't many people actively playing is because the site itself hardly seems active. There doesn't seem to be anything to get excited about - things are supposedly in the works for years now but it's so slowgoing it may as well not exist. Teahouse? Pet profile update? New subeta? sure... Excitement fizzles out to the point where it's possible that something isn't even going to happen anymore.

There's never anything going on outside of the usual holidays. Silence, new items paired with a holiday, silence, items and a holiday, silence, rinse and repeat, etc etc. No idea what other people spend time on here doing from day to day. Questing? Making an avatar? Idk. But I guess that suits an aging userbase that equally doesn't have as much time to spend here as they did when they were teenagers. Still, slow as progress is I can't help but wonder if subeta will live to see a full transition to the new site.

My favorite part of subeta is and will always be the super customizable pet profiles. I spend a lot of time getting new pets, tinkering with css and making new profiles. I don't know any other place where I can create entire pages from scratch for my characters. When I get a new pet I'm glued to the site as I work on bringing everything together, and much of what I do on here now is basically solo play so I'm not in the forums as much as I used to be.

Am I happy with the number of users on here? Not really, as I watch them dwindle severely over the past decade. Do I think that subeta is robust enough to handle even twice as many users at this point? No, not really. Site starts bugging out (like it is now) and I leave, like I'm sure many others do. I hop over to a site that has 3k more people online and no shortage of things to do... while wistfully refreshing my subeta tab in hopes that it'll finally load. That says something, not sure what exactly, about the love for subeta that active players still have.

Honestly, I do miss the "good old days" on subeta. I remember getting on and regularly seeing 700-1400 users online, on an average day. Now outside of holidays, it dwindles around 300-500.

I never actually engaged TOO much. Making friends online, even when I was younger, was pretty much relegated to chatrooms if I managed it at all. But I lurked enough to keep in touch with the various comings and goings, and especially the juicy, juicy drama threads. If anything, I'm just upset that it feels like an era slowly, achingly coming to a close. An era I don't really like the idea of ending.

If/When New Subeta comes around, coding nightmare that it seems to be, I honestly hope it manages to breathe new life into the site. It'll be irritating to deal with newer fans, but again. I don't interact much in the first place.

Honestly, I do wish there were some more people online on average. Like 700-800 would be kinda cool, 'ya know? It would help trades and forums move quicker.

I can only agree with what everyone said. I do believe that small communities can be thriving and lucrative. When you have a small user base, you have the oportunity to engage with them on a more personal level, after all. I used to love working on my pet profiles and getting to know all these wonderful people. But honestly, let alone over this one year, everyone is taking a step back from the site - which is fine by me. I believe Luck is absolutely right - there isn't really anything to do on here. There isn't any fun daily routine or creative task to work on to stay active. Creative discussions in the forums are basically non-existent at this point. The pet system is flawed and I do believe that the beautiful art we get can't justify it. I always wished for user events, polls, challenges, lore, just something that would make me want to come here and interact with everyone. I want to browse through pet profiles and send people love letters! There is so much there - and that is the problem. When you have all these little areas to work on, maintaining focus and gaining momentum is super fucking hard for a staff member. Maybe there will be a little revolution some day, but for now I shall jump in every now and click my way to whatever utopian goal there is.

sadly, the drama still exists, but its off site and sequestered away to discords and the like. if folk are in their 30s now, they don't act like it off site. i'm very wary of interacting on the forums nowadays. the simplest things can get blown out of proportion.

i'm really not sure why i keep playing. i miss the plots, the items, the positive interaction. the new items. the life. i'm unsure if that came from player amounts, of just a different time where petsites were more frequented. i guess i still play because it's part of my routine. i've been on site for 14 years, and i'm really only truly active when i have my GA, i have sp but nothing to really do with it. i'm just unsure if gaining more players would improve anything, seeing as often time its feels like the populace is at odds with one another.

i really enjoy making HAs, and battling! but the discourse that comes with some things it gives me conniptions. i'm glad i am seen as HA goals and i super appreciate it, i like that i am known in this little world! but i am also extremely wary since i know how south things can go. would a newer populace be able to deal with some of the set rules inscribed in subeta that you only know if you've been here long enough? would that drive away people? if i were coming to the site right now, and looked at some of the news comments, i would just leave.

i have noticed that newer players try to cozy up to 'bigger' (in this case, more established) names to essentially infiltrate the established populace on here, and it is scorned as it's seen as being used, but from what i have seen, the community right now is nigh impenetrable to newer players. i purposefully stay away from off site things and subeta discords. the potentiality for it to spiral is not worth it, even if i miss out on things.

I would love to see this site grow again just so I can feel more confident that its existence is secure. Otherwise, it doesn't really have too much effect on my day-to-day here, other than the fact that I've noticed stuff isn't selling out of my shop fast enough anymore and it keeps getting full. I've generally kept to myself/been mostly ignored and I try to avoid drama so the "community" here is pretty much just the number on the sidebar to me.

I wish we still had plots and I really miss a couple of the games that quit working (Tubular Tiles, my beloved) but I think most of what this site has always offered, and continues to offer, is somewhat grindy daily tasks like questing and battling, and I enjoy those. (Or restocking, which I don't personally enjoy, but it's valid.) It gives my hands something to do while I listen to a podcast for an hour or two. I have fun making new HAs even if hardly anyone will see them because I don't post much. I appreciate the predictability of the annual events: I can always look forward to a slew of awesome new items, get some new skins from Survival and Morostide, and dance or trick-or-treat obsessively (a nice, safe, low-commitment form of light social interaction).

I guess my point is there could be more to do here but I don't really understand the sentiment that the site has gotten soooooo boring lately, when to me it's not all that different from how it has always been. I will have been here 14 years tomorrow and pretty much everything that drew me to the site is still here (and so are the constant bugs lol). You can still work on your pets, you can still earn sP through your preferred methods and spend it on lovely art, you can still collect whatever it is you collect. I'm not saying you're wrong if you feel that way, I just don't get it. Just offering a different perspective. Probably because I'm not particularly social so if that aspect is more lacking now I don't really notice. I just want stuff to click on and virtual items to hoard, so I want the site to have enough members to keep it financially viable so I can keep doing that.

Another thing I don't understand is this idea that "kids these days just aren't interested in petsites". Well...maybe? It's been a while since I was a kid haha. But I wonder what is supposed to be so fundamentally different about them today that they supposedly don't enjoy this type of game anymore. Maybe it's just that their attention is so oversaturated with mobile app stuff that they don't really have time to find sites like this. Maybe Subeta just needs to advertise more aggressively like all those shitty apps. I know kids still enjoy dress-up-doll and virtual pet apps, and they're not even as good as Subeta, but they're in your face in the app store and are designed to hook you and keep you coming back. Also, we have sites like Flight Rising which are popular with a younger crowd and yet, as someone who has been actively playing there for a couple years, I find there is MUCH less to do there than there is here. I believe it has got to be a marketing issue (one main example being the failure to target mobile users), rather than this type of game simply becoming obsolete.

Let me preface this by saying: I love Subeta. This year was my 11 year anniversary on the site, and honestly I dread it ever coming to an end.

While I agree that there really isn't much "going on" now as far as plots, new items, etc, to keep the userbase engaged, I can't help but continue to log in, and I'm not really sure why since I've actually stopped participating in anything onsite other than CWs. I don't collect anything anymore, I gave up on getting into battling. I've gotten lazy around the holidays and barely participate in those now, too.

A big part of me wishes for a larger userbase again just to make this site I love dearly feel more "alive," and the other part of me is fine with the way things are now mainly because (as others have mentioned) it seems like the offsite CW drama was way worse when there were more regular players online (which is saying a lot, because the drama on tumblr/discord is pretty ridiculous even now). like mentioned, the smallest misunderstanding can quickly blow out of proportion, usually because of a select few bullies who like to try and manipulate others through nasty anonymous posts that Subeta staff sadly can't control.

I've been personally "mentioned" on one of these online burn books and as silly and untrue as the accusation was, it was enough to make me want to leave the site, and I did take a hiatus for a few months shortly after. I have ALWAYS kept to myself (I literally just started trying to make friends onsite about 2 years ago), and the second I started releasing CWs regularly I almost instantly became a target, even if only for a moment. Seeing the way other long-time (and big-spending) players have been chased away by these anonymous users doesn't really bode well for bringing in any future players, and is the main reason why I am never active on forums and why I only have a couple of friends here. I find it really hard now to interact with users on the forums that I'm not familiar with, because I am always thinking "is this the person that tried to spread rumors about me?" "is this someone who frequents those drama blogs? can I trust what I say to this person?" And it really shouldn't be like that. If I were a new player, I definitely would not want to stick around. again, much like what said, it does feel like the populace is always at odds with one another and I am very wary of interacting on the forums because of it.

But on the other hand, a larger playerbase might actually improve this by introducing new CW artists and releasers and such to the community, thus making CWs as a whole a little more open and accessible. I feel like with only a handful of regular CW artists, and with the social circles getting tighter and tighter due to offsite drama and many CW releasers making all of their releases private (or released to friends only, etc) now as a result, it is not only getting more and more difficult for newer players to get into CWs, but also existing users are becoming more and more wary of each other. More users could mean more potential artists, more items to go around, and might expand the CW community beyond the handful of "cliques" that everyone is used to by now. Not only that, but CWs are obviously subeta's biggest money maker, so having more artists, releasers, and more CW customers, could ultimately give the site the financial boost I feel like it desperately needs.

(edited here to clarify that I do not blame any CW releasers for making some/many/all of their releases private/friends only/etc considering how nasty some people are when they don't get the CWs they want; this is not me trying to complain!)

More users could also mean that the forums would move faster again, but in the golden age of applications like Discord, honestly I doubt more players would change anything in that aspect. Sadly, people these days MUCH prefer chatting over instant messaging systems like Discord rather than an online forum, and many CW artists do not like being forced to take subeta currency for payment so taking commissions through Discord alleviates that problem as well. I personally don't participate in the subeta discord communities, because again, it just seems like a breeding ground for drama and staff can't hold users accountable for anything that happens offsite. This also means I personally miss out on a lot of Discord exclusive stuff like CW slotting, giveaways, being able to commission certain artists, and just general fun with people who love CWs as much as I do. It's a bummer.

I do also agree that some more advertising of the site in general might be great; I don't necessarily think petsites are legit dying though I would say that they are less popular than they once were. I heard about subeta waaaay back in the day through word of mouth on Tumblr, and I can honestly say I probably would have never found this site if it weren't for existing users recommending it to me. I don't think I've ever seen any kind of advertisement for subeta anywhere actually, so I could definitely see how that could potentially be a great way to attract new users to the site, especially younger people. I feel like the userbase is now also primarily made up of older users (in their early-mid twenties or older) who have been around for a while, so attracting a slightly younger and "fresher" userbase might also help breathe some life back into the site. a mobile app (even if it is very basic) would be an AMAZING improvement, though I doubt it will ever happen.

overall, I still love the site and I'm remaining hopeful that we will see the day new.subeta launches, though I do wish it were more lively like it was back in "the gold 'ol days."

Maybe, it is because I only know neopets to compare this site with, but, they are doing fine.

There are news everyday, old art/items gets updated bit by bit, staff actually read when someone post a bug or a suggestion, the games runs with no problem, there are no broken links, the site is navigable, you get a preview and a shop search only rolling over the mouse on a item...

On the other hand, I was not active in the "glory days" so I can't actually compare subeta with itself in the past.

I kind of gauge how alive the site is by the state of its economy. I've seen some pet sites tank and it is reflected in the power of the purchasing currency. Csc is still largely affordable. Things I restock still sell (eventually). Like when I autoprice a shop, it will get some sales within minutes. That's GREAT. Near dead sites don't have that ability. Items rot away in inventories and shops. I'm glad subeta hasn't reached that stage.

I wish the forums were more active. I have never been one for discord and I feel weird that most discourse (and all of drama?) is off-site now, because who knows what is being said in a relatively public forum about me that I have no knowledge of? Most of my friends from when I initially joined subeta have left now. It feels increasingly lonely here, but I still enjoy subeta for the avatars, restocking, and events.

There are enough people complaining about lack of forum activity that I think it is entirely possible to infuse at least a little bit of activity in forums if people are collectively up for it. I still don't get why more people don't post... there's the avatar, forum title, pet leash, signature customising aspect that is far superior to off-site chats/forums... but anyway, just my two cents. Basically, I don't things are absolutely dire (yet anyway).

I remember reading quite a few people being wary of posting because the mods are still enforcing rules that no longer fit. Posting on a topic more than 3 months old on a slow forum is much different than if we were active.

IIRC, these rules were under consideration for review and a bot was implemented that autolocks 3+month old topics.

Fair enough, but it's probably better to start afresh and post new topics for people to post more actively in. That shouldn't really be holding others back from creating new boards and new topics.

I promise I'm not trying to be argumentative, just want to mention that I absolutely have been held back from posting because of the rules about "old" topics. There have been many times I've wanted to respond to something specific that someone said four months ago or whatever but I couldn't because of the necro rule, and making a whole new topic to refer back to an old topic feels utterly asinine to me. (Also, is it ok to ping or quote people from the old topic to the new topic? Is that weird? Is that rude? Is it rude not to? I don't know! And now I'm not interested in replying to it at all anymore.) I think forcing us to remake threads just creates forum clutter and disrupts what could otherwise be fluent (if slow) conversations. Not to mention how seeing a whole string of locked threads makes the entire forum look unwelcoming. I bet it turns off some new people from posting at all. It does that to me and I've been here long enough to know why it happens. Are new members going to realize it's because our forums are slow, or is it just going to look like the rules are super strict or perhaps give the impression that there's a ton of drama that is constantly needing to be shut down?

Also, I hate making new topics and try to avoid it. I imagine I'm not the only one who feels more comfortable adding to an existing conversation than trying to start a whole new one.

Yeah, the 3 month rule doesn't make sense anymore since the forums are so slow. I miss when they were more active. :(

There is no 3 month rule? It's 6 months. Are mods still really enforcing the 3 month rule? 🤔

Threads that have reached the necro limit will be automatically locked by ForumBot. The necro limit is 6 months in all forums EXCEPT FOR:

Suggestions & Ideas - 15 months
Problems & Bugs, Site Feedback, Gold Accounts Beta Testing - No limit

Do Not Necro Old Threads

However I think it should be a lot longer than 6 months... The site is SLOW. Surely staff understands this.

I didn't realize it had been extended to 6 months, that's...an improvement!

You're right. I vaguely remembered that it was changed, but not to what, and the fact that it's different for different parts of the forum makes it even harder to remember. It's a lot easier to talk myself out of replying to a few-months-old post that I kinda sorta want to reply to than to go look up the rules all the time lol

Just let us finally post multiple times in a row for crying out loud.

I'm actively AVOIDING posting on my topics in fear that nobody else will post after me and then it's stuck and buried and it's over. And I've seen other users mentioning this exact problem. Threads die because we say 'thank you' to someone and then there's no way to get that on first page again. I'm so tired of remaking threads because it got buried bcs there's no way to make people see the thing. And then someone might end up digging up the old thread from the 5th page in the back and now I have two threads in a forum section where you're not allowed more than one and I'm afraid I'd get in trouble.

Not everybody wants to join every ping group in existence to be notified of a new post when op has to go and edit the last post and ping everyone cause that's the only way to let people know there's a new post now.

There are like 5 people using the forums cause it's being so much difficult to use them,, of course folks move to discord.