Unique Pet Name Changes

July 26, 2020 7:18 pm

It's happening! This change is a massive shift over what we've done for the past 15 years and we know upfront that this change will make some people happy, and some people upset. We're making this change to preserve the future of Subeta, and to keep excitement for new users as high as for those of us who've been here for the last 15 years.

We've listened to feedback on this for years, and have looked at how other popular modern games handle unique names like this. We've come to a decision and are implementing it today.

The goal at the center of these changes is to give everyone on the site the freedom to be as creative as they'd like, and build characters around their pets without having to scour for the name you want for months - and to honor those who fought for names and waited months.

Pet Names

From this point forward pet names are no longer unique. That means, for example, there can be two pets named Spot on the site at the same time. You can build stories and characters around a name, without needing to add numbers or strange spellings. We're looking forward to seeing a burst of creativity!

Changes: The new URL structure for your pets looks like: https://subeta.net/pets/keith/AwesomePetName

And the sCode for linking to pets is: [pet not found] ...where "keith" is the username of the pet's owner, and AwesomePetName is the (hopefully awesome) pet name!

All of the links around the site have been updated to reflect this change.

Changing Pet Name

You can now change your pet name once per month with a gold account. That means one name change per pet, per month. We'll have a way for everyone to rename their pets soon!

Legacy Pet Names

To honor those who have spent time, effort and money in obtaining unique pet names up until now, every pet created on the site up until this news post now also has a legacy pet name that links them to their names prior to this update. The old URL structure and sCode will still work, and will link to the pet with that legacy name.

For example, if I owned AwesomePetName before this update, then https://subeta.net/pets/AwesomePetName here will still link to my pet AwesomePetName for the rest of time!

If I change my pets name to "TotallyAwesomePetname" the legacy name will continue to be AwesomePetName. This status will persist even if your pet is transferred to a new owner.

There is a line on the pet profile designating the legacy name, and this can be removed targeting the .legacy-name class with CSS. For example, the following CSS will hide it completely: .legacy-name { display: none; }

Other Changes

We will no longer be clearing old pet names - all old pets will retain those legacy names.

We will still be clearing usernames at the same time, as they continue to be unique. No pet names will be cleared.

[edit] There is a helpful user-made FAQ here which compiles information from various staff posts/comments: FAQ about Legacy Names/Non-Unique Pet Names

April 22, 2021, 6:13 am by

I'm later than late to the party, so I'm actually unsure if this comment will show up but I'm a big fan of this change as I just came back after a hiatus. I was always frustrated because I didn't have such nice pet names as some other users but now I can join in on the fun. Thank you for the change.

August 16, 2020, 12:31 am by

Oh, this relieves me so much! As much as I enjoy this site, I a not on it very much and I am relieved to know I will no longer have to worry about my pet names getting whisked out from under me if I take an unexpectedly long leave of absence. I also enjoy that I will get to have certain names I wanted fora long time. If only I can remember what they were. Well, at least I have all the time in the world now. =3

August 3, 2020, 4:27 am by

My pet names were all I really had to set my account apart from the rest xD It was nice to include a legacy feature though. I really appreciate the thought that went into the change, even if I'm (selfishly) not wild about it.

August 2, 2020, 9:59 am by

Love this! :D 100% support!

August 1, 2020, 7:48 pm by

Legacy pet name concept... very good. I have some really difficult/sought-after names that I care about a LOT (bless Vaixation's soul for grabbing Chara for me back when they cleared), but there's also some names that I've been lowkey stalking for awhile and would love to have. As would my girlfriend!

Nice update, and I'm a fan of the new name change style too. I can see why some people would be upset about this, but legacy names give old pets value, and new names allow more freedom. A+.

August 1, 2020, 3:05 pm by

As someone who has been on this website for a long, long time, I am 100% for this change. I can finally change my pets' names to ones I've wanted for a long time, and this motivates me a lot more to actually give them love and attention.

One of the biggest issues I had with the site was twofold: 1) I couldn't even be on the site, even just lurking, without people literally stalking my profile and pet names, asking me when "they could have my username / pet names / etc..." and 2) People more active on Subeta than I was often stalking profiles to create more pets, as well as hoarding "real names / words" of dozens upon dozens of pets, without actually doing anything with them...sometimes, hoarding them for several years.

This not only completely removes the issue of "pet / name hoarding", as well as people constantly stalking users and pet names to pounce on inactive ones, but it also relieves that pressure and cutthroat competition, and allows people to create whatever character(s) they want with their pets, rather than worrying about "not having / getting the right pet name" for them. Thank you so much, Subeta team, and I wish this had been implemented years ago!

July 30, 2020, 1:36 pm by

Been browsing the forums and looking at what people are doing for their pets, and it seems like making names non-unique is giving people HUGE waves of inspiration. It's so exciting to see that people are keen on working on their pets' profiles and personalities! I really like seeing how people have such different interpretations of the same name/noun. :D This change is definitely going to enable so much creativity from users!

July 30, 2020, 12:40 pm by

I like the idea, but I'm mad about all the money I've recently spent for name changes. I swear, I think I've spent close to $50 in 2020 alone. Everytime I'm active, I search my list for availability. It's a major kick in the coin purse (and other places) to offer something free after I've already paid so much money to purchase the exclusivity of having original pets. Losing sP doesn't bother me, but this messes with my real life earnings. People take their real money seriously. I'm guessing no refunds or CSC compensation either, huh? Maybe people wouldn't be so upset if they were somehow reimbursed for the money they spent on name changes and transfers.. In the past 6 months at least.

July 30, 2020, 9:14 am by

Alright, well there goes the fun and creativity of pets on this site. You're now like every other pet site that doesn't have much interesting to offer. Congratulations to all the pets named James or Elizabeth or whatever.

July 29, 2020, 11:32 am by

WOHOOO unique names are just bulk goods now. Sorry I personally don't like it at all.

July 29, 2020, 11:31 am by

i love this idea, specifically for memorial names or fandom names. however, i've spent time and money to get the pet name that i have today and it feels like all of that was a waste.

but this seems like a nice way to compromise, and i'm especially glad there's no numbers or anything. it's also nice to have a 'legacy' idea for the original to be linked to.

still i'm not going to hide that i hate this change, of all the ones that are happening, but i'll just get used to it lol

July 29, 2020, 1:18 am by

I've only been here a year and a half, so when I first got here, it felt like all the good names were taken.

On the other hand, most of my pets' names are a lot more interesting and meaningful than they would've been if my first choice wasn't taken.

On the other other hand, I have now taken those names, which would've led to even more of the good names being taken. Unique names are ok when a site is small. But if it grows, then all of the good names really will be taken for real, no matter how imaginative you are.

So I am glad about this. It will cut down on:

people frantically refreshing the adoption centre, trading them around on forums, and having to wait months or years for a name that fits their idea.
people realising that a random word isn't taken, and wasting pet slots hoarding names they don't have an idea for.
on the flipside to my last point, people with writers block feeling guilty that they are "hoarding" a good name without doing anything with it.
the inevitable rise of ridiculously long names, weird spellings and numbers that would've happened if the site continued to grow without making this change.

If the good names are not all taken, it'll help the site grow, and people can focus on the fun stuff like writing. Thank you!

July 28, 2020, 9:13 pm by

I don't play this site much anymore and I had anxiety that if I didn't log into the site that my pet names would get taken. I have quite a few desired ones that would get snapped up straight away. It would make me sad since even though I don't play much I still love them and wasn't easy to get them.

I like this change. Thanks for the legacy thingy to keep them a bit special!

July 28, 2020, 8:46 pm by

Awesome change :D

July 28, 2020, 8:26 pm by

Names were something to be proud of and work towards...now, they're just nothing. As a user of many, many years, and as someone who really took pride in hunting down names and coming up with alternatives, I can't say I'm fond of this change at all. I understand where the people who love it are coming from, and at least there's the legacy pet name thing I guess, but I'm not happy.

July 28, 2020, 7:06 pm by

As some one who, 12 years, 6 months, etc, etc, ago had to come up with a creative alternate name for a pet who was attached to an account who's owner visited maybe 2x a year just so they could keep their pet names... I LOVE THIS!!! Thank you for the change! <3

July 28, 2020, 6:44 pm by

finally... after 10,000 years... I can finally have my Adrien

July 28, 2020, 5:50 pm by

I think this is pretty great. I got most of my pets from the adoption center, so they've all had some very random names over the years. I just never wanted to pay to rename them. Now I can't decide what to rename all of them! :')

July 28, 2020, 2:06 pm by

I've been on this site for many years now and I had many unique pet names. You know what I think of all of this? BEST THING EVER, I think this was a brilliant move on the staff's part personally. From what I could tell on the comments on multiple social media there's a lot of people who are super happy about this compared to the amount that are torn up about it. I think this will lead to a new wave of users or at least a lot more happy users who currently use the site. Hell, I bought a gold account just so I could change some names around so I know it's going to be good for profits in the future! As within a big change I know this is going to upset some people. But honestly I'd rather good changes like this happen and keep the site afloat for a while longer. And yeah I get some of the concerns about pets being unique or what not, but if a name is all it took for some of these pets to be unique...well IDK I just think there are so many more ways to make a pet your own even if there's seven other pets with the same name. Honestly the unique name system was just a chance for name hoarders to have some kind of status pet in my opinion, which is understandable and some rights as it's human nature to want the one and only _. Plus as many users have stated now we don't have to feel guilty about not working on our pets as much if we have a certain name, and without that pressure I feel like a lot of people can flourish and work on pets at their own pace and have a good time with it instead of it feeling like a chore.

July 28, 2020, 12:37 pm by

And before someone accuses me for being attacking the ''other team'' I'm saying you're wrong. People have the right to don't like this change, I'm just saying that this ''neopety'' system is not something I like and it is a reason why I always preferred non-unique names system, Subeta (was) just a exception in the middle of this kind of site.

July 28, 2020, 12:30 pm by

What said is just what I was thinking.

It is NOT so easy to figure out another name for that pet concept you current have on mind for everyone and personally I'm very pick with this. Alternative names doesn't work always because sometimes the correct names has something intrinsic in its entire meaning for the pet and alternatives ruins it completely. As a person with not much creativity and picky choices thousand times I got stuck with pet creation because I weren't able to create that most desired pet of all time just because someone took it years and years before me and it is pretty sad. The pets ideas commonly come to me with spontaneity and not from a deep thinking after days and days so when I notice that I would not be able to create Peter Pan but just Peeter Pann it doesn't make me say ''go and find other name!!!''.

And as a complement for me pets aren't their names but their concepts, the fact that other player can pick the same name some time then doesn't affect MY pet because its name isn't everything. The point that someone more can also have one pet with the name of a character you love for example is fine, everyone can enjoy the same things and there is no problem with that. Characters themselves has no authority or owner inside the fan base.

July 28, 2020, 11:59 am by

As a user who joined 15 years ago I don't love it. I waited years for names to clear up and I had to brainstorm for different options. There was a thrill to the chase and caused me to get creative and really cherish when I got a name Of course it isn't fair to new users and makes it so certain names will just never be obaintable. Guess I just wish this was implemented years and years ago when the site was newer.

July 28, 2020, 11:20 am by

The arguments of choice overload are kind of confusing for me personally. Perhaps it's just a "me" thing, but I feel like Subeta doesn't lend itself to that kind of thing even with this change. The thing about Subeta that's different from many other pet sites is that there is a HARD CAP LIMIT to how many pets we can have. That number has grown a lot, but it remains true that for the higher numbers you have to spend real cash for new slots. I'm not buying slots willynilly and then going "but what do I want to DO with that slot??" Usually I have a fully formed idea for a pet before I spend actual cash on a pet slot. In fact the only time I ever felt the "what will I do with this slot??" feeling happened when I got my free slot totem on my anniversary a few times. Other times I had prepped for it and was ready with my idea.

July 28, 2020, 10:11 am by

I'm mixed on this honestly. Part of what made Subeta exciting for me was the thrill of searching for an untaken name and creating something with that specific name that was unique but qt the same time I understand it isnt fair to everyone else for me to have that one specific name just for me when maybe they could come up with something just as amazing.

Idk. I guess for me I'm losing more and more of what kept me here and that's ok. It's time for newer users to make this site theirs and create their own memories. :)

July 28, 2020, 10:02 am by

thank you for saying this

July 28, 2020, 8:29 am by

Congratulations!!! Your pet (formerly Siivet) is now named May! Congratulations!!! Your pet (formerly Mr. Moo) is now named Cow!

I am so happy now. The first is a pet I made after my Mom passed away and the second was made after my 17 year old cat passed away. Glad I can have the name I want for them, not to be unique or cool but to honor them in my own heart

July 28, 2020, 6:12 am by

I guess the trill of the hunt is over then... But I see a lot of happy people so... I don't know. Mixed feels.

July 28, 2020, 5:58 am by

I like it. It makes me more aware to be original and unique in my creativity's.

July 28, 2020, 5:52 am by

i've had mary-kate since 2008 and i can finally have ashley omg

July 28, 2020, 1:48 am by

AGREE. And to look at a great pet profile and be able to really enjoy it instead of it being clouded with thoughts of, “well, I’ll never get this name, because this asshole is clearly more active than I am.”

July 28, 2020, 1:44 am by

I can’t say how much time I spent during my first ten years here stalking names. I’ve not been so active the last few years, but try to check in so I won’t lose the names before I’m able to come back and spend time here. I know people think I’m a “name hoarder” and I’ve been accused of being selfish when others claim they would do “more” with them than I do. I’ve gone back and forth over the years between feeling guilty, because I’m sure there are some people that absolutely would have done more, and feeling justified...I put in the time and effort and just because I have to work 12+ hours a day right now and can’t be on on here, doesn’t mean I should give them up while I still hope to be able to come back here and be active some day.

AND NOW I DON’T HAVE TO FEEL TORN. Thank you, Subeta! Thank you for giving us new opportunities. Thank you for relieving some of that guilt that I felt for not having the time to tend to my LotR babies. I always felt bad telling someone, “no, I won’t adopt out Frodo to you; he is my son.” And also, thank you for giving ME the opportunity to finally have a pet named for the one thing I love more than LotR...CROCHET.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

July 27, 2020, 11:29 pm by

Hey everyone - remember that it's fine that people are upset by this!

July 27, 2020, 10:23 pm by

Man, it feels good to actively look at people's accounts for reasons other than "when are you going inactive? :D"

July 27, 2020, 9:56 pm by

you can kindly stop with the ridiculous rude attitudes. People are allowed to feel upset by this change, i am one of them and i only had a couple cool names, and you can stop acting like they're wrong, because they aren't. And you can be proud of a name at the same time want it for reasons, and it doesn't make you elitist or "crazy." Just because a lot of people in this news post are happy they got what they wanted, doesn't mean everyone has to be, and doesn't mean its wrong. Just stop with that already.

July 27, 2020, 9:44 pm by

NICE.

July 27, 2020, 9:33 pm by

This was a much needed change. Thank you.

July 27, 2020, 9:26 pm by

On one hand I enjoyed hunting down the names of my favorite characters and put a lot of time and money into doing so, but at least now I don't need to stalk the handful of names I still needed!

July 27, 2020, 9:15 pm by

I know some people are leaving over this but I think its a great idea, theres more people online and now theres a lot more creativity, there have been a lot of people that log in once a year to keep their pet names then dont show up again so I think this was necessary! Thank you so much team for listening and thanks you seem to be working so hard and youre answering everyones questions thank you so so much! ♥

July 27, 2020, 9:09 pm by

I actually really like this. Thank you, Subeta team!

July 27, 2020, 9:02 pm by

Thinking back to when I had a Megaman Zero tribute character I named .Zero. , this is a change past me would've absolutely welcomed! Since .Zero. started with a period, staff Bug needed me to change it, lucky me essentially got a free name change I still like to this day :V

It's really nice to know we have the freedom to give our pets clean names that aren't riddled with numbers or have site-breaking periods on them. I really do believe this naming freedom will help take subeta ahead of the competition. Believe me, there's few things more depressing than going to the neopets pound and finding nothing but names like koko_12_hf

July 27, 2020, 8:45 pm by

Why does changing a pet name to something you love and enjoy need to be taken up 10 notches of creativity to get a similar result. If I want to name my pet Rex, I shouldn't need to put Rexaphilion. I certainly don't understand and can't sympathize with any "lack of creativity" comments because making a pet shouldn't need to be that much work for what is a project of love. You can counter argue that easily that with the new freedom, EVEN MORE people will put more efforts towards the pet functions and do even more snazzy profiles to compliment their creative exploring. I'm happy that pets don't need to be a competition of who has the most 'original' name. Thank you. ♡

July 27, 2020, 8:24 pm by

I was on the fence when this idea was originally brought up, but seeing how happy this has made people, I'm glad this is the direction staff have decided to go! While I'm a little bummed about how much time/effort I spent getting the names that I had, it's also great to finally have other names that I've always wanted, and it's such a relief to no longer feel like I need to hold onto to a "good" name that I wasn't passionate about, just in case I might regret losing it later.

All in all, very pleased with this change, and I hope that this inspires people to create all their favorite characters on this site!

July 27, 2020, 8:18 pm by

i don't do jack shit with my pets, but this is so nice! i hated being on neopets and have to spell names with y's and h's like a modern-day mom trying to call her child "mackynleigynh"

July 27, 2020, 7:40 pm by

I have seen some people say "now there's going to be less creativity on the site" and I want to reassure you that that's definitely not true! People will still get creative with names, I can promise you that. I've never seen a place where users could name characters/pets whatever they want and everyone had a pet named Tim. It is still a lot of fun to come up with suitable and unique names and nobody is gonna stop going that- even someone who has a pet named Tim is probably gonna have 20+ pets with other naming conventions and plenty of creativity to go around. Plus we still have to customize species, color, treasure chest, stories, backstories, art, etc. People still think creatively about pet names, just because the hunt for a unique one is not a hurdle doesn't mean we aren't gonna be spending a lot of time and thought on this stuff. ^-^

July 27, 2020, 7:39 pm by

This is so cool! I've been on this site for literally ever, so I have a few short real word names that I love and it took so.. so much time to find the right names, even back then. The addition of the legacy names really makes this work for me, just the idea that my boy Uproar is the OG and will be until the day this site goes up in flames is so dang cool. I also love that I can find names for my current interests, like I just created a pet named Adora and I love her!

Added bonus, people won't leave me sMail about wanting me to go inactive so they can steal a name, so that's nice. Hasn't happened in a long time, but I'm glad it won't anymore.

July 27, 2020, 7:30 pm by

Thank you This means I can make tributes of my real pets with their real names I’m really happy

July 27, 2020, 7:23 pm by

I'm glad about this.

If somebody else is not happy, it's their good right. But personal for me it's better and a aprovement of the site.

A pet could be unique about what the owner would make up about the character. In reality there are truly hamsters who are called "Hamtero". But each hamster is unique.

July 27, 2020, 6:48 pm by

We basically wrote the same thing o-o

I noticed that people are putting others down and that's really disheartening.

July 27, 2020, 6:46 pm by

I'm really disappointed to see people berating and making fun out of others who are not happy with the change. Is there a need for that? There is nothing wrong with people expressing their opinions and how they're proud of their achievements and the many original pet names they have. Even though this debate has been ongoing, the sudden springing it upon users without warning is upsetting.

I see a lot of pros and cons about this change. The challenge of finding a great untaken name is lost, but now there's added stress of finding a good name. Have you ever heard of "Choice Overload?" It's a cognitive process that people face when there's too many options. Then they have a hard time making decisions because there are so many options. It leaves the person second guessing themselves (Did I name my pet the right thing? Should I have named it what I wanted to originally, or should I just go for something else?).

Please remember everyone has a right to their opinions and everyone's feelings are valid!

July 27, 2020, 4:50 pm by

Thank you Subeta! That means I can create a new angelic pet I like with the same name a certain user stole from me. They only took it because of it being together as one word. Now I just need to pay for a pet slot and get an Angelic Potion.

Use @username to mention someone. Supports markdown formatting.

Logged Out