These have been knocking around in my brain for a while, so I figured I'd float them out and get some second opinions.

1. I can never remember experiment numbers, especially since there are so many of them now. Could we maybe name them like we did with the zapper skins? Most of them are easy to reference on the fly-- like if I said "fire giraffe," everyone would know which experiment I was referencing-- but some are just an ineffable mouthful. (Blobby with third eye? Bat with hand eyes? Six-legged antenna cat?) I don't know, maybe the number is part of the charm for some people, but I would appreciate official nicknames in quotations after, like: Common "Mandimo"

2. There are now almost as many experiment pets as there are regular species, and I have been zapping in circles around some of the ones I really want. The experiment zap option is awesome, but does anyone else wish there was a way to narrow it down a little? Like, maybe split the experiments in half, and check the box for the half with the experiment you want. I don't want to ruin the chance aspect or make it really easy to get the experiment you want instantly, but if we keep getting more experiments, this is going to have to be addressed eventually...

Edit: better idea-- learn from past experiments; you can choose not to zap that experiment again

What do you think? Any other ideas?

The skins have the exact same names as the experiments, though?

Like, purple full of holes is called Experiment 84, like the pet.

I don't care for the idea of naming them.

They kinda have names. If you zap enough and have a minion attached to your pet (and why not 'sfun) sometimes they are not destroyed. You get mini-versions of the Experiments, and they are named.

To me, it's part of the madsciency vibe of them that they are numbered and not named and that you have to look them up in a standardized reference (Subetalodge, in this case). In addition while Subeta has been giving these species more colors, the Experiments were never meant to be supported in any systematic way. Naming them will increase Suggestion pressure that regular colors/beanbags etc be made for them and that the sets of those be completed and I don't think this is a good idea.

I haven't ever messed with the Experiment-only feature of the Zapper nor do I have extensive experience with the newest one.. I have been patient and zapped them the regular way myself. Sometimes it takes months and months and lots of currency and of effort to get the kinds of result you are looking for and this is what like what running RL science is about. By throwing your sP in the mix you are doing a government/industry grant thing and this speeds things up, but still scientific progress goes boink.

And here's some math. Now the old versions of it the odds of getting one of the eight possible results was the same. Experiment zaps and regular-species zaps were different possible results. So the number of species of regular pets and the number of species of Experiment had nothing to do with each other. If you got the one in eight Experiment zap, you would have a zero chance of randomly suddenly getting a regular species.

when you do get a 1 in 8 experiment zap, you have a smaller and smaller chance of getting the one you want with each new experiment release.

aha I see that. I will now respond to the different issue.

Some colors are costly. Some colors require work.

Getting an exact species that you want exactly when you want it is already solved with the Miracle Potion II. The cost of this item is much greater than the sP sink of a dedicated Experiment zap. Why privilege Experiments?

No support.

For the skins, I was thinking about how users created boards watching their infections develop, and the names they selected for the infections ended up being the ones the staff stuck with.

I see your point with the science being hit-or-miss and the potential expectations that could come with official nicknames (although the minions that resemble the experiments-- there are only, like, eight of those).

However, I still think that some change in approach will need to be taken with the experiments, if not right now then some time in the future. The experiment-only option for zapping is helping to mitigate the problem for now, but the fact is that the staff keep adding experiments (which I'm very happy about), and every time they do the odds of getting a particular experiment that you want goes down. I'm all for dedication, but it is discouraging to lab continuously and literally never be any closer to your end goal than when you started. And with the new chibi experiments coming out, a lot of users who previously didn't want experiments will now be in that same boat.

Here's a different idea: what if every time you zapped an experiment, there was an option to not zap that experiment again? Just for that particular pet; the stats could be reset at any time, or upon transfer to a different user/abandonment. That way, you would still be grinding the science, but you could learn from your past experiments. You would at least be making progress towards your end goal.

I don't like the idea of giving the experiments actual names. It would take something away from them being experiments I think.

And no, the zapping system is fine the way it is. It's always been a huge gamble. The Experiment Only zap option is more than enough imo.