I say this with some hesitancy, but as things stand it's getting harder to get desired experiments. As far as I'm aware, every roll of the zapper and the Experimental Dew gives an equal chance to every experiment INCLUDING the experiment that you already have! As of right now, we have 48 experiments. That's a 1/48 chance at any given experiment, which is a 2% chance for every experiment I think?

I've been trying to zap for one of the new experiments and I've gotten every new one but the one I want which is rotten luck, obviously, but as is the numbers will keep getting worse unless I'm missing something obvious. If so, please tell me!

Perhaps some experiments could be retired from the Zapper but could be obtained from another potion, like an Experimental Dew II.

I feel almost certain that the likelihood of getting a newer experiment has been raised, at least temporarily. I zap religiously and have gotten one of the new experiments 4-5 times since they've been released, but only a couple of the older ones. That seems pretty disproportionate to me.

I'd be more inclined to agree to a revamp than a retirement. Some of the experiments are less popular than others, I'm almost certain, but they could be revamped to be more desirable.

Plus, how would Subeta admin choose which ones to retire? Even the least popular ones have some fans. And how confusing would that be to new or returning players, to learn that the zapper, the place where you're supposed to find experiments, won't give you certain experiments? It's already confusing enough that it won't give certain colors, and while that does set a precedent, those colors are more understandably left out because they are/were only attainable in special ways. This would be a reverse of that.

I understand how frustrating it is to zap for a specific experiment and get a different one - believe me, I do. But at least you know you will eventually get it. Imagine not having that luxury.

I like the variety. I'm not zapping for anything specific now, so it's fun to see what pops up since there's always one of two that I've never seen before..

I don't think that 2% is that low a chance, either. It's one in 50 zaps, and you can zap many times a day. Maybe when there's more experiments it'll be cool to have some kinda mechanic to narrow down the pool, but for now I think it's fine the way it is.

You can take the easy way to get the experiment you want, which is a Miracle Potion II - they'll be discounted next week, so if you really want X experiment, do it that way.

We don't have a lot of pet artists right now. We have Hagane and Megan for sure - Rah is on maternity leave and I don't know which other artists mostly do pets. Revamps aren't really a thing that will happen in the short term.

Also, no matter how good the art is, some concepts will always be less popular than others. That's just how it is.

I don't think a retirement is necessary to meet the concerns of the OP. There is an alternative that can possibly make it more fun.

We know the NPC at the zapper is bribable.

Maybe make it work like zombie strains do, where certain ones just plain cost more? Or, pay more WT and sP to start with, get a zap that is like a regular zap but has limited experiments, or pay even more WT and even more sP to change an Experiment zap to a certain subset. Which of the three or four subsets is more likely is announced at the zapper and changes every week.

I know there isn't necessarily a capacity for revamps right now. My point was that I would prefer that option to "retiring" them.

As for popularity, I think that fluctuates too. There are some that I thought I would never want, and then one day I looked at them and thought, "You know, actually..."

definitely don't think any species should be made unavailable for any reason. even if you could still get them with the miracle potion ii, i think it would be the wrong decision. the limited species we have (cadogre, endeavor, bhakoru) are about as limited as i think any should be (even then the bhakoru is due for some sort of rethinking).

it might be worth brainstorming other ways for players to increase their chances of getting experiments they want, though, considering we have so many now.

I wouldn't want them completely retired, because some people may still want them without having to resort to adopting from another user, or using a Miracle Potion II. Maybe there could be variants of the Experimental Dew (as the OP suggested) that has a chance of turning your pet into an experiment with a certain theme?

I disagree with retiring any of the experiments for reasons already stated, and just because I don't think any pets should be retired. I like the site having more pets, not fewer.

I also don't really like the idea of bribing Euclid/having special experimental dews to up your chances of getting a specific experiment or group of experiments. Part of what makes experiments special is that they take some effort to get. And like others have said, if you really really want a specific one, there's the Miracle Potion II.

Retiring some experiments is also a big kick in the face for people who like unpopular things - it's pretty much the same as retiring elixirs for less-popular breeds.

We should encourage more diversity.

While it sucks that you've been zapping for less than a month and haven't got the result you want - taking away other people's goals isn't the way to make yours happen faster.

I would be in favor of having a timer on not getting repeats within an X amount of time because getting the same experiment four and five times in the same day is tiresome and detracts from the whole aspect of "Oh, I want to do this." Not to mention fun.

Maybe we should have a poll to find out what the most popular experiments are, then create items that change your pet into those specific experiments.

Or create items that changes a pet into one of 3 experiments. For example, one potion could transform into the sandcat, the fire giraffe, or the nature camel. That way it's a little easier to get a certain experiement.

To summarize, instead of retiring experiments we need to make it easier for people to get specific experiments.

Thanks for all the feedback everyone! As I had said, I was hesitant to even mention it, I just just done the math and was startled by how many experiments we now have.

I love some of these ideas, and I like the bribe. I feel like when there were only 20~ experiments the randomization made more sense.

I'm sorry I didn't make clear which experiments I would have suggested be retired. It would have had nothing to do with popularity and more to do with age. However, now I'd rather just create more options than retire anything.

And thanks for the suggestion to get the Miracle Potion II this Black Friday, I'm def going to be doing that!

Why not create an "experimental Pet" group/forum thread of people looking for specific experiments and start an exchange? As long as people aren't all looking for the same one, you might end up with the pet you want much faster.

You literally have an item allowing you to get the experiment you want - the Miracle Potion II. It cannot be easier than that. Changing the odds from 1:48 to 1:3 is not a good idea.

If you don't want to run the risk, save up the CSC and get a MPII.

You either want your experiment to be convenient, or you want it to be cheap. Convenience is not cheap, and cheap isn't convenient.