First of all thank you both so much for all of your work and general awesomeness!

I would also like to preface this by saying that I am enjoying the fest, but it does have a few things that I find less than ideal.

Honestly, I'd love it if there were ways other than digging and hoping to get fish pets. With the plant sylesties I liked that if you got a seed pouch drop, you were at least guaranteed a seed. In this fest, I've used loads of shovels and fishing poles and I have yet to find a fish. I get that it's to increase the rarity of them but it's also a bit frustrating, you know? I really hope to find one before fest end and I'm going to keep trying, it's just disheartening to try so many times and fail. I really like the idea of this seeking being used for the materials though. Finding the water and clay by digging them up is really neat, and so is the occasional buried treasure.

I also agree with those saying the zone doesn't have much going on in it. I love the bosses you gave us and their items are all awesome, but with such a small space and such long respawns there's not much to actively /do/ in there once you've fought all three except to go back by the first chest you opened and run in little circles.

I do like the chance to get past themes, since I missed out on some I wanted last time. I'm glad to hear it's on a 2 fest cycle to keep things fresh but give multiple chances.

I'm probably going to just repeat a lot of what other people have said, but I will have my non-original ideas heard gosh darn it! :P

Anyway, I'm glad that the zone themed will not repeat indefinitely, I'd prefer if we could have new ones every fest but every other fest isn't bad. :) I'm overall pretty happy with the themed spawn rate, my only problem this fest is I've had rotten luck with the rng in actually catching them. But that's not anyone's fault, I've had good luck catching pets a majority of the time.

I enjoy the seeking, but what frustrates me is that while you have the ability to upgrade pearls and exchange water and clay for each other, you are stuck with the shovels/poles that you find and cannot upgrade them. I also understand that the majestic tools are supposed to be super rare, but making them diamond only makes them a bit too hard for some people who would otherwise love to purchase them to obtain. I'd suggest making them also available for an amount of tokens, but have them be a large amount. (Maybe 500 tokens each? Maybe a little less, but at least available. I know this type of feature has been diamond only for a while and I've never been fond of any diamond only features since I feel like it doesn't give ~everyone~ at least the chance to participate.)

I'd also like to see a zone original feature like many people have suggested. Since we are reusing the spring map, I'd like to see that maze area used for something. If we used it like a maze, perhaps we could search for tidal pools that we could "scoop" something from? I also heard a metal detector idea that I think could be promising, although I think it would have to be changed so that it could detect other items that weren't metal. Although making an interface for that might be kind of tricky, I assume it would have to alert you in some way if the area you were standing on had an item there.

If it didn't have to be used as a maze the possibilities expand, perhaps it could be a sea area that we move over and we're assigned some specific items to find and if we manage to we get an additional item? (I don't mean like sun tokens, I mean different specific fest items.) There are probably better ideas out there for what to use that area as, but that's what I was able to come up with, haha.

Besides that I don't have anything I dislike about seeking (difficult and luck based but actually easier than the wheel ever was) or the bosses (slow spawn rate to keep the value of their items drops a little higher) or the chests (same drop idea.) I'd just like something to make this zone feel special, whether it be a maze type area, a dynamic event like we've had in fests past, or something *else* to make it feel more unique. Because right now, it just feels like the spring fest with less features in zone.

I really love the leaderboards, even though they really ended up stressing me last fest. I realized that I simply got too competitive. It's a good way to give reason a people to grind the fest and since there will be two contests for each species running, it gives people a little more wiggle room overall.

I'm a pretty big fan of everything else about this fest. I hope we have more forum based contests for it, those are a lot of fun as well! :)

While I think it's your goal overall to make the themes rarer, it really comes across as frustrating, I think. I understand both sides of the argument, from an economic/general sitewide point of view, and from the user who hasn't found anything yet. I particularly feel like the purple tools largely being bought with diamonds makes it feel very "pay to win", and I'd really like it if they (very rarely) dropped from bosses or something similar. (I know they drop in the maze as well - I'm getting to that!) Honestly, at this point, the wheel almost seems less frustrating than the seeking, and I say this as someone who's gone two hundred spins without winning a pet.

Also, given the level of competition for the boards, I think it would be great if you would consider extending the themeds to everyone on the leaderboards for a particular species (or at least make it that way for the fableds); even a 1-vis would be satisfying for someone who's killed hundreds (or even thousands) of enemies to try and get in the top 10.

I really preferred maze tickets being sold for gold in the spring fest - I'm assuming that this is another change to increase the rarity of themed pets, but I saved up gold to buy maze tickets and was really disappointed when it didn't happen. Actually, I'm not a huge fan of the maze in general, because I'm awful at it; I'd rather have the wheel because it's more accessible to newer players. Not everyone has diamonds or can save up 1.5 million to buy maze tickets, but wheel tickets dropped from bosses and meant that anyone could get them. (I've seen them drop from seeking, but it doesn't feel the same.)

Again, I know this is a balance between preserving the rarity of themed pets and the level of enjoyment for people on the site, so I can appreciate you making the decisions you did, particularly because you also have to balance the fact that this is your sole form of income. I think the level of work you guys put into the site - especially during festivals - is amazing! I always try to buy diamonds during the festival to support the site (and you two), even though I can only afford a few dollars worth. Keep making Sylestia great!

(PS, while I think it's great that you're asking for crit, in future, I'd really appreciate a way to submit anonymous feedback, rather than an open forum thread that everyone can see.)

For me I am totally enjoying the festival thanks guys!

But I really wish there were other contests other than battling and nurturing. Both of these tasks require one to spend a lot of time online. So these pets are definitely well deserved, don't get me wrong, but i really liked having the releasing option for contests. Basically if there were other options for contests, or even if there were more pets instead of consolation prizes, i wouldn't feel so hopeless competing with kids who are on summer holiday.

Basically if there were 1 or 2 more contests that didnt require just hours of gameplay. ^ ^'


Other than that i cant complain. Keep up the good work!!

This fest has been a huge grind for me so far with little reward. I think the biggest issue is all of the luck involved. My luck on games is horrible and with so many steps based on pure luck it's really disheartening. If all of the items needed to make a pet were tradable, then I'd actually be excited when I finally got a fishy piece instead of wanting to cry because it was for a pet I have no interest in. I'm really happy I can buy clams because I have only found 1 so far.

The chests in the zone really need to be tweaked as well, so that they actually give you something useful. I pretty much have gotten nothing but money from the chests. A seeking tool would be much more useful and worth more than the amount of money the chests are currently giving. Basically the only reason I open the chests is in the hope that I might get a nest to spawn, which has yet to happen.

The leaderboards are geared for those who play constantly, which is fine. I was planning on just getting a few pouches from them. After seeing just how many point I need for a pouch, however, it looks like I'll just end up with one pouch.

Overall, I love the idea of making your own themed pets. Making the items tradable would really help reduce the issues with drop rates and people getting a ton of one item and none of another. It doesn't sound like that's going to be something you can change for this fest, though.

I love this festival and I love how things are a little harder to acquire but when I spend diamonds on majestic tools and use like 50 tools ((majestic) for fishing (even on tiles with something there) and STILL get nothing, its kinda too rare. Majestic tools, because they cost diamonds, should have a much higher fish find rate

I think it's really great so far! I'll list things as pros/cons.

Pros:
-- Being able to find stuff like Maze Tickets and pet pieces with even the lesser tools
-- No more release contest! I came back and sold pets and it totally got me that my babies weren't going to good homes. I know it's an important thing to do, but i do think there might be a different way to go about that.
-- Being able to move spots in Seeking is nice, and the length limit is good too.
-- The avatar items are fABULOUS.


Cons:
-- I think the probability rates could be sliiightly more balanced. I know this site runs off money like all others so majestic tools are super good to encourage that, but the users who can't get that might appreciate a bit better luck!
-- I miss the non-ticket maze from the last spring fest, it opened a few extra opportunities for all users to get themed and special items.
-- Don't know how many forum games you have planned, but it would be nice to know about how many and have a general schedule to be online for.
-- I DON'T HAVE TIME TO PLAY AS MUCH AS I WANNA but that's not your fault, i suppose...

honestly i'm just happy we get to have festivals!! seriously, you guys put so much into this site, i honestly have never seen site runners care so, so much, i appreciate that SO much!

I find the encounter rate for themed pets in the festival zone to be very low, even after the adjustment. I've only come across 3 so far, so it's becoming a little tedious and disappointing after 3-4 days of playing. Would have liked to see the raid events also include drops of Sun tokens, so far I've only managed to amass around 70. I didn't take part in the Spring Festival so can't compare.

I also find the Sylesti seeking zone to be quite low drop-rate wise, although better than finding themed Sylestis in the maze. Makes me chuckle a bit when I see 'you may have no more than 100 of each item' and I'm struggling to get 3! Finding shovels/fishing rods has been slow, I thought battling would see more drops.

I bought a Maze ticket for diamonds and reached room 4 of the Path of Dreams, unfortunately got booted before meeting the boss in Room 5. Got 3 mystical fishing rods of which 2 gave me silver pearls, the other nothing. (Fair enough). Also got a perfume but was very disappointed this only attracted one themed Sylesti. I thought I'd see more.

On a positive note, I love the themed pets and I know you guys have worked really hard to organise this festival, and I'm impressed you're taking feedback during the festival. :)

i love the door games i just wish they werent all times i am at work

First, let me say how much I appreciate all the hard work you have put into this, especially considering the mega zone is also being developed in the background which is huge in and of itself...


However, for me this whole festival has felt like a mini-fest, rather than one of the four major festivals. Only three bosses, recycled small map, no "free" maze, and honestly the tickets for the maze that is up don't drop and I'd sell them if I get one anyway.I hate feeling like the only way to get the exclusive pets is to either play every hour of every day to stay on a leaderboard, or pay for a small chance to get something that I probably don't even want.

I like the idea of the seeking fish pets, I was kind of excited about it actually, but the reality is that the useful drops are rediculously low and random, and since you can't trade them, your stuck with what you get and may or may not even get what you need to be able to grow anything at all. If you increased the drop rate, the only thing I am getting more of is gold drops, which are useless. I'm currently sliding of f the battling leaderboard, so I've been battling pretty much constantly since the fest started, and have gotten enough shovels and rods to clear three beach maps, and have only gotten ONE fish. I can't do anything with it though, because I still have not gotten ANY water. For something you have to have three of to build a pet, that is way too low a drop rate, if you ask me. I can see making the fish drop rate low, but the water and bricks should drop more at least. And honestly, getting 17 gold from a mid level shovel? Kind of insulting. Honestly I would rather the gold be a rare drop from these (only slightly higher than the diamond drop rate, actually), and replace them with more water and bricks of clay, and maybe add in some low level healing potions or something. Keep the drop rate for the special potions and the perfume and such as it is, I think that is fine, but gold coming up nine times out of ten as a drop (when drops are rare to begin with) is just useless for the game and truly annoying. Since the fish are dropping so rarely, we should be able to get enough of the materials to use any fish we get. At the moment, that does not seem to be the case, not for me at least.

Also... the difference in luck between the different levels of tools is unremarkable. Or rather, it's remarkable in a BAD way. Honestly, if you want us to get excited about mystical tools, they should actually get you something almost every time you use them. So far, I haven't gotten one so I am only going by hearsay, but I've heard several people say they have spent good money on diamonds for tools, only to be blanked as far as finding fish or much of anything other than gold. In my own experience, the difference between wooden and iron tools is negligible at best. The only difference I have actually noticed is a slight trend to more gold with the iron tools when it drops... but even there, the lowest gold drop I have gotten was with an Iron Shovel- 17 gold. No way am I going to buy with diamonds such a low chance tool. Wayyyyyy too much of a gamble. I would be more ok with this if we could upgrade the shovels and rods, but again, we are stuck with what we find. I guess since I can't see much difference between them, this isn't much of an issue for me, but if you want us to pay for the tool, it should have a better than 50/50 drop rate, and even more so, a better chance at the useful drops.

The biggest disappointment of the seeking game though is not being able to trade the elements you need to build the pets once you get them. Everything else aside, this is the one thing I would change if we could.

In the zone, I don't necessarily mind the spawn rate for the bosses so much, though if there were more of them it would be nicer... but the spawn rate for the chests is just rediculously slow. We had one fest where it was more like every fifteen minutes, and that was nice because you could battle your way around the board, and follow them respawning. I know your worried about the drops devaluing... but since I am getting small amounts of gold from them almost every time anyway, I don't see where that is a problem. I mean really, I don't think I have gotten anything BUT gold or sun tokens more than a handful of times, in all the times I have gone around. It sure feels like it at least. And the one in the middle on the bottom? Six hour spawn time? Really? Ok, I know it usually spawns as either a nest or an Ancient Chest (which haven't been any better for me than the regular ones, just sayin... all they do is give me a little more gold each time, lol), but six hours? Meh... I personally miss the healing potions and regen potions in the chests too. Especially as a new user, the first few times I was playing a festival, I loved getting these and used them as I was working my way through the hordes of bandits and pets. I would like to see these put back in the chests personally.

Honestly being so stingy with the drops and with the slow spawn rates just makes the whole game more tedious for me. I know the chests don't drop much of any use, but having more of them on the map and having them spawn faster gives you something to work toward as your moving around the zone. Their absence in this fest has for me at least made battling much less fun, and more of a grind than it needs to be. I'm at the point where I just can't make myself battle enough to stay on the leader board because it really is just becoming a grind. I don't see themed pets enough to keep my interest, the chests and bosses don't spawn quickly enough to keep me engaged, the small map is already more than a bit of a yawner... it just ends up being work rather than fun.

As far as the themed pets... I would recommend the following; for each fest, have one set of "new" pets to look forward to, and one set of old pets from past festivals. You have enough sets now that you can do a different set each time, but this allows new genes to "wake up" old themes. I loved being able to put some of the new genes into my AS Griffi line, and some of the new genes suit the old themes better than the ones they originally had. I hope you don't completely retire old themes after two seasons, personally.

But then, this gets back to another pet peave of mine... everyone is yammering to "keep the pets valuable", make them exclusive and rare... but honestly that just creates haves and have nots. I don't mind SOME things being exclusive, but realistically, if EVERYTHING is exclusive then only the most active paying players can get them. Once a game goes that route, they start loosing non-paying players, and the game as a whole looses much of its diversity and vibrancy. I hate that Sylestia is startin to go that way, and the best content is pretty much only available if you pay for it, and even then mostly as a gamble. This seeking game would be a lot more fun, in my humble opinion, if you could actually get what you need to make a dozen or so pets, like we did with the flowers. It would be a lot more fun if we could trade ALL of the pieces to get what we want. I don't like having to open a shovel to get a shovel... why can't we just use it? I don't like having to open dozens of clams to get a pearl that to be useful I then need to "upgrade" (with the ultimate upgrade being at such a high price I would only do it if I am lucky enough to get a legendary fish...) I have dug three entire maps and only gotten one fish, but I can't make it because I don't have all the ingredients to do it. The base ingredients- the clay and water, should be the more common things to drop, but they aren't. I wish we got tons of water and clay, and at the end of the festival you had an NPC that would buy up the extra, instead of getting all these silly small gold drops. Not getting the base ingredients to make the one fish pet I have managed to find makes the whole game frustrating. I play for fun, When it starts being more work and not so fun? Then I stop playing, it's pretty simple.

I would love to see more forum games too, though I realize with everything you are doing for the megazone you may just not have time for them. I miss the frankenpet games, they were a rush and it was always fun seeing what you get at the end. Are you doing any of the themed pet contests this round? I haven't seen any word about them, but it was always fun to see the entries for those too, good and bad. I would love to see more different games like this, not just during the fest but to break up the time between fests and to keep people active and involved all the time. These are the kinds of games that help build a vibrant, active community, because everyone can get involved, everyone can play. Doesn't matter what level you are or what you do or don't have in your stables. And the comments during the frankenpet games were always so much fun to scroll through afterwards! *grin*. I wouldn't even mind of the prizes weren't as great as you have often given in the past... lots of smaller games with smaller prizes would suit me fine, lol. The battleship type games are fun, but as others have said, take too long and have too small a pool of people that can participate. I like the games where everyone could play, and the game itself was over and done within an hour at most.

I also miss the non-battling content we had before, like the trick or treat, caroling in winter, that kind of thing. It got tedious for some, but I liked the push to go out and visit people. I think more content like this in some form would also help liven up the festivals. I don't much care if there is a prize at the end or not, actually I would prefer if instead of a leaderboard, if you had more like goals to reach for a small prize- visit 10 people get a stack of healing potions, visit 100 get a lesser mutator or something like that. You don't have to make everything a competition, really!

A couple of fests have had a pop-up thing to look for- Tom Turkey and the like. I liked those, though i am sure that coding them wasn't much fun, lol, and if you spend all your time in the zone you don't get the page changes for generate them, which is annoying in itself, but something like that is always fun. I'm still mad Tom never dropped an egg for me, and you didn't bring it back last year. This fall please? *grin*

I'm of two minds about the leaderboards. I understand people like that kind of thing. I find them impossible. I can't force myself to nurture hundreds of eggs and hatchlings a day to even come close to that one, and with the battling, I'm finding that I need to be on and fighting all day every day to maintain a position on it. I don't think I can do that (even if time permits, which it doesn't), and most of us can't. I don't know what other "leaderboards" you can do, but something that would me more accessible to more people would be nice. Everything else is so random in what you can get, this is really the only way to target exactly what you want... but it seems impossible for most of us to even attempt.

I guess part of my problem is that everything is turning into a gamble. It's all random chance what you can get and even IF you get anything at all. I tend to have rotten luck with these kinds of things. I liked it much better when I at least had the chance to trade what I find that I don't want, for the items I do. And I really hate all the restrictions on the building materials for the fish. I mean, I have tons of clay and NO water, others have more water than they need. It bugs me no end that we can't trade them back and forth, and I honestly don't see why we have those kinds of restrictions. It certainly keeps the pets more "exclusive", but it also makes the whole game so much more frustrating. There is a balance between "challenging enough to make things valuable" and "so exclusive no one can get them, or it's so much work it's not worth it". This fest seems to have tipped to the latter for me at least. Less randomness and more achievable goals would be a good thing, IMHO.

I honestly can't get excited about the maze tickets. As far as I am concerned, they are worse than the old wheel. I refuse to buy them, but then I wouldn't buy the wheel tickets either, so I'm not the one to ask about any of that. It was bad enough to spin the wheel time after time to get a junk prize. But at least that was immediate and done. Now you have to choose between two paths, pick between two doors... and still not get the exclusive pet you want. Meh. Not my thing at all.

Ok, enough negativity... what I DO love about the festival-

I really love that you have the users help create the designs for the fish pets and things like that, it makes the game so much more interesting to see who's designs were chosen, how they were tweaked, etc.

I really like the idea of beach combing for the materials, and fishing for the fish to make the new pets. That whole dynamic is a great hook for a summer festival. I much prefer this to the wheel, if that is the trend. I just wish the dynamic was more in line with the seeds or mojo, where we could trade the pieces we get that we don't want/need, for the pieces we do want.

I like the forum games, even if I can't participate in most of them.

I like the new avatar items, especially the lion costume and cubs. But no new wings or backgrounds? I was really hoping for a beach background at least...