Now, this might be a highly unpopular opinion (I may even get bullied for it, who knows?), but it needs to be adressed: the "Discovered By" mechanic.

Now, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. This system is highly unfair to newer, less experienced players, the types of players who just want a chance to have that special, coveted title get screwed by the system. Why? It favors players who have the time, resources, and skill to hunt the second the clock starts. It's almost a form of gatekeeping, leading to unending frustration again, and again, and again. Knowing you can't do anything about it because the player who's gotten it at least 10 times is determined to do anything to get it again, for basically no reason than a small ego boost.

For players like me, it's upsetting, since the bigger, better players are gatekeeping it- and, in a way, it should be like that! If you have the skill and the luck to get it, you deserve to have it. But I don't see the reason why one person would have to be the one to discover around 80 different types of themes. This is my issue with it- players who already have it shouldn't be able to get it again.

So, here's my solution: make it so someone who has gotten the title already can't get it again, either for the rest of their account history or until a set amount of festivals have passed. Now, I know hardly anything about coding, but I think implementing something like that would be relatively simple: just make it so that a theme with 0 creatures discovered can't be found by someone with the title until there's at least 1 of that themed discovered.

Now, I know this seems a little dumb. In fact, it is pretty dumb. But I can't help but think about the people like me, who just want something like that but can't have it because the bigger players are blocking them off from it because of their greed. There's no need to get something like that a thousand times when you've already gotten it once. I think it would be best to give less experienced players a chance like that too. It would give the community more of a sense of connectedness, because the fairness of it would lead to less frustration. We know you listen to us, Krin, and we know you care about the wellbeing of the game as a whole

Of course, there are plenty of counter arguments, and I'd love to hear them. But please, know that this is an idea. Please be respectful and tell me if you agree or not.

The "Discovered By" mechanic is just that - a mechanic. It's not a title at all. You just see the name of the player who found/created the first pet of that theme. There is no achievement or player title from it. On top of that, said mechanic can be seen only from the list, and a theme is wiped away in two years. The themed list is a relatively new feature, added in Spring(? it's either Spring or Summer) 2019. Prior to its implementation, you could only view who discovered the first pet via Advanced Search. There is zero difference in how one can interact with that player/pet, other than a convenient link on a comprehensive page.

I'm no coder either, but I am fairly certain that the lists are temporary and not logged in a database. In a year, many new themes are introduced and many others are retired. The list is updated and removes the information (number of pets, image, etc.) about retired themes. This means there's not really a way to track who got the "Discovered By" for a theme. If your suggestion came to be, you would want to block anyone who has ever gotten the first of its theme from getting a new themed pet? And you can't even see who that is unless you go looking through Advanced Search? Also, how would this work for created pets? If your pet is ready to collect, you can't do so until someone who hasn't gotten their name in a temporary list - and that just seems mean.

What is your "solution" going to do? Preventing a player who has found one themed first from finding any other themes would be horrible. That is even more unfair, especially if someone has spent real life money to purchase diamonds for a perfume.

As for your accusations that people who get the firsts are doing so for an ego boost: I don't know anyone who cares about the mechanic that much. No one really brags about how many firsts they got. Players who collect themed pets value the pet itself more highly than having their username in "Discovered By". Your suggestion is only going to help someone who wants their ego boosted or feels inadequate about a very minor part of the site.

I can see how it can seem unfair that people who have perfumes and the ability to be online just as the fest starts will get the first pets. However, you get the same amount of time to find the same theme yourself later on. You can ask them if you want to purchase that specific pet. I don't see why "Discovered By" should be something to obsess about; that seems unhealthy and materialistic. Again, it's literally just a name and link on a list that disappears. There are no ties to your account or anything you can gain from it.

Id love to be able to reply to this in detail but unfortunately Im at work and attempting to type via phone, so Ill have to keep this short.
Id have to say no support.
First and foremost, this idea in no way is being suggested as a way to improve the site. Your opening post refers to bigger players as other players who are greedy and more experienced and comes off as if theyre purposely putting other players down to gain an ego boost . Older and more experienced players will always have an advantage when it comes to games because they know what theyre doing. This isnt unfair, its just reality. Theres nothing to stop you from asking a more experienced player for advice on receiving a title such as this and on this site in particular, more experienced players are usually always willing to help answer questions. For this, its really simple: At the start of the festival, you just need to use a perfume of themed attraction and hope to get lucky. Thats really all there is to it. It is something that newer players have access to.

I wanted the first ghostly hallows qit as i designed the theme. I managed to get the rng roll for my pretty pony and caught the first one. I could have just as easily caught something else. I dont really find ANYTHING an ego boost here im not that kind of person. Anyways I think you might be confusing it with the title for the first brewed pet. There is a title for that yes. As for it being unfair that others can discover pets first? I live in australia so fest went live at 4am. I have stayed up till 9am to get the "first day" stuff done so its done incase i dont wake before new day. I personally find it more unfair that every fest starts around noon US time. Works out well for US people but other places, perhaps not. BUT krin the admin of the site needs to be here for it when it goes live so i dont complain how unfair it is(cause to start at midnight would be a disadvantage to many players) and i dont feel that everything should be catered to fit me. ^-^

Also bullying by definition isnt someone telling you are wrong. Bullying is generally repeated behaviour. Someone posting on every single thread you make for days/weeks/months saying mean things = bullying. Having a disagreement with someone and them stating their opinion, it differs from your opinion, not bullying

You have a really good point there- I can't really fight those points, since you're completely right. However, I will clarify that by "keeping them from getting themes forever" I meant until at least one had been found of that species. Also I forgot that it was for brewing and not finding.. in fact, I didn't even know! I always thought it was for finding them.

You know, you actually have a really good point there. I'd never thought of just asking them for advice like that! I've had some... not so great experiences with users in the past, and I don't want to risk doing something like that again. I will admit I didn't write my claim that well, making your points even more valid.

Wow! It's nice that you got lucky like that! You have a very good point- it could've been any other critter, but it happened to be the one you wanted. And yeah, you have a really good point. If you're determined enough to work for it, then you should be the one to get it. I didn't even know that the title was for brewed pets, I thought it was for encountered pets! I must've misread it.

And yes, I know what bullying is. What I meant by that was I didn't want someone to be like "oh your idea is stupid lol" in the replies. I have high faith in this community, but you can never really be sure. I can take constructive criticism.

The 'Discovered By' just simply parses the database for the first pet of that Themed and prints out the Original Owner of it. That's it. There's no reward, no title, no nothing.

It's just simply scraping already available information to the public.