WHY!?

[Rainwater]

For a game that doesn't have ads, I think the donation price of one dollar per shard is fair. I mean, yes, it will get expensive if you want to breed donis like other non-doni critters since it takes shards to do so. But, that ultimately becomes your choice.

As for the cooldown, I am just glad Magistream isn't like Dragon Cave where refusals can happen. A little wait isn't so bad to me (unless I am breeding for gifts, but then it is just try again later when they are off cooldown).

[Katnilb]

I agree that basic human needs should be free, I just made a bad choice of business. My father worked in the grocery for 50+ years, so that came to mind first. I should have said clothing store or computer store or something, I guess.
US websites need legal representation to incorporate and legal disclaimers that users must agree to so that they don't get sued off the web for things that users post, etc. (see the TOS--that was written by a legal professional).
I'm sure that the artists and coders all must be compensated somehow for the forfeiture of all rights to their work in favor of ownership by Magistream.
No matter the actual costs, my point is that you don't just sit down one day and magically put a website on the internet with 1500 unique works of art plus all the written lore and quests and shops and mating and hybrids, etc. plus all the coding that goes into making it work for absolutely free and just put in a cash shop to be mean and get rich. Most of these sites run on a shoestring after all the business expenses are paid.

The TOS and Privacy Policy for this forum are the defaults which came with phpBB, not something a lawyer has written for MagiStream specifically. They're also not up to date - the privacy policy says "the phpBB software will generate a new password to reclaim your account." when you reset your password. It does not do this anymore and sends a link instead. Sending a password was not good from a security standpoint.

If you look at the early site news posts it's pretty clear MagiStream was not set up as you think sites should be but was pretty much built as they went.

MagiStream as a company has been incorporated three times over as three separate entities. That's not a sign everything's been done in the ideal way. Nor is a lack of mention of COPPA, which is far nicer than the UK's Online Safety Act...

I agree the donation shop is not there "to be mean and get rich", and that the site likely has a small budget, and needs the donations to survive. It's a much better way to monetize than loot boxes, battle pass events, or the truly horrible advertising model of mobile apps - for one thing, adverts do not make very much.

I don't think $10/month for one of each creature is too much, but a family of each creature would be rather a lot.

I think it's also a good thing there's a way to buy creatures from previous years as it means relying less on user's FOMO and allows them to collect as their budget allows at their own pace. It makes it possible to acquire any creature in time - I remember times when certain Donis just weren't for sale anywhere.

As for breeding cooldowns, I think it adds a nice bit of friction to the game. Breeding creatures wouldn't be rewarding at all if it always worked everytime, and like the egg slot limit it controls the flow of creatures.

[froglady]

You know much more about this site itself than I do, but I was speaking in generalities of all pet/adoptable/show/compete PBBG sites with cash shops, most of which don't exist on phpBB, but are stand-alone websites. I've played well over 100, been staff, helped on the coding team of a few. The cash shop exists to cover the expenses of the site, not to force users to spend money they don't have. I'd like to have everything, but I'm so old that I don't intend to stress over completionism. It's just not in my makeup. I know that many people in the next generation younger than I and on down think that the whole point of a game like this is having everything that's possible to have. That's their business how they spend their time (and money) and if it makes them happy that's great. I just like being surprised by what's in the egg and excited over getting something new. I also don't care about generations or offspring or all that minor stuff. It's still the same creature and I still have it. So I don't feel as much internal pressure as some to buy every creature in the cash shop every single month all the time, even before the new shop. I really don't have FOMO much over imaginary pixel creatures, though I do enjoy seeing the art and creativity that goes into them. Obviously OP does, but that's his/her problem to solve. Saying the site is using a cash shop as punishment or torture because it makes their personal goal more difficult is a false narrative. I was merely trying to provide a clearer point of view that's closer to the truth---that if you want this game to continue to exist so you can play it the cash shop is necessary.

[Zinia]

While the replies here are making good points, I also feel that one of Amanda's points has been missed/misinterpreted. They didn't say that Magistream shouldn't have paid features or that the game should make the donis free, and they didn't say we should be able to get any creature "at any time." Their suggestion was 10 shards for $5 or 20 for $10, which means they're not saying it should be free, just that it could be less than 1 shard per $1, which still would provide revenue to the site without removing the challenge of having to work gradually to collect the creatures.

I actually agree that the rate of 1 shard per $1 is rather steep with it being $5k+ for all of the donis, especially since that costs more than some people's cars... However, I do buy shards when I can because I want to support the site. What constitutes "expensive" is ultimately rather subjective so we won't all agree. I say this while still enjoying the game and paying for it when possible, so I hope this doesn't come across as overly critical. Just my opinion. Also glad for the Shimmering Shop!

[Shakura]

While the replies here are making good points, I also feel that one of Amanda's points has been missed/misinterpreted. They didn't say that Magistream shouldn't have paid features or that the game should make the donis free, and they didn't say we should be able to get any creature "at any time." Their suggestion was 10 shards for $5 or 20 for $10, which means they're not saying it should be free, just that it could be less than 1 shard per $1, which still would provide revenue to the site without removing the challenge of having to work gradually to collect the creatures.

The prices have been the same for 15 years. If you factor Inflation into this, the prices actually got cheaper over time, just because, money has a different worth nowadays. If anything, the prices should be higher to combat it. Not that I'm saying they should be - but I don't think that lowering them would beneficial.

Though maybe a bulk discount could be nice, like, get 1 shard free for every 5/10 shards you purchase.
But you have to remember it is a donation, not a purchase. Even though it technically is.

[Zinia]

While the replies here are making good points, I also feel that one of Amanda's points has been missed/misinterpreted. They didn't say that Magistream shouldn't have paid features or that the game should make the donis free, and they didn't say we should be able to get any creature "at any time." Their suggestion was 10 shards for $5 or 20 for $10, which means they're not saying it should be free, just that it could be less than 1 shard per $1, which still would provide revenue to the site without removing the challenge of having to work gradually to collect the creatures.

The prices have been the same for 15 years. If you factor Inflation into this, the prices actually got cheaper over time, just because, money has a different worth nowadays. If anything, the prices should be higher to combat it. Not that I'm saying they should be - but I don't think that lowering them would beneficial.

Though maybe a bulk discount could be nice, like, get 1 shard free for every 5/10 shards you purchase.
But you have to remember it is a donation, not a purchase. Even though it technically is.

I was mainly trying to clarify one of the points in the original post, not necessarily saying that's what the prices should be (I actually think it would be too big of a decrease to be realistic). You make a good point though; I only joined in 2021 so I didn't realize the cost had never changed. I think your idea of a discount is a great one that takes everyone's perspective into account and could maybe make donating a bit easier for some people, without the site actually having to lose revenue by making big price drops. I have donated and will again even if nothing changes (and I don't expect it to), but that would be quite nice!

[froglady]

$1/credit has been pretty much standard for most PBBG sites since the early 2000s, and credits are generally obtainable from other players for game cash in most communities. Some Cash Shops are actually cash shops, though. I play on several sites that don't have credits. You pay real money for anything you want, so you have to have the cash available when it's in the shops to buy and you can't trade for credits or buy them with gold because they don't exist.

My plan for Magistream is to just buy a couple credits a month and save them up until I can buy the donis I really want. I'm glad that's possible here (to buy credits a few at a time and save up instead of having to use the actual cash required for the purchase all at once). That was my plan before the Shimmering Shop and it's even more viable now. I figure if I put $5 towards credits every month I'll have 60 credits a year to spend.

[Tyriagris]

I think as far as breeding cooldowns go, I'm just grateful breeding here doesn't work like it does on Flight Rising, where you have different lengths of cooldown per species and some are as long as a whole month. I keep forgetting to breed my dragons on time if I have to wait that long, lol. On MS, no matter what, it's three days. That's manageable, even if the breeding isn't successful.

I agree that the choice of words for a failed attempt is odd to trigger a cooldown, though. If they weren't interested, nothing happened. Maybe saying the breeding was successful, but "no egg was produced" instead might help with that, but ultimately that's just flavour text for a (necessary) game mechanic, so the way it is now works fine, too. Though I do chuckle because even trying to breed two males or females together gives you the message of "the breeding was very successful, but no egg was produced, because the technology for same-sex creatures to lay eggs hasn't been released outside of Japan" (or something to that effect, I'm on my phone and don't wanna do it just to get the accurate quote haha). Except that attempt doesn't (and shouldn't) trigger the cooldown, I just think it's funny in this context.

[froglady]

I think of it as one of them saying, "Not tonight, I'm not in the mood." Would you expect the other one to jump on again and again and again anyway? Go play where the Cash Shop pets have 180 day gestation periods and 90 day cooldowns (yes, that's the actual numbers for one site I play on).

[wystearya]

I think of it as one of them saying, "Not tonight, I'm not in the mood." Would you expect the other one to jump on again and again and again anyway? Go play where the Cash Shop pets have 180 day gestation periods and 90 day cooldowns (yes, that's the actual numbers for one site I play on).

I know what site that is! I do love it, but yeah you have to be in it for the long haul on some pets.