What basic features should be included in every virtual pet site?

[Baw$e]

If you're starting a virtual pet site, what features would you include before you open the doors?

 

[cpvr]

The basic features that i think should be included in every pet site are:
-register/login/logout
-games
-a pets system
-messaging system
-forums
-notifications system
-a points system
-a trading system and auctions
-game maps or lands
-a referral system
-adopting a pet, creating a pet, breeding a pet or exploring for a pet or capturing a pet(your choice)
-support ticket system

 

[Ja sa bong]

The basic features that i think should be included in every pet site are:
-register/login/logout
-games
-a pets system
-messaging system
-forums
-notifications system
-a points system
-a trading system and auctions
-game maps or lands
-a referral system
-adopting a pet, creating a pet, breeding a pet or exploring for a pet or capturing a pet(your choice)
-support ticket system

A support ticket system is very important because there will always be a need for it. This will give your pet site users the confidence that you care to hear about their problem and sorting it as soon as possible.

 

[Alicia]

Registering and login/logout is always the first. Notifications system, games, trading and auctions. Supporting system will help in many ways to give back to the developers and also help the players to lay down their worries about anything concerning the pet site.

 

[Demon_skeith]

At least some kind of pet care system and a good way for people to communicate with each other.

 

[cpvr]

Registering and login/logout is always the first. Notifications system, games, trading and auctions. Supporting system will help in many ways to give back to the developers and also help the players to lay down their worries about anything concerning the pet site.

How many games do you think a pet site should have? I think 5–10 games is a good starting point when launching the site, but as it grows, adding more games is a great idea.


However, if a pet site launches with a lot of games, it could possibly attract a much larger audience right from the start.

I also believe that a battling system is a vital feature to include early on.


For the monetization system, would you prefer a pet site to use a cash app or offer account upgrades?

 

[Demon_skeith]

How many games do you think a pet site should have? I think 5–10 games is a good starting point when launching the site, but as it grows, adding more games is a great idea.


However, if a pet site launches with a lot of games, it could possibly attract a much larger audience right from the start.

I also believe that a battling system is a vital feature to include early on.


For the monetization system, would you prefer a pet site to use a cash app or offer account upgrades?

I would think having too many games might overwhelm new people to the site?

 

[Alicia]

How many games do you think a pet site should have? I think 5–10 games is a good starting point when launching the site, but as it grows, adding more games is a great idea.


However, if a pet site launches with a lot of games, it could possibly attract a much larger audience right from the start.

I also believe that a battling system is a vital feature to include early on.


For the monetization system, would you prefer a pet site to use a cash app or offer account upgrades?

Pet sites can start with 5-10 games to avoid distractions to players. Pet site are good when there are not much games in there.

I don't have any preference when it comes to cash app or account upgrades. Monetization system should go with the one that's okay for players

 

[lens]

A user-friendly interface stands as the fundamental characteristic that should exist in every virtual pet site. Sites that present a confusing layout become unmanageable for users..

 

[Ja sa bong]

At least some kind of pet care system and a good way for people to communicate with each other.

I think some pet site games already covered for this particular feature in the game's design.

 

[cpvr]

Pet sites can start with 5-10 games to avoid distractions to players. Pet site are good when there are not much games in there.

I don't have any preference when it comes to cash app or account upgrades. Monetization system should go with the one that's okay for players

I think having a wide variety of games help keep users entertained and helps attract more users. Neopets has a lot of games and most of them are used a lot. However, starting a game with a low amount of games and expanding the offering later on, is a great idea. Having different mini games like luck, chance, arcade along with level games can help a pet site reach a broader audience.

There's a lot of users that love mini games where others prefer the game play elements like questing, battling, and dress up games. However, by offering a variety you'll be able to attract more players. A pet site strives when there's a lot of features and things to do.

 

[Alicia]

I think having a wide variety of games help keep users entertained and helps attract more users. Neopets has a lot of games and most of them are used a lot. However, starting a game with a low amount of games and expanding the offering later on, is a great idea. Having different mini games like luck, chance, arcade along with level games can help a pet site reach a broader audience.

There's a lot of users that love mini games where others prefer the game play elements like questing, battling, and dress up games. However, by offering a variety you'll be able to attract more players. A pet site strives when there's a lot of features and things to do.

As you said, starting with low amount of games and expanding is a good idea. Adding varieties of games can reach the audience but games that ain't fun to played can't reach a broader audience.

 

[cpvr]

As you said, starting with low amount of games and expanding is a good idea. Adding varieties of games can reach the audience but games that ain't fun to played can't reach a broader audience.

I agree. I think a mix of luck, chance and action games are a good start. That way, you're able to cater to multiple audiences at the same time. I do see some games starting off with raffle games, lottery, and slot machines, but these are apart of point sinking features as well.

Action games tend to keep users playing though depending on what type of game it is along with leveling games. Do you think games should be playable by guests as well, or just members?

 

[Alicia]

I agree. I think a mix of luck, chance and action games are a good start. That way, you're able to cater to multiple audiences at the same time. I do see some games starting off with raffle games, lottery, and slot machines, but these are apart of point sinking features as well.

Action games tend to keep users playing though depending on what type of game it is along with leveling games. Do you think games should be playable by guests as well, or just members?

Action games are good and having good action games is an avenue for more members joining. I think guests should play games if not many, it's some of the games that can make them become interested to be members.

 

[Kross]

One feature that I think every pet site should have is a unique pet profile for all the pets that are featured on the site. That page should contain basic information about the pet and it's special attributes. It helps a player to decide which pet to choose

 

[EpiglottalAxolotl]

The beauty of virtual pet sites is that there's not one singular right way to do them. Besides the core feature of having pets, there's a lot of variability on what kinds of features a certain site might require as central, or relegate to the sidelines, or skip entirely.

When my site first entered closed alpha, it had the following features:

• Five pet species, each of which had several subspecies
• Ability for pets to grow from an egg to an adult in real-time (one to three weeks, depending on the species)
• Rewards for interacting with other people's pets
• Rewards for releasing pets into the wild
• The artifact summoning system, wherein players exchange resources acquired from interacting with and releasing pets for a chance at valuable items
• The town square, with a cooking system, a crafting system, a general store, and a wishing well that allowed players to exchange items for random other items of the same rarity
• Random events
• A gardening system to provide food for pets
• A rudimentary shop system where users could sell items to other users (which was completely overhauled before the beta launch)
• Building new rooms to serve as gardens, shops, or slots for additional pets

Notably absent from this list are many features that others have claimed are essential, such as minigames, forums, battling, direct messages, and auctions. Many of these were considered and intentionally not included in order to ease the need for moderators on the nascent site. Others are simply out of scope and do not fit into the long-term vision for the site.

Of course, this was a closed alpha test, and perhaps not indicative of what a full launch would require. But between the alpha soft-launch and the beginning of the open beta period, the only major systems added were more versatile user shops and the ability for players to decorate a room for each of their pets.

So, what do I think is actually needed for every pet site?

• The ability to personalize something. In my site, this is the furniture system, and the more recent addition of editable descriptions for pet rooms and user profiles, but this could also be a system for dressing up pets, an avatar customization system, or anything else.
• Something small to encourage people to check back regularly. Some examples of this include periodic releases of new pets or items, pets that grow to new stages frequently, or daily clicks to collect items. My site fills this niche with a set number of times per day that users can click on other people's pets, the gardening system, the necessity to feed pets every day, a recently-added store that stocks new furniture each day, and other things that have a one-day cooldown such as the wishing well.
• Long-term goals to work towards. There's only so long that users will keep playing on a site for the novelty alone; if they don't have anything to look forward to, it can get monotonous. This is something that I'm still figuring out on my own site: but so far, in the medium term, players want their pets to grow up strong so they can get rare forms or release them for a lot of resources, and in the long run, they may want to build additional rooms so they can have more simultaneous pets, obtain new pets of different species, or raise and release every form of their favorite species.

Every pet site I'm aware of has at least something for each of these three primary niches. There might be other necessary niches besides these, but these are a bare minimum without which a pet site cannot function.

Edited to add: a fourth crucial niche is interaction with other players. Otherwise, what's the point of it being a website rather than just something on the user's local machine? My site accomplishes this through user shops and the pet interaction system, but of course plenty of other interactions would be possible, such as PVP battling, forums, art contests, collaborative goals to work towards, or anything else that requires users to think beyond just raising their pets in a vacuum.

 

[Milla]

Every virtual pet site should cover a few core basics to feel complete. You need pet care mechanics like feeding, playing, and health. A progression system so pets grow, evolve, or unlock things. Customization to personalize pets should also be available. Last but not least some form of currency/rewards loop to keep engagement.

 

[Baw$e]

If you were launching a brand-new virtual pet site, what features would you consider mandatory before opening to the public?