I have to say i agree with most that was said. I've been playing ala since..2011?..2012? i think. I originally joined for off-site trading purposes but not being able to earn money as a new player was so frustrating that i never really played the game.<br /> <br /> It wasn't until i befriended retired newbie helper Tsumi/cae/sundays via chickensmoothie. She helped me set up my account and get really into it. I have put a lot of time into my ala account, everything you see was achieved without spending one dime on this site, or any like it. (Not bragging, i just dont have the money to spend on games, even though i'd love to.)<br /> <br /> It bothers me that changes made to the site can so drastically change your wealth. My main income used to be trails. I've never done much breeding, i can't get myself to breeding a line (believe me, i tried), and dogs you breed don't sell anyways. After trails was shut down, i didn't have enough freeze companions and timestops to stop all my trail dogs. Most of them have died or are dying right now. All that work down the drain, as i didn't have much TS and literally sometimes spend a month on training a dog.<br /> <br /> Anyways - When the trails got taken offline, i had to find a new way to earn money. I opened a training service and stalked down the items needed to do this. I was advised to get certain items and i did get them..only to have gotten them for nothing.<br /> <br /> Golden leash. What does a golden leash do exactly? It only feeds your dog 0.3 more then it already gets every 30 minutes. From how i understood it back then, a golden leash was supposed to get your dog hungry Faster..but it doesn't do that at all, it just makes them More hungry.<br /> <br /> Aviator cap. I was lucky enough to find someone who wanted to trade their aviator caps offsite. Not even a Week after i got them, their only useful ability was taken away. I was really angry about this because now i have 6 aviator caps that i cannot sell for even half of what i paid, and that's very frustrating.<br /> <br /> There are things wrong with the items/the way they are handled, people leave over sudden changes that didn't need to be changed (Because honestly, why did that caps need to be changed..they weren't bothering anyone..)<br /> <br /> I feel like i'm floating offtopic lol so i'll bounce it back on-topic.<br /> <br /> Like has been said before, i also feel like i have to constantly watch what i say or else my accounts might be frozen. I've put so much time and effort into my accounts that i fear that might be taken away from me.. and i don't think that should be happening on any website. And imo, it doesn't, i play the 4 'bigggest' sites and non of those make me feel like this. On most of the others i feel like i can interact with staff like any normal user. I also don't feel comfortable with reporting/filling in issues. Every time i get asked to file an issue, i'm hesitant as it feels like i'm digging a hole for myself, sorta speak. Maybe that's just my feeling though D;<br /> <br /> I do not have fun on alacrity. I can't recall ever having fun on alacrity. I feel like you only count when you either pump lots of cash into the site or have been playing since day 1. I hardly feel welcome in the community and find it extremely frustrating that you can get blocked/put on no sales lists without actually having a clue of what happened between you and that user - and then not being allowed to contact them to ask A) what happened and B) how you can change to fix it.<br /> <br /> If Alacrity doesn't make a big change soon, i am not sure how much longer i'm going to be around. I love my customs but it just costs too much to make new ones when you don't have the means to get bones. I honestly don't care what kind of big change - forum update, trails coming back online - but something has to be done to keep this site interesting again.<br /> <br /> Lots of rambles later, sry for the long reply.

Yeah, Pure Felinity, my first cat sim. Superb genetics (I believe, anyway) cool enough art, ability to create your own breeds - which I did - but you can only have pics for your cats if you are upgraded, plus you only get 2 breedings a week no matter what unless you are lucky to have a few of the special Xmas items. I was hoping for a change but nope, years later, it still is like that. And you aren't even allowed to generate pictures for non-upgraded members. <br /> <br />

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<i>That's what I dislike most, when people give up and leave. OK, I did that a few times, but then it usually had to do with really really bad lack of moving the game on - like having no art at all unless you are upgraded, when all the other sites had etc.</i><br /> <br /> I mean, when I say I'm going to leave, you best believe I'll probably still be around for quite some time o3o<br /> <br /> But to be fairly honest, selling everything I have right now is something I sorta hav wanted to do for a long time now because I don't play anymore and I'm starting up my own game and funds are a bit desirable. Plus, I'm already on a number of in-development games that I could probably dedicate more time to than ala :/ Right now I just log in to check on forum messages and thats pretty much it.<br /> <br /> I'm curious about the last bit you said though. Is there a game that's actually like that o.o

That's what I dislike most, when people give up and leave. OK, I did that a few times, but then it usually had to do with really really bad lack of moving the game on - like having no art at all unless you are upgraded, when all the other sites had etc.

<i>Personally I just think it's time to let go and move on, just like many of us did with Foopets; poor update activity and community downslide caused us to leave Foo, we transferred to Ala, and Ala's course has been run for us. Perhaps it's time to find a new sim ? (Off-topic but I can't wait for yours, Al)<br /> This doesn't mean Ala is a horrible site. This doesn't mean the community is bad. Just sometimes, people we know, have become friends list leave...and maybe it's best to follow them.</i><br /> <br /> as much as I don't want to... I have to agree. You're right, and I guess that eventually we have to be the better person and just leave. <br /> <br /> (and thank you!)

Personally I just think it's time to let go and move on, just like many of us did with Foopets; poor update activity and community downslide caused us to leave Foo, we transferred to Ala, and Ala's course has been run for us. Perhaps it's time to find a new sim ? (Off-topic but I can't wait for yours, Al)<br /> This doesn't mean Ala is a horrible site. This doesn't mean the community is bad. Just sometimes, people we know, have become friends list leave...and maybe it's best to follow them.

I feel like there aren't many HUGE things that need to be done to make me want to stay, to be honest. But at the same time, we are just one or two people out of the few hundred that might be active. So while I might have been one to have voted to wait to release danes until items are released, that doesn't mean that the rest of the majority of people are going to agree, as we can see. <br /> <br /> I feel like we're losing the sense of community here and I think that if we find a way to combine both new and older users, we'd be able to find what the community wants..? I mean I know we already have suggestions and comments on news posts and such, but I don't feel like we're united at all, y'know?

That's not really something I could decide on, lol, because I don't really know.

Cat, what would make you want to stay? Just wondering.

"<i>How are we suppsed to be sure that this trail system works if no one knows what it's going to do? Or when it's going to be done?</i>"<br /> <br /> This is what I would like to know as well. I know that we are getting a trial revamp but.. to what extent? What's happening? What is being changed, fixed, or added? How do I know this would be something that would keep me (and other users) on the site, or bring new players in? I have no plans of staying regardless, but it's just something to look at from a keep-the-site-afloat perspective.<br /> <br /> We were told about the trial changes a long while ago but haven't really received any updates on it? Users want to know about changes, older users like myself and others, want to know what will be changed so they can direct their top dogs and money into that area. We need to know but we don't, we're all just kind of hanging around, wondering when it's gonna happen and what's gonna happen, and that mystery is probably going to drive people away.<br /> I feel that this could be easily fixed by providing news posts with updates and maybe even screencaps included of the new trial system changes.