Right now the pound is overflowing with "junk pets" with poor genes and bad stats. A few people are calling for a purge of the pound, but this will not fix the roots of the problem. We'll have the same issue all over again soon because the causes of the problem are still there!

What are the root causes of the problem?

Problem Root 1: Abandoning always gives you silver

When you can breed and abandon junk pets for easy silver, guess what people are going to abandon? Tons of junk pets bred for the money. This can be easily fixed by making the pound pay out less money when there are more pets inside. If the pet numbers grow too high, the pound stops paying entirely until the numbers become more reasonable.

This can be handled by a little bit of code that runs on server reset, or staff can adjust things manually once a day as pound numbers rise and fall. A little note of "we are not giving bounties for pets right now" could show on the pound page to let people know that abandoning pets for money isn't worth it. That could be optional, though!

Problem Root #2: The reserve sucks!

The reserve is like a poor version of the pound. It takes your pets, gives nothing, and costs a lot to build. You can't blame people for using the pound instead!

The reserve needs to either cost a lot less and do a lot more to make using it attractive. Cutting the silver requirements would be a good start. Researching and basic survival on this game is expensive enough without having to decide whether building a reseve is worth it.

Making the reserve improve wild pet catches made in the in-game week after pets are released would be a huge encouragement to use the reserve. Think of it as "improving the wild blood stock through released pets". Every pet released during an in-game week could improve your chances of finding nice stat pets by 5% (maximum of 50% bonus).

This would give players a real reason to use the reserve while being expensive enough and limited enough to not upset the game. After all, it only lasts a week in-game, has a maximum improvement of 50% better chances, and that 50% better chaces would involve getting rid of 10 pets at once. Still, better chances at wild pets is sure to tempt people into using the reserve!

Problem Root 3: Portal Service is insanely expensive

I can understand why the portal service has a limtied number of pets it can take each day. Yes, it's a powerful effect. However, not everyone uses the islands enough to make the very high expense of the Portal Service worth it.

Requiring a Telescope, hourglass and compass to build is fine, but the rest of the costs are too expensive and could be easily cut in half to make building a portal service more attractive to non-hardcore explorers. If more people had a portal service, more people might be inclined to use it!

Edit: Also, it should be mentioned in the FAQ that getting multiple copies of a building plan lowers the costs to build. That would be nice fo newbies to know! :)

Problem Root #4: If you get junk from the pound you're stuck with it for a week

I've heard people express frutration at finding junk pets in the pound then being "stuck" with them for a week. Now, I fully understand not wanting to let people snag and toss pets over and over, but agree that a week is a long wait when you have limited space.

A solution could be to cut the wait to three days unless the pet is being set free in a reserve. Pound pets aren't used to their surroundings yet, so having them be turned loose in a nice meadow wouldn't bother them much. As a consequince, pound pets should be happy to go from a cage to a nice open reserve right away with no wait!

This would give people another reason to use the reserve and would make life a little easier on new players with smaller stables. People are impatient: being able to set free that junk pet you just found will make many people happy indeed.

In a nutshell: if the alternatives to the pound become more attractive and the pound only rewards people when the pound actually needs pets, people are less likely to abandon junk and junk will clear faster!

With the pound not being always profitable, expect to see an upgrade in the pets seen in the pound as people genuinely trying to help (not just trying for easy cash) abandon pets.  With it being less risky to adopt a pet, people will adopt more pets. Mix the two and there will be less pets to wade through and, hopefully, people will be a little happier overall.

What do you think? Are there any other realistic ways that will solve the problems behind the overfull pound filled with junk pets? :)

----------------------------

More ideas from other players...

Problem Root #5: Renames are expensive (by Nightingale)

I know other threads have covered this one, but I'll mention it here as well: pets fresh from the pound should get one free rename. In the real world adopted pets rarely keep the same name they had in the pound because as they adult to their new surroundings, they are open to learning new names as well. This would encourage people to try pets they otherwise would have ignored due to something silly like a name.

Problem Root #6: Blind Bag pets + 7 day wait = Not Fun. (by Nightingale)

This is a gentic-based breeding game. Although it's understandable that players shouldn't be "shopping" the pound, it's a little frustrating to get junk pets by the score. One perk for surbscribers only could be the ability to see one or two randomly chosen stats as well as the pet's level in the pound. It won't give everything away, but it might serve as a hint as to what's in store with that pet!

Examples:
Unnamed. Level 1 male dragon. Strength 25, Constitution 40.
Unnamed. Level 1 female roc. Courage 35, Wisdom 36.

Here here!

I would support any of the following:

What you said. <--- Love it, every bit of it. Its so true.

I think you should add a problem root....

#5 You adopt pets blind, which hinders the desire for people to gamble and possibly end up with a crappy pet that they can't use for week. You can't even change the name, they are stuck with it.

I know people have gotten upset about this. And to be honest ugh.

First off in real life you get to see your pet before you adopt, some places even let you have a trial period and many want to interview you... It can be downright hard to adopt a pet sometimes! I've done it!

Also names.... they aren't forever and they can change. My aunt adopted a dog that in all honesty was named "Sparkles" now she happily comes to "Molly".

Personally if you could change the name of a pet at the time of adoption one time for free (or perhaps a smal silver fee) then this could solve so many issues. People could put names as warnings on the pets, or an attractive title on them. This would be fantastic.

As for viewing a pets profile.. I know we want to avoid "shopping" But in honesty this does happen at a adoption center/pound. Though I see how this would hurt game mechanics. Perhaps have people able to view x amount of pets a day or pay a small fee.

People who drop off pet.... I don't even know how to deal with this. But it needs to be changed. It's an easy way to drop off a pet and get some money.  The only good thing the 1,000s gain does is set a base price. But I thought people were doing a pretty good job on that on their own now that the ball is rolling...

I'll probably throw in more later.. I've literally gotten so distracted writing this....

While I agree that the current Pound situation is far from ideal, I think many users weren't around when the State Portal opened its doors, so you don't know what the Pound was like when there was no reward for putting a pet into the Pound. It was empty. There were absolutely NO pets in there, because people built their Portal and used all their pets to get energy cards. So they also snatched whatever pets they could from the Pound to throw in. Granted, this was also before the Portal service had a limit of 5 pets a day. You were also able to portal pets rigth away after adopting them from the Pound, which made it even more attractive to snatch whatever you could..

You want to remove two of the features that were introduced to protect the Pound.. I don't know, the 5-per-day limit may by itself be enough to keep the Pound filled, but I think if we removed the reward for pounding, we would quickly end up with an empty Pound again. 

As for the Reserve - I personally like it. I get to "keep" my pets, since I can see them in their own tab, but they don't cost me food. I may not be able to do anythign with them anymore, but I still feel like they're mine. 

So, to sum up:

#1: The reason for it I explained but your solution I like a lot. 
#2: I already mentioned that I like the Reserve. As for making it more attractive though, I like UnicornMaster's suggestions here http://beastkeeper.com/thread/2738
#3: I don't quite understand the riding hall part of your comment. Do you mean if people have the riding hall they will explore less cause they level up their pets with that? This is not true, since the training costs in there are VERY expensive, multiple thounsand silver every (high) level, even if you have a trainer at your inn. I still explore all my high level pets until their training cost is at maximum 1000s before I use the Riding Hall on them. Also one other thing I'm not sure if you're aware of: You can stack blueprints. If you add a second Portal blueprint, the silver cost of the building will be reduced. You can add up to 5 blueprints and with that halve (!) the silver cost for the building. Of course you need to find those blueprints first, but usually they're not that expensive on the trades.
#4: That solution is actually already in the game. You CAN send a pet to the Reserve right away.
Nightingale's #5: Yes, I still wish you could see pet's stats before adopting. And change their name after you adopt them. 

@Timain

Nope, I didn't know about the stacking blueprints. This needs to go in the FAQ along with a better explination of the way researching gentics works. I'd also mention that pets can go to the reserve immediately. :) New players who don't have all buildings yet don't know little things like this.

UnicornMaster's idea is nice, but it's overpowered. If you upgrade your stable you could get a lot of items at once. If you're low on inventory space you may not want items. Items PLUS better chances at catching pets is a huge advantage! It also does not encourage more pets being put in the reserve as a single pet at level 50 in the reserve would be all you need to get the most out of a species. It also discourages getting rid of low level junker pets as you'd have a chance of those returning to you instead of the high level ones.

My idea fixes this by ignoring the level of the pets in the reserve and going fo quantity instead. It also encourages more reserve releases by having the effect be temporary and based on the number of pets released at the time. To keep things fair each building should have only one extra "perk": money (pound), items, catching better pets, more islands (portal service), ect. More than one perk gets overpowered fast!

As long as you're doing quests, the riding stables seems like a better deal to me than getting rid of pets at the portal service. Pets take a lot longer to get than silver, even with the one a day from the pound. This is why I mentioned the riding stable.

Also, it seems to me like higher level pets find more money and better items, which makes them seem more island worthy than a level 1 baby pet would. Is it just me? Anyway, seeing that higher level pets seem to get more stuff from exploring, I'd use the island to level higher level pets and the riding stable for low level pets. It seems like the least expensive way in comparison to the portal service and it gets more money.

I'll update the first post shortly.

@Nightingale: True. I like the rename option, though I agree that trying to avoid shopping might be an issue. Perhaps as a perk subscribers can see two stat numbers on each pet?  For example...

Unnamed. Level 1. 23 strength, 35  Intuition.

This doesn't give it all away, but it's a hint to help players decide.

Yes. Higher levels have more islands to explore, and get more gold. And Genetic Power pets are like beasts on the map. XP I believe stays about the same rate just increases in number as your pet levels.

Thank you! I'm glad you like it. I've adopted some great pets... but they have ridiculous names or names that I don't really care for... Just not my style since I try to keep all my gryphons with Nordic Mythological names....

Total support.

@Nightingale: Yeah, some of those names are pretty silly. If pound pets got a free rename you wouldn't be stuck with pets named "good genes" or something like that forever.

In all honesty, does anyone acutlaly pay gold here on a regular basis to rename pets? Anyone? Silver would make more sense as would a free rename for pound pets! :D

I still don't understand why it's so dang unreasonable to know what you are adopting. If someone went through the trouble and expense to genetically type a pet before they tossed it into the pound, those "papers" should follow it. Likewise, the stats should be visible. You may not be paying to take the pet home, but by God you'll be paying for it long after, on several levels. Make it a minimal charge for "processing" to "pull the files" if you must, with something reasonable like a 100g fee to see the stats and any associated paperwork, but good grief! I just do NOT see why all this fuss over not being able to see what you're getting! It angers me, if we're being honest here. Why SHOULDN'T I be able to see what I'm taking home? >=\

I support everything else in this thread, though I especially like the idea of names being wiped by default when a pet enters or leaves the pound (so that renaming them once would be free), and also that there should be no wait at all to send Pound-adopted pets to the Reserve. Of course, there really is no incentive at all to use the Reserve at the moment, so if someone shelled out all that expense for something so utterly useless then I say let them use it, lol. Right on, and thanks for the suggestions.

#s 1-4 - As I have stated previously :http://beastkeeper.com/thread/2721

#5 - I agree that renames could be expensive, however, at the same time, people could naturally abuse the pound for free renames. Perhaps if the coding was more subject to sort through names like "Mixed Bag Genes" for example. Then on the plus side you'd get one round of a free rename, since a name for example such as...

Kayla-La has named some "Bad Genes/Mixed Bag Genes/Whatever" (Read thread)

...These names are not aesthetically pleasing to hear.

 Edit: Having names can help distinguish between bloodlines when breeding, otherwise you'd have to be extra careful and separate by slot tabs.

#6 - Once again, as I have stated previously in above linked thread on the first sentence.

Side note: In reality, pets are in the pound for adoption. They are groomed to look pleasing to those who are browsing. People usually look at pets which is the first thing to do before deciding on one, some have listed health conditions, others in the same room do not. Then there are those with more severe conditions that are kept under strict watch away from the rest of the healthy ones (Which obviously does not happen in game, since the pets can't get sick, or develop symptoms later on in its in game life which is a pretty good 100% guarantee and a plus.)

Then of course the pound / shelter wants to make sure the pet is actually going to a good home (Hence, the in game 7 day wait.)

When the pet is initally adopted, then the complete paperwork is handed directly to the new owner. The same thing happens when buying from a breeder. This is why people usually ask questions first before just blindly adopting, unless they can afford to.

Suggestions for those not wishing to: blindly adopt / "gamble" / Capture a Pet

Behold! There are other lifelines!

Look into: Breeding Groups, Pet Sales, Pet Trades, ask a friend, start your own group, or start your own data list and / or keep an eye out for certain pets that perk your interest so you will know exactly which ones they are once they are abandoned in the pound?

These are already a good number of alternatives that are overlooked.

Look at an older game like Neopets. Their pound is no different, and no one seems to have a problem with unseen stats. (Although it would be nice to be able to train stats.)

I for one glad am people are naming pets that are less than desirable in the pound. Yes one mans trash can be another's treasure, but generally people are pretty consistent. Without any way of sorting pets or knowing anything about them... names and skin is all we have.

Like you said the purpose of a pound is to pretty pets up for adoption to get pets homes. While these are merely pixels the point is still there... Capture a pet is great- takes understanding of the system though... Breeding, buying and trading are also fantastic, but cost money and other inputs sometimes. It's just nice to go to the pound and "rescue" a pet.

I feel if there were an adoption fee then people would not have a hard time with being able to narrow down something about the pets.. like breed at least (since many people specialize).

I'm gonna stop my late night ramblings before I hurt myself because I lost my train of thought o.0

@Nightingale - Considering Beastkeeper is still quite new, perhaps in the future they can implement a renaming system when the game itself becomes more populated and offers a wider variety of future things to do.

Fees are fine, once again, if they are considerably reasonable. If not, that is fine too.

As for ''cost money and other inputs sometimes. It's just nice to go to the pound and ''rescue'' a pet.''

That in itself, explains itself (As I explained in the previous thread about spending beyond means/ budget.)

 Side Note: Breeding pets can also be self taught. Why be on the buyer end when you can be on the seller end? Usually by following an example of a great seller.