jewels: frequency?

[Kayleigh McMillan]

(03-10-2015 06:33 PM)Ivy Norsk Wrote:  I don't think anybody has ever won the Kitty of the Month contest. It simply takes longer than a month to breed a cat to spec. I haven't been through all of the lists of the monthly contests, but in none that I saw was there a winner. Plenty of people come close at 8 traits every month, but not 9. I came close in December, along with 2 others, but no cigar. Mind you, this doesn't upset me. I see it more as a way to bring attention to certain furs and other traits that may be neglected. I can remember when nobody was breeding Aby Creme and the contest jumpstarted work on that fur.

Omg! I thought the closest three won.
I never joined the KC of the month but this reminds me why

[Winter Phoenix]

(03-10-2015 06:33 PM)Ivy Norsk Wrote:  I don't think anybody has ever won the Kitty of the Month contest. It simply takes longer than a month to breed a cat to spec. I haven't been through all of the lists of the monthly contests, but in none that I saw was there a winner. Plenty of people come close at 8 traits every month, but not 9.

I managed to breed a KittyCatS of the month once,

it was a Pink Chateau with all the right traits.

Problem was I missed the deadline by a day or two.

and thus....got squat!

I just happened to be majoring in Pinks at the time,

so I was already prepped when the breed was announced.

So I'm sure somebody scores at least once in awhile.

[Callie Cline]

hi, i want to chime in and clarify something about the jewels.

they are not and were not designed to drive people to be big breeders. they were not made as a marketing idea, but just one little added thing in the whole of what we have going on. (hope that makes sense!)

our primary desire is that KittyCatS are fun, interactive, creative, work well, and that people enjoy them.
our philosophy has always been for people to NOT spend more than they can afford. we encourage people to budget what they can for enjoying the cats, as they would anything in sl, (shopping, land, etc) to try to get people to spend more than they can afford in the end would be very bad for business as it would not be able to be sustained, and ultimately, one would lose a customer AND then our primary goal of the cats being enjoyable would not be happening.

the jewels were done as a fun random thing. being a big breeder really doesn't help, because they are so rare. also, not everyone likes colored "breeds"... so only those who really do would even want to collect them

those who decide to try to collect jewels get very creative in how they do that... i hope that helps a little!!!

[Tad Carlucci]

I agree with Callie's reasons for commenting.

Every now and then we see someone attribute some feature as being mainly profit-driven. I doubt they *EVER* consider their side of that.

Quite frankly, there is really only one factor which has any real effect upon profitability: food. Everything else is so far down in the noise it's not work talking about. If everything else were free, breedable products would still be insanely profitable (although the product would probably be very short-lived).

My expectation is, when pricing ever comes up in their decision-making process, it's probably always showing concern that the price is low enough for players to accept.

So why are things NOT free? Simple psychology. The price gives value. If it's free, it has far less value. By setting prices, they help ensure their products have some value to everyone. Sure, determining pricing is often a pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey process and price/performance testing can be problematic, but, at the end of the day, you have to set a price, and you want it low enough people will pay it.

[Oselkhandro Resident]

Tad is quite right! No intelligent marketer would price a product unsustainably, unless the plan were to create a fad product like Cabbage Patch Dolls. Since KittyCatS has lasted several years, the overall pricing strategy seems to be well considered. Food is likely to be the driver of profitability. As I observed my own behavior, I saw an initial huge food investment that is moderating as my first spurt of excitement ends (and I become much more picky about which cats survive to breed). As Callie noted, having a fun, interactive product is the first key to success, of course. There must be perceived value to draw the customer. It seems to me that the second key to success in this type of product, after general food sales, may be the recruitment of new customers, who will enter that initial huge investment phase. The Advent cat, Firestorm cats and the Birthday hunt are brilliant moves (as well as fun). Blizzard uses a reward system for players who recruit new subscribers to their game (free pets or free vehicles, usually). I wonder if there have been any recruitment incentives for KittyCatS so far?

[Winter Phoenix]

I agree with that assessment.

I doubt the pursuit of jewels is what makes a giant breeding farmer
take on the job.

But the amount of jewels you get is relative to the amount of cats you breed,
and you need to breed a bazillion to get the required jewels to trade in.

So its still going to be an elite club of Fancy Jewel cat owners,
made up of uber farmers and people with lots of disposable income.

But you never know when a giant breeding farm will send you
an Indigo Bengal on your next birthday for being a good customer!

[fabioazevedo Oh]

(03-03-2015 01:10 PM)Morgan Northmead Wrote:  How often do jewels show up when cats are bred? So far, I have only seen one from around 100 boxes. Is this normal?

would be fun if we had one gem to 100 kittens born.

It would be the same chance to get a megapuss.

but the jewels would not that rare, and fancie cats, would be common.


the frequency of jewelry, should be more than 1000 cats to 1

[foxxy Kidd]

(03-03-2015 01:10 PM)Morgan Northmead Wrote:  How often do jewels show up when cats are bred? So far, I have only seen one from around 100 boxes. Is this normal?

I received my first ever Jewels today an Emerald but now after reading this trying to investigate what they are and how you use them...Uhmm I guess I better not be looking for another anytime soon, Looking on the brighter side I must have been lucky to have even have gotten this one to be honest

[Marisa Starbrook]

In 4 years of breeding, I've gotten 2 jewels. A ruby about 3 years, and a diamond this morning.

[AugustAfternoon Resident]

My friend has been breeding cats since 2011, and has yet to see her first jewel. She used to have 250+ cats up until quite recently so I think it's very rare. I wouldn't worry much about it and just invest if you want a particular cat.