Also, pet food will stay rare, that is, there won't be big changes as per US forum moderator:
The fact that
X = true does not equate to
X = desirable, let alone does it automatically imply that
X should remain unchanged - no matter who (Forum Managers not excepted) explains the mere fact that, at present,
X = true. And furthermore, we're not even dealing with a situation where
X = true in all circumstances, but rather one where
X is sometimes true, for some or all players, some or all of the time, according to random chance, which is NEVER a comfortable (or envy-avoiding) situation when X represents
any essential, or even important, Resource - in any game at all.
In fact, I often think that it is not so much the scarcity of Pet Food, whether intentional or not, which is the real problem, but rather its unequal distribution between players, as it will
always be whenever random chance is involved. Therefore, if the randomness of Pet Food distribution were entirely removed, by issuing every player, across the board, with a fixed amount of Pet Food each week, according to how many Pet Buildings they have in their City and Inventory combined, I'd think there would be far fewer debates about Pet Food in general, since everyone would find the rarity of their Pet Food to be identical, and nobody would feel (or actually be) disadvantaged in comparison with anyone else.
As an example pulled out of thin air, how about 3 x Pet Foods per Building, per week - which I'm basing upon the fact that the Fire Phoenix, at the very least, has become near-essential for anyone who wishes to score better than very modestly in Tournaments/Spire via the Combat route, which Inno themselves seem very much to promote? One could always choose to spend one Building's allocation on other Buildings, of course, whether or not one is a Combat-focused player - and I am always in favour of more rather than less choice, especially in lengthy, slow games.
This would seem at least an
equitable solution, even if there would probably still be some dispute about
how many Pet Foods each player should receive - and I myself (as a primarily Combat player) would certainly find this limit low enough to ensure that Pet Food would still be regarded as 'rare', if that really
has to be the case - although why that should be so important I really cannot understand, since equality is equality, after all, whether in wealth or in poverty (in non-real video game pixel terms, that is... real-world wealth vs poverty is a different debate entirely!).
The ideal solution
from my own perspective would be:
1. To stop issuing so many NEW Buildings which require Pet Food - most Cities cannot even accommodate the existing number, after all;
2. To repeat at least annually, and probably more often, the chance [especially for new players or those who missed the Event(s) concerned] to acquire the most vital Pet Buildings, such as the Fire Phoenix and Brown Bear, for free, by means of completing the same Quests originally required
(NB: these Buildings are already offered for purchase at least once a year, so the common argument that doing this is in some way 'unfair to original Event winners', and/or would render some players 'Overpowered', doesn't actually hold water);
3. AND to allow at least 7 Pet Foods per week per Building, so that players who have spent much time, effort, and/or money acquiring these Buildings can at least USE their activated abilities freely, and thus actually enjoy what they worked so hard (or paid so much) to own.
However, I very much doubt that any of this will happen - and
certainly not while Inno sells Pet Buildings for cash, and also offers Pet Food in exchange not only for Diamonds, fairly often, but sometimes for real money, too, in the cash-only Sales which I now see with increasing frequency.