Hyatha has a point. It seems like the idea is to keep periodically adding new things to spend pebbles on, but that's not going to fix the problem. I got all the June/Pride update items very quickly and will be able to do the same for any future items as well, I imagine. I mean, it helps, because it does present a bit of a wall to anyone who can't buy pebbles for MS or doesn't have time to grind for them, but it is one that is still possible to overcome with enough time. All this does is push out there not being a place to sink pebbles into a little further. It's still out there looming and there's no solution in sight.

At this point, just seeing "we do not intend to fix this" would be a relief. But I don't think we're going to get that. Because if the devs out and say that, how many people are going to leave right then and there?

I am one of the people who are perfectly happy to spend money if you make it optional and not a pay-to-win feature. But if you make it pay-to-win, I will, stubbornly, and pettily, grind it out the slow way. What I'm saying is that I'm more likely to buy moonstones if less things are paywalled behind them, because then I won't feel like I'm being forced to and instinctively dig my heels in. I will also spend more time on the site with my adblocker off in general, because the grinding for pebbles will feel more meaningful and rewarding.

With my current casual playstyle, I am forced to choose between getting the fur patterns I want for my wolves, and getting extremely basic quality of life gameplay upgrades, unless I spend money on a site that seems to make decisions that baffle and sometimes annoy me on a monthly basis. I'm... not very likely to do that when I can get a bigger return for my money in other games.

Support -

I haven't played for long but it's very clear that moonstones aren't the premium currency, they are the primary currency. Yes pebbles buy things, but not really on a scale large enough to be considered the primary currency. Every wolf sales thread (including my own) asks for moonstones, not pebbles. Far too many basic features and expected upgrades are hidden behind MS paywalls, to the point this game can't fully be considered free to play.

A serious realignment needs to happen to ensure the longevity of this game - it's already going down the path of GaiaOnline; where eventually their primary currency was so useless they had to cancel it all and start again with a new primary currency system.

Yes some things should still cost moonstones - but there are a lot of very easy things that could be converted to cost pebbles rather than moonstones that would re-energise the economy and have pebbles actually be worth something. There are also more controversial things that could change (e.g. food can't be sold for MS on the market) that would shift the balance - but I think target the easy stuff first

Support. Would love to at least get a confirmation from the devs that they are still aware and thinking about this issue since there's been silence on it for the last two updates. Or like Daydream said earlier: even a flat out "no. noting is going to change" would be nice to hear :p

Support. For the most part, HarleyFrost and Kitariki have said everything that i currently feel about this game, but i might as well add a bit to the conversation.

Going through FR's june 2013 exchange rates really shows how much of a difference having things to buy for the basic currency can make - throughout the entire month of June and up until late July 2013, the exchange rate was a steady 90-70 treasure for one gem, with a few outliers being 100t+. In late July/early August it rises to 100t to one gem, and maintains a fairly steady rise; by the end of August/beginning of September 2013, it's at 1g:150t. By late September, the ratio has become on average 1g:185t. a very steady rise!

Lorwolf, in comparison, has been out for three months and is beginning its fourth and is already at 1ms:18.7kp

For those of you who are about to come in screaming LORWOLF ISNT FR HOW DARE YOU: i am aware. unfortunately, Flight Rising is the closest comparison that we have to Lorwolf, and i think staff can learn valuable lessons from it. A higher Premium:Free currency ratio is to be expected on Lorwolf, considering how easy it is to earn pebbles here, but this is astronomical. There needs to be more of a balance between premium and free currencies, something that Lorwolf currently lacks.

Flight Rising had very few ways to earn treasure in the beginning, but so many things to spend it on; meanwhile Lorwolf has loads of ways to earn pebbles, but very little to spend them on. There's no real need for more than one or two of each companion, you only need one of each recipe, and the Mole Market pebble apparel is lackluster and mostly just different colored noses (which ngl are my main apparel). The biggest pebble sinks, then, are den slots (of which any beyond 50 is locked behind a paywall which increases with each extra den purchased), seeds (which can be obtained for free after certain levels), and certain food items (also can be obtained for free, though admittedly are more difficult), and a handful of wolf breed changes and marking applicators. Something's gotta change, and unless they suddenly drop a couple hundred items that cost pebbles, i don't think it's going to fix itself anytime soon. Pebbles just don't have value at the moment

Anyways, here's to hoping we can get an actual acknowledgement in August's update. Every game gets off to a rocky start, and i hope Lorwolf is gonna be able to power through!

A lot of support! I'm personally a quite new and casual player, and it's very hard to earn ms, but everything costs ms. The only easy way to earn ms now is CA - and even that costs 100 ms, which I can't get to. There's way too much stuff that I want which costs a lot of ms, but I don't want to buy any. Meanwhile pebbles are fairly worthless and don't buy much. Most non-starter breed wolves are sold for ms, and the only stuff that pebbles can buy is starter breeds, some site apparel, and recipes and companions. The most valuable thing that can be bought with pebbles is den space, but eventually you will still need to buy a new den - for ms. The pebble to ms rate is going higher and higher, just in the month that I played it went from 1:12k to 1:15k or even more. All the activities give out pebbles, and I get 10kp in about 20 mintues of grinding if the activities are right. Hopefully there can be more items for pebbles, they are getting more worthless. Or, another solution could be easier ways to get ms, since the only current way is grinding up shards. I'd suggest maybe a site currency conversion, where you can just buy moonstones on the site at a more reasonable rate, but still that doesn't fix the core of the problem, and the only way to do that would be tosssing in a couple of stuff for pebbles only. I really like the game, and I hope this can be fixed to make it even more enjoyable!

I'm going to bring up FR again, sorry. I *do* think it's pretty relevant, though. Games don't tend to last 10+ years (and do quite well at that) without being balanced and fun. I heard about LW through FR, which is my primary game, and that is what LW is competing for my attention (and ad views) with. Others more experienced with LW have put the numbers down better than I can, so I'll just say this. In my opinion FR is well balanced for the most part, so I'm going off that 'feeling' I have when buying something or grinding in that game compared to LW. FR respects my time and offers me premium currency to speed things up - I've never spent a penny, but feel 99% of my goals are achievable in a reasonable amount of time. LW throws me crumbs for my time and offers me premium currency to make my goals less Herculean. A feast of crumbs, a multitude of them, but still pretty useless and worthless. FR and LW are very different games and I hope they'll remain that way, but that doesn't make my pebbles worth the time it took to grind them out. No, I don't think the devs designed the game like this on purpose. And because I'm sure someone will try to take that out of context, I'm not 'mad' at the devs or anything. I'm not blaming them. I just hope they'll take OP's suggestions into consideration, and can make the game more enjoyable for F2P players like me.

One thing specifically I have noticed, is that items are either very cheap (even the 250kp companions aren't *that* bad to grind for, I've got a few of the 200kp ones) or extremely expensive if pebbles is all you've got (especially the custom apparel). On one end are the pebble items, on the other are the MS items, and that gap seems pretty large. Adding some 'in between' items (more expensive pebble items and cheaper MS items) might be something to consider. I know I'm a newer player and haven't had a ton of time to save up for stuff etc, but I do have a good sense as for what my time is worth, and LW is stretching it quite a bit. I'm not the only newer player that'll experience this, either, and not everyone is as hard to chase away as me.

I will always support this. When I put my money behind Lorwolf, I had faith it would that it would continue to work with the playerbase’s feedback and create the experience best for everyone. It is troubling to come back after a hiatus to find nothing has changed, and the staff can’t even give us a yes or no answer on whether they intend to address the issue. I would rather come to terms with the reality that Lorwolf is no longer for me than be strung along hoping it will become more F2P and casual friendly. While I do think more pebble exclusive breeds and patterns will be a big help, the point still stands that basic and necessary functions like den space, cooking pot space, and mine cart slots shouldn’t be paywalled.

Not sure if bumping threads is permitted, but this issue is worse than ever, with still very little movement in rebalancing moonstones vs pebbles and I think it's important people see and/or contribute to this.

I've already said my two cents on this topic in numerous places and so often that I'm impressed that the devs haven't banned me or something because I have not been kind about it.
But seeing this topic ignored so many months later, after plenty of time in alpha, beta, and early access to test this stuff? Yeah, it's the #1 sole reason I barely play anymore.

Okay that and the dead forums but the forum activity is related to this and the discord.