So we have been at this since release day. Overall we have purchased 6 packs to begin with and along the way added about 5 more here and there, yes as we heard new coats were coming out in starters we bought to see if we might get something too. So here we are what some 40 days in and yes, we have had some success with short up ears, short tails, coats passing etc. But never seen anything else.

My issue I guess is that along the way, struggling to figure it out, petting for hours on end, studying the offspring, spending hours and hours moving them around to try different mating pairs. And when that didn't work slowly we started releasing our high regard (4k+ regard) original starter roos so we are both now over level 25 with 138k and 140k regard.

Now we find out this:

From 7/8/11 "We were not happy with how we had balanced regard bonuses. Players were not seeing a visible enough reward for their time and efforts in breeding. We are not happy with how few new discoveries have been made by players given the amount of time that has passed since launch. We have significantly increased the bonus regard rewards a player and a meeroo that allows it the chance to reach further back in their genetic timeline. While we wanted it to be hard, we didn't want it to be as difficult as it has proven to be."

So 40 plus days in when only a few new coats appeared with the 500k+ roos on the grid, we hear things weren't going the way they were expected to go, new things weren't developing as fast as they should have. All along listening to what was said:

From 6/13/11 "Also, aside from spontaneous mutation, you can considerably increase the chances of success by increasing your status with the Meeroos, by raising the regard points of your breeding pairs as well as your own- I know many of you were worried that petting and acquisition of regard appeared to be nothing more than a time sink, and I can assure you that isn't so. All of these factors come into play when breeding,"

One minute petting isn't important, then it was, our regard mattered then it didn't, the roos regard mattered then it didn't. So now we have only a few of our original ones, because prim limits and buying other coats such as Autumns and Sierras to see if that made a difference and because of not producing our own we turned to the secondary market to add to our breeders. And it didn't... Had we known there was a chance that our original roos might have been the key because of their high regard because really the system was throttled, I have to say I wouldn't have done some of the things I have, like releasing all these roos with high regard.

So now we are coaxing 4th, 5th and 6th gen nests and really starting all over, I have to say that's a big let down. I think about some of the roos we released and wonder if in this search to find the missing pieces did we just let it slip through our fingers.

I love Meeroos... I love the challenge, but what I don't love is that we are left with no clue as it what is going on. Yes, they are unlike any other breedable, they are a challenge, but it's so much of a crap shoot that in many ways it takes the fun out of it. I like knowing if I breed a certain trait with another chances are I should get those same traits somewhere else down the line. This has not been what's happened at all. My oldest breeders have produced 9 nests by now I should have seen something more than the standard non-trait roo. I should have seen a trait pass down and get stronger, I should have seen some sort of development, and if it was really all just a flip of a switch to unthrottle the regard bonus then that is a letdown. I am not saying I want what is considered the "rare" roos... I am saying that along the way the roos I have should have passed along more what than they have to their offspring.

This is a game of chance and we took the chance. But every day is another letdown, every nest is another sigh knowing before I even see what it is that it'll be the same as before... as a Meeroo owner, I have to say my joy of it has lessened. I read the forums and this has been said before. I know nothing was promised to me, but what was said hasn't rang true either.

With the regard bonus, I wonder if we have thrown any chance away we may have had because now my roos have shifted from mainly high regard to mainly low regard. The post said, "We have significantly increased the bonus regard rewards a player and a meeroo that allows it the chance to reach further back in their genetic timeline." To me that means had this be set correctly when we all started, we all would have seen more than the basics along the way. So I am thinking we have made a huge mistake releasing our high regard roos... I can only say I hope not... the many, many hours spent trying to gain regard just seem wasted.

I understand making something challenging, but it should also be fun. Sometimes though too challenging and too big of a puzzle takes the joy and wonder out of it. It should offer those who actively participate benefits. It should have little "oh wow" moments along the way. It should want to keep you going because it's fun and you reach some sort of milestones like adding a center piece to a puzzle. So, right now our puzzle is scattered everywhere, with so many maybe's and what if's that the fun factor is drastically changed.