“Adopt Me” is one of the most played games on the mega-video game hosting platform, Roblox. “Adopt Me” has endless possibilities: users can role play, build homes, adopt pets and even raise a family. “Adopt Me” was added to Roblox on July 13, 2017. Amongst its endless creative possibilities, the ultimate goal of the game is to hatch or buy a pet and raise it by completing a series of tasks such as feeding it, petting it, taking it on walks and to the park.
Pets were introduced to “Adopt Me” in mid-2019, redirecting the game’s initial focus on role play where players mainly create families and personalize their characters and houses. With the addition of pets, cars and toys, there’s an option to trade these game-play elements with other players. Over time, the “values” placed on these elements have changed and pets that were once considered the most valuable are now nearly forgotten. Values are based on popularity of a pet or item and “value calculators” can determine whether a trade is fair or not.
Trading can be risky due to players lying and stealing pets in unfair trades. Because of this, many updates have been added to “Adopt Me” to prevent people from being scammed, like requiring users to accept the trade twice and take a test to trade. Even with these precautions, players have still found ways to manipulate trades, leading to a rise in the use of value calculators that allow people to see the fairness of a potential trade. There are many websites for “Adopt Me” value calculators, but the most common is Elvebredd.
Elvebredd originated in 2020, making it one of the oldest calculators. It’s simple to use and formatted exactly like an “Adopt Me” trade.
There’s a trading center on the website where people can link their Roblox accounts and show their pet offers.
The calculator’s outcomes for a potential trade are “W/F/L,” meaning win, fair or lose. If the calculator shows an upward arrow, you’re winning the trade. If the trade stays at zero, that means it’s fair. If there’s an arrow going down, that means you’re losing or overpaying (OP) in a trade. This can help someone decide on whether or not to go through with a trade.
These websites have permanently changed the trade system of “Adopt Me.” Is it possible that people don’t trade for fun anymore, but rather based on the gain that these calculators show? (Gaining is getting a better deal than what you are offering.)
The ability to trade was added in 2019. There were less players then and fewer updates, making the game simpler. These trading calculators are based on a pet’s current popularity. Some believe that “Adopt Me” was better before these calculators, there was still meaning to the game.
Avid “Adopt Me” player and freshman at Huntington Beach High School (HBHS), Addison Harding, said, “I think ‘Adopt Me’ values are obviously necessary because there is an economy in ‘Adopt Me,’ but I think these past few years it’s just gotten outrageous. I am very 50/50 on the calculators; if it is for a pet I really want, I don’t really use them, and I just overpay. But if someone is offering me for one of my pets, then I will use it if their offer is mid.”
Back in 2019, value calculators weren’t a thing, and people would usually trade legendary for legendary. Quick and easy. Now, they will pause a trade to go and look at the value of it instead of just trading for a pet they want.
HBHS freshman Lillian Barich, said, “My favorite era of ‘Adopt Me’ was probably 2019, because it was just really fun and I would play with my brother. I remember there was a place where you could get clothes and the adoption center was actually made for babies. Values didn’t really exist back then, legendaries were the best pets to exist, now some legendaries suck.”
Freshman at HBHS, Ashlynn Mendrin said, “I think the game was way better when I started playing in 2019, and it is not great now because of the values. I think people should make their own values. If you want the pet, just get it. They spend so much time checking values that it isn’t enjoyable anymore. It’s also hard to scam people now.”
With weekly updates coming to the game, “Adopt Me” values are always changing. This also means that old beloved pets are losing their high-tier values and being replaced with newer pets. Players are trading their pets based on values, not what they actually want. Maybe value calculators ruined the game, or maybe they are just a great tool for the widely popular game that is “Adopt Me.”
