All Day New Releases + Changes with Ratio

[MysticTiger]

My Suggestion Part 1: Have the new Releases be All Day, just like the Holiday Drops, from 12am-11:59pm the day of the release.*

 

This would cut down on a dramatic amount of drama that happens between those who "hoard" and those who have none. It would cut down on the amount of people who get frustrated and give up entirely and hope to eventually find the end somewhere down the road. It would also give a chance for everyone to get one, as long as they're on that day. It would remove the amount of stress on the server at certain points (like at midnight) because people would pick them up throughout the day and quickly instead of in mass groups who hang on the website for a while.

 

*EDIT:

The idea of simply increasing the number of eggs dropping, instead of a constant drop, has also been suggested. This would increase the number of eggs released on the first day by an undetermined amount while still keeping out the "mixing" of the older eggs that happens now.

 

My Suggestion Part 2: Have the first day release dragons NOT count towards the overall Ratio.

 

This would assure that the problem that Coppers had, where they were available the first release date but then just disappeared entirely after that despite supposedly being "Uncommon", never happens again. It would also allow the people who were not here on the release date to have a chance to catch them without having all the drama of the trading forms, attempting to get on gifting lists or begging. (Part 1 would also lead to less of a wait on gifting lists)

 

Why I feel it needs to change:

While knowing when the next dragon is going to be released is nice, it also creates a huge problem. Whereas before, some people were scroll locked or didn't know so they weren't on, leading to less people trying to grab eggs and more eggs to go around, now everyone (especially this month) know exactly when to be on and to empty their scroll. Not to mention the amount of people who "cheat" using Snaplinks or DragCave Addons or just the people with better internet who have an advantage over those with slow or laggy internet. There just aren't enough eggs to go around. This makes the game increasingly less fun and more frustrating to many people. We just can't play the game the way we want anymore.

 

Opinions? Changes? Yay or Nay?

Edited September 9, 2013 by MysticTiger

[olympe]

Just to let you know, snaplinks are more of a trap than a help. Because for one, snaplink isn't that fast, and second, you're much more likely to fill your scroll with misclicks than the actual new release eggs. (I tried it out a long time ago before snaplinks was banned, during a holiday drop. I gave up using it because I didn't manage to catch anything. But when I tried normal clicking, I got my fill without too much trouble.)

 

That being said, I wholeheartedly agree with your suggestion, both part 1 and part 2. But I think something similar has already been suggested a while back. (And, at least this time, I didn't have any trouble getting my eggs during the 5 minute drops. Even my daughter got herself scroll-locked.) Still, it would be nice to know that even rares and/or uncommons will be available throughout release day.

[Obscure_Trash]

Yes, please! I don't mind if other biomes without a new release still also drop eggs for those that want to hunt other things, but keeping older dragons out of the release would be nice. I think not counting the first day with the ratios would be the easiest way to balance out how to release them without messing up the ratios. ^^

 

EDIT: Oh! I do think that every five mins like regular is fine since these are permanent. ^^

Edited September 8, 2013 by SockPuppet Strangler

[Sir Barton]

This has my complete support. Would LOVE to see this implemented.

[Nectaris]

I love the second, not so much the first. While I would like to see older eggs stay out, I don't think that they need to be dropped every single minute. I think that would take almost all challenge out of getting eggs on the first day, and for commons might actually have an adverse affect. I don't know if you remember the nocturne/electric/canopy release, but that release had a super flood that lasted a long time, to the point that they have been blockers ever since.

Edited September 8, 2013 by Nectaris

[Cinnamin Draconna]

I don't think anyone else has thought of the 'don't count for the first day' part of your idea, so GOOD IDEA! I think it would be very workable and probably easy to code too.

[sparkle10184]

I agree completely

[Sir Barton]

I do know that some people enjoy a challenge, but I think that there are other ways to make it challenging on a personal level. Self limit your time, or search for special codes. There are always ways to add a challenge, but there is currently no way to end the frustration of other players who have enough challenges in their day to day lives and look to play the game for enjoyment.

 

DC is not much of a strategic game, which is the appeal to many people. Not all of us what a challenge.

[Nectaris]

I do know that some people enjoy a challenge, but I think that there are other ways to make it challenging on a personal level. Self limit your time, or search for special codes. There are always ways to add a challenge, but there is currently no way to end the frustration of other players who have enough challenges in their day to day lives and look to play the game for enjoyment.

 

DC is not much of a strategic game, which is the appeal to many people. Not all of us what a challenge.

I still don't think that means it needs to be dropped every minute. I honestly think that would create TOO MUCH of a glut of the new eggs where they will swiftly become undesirable. At least if they are a common release. An uncommon like the coppers and blusangs it might not do harm, but a common it could actually hurt things. I think simply keeping old eggs out of the drop would create a larger supply than you think.

Edited September 8, 2013 by Nectaris

[Guillotine]

My only problem with the first part of your idea is the "every minute" part; 24 hours of flood-sized drops works fine without needing to drop every single minute. The rest of it works fine, though, and i'd love to see it implemented.

[Obscure_Trash]

I still don't think that means it needs to be dropped every minute. I honestly think that would create TOO MUCH of a glut of the new eggs where they will swiftly become undesirable. At least if they are a common release. An uncommon like the coppers and blusangs it might not do harm, but a common it could actually hurt things. I think simply keeping old eggs out of the drop would create a larger supply than you think.

Yeah, I personally misread the first post the first time. I agree that regular drop times are fine since these are a permanent release. A whole day every five minutes is still lots of the new dragon. :3

[skauble]

I do agree with some kind of ratio adjustment. Whether it's not counting the first drops of eggs or just allowing the ratios to balance back out more slowly, I think it's important to avoid a new breeds sudden disappearance.

 

But the all day release suggestion, to me, really depends on what TJ is going for with the early mixing we're currently having. If the point of that is so that people actually don't catch bunches on the first day and so it takes time to collect them, then an all day release is counterproductive to that. If that's the case, then I'd rather see this fixed on the other end of things where we find a way to get the biomes moving so that people feel like they can actually get to and catch the new eggs over time.

 

The only reason that everyone has to have eggs on the first day is because of the persistent belief that there's a high probability that they simply won't be catchable later on. I'm not saying it should be one way or the other, just that if the new release format was created with a certain goal in mind, then the more realistic plan may just be to fix the cave...which would be nice for a whole host of reasons.

[PointOfOrigin]

And here's one more plus to your idea: if a release lasted for 24 hours then every person in every time zone would get their shot at new eggs during release.

 

So yes, I support this.

[angelicdragonpuppy]

The only reason that everyone has to have eggs on the first day is because of the persistent belief that there's a high probability that they simply won't be catchable later on. I'm not saying it should be one way or the other, just that if the new release format was created with a certain goal in mind, then the more realistic plan may just be to fix the cave...which would be nice for a whole host of reasons.

Agreed. Even if every dragon in the whole game had the same percent chance of appearing, as more and more breeds appear, that chance drops ever lower--a slowly growing issue compounded by the fact that there's almost no incentive to keep picking up old commons, leaving the cave to move slow as molasses. Something like seasonal migration and, to a lesser extent, different ratios of some things at night versus day would be nice, as it'd help spread out the masses of eggs more.

[Pokemonfan13]

Absolutely support the second. As to the first, not constant drop for the whole day. At most the entire normal hourly drops should be the new release eggs.

[skauble]

And here's one more plus to your idea: if a release lasted for 24 hours then every person in every time zone would get their shot at new eggs during release.

 

So yes, I support this.

Of course, the same could be achieved by not having any dedicated drops and simply putting them in the cave in the cave in a bit higher numbers but already mixed.

 

I know that people are going to scream about that idea, but I just mean that if we do end up keeping this release format, that would be a way to eliminate that sense of unfairness to all time zones.

[Pixxelation]

TJ has stated in the past when this type of suggestion has been shot down that the suggestion was based on a false assumption of how releases work. I believe what that means is that he doesn't say how long a dragon should drop, but rather adds the dragon to the cave, and the ratios balance it out. Something would have to change for the original suggestion, or Skauble's above suggestion, to work.

[TwilitProphet]

I think this is a fine idea! Though I think every five minutes is still totally acceptable for the egg drops.

 

I support this idea!

[skauble]

TJ has stated in the past when this type of suggestion has been shot down that the suggestion was based on a false assumption of how releases work. I believe what that means is that he doesn't say how long a dragon should drop, but rather adds the dragon to the cave, and the ratios balance it out. Something would have to change for the original suggestion, or Skauble's above suggestion, to work.

I think that's what some of us are arguing here - that there needs to be a larger change in the ratios as an overall system, and that it's possible that taking care of that issue could address much of the release problems.

[deadnotsleeping]

TJ has stated in the past when this type of suggestion has been shot down that the suggestion was based on a false assumption of how releases work. I believe what that means is that he doesn't say how long a dragon should drop, but rather adds the dragon to the cave, and the ratios balance it out.

well then how does the introduction of new eggs work, normally? the fact that it isnt just a solid 24 hours of the new dragons before they tapper out into the normal drop rations does seem weird to me.

 

because obviously people will horde the new ones (like I did, no shame), since they are harder to get after the first day drop. heck, they're already harder to get now, i was just very lucky to get my scroll filled, since i was at work most of the day.

 

i don't think they need to be dropped in every minute but an adjustment from new to old needs to be made or there will be people on here who cant get up at midnight to go cave diving, and cant waist hours on end waiting for the lucky click without the new dragons, and its frustrating.

[Iya_kin]

To solve cave-blocker problems, another idea is to Retire certain eggs. Just like what happened with the Frills, maybe it's time to retire certain unpopular breeds. This would possibly lower the ratio problem a bit (?).

[MysticTiger]

I think that would take almost all challenge out of getting eggs on the first day, and for commons might actually have an adverse affect.

 

I'm going to disagree with the idea that drops need to be "Challenging", wholeheartedly. Dragon Cave is more of a laid back simplistic breeding game compared to other games, with the lack of needing to "feed" your dragons and such other features that require the user to be on the site almost every day. Making the Cave Drops "Challenging" isolates the majority of the players by adding a level of difficulty that shouldn't be in a simplistic breeding game and discourages users from playing the way they want to play, either by collecting and/or breeding the new dragons.

 

In short, Cave Drops shouldn't be this impossible. I was on the day of the Two-headed Lindwurm release and was unable to catch any. I haven't seen any in the cave since then. Same problem I had with Blusang, Tsunami and Golden Wyvern.

 

I still don't think that means it needs to be dropped every minute.  I honestly think that would create TOO MUCH of a glut of the new eggs where they will swiftly become undesirable.  At least if they are a common release.  An uncommon like the coppers and blusangs it might not do harm, but a common it could actually hurt things.  I think simply keeping old eggs out of the drop would create a larger supply than you think.

 

But this is relying on the fact that the release is common.

And regardless if they were or not, there would still be people who weren't on that day to catch them, or gifted them away to someone else on the release date. They wouldn't be "undesirable". Not for a long while. It's not like everyone suddenly doesn't want the new dragon after the day it's been released. There's still a demand for new Cave Borns of the newest breed. The "glut" you're talking about would be strictly based on the fact that everyone showed up on the release date and no one wanted the dragon AFTER the release date. It doesn't happen.

 

/////////////////

 

The problem with only working without the first idea is it pretty much makes the second null and void.

 

You need a full day of drops. Then the second day will slowly balance out the ratio, where in the new eggs get mixed in with the older until they settle in.

 

The problem would still persist if we continued the way they're being release now, only sans the old egg mix in. There's still a VERY large disproportion of people with 8 egg slots open compared to how many eggs are released. And now that people KNOW when the eggs will come out, they will all be there at midnight EST. As someone pointed out, this isn't fair to different time zones. And this isn't fair to people who have school or work or an event the next day and can't stay up.

 

The first was to fix the problem between how many people with open scrolls there is versus the amount of new eggs to go around there is. Without implementing one, filling up all the scroll owners who log on that day to get the new eggs, two is pointless because the egg will still be in such a demand that the ratios changes will mean nothing. You'll still have people who just can't get the egg. You'll still have drama.

[Nectaris]

But this is relying on the fact that the release is common.

And regardless if they were or not, there would still be people who weren't on that day to catch them, or gifted them away to someone else on the release date. They wouldn't be "undesirable". Not for a long while. It's not like everyone suddenly doesn't want the new dragon after the day it's been released. There's still a demand for new Cave Borns of the newest breed. The "glut" you're talking about would be strictly based on the fact that everyone showed up on the release date and no one wanted the dragon AFTER the release date. It doesn't happen.

 

I am ONLY talking about the every minute drop, not them being available for 24 hours. I am not talking about an immediate devaluing, but if they had THAT many released on the first day AND ignored the number picked up on that day there would STILL be a flood on the second day, so I am not seeing the need for one minute drops. And I don't know if you were around for the canopy/nocturne/electric release, but that one is a PERFECT example of what I am talking about. They quickly became undesired, and are still blockers years later.

Edited September 8, 2013 by Nectaris

[demonicvampiregirl]

I'm kinda with the majority on regular drops being fine BUT a increase to the amount each drop and have them all day for the first day yes. That would be a major improvement itself.

 

I over all support this thread. I was lucky enough to be up at 6 this morning and am now egg locked (said I wouldn't but decided to get two CB pairs for one set). Some others wouldn't be that lucky to do that since they need to sleep and by the time they wake up anymore sadly they are already mixed with other dragons and they have a hard time to deal with it.

[TwilitProphet]

To solve cave-blocker problems, another idea is to Retire certain eggs. Just like what happened with the Frills, maybe it's time to retire certain unpopular breeds. This would possibly lower the ratio problem a bit (?).

No. Oh please, NO!

 

Why should people who *like* the 'unpopular' breeds have to lose dragons they like to collect because other people don't like them?

 

What if, eventually, a new dragon is released that would look wonderful with [unpopular breed], but we can't make pretty lineages with them because the 'unpopular' dragon was retired so only the new dragon can be produced from pairings?

 

Also, I don't have either of the retired breeds and I will always be very sad because of that fact. I never picked them up when I first started playing because there were so many, I thought I could get some later. I never imagined those dragons would be retired and unobtainable. Users probably wouldn't like to join and find out there's so many dragons they can never have because they were all retired because no one liked them.