How do you determine a dragon's worth?

[Infinis]

Eh. For me, the things that determine worth are whether I want more of it or not and whether I can breed it myself. :U

 

Lineage and rarity don't matter to me for rares. A rare is a rare and that's that to me - no matter how ugly the lineage is, it will always have some worth to me. I'll take an ugly gold and let it grow up to be a breeder just because it can help increase my shiny army.

 

Lineage and rarity play a factor in my common hunts, however - I'm highly picky when it comes to a common I want. First I have to decide if I even want more of a certain common and then I have to decide whether it needs a specific lineage or whether it needs to be CB; CBs are worth more than lineaged ones, but at the same time they're worth less because I can catch most CB commons myself. /lolecon

 

As for your gold I'd probably trade a bunch of CB commons or I'd attempt to trade you a comparably lineaged metallic.

 

 

 

 

[ArynChris]

Value is always determined by supply and demand. There is always the individual factor-- a rare with a pretty lineage is pretty, but as useless to me as Rogane-- and yet there is a large number of people who would love to own that pretty lineage and a large number of balding men in the world. As I see it, there are three and a half levels of value in dragcave:

 

First level:

Things you want for yourself. This includes things you need to complete your scroll goals, things you need to continue a lineage (or group lineage project), and things you just think are so cool that you want them for whimsical reasons. These are things that have the greatest value to you personally, but not necessarily to anyone else.

 

Second level:

Things you know you can retrade. Sometimes this is very specific (X person wants a red for their white, you want the white but only have a blue, Y person wants a blue but has a red), yet more often this is something that you know people in general are interested in. You personally may think goldXblack is an ugly lineage, but if you happened to pick up a staircase or evengen one off the AP, it would be wise to try and trade it for something. Likewise, you might breed something and decide you don't want it, but discover that there is a project in the Breeding subforum that would love to have it. Unfortunately, knowing what people in general do and don't want is something that just takes experience. These things are not set in stone-- as someone said, silvers were worthless for a while, and they still aren't as popular as they were back when I joined. Curled alts used to be impossible to find, and now it's sitting alts.

 

Third level:

You don't want it, and neither does anybody else. This is things like an inbred metallic (amazingly difficult to get rid of, even though metallics were once the height of popularity regardless of lineage), a long-lineaged common, or practically anything with a really messy lineage. Or, frankly, most commons and unbreedables. Chickens are wanted, but dinos and cheeses aren't; alts are wanted, but regular bred vines and blacks are not, unless they also fit a special lineage. If you don't want it, and you can get nothing for it, the best you can do with it is Bite it, use it for an ND experiment, or toss it right back to the AP.

 

The half level:

What you need because you owe it to someone. This is something were maybe you traded an IOU for that 2nd gen gold, or somebody caught you a leetle tree and you really, really want to pay them back, or someone was absolutely crucial in the making of that special neglected hatchling... Where this one lies depends on the person, and sometimes on what's owed. If someone is willing to set their own goals aside in order to pay off the debt, this goes above First. If their own is a priority but they would rather pay off the debt than accumulate yet more trade-fodder, then this is between First and Second. If they barely remember that they owe someone, or maybe the person owed is on vacation and can't claim their IOU anyway, this is below Second or even below Third.

 

Edited February 17, 2011 by ArynChris

[thenameisplissken]

If I'm not sure what something's worth, or if I don't have any "NEEDNEEDNEED" dragons, I typically post asking for two hatchlings, preferably CB, "or offer" and wait to see what I get.

 

That way, I can get a feel for the value based on the offers I get, and if it's a rarer dragon, newbies still have a chance, since I'm not asking for the rares that they still don't have (and which I don't usually need more of, at this point).

I tend to do the same thing. Even with rares say a gold I will have offers Newbies might not have like 2nd gen blacks but I usually also have something easy like I want three of these common dragons or need this kind of pairing plus a cb. I try to stay away from the exclusively asking for rares in exchange for rares.

 

As to "pricing" I take rarity and breeding success of that kind of dragon into account. I also think about how much I need what I have verse how much I need what someone is offering. Sometimes I have a hard time getting unlocked but really need a gendered common. I will consider an uncommon for that one common. I also think about time involved in catching and if applicable growing of an egg. Also linage building can factor in. A 2nd gen purebred common for example isn't worth as much to me as a 5th even gen of the same common just because of the time and commitment it takes to produce that egg.

Edited July 18, 2011 by thenameisplissken

[Pink]

I determine worth mainly by what other people are willing to offer.

What's hard for me is when I get too many offers of varying values and I want them all (like when I have a neglected for trade).

 

Otherwise I mainly trade according to what other people are trading for and offering.

However, I still base a great deal on want.

If someone offers me a dozen inbred water walker hatchlings, I'm not going to flinch at trading them a tinsel for it. Because I WANT them. *grabby hands* D:

 

I also tend to ask other people before completing a trade, unless it's something I KNOW no one else would do. Like the above trade.

 

[Kaini]

 

First level:

Things you want for yourself. This includes things you need to complete your scroll goals, things you need to continue a lineage (or group lineage project), and things you just think are so cool that you want them for whimsical reasons. These are things that have the greatest value to you personally, but not necessarily to anyone else.

 

Second level:

Things you know you can retrade. Sometimes this is very specific (X person wants a red for their white, you want the white but only have a blue, Y person wants a blue but has a red), yet more often this is something that you know people in general are interested in. You personally may think goldXblack is an ugly lineage, but if you happened to pick up a staircase or evengen one off the AP, it would be wise to try and trade it for something. Likewise, you might breed something and decide you don't want it, but discover that there is a project in the Breeding subforum that would love to have it. Unfortunately, knowing what people in general do and don't want is something that just takes experience. These things are not set in stone-- as someone said, silvers were worthless for a while, and they still aren't as popular as they were back when I joined. Curled alts used to be impossible to find, and now it's sitting alts.

 

Third level:

You don't want it, and neither does anybody else. This is things like an inbred metallic (amazingly difficult to get rid of, even though metallics were once the height of popularity regardless of lineage), a long-lineaged common, or practically anything with a really messy lineage. Or, frankly, most commons and unbreedables. Chickens are wanted, but dinos and cheeses aren't; alts are wanted, but regular bred vines and blacks are not, unless they also fit a special lineage. If you don't want it, and you can get nothing for it, the best you can do with it is Bite it, use it for an ND experiment, or toss it right back to the AP.

 

The half level:

What you need because you owe it to someone. This is something were maybe you traded an IOU for that 2nd gen gold, or somebody caught you a leetle tree and you really, really want to pay them back, or someone was absolutely crucial in the making of that special neglected hatchling... Where this one lies depends on the person, and sometimes on what's owed. If someone is willing to set their own goals aside in order to pay off the debt, this goes above First. If their own is a priority but they would rather pay off the debt than accumulate yet more trade-fodder, then this is between First and Second. If they barely remember that they owe someone, or maybe the person owed is on vacation and can't claim their IOU anyway, this is below Second or even below Third.

 

This is it I think.

 

Worth is really determined by the person who wants it.

 

Then there is the group of things that the general population covets, like Tinsels.

 

Then there is commons

[rebelgoddess19]

Personally - I like things that look cool. I go for the cool ones even if I don't need them.

 

Those I don't like - I have the bare minimum.

[Mustangs44]

Generation, inbreeding, pretty lineages, suppy and demand. Those are the factors that run through my head at first glance and make a dragon worth less/more.

Sometimes I try to scrape off one of my own downfalls of an egg by not mentioning it in the trade post, and if someone doesn't notice, their loss.

[AlternateMew]

And then there are those, like me, who "value" inbred rares most of all. Worth/value is very subjective, and you are very likely to find someone who wants what you are offering, no matter what it is.

Before Teleport, I found inbred rares to be a real blessing because people would snuff at them. I gifted my brother his silver, but it was intercepted at first. I saw it bounce from scroll to scroll, so tried to re-get it and succeeded. I have a good feeling, it was because it was inbred.

 

Also, of my surnames, I like "Dartoh" the most, which denotes an inbred dragon. This makes me value my inbreds even more.

 

To me, it seems older members tend to value Lineage, while newer mambers tend to value species. Except CB Blacks/Golds/Silvers and Tinsels, the most universally valued ones I see. Personally, I value things pretty randomly. Even I don't fully know my formula.

[Karin Kes]

For me, it's usually how long it will take to hatch, how hard it is for me to find, and do I already have a few on my scroll.

 

That or more importantly, could I trade off its offspring for even better things?

 

Its a bit of a cycle. Though the usual hatchlings and nice lineages are pretty nice too.

[rubyshoes]

For me, it's really just how bad I want something. I gave a CB black for a nice tinsel fail because it had a spriters alt in it and I really love lineages with those in them.

 

I don't usually offer trades in the trade threads. I usually just watch what others are posting and then see if I have what they want.

[Xinkc]

For me, a dragon's worth is in whether or not I already have 5 of them (or two for limited breeds).

 

[_Z_]

~Closing due to inactivity. ~