Pick Up Time : what is reasonable?

[Merenwen]

I have been wondering about pick up times.

What is a reasonable time fram for claiming eggs IYO?

 

It's a discussion I was having with some friends as we have had eggs hatch before pickup and then set up a new link, sent that new link and the dragons grew up. Then the person asking us for the link again as it is expired and get mad because it grew up

 

In a game, when you tell exactly when the winner will be announced, I think 24 hours to claim egg is plenty. Now, I can understand being locked and can be nice and say ok I will hold egg until 4 days 1 hour but once it reaches that mark link is canceled and I am keeping the egg. I have done all the work to hatch it so think that fair, and I don't want my magi on cooldown because the link expired.

 

I am gifting tinsles, and will have a strict 24 hour pickup time. I think if you can't make room for it in that time, thenyou must not really want it and it will go to the next person on my list. I want the person getting the egg to be sure and have enough time to gender to keep lines if they so choose.

 

What are your thoughts and what do you think a reasonable pickup time?

 

Edit: I did do a search and found nothing like this, so hope it's not a duplicate

Edited August 11, 2011 by Merenwen

[Wookieinmashoo]

48 hours for me. Some people are busy and yes, some people are not able to make it to the computer. I share mine and for about 24 hours today and into tomorrow, I won't be able to use it. If someone wasn't able to check a PM the first day, they should be able to find time to do that the next. If they really wanted it, they would unlock themselves.

[SolarCat]

It's up to whatever the gifter feels is appropriate. I won't hatch eggs for people unless this is something that was discussed in advance. Sometimes I won't breed until the person is ready to take the egg (or has a plan in place of what they're going to drop so that they can claim the egg). I have held eggs for a day or two, but that was only when it was arranged fairly early on that it would take that long to pick up the egg.

 

Egg slots are more valuable than hatchling slots. If it makes it to 24 hours and it's still on my scroll, and this was not something arranged beforehand, I am probably going to give it to someone else. If it makes it to hatchling without the recipient picking up the egg, and this was not part of the agreement, then I am keeping it because I am the one who did the work. If the recipient is not courteous enough to at least communicate with me, then they must not want it that badly.

 

That said, I can be very accommodating as long as I know what's going on. Let me know when I offer the egg, or when you ask for the egg, and we can work something out. But I have to know that the recipient is interested enough in the egg to communicate with me.

[spyro76]

It depends on what it is, who it's for, why I'm giving it to them, what my scroll status is, and whether or not I have incoming stuff.

[Merenwen]

SolarCat , I agree, if communication is there I am more than happy to work around

 

 

you worded that so perfectly

Edited August 11, 2011 by Merenwen

[tiktokism]

I don't like to hold eggs at all; like it says in my signature, if somebody wants something from me they should be unlocked when they ask for it, and will need to ask again in a week if breeding is unsuccessful.

 

I've held an egg for someone who just didn't ever contact me to set up a drop time (this was before Teleport) after breeding it specifically for them. Held it until it was a low ER, then hatched it and held it some more. When the little guy was a low-ER hatchling and still hadn't been picked up, I dropped it. I haven't bred for a gifting thread since.

 

If somebody asks for something, they should be ready to take it right then. 24 hours is the most I'd be willing to wait at this point.

Edited August 11, 2011 by tiktokism

[miladyz]

I usually keep them at low views so that they don't grow up at the 4 day mark, and give the other person at least a couple days to get things together. If they are becoming dangerously ER and I have not heard from the other person, I will hatch them. As long as they message me and let me know what's going on then I don't mind keeping an egg or hatchling for as long as needed.

 

However, if you are gifting tinsels then you can set down whatever rules you want because they are so sought-after.

[littleangelamy22]

I have a shared computer so as far as I'm concerned, if it's an egg you're trading / gifting, then 3 days. If it's a hatchling then it's got to be longer because it could grow up on scroll. Hatchlings have done that to me before. That said, if someone warns me that they can't pick up right away, I can hold it. If I happened to be gifting or trading a rare though, I'd expect things to go faster.

[Renorei]

It depends on what else I'm trying to do with my scroll at that particular point in time. For instance, right now I have practically all the dragons. Here is what I am missing:

-CB Gold

-Holly

-Gold Tinsel

-Bronze Tinsel

-Neglected

-Certain 2nd gen colored stripes

 

That's a short list, and the things that are on it are pretty hard to come by. So it's not as if I need to be making room for tons of CB Golds on my scroll all the time. So I don't necessarily mind holding an egg for someone. I believe there have been times when I have held eggs for people for several days, even into hatchling-hood. It's not a huge deal for me to use up one of my spots for something for someone else, because it is not as if I desperately need all my slots at all times. What I need is for people to communicate with me and let me know what's going on. If I breed an egg for someone but lo and behold they all-of-a-sudden catch a CB Gold and CB Black and all the other eggs on their scroll were gifts, I'm not necessarily going to demand that they drop something to make room for the egg that I bred. Lord knows, people have held eggs for me before. I don't mind paying it forward.

Edited August 11, 2011 by Renorei

[Pink]

Usually the 1 day mark is where I begin to grow impatient.

However, with gifts, I won't wait that long. If I'm gifting someone and they leave me hanging for say more than 12 hours, I'll go ahead and gift it to someone else.

I always pick up promptly (or as promptly as I can) and expect nothing less from other.

 

There are cases where I'll wait longer, but they're not common.

 

Edited August 11, 2011 by Pink

[Fuzzbucket]

I don't like to hold eggs at all; like it says in my signature, if somebody wants something from me they should be unlocked when they ask for it, and will need to ask again in a week if breeding is unsuccessful.

 

I've held an egg for someone who just didn't ever contact me to set up a drop time (this was before Teleport) after breeding it specifically for them. Held it until it was a low ER, then hatched it and held it some more. When the little guy was a low-ER hatchling and  still hadn't been picked up, I dropped it. I haven't bred for a gifting thread since.

 

If somebody asks for something, they should be ready to take it right then. 24 hours is the most I'd be willing to wait at this point.

I dunno. I have had people trying to breed for me and sod's law the day they manage is the day I am unbelievably locked. No-one has ever said "Oh well, I'll dump it then" and I would not do that to anyone else.

 

In a GAME (wherever that is) - that would be different. I'm assuming there are rules ?

Edited August 11, 2011 by fuzzbucket

[dustpuppy]

Then the person asking us for the link again as it is expired and get mad because it grew up 

Now that is just rude! I would never gift anything again to a person like this.

Of course something can interfere to keep them from picking up the egg but in that case, the receiver can send a polite message and not just expect the gifter to magically keep the dragon from growing up (seriously... ).

Ideally, I prefer to gift when the other person is unlocked but I wouldn't mind keeping the egg a day or two (except if I made it clear beforehand that I need the room).

[WraithZephyr]

I like doing breeding requests. If I get an egg, I PM the person and let them know it's ready. I don't mind holding on to it for 48 hours until I hear back - after 48 hours of waiting for a response I may start making arrangements to trade it for something else. If it's a breeding list where there is more than one person waiting for an egg, depending on the egg type I may send a link to all on the list and it's a FFA on who gets it first or I may pm the first person on the list and give them 24-36 hours to take it or I move on to the next on the list.

[Zeldarax]

It depends from person to person.

 

For some special people I have hatched eggs and kept them on my scroll till they had less then 5 days, for other people I keep the eggs till the link expires by hatching or till they cross the mark of 5 days as a hatchy.

 

When people 'ld be so rude to me, I won't block their pm's and never trade with them or gift to them.

But actually, when I trade with people or have traded with them, I can gift them nice things too, when i catch or breed them.

[PrincessAnaki]

I believe it depends on the person, I'm a very patient person and I would probably be willing to wait for a while for someone, if they had a good reason of course

 

 

[simkim]

I'm with SolarCat. Communication is key for me. But I also understand real life getting in the way as well. But even so, it's courtesy to tell the breeder that rl got in the way and might not be able to take the egg that week. Especially with the hordes of refusals going on.

[Syphoneira]

I've held a lot of dragons for a lot of people in the past, and in some cases they've grown up on my scroll and I've had to re-breed for them, but I think now it depends more on the circumstances.

 

If I offer someone an egg because I have to make room fast, and they aren't online and/or can't take it right away for other reasons, I'll likely gift it elsewhere or drop it, rather than miss out on something or leave someone else literally holding the baby they have for me.

 

If I make a trade offer and have no response following a certain time period I'll go on to something else.

 

This has happened only once recently, and I gave 24 hours, which seemed reasonable to me, especially since the trade had likely been concluded with a better offer long since, lol.

 

If I breed/catch something for a friend or someone who's been particularly nice to me or to others, then I may hold it until it grows up.

 

For a contest, I'd say that 24 hours is a reasonable time limit.

 

Edit: missed, and added in, a few essential words, lol.

Edited August 11, 2011 by Syphoneira

[tiktokism]

I dunno. I have had people trying to breed for me and sod's law the day they manage is the day I am unbelievably locked. No-one has ever said "Oh well, I'll dump it then" and I would not do that to anyone else.

That's the thing - I pretty much *only* breed on demand, and I don't keep lists, so when somebody asks for something, either they get what they wanted that day, or they get nothing and I tell them they can ask again in exactly seven days if they really want it.

 

I had gotten in touch with the person, we had both agreed on the pair to be bred, I produced an egg for them, told them so, and then... nothing. I waited, PM'ed them, and waited some more, and they never responded again.

 

That egg/hatchling was blocking up a spot on my scroll for almost two weeks, and this was before Teleport and the new scroll limits.

[Fuzzbucket]

Actually that did happen to me recently and the egg grew up. Three weeks later I got a very apologetic PM; her internet had completely fallen over - I've been in that situation myself at times, and once even had to get me a scroll sitter using SMS ! She accepted the next one I bred for her within MINUTES of my gendering it (which had been part of the deal.)

 

We do need to be a bit flexible, I think. Though if that's how you set it out, I guess that's fair enough.

[Oddsoxdi]

Aww! FuzzieBee you're so sweet!

 

If I breed, or happen to nab a wanted CB for someone, then I'd be willing to hang on to it for a couple of days - depending on circumstances of course. I've been blocked when an offer has come in and the donor is almost always nice enough to wait. Real Life sometimes likes to throw a wrench into the works.

[Fuzzbucket]

Aww! FuzzieBee you're so sweet!

 

If I breed, or happen to nab a wanted CB for someone, then I'd be willing to hang on to it for a couple of days - depending on circumstances of course. I've been blocked when an offer has come in and the donor is almost always nice enough to wait. Real Life sometimes likes to throw a wrench into the works.

WELL - oddsoxdi dear - you are one who bred for me when I was locked, and you waited, so - you're as sweet as I am.

AND - a few people recently have caught me some CBs I was looking for - at times I did not expect anything - and held them for me while I cleared spaces....

 

OOh that was you too, among others, odd one....

 

And seriously - that kind of niceness here is what encourages people to be - well, NICER !

 

I suppose if I were in this position, having read this thread, I MIGHT say to someone "Hey, I have that xyz you were looking for, but I have to let it go at xx hours" - that way I can't be seen as mean if I HAVE to dump....

Edited August 12, 2011 by fuzzbucket

[Briar_Reed]

I generally stick with the idea of 48 hours also, though I won't hesitate to hold something if someone is reasonable about it. I think it also depends on whether it's a surprise gift, or a planned breeding. I've personally considered posting my schedule to my profile, and this thread is making it seem like a good idea. I work somewhat opposite of the average population, with my "week" running from Friday to Monday. I also work in a kitchen rather than an office, and there's no computer access while you're cooking. I close the kitchen on Friday night, and then have to turn around and open it Saturday morning, and I don't always get to the computer in between those shifts, since I have to attend to all my personal and family circumstances and get some sleep in there as well. I was recently really worried that I was going to miss an amazing gift, because it came up during that window of time, which made me begin to consider posting my unavailability during that time. Especially since it turned out I had a flat tire that morning, and the time I'd spent starting up my computer and picking up my gift, then shutting it all down could have been better spent changing my tire and making me less late for work that day. Though, I'd still rather have that gift than the money I lost that day, I think.

 

Sorry for the TL;DR example of how timing of RL events can really mess up potential gifting in a relatively small window of time. Just wanted to give perspective on how, sometimes, no matter how much you'd like to you can't always get to gifts, especially those spontaneous ones that you aren't expecting. A planned, or requested, breeding is another matter entirely, and I think when asking someone for an egg you should be ready to accept it when you ask, or at least work with the breeder before the breeding to find a time period that will work best for the both of you.

 

I.. type entirely too much.

[WraithZephyr]

I've personally considered posting my schedule to my profile, and this thread is making it seem like a good idea. I work somewhat opposite of the average population, with my "week" running from Friday to Monday.

yes it is helpful to have schedules in profiles. My breeding/promises list though is too long to post in a profile so I have the schedule set up on a breeding request post and I keep that post linked in my signature so that anyone who is on my list can see if there are updates and when to possibly expect the next breeding attempts. I can make changes to the schedule on the fly without having to personally PM a dozen or more people.

[Fiona]

I agree with the majority who indicate that 24 to 48 hours is generally about right. I will hold longer if it's arranged ahead of time. But communication for circumstances is key. Yes, emergencies happen. Sometimes people can't get to the computer to let people know they can't pick up an egg. But they should be understanding and not get upset when it means they missed out.

[Merenwen]

now don't get me wrong, I've held eggs for a long time too

and when there is communication I've even held eggs and not added them to any sites so it could stay an egg to the very last min to give more time to claim

 

I was just curious in general what everyones pickup frame time was

I am nosey