Do you think all species should have dimorphism?

[RheaZen]

Nah, I'm good. Just let things be as they are.

[Carmelita-Fox]

I agree, the more beautiful sprites to collect the better, but whatever is best for the spriters. I honestly hope that old sprites aren't suddenly made dimorphic again. that took getting used too and changed lineages. However I love it when new releases are dimorphic.

 

More often than not, the sprites for the males are more dynamic/bigger/more colorful/more interesting/more agressive, etc., essentially they are just generally better most of the time, whereas the female sprites are often less dynamic, less active, smaller, more demure, less interesting, etc.

 

I don't think this is true at all. The goldfish are my favorite breed, and I think the females are sassy. While the males just look big, the female looks to me likes she's moving, about to dive. My all time favorite sprite is the alt. black female, they're gorgeous. They totally look feisty and flirty <3

[Syphoneira]

Lol, I think the current state of dimorphism is fine as it stands, except that I hope that dragons already on my scroll are never changed again.

 

That was a NASTY shock, irrespective of the sprite changes themselves...

[blackdragon71]

With regard to what Syphoneira said above, re: nasty shock... I stopped avidly collecting nocturnes because I do not care for the female sprite. I could gather an entire army of males, and perhaps in the future, when I'm done with my legion of spitfires and other projects I still might, but the dimorphism of that breed just hurt in a totally irrational way. I don't know how to explain it, and yes, it makes no sense whatsoever even to myself, but it ended my enthusiasm for what is otherwise still one of the loveliest breeds of dragon on the site, thanks to Corteo's talents. But there is something about the female's pose that throws her off artistically for me. It's the way her neck stretches down, and that's pretty much the problem with the male daydream, too, by the way. I was quite happy with both genders looking the same, just as I'm happy with both genders of the spitfire looking exactly the same. I know the difference between the male and female symbol on my scroll.

[Rof]

I like variety. For me, that includes breeds that have dynamic females, breeds that have dynamic males, and breeds that don't have dimorphism. It's nice to think that when a spriter does a dimorphic set that they put their heart into both sprites and don't make one more mellow or muted or otherwise less interesting just because one of them has to be different, but instead because they like it better that way. (Tangent - another option is two different sprite positions but they are both outwardly-physically identical). Having variety lets people pick their favorite dragons to fill their scroll; if all of them had to be formatted the same way, the game would be appealing to fewer people, or those who share the same tastes.

[Merenwen]

I'd like it to tell difference at a glace between male and female

 

but it is the spriters call so take what I get

[elderberrysyrup]

I'd love some more pretty sprites, but to be honest it's not up to me but the artist. I'm fine either way, really!

[rainbowsmile]

It would be nice if the dragons that weren't dimorphic at least were mirror images of each, sort of like the Geodes. I know the tail pose and head position are different on the Geodes, but other than that it's pretty much the same sprite turned around. That would make it easier for the artists who don't wish to do two sprites.

[angelmischa]

I'm in the camp that often finds one of the dimorphic sprites to be much less attractive than the other.

 

The genderised "demure/stately" sitting pose can be seen in the Blunas, Canopies, Daydream/Clouds, Fogs, Misfit pygmies, and a few others that I haven't mentioned because they seem a bit more in the eye of the beholder. On the other hand, as a counterpoint to blackdragon71, I like the Nocturnes' active pose for the females, as to me they look like an exception to this general pattern, although I do see what is meant about the neck angle!

 

Other dragons, such as the Electrics, are simply less dynamic as females, and several sprites (e.g. Brights or New Pinks) have the females up in little poses that on real women would probably be deemed coquettish. Sure, there are some male sprites in poses with the forearms raised up, body open, etc. (e.g. autumn males), but there does seem to be a general genderised pattern nonetheless.

 

I'd add that I was pretty sad when the purples gained a male counterpart and am not a great fan of the addition or the sprite, but I do now have one just because of the BSA, and that sort of bugs me, just like blackdragon71 is bugged by the female nocturne!

 

We will obviously not always agree because tastes are different, but I think it's a valid criticism against adding more dimorphism, that we need to have the right sprites, not just sprites for the sake of it!

 

In any event, if people did want more sprites, the Neotropicals or the Stripes are good examples of how dimorphism can work simply and without too much distinction between the two.

Edited September 21, 2011 by angelmischa

[SnowWhite]

It would be nice if the dragons that weren't dimorphic at least were mirror images of each, sort of like the Geodes. I know the tail pose and head position are different on the Geodes, but other than that it's pretty much the same sprite turned around. That would make it easier for the artists who don't wish to do two sprites.

I agree. Even that little bit of dimorphism is enough to make me want to have at least a male and a female of that species. There are some species like the waverunner where just that amount of dimorphism would make me want to get a female sprite (I only have the male right now). I am all for dimorphism even if it is just small differences in the sprites. I like being able tell the differences between males and females at a glance. But since I am not a spriter, it is not up to me.

[BrightStarBella]

I prefer gender dimorphism for dragon sprites.

[Banuk]

I'd love to have more dimorphism, even if it is just different poses between the males and females with no other variations whatsoever. I don't like collecting too many dragons that have just one sprite because I think scrolling down through rows of the same sprite is dull and monotonous.

[1976_michelle]

Most definitely yes; I'd love it. And random releases of the alternate gendered sprite would also help some with the A cave as people catch up their sprite pairs

[Nectaris]

Personally I don't think dimorphism is necessary in every breed. You don't see it every time in real life and I am also one who is not a fan of how most dimorphic sprites make the female look submissive and/or passive, while the male is in an action pose.

 

I did to remedy that with my spatuletails. As they are based on birds, the male is more colorful, but because of that, I gave the female a more dynamic sprite to make up for her lack in color. It has the unfortunate consequence of making her smaller, but I will have to live with that, I can't have everything.

 

And personally, I find the mirrored images worse than no dimorphism at all. After all, there is no change to the sprite other than direction, so now I have to collect twice the number for little reason.

Edited September 22, 2011 by Nectaris

[dejavugurl]

Personally, dimorphism in every breed would be nice, but I don't see it happening.

 

I do certainly hope, though, that skywings get dimorphism. I think I've seen sprites for them to be dimorphed, but I can't find them anywhere.

[WestWindReborn]

i think dimorphism would be nice with all the species; but you have to give thought to all the projects the spriters are doing. We've got a HUGE list of in progress dragons and the completed ones as well. It's really not fair to expect them to drop what they're are doing and race back to add a new sprite to the sixty some dragons that aren't dimorphic and then add sprites to the completed ones not released yet ands STILL have to do the in progress list.

personally I feel the dimorphism should wait for the dragons without them until the spriters have a chance to catch up with everything and they can have a breather before tackling dimorphism. say, no more new dragon requests and instead of new egg releases, the dimorphic sprites are released. i think that would be more fair to the spriters.

 

 

and note: the male and females don't have to look different physically, but it is cool to see them in a different pose.

[Misha]

Personally, just my vote alone? I would prefer it. But, as was pointed out it's up entirely to the spriter and it *is* a lot of work. The sunstones aren't in the least boring to me they're beautiful but a male and female spirte would have been awesome too.

[arula]

I like that some breeds are dimorphic and some aren't, because in nature some animals are dimorphic and some aren't, so it seems more realistic this way.

 

That said, I am always excited when a new breed comes out and it's dimorphic. Two sprites for the price of one!

[WatersMoon110]

I love dimorphic dragon breeds. But I think that some species of animals have males and females that just don't look different from one another.

 

The main reason I don't want all breeds to be dimorphic is because it takes twice as much time to get the sprites done, especially when the hatchlings are dimorphic. I would rather have two new breeds of dragon than have a more complicated single species.

 

Also, it takes more time to get all of the stages of hatchling to freeze if there is metamorphism in the hatchlings. And I am somewhat lazy.

[raistardragon]

I'm happy with some having more sprites and some not. I don't think the old sprites should be changed because there are many breeders who set up their lineages to look a certain way and if you throw in a new sprite many get upset about it. The more changes made to existing dragons the more you upset the faithful long-time players. Instead just leave it for new releases if the artists want to have dimorphic or not. I don't always want to see every release have dimorphic but I do enjoy when they do.

[Paradiso]

Personally, dimorphism in every breed would be nice, but I don't see it happening.

 

I do certainly hope, though, that skywings get dimorphism. I think I've seen sprites for them to be dimorphed, but I can't find them anywhere.

I've seen the female Skywing too before the thread was deleted and she was absolutely gorgeous. I really hope we get dimorphism for the Skywings and the Reds.

 

I'm in the camp that prefers dimorphism. The single sprite dragons just look so plain and boring to me now.

[munificent]

Well, I guess I'll add my vote to anti-dimorphism side. I have some of the same gender issues with sprites as other posters have mentioned, but even if that never entered the picture, I like same sprites on some breeds for no particular reason. I just like it.

[AlternateMew]

I don't want all sprites to have dimorphism. I like the way it is now - Some do, some don't. And agreeing with Socky on the first page about the Sun Stones. I like them like I like Mints. And I LOVE Mints.

[Varekis]

I personally like dimorphism, but I don't think it's something I couldn't live without either. I mean, lots of the dragons before the "art updates" weren't, non? I was pretty much fine with them then.

 

Plus, spriting and stuff seems to take ages (from what I've read on spriting in the past). Wouldn't want to put additional pressure on the artists to go dimorphism for every species. ^^ Putting constraints on those sorts of things can make it less enjoyable for the artist, which is never good. D:

[ksew]

no. I love variety. let some breeds have dimorphism and some not have and it's up to the artists to decide whether they should have it or not.