ANSWERED:New Biome: Wasteland

[sairi123]

Very well thought out idea, and I would like to see this implemented. Personally I think it would really help with the blocking situation. Like you said, the average person is more likely to say "OH! A green hatchling!" and move their mouse and go *click* versus "Oh.. green eggs in the AP again.." and then go to the forums or a different biome or their scroll etc etc..(is guilty)

Hopefully TJ feels the same upon reading this and doesn't think it too much of a hassle to code

[FluffyPillow]

I really like this idea :3

[stogucheme]

I like and support the overall idea, but:

To make The Wasteland even more interesting, perhaps instead of the page being set up like the normal biomes, maybe the page shows a large image of the actual environment of the wasteland, and rather than the hatchlings all appearing in a neat little line, they could randomly appear in numerous spots on the picture itself.  And it wouldn't be a "mystery egg" (or rather "mystery hatchling") image, instead it would just show the actual hatchling image.  The cool thing about doing it this way is that it would probably have to be coded somewhat similar to the "Festival of Eggs" or "Trick or Treat" events except without the time delay and with more than one image appearing at a time.  And if I remember correctly with those events, I had to enable javascript and turn off adblock in order to be able to collect the sprites.  So if The Wasteland becomes popular, it might result in a bit more ad revenue for DC.  I made a quick and dirty example of what it might look like.  You can see an the example here.  Obviously if this were ever implemented, the DC artists would probably design a custom image of the wasteland.  But this is just an idea.  It could be set up exactly like the other biomes with some kind of silhoutted, non-descript "mystery hatchling" image just like how it is with the eggs.  When critiquing my idea, please don't zoom in on this one aspect of it (or any one aspect), but try to focus on the general idea.

One: I'm not sure this would be blind-friendly. I have a blind friend who plays the game, and the AP is already completely unusable to them. I'm not sure they would want to play anymore if DC got even more inaccessible to them.

Two: I don't think that'd be easy to code for TJ.

Three: There's not just one DC artist, or even an organized group. Deciding who would do it might create some difficulty.

Four: Part of the fun of the cave is not knowing what you'll get/learning the descriptions.

 

If you just go with something like this, I'd be fine with it. Ignore the bad quality, etc. Notice how all the silhouettes are the same- this I think is very important. Credit for the sprite goes to Silvanon. Three guesses who it and the descriptions would be.

 

EDIT: The freezing. Oh, yeah should we limit freezing and abandoning to 5 hrs after you get it. I definitely agree with that.

Edited October 7, 2011 by stogucheme

[SnowSherry]

What defines this 'blocker problem' in the first place?

[stogucheme]

What defines this 'blocker problem' in the first place?

Um...eggs sitting in-cave and stopping the cave from moving.

[kerrikins]

Reading the 'Fewer eggs' thread (here) I think the biggest thing that needs to be incorporated into any solution for 'blocking' is desirability, as well as something that doesn't affect hunting or breeding.

 

I definitely think that the hatchlings should not just be able to be frozen immediately - there should be a time frame. But other than that caveat, I think this is a fantastic idea. It adds a new dimension - and possible challenge - to the game, especially if these hatchlings require more care than normal ones, somehow. It makes sense to me, mirroring real life. A baby animal will need extra loving care if it's been neglected *and* abandoned, not just abandoned, if that makes sense.

 

 

[hazeh]

I believe TJ has previously stated that dragon eggs don't remember where they came from...so I don't think that would change in this location.

 

Maybe it would have something similar to the CB egg abandon time limit? "You cannot freeze this hatchling until 5 hours have passed." Or something. Maybe longer than 5 hours? That, at the very least, delays the freezing. *shrug*

I like this idea a lot <3

 

Curious though, can sick hatchlings be frozen? Or do you have to wait until they aren't sick anymore? If that's the case, we could do something like that. "This hatchling is not well enough to be placed under a spell, so you decide to wait until it regains its health before stopping its growth."

Or something like that. x3

[spookyfox99]

Pretty much everything has been summed up already, so all I'm gonna say is that I love the idea and support it whole-heartedly! *two thumbs up*

[Fengari]

Maybe it would have something similar to the CB egg abandon time limit? "You cannot freeze this hatchling until 5 hours have passed." Or something. Maybe longer than 5 hours? That, at the very least, delays the freezing. *shrug*

I think that is the best way to avoid insta-freezing. A mechanism like that is already in place for abandoning, so it shouldn't be too hard to borrow from that code to delay freezing, I think.

 

I would vote for 2 days, as when you grab an egg from the cave it has to sit there for a minimum of 2 days before it can become a freezable hatchling.

[Princess Artemis]

If you just go with something like this, I'd be fine with it. Ignore the bad quality, etc. Notice how all the silhouettes are the same- this I think is very important. Credit for the sprite goes to Silvanon. Three guesses who it and the descriptions would be.

I like that a lot. That would work perfectly for it.

[stogucheme]

I think that is the best way to avoid insta-freezing. A mechanism like that is already in place for abandoning, so it shouldn't be too hard to borrow from that code to delay freezing, I think.

 

I would vote for 2 days, as when you grab an egg from the cave it has to sit there for a minimum of 2 days before it can become a freezable hatchling.

Two whole days? I'm not sure...I think it should be 5hrs, or you cannot freeze these at all. (And they should have the standard 7 days, I think.)

[Fuzzbucket]

Two whole days? I'm not sure...I think it should be 5hrs, or you cannot freeze these at all. (And they should have the standard 7 days, I think.)

I think 2 days is fair enough - that is what happens for ordinary hatchies. There's no point to this if it becomes a sort of giant freezer.

[dragon_mando]

A two-day freezing block sounds fair to me as well. You'd wait that long if it was an egg, minimum.

[NazDrag]

This idea is good, I don't usually hatchie lock unless I get a bunch in a trade. ^^ Seems very well thought out, and not a lot of cons as opposed to pros.

 

Naz Stamp of Approval™

[cyradis4]

I love this idea, and agree with all that's been said already.

 

For the freezer lock, I'm thinking the 2 days is the way to go.

 

Question, would the hatchlings have the 5 hour abandon wait like all other eggs picked up out of the Bioms? I think they should.

 

Cheers!

C4.

[Renorei]

Question, would the hatchlings have the 5 hour abandon wait like all other eggs picked up out of the Bioms? I think they should.

I guess that would be up to TJ. I think it's fine if they have the 5 hour wait but I also don't think they need it as badly as eggs picked up from the cave need it. The 5 hour wait on CB eggs is to prevent people from grabbing blockers and re-abandoning to the AP just to get the cave moving. But with these hatchlings, even if a user did grab one and re-abandon it immediately, I'm pretty sure it would be grabbed off the AP immediately just because it's a hatchling.

[stogucheme]

I guess that would be up to TJ. I think it's fine if they have the 5 hour wait but I also don't think they need it as badly as eggs picked up from the cave need it. The 5 hour wait on CB eggs is to prevent people from grabbing blockers and re-abandoning to the AP just to get the cave moving. But with these hatchlings, even if a user did grab one and re-abandon it immediately, I'm pretty sure it would be grabbed off the AP immediately just because it's a hatchling.

But because there'd be a new hatchling cave, wouldn't hatchlings drop in value ridiculously? I think we should keep the 5hr wait time.

[Cinnamin Draconna]

As I understand how the Wasteland should work, each hatchling represents an egg that was blocking a biome, which was then hatched and transferred to the Wasteland. Since every hatchling is caveborn, I believe they should follow the same rules as caveborn eggs... you can't drop them for 5 hrs.

 

Freeze wait? I'm not sure it's necessary. If you catch a hatchling on the AP you don't have to wait to freeze it.. so why should Wasteland hatchlings be treated differently. If any wait is applied, I don't think it should be longer than 5 hrs, which would coincide with the 5 hr drop wait.

 

However, since Wasteland hatchlings need the same amount of time to mature as if they were eggs then hatchlings (5 days, if Incubated), it might be appropriate to apply a freeze wait of 2 days (the length of time the hatchling would have spent as an egg if Incubated).

 

Personally, I don't care for this freeze wait, because I collect certain breeds for my frozen hatchling armies; pebbles, nocturnes, grays, water horses, dragon horses and spitfires. Generally, the hatchlings I freeze were found as ER eggs, hatched and immediately frozen, so I generally don't have to wait longer than the time required for an ER to hatch the eggs.. typically only a few mins to a few hours, not days.

[stogucheme]

As I understand how the Wasteland should work, each hatchling represents an egg that was blocking a biome, which was then hatched and transferred to the Wasteland. Since every hatchling is caveborn, I believe they should follow the same rules as caveborn eggs... you can't drop them for 5 hrs.

 

Freeze wait? I'm not sure it's necessary. If you catch a hatchling on the AP you don't have to wait to freeze it.. so why should Wasteland hatchlings be treated differently. If any wait is applied, I don't think it should be longer than 5 hrs, which would coincide with the 5 hr drop wait.

 

However, since Wasteland hatchlings need the same amount of time to mature as if they were eggs then hatchlings (5 days, if Incubated), it might be appropriate to apply a freeze wait of 2 days (the length of time the hatchling would have spent as an egg if Incubated).

 

Personally, I don't care for this freeze wait, because I collect certain breeds for my frozen hatchling armies; pebbles, nocturnes, grays, water horses, dragon horses and spitfires. Generally, the hatchlings I freeze were found as ER eggs, hatched and immediately frozen, so I generally don't have to wait longer than the time required for an ER to hatch the eggs.. typically only a few mins to a few hours, not days.

I agree. Plus, the freeze limit is 15 hatchlings every 2 weeks, right? That plus the 5hr wait time would be enough, IMHO.

[Ketsala]

Generally, the hatchlings I freeze were found as ER eggs, hatched and immediately frozen, so I generally don't have to wait longer than the time required for an ER to hatch the eggs.. typically only a few mins to a few hours, not days.

You're not very likely to see a great deal of ER eggs on the AP- I mean you will sometimes, but I doubt it's a highly common occurrence. (That or I'm going on the AP on the wrong times! o.O) Making an entire biome that operates under the same timing as ER eggs would make the game a little too easy, wouldn't it? (And is very similar to the cave scroll idea- something TJ has already nixed.)

 

Two days makes sense to me. The way I see it, the entire idea of the 'wasteland' is in essence letting people pick up CB cave blocker eggs with the exact same timing for abandoning/freezing as normal, but it's taking up a hatchi slot instead of an egg slot.

[Cinnamin Draconna]

I find a LOT of ER eggs on the AP... but very few actual hatchlings.

 

Wasteland hatchlings wouldn't be like ER eggs tho.. they'd still need a full 5 days to mature.. and they wouldn't gender any sooner either. So if you want to freeze an s2 hatchling, you'd still have to wait until it genders.

 

But s1 hatchlings can be frozen immediately after hatching.. there is no wait time to freeze. Adding a 2 day freeze wait is more like a punishment for choosing a cave blocking hatchling, over a cave blocking egg.

[hazeh]

Cave born eggs don't hatch in two days, though. Sure, you can grab eggs of the AP for freezing hatchlings if you want. Those won't be guaranteed to be CB though. Besides, you don't have to use these hatchlings for your frozen army, you can just keep doing it from the AP.

[Shanthaia]

Cave born eggs don't hatch in two days, though. Sure, you can grab eggs of the AP for freezing hatchlings if you want. Those won't be guaranteed to be CB though. Besides, you don't have to use these hatchlings for your frozen army, you can just keep doing it from the AP.

They actually do if incubated

 

However, don't we have a freezing limite already so that one cannot freeze more hatchlings to gain more dragons faster than when raised adulthood? At least that was my impression that was the reason why the freezinglimit was implemented. I think a 5h wait till like on CB eggs is enough.

[White-Sword-Master]

The way I see it, as long as the hatchies have a Max of 7 or 8 days wait, Plus they are sick, and have the eggs 5 hour abandon-wait + teleport wait, I see this plum fine....

 

I only know of one legit reason people freeze there hatchlings, its to keep the special name for a special dragon they want it for so noone else takes that name.....I know the other Reason is solely on there beautiful art, but I really don't think freezing is necessary....Why freeze an hatchling other then the 2 reasons I stated.....If at all, I don't like the freezing b/c i in essence stops time and I thought this was mediaval themed, so back then, how'd they stop time.....You could say they threw the hatchling in a cold mountain, but umm, then, where's the ice around the hatchling?

 

So, all-in-all, I like this idea, as long as no freezing is inolved, I may be harsh, but hey, it really don't make sense in the caves era, and if these hatchlings came from the wasteland, in terms, there would be no ice....

 

oh, and one more thing, is this biome going to have rare hatchlings?

[annageckos]

The way I see it, as long as the hatchies have a Max of 7 or 8 days wait, Plus they are sick, and have the eggs 5 hour abandon-wait + teleport wait, I see this plum fine....

 

I only know of one legit reason people freeze there hatchlings, its to keep the special name for a special dragon they want it for so noone else takes that name.....I know the other Reason is solely on there beautiful art, but I really don't think freezing is necessary....Why freeze an hatchling other then the 2 reasons I stated.....If at all, I don't like the freezing b/c i in essence stops time and I thought this was mediaval themed, so back then, how'd they stop time.....You could say they threw the hatchling in a cold mountain, but umm, then, where's the ice around the hatchling?

 

So, all-in-all, I like this idea, as long as no freezing is inolved, I may be harsh, but hey, it really don't make sense in the caves era, and if these hatchlings came from the wasteland, in terms, there would be no ice....

 

oh, and one more thing, is this biome going to have rare hatchlings?

Hatchlings are not frozen with ice. They are frozen by a spell to stop aging. I don't see why these hatchlings that come from the wasteland should not be able to be frozen if that is what the owner wants. Just because you don't like to freeze your hatchlings doesn't mean that I shouldn't be able to.