Dragon Caveology

[Imbecamiel]

Abandoned commons from the cave which are tossed back into the AP could go back into the cave?!? Even I didn't know that...

 

I will definitely add a link to the help section of DC, and I will probably mention this too. You learn something new every day!

Well no, not exactly that same egg - eggs don't go back and forth between the AP and the cave. But in principle, it's essentially true - if a CB egg was tossed to the AP, and was literally never claimed (stayed there until it died/ran out of time), it'd just mean one more egg of that same breed being created in the cave itself.

 

BUT - the truth is that it's extremely unlikely that any CB egg, however undesirable, would actually linger unclaimed in the AP until it died. (Barring possible odd extenuating circumstances like a release causing the AP to back up really, really far, but even then it's not very likely.) There are always people eager to claim low-time eggs, even really messy or inbred ones, because they can hatch them and have instant hatchlings, no longer taking up an egg slot, and hatchlings can always be used for something - even if it's just for freezing, thus putting them that much closer to getting the next trophy and more egg slots. :3

[TheGrox]

BUT - the truth is that it's extremely unlikely that any CB egg, however undesirable, would actually linger unclaimed in the AP until it died. (Barring possible odd extenuating circumstances like a release causing the AP to back up really, really far, but even then it's not very likely.) There are always people eager to claim low-time eggs, even really messy or inbred ones, because they can hatch them and have instant hatchlings, no longer taking up an egg slot, and hatchlings can always be used for something - even if it's just for freezing, thus putting them that much closer to getting the next trophy and more egg slots. :3

Oh, I see now. Thank you for explaining. I suppose it's just like code recycling of dead dragons... in a way.

[Imbecamiel]

Yep, pretty much. ^^

[MoonlitDragon]

I have a little tip :3

 

If your are stalking the AP for christmas dragons, always hover above the 2nd egg spot while pressing F5. This helps because most will go for the first or last, but Christmas dragons appear at the front and are usually multi clutched so you can get one! Same goes for halloween, except hover over the second to last slot.

[TheGrox]

I have a little tip :3

 

If your are stalking the AP for christmas dragons, always hover above the 2nd egg spot while pressing F5. This helps because most will go for the first or last, but Christmas dragons appear at the front and are usually multi clutched so you can get one! Same goes for halloween, except hover over the second to last slot.

This is a good tip. However, if you have a fast connection, and are quick at clicking, you can hover over the first spot. The third spot can also be hovered over, but there will be some holidays that only drop two eggs.

[pinkgothic]

Tip for people thinking to gift:

 

There are a few threads where people are put on wait lists for eggs. If you're a gifter, be prepared to be ignored by the people on the list if you try to contact them; they're probably not online and won't be for hours (sometimes even for days!). Similarly, be prepared that people turn you down because someone else caught them first. It helps to be aware of this. It can be very frustrating, but please don't let that discourage you. I recommend trying to catch the people that are online at the time if you can. Refresh the thread a few times and watch the bottom, where it says "N User(s) are reading this topic" and the list of names. (There's a list of currently online users at the bottom of each board and the main forum page, too.)

 

A less frustrating alternative to gifting is to open a minimalist trade - set up the valuable egg you want to gift, and ask for offers of common breeds. That way you can usually get quick responses (though if you want the egg to absolutely go to someone who hasn't got one of that kind yet, you'll need to manually check their scroll, of course - but then, this is always recommended).

Edited December 27, 2011 by pinkgothic

[Kelkelen]

Tip for people thinking to gift:

 

There are a few threads where people are put on wait lists for eggs. If you're a gifter, be prepared to be ignored by the people on the list if you try to contact them; they're probably not online and won't be for hours (sometimes even for days!). Similarly, be prepared that people turn you down because someone else caught them first. It helps to be aware of this. It can be very frustrating, but please don't let that discourage you. I recommend trying to catch the people that are online at the time if you can. Refresh the thread a few times and watch the bottom, where it says "N User(s) are reading this topic" and the list of names.

 

A less frustrating alternative to gifting is to open a minimalist trade - set up the valuable egg you want to gift, and ask for offers of common breeds. That way you can usually get quick responses (though if you want the egg to absolutely go to someone who hasn't got one of that kind yet, you'll need to manually check their scroll, of course - but then, this is always recommended).

Good advice! Be sure to follow the rules of the individual threads, though -- some of them may not take kindly to "jumping in line" and giving gifts to people further down the waiting list, even if they're online at the time. Not every thread cares about that, though. And there's always the option to just glomp randomly!

 

Another bit of gifting advice -- be careful not to OVERGIFT newbies! When you only have 4 egg slots, it can be very frustrating trying to get started. A well-intended gift of 3 eggs might become a white elephant, as the new player has to spend time clearing room for it, and then has very little freedom to go hunting for eggs on their own, even if they want to. I'd suggest checking for egg-lock before gifting, to at least see that the eggs are on low-time, and maybe not giving more than 2 eggs at a time. Hatchies are the most *amazing* gift to a newbie -- a player is almost guaranteed to have room for them, unlike the eggs, and something like a Red or a Pink becomes useful so quickly, too.

 

I second pinkgothic: be patient. If you want to give a gift, be willing to let it sit on your scroll for a little while; just set that egg slot aside for gifting purposes, and go focus on other things until it's accepted.

[Kymeira]

Well this was a very nice thread. <3

[celis]

Thanks for the lovely thread Grox, it's got good advice, even for those of us who've been around for awhile (ie I hardly ever use the IRC chat, because I never think of it).

 

Also, I would caution users to beware if they: Turn off Javascript, page style, and anything else you can. I've tried to do this, and I absolutely can't catch a darn thing... I've tried it in Chrome, Netscape, Firefox and plain ole IE and it just doesn't do a thing for me. So do play with your connection to Dragon cave to see what works (loading wise) the best for you.

[nim-the-forgotten]

I'm new and I read through this and its really informative and helpful. Thanks

[Drayanna]

What does IOU mean? I mean, I understood it has something to do with trading, but other than that...

[sarahfish89]

What does IOU mean? I mean, I understood it has something to do with trading, but other than that...

IOU mean I Owe You. It is common used in trades (like you said) to mean that you or the other person owes you a dragon and that it should be repaid at a later date. You can learn more about it here.

 

Some nice tips on that list, very helpful for newbies and even somebody who has been around for a while.

[darijo]

First of all I want to thank you , for this great thread and the useful advises!

Maybe I can get a few more dragons I need by following your guide.

And at last thank you for the speedtest, even it just showed me, that my connection is really slow ( got graded with an F )

[Ashywolf]

Pretty helpful advice though trading isn't a thing for me because A. I have no access to metallics and B. Most trades these days require a male/female Pink pair for influencing which I do not have....

 

And you're right, my connection was not what I thought; it's worse!

Edited December 27, 2011 by Ashywolf

[TheGrox]

Thank you all for your comments! I will be updating the main post when I have a little more time.

 

I would just like to point out that connection speed isn't everything. I was rated D- by speedtest, but I still caught a Gold egg in the AP when I was a newbie, and nowadays I often catch Nebula's, Pillows and other uncommons in the cave and on the AP. I personally don't have Jacascript or anything else turned off (Chrome wont let me). Don't be disheartened by a bad connection, it won't ruin your DC experience, as long as you don't let it.

 

 

@Ashywolf - Probably the most important dragons you need to obtain early on are Pinks. I see so many Tinsel's gender wrongly because newbies are given them as gifts, but fail to influence them. I've been there and done if myself, and my wrongly gendered Tinsels, whilst sitting on my scroll and looking nice, are useless to me for breeding purposes.

 

@celis - the IRC is, in my opinion underused. If you have the time to sit for hours talking about nothing in particular, then you will be rewarded by making new friends, winning and being gifted lovely eggs and hatchlings, and maybe even meeting TJ09 himself on one of his fleeting IRC visits. As you can tell, I am a big IRC fan

[me002]

This thread is very useful v.v, the thing i was interested in the most were the ways to speed up my connection: i tried to turn off the page style but it didn't almost make any difference (the position of the eggs was odd n i couldn't grab even one. i tried the internet speed test too, i repeated the test with my phone n with my iMac (the latter has a very fast connection in my opinion, but the average result according to all data was almost twice as mine (which was about 5300 kbps download speed)) n they had almost the same result, isn't this a bit odd?

[celis]

Pretty helpful advice though trading isn't a thing for me because A. I have no access to metallics and B. Most trades these days require a male/female Pink pair for influencing which I do not have....

 

Not necessarily. Sometimes, if the person I'm trading doesn't have any of what I'm offering, I sometimes just give the egg or hatchling to them. It just depends on what sort of mood a person is in, and how you approach it.

 

Though I would seriously suggest you do get a male/female pink, because influencing lets you keep pretty lineages pretty (sometimes). Not always. As my poor list of influence failed tinsels can attest to.

[Imbecamiel]

Mmm, definitely seconding what celis said. There are times when I just offer something without looking for anything especially valuable in return, just willing to accept anything even moderately interesting. There have also been times when I'm looking for something very specific in trading - and if I'm able to get that thing without using all my trading materials, I will often enough gift "leftover" eggs to people who've shown an interest but didn't have anything I wanted. :3

 

Really, don't let not having metallics make you feel like you don't have anything to trade. Yes, there are people out there who might snap at you if they don't feel like your offers are "good enough." But if you're nice and polite there are also plenty of people who'll be willing to work something out for you, if they've got something you really want.

[Ashes The Second]

Personally, I dislike the IRC because of how some mods treat the users, and how some people act really know-it-all on there. I normally make friends rather quickly, but that place is distinctly unfriendly to someone like me, who doesn't really enjoy being all goodey-wooedy. It feels like an over strained environment, and really just.. not my tastes. I only use it for trading and seeing who's dropping what. And maybe arguing heavily in a friendly debate, and then getting rebuffed for 'begging', apparently. Really, it's really... Bothersome. And then the trades posted there are abominably laughable. So if your not a talkative person, but have a strong opinion that can easily be taken the wrong way, I don't recommend it. At all. But hey, if you're not the minority, good on you.

Edited December 28, 2011 by Ashes The Second

[TheGrox]

@Ashes the Second - I have had no experience of mods treating users as badly as you describe. Moderators are there like everyone else, primarily, to join in with chat, but also to keep control. Without mods there would be... mayhem. Anyhow, I can see what you mean about strong opinions in the IRC.

[me002]

i take back everything that i said about turning off the page style: it is very very very very very very very very very very useful.

this is the only thing i have to say:

view->page style->no style->caught CB pink->caught CB nebula->caught CB cheese.

[grammydragon]

Thanks for a really helpful thread! Wish I had known about it sooner.

[julesjag1]

This is a wonderful thread. I had to dig through lots of resources on DC and off to get this info when I first started. Plus I just picked up a couple more good tips reading this the whole way through.

 

Thanks to all who took the time to share ideas!

[TheGrox]

Another tip, participate in raffles like the one this year, and competitions like the one last year. You never know, you might be lucky! (I never am though, lol)

[Arwen17]

I think all of this can be summed up in three words: play the game.

If you want to get good at a game, you have to play it, frequently.