Dragon Vale

[DarkEternity]

Hmm, yeah, but with an average of $20 splurged on the game per user, I can see why they'd want it

 

Dr Luke Clark, in the Department of Experimental Psychology, is interested in the different ways in which gamblers over-estimate their chances of winning, including the effects of near-misses and personal choice. These features of gambling games promote an ‘illusion of control’: the belief that the gambler can exert skill over an outcome that is actually defined by chance...Both near-misses and personal choice cause gamblers to play for longer and to place larger bets.

It sounds exactly the same as breeding dragons for Dragonvale, especially the limited dragons. While you can get gems from friends, a lot of people spend real money on DV in an effort to get the limited dragons. I recall a person saying they bought 60 gems to get enough to buy a limited edition dragon, which they believed wouldn't come back again. I've come across several parents complaining their children had run up $200 bills on DV, so it's hardly unusual problem.

 

Even the 99c pricing difference creates the illusion of 'I'm not spending much' on a game. A user also posted a blog on the gambler's fallacy to enlighten other users, because some people were really unable to comprehend the probabilities. They thought the more they bred, the more likely they were of getting an egg. Many users even thought that towards the end of a limited dragon breeding period, the likelihood of getting a rare was raised and even more users thought spending actual money on the game would increase their chances of breeding dragons...

 

Backflip has really exploited this three times. Firstly, with the Leap Year Dragon and the chaos it caused by suddenly switching the breed rules which caused a lot of people rush to buy gems to get a second dragon, believing it wouldn't ever come back.

Secondly, with the Sakura dragon. It had a 12 hour time = cash cow because another Sakura fail egg had a 12 hour time. People wasted and bought a lot of gems, believing that they'd gotten the limited dragon. This third time is the Emerald dragon, creating a lot of 10 hour + fails to induce people to buy gems with real money, in order to meet the 12 hour perceived deadline. The final proof that they're trying to milk their cash cow further is the ever increasing gem cost of limited dragons and upgrades.

 

I've studied enough maths to know that this increase is exponential. The gem dragons aren't gonna make a bit of a difference. You get a little under 2 gems per week. That amount is laughable. There are 52 weeks in a year. Apple would have stopped supporting your device before anyone legitimately bought any upgrade. That epic breeding island update alone costs $30 in real money.

 

Gems gotten by friends = free advertising for Backflip. If everyone's friends join up, Backflip has a greater chance of netting in app purchases, essentially.

 

I'd personally spend money upfront, rather than buy in app purchases. If Backflip really wanted to, simply putting ads on their Appstore game page would rack up thousands of dollars per day. But no, sticking with the freemium model means that a top grossing app like Dragonvale earns up to 2 million to 3 million dollars a month.

 

It is important to note that gaming machine manufacturers hire mathematicians to calculate expected loss. Probability mathematics was even part of my math curriculum, we did Binomial probability in the exam. I believe that probability is even applicable to Dragonvale; each breeding event is independent, with two outcomes - failure or success. That came with a comfy cumulative distribution function on my calculator; through it I was able to calcuate after x number of tries, what would be the probability of achieving the event? e.g. getting the limited dragon. I can assure you that Backflip hires mathematicians to ensure that it is at least difficult to get the limited dragons in a specified time period. After all, I've always thought it weird that two LE dragons can always produce more LE dragons, and it's definitely not 'lol free dragons' it's definitely more along the lines of 'yay, more profit and customers who are staying'. I see they're going in the direction of unbreedables, that also doesn't bode too well for people who don't want to spend money particularly when the 'monthly' birthstones suggest that the dragons are slated as limiteds.

Edited May 19, 2012 by DarkEternity

[girlfairy76]

It's a good thing my dad disabled buying on dragonvale 0-0 that's really serious.

[DarkEternity]

The devs do have to recoup losses though. An article on iFans described appmaking as a roulette, a lot of money is spent designing and promoting the product. Lots of people fail, some people become millionares overnight. Gems neatly solves the problem of promotion + Facebook (though people mostly beg for gems).

 

Zynga has been criticised several times for employing the gambling psychology, though in truth it's no secret that freemiums are good at luring people in. It's really easy justifying the purchases, but I shudder at some of the reasons that users give... Some players said they had a monthly 'budget' for these kind of games. My brother was no exception to the rules, already he has spent over $300 AU on IAPs. It is... slightly sickening.

 

My brother always speaks of paying as the same thing as donating. But it never stuck that way in my mind since charging real money always seemed to equal disadvantaging players without money. And I will always think of both cheating and freemium as slightly unethical, but I also don't think I'd have the courage to tell mother that daughter dearest had spent money on a game when ten years ago we lived on welfare. To an extent, I've no grounds to make such a judgement, as one of the most apt loophole exploiters ever to use technology, (most probably Backflip would want me to go die now, particularly after what I found in the DV files.) Yet my brother and others like him worry me.

 

It's something to worry about though, and it is concerning. Just because something has a cute face, it doesn't mean it's harmless and your friend, though children in particular find it difficult to distinguish. These days, companies monitor everything from consumer eye movements to pregnancy status. Freemium's merely another attractive layer to a business.

Edited May 19, 2012 by DarkEternity

[girlfairy76]

Zynga? Like, Zynga poker? Well, it's kinda weird... My dad has it. I never. Heck it out, because I'm a fail at poker.

 

WaIT. Let's get BAK to Dragon Vale.

 

I think that the Emerald dragon isn't worth it. You'd have to bred about a lot of time just to get one. Only to get 2 per month. Buying gems is a waste of money. You could actually use your money on things in real life, like other stuff you need. Really, pay 100 dollars. You only get 3.500 gems. NOT worth it. They should make how much gems you get higher. Paying 100 for only 3500. Is not worth the money! If you ask me, maybe we shouldn't have gems at all. Yes, they can get everything you want. Speed up this, speed up that. Well, most kids parents don't want to waste their money on those things. So if you ask me, I don't know how people get 999,999,999 gems.

Edited May 19, 2012 by girlfairy76

[DarkEternity]

I don't know how people get 999,999,999 gems.

They cheated. It's little known on the internet but is literally done by replacing the number of gems you can purchase in the market with heaps of 9s. Then there is a program to bypass paying for the in app purchases which is incredibly widespread/wellknown/infamous. *shrugs

 

Actually it's not quite as bad as I thought it to be:

12 dragons in the island. Each dragon produces @ lvl 10 1 gem/wk -> 4380 gems/yr

With a 10 hr average breeeding time, and emerald a 2% breeding chance in the normal breeding cave: from these stastics http://w11.zetaboards.com/dragonvale/topic/7700337/15/

It would technically take 20 days to get an emerald. The emerald dragon will disappear in 11 days.

Edited May 20, 2012 by DarkEternity

[Chacuano]

Whoever wants to add me go ahead, Game Center is Chacuanon.

Also, I give people gifts at random times.

I've played it since September when it came out and I have a pair of each limited dragons.

I really never played it until, somehow, It got my attention at the start of this month.

Edited May 21, 2012 by Chacuano

[Friend of All Dragons]

You don't HAVE to buy gems. You could either jailbreak or just save them up naturally (coloseum, gemstone dragons, friends). As are the rules in freemium, you can either buy or not buy.

[DragonKing1337]

How do you jailbreak an iphone?

[DarkEternity]

I'm going to quote a Dev (tw23) from iFans about jailbreaking.

Disadvantage(s) of Jailbreaking

There is one major reason why you shouldn't jailbreak:

Lack of security.

Since jailbreak developers/jailbreaking disables a lot of security features, it will turn your device into an Android (which has, basically, no security) lol. It will disable sandbox and a whole bunch of other security features and add more ways in which hackers can steal your data and do other bad stuff with your device (remember ikee?).

So just a caution for those of you who are paranoid about the security of your data.

Ikee is a worm which affected jailbroken iDevices because the users were too lazy and hadn't changed their SSH password.

 

I've always jailbroken, and I will always jailbreak, but the fact people recommend to 'jailbreak' solely to cheat at a game like DragonVale worries me because they are so badly uninformed that they don't really understand what they're doing to their device.

 

Do not forget to backup the SHSH Blobs and APtickets once you've jailbroken. Use something like TinyUmbrella or iFaith. Do not try to 'accidentally' update or restore your iDevice once you're jailbroken.

 

Use one of these guides depending on your current iOS version:

http://www.ifans.com/forums/threads/how-to...nd-ipad.369529/

http://www.ifans.com/forums/threads/how-to...the-2-0.376140/

 

I have two additional methods for getting gems quickly for jailbroken devices, but the Buy IAP method means you can't be on 5.1.1, pretty much.

 

There are two tools used (can't mention here) but they're just variations on the same thing. People report compatibility issues, but since it's pretty much illegal, there's not much user support for it. But I haven't bothered testing them.

Jailbreaking lets you install 3rd party applications which are not approved by Apple and other stuff.

 

Total list of stuff you can do on DV once jailbroken:

- Buy 99 millions gems at once/buy 999 million dragon cash at once/ buy 999 million dragon treats at once*

- Buy IAPs for free (might not work on iOS 5.1.1)

- Buy all expired limited edition dragons, any hidden dragons and all expired limited edition decorations *

- Make all dragons/decorations unlocked at level 1 *

*= I 'invented' these tweak if you like. It involves moving a text document around, real hardcore I know. But you won't be able to move and edit files where you need them to go without a jailbreak, Apple's funny like that.

Though technically you don't even need to be jailbroken to cheat. Just have a jailbroken friend to cheat for you (though you'd be disclosing password + account name, use a real friend or beware)

Edited June 5, 2012 by DarkEternity

[rukii_bii]

I'm sad because Dragon Vale seems very fun but it's not supported on my iPhone 3G T_T

 

[Dragon_Gal_]

I've almost got all the dragons, when I was level 6 I somehow bred a Leap Year rainbow by mistake. All I need now is a Dodo and a Sandstorm, I've got a Forge and a Pearl being bred right now and I've got more money than I know what to do with O.e

[dragonsrus]

I've been playing dragonvale since October of last year. I love dragonvale. I wish the devs would make it possible to trade dragons or gift dragons to other people. I just barely got the Emerald Dragon last month, but this month I already got the Pearl Dragon and 2 of the Forge Dragons and a second Pearl Dragon in the Breeding Cave now. I started making an egg display collection. Is anyone else doing that? My gamecenter name is bluemonkey9455.

[DragonKing1337]

I've almost got all the dragons, when I was level 6 I somehow bred a Leap Year rainbow by mistake. All I need now is a Dodo and a Sandstorm, I've got a Forge and a Pearl being bred right now and I've got more money than I know what to do with O.e

The leap year dragon was meant to be easy to breed. It was only around for 4 days so making it a rare would have been really stupid of BF.

 

Speaking of the leap year dragon. Why was it only around for 4 days? If we get the panlong all year we should definitely be able to get the leap year all year round since technically this year is still a leap year even if the main event to it has already passed.

[dragonsrus]

Have any of you heard the rumor that an Olympic Dragon will be released during the Summer Olympics this year?

[Dragon_Gal_]

Not heard of that, but I must breed it if it comes, I've not spent a penny on DV so far

[bunnypika]

i bet its gonna be expensive... I MUST BREED MY DRAGONS!!!

 

p.s. did anyone get an emerald dragon yet? if so, HOW? I WANT ONE!

[DarkEternity]

i bet its gonna be expensive... I MUST BREED MY DRAGONS!!!

 

p.s. did anyone get an emerald dragon yet? if so, HOW? I WANT ONE!

Emerald dragon is currently expired and cannot be bred/obtained/bought.

[RWyvern]

I joined earlier this year and have all the dragons except: Bone, Reindeer and Love (all missed) and am struggling to get Pearl. All I get are Snows and Lichens...

 

Edit: Two Pearls in a row!

Edited June 22, 2012 by rampaging wyvern

[dark_kitsune]

This sounds pretty interesting...think I'll have to download it once I get home and have access to WiFi.

 

I'm currently obsessed with Rage of Bahamut (see signature) but I need MOAR dragons!!

[PossumLover99]

I used to play it all the time,I never look at it now

[pinkieseb]

I suck at Dragonvale D:

I have $28,000,000 my 3 islands, completly full. And i still dont have sun/moon dragons!!!

[girlfairy76]

I have a Sun. solstice, 2 Rainbows, and Firework dragons. I'm getting Moon right now from breeding Sn and Solstice ^^ I'm tushna-e-2 on Game center.

[SoiledLove]

I can't get my app to work. Stupid China internet.

[RWyvern]

I have a Sun. solstice, 2 Rainbows, and Firework dragons. I'm getting Moon right now from breeding Sn and Solstice ^^ I'm tushna-e-2 on Game center.

Breeding Sun and Solstice as a 50% chance of producing another Solstice and a 50% chance of producing a Sun. As the Solstice time isn't 48 hours and is out of the market anyway, you're breeding a Sun.

Edited July 1, 2012 by rampaging wyvern

[girlfairy76]

No, I bred them at night, so it's a moon. Hello? It depends on the time -.-