Keeping users interested in DC

[Riccichan]

I'm with wonderwanders, for the most part. I've always enjoyed playing the game more by myself. But it's not a lot of fun to hit F5 in the cave for what feels like hours in the vain hope to catch one of the rarer dragons, when that is almost all that still keeps you playing the game. It'd be nice to gain access to either a new biome or higher success ratios, depending on the age of your scroll/a set number of dragons (whatever comes first).

 

I'm not so much a fan of making the site even more interactive. Catching and breeding dragons is all I want to do!

[Quinney]

I'm NOT bored, but I have to say that all these complicated suggestions are making me feel like I might stop playing if they come in. A new biome - OK- but complicated stuff like spells - we are getting close to a pet site with that stuff. Am I alone in that I like - catching and breeding ? So do all my mates from another forum I brought over here...

 

Some of us - many, I suspect - are here BECAUSE it is simple and enjoyable. Loads of extras are tiring to manage and need more time to play than many of us have.

Speaking as one of those mates, I agree.

 

I work and I have other things to do in my life besides looking after my beloved dragons.

 

I gave up other online games that I was playing before Dragoncave because they got too complicated and time consuming.

 

I love the simplicity of it here, and I'd hate to think that I'd invested all this time into it to have it all change and take up more time than I have to spend on it.

 

It's exciting to go rushing after new eggs that are introduced, but between times I'm happy to play lazily about with lineages.

[DeathCry]

I'm with wonderwanders, for the most part. I've always enjoyed playing the game more by myself. But it's not a lot of fun to hit F5 in the cave for what feels like hours in the vain hope to catch one of the rarer dragons, when that is almost all that still keeps you playing the game. It'd be nice to gain access to either a new biome or higher success ratios, depending on the age of your scroll/a set number of dragons (whatever comes first).

 

I'm not so much a fan of making the site even more interactive. Catching and breeding dragons is all I want to do!

I agree with this. At least it creates two marks that people can hit, whether or not they don't collect many of each breed.

 

Higher successes would be very welcome, especially for those who have had Metallics since the beginning of time that did not produce their breed, or people with Trios from day one, but never summoned a GoN.

 

As much as more releases sounds wonderful, it is a little difficult to catch your fill when dragons are coming out left and right. This goes especially for those who want to catch 10 males and 10 females of every possible breed.

 

~

I originally joined DC with the intention to breed my dragons so others could get their offspring. That, however, hasn't happened as I would have liked in 4+ years, since breeding can be so difficult at times. I'm not saying to make rares/uncommons breeding super easy, but just make it more likely to occur with age/dragon#.

 

 

(I have my only CB adult Metallic in mind who has only recently started given me anything after his very first child, in 2008, was a Metallic. He may not have a large number of children, but that's because of the mass number of unsuccessful breedings.)

 

Edit: Oh, and the last thing I could possibly say is that I'm bored with DC. Even if I wasn't stalking the forums all the time, there is more than enough that I've found for myself to do in the cave.

Edited May 28, 2012 by DeathCry

[Steamrider]

heres another random idea.

 

what if when you get 1,000 dragons, your trophy levels up...

 

and you can use ASCENSION!

 

this could really open up of new possibilities and it really makes sense when you think about it!

 

 

for those who dont know what ascension is. linky

[Ashywolf]

It's an idea, but ascension still is an issue due to old artists not being contactable.

[KageSora]

heres another random idea.

 

what if when you get 1,000 dragons, your trophy levels up...

 

and you can use ASCENSION!

 

this could really open up of new possibilities and it really makes sense when you think about it!

 

 

for those who dont know what ascension is. linky

Only if there's an alternate time-based requirement, as it's been pointed out a number of times (and always bears repeating, I think) that there are many people who will never hit that number because they don't collect massive numbers of dragons.

 

It's an idea, but ascension still is an issue due to old artists not being contactable.

Not necessarily. Just like not every dragon gets a BSA, not every dragon needs to be able to Ascend, IMO. If an artist refuses to allow it or is unable to be contacted (and didn't previously give permission for it/similar things), then those dragons simply wouldn't get an Ascended form, while those who did give permission (or even made it themselves) or could be contacted and were alright with it could get Ascended forms.

[Iside]

I think give a prize to users to have a certain (high!) amount of dragons, or have a high amount of dragons AND have been on DC for a long time is a great idea.

 

I think the best reward would be the possibily of choose a special dragon, like those who won the Christmas lottery. It could be a cb tinsel (maybe at different levels, such as a bronze at 1500 dragons, a silver ay 2000 and a gold at 2500? ) or a cb holiday, or a cb rare...

 

I think the consequences would be

- users will be stimulated to keep playing and hoead more dragons, even common ones

- people who get a prize would have the chance to breed very good trading stuff. This would motivate them to further play and trade

- trading and gifting (especially of low gen tinsels and hollys' common offsprings) will be more lively

- old low gen tinsels will become less precious, that's true, but I think it would be good: right now they are too precious and "common" users feel disappointed when they see that someone with a very low tinsel can have anything they want while if you don't have them your chances of getting a very nice dragon are almost infinitasimal.

- people who like lineages and collecting descendants of all different tinsels will have more fun

[xhunter]

I think the best reward would be the possibily of choose a special dragon, like those who won the Christmas lottery. It could be a cb tinsel (maybe at different levels, such as a bronze at 1500 dragons, a silver ay 2000 and a gold at 2500? ) or a cb holiday, or a cb rare...

 

it would probably be better if the prize for reaching those highest would be cool if they could choose one dragon from the completed list in the forum even if its been sterilized so it can't produce offspring if its own if its not wanted in the main flow of DC dragons or only produces the second partners offspring like the frills, or something like that. i'm shore if they got that high they deserve it.

[nintendont]

I just read up on "Ascention" and how I picture the concept in my head put simply is: New BSA "Ascention' that at 6 months of age a Dragon is most likely to use a successful "Ascention" which would turn the clock back on aforementioned Dragons' sprite ie. A Pink that succesfully "Ascends" would have the sprite of a Bright Pink Dragon (the old Pinks)

 

If this is correct: I was not around for the old sprites but I know what they look like and I do like some...ACTUALLY I prefer the old Magi and Red sprites to the current...but this concept of ascention is too confusing because most old sprites look VERY different. I need something to keep me interested in DC because I feel I am not on a level playing field with bad reflexes and a terrible internet connection, but this idea would not help my cause.

 

Along the lines of that though, I dont know how big the task would be but you know how for christmas there was special sprites that were the same, but different...so to speak. Like my FAVOURITE one:

FROM TO

You could have a special sprite when a Dragon reaches level 100 which would be exactly 100 days after it reached adulthood (a level a day...starting at level 0...level 0 is when a hatchie gets to adulthood)

This sprite could be an option to turn off or on...but to stop to many sprite changes this could have a cooldown period...I dunno...my brain just went rolling away with what somebody has already suggested.

 

Or is that above ^^^^ the actual concept of ascention? Because what I have suggested above is still ascention really, just with a better twist!

I like to be rewarded for effort so levelling up is always fun!!!

 

PS. Imagine the checkerboards you could do with lineages!!!

[KageSora]

I think give a prize to users to have a certain (high!) amount of dragons, or have a high amount of dragons AND have been on DC for a long time is a great idea.

No "AND" there. Has to be "OR".

 

Because otherwise you're royally screwing over people who don't play by the "gotta get as many as I can" style--and not everybody wants that. Some people collect one, two, three, four, five, or so of each dragon. Unless we get a massive amount more dragons, they're not gonna reach too high a total number. And that's really unfair to say to somebody who's been here since the start of DC or something "Hey, look, I know you're a really long-time player, but since you don't have a crapload of dragons you don't get to participate. But hey, look! This person who's been here a long time, but still only half as long as you, totally can get this awesome reward because they collect a bunch of dragons!"

 

 

The idea of "enticing people to collect a lot more dragons" is just... DC is great because you can literally play however you want, within the very small number of rules. You can collect one of each, a male/female of each, 5000 of each (special instances like holidays/GoNs/leetle trees/zombies aside, of course). You can collect only frozen hatchlings, only mature adults, only S1 hatchies or only S2. You can, if you want, catch and kill every egg/hatchling you come across. You can have an army of one type, or an army of a few types, or just a lot in general. You can collect as many or as few as you want.

 

 

It's not a good idea to screw people over if they don't want to collect an army like that.

 

To do otherwise is basically telling them that their playing the game "wrong" and that their playstyle is "inferior" when, in truth, there is no "right" way to play DC.

[Dolphinsong]

Actually the correct way to do it is to say and/or this way it stats it can be one way or the other, and even combined works.

[Pokemonfan13]

I would LOVE CB tinsel rewards for age or dragon numbers. The extremely low number of people with CBs is a frustration for me because of how difficult it is to get a 2nd gen. If tinsels were something you could work for instead of having to trade for a low gen (and for some people not so low gen) offspring it would be lovely.

Edited June 2, 2012 by Pokemonfan13

[Fizzix]

I'm not overly fond of the idea of giving old members or members that collect obscene numbers of dragons CB Prizes. There's a reason those are scarce.

[stogucheme]

I would LOVE CB tinsel rewards for age or dragon numbers. The extremely low number of people with CBs is a frustration for me because of how difficult it is to get a 2nd gen. If tinsels were something you could work for instead of having to trade for a low gen (and for some people not so low gen) offspring it would be lovely.

This! Seriously, I would want this!

[Dolphinsong]

I would rather it be a never seen before dragon as a reward for meeting either of the two goals set, instead of ruining the value of the prize dragons from the raffles and such.

[olympe]

That would be fine with me, too. Either way (meaning tinsel or something else), if you've played X amount of time and/or collected Y dragons, you'll get something (breedable!) that can't be obtained any other way as a CB.

 

I think that's a great way to even the field for long-time players, plus giving people a reason to keep on playing.

[AzureZeroX]

For me i only really play anymore for the new releases. I love the game don't get me wrong, but I've been here since the skywings collecting dragons like crazy. A reward system based on how long one has been here would be nice :3

Any of the previous suggestions sound good to me.

[stogucheme]

I would rather it be a never seen before dragon as a reward for meeting either of the two goals set, instead of ruining the value of the prize dragons from the raffles and such.

What about a compromise? You can get the CB Tinsel, but it can only breed it's partners' offspring. Of course, then you'd have to be able to get multiple Tinsels, but y'know.

[Dolphinsong]

TJ would then have to go through and seprate the coding from the Prize Tinsels you get in the raffles from the one you get for meeting one of the two goals and frankly, easier to make it a completly different dragon than the tinsels.

[DarkEternity]

I'm not overly fond of the idea of giving old members or members that collect obscene numbers of dragons CB Prizes. There's a reason those are scarce.

This. ^

[Fuzzbucket]

That would be fine with me, too. Either way (meaning tinsel or something else), if you've played X amount of time and/or collected Y dragons, you'll get something (breedable!) that can't be obtained any other way as a CB.

 

I think that's a great way to even the field for long-time players, plus giving people a reason to keep on playing.

Tell me - what happens once you (generic) have that special dragon - will you lose interest again ? Will there have to be a whole series of them to keep up the interest "? How fast will they have to be introduced and so on ?

 

This could get very tedious over the years. Every time one "reward" is created, people will be clamouring for the next.

 

I also agree with Fizzix:

 

I'm not overly fond of the idea of giving old members or members that collect obscene numbers of dragons CB Prizes. There's a reason those are scarce.

[Fiona]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the whole point of this thread to find a way to keep older players interested in continuing to play?

 

Therefore the "collect x number of dragons" is less important than how long they're played, right? I don't have any problem with a reward for x number of dragons on your scroll, but in my opinion there should be the same reward for "played x number of months/years." I know that opinion has also been expressed by others. I totally agree. It shouldn't matter if they've collected one of each kind or 100 of each kind, or only mints. If they've been around long enough (whatever length of time the users and TJ decide on) then they should get the perk.

 

I am talking about active users though. I don't know how easy it would be for TJ to track usage, so if someone takes a two year hiatus from DC those two years don't count toward their reward. The time they played before they left and the time they play after they come back would count though.

 

I really liked the idea of a "hidden" biome that can only be accessed by those who have earned the reward, filled with breeds that don't drop elsewhere. I don't care for the idea of using the Prize dragons as the reward or having TJ just drop some sort of prize onto our scrolls. Some of the other ideas being tossed around sounded ok too, but if the reward is a dragon, I want it able to breed its own kind. And I'd rather catch my own, thank you.

[KageSora]

If they've been around long enough (whatever length of time the users and TJ decide on) then they should get the perk.

Personally, if there is an and/or requirement with number of dragons (there should be, for sure), I'd say the length of time should be roughly equal to how long it should take to obtain that many dragons--probably something in between the time it would take to freeze that many and the time it would take to get that many to adulthood, but I'd personally rather it be closer to how long it takes to get them to adulthood.

[Fiona]

I was thinking in those terms too, but lacked ambition to try to figure out how long that would take. I know I only got to 1000 dragons last fall some time, after playing for 3 years, but I haven't tried to maximize the number of growing dragons I have. Also, the new scroll limits would make it somewhat faster than the number I was able to get in the first 2 1/2 years.

[Pokemonfan13]

It should be slightly longer than the time to raise the number to adulthood, or maybe just the time it would take without using incubate, that way people who are a only little slow but otherwise collect dragons at a good clip don't trigger the time side of it. If the dragon number trigger is more than a gold trophy I'd probably be one of those who need the time trigger. I've been here since 2007 but only have 865 at the time of this post. I collect 7 of each species (4 adults, 3 hatchlings) plus a few lineages and zombie fodder and BSA hoards.

 

 

And I also prefer a new biome, but we were talking about rewards so I left a comment. If the tinsels aren't a goal dragon, then I'd at least like to see the raffles more often (or more prizes in an individual raffle) so that an individual actually has a chance of getting one.

Edited June 3, 2012 by Pokemonfan13