ANSWERED:Suggestions to improve the raffle

[angelicdragonpuppy]

I would certainly be more than happy if the original Prizes were released in the cave as opposed to slightly edited versions of them. However, I'd like more prize owners to chip in before we make a call on that. I still think that having the tiny extra adornments as a clear visual of winners versus later releases is a more effective statement then having to look at birth date to tell, and would keep their babies valuable while still allowing people to make their own lineages with the breeds.

 

I am still very, very firmly against a flat-out recolored release of the sprites. I do not want to make a slate-colored or red-colored Tinsel or Shimmer lineage. I want to make a Bronze Tinsel lineage and a Silver Shimmer lineage. Simply releasing recolored versions of the prizes will not, IMO, fix the frustration right now that people have of not being able to make lineages with the original and very beautiful prizes.

[codyne]

1. Increase the number of prize dragons given in the raffle.

 

Yes. I would like to see raffle prizes awarded in the hundreds rather than the tens. They would still be rare and valuable and special, but not as insanely rare as they are now.

 

2. Have more than one raffle in a year.

 

I'm going to go against the grain and say No to this one. One raffle per year is plenty. If the problem is not enough prizes to go around, just increase the number in the current raffle.

 

My reasoning is that the raffle is already stressful for many of us and the awarding of prizes is disruptive to the normal operating of the cave. The raffle pretty much takes over the Cave for weeks before and months after it happens. Threads pop up about the Raffle and the Prize dragons all over the forum every few days. Every other trade post is asking for prize dragons; every third signature in people's posts contains "Will do anything for a Prize dragon!" Prize dragon fever is everywhere. It took six months after the first tinsels were awarded before they started making their way into circulation so that the average user could hope to trade for or catch one. Finally things settled down so that the hunt for tinsels wasn't everywhere you looked. I would hate to have that stirred up again with another raffle just when everything finally starts to get back to normal. Let us have half a year of peace when Prize dragons aren't the focus of everybody's collecting fervor.

 

I wouldn't object to moving the raffle from a Holiday event to the summer, though. As others have mentioned, a raffle giving out super-rare prize dragons to a select few users doesn't really go with the Holiday theme of giving and spreading joy to all.

 

3. Release a dully colored variant of the prize dragons.

 

Maybe? I'm not really sure how I feel about this. If it does happen, I think I'd prefer it to be a limited release that floods the cave, so everyone who's around when it happens has a good chance to get some. If it's released to the Cave as a rare, it's just more frustration for most people who can't get one. If it's a 4th place prize dragon... well, it's just another prize dragon. Maybe as a consolation prize to everyone who enters the raffle, but I'd prefer to see a release where people could catch more than one, for lineage purposes. It's hard to do anything with a dragon you only have one of.

 

4. Make CB prize dragons multiclutch prize eggs.

 

No. I don't think this is necessary. It might make more low-gen prizes available sooner, but as ratios apply to prize dragons, it would just make the inevitable drought also come sooner.

 

5. Add retired prizes to the list of HM prizes.

 

Yes, I think this is a good idea, for reasons already stated -- it would help maintain the supply of CB prizes to active players.

 

6. Ensure that newly released prize dragons only produce prize eggs for the first x months, allowing them to spread more quickly.

 

No, for the same reason as 4. More dragons sooner = fewer dragons later. Doesn't really help the overall distribution of prize dragons.

 

7. Add retired prizes to the cave as rares.

 

Meh. I don't object, but as someone who's been playing for over four years and feels lucky to have a total of 3 CB metals, it wouldn't really change things much. People who are good at catching rares would stuff their scrolls with more rare dragons, while people who are bad at catching rares would have that many more dragons that remain mostly out of reach.

Edited February 25, 2013 by codyne

[Pokemonfan13]

Seems like changing the sprite for 7 basically makes it 3?

The sprite change would be as subtle as possible and all three original colors would be available. So it's rather different than #3 where there is a complete recolor and only one version public.

[Amaterasu-sama]

I like suggestion 7, except I find the wait time quite impractical. It shouldn't be like a 10 year govt plan that you heard about as kid and forgot once you grew up and stopped waiting for it because its so much into the future you really can't bring yourself to care or be excited about it. 3yrs just to get a dragon seems really.. crazy, despite the "prize" tag. It would be better if prize dragons aren't repeated, i,e. each year there is new prize dragon and last year's dragon gets retired and sent to cave. I'm all for editing some details of in cave sprites to distinguish them from prize, but I am not in support for recolors, specially for metallic dragons. Their color is as important as their sprite. Maybe minor color change is okay, but not whole, as in, no way a grey colored tinsel can look as good as metallic tinsel, so it won't be the same..or even close. Also, there should be some breed limit on owning cb cave public prizes dragons, not as low as holidays, but some reasonable number so that they're evenly spread among everyone. What we have now is way too much "exclusive" treatment for winners/prize dragons, and pretty much nothing for non winners so balancing both is essential. I'd think even half an year of exclusivity is enough, if raffle and retire old prize routine is done twice an year instead of one, but not sure if that would be a popular idea so one year at max exclusive time per prize dragon is enough.

[purpledragonclaw]

But one wouldn't be waiting three years to get any dragon, it would be a CB prize. Also, if prize dragons hadn't been repeated, I can see the problem of not enough CBs being exacerbated.

 

I don't like the idea of a breed limit, either. The idea is to make these dragons available to as many people as possible, so limiting them to just two just seems unfair since there's no limit on Golds and Silvers (I use them as examples since they're also metallic and rare).

 

As far as suggestion 7 goes, what about shortening the wait to 2 years instead of 3? Starscream, I used your Transformers post as reference for that.

[Pokemonfan13]

So that would be that they're released one year after retirement, so next year we would have tinsels in the cave.

 

I did two years after retirement to try to minimize the ability for prize winners to be indignant and for people to be indignant on their behalf.

[Cinnamin Draconna]

After thinking about these more, I decided to update my choices. Because my preferences have changed due to the discussion of the various choices and new suggestions.....

 

Suggestion #1:

Increase the number of prize dragons given in the raffle.

 

If we have to have a raffle, then YES there need to be more prizes. A LOT more.

 

Suggestion #2:

Have more than one raffle in a year.

 

No, one is bad enough already.

 

Suggestion #3:

Release a dully colored variant of the prize dragons.

 

The more I think about it, the less I like this idea. I prefer Suggestion #7.

 

Suggestion #4:

Make CB prize dragons multiclutch prize eggs.

 

No, multi-clutches were removed to reduce the backlog in the AP, I'd rather not see that problem get any worse.

 

Suggestion #5:

Add retired prizes to the list of HM prizes.

 

If we have to have a raffle, then YES, retired prizes should become available as HM selections 1 yr after their retirement as prizes. Tinsels should become available as HM selections as of Dec 2013 or Jan 2014.

 

Suggestion #6:

Ensure that newly released prize dragons only produce prize eggs for the first x months, allowing them to spread more quickly.

 

No, because you need the failbreeds for lineages too.

 

Suggestion #7:

Add retired prizes to the cave as rares.

 

This is my preferred suggestions by far. I'd prefer no changes to the sprite, but could live with that alteration. One year after retirement is more than long enough to wait. Tinsels were the prizes in 2010 and 2011.. Shimmers in 2012.. so Tinsels should become available in the cave starting Dec 25, 2013... or maybe Jan 1, 2014.

[DragonNighthowler]

I am very flexible on this issue, but I have to agree with Cinnamin on everything. Idea nº 3 won't solve the issue. I refer back to the huge drama Snow Angels caused.

Number 7 is still the most viable option.

 

And yes, the backlog is terrible, and selfishly thinking, it bothers hunter that hunt for rares, and those like me that like lurking the biomes in search for some comfortable hunting for commons without the stress of top hour drops.

 

Anyways, on a more serious note, I'd love to know the opinion of both, shimmer/tinsel spriters, and TJ.

[purpledragonclaw]

So that would be that they're released one year after retirement, so next year we would have tinsels in the cave.

 

I did two years after retirement to try to minimize the ability for prize winners to be indignant and for people to be indignant on their behalf.

Sorry, PF13, I misunderstood you. I meant two years after retirement.

[Pokemonfan13]

Yea, the three years thing includes the year between the prize being won and retirement. In the case of tinsels it would be four years for the original winners.

[Varnayrah]

But Codyne has a point, too. If the Prize Dragons are released at the rate of Golds and Silvers, it will only mean more frustration for most of us. I've not caught a single CB Metal in 3 years, the ones I have are dearly bought trading Halloween Dragons. They are just too hard to get in my opinion. So at least one or two days of mass drop should be before a release as incredibly rare dragon.

[Pokemonfan13]

I was personally thinking more common than golds and silvers, that's why I said "rare" instead of "ultra-rare". x3

[Varnayrah]

Ah, ok^^

 

This may be a minor point, but would in this case the egg description have to be altered?

[KishaRa]

Ah, ok^^

 

This may be a minor point, but would in this case the egg description have to be altered?

I have to admit I was thinking that, too. It's not a problem right now but 7 different eggs with the same description would be bad. Particularly if they were to all drop in all biomes like golds currently do.

Edited February 26, 2013 by KishaRa

[Slaskia]

I have to admit I was thinking that, too. It's not a problem right now but 7 different eggs with the same description would be bad. Particularly if they were to all drop in all biomes like golds currently do.

Though, I admittedly think that the ensuing chaos would be amusing....

 

...at first.

[Cinnamin Draconna]

I really don't think that's such a big deal. Even if there are 7 eggs with the same description, you'd know it would be one of four; either a gold or a tinsel. And even if you were hunting tinsels, would a cb gold really be that much of a disappointment?

[Fiona]

Or conversely, if you're hunting cb golds, would a cb tinsel be a disappointment?

 

I never voiced an opinion on suggestion #7 because I am still weighing the pros and cons. However, if it's adopted and the descriptions are left as they are I don't see an issue. If all the eggs sharing a description are equally highly desired no one is going to be unhappy whichever one they get.

[angelicdragonpuppy]

I hate hate hate HATE eggs that share the same descriptions, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. I'd much prefer it if they had a very minor tweak or two.

 

Perhaps...

 

Golds: This egg is very reflective, almost metallic-looking.

 

Tinsels: This bronze/silver/gold egg is very reflective, almost metallic-looking.

 

Shimmers: This bronze/silver/gold egg is very reflective, almost like a pearl.

[Qualeo]

I'm going to add in my opinion on the matter. I would have posted earlier...but as a winner i'm a minority and therefore my opinion probably won't be worth much and seem too biased I'm trying not to be too biased about my opinions, but I honestly can't help it.

 

Increase the number of prize dragons given in the raffle.

 

I COMPLETELY agree with this. As much as I enjoy have a "limited" dragon, the pressure of having to populate the cave with them is way too much for only 60 people. It takes too long for the prizes to reach a majority of the public. The only reason I would worry about this suggestion is how long it would take to even distribute the prizes since TJ waits for everyone to respond.

 

Have more than one raffle in a year.

 

I kind of agree with this. I actually do enjoy the raffle and the event, so the possibility of having another one appeals to me. At the same time though, I suppose this would probably interfere with normal releases as well. I might prefer normal releases to raffles with prizes honestly.

 

Release a dully colored variant of the prize dragons/Add retired prizes to the cave as rares.

 

I like this idea a lot. I know about the other idea, suggesting to maybe do a small recolor, but to be honest I feel like the user variant needs to be more easily recognizable.

 

Sure, there will be people who go after the original prizes that still have their decoration (Tinsels, for example, would still have their tinsel), but that would be a minority in my opinion. If we can easily get a similar dragon of the same color, then there is no reason to be the slightest interested in one with just a bit of tinsel on it. I completely understand that users most likely want to do lineages of their own, and in a way I am a bit biased about the subject, but I would prefer there to be a larger difference between the real "prizes" and the user version.

 

I do agree with adding them to the cave as well, but as long as they are recognizably different from the original prize dragons. (Again, I prefer a new color variant for this). If you are just going to separate them from the original prize dragon ratios as well, than you might as well make them different. I don't know about anybody else, but i sometimes even forget the tinsels HAVE the green (tinsel/prop) apart of their sprite.

 

 

 

Add retired prizes to the list of HM prizes.

 

I kind of agree with this, but at the same time disagree. Right now the tinsels and shimmerscales prizes are at the same amount (the CB ones). I would prefer that neither prize be made rarer than the other.

 

At the same time though, I agree with this because the amount of active CB tinsel owners seems to be dropping as time passes by. We do need more CB tinsel owners right now than we need CB shimmerscale owners. I'm a bit neutral on this subject because of these two facts.

Edited February 26, 2013 by Qualeo

[siliconrose]

Increase the number of prize dragons given in the raffle.

 

I COMPLETELY agree with this. As much as I enjoy have a "limited" dragon, the pressure of having to populate the cave with them is way too much for only 60 people. It takes too long for the prizes to reach a majority of the public. The only reason I would worry about this suggestion is how long it would take to even distribute the prizes since TJ waits for everyone to respond.

If I was TJ and the number of prizes got too large, I'd send out emails equal to the number of prizes, and then just issue the prizes either as the responses come in or as the categories fill (for those who chose to take their chances at receiving a higher prize).

 

Yes, it's not perfect, and yes, some people would get theirs sooner and some later. I don't think that's the end of the world. If you want to try to be clever about it, wait for some short period (such as a day) so that the first batch is delivered all at the same time.

 

Honestly, even with the 100 winners (60 prizes and 40 HMs), I still think this method has merit.

Edited February 26, 2013 by siliconrose

[SilverQuetzal]

I would like to give my opinion too.

 

Suggestion #1:

Increase the number of prize dragons given in the raffle.

 

I would like this suggestion. More winnwers can breed more eggs and so othe people would get an 2nd gen faster (maybe).

 

Suggestion #2:

Have more than one raffle in a year.

 

No, one is enough already.

 

Suggestion #3:

Release a dully colored variant of the prize dragons.

 

I like this suggestion most at the moment.

I can not explain why, but I would feel happy to have a "special" Dragon too.

Or at least I would not go away with empty "hands".

 

Suggestion #4:

Make CB prize dragons multiclutch prize eggs.

 

This would only work for those with a fast internet!

My Internet is very slow - I would not have a chance to get even one!

This is the same thing on "New releases" too.

People with slow connection have no real chance to get one or they have to pay (sometimes extremly) high to get "only" a 2nd/3rd gen.

 

Suggestion #5:

Add retired prizes to the list of HM prizes.

 

I do not know what HM/Honorable Mention even means. =(

So I can not give an opinion.

 

Suggestion #6:

Ensure that newly released prize dragons only produce prize eggs for the first x months, allowing them to spread more quickly.

 

I do not know...

Some need the Prizes other need the failbreeds for lineages.

 

Suggestion #7:

Add retired prizes to the cave as rares.

 

No ...

For those people, like me, with slow internet connection it is a game without a chance to win.

 

My suggestion for #7: Or maybe a higher drop rate and more CB "slots" than just tree per habitat/location.)

Edited February 27, 2013 by SilverQuetzal

[Fuzzbucket]

If I was TJ and the number of prizes got too large, I'd send out emails equal to the number of prizes, and then just issue the prizes either as the responses come in or as the categories fill (for those who chose to take their chances at receiving a higher prize).

 

Yes, it's not perfect, and yes, some people would get theirs sooner and some later. I don't think that's the end of the world. If you want to try to be clever about it, wait for some short period (such as a day) so that the first batch is delivered all at the same time.

 

Honestly, even with the 100 winners (60 prizes and 40 HMs), I still think this method has merit.

How about:

 

TJ sends out the emails and after the second unclaimed reminder, unclaimed prizes go to the AP

 

We need more than 100 winners. We absolutely need the 1% of entries thing.

[Amazon_warrior]

How about:

 

TJ sends out the emails and after the second unclaimed reminder, unclaimed prizes go to the AP

 

We need more than 100 winners. We absolutely need the 1% of entries thing.

Lol, that'd be cool!

[Fiona]

The problem with TJ sending out prizes as answers come in is the ability to "upgrade" prizes. When people in the first batch don't respond, those who did get moved up the prize queue to better prizes. Which is fair, in my opinion. In raffles prizes are awarded based on the order names are drawn.

 

Once the top of the list is set, and as it fills in with no gaps from people who haven't responded, he could start sending prizes, I suppose.

[angelicdragonpuppy]

For everyone worried about a release of CB Tinsels and Shimmers as rares... you realize the chances of getting a CB Metal are far better then the chances of getting a 2nd gen Prize currently, right? Having them even at that level of rarity would still make low gens far more affordable than they are now, with the extra added benefit of you actually getting a CB to make whichever lineages you so please instead of being limited to one lineage based on what 2nd gen you trade for.