ANSWERED:Suggestions to improve the raffle

[SilverQuetzal]

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.

I do not like the idea that unclaimed Prizes go to the AP.

I would not have a chance to get one.

Edited February 27, 2013 by SilverQuetzal

[Fuzzbucket]

I do not like the idea that unclaimed Prizes go to the AP.

I would not have a chance to get one.

You wouldn't if they went to the replacement prizewinners either. Though I was kidding. Mostly.

[RainDear]

I am not sure how much extra time more winners would entail, but it would only (I think) be for selecting more winners, for sending out more winners' emails, perhaps having more emails to send for reissuing unclaimed prizes, giving out more prizes. It seems like the extra would be measured in hours, not days. So I'm unsure why so much worry about the time needed for more winners. Granted, I could be wrong, but I'm sure TJ could handle more winners, if he chooses to do so without it taking a whole lot longer than the present numbers take.

[Pokemonfan13]

I personally like sending out extra emails in the first round [all as HM winners] to balance the non-response rate and cause fewer redraws with increasing the number of prizes. And if more respond than he expects he gives out a few extra HM prizes, which isn't a huge deal.

Edited February 27, 2013 by Pokemonfan13

[dragonsroc989]

I agree with #s 1 5 and 6. especially a combination of them. I like the idea of more being given out in the long run but I dont really want them to be released in the cave. For the simple fact that they are prize dragons. With more being given out theyd become available a bit faster to the general community, and with hms being able to be retired prize dragons that would add to overall the population of cbs. 6 is just nice to help them spread faster in that first period of time after they are given out.

 

The one thing I wonder at is that some people with the sort option have noticed that like the tinsels the shimmers are sorted as prize. Does that mean the shimmers breed ratio is tied in with the tinsels? kinda like how the 4 seasonals affect each others rarity overall.

[Obscure_Trash]

If prizes handed out were upped, I think it would be fair to shorten the time allowed to reply. At the beginning of the event when TJ announces whatever, we could already have a warning - once winners are chosen they will have one week to reply; if they don't reply within one week, a new winner will be picked for that spot.

 

/randomly chose a week without checking how long we waited this time

 

EDIT: You know, I think I'm being converted to increasing the prizes handed out, but nothing else.

Edited February 28, 2013 by SockPuppet Strangler

[siliconrose]

Here are a couple of more suggestions:

 

1. Raffle winners should have a note on their scroll. This will reduce the "I can't remember the password to my email, how do I know if I won?!" issues.

 

2. The date that the raffle entries will be drawn should be announced ahead of time (preferably when the event happens!). I know it makes it harder on TJ, but players will know to log in and check their scrolls/email that day.

 

I think this would speed up things a bit.

[Pokemonfan13]

Here are a couple of more suggestions:

 

1. Raffle winners should have a note on their scroll. This will reduce the "I can't remember the password to my email, how do I know if I won?!" issues.

 

2. The date that the raffle entries will be drawn should be announced ahead of time (preferably when the event happens!). I know it makes it harder on TJ, but players will know to log in and check their scrolls/email that day.

 

I think this would speed up things a bit.

I like 1. And the note would also include a "resend email" link in case the person doesn't have access to the email attached to their account and changes it or didn't get the email and fiddles settings and wants to try again.

 

I'm not sure how much difference 2 would make, but it can't hurt.

[Fiona]

I rather agree that siliconroses's #1 there looks like a good idea. It would save panic checking email just in case. (which I did several times a day until the prizes were all awarded. lol)

 

I've been provisionally in favor of #2 up to this point, as long as it didn't interfere with regular releases, but on rethinking, I am more or less thinking we don't need that, and it would just increase TJ's work load; more that it's worth. So, as things stand right now I am in favor of #1 and #5, but nothing else. Unless that suggestion by siliconrose gets a number.

 

(for those who don't want to read back, #1 is increase the number of prizes, #5 is add retired prizes to the HM list after they've been retired at least a year.)

[Mistress of Whispers]

My 2 cents:

Suggestion #1:

Increase the number of prize dragons given in the raffle.

 

--> Yes. I think we need to balance the number of prizes against the number of raffle-particpants. So more tickets? More prizes. Less tickets? Less Prizes. So that the chance of winning would remain x% each year.

 

Suggestion #2:

Have more than one raffle in a year.

 

--> Please no. Can you imagine having to have this discussion again in the Summer and then at Eastern? Not to mention that everyone wanting a low-gen Prize wreaks havoc on any other trade.

 

Suggestion #3:

Release a dully colored variant of the prize dragons. Designed to be not as pretty as the prizes, but still nice looking.

 

--> Yes please! Give everyone a chance of catching a not-so-nice-but-still-pretty-cool one themselves. (That also means I do not want them to be super rare - that would just mean that the people who are now in a position to trade for 2nd gens, will also end up with most of the CB ones.)

 

 

Suggestion #4:

Make CB prize dragons multiclutch prize eggs. It would make finding a 2nd gen prize in the AP not inconceivable and would help spread around low gen prizes.

 

--> On the fence. On the one hand: go for it! It would make the AP way more interesting and the distribution of low-gens a little more evenly spread, rather than most of them going into the hands of people who can catch CB Metals, turn NDs or have CB Prizes themselves. But on the other hand, I can see how the Prize owner might want to know who gets their egg and that it won't be named something stupid. But on the other other hand, stupid names and whatnot is a risk we all took when multiclutches were standard, so why not now?

 

I think... if people could get CB or low-gens from cave-variations (suggestion 3), then multiclutching won't be necessary. But if they can only be had from Prizes, then I have a preference for multiclutching them.

 

Suggestion #5:

Add retired prizes to the list of HM prizes.

 

--> On the fence. Maybe. Maybe not.

 

Suggestion #6:

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

 

--> No. That will merely mean that the people who get on the 2nd and 3rd gen lists get theirs more quickly, but since they then usually trade them for more CB Metallics and NDs, that does nothing to help the Prize dragons get to the 'general populace'.

 

Suggestion #7:

Add retired prizes to the cave as rares.

 

--> Hmmm. I'd rather have a less rare cave-variation (suggestion 3) or multi-clutches (suggestion 4). But if neither of those are an option, I could go for nr 7. I just fear that, like the spread of CB Metallics, that will end up with most of them on a few scrolls, while other less lucky players still miss out.

 

So to sum up:

 

My nr 1 pick would be a cave-variation that is not super rare. Not totally common either, but say somewhere around CB Black. That way, the average active player will have a decent chance of getting one on their scroll.

[Ayelldee]

I like #1, 4, 6 and 7.

 

I like the multiclutching one. Jeeze NO one more than one of these a year, let's have MORE RELEASES not more idiotic chaos in the Trading forum. Not thrilled with 3.

 

You should put in a new rule that if someone wins one prize dragon they become ineligible to win the next one.

[TheGrox]

I'm only in favour of a second raffle per year if it doesn't mean less normal releases, and if it's the same prize as the previous raffle. If not, as Ayelldee said, it would create too much drama. >.>

[Karobb]

suggestion #8

 

Have a different test for activity level, a lot of the people who won only seem to log in on the holidays, I think people who are actually active on the site should be chosen winners not the occasional drop by.

[hat17]

suggestion #8

 

Have a different test for activity level, a lot of the people who won only seem to log in on the holidays, I think people who are actually active on the site should be chosen winners not the occasional drop by.

Agrees with this one.

 

Also if we're doing 2 ruffles a year, maybe an idea is let them be of the same prize dragon, not 2 different ones, and maybe limit the first round winners to only HM instead of the chance of getting a 2nd prize dragon.

 

And.... hmm.... it's an old problem but it affects basically everything about this game. Does TJ actually gonna do anything serious with the multi-scrollers or scriptors?

[Amur_Rama]

Suggestion #9, (related to #1: Increase the number of prize dragons given in the raffle.).

 

If the number of actual prizes cannot be changed, let all participants have a treat for completing the assigned tasks.

 

Fine, you can't have a CB Alt/Colored Stripe, CB Hybrid or Holiday. Those should be reserved for actual HM winners, because, they're special or something.

 

But could participants get a regular cave-catchable CB dragon? Hell, even if I couldn't pick the code, I'd be happy to get a CB metal (or GoN, lol) out of the deal and know "Hey, at least I got a ribbon for participating". At least then it wouldn't have been a gigantic waste of my time to bother with whatever hoops the contest requires to even get a lousy entry for the current thousandth of a percent of a chance to place even HM.

Edited March 15, 2013 by Amut un Rama

[Pokemonfan13]

Everyone would pick a CB metal, and unless they were placed outside the ratios [somehow coded as a different dragon] the cave wouldn't drop any CB metals for at least half a year. xP

[skauble]

IMO, part of the problem is that because the prizes started out uber-ultra-rare there's an idea that they should stay that way. I really think that it's turned out that the prizes were game disruptively rare and that definitely needs to change (that's not a commentary on the players who win them or trade for them, but on the unintentional effect the over rarity has had on the game, which is a commentary on the game, itself). So I'm pretty solidly in support of any of the following:

 

Suggestion #1:

Increase the number of prize dragons given in the raffle.

 

Yes. By a substantial amount. A lot more people could have CBs of them and those would still be very rare without there being pandemonium while people try to get bigger and better trades that ends up affecting both hunting and trading, IMO, in a negative way.

 

Suggestion #2:

Have more than one raffle in a year.

 

Definitely in favor of this – especially combined with a large release or event. Our holidays are all concentrated around the Winter end of the calendar, and I think that a Summer event would not only create a good balance, but would be an excellent way to draw new players to the site and give drifting players a good incentive to return.

 

I also think it could provide good word of mouth for the site as a lot of kids are home for the summer, have more time to play, and if we had an event that they could get excited about, they could very likely get friends into the game, both in RL and from other sites.

 

Suggestion #3:

Release a dully colored variant of the prize dragons. Designed to be not as pretty as the prizes, but still nice looking. If the metal theme continues in future prizes, a duller less valuable metal such as iron would make sense for the public version. Other options would be gray, dull brown, black, or a dully colored normal color such as blue or red.

 

I like this one, too. Yes, it changes the value of the prizes but, again, I think that should actually be part of the goal.

 

There will always continue to be a solid amount of people who want one descendants from the actual, more colorful prizes, but there'd be less almost panic about getting them.

 

3. “Consolation prize”, where every non-winning raffle entry gets the dully colored variant. In this case it is not released in the cave. One question is HM winners. Do they get this variant or not? I say yes, since otherwise they are missing out on something nice [i'd personally choose the “consolation prize” over an HM prize if the HM didn't get that dragon too]. Prize dragon winners are getting the shiny version, and so it doesn't make a lot of sense for them to get the “consolation prize”. If they want one for lineage purposes, I'm sure they can find someone to trade. X3

 

I actually really, really like this idea because it requires people to be in cave and to participate for a reward. I know that some people hate this kind of idea, but it's actually a very smart move on the business side of things, which is why so many sites and RL businesses do things like this.

 

I think that this would work especially well in conjunction with a two raffle a year system. That way people who couldn't be here for one (most likely the holidays) could catch the other event.

 

Suggestion #4:

Make CB prize dragons multiclutch prize eggs. It would make finding a 2nd gen prize in the AP not inconceivable and would help spread around low gen prizes.

 

I like this, too. Even if the clutch was only two and it only occurred 25% of the time, it would ease away some of the over-rarity.

 

I understand the whole "decide the fate of your egg" thing, but when has that ever been an option in this game? The only reason that happens now is that it's the byproduct of the dragon population surge, not because the game has decided that we should all get to decide who gets every offspring that comes from our dragons. Vampires and holidays are a great example of the fact that the game doesn't consider the breeder's wishes for egg destination to be the final word.

 

Would some people not breed? Maybe. But I think that most would.

 

Raindear does make a valid point about this being a rule exception, but I think that it could be given an in-game explanation without too much work.

 

I do think that the prizes have a very positive effect in that they work well to extend game play for older players by giving them something rather time consuming to collect. However, I still think that would work well as people focused on collecting all of the various pairings, even if the need to get every pairing from every line became a mostly undoable goal for the majority of players. And if we changed the sprite every year, we could keep the pairing search fresh enough to have it remain as a game extender.

[Amur_Rama]

Everyone would pick a CB metal, and unless they were placed outside the ratios [somehow coded as a different dragon] the cave wouldn't drop any CB metals for at least half a year. xP

*eyes the CB Metals Everywhere Thread*

 

You're saying that like people picking a CB metal is a problem. So they'd be a drought, because there's always one, but everyone would at least have one already so it wouldn't be nearly as painful.

 

Just wait until the drought from whatever this current thing is hits.

[Obscure_Trash]

I think a better "consolation prize" is getting a release at the same time prizes are handed out, rather than just giving everyone an HM (which defeats the point of an HM prize) or even a badge. I am not for letting everyone get an HM prize. Like, at all.

[Cinnamin Draconna]

If that release was a generic version of the prize dragon I'd agree with you. But if it isn't a generic prize dragon, and it's just a regular new dragon release, I don't think it will solve anything.

 

The whole point is that there are nowhere near enough cb Prize Dragons... and truthfully, TJ should have never released them to start with since he is breaking his own rule about spontaneous egg creation. The HM prize should have been the ONLY prize, period.

 

But since taking away the prize dragons would be just as bad as the retirement of the frills and old pinks, the only FAIR way to solve the problem is to either release the prizes as a new in cave species or give us a generic that everyone can collect.

[Fuzzbucket]

and truthfully, TJ should have never released them to start with since he is breaking his own rule about spontaneous egg creation.

Surely that applies to EVERY new breed

 

I don't think there is any "enough" thing about any of this. Loads of things in life there are less of than other things.

 

There is something REAL I desperately want that there are only 27 of in the WHOLE WORLD. And I had the opportunity to buy one once. But it was WAY out of range of even all my credit cards tied together. That is LIFE.

[skauble]

Surely that applies to EVERY new breed

 

I don't think there is any "enough" thing about any of this. Loads of things in life there are less of than other things.

 

There is something REAL I desperately want that there are only 27 of in the WHOLE WORLD. And I had the opportunity to buy one once. But it was WAY out of range of even all my credit cards tied together. That is LIFE.

Which I would agree with except that this one little sliver of the game has had a, IMO negative, domino effect in other areas. I think that's especially true with regard to the metallic situation and the fact that it's created an incentive for people who weren't focused on metal collection to dive back into it and stay there. With the growing mindset that metal=prize dragon, a lot of players have gotten shut out of that part of the game.

 

Are there exceptions to that? Sure. But it's becoming a more pronounced problem.

 

And while it's tempting to say that it's just life, the fact is that the game has a realistic business aspect which concerns getting and keeping players. Of course not everyone can always be happy. In fact, it's pretty much a guarantee that a certain percentage will hate something no matter what we do. But I think this issue isn't just about making more so everyone is happy, as much as it is about adjusting a situation where you have a game based on collecting and trading - which creates a general economy - and then suddenly introduce something into it that's so end of the spectrum rare that the rest of it unbalances.

 

 

[Cinnamin Draconna]

Surely that applies to EVERY new breed

Actually it doesn't. A new release is basically a 'discovery' and everyone has a chance to find them in the biomes.

 

Spontaneous egg creation is when an egg appears on your scroll out of nowhere.. like the prize dragons. In the past, TJ has said he would never allow this in the game. So much for that.

 

HM dragons and Thuweds also appear on your scroll out of nowhere, but there is a difference.. the Thuweds were bred from TJ's dragons and he uses his admin powers to transfer the eggs for convience. As for the HM eggs, the cb aspect makes them special, but they are just a cb version of a breed that everyone can get.

 

Prize dragons are game breakers tho, and I resent that they were ever introduced to the game.

[kerrikins]

Spontaneous egg creation is when an egg appears on your scroll out of nowhere.. like the prize dragons. In the past, TJ has said he would never allow this in the game. So much for that.

TJ said that trading wouldn't happen either, didn't he?

 

Idk, he usually has reasons for doing what he does. People who run big sites like this can and will change their minds...

 

To get back to the original topic, though, I think the best bet is to release more cbs. I do kind of like the excitement of the event and seeing the pretty lineages, but I do understand that there's a lot of pressure on the cb owners to meet the demand. (I'd suggest multiclutching except that's another big no, and I don't think it's right to not let cb owners control their progeny).

 

I think releasing more cbs is the best solution... More lineages to collect so people 'have a prize' and the demand is diluted. :3

[DarkEternity]

I am bumping this up because it's the time of year again and users may want to comment on #1 to #8 just in case the suggestions are implemented and they haven't had time to discuss them. (Since discussion has a tendency to occur AFTER the actual raffle not before.)