Remote Biomes

[PrincessLucy]

I like this idea, but the amount of dragons needed really need to be toned down, in my opinion. Seriously, who else besides maybe TJ09 has 4000 dragons?! Heck, I don't know if he even has that many.

I know quite a few people with over 4000 dragons, including myself.

 

I don't see the need for special biomes. I jump around enough going through all 6 as it is.

[rubyshoes]

I know quite a few people with over 4000 dragons, including myself.

 

I don't see the need for special biomes. I jump around enough going through all 6 as it is.

Agree. I have over 5000 but I don't think there should be special biomes for a select group of members.

[auroshen]

I love this idea, but is there going to be a whole new set of dragons for this biome? If not, that's okay. I was thinking of perhaps a biome that's just all the others combined, with the same ratios as everywhere else (mostly commons, some uncommon, and the occasional rare) that's just available to 1000+ dragon members. Just, y'know, another opportunity for catching. There's nothing really /wrong/ or /right/ to this, just an extra perhaps faster-moving biome for getting commons. I don't really know.

[nynaevesilverwind]

Hmmmm, I think this would create a lot of drama and is far too big a perk in my opinion. I would rather just have new trophies and egg slots instead of entire biomes that most players can't access. It would be a large advantage to be able to access biomes that others couldn't, even with lowering the metal drop rate. The simple ability to look for eggs with less competition would be damaging in my opinion.

Edited March 18, 2013 by nynaevesilverwind

[olympe]

What people sayign "it's easy I just takes time!" are ignoring is the fact that not everybody plays to collect tons of dragons.

 

Plenty of people play collecting one, two, maybe three or four or five of each breed. Thy will never, or not for a long time, have access to these biomes.

Well, if they deign to collect 2 of each adult, 2 of each gendered hatchie and 2 of each ungendered hatchie, they'll almost reach 500 by now.

 

Besides, what throws me time and again when looking at scrolls - there are scrolls with just this kind of goal. 4 adults, 6 frozens. Or whatever the actual number. But then, I see endless rares and uncommons, for which players manage to make an exception... So, if such an exception can be made for golds, silvers, trios and a handful of other breeds... Where's the problem?

 

And, as stated before, the really common things from the extra biomes will be tradeable.

[KageSora]

Well, if they deign to collect 2 of each adult, 2 of each gendered hatchie and 2 of each ungendered hatchie, they'll almost reach 500 by now.

 

Besides, what throws me time and again when looking at scrolls - there are scrolls with just this kind of goal. 4 adults, 6 frozens. Or whatever the actual number. But then, I see endless rares and uncommons, for which players manage to make an exception... So, if such an exception can be made for golds, silvers, trios and a handful of other breeds... Where's the problem?

 

And, as stated before, the really common things from the extra biomes will be tradeable.

Yes, they'll have almost 500 now.

 

But if the lower limit is at 1000? Nope, now they're not even close!

 

And what if they only want two adults, two gendered hatchies (IF there is dimorphism, one if there isn't) and one ungendered? Or what if they only want one of each sprite so they only collect one adult in the case of no dimorphism?

 

And yes, some people may make exceptions for things they like--but not everybody decides to make exceptions for things like rares or uncommons (or whatever else).

 

And yes, they would be tradeable. But so are 2nd gen prize dragons--and those can command obscene prizes. I can only imagine the prices exclusive dragons would command. And that's assuming it wasn't locked to your scroll like GoNs are or that it wasn't restricted to people who also had access to that biome. Even if they're common, I'd imagine they could command some pretty good prices since they're, y'know, exclusive.

 

One of the things I love about DC is how few exclusive things there are--it's not like we have dozens of ~exclusive~ dragons available only to the ~elite~ (since, honestly, I can totally see an elitism thing happening with "I have access to the special biomes, I'm way more special than you newbies hahaha"). Adding in exclusive breeds available only to those with enough dragons/those who can catch desirables for trades... I don't like that at all.

 

Would the exclusives be designed specially for those biomes? Or would they be taken from the requests list so that other users could be pissed as hell that they might never get one of the awesome dragons on the list because it's a special ~exclusive~ breed that people previous thought would end up available to the masses if it was released?

 

To me, special ~exclusive~ breeds available only to certain people who have been around long enough/have the right playstyle and stuck with it long enough... That just seems way too damn close to paying for access to an ~exclusive~ breed.

 

 

Maybe what could happen is that those with access to the biomes, instead of an ~exclusive~ breed, could get early access to newly released dragons?

 

The initial release would go for a day or two in the advanced biomes, then become available to the general public. Maybe to make it more fair, it could then become exclusively available to the general public for a short while, so if those with access to the advanced biomes wanted more they'd have to join everybody else to hunt for them?

Edited March 18, 2013 by KageSora

[cerimonster]

I've been uhming and ahhing about the idea, I like it, the whole 'exclusive' breeds, but it would seem elitist, so I was in half about it really... But I like Kage's idea, I would love that to be honest. Although then you'll have people arguing about how those with more dragons of the new dragons will end up another stashfull once the normal drops start, and they'll have more chances at the new dragons...

[KageSora]

I've been uhming and ahhing about the idea, I like it, the whole 'exclusive' breeds, but it would seem elitist, so I was in half about it really... But I like Kage's idea, I would love that to be honest. Although then you'll have people arguing about how those with more dragons of the new dragons will end up another stashfull once the normal drops start, and they'll have more chances at the new dragons...

Honestly, I think you'll have people complaining about that no matter how this is handled.

 

If you have a special biome only accessible to a smaller portion of the playerbase, they will naturally have more chances at dragons than the other players, even if those are dragons that show up in the other biomes.

 

It's like when you have a few people hunting in one biome while everybody else is hunting in another. You'll have more chances to get the good stuff that passes through your biome because you have less competition while the others have less individual chance to get stuff because they have higher competition.

 

 

I'd suggest, if there was early access to released breeds, that it be evened out by CBs only dropping in the normal biomes for a while after that to give the other players a chance to get them.

 

 

And I still think something like this should be tied to time as well as number of dragons, that way a person who has been active for a long time but doesn't collect tons of dragons can still get access instead of being denied something just because of their playstyle.

[Syphoneira]

Lol, I sorta liked the idea of having what sounds like the old Cave back, even if I can't see it myself, but frankly, additional biomes for relatively a few people sounds like a lot of programming and work to serve a small 'elite' among many players.

 

I also wonder if keeping more biomes running that few or no people may be in much of the time would slow the site, although the dragons there would likely hardly move and be rather boring.

 

I've been in biomes with only a few people and little turn-over and not much happens, although I do seem to recall a suggestion that each refresh should turn over the available dragons in these special biomes.

 

But that suggestion's been made before and it's been pointed out that anything typically of interest would become uncovered to be picked up, leaving Blocker breeds only, which would then sit there as the few people able to access these biomes wouldn't be likely to take enough to suit the ratios and trigger the 'special' biomes to produce more of the rares/uncommons most likely to be picked up.

 

Except that I believe that rares and uncommons for the whole site run through all biomes - would they flow at higher rates to biomes where none were in the line-up waiting?

 

In any such case, (actually, I have an idea that the ratios of the block of dragons waiting for every Drop is set every hour, but suspect that the same proportion of rares/uncommons would continually be renewed in each waiting block assigned to each biome with each hourly change-over) with the dragons changing with every refresh, in that 'elite' biome the metallics and other goodies would be picked through and up faster there than anywhere else, potentially reducing those available to everyone else in those biomes which everyone can get to, who cannot 'toss the dice' by refreshing, and who'd be left with the Blockers frequently blocking access to anything else...

 

And that DOES sound like a 1% solution...

 

(Frequently talk though my hat, and this may be one of those times as I'm merely postulating, have no knowledge myself [duh, lol, me puter illiterate - me not know even Morse coding,] of how TJ runs his site, and am long-term sooooo overtired that I have a great excuse for missing the obvious-to-every-else due to closed eyelids.)

 

Other objections I personally have have already been voiced by others.

 

This doesn't sound feasible to me for a number of reasons, some of which are above, but what do I know?

 

But would TJ really want to go to all of this work and, further, possibly have to deal with glitches we tend to get when the code's being altered, risking site disruption/slowdown perhaps, for something very few players could even access?

 

 

Edit: OMG - special dragons that were only available to the few?

 

I didn't realize that that was seriously being considered at this oint - that would completely alter DC and, personally, I'd hate it.

 

Some of us may not be able to catch particular dragons, but they're in areas we can access, and if we manage to get on a better puter elsewhere, we have a chance to get them.

 

Restricting dragons to an area most of us - or even some of us - 'can't get to from here' would turn this into the sort of place I'd just rather not be associated with...

Edited March 18, 2013 by Syphoneira

[skauble]

Yes, they'll have almost 500 now.

 

But if the lower limit is at 1000?  Nope, now they're not even close!

 

And what if they only want two adults, two gendered hatchies (IF there is dimorphism, one if there isn't) and one ungendered?  Or what if they only want one of each sprite so they only collect one adult in the case of no dimorphism?

 

And yes, some people may make exceptions for things they like--but not everybody decides to make exceptions for things like rares or uncommons (or whatever else).

 

And yes, they would be tradeable.  But so are 2nd gen prize dragons--and those can command obscene prizes.  I can only imagine the prices exclusive dragons would command.  And that's assuming it wasn't locked to your scroll like GoNs are or that it wasn't restricted to people who also had access to that biome.  Even if they're common, I'd imagine they could command some pretty good prices since they're, y'know, exclusive.

 

One of the things I love about DC is how few exclusive things there are--it's not like we have dozens of ~exclusive~ dragons available only to the ~elite~ (since, honestly, I can totally see an elitism thing happening with "I have access to the special biomes, I'm way more special than you newbies hahaha").  Adding in exclusive breeds available only to those with enough dragons/those who can catch desirables for trades...  I don't like that at all.

 

Would the exclusives be designed specially for those biomes?  Or would they be taken from the requests list so that other users could be pissed as hell that they might never get one of the awesome dragons on the list because it's a special ~exclusive~ breed that people previous thought would end up available to the masses if it was released?

 

To me, special ~exclusive~ breeds available only to certain people who have been around long enough/have the right playstyle and stuck with it long enough...  That just seems way too damn close to paying for access to an ~exclusive~ breed.

 

 

Maybe what could happen is that those with access to the biomes, instead of an ~exclusive~ breed, could get early access to newly released dragons?

 

The initial release would go for a day or two in the advanced biomes, then become available to the general public.  Maybe to make it more fair, it could then become exclusively available to the general public for a short while, so if those with access to the advanced biomes wanted more they'd have to join everybody else to hunt for them?

I'm not really sold on the extra biomes idea for some of the reasons you mentioned.

 

However, I do think that ruling suggestions out because some people don't want to collect a lot of dragons is somewhat problematic in that it's in the site's best interest to do things that encourage people to collect a lot of dragons - the more the better.

 

That's one of the reasons trophies are important, as is the benefit that comes with collecting a large number of BSA dragons.

 

Which doesn't mean that people can't run their collection however they choose. It's just that, from the business standpoint of things, that (most likely minor) segment of players is probably not a reason to turn down ideas that will get the large majority of members to increase their time of the site.

 

I'd rather pursue one of the various suggestions where people can make parts of their scroll not show (to them and to others) so that people who want a scroll that shows one type of collection can have that and still collect dragons in the background for gameplay reasons. Yes, that might not be what their goal is or how they want to play (and, again, they don't have to do it) but in many, many, many games in order to get a reward or a bonus you're required to do specific things. Having one of those things be collecting dragons in a dragon collecting game is a a pretty good fit for the game and good for business.

[schmupti]

I wonder if it would work better with biomes by trophy. The no-trophy crowd has access to the Grotto, with a dozen unique breeds, while the bronze trophy crowd finds the path to the Eyrie, with a dozen other unique breeds, etc.

 

Everybody would have something elite and special, if only because all users would have access to one special biome but be cut off from the other three except by trading. Trophy-less users would have as much of a trading advantage as anybody else, in that they would be the only ones who could slip in and bring back eggs from a certain area.

 

Though that would kind of sidestep the whole point about encouraging people to pick up commons...

[Syphoneira]

Oh, please, let's not have elites?

 

I'm with Kage-Sora on that, and this is the only game i play, because it's NOT elitist, something I and others find offensive.

 

This has always been a family-type site...

[Wahya]

I really like this idea personally. It'd give me something else to work toward; I've grown quite bored of this place and find myself involved in breeding projects just to keep myself interested in DC. Also, getting rid of commons/caveblockers is always a plus!

Edited March 18, 2013 by Wahya

[olympe]

And yes, they would be tradeable. But so are 2nd gen prize dragons--and those can command obscene prizes. I can only imagine the prices exclusive dragons would command. And that's assuming it wasn't locked to your scroll like GoNs are or that it wasn't restricted to people who also had access to that biome. Even if they're common, I'd imagine they could command some pretty good prices since they're, y'know, exclusive.

Exclusive? Exlusive to a couple of hundred (or thousand) users for the first veteran biome, and in endless supply. Especially if the very first veteran biome starts at 500 - but even with 1000, there will be a lot of players willing to trade after they get their quota. It's not like with tinsels or shimmerscales where you have less than 100 players with exactly one CB each. Not to mention that they would be breedable...

 

To be honest, I think that the veteran eggs would soon (after 2 months?) go for no more than a couple of common hatchies, or one bred uncommon with a good lineage, or one CB desirable common egg like nebula or pink or red. Me? I'd probably trade CB eggs of them for two or three 2nd gen daydream eggs/hatchies with one holiday parent... Or 2nd gen purple ridgewings/sunsongs from sunsong/purple ridgewing crosses.

 

Maybe what could happen is that those with access to the biomes, instead of an ~exclusive~ breed, could get early access to newly released dragons?

That, IMHO, would be worse. Because new releases are always in high demand, and people are willing to pay a lot for them. Plus, it would probably mess with the release in the regular cave, giving newer players a much harder time at catching them.

 

It's like when you have a few people hunting in one biome while everybody else is hunting in another. You'll have more chances to get the good stuff that passes through your biome because you have less competition while the others have less individual chance to get stuff because they have higher competition.

Less competition also means that the biome is unlikely to move pretty quickly.

 

And I still think something like this should be tied to time as well as number of dragons, that way a person who has been active for a long time but doesn't collect tons of dragons can still get access instead of being denied something just because of their playstyle.

So, someone who raised 4 dragons in 2008 and just came back would be allowed in any new biome? That doesn't sound right. Maybe if the number of viewing your own scroll while logged in could be counted for this, I don't know.

 

But that suggestion's been made before and it's been pointed out that anything typically of interest would become uncovered to be picked up, leaving Blocker breeds only, which would then sit there as the few people able to access these biomes wouldn't be likely to take enough to suit the ratios and trigger the 'special' biomes to produce more of the rares/uncommons most likely to be picked up.

Well, if we're talking exclusive breeds, there's always the option of trading/gifting the eggs away, or just plain abandoning them after 5 hours. Newer players sure would love this!

 

I've been in biomes with only a few people and little turn-over and not much happens, although I do seem to recall a suggestion that each refresh should turn over the available dragons in these special biomes.

 

But that suggestion's been made before and it's been pointed out that anything typically of interest would become uncovered to be picked up, leaving Blocker breeds only, which would then sit there as the few people able to access these biomes wouldn't be likely to take enough to suit the ratios and trigger the 'special' biomes to produce more of the rares/uncommons most likely to be picked up.

Ahem, I suggested this only for a biome without rares, and probably even "real" uncommons to avoid this very scenario. Plus, the commons in there would be the same commons as in every other biome, the only benefit is that you could pick your commons without waiting for other players to pick up what's currently blocking the biome.

 

Edit: OMG - special dragons that were only available to the few?

Special as in commons only... What do you think how many people would love to take in a water horse or two or three or twenty if it was exclusive to older players? Remember what happened when frills were announced to become retired? Suddenly, everybody and their grandmother wanted one of those, CB, bred, inbred, never mind. And before, they were probably the worst cave/AP blockers we had at the time.

 

Some of us may not be able to catch particular dragons, but they're in areas we can access, and if we manage to get on a better puter elsewhere, we have a chance to get them.

I've been hearing that for almost 3.5 years now. I'm still waiting to catch a metallic by myself. And you know what? The one that I should have gotten went elsewhere due to a glitch/site hiccough because the egg that turned up in its place got to my scroll first. (I got an overburdened message for the gold, but caught the red popping up in its place.) So, yeah, fat chance.

As for a veteran biome - everybody can access them if they stay long enough on the site and collect enough dragons. Everybody has an equal chance at reaching that goal unless they decide against it or leave beforehand.

[Mysfytt]

Personally I like this idea.

 

why

 

trophy stages opens a new biome

 

yes

 

For one, no it won't be hard to get to 1000 dragons in a year or so - and NO you can't have everything at once so the fact that it WILL take time doesn't bother me, it will take you the same amount of time to reach that many whether there is a reward at the end or not - those complaining are only seeing the instant gratification factor taken from them and replaced by patience and hard work.

 

I started this game in Feb 6 2011 and reached 1000 by Jun 19 2012, so it is doable...2,000 is a longer goal but also doable in 2 years. Lets face it, as a newbie you are still trying to get one of everything, then one of each gender, then one CB of everything in each gender, so time flies and dragons build up as you work at this stage. Then you have your 7 egg slots and BSA reds and are able to get more going, so get more dragons faster. Everybody has an equal chance at reaching this goal unless they decide against it or leave beforehand.

 

And isn't that an issue, people getting bored because they have it all, especially last year with some tinsel owners just up and leaving after a few trades- well they got the bling so what else is there?.

 

This offers people a new challenge. Interest, excitement.

 

New dragons in the hidden biomes

 

Yes

 

Because we have SO MANY dragons waiting for release in the requests section, wouldn't it be nice to be able to have more come out. Yes I know it does seem a little unfair that only those with access to the biome can catch them - but its called a PERK. Again you can't have everything you want by whining about it. And trading, AP drops and glomping still happens with new release eggs, so why wouldn't it happen with the secret biome eggs - especially if they are common - people will likely AP dump em to get rid of them. (If you are not one of those people who AP dump or glomp eggs - then perhaps you shouldn't whine when it doesn't happen to you.)

 

It would be better for all those moldering ideas if they had a place to become real, I would love to see some of those dragons make it in cave, but at the present rate of release vs making, they will not and the person is likely gone by the time they do finally make it in. Faster turnover for the request to release ratio - i'm all for it.

 

New release happens in this biome too.

 

I want this - completely selfish reasoning though

 

Mainly because I may have a lot of dragons but 99% are AP dragons, because I have a slow net and can never catch the new releases unless they are glomped or APed for me. Having a new biome with less people in it will help my chance. And seriously, why would TJ code one biome to Not show new eggs - probably more trouble than mass coding the lot you know.

 

All over people want a new trophy setting - but let me tell you a little secret - TJ will NEVER add new egg slots.

 

This is a fantastic idea, it has merit and is workable- opens up new levels in the game, new trading opportunities, new gifting opportunities and new incentive to stay.

[ZzelaBusya]

those complaining are only seeing the instant gratification factor taken from them and replaced by patience and hard work.

Really? Don't want to sound rude, but I would kindly ask you to speak for yourself only. I've got a lot of dragons but do not like this idea; to understand that different kinds of players have something against the suggestion (including those who have over X thousand dragons on their scroll), it would have been enough to read the replies.

 

 

Truth to be told, the amount of dragons in the completed requests has never bothered me, nor have I ever been concerned about the fate of commons or dragons in the AP.

 

The thought of DC elitism bothers me a lot, I am strongly against the idea of giving something only to a certain group of people. Really, raffles/contests are enough. If dragons from the new "special" biomes are tradeable, they won't be viewed as commons by players with no access to the new biome feature and would make the richest users even richer. If those dragons are NOT tradeable, it's even worse - what I've always liked on DC is that everyone has a chance to get everything (if they don't care about the lineage of rares); to me, giving an opportunity to get something others will not (or will never, if their playing style is different) achieve is unfair.

 

It's logical that people who are good at catching/experimenting/whatever get good stuff. On the contrary, to me it wouldn't make sense if a player got something extraordinary (a whole new biome full of dragons in this case) just for having a scroll with thousands of commons...

 

 

As has been mentioned in this and other threads, reasons for wanting this feature to exist are selfish - pretty much "I want more stuff" or "I want an easier way to get stuff", mostly. It doesn't seem too nice to me.

 

 

I've got pretty much everything I need and, frankly speaking, am not really bored. I'm happy about what we have now, the 4/5/6/7 eggslots and our 6 biomes.

Edited March 18, 2013 by ZzelaBusya

[cerimonster]

And as I have seen mentioned elsewhere it's not selfish at all, especially as there are tons of people around who love to gift, AP drop gifts and some of those people (I think, correct me if I'm wrong) also agree with this idea. I agree with this idea even if the limit is 1000+ dragons, as I would love to work for that goal, and saying that people "will never reach that goal" is incorrect, sure it might take them a while in which to achieve it, and a lot of new releases, and they'd have to stick around a while, but they'd eventually reach the determined goal.

 

Also, everyone wants more stuff, or almost everybody anyway, its human nature. Besides on a game like DC where the aim is to collect as many or as little as you like there's no such thing as being selfish... Such as with the CB metal rush we've had, I'm upset that there were so many users who ended up scroll locked with metals on multiple occasions and yet there were still those who have been playing for ages, and didn't get a single one. Fairs fair, so what if those people who didn't get golds but collect thousands of commons and get into this hypothetical new biome, such is life, the goal is acheivable for everyone provided they're willing to catch x amount of dragons, and there's even been a time limit suggestion, so those who have been playing for x amount of time get into to... To be honest, I personally don't see it as elitist, as it would be available to everyone, it's not like you'd have to pay to get it or anything (I would disagree with that) and there's no limit as to how many people can have this feature, so I say good job to those who (hypothetically) get it in my opinion

[drabrugon]

The thought of DC elitism bothers me a lot,

This so much!

 

 

Biomes that are only available for a small group of people would be a very unfair way to solve the problems with all the common dragons blocking in the AP. Biomes that are constantly dropping "rare" new dragons would have some disadvantages:

 

- elitism (like everything else that is only made for a small group of people)

- frustration among the people who can not hunt in these biomes because they have not enough dragons

- I doubt that it is fun to collect dragons you do not want only because you must to achieve something --> the personal playstyle is very much affected

- cheating like multi-scrolling will increase to get the dragons needed for the new biomes faster

 

I think there are enough threads with projects on the forums with the aim to make people collect commons. There are "better" and fairer ways to make commons even more desirable like introducing more hybrids or giving them the (small) opportunity to alt that are available for all players, not only to a small group.

Edited March 18, 2013 by drabrugon

[Fuzzbucket]

Edit: OMG - special dragons that were only available to the few?

 

I didn't realize that that was seriously being considered at this oint - that would completely alter DC and, personally, I'd hate it.

 

Some of us may not be able to catch particular dragons, but they're in areas we can access, and if we manage to get on a better puter elsewhere, we have a chance to get them.

 

Restricting dragons to an area most of us - or even some of us - 'can't get to from here' would turn this into the sort of place I'd just rather not be associated with...

^this^

 

I would hate this. And incidentally - would they then breed true ? If so - it would TOTALLY screw the trade threads. There's quite enough nasty drama over the shimmers as it is.

[whitebaron]

Extra Veterans Biomes sound nice.

Kudos, if they can get to work without being tied to a certain playstyle, though.

 

The idea that age and experience should not give other options i dislike. i agree though, that there should be no extra-rare dragons in those veteran biomes. if there is a ratio of 1:1:1 of all dragons in there, trading will be quite cheap. i would trade such an egg for 1 cb red hatchie or something i need for lineage projects. i can always get more, and so can people who hunt for uncommons or commons.

 

 

[Spelunker]

I wonder if it would work better with biomes by trophy. The no-trophy crowd has access to the Grotto, with a dozen unique breeds, while the bronze trophy crowd finds the path to the Eyrie, with a dozen other unique breeds, etc.

 

Everybody would have something elite and special, if only because all users would have access to one special biome but be cut off from the other three except by trading. Trophy-less users would have as much of a trading advantage as anybody else, in that they would be the only ones who could slip in and bring back eggs from a certain area.

 

Though that would kind of sidestep the whole point about encouraging people to pick up commons...

Oh gosh, no. No, no, no.

 

It takes 50 dragons to get your Bronze. If you only wanted one of each sprite, let's assume there are 5 sprites per dragon breed. That's 60 sprites- and you'll never have 10 of them unless you trade. And for people like me? I like 11 of each dragon- 4 breeding pairs and one of each hatchie gender, and an ungendered. I could only get 4 of the breeds on my scroll, because any more, and I have my trophy, and Bye-Bye, draggies.

 

If this was something like "Here's all of these newbie breeds. Oh, hey, you leveled up? Cool, have some more, but you can still keep collecting these other breeds if ya want to."

[Vhale]

The bronze trophy is the only real problem with the biomes by trophy. Because to be fair, I'd say the gold trophy users shouldn't be allowed in the bronze trophy's biome. But since people are such newbies at that stage, would they really know how useful the biome could be for trading? It would be a thin window.

 

Granted, this DOES work this way in WoW and other mmos I've played. The savy newbie reads up a bit and finds out they can use something only newbies can get as trade fodder. But then the act of collecting a more difficult to get gold dragon bumps them out of the newbie zone. In effect, I'd say bronze would end up the most difficult biome to get dragons from. Newbies being less likely to have teleports etc. But, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

 

I'll update the first post with the biome by trophy specification.

 

Besides, what throws me time and again when looking at scrolls - there are scrolls with just this kind of goal. 4 adults, 6 frozens. Or whatever the actual number. But then, I see endless rares and uncommons, for which players manage to make an exception... So, if such an exception can be made for golds, silvers, trios and a handful of other breeds... Where's the problem?

 

And, as stated before, the really common things from the extra biomes will be tradeable.

 

I've noticed this as well. Scroll goals become suddenly flexible for rares.

Edited March 18, 2013 by Vhale

[terradi]

I'd like to see a lower number. Perhaps specifically linked to achievements like collecting all the commons. Or collecting multiples (male, female, hatchie s1, s2) of the commons as a way to encourage people to pick up more of the less desirable dragons. This would be something that most users could accomplish, would serve the purpose of getting more cave-blockers into user hands.

[Fiona]

Regarding the idea of a "newbie" area, what is the main cave and biomes except a "newbie" area? If this suggestion were to be implemented, it strikes me that as newbies need everything, the "vanilla" cave that everyone has access to would be the most likely place for them to hunt anyway.

 

One caution occurs to me reading this over though. The biomes already move slowly. If you subtract people that are actively hunting in them by giving them access to trophy-specific biomes, wouldn't the main areas get even slower?

 

As for the problem of bronze trophy hunting areas and the narrow window of access, why wouldn't it work to have access at bronze level for the remote areas of the DC world, and even once people are past bronze level trophy they still have access to that area? You'd have vanilla biomes, trophy area - non-specific, and then silver trophy area, gold trophy area, etc. Anyone could hunt in the vanilla biomes, anyone with a trophy of any level could hunt in the trophy area and only people with that specific level trophy could hunt in the specific trophy areas.

 

Then, for what drops in each trophy area, design them to be an extension of the biomes we have. Perhaps they would be like a remote region of existing biomes. An example would be perhaps old growth forests, desert salt flats, alpine peaks, river headwaters, tropical rainforest, (or switch the existing jungle for savannah and make the specific one jungles...) lava pools or pipes. Or some such. Then, the common dragons that would drop in each trophy specific area would relate to that theme. The RP part would be that as experienced dragon tenders and hunters we'd be able to access the most remote parts of the land to seek out breeds of dragons that don't venture into the more easily accessed areas.

 

I'm not 100% sure I'm sold on this idea, but if it were to be adopted I'd think something like this makes sense.

[olympe]

Or another idea, depending on collecting # of X dragon species...

 

For example, if we had a celestial biome, we'd probably need 10 balloons (because they can float), 10 skywings (because they're awesome flyers), 10 daydreams (because of their cloud magic) and 10 whites (because they're the celestial dragon archetype) on our scroll, either as adults or frozen hatchies. With their help, we could then access the celestial biome.

 

Or for a grassland-type biome, we'd (maybe) need 10 harvests, 10 horses, 10 ochredrakes and 10 of whichever breed fits.

 

And for a cave of all dragons (like the old cave), you'd have to collect 10 geodes, 10 blunas, 10 shallow waters and 10 ultraviolets...

 

And so on. And maybe we could unlock a 2nd row of eggs (that's independent of the first!) if we collect 25 of each of the target breeds - or maybe 20 and some additional breeds, dunno. This way, most people could adapt their play style without totally sacrificing theirs. (10 of each breed isn't that much, is it?) It would also give an incentive to actually raise blocker breeds - if the "entry breeds" are chosen right. And even a newbie could unlock their first new biome in no more than one month of active playing, if they collect the "right" breeds.

 

The thought of DC elitism bothers me a lot, I am strongly against the idea of giving something only to a certain group of people. Really, raffles/contests are enough. If dragons from the new "special" biomes are tradeable, they won't be viewed as commons by players with no access to the new biome feature and would make the richest users even richer. If those dragons are NOT tradeable, it's even worse - what I've always liked on DC is that everyone has a chance to get everything (if they don't care about the lineage of rares); to me, giving an opportunity to get something others will not (or will never, if their playing style is different) achieve is unfair.

It's not that much elitism if a large part of the player base can access them. The raffles, where less than 100 CBs are given out, is a much bigger problem than a biome with an endless stream of "elite" eggs. Because someone will trade them for something not too hard to get - maybe a CB BSA egg/hatchie, maybe 2-3 common hatchies. And I'd bet money that this happens within 2 months of the introduction of such a new biome. And 2nd gens would be available even sooner...

 

It's logical that people who are good at catching/experimenting/whatever get good stuff. On the contrary, to me it wouldn't make sense if a player got something extraordinary (a whole new biome full of dragons in this case) just for having a scroll with thousands of commons...

To me, this totally makes sense. Because those people who raise thousands of commons are the very people who make rares happen - usually for other players. Why not reward the poor raisers of mostly blockers instead of the people with the best connection and reflexes?

 

I would hate this. And incidentally - would they then breed true ? If so - it would TOTALLY screw the trade threads. There's quite enough nasty drama over the shimmers as it is.

And what do you think why do shimmers generate as much drama as they do? Because they're limited to a very, very small number. And we'll probably never get more CBs, and people want at least 2nd gens to complete their goals... Thousands of players wanting something that's there less than 100 times, and in three different color variations, please... But imagine the drama that would happen if there was an endless supply of CB new eggs... Really, there will be enough of them to fill everybody's scroll within a few months if they only try to trade or catch in the AP.