Lineage view change

[annageckos]

The more I look at them the more I dislike the new view. I didn't even know that there was a problem with the old view, it was fine to me. I am finding my eyes are skipping over the first gen all together now, they might as well even be there. I really dislike the way the name is on the side, it does nothing good for the lineage view. Personally I see nothing good now, I just don't get it. The dragon spites are no longer the main focus, when you can hardly see them anymore. I really hope TJ changes it back to the name under the dragon, or at the very least makes it an option.

[Rekha]

So I have been thinking about this for a while since at first I was a bit unsure as to how I felt on this whole thing. I have been taking time to look through some of my favorite lineages out there who I have kept tabs on simply because I love the work that they are doing, as well as keeping an eye on my own and how they have been changing. I honestly don't like this, and considering the fact that a lot of the players here on DragCave pride themselves in the lineage projects that they create for either their own personal play or for sharing, it is really sad to start seeing these beautiful lineages losing their beauty... that which made them beautiful to begin with.

 

 

[Wiz]

I was thinking the only way to fix an even gen was if you ignored the first generation altogether and started the pattern from the 2nd generation. Then I realised if you did that including spriters alts and other 'specials' becomes pointless.

Then I got mad because I'm trying to fix a problem that is so so unfair and I threw a mini tantrum in my head.

Then I made the mistake of looking at this and just wanted to cry.

[Confused Cat]

Then I made the mistake of looking at this and just wanted to cry.

It looks like a 4th gen lineage to which for some reason a list of dragon icons and names was attached on the right side.

 

Please TJ, make the first generations look like part of the lineage again.

[Barb_]

yeah, it just ruins the lineage view... I used to love looking at this, but now... ugh

That's a lovely linage; I wouldn't have thought to put those together.

 

Not fond of the new layout, too busy.

 

 

[Sycamore]

Yes.  All of this.    I keep thinking, "Ooo, such-and-such would make a nice lineage..... owait.  No point." 

Same here. I was just getting to the upper gens of my first big even gen projects (dragons ready to breed are in green below). I haven't been able to convince myself to breed a single one of the 18 pairs. There's just no reason to bother with it...

 

[Jennie]

I don't really check on the lineages much, since they don't interest me. But I just went to take another look, and... I'm unsure. It seems to me to be a bit difficult to trace the lineages back, but maybe that's because I don't use the lineages very often, so I'm out of practice.

[xoSeasonal]

I don't like it. It looks unorganized, unprofessional, and junky. It was fine the way it was before, why change it?

 

Personal opinion. ^^

[Sycamore]

A quick question:

 

Being relatively new to DC, I have to wonder if there's normally a complete lack of communication like there's been during this change and during the AP changes?

 

Even if there's no chance of the lineage view being reverted or made a scroll option, will we ever hear any sort of confirmation/denial from TJ?

[dustpuppy]

At first I voted "no", and after letting it sink in a little I still prefer the old look but I could get used to the new one and certainly don't feel all my even gens are "broken" now, they still look tidy, just not quite as consistent anymore.

 

Sycamore I seem to remember that there was a discussion about a possible change beforehand, and only recently there was a big questionnaire about forum functionality so I wouldn't say there is a lack of communication. It's much better here than in other game communities I know!

[tjekan]

A quick question:

 

Being relatively new to DC, I have to wonder if there's normally a complete lack of communication like there's been during this change and during the AP changes? 

 

Even if there's no chance of the lineage view being reverted or made a scroll option, will we ever hear any sort of confirmation/denial from TJ?

Yeah, this is typical. He does listen to feedback, and he sometimes changes things based on feedback (he already changed the view back to the old way on spirals and stairsteps after reading people's complaints), but he almost never actually talks with the community about it, and certainly not in the forum (you can sometimes get an off-the-record comment out of him on the IRC if you like real-time chatting.)

 

If he's working on turning different lineage views into scroll options (which I really hope he is,) we'll probably never know until it happens. Occasionally he posts in News to tell us a new change is coming, but usually not, and even when he does, usually only when it's nearly ready.

Edited July 10, 2013 by tjekan

[Kaini]

I've been thinking about this for a while and decided I really don't like the new 'look' :I Looking at my lineages now just makes me go 'ugh'

 

I didn't want to immediately jump on the hate wagon because it was new, but nope I really don't like it.

[Dracaena]

Smoke on the wind I know but I am posting anyway. Next week on the 17th will be my 2 year anniversary playing Dragon Cave. iHOWl is my first dragon and his code is now how I feel with this lineage view change. There are currently 1863 dragons on my scroll, it has been a busy two years. I doubt I would have stayed this long if I hadn't discovered even gen breeding.

 

What got me interested in the game was seeing the beautiful ribbon dancers and vine alts, than discovering to my delight the silver dragon artwork I so admired came from here too. But trouble in paradise, the ribbon dancers were limited, I could only own two. The gorgeous vines were alts that weren't real handy for lineage work, and silvers were incredibly rare when I started. So I focused on the holiday dragons and gathered all the 2nd gen commons from holiday I could get my hands on.

 

I was heartbroken when the first dragon I got with Dr Who lineage had an ancestor killed before my dragon reached adulthood. I came close to quitting then when I realized my work could come undone at the whim of another player. My solution was to focus on collecting lower gen dragons so if that happened again it would be easier to rebreed and repair the damage as I did not want to give up on holiday lineages.

 

Now look at the formally beautiful lineages.

There's snow angels in there? Could you find them without a magnifying glass?

An almost checker of ribbon dancers The gray blobs are alt ribbon dancers, honest!

Almost passable. Tolerable as the lyrics don't start until the 2nd generation.

Just awful. *joins the Dr Who lineage people sobbing in the corner*

 

I know even generation breeding isn't very popular overall on the site. With the current change I predict it will become an even lower percent of the game's population. My holiday lineages are worthless past 4th gen, the pictures are too small to appreciate the artwork and the change in text placement looks very mishmash. I came here for the artwork and got hooked on quote and lyric lineages, none of which look good with this format. Really, who is going to want a baby from my Holly that it even matters now what I breed him with?

[Tiki G]

And almost a week later... why is this still a thing?? Seriously, this is just ridiculous. I just... don't even know what to say anymore. I've given all of my reasons for not liking this.

All I can do is continue to say how much I dislike this and hope that it is fixed, though I see now that it is highly unlikely. It has ruined lineages and I can no longer go above 4th Gen as I can't stand to look at it.

 

*hugs fellow Even Gen lovers*

It was fun while it lasted... =\

[Fuzzbucket]

I LOVE even gens and I WILL get a 15th EG in the end ! - and - well, let's just say - yes I can see your snow angels. But I do use a wide and full sized monitor. I wouldn't like it on a lappie or a tablet. Then again - I wouldn't like the other way on those either...

[prpldrgnfr]

And almost a week later... why is this still a thing?? Seriously, this is just ridiculous. I just... don't even know what to say anymore. I've given all of my reasons for not liking this.

All I can do is continue to say how much I dislike this and hope that it is fixed, though I see now that it is highly unlikely. It has ruined lineages and I can no longer go above 4th Gen as I can't stand to look at it.

 

*hugs fellow Even Gen lovers*

It was fun while it lasted... =\

*hugs back*

 

Knowing nothing about coding, I don't understand why this isn't an optional thing, and if this *is* 'the way it's gonna be', why there's no forthcoming explanation *why*.

[annageckos]

Yikes Dracaena, I had no idea those grey dragons were ribbon dancers, they looked more like shadow walkers, till I took a really good look at them. Still really dislike this change. It just doesn't look good. It's not consistent at all. I don't get it. Hopefully it will get changed back soon.

[daba555]

And almost a week later... why is this still a thing?? Seriously, this is just ridiculous. I just... don't even know what to say anymore. I've given all of my reasons for not liking this.

All I can do is continue to say how much I dislike this and hope that it is fixed, though I see now that it is highly unlikely. It has ruined lineages and I can no longer go above 4th Gen as I can't stand to look at it.

 

*hugs fellow Even Gen lovers*

It was fun while it lasted... =\

and I only just got started breeding lineages

 

I joined the Prism Project, which is an 8-gen project, and I was loving it - but if this isn't changed by the time I complete my 4th gens, I'm backing out.

 

I really, truly, hate and despise the way this looks, and I'm so disappointed. After leaving for a couple of years because of major disappointments, coming back to take a look and seeing so many improvements kept me here, but this is going to chase me off again.

 

Not that I don't have a zillion other things in my life to take care of! And that would probably benefit from my quitting the Cave, LOL.

 

 

[Sycamore]

So last night, hoping against hope, I snagged my roommate's gaming rig to check out the new lineages on his ridiculous 28" widescreen monitor. The difference wasn't nearly as significant as I expected. The portraits in the CB gen on lineages like this one are still borderline pointless. Sure, I can 'tell' what they are, but that's only because I already know what they are, y'know?

 

Roommate's reaction was also pretty negative ("The ones on the side are tiny, why'd they change it? It looks all wonky now."). His opinion should probably come with a grain of salt, though. After I introduced/addicted him to Fallen London he tried out a bunch of the browser games I mess around with, but he never really got into any of the others, DC included, so that's not exactly coming from the perspective of an 'active player'.

 

This is kind of a moot point, anyway. If the change was meant to reduce the size of the lineages because the size is a problem on the smaller screens of laptops, tablets, and mobile devices, but the only way to avoid having the dragon portraits shrunk beyond all recognition is to NOT use a laptop, tablet, or mobile device... Well, that doesn't really make any sense at all.

[PhantomoftheWolves]

Truthfully, I like this change. Now I know that you guys are going to bash me around, but I'm just saying that maybe TJ may or may not change it again. I respect TJ on this, and I really hope that this gets fixed, but honestly I like the way it looks.

[r0botmind]

It's horrible and I want it gone. Lineage view is messed up as it is, now this makes it even worse. :/ Sometimes I can't even view a lineage that is 6 generations long but I can view one that's 10 generations long. What gives? Seriously, fix lineage view /please/

[TwilitProphet]

I thought it looked really nice. I actually wish all the names were beside the picture instead of underneath it. I think it looks a lot more like a documentation of a family tree I'd see on a piece of paper filed away by some OCD Dragon tamer. (I guess kind of like myself, I guess! )

 

Though that doesn't mean I don't see why you guys don't like it. I know people make linages because of the pictures. And how they make color patterns and this really throws that off with the pictures being turned into such tiny little squares.

 

For how I look at most lineages, this change isn't a big deal. But for those of us who use the pictures as the focus of the linage, it's a big problem. ): I hope everything gets sorted out for you guys! I'd hate to see any of you feeling punished enough to leave! I don't interact with most people since I'm not an active user but I've seen all of you post around and I have a lot of respect for you as awesome members of the community!

[MasterWeavile898]

Honestly, I didn't even notice. Now that I've spotted this thread I can see that my lineages had changed, and now that they are back I'm not sure which I liked better.

[Sila Maua]

If it's at least consistently left-aligned for CBs only on even gens only, at no less than the original smaller size, I guess I can live with that, though it still looks way too crowded and busy.  However, the midget 10px images are stupid.

 

Perhaps the best option, though, really would be an option.  And it wouldn't even have to be an account setting.  Scrolls now have that dropdown that allow them to be sorted on the fly without actually changing the order.  What if lineages have something similar, to allow selection of "default" lineage view, images only, or names only?  Then people could have a more compact version for smaller screens, and it's their choice whether the priority should be the names or the sprites.  The full lineage would also still be available.  And the sprites would never have to be scrunched so much that they become useless.  Win-win, in my book!  And probably even easier to code than all the checking currently happening to determine which way any given lineage should be displayed.

If you look at the original suggestion in the Suggestions Forum, an important part of the implementation was to allow us to be able to enlarge the lineage back to its original view. That was not done here. There is no "enlarge" option, we cannot click on this new lineage and get the larger icons back, we cannot see a tiny lineage in its original larger form, even though all of that was in the original suggestion!

 

Better yet, the names could be shrunk to fit a certain size cell with full size on mouse over (bonus points if a setting to restore the previous full size names is available as a scroll option).

 

These.

 

Just..anything, ANYTHING but this! I don't want cut-off names without some sort of option, though (Mostly because i've been wanting to be a bit..lyrical with some of my lineages).

 

But even-gens after this change..no, just..no. If it's not a collage of different breeds or something like that, it mashes together so much and AAGH...brain can't focus...KILL IT WITH FIRE.

 

WITH FIRE.

 

FIIIIIRRRREEEEEE.

[hydrargyrum]

I'm so-so on the change for 5th gen checkers. I do like that you can see it all at once, but it's just not quite the same. I think because it's more compact, it just LOOKS so much like a 4th gen checker used to that that's what my brain sees. Which makes it seem less impressive. I think I'll adjust, though, and I do like that you can see all of a 5th gen with no scrolling.

 

However, for some of my other lineages, I think it's a pretty big improvement. My 11th gen inbred checker now takes slightly less time to scroll through, and I like that you can see more of the dragons in any one screenshot. My rainbow lineage looks even more rainbow-y without all the extra space in the CB generation. And I think my quote lineage is much more readable.