Posted September 1, 2013 (edited) Er... since March? So the past 6 months? And the "regular releases" were alluded to during the 7days release (as in "the monthly release won't be happening due to the 7days release"), so I'm not sure how you missed it. So there was no official announcement, just a random blip of information in an extremely chaotic release? I thought having regular monthly releases would have been a pretty substantial piece of news considering Dragon Cave's very long history of having completely random releases minus holiday releases. Edited September 1, 2013 by Syaoransbear Share this post Link to post
Posted September 1, 2013 So there was no official announcement, just a random blip of information in an extremely chaotic release? I thought having regular monthly releases would have been a pretty substantial piece of news considering Dragon Cave's very long history of having completely random releases minus holiday releases. It is stated pretty plainly in this official thread a week BEFORE the release. *shrugs* If you can't deduce from that that montly releases is a "thing", then billboard advertising must not affect you much. Share this post Link to post
Posted September 1, 2013 It would be really nice to have these messages a day or two prior to the release so they'll reach the rest of the world in advance, too, not just the Americans. Then people wouldn't have to get up at 7:30 on a Sunday morning only to find out they didn't have to get up at 7:30 on a Sunday morning. Huh? People here in the states don't get 'more' of an advance notice than anywhere else. I'm on DC time, I took a nap to prepare for staying up late for the drop, only to wake up and find there wouldn't be one. It's inconvenient for everyone who planned around this. Being on DC time is NOT an advantage when it comes to these new release drops, trust me. Share this post Link to post
Posted September 1, 2013 I don't see how the first Sunday being the first day of the month causes confusion. It's more confusing to have it on the second Sunday after being told for months that releases are on the first Sunday... If you have a different reason for delaying it, just say so. Also, more than 6 hour's warning would be nice. Not all of us live in the States! Share this post Link to post
Posted September 1, 2013 Ah thanks for the heads up... I almost forgot again Share this post Link to post
Posted September 1, 2013 It would be really nice to have these messages a day or two prior to the release so they'll reach the rest of the world in advance, too, not just the Americans. Then people wouldn't have to get up at 7:30 on a Sunday morning only to find out they didn't have to get up at 7:30 on a Sunday morning. This I can't get my sleep back now. I mean I'm not actively angry or anything, I just think it shows a lack of concern for the user base. I was expecting this release, had stopped getting eggs for the last 3 days, and now it was all for nothing, I wasted that time and will have to start over next week. I don't see how warning earlier would be that much of an effort, and that way we would know what to expect. *shrug* After all this time on DC I know better than to get annoyed, but I do think it is important to be more aware of users' lives. Share this post Link to post
Posted September 1, 2013 how sad, next week I´m on vacation, so no chance for me to catch anything, if it turns out to be extremely rare...;_; Share this post Link to post
Posted September 1, 2013 (edited) Personally I don't understand how anyone could be confused. The first Sunday of the month is completely clear. As for having reminders set, well I have one set which reminds me the day before, that there will be an egg release the next day - and I'm sure I'm not the only one. So now people have to remember 'the first Sunday of the month unless it happens to be the first of the month whereby it's the second Sunday of the month'. Now that is confusing - and not easy to set on a reminder. And what is going to happen in November? Given Halloween is only three days before the first Sunday in November, I'm assuming we won't have a new release on that Sunday? Will it happen in November at all, or will that also be on the second Sunday? Ditto January - although there are more days between the Christmas release and the first Sunday, so it's not as big a factor. More importantly it really would have been nice to have had this information a few days ago - not to wake up to on the day the release was meant to have happened. Many, many, many people will not have bred or caught new eggs since Thursday (some earlier than that if they don't have enough reds) so to be free for the new eggs. And now they have to go through it all again this coming week. Please may we have such announcements to changes such as these in good time? A few days before the actual day. It really would be appreciated. Thank you. Edited September 1, 2013 by Nikki_Of_The_Night Share this post Link to post
Posted September 1, 2013 (edited) First: Thank you, TJ, for the notification. It's nice to have clarity now about the "freak weekends". *** Secondly: I was right ! The "day of interest" is the Saturday, not the Sunday. Hah ! *ahem* Though I confess that I wasn't entirely sure if TJ would be true to the wording, so I cleared my eggspaces just in case... *** Thirdly - To all the people complaining about "confusion about the first Sunday" or "lack of information about regular releases": There was a post from TJ in the News section on May, 5th titled "May release". It starts with the following words: This month marks a break from the newly-formed tradition of doing releases the first Saturday night of every month--but it's for a good reason. The 21st of this month mark's Dragon Cave's seventh birthday. (...) Yes, I admit, it's not titled "Monthly realeases now on a regular date !". But if you are on the forum, and interested in infos about releases, I'd just expect that you at least take the time to read the "News" posts about releases. The whole point of the "News" section is to let everyone know that this is the thing you should bother to read, because it's where TJ tells you the important stuff. It has very few posts, so it really doesn't need much time and effort to check it. I admit, back then I wasn't sure if "first Saturday night" meant that the releases would start at the first minute of night on the Saturday (which would be the night from Friday to Saturday) or at midnight in the "Saturday night" (so effectively on the following Sunday). But the memory that the last release was on a Sunday, and the next release, cleared that up for me. However, it was never said to be on "the first Sunday every month". So the relevant day for the "first every month" part is the Saturday. Which most of the time is a rather theoretical difference, except when the month changes between the days of one weekend, like this time. (The next time that will happen would be the January release. But that might be postponed in any case, so shortly after Christmas... Next one then is June 2014 and so on. Few enough to just remember the oddity, now that it came up once.) *** Last: As thoughtful as the heads-up on the irregular weekend is, a little earlier would have been better indeed. Here in Germany it was 11:30 pm, and so I missed it till this morning. But that's just a suggestion, I'm used to slight hiccups with timing in browser games due to the time difference. And if it's no "do or die" thing, I don't expect admins and gamemasters to time their schedule taking in account all time zones. So - looking forward to new dragons next week ! Huzzah ! Greetings, Lantean_Pegasus PS: Geez. If you need a reminder, how about that: Set it to "first Saturday of the month", and let it tell you "There is a realease tomorrow!". I mean, really, it can't exceed the mental capacity to remember "the day after the first Saturday every month". Or to keep in mind that there is a release the next day, if you are reminded on Saturday. Plus - if your reminder should be usefull at all, you want it to tell you some time in advance in any case. What good is a reminder on release day when all your eggslots are blocked ? Edited September 1, 2013 by Lantean_Pegasus Share this post Link to post
Posted September 1, 2013 Personally I don't understand how anyone could be confused. The first Sunday of the month is completely clear. As for having reminders set, well I have one set which reminds me the day before, i.e. the last Saturday of the month, that there will be an egg release the next day - and I'm sure I'm not the only one. So now people have to remember 'the first Sunday of the month unless it happens to be the first of the month whereby it's the second Sunday of the month'. Now that is confusing - and not easy to set on a reminder. And what is going to happen in November? Given Halloween is only three days before the first Sunday in November, I'm assuming we won't have a new release on that Sunday? Will it happen in November at all, or will that also be on the second Sunday? Ditto January - although there are more days between the Christmas release and the first Sunday, so it's not as big a factor. More importantly it really would have been nice to have had this information a few days ago - not to wake up to on the day the release was meant to have happened. Many, many, many people will not have bred or caught new eggs since Thursday (some earlier than that if they don't have enough reds) so to be free for the new eggs. And now they have to go through it all again this coming week. Please may we have such announcements to changes such as these in good time? A few days before the actual day. It really would be appreciated. Thank you. Thank you for saying all this, so I don't have to. A lot of people made a lot of arrangements to be free for this - I only discovered the Release was cancelled 2 hours prior and had to inform others, because Releases are never posted until they start, so who checks the News when none is expected until later? Not that people at work without a computer can check at all, or get emails there - just hurry home to discover they hadn't hunted/delayed breeding for days for nothing, and had it all to do (or not do) again the next week. I don't think many people are unable to work out when the 1st Sunday of the month is on a calender - even I did, and I'm notorious for missing the obvious, lol. But I do hope that nothing unfortunate has come up in TJ's life, although any issue in his personal life which might have caused a last-minute change of plans is certainly none of our business. But if any such reason should be involved in this delay, I would like to extend sympathy and hope that all will be well. Share this post Link to post
Posted September 1, 2013 (edited) This is the best example for users always wanting more... Prior to the regular releases, many of them came completely unannounced. You went online and voila, there were new dragons. Caught eggs ? Bred eggs ? Egglock ? Well, abandon or wait. End of story. Now we have one or two occasions in a whole year were you run the risk of missing out on all of three (maximum, two with incubate) days of catching and/or breeding - run the risk, mind you, if you indeed can't handle the simple "day after the first Saturday of the month"-fact - and there are people who complain bitterly. I have to admit, this time I really don't see a reason for it. (And yes, I cleared my eggslots and got up a little earlier, too, just to be on the safe side. But as that were two days of not breeding/catching and a little sleep I "risked", knowing very well it probably wasn't necessary, I can live with it. And from now forth I have my confirmation that it is indeed the day after first Saturday, so no need to do that "just in case" again.) Edited September 1, 2013 by Lantean_Pegasus Share this post Link to post
Posted September 1, 2013 This is the best example for users always wanting more... It has nothing to do with wanting more. Any timing, any release schedule is fine with me. BUT: If you preannounce drops, then you should keep to that timing, OR if you change it, you should announce it ahead of time so users can adjust. It's called simple courtesy, or if you want a more fancy term, proactive customer relationship management. Share this post Link to post
Posted September 1, 2013 @whitebaron: I agree with you - a schedule should be kept if announced. All I'm saying is that it has been kept (first Saturday night of the month is next week), but now people complain about that being inconvenient because it might require a little amount of thought. (Albeit, that was my other point, I don't think that amount is worth mentioning.) In regard to fancy "proactive etc." , it surely would have been helpful to repeat it plain and clear a little earlier, for this first occurence of a month-changing weekend. But now it's done, everyone can work with it in the future, and I don't see the need to change the schedule for the future, just to meet the misconceptions of users that memorized "first Sunday of the month". In any case, I should have chosen some other wording here and there, and kept more patience in expressing my opinion about the matter. Thanks for reminding me of that. (I'll have to go off now, so please don't take it wrong if I fail to answer to further comments from you - or anyone else - regarding my posts for the next hours.) Greetings, Lantean_Pegasus Share this post Link to post
Posted September 1, 2013 @whitebaron: I agree with you - a schedule should be kept if announced. All I'm saying is that it has been kept Not really, no. TJ always announces it as the day they drop, not the night from X to Y, but Y. So all releases were on the first sunday of the month. Thinking about it just now, I should probably move this to first Sunday, so that it doesn't interfere with work or school. He said first sunday himself, nothing about saturday has been in his news or been mentioned otherwise. But thats beside the point, anyway. I can live with moving it. What I hate is the lateness of either the decision OR the notification, no matter the reason, its bad style. Share this post Link to post
Posted September 1, 2013 @whitebaron: I agree with you - a schedule should be kept if announced. All I'm saying is that it has been kept (first Saturday night of the month is next week), but now people complain about that being inconvenient because it might require a little amount of thought. (Albeit, that was my other point, I don't think that amount is worth mentioning.) In regard to fancy "proactive etc." , it surely would have been helpful to repeat it plain and clear a little earlier, for this first occurence of a month-changing weekend. But now it's done, everyone can work with it in the future, and I don't see the need to change the schedule for the future, just to meet the misconceptions of users that memorized "first Sunday of the month". Then maybe he should have picked a less needlessly complex prerequisite. Saying "the night of the first Saturday of the month" is needlessly complicated when midnight is Sunday. Midnight Sunday isn't Saturday night by any means. THAT is why this annoys me, and why your comments about "boohoo you'll have to think now how sad for you" have angered me. There was no reason for us to be alerted to it like this, and doing this kind of thing repeatedly is bad business. This eventuality was not sudden any more than the earth's rotation is sudden. There was no reason for the actual criteria for a release to be this opaque. There was no reason why we had only six hours warning for something that should have been a clear problem over a week ago, if not more. And if there was a sudden problem, I would rather be told that there was a sudden problem, not fed pigslop and told it was a steak. Share this post Link to post
Posted September 1, 2013 Yet another suck-fest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here in Australia, it is the middle of the day, not the night. Having altered all work commitments and weekend activities, we can enjoy arriving back here to a big fat NOTHING. I for 1 cannot re-arrange for next week end. It is very nice for TJ to tell everyone before their *midnight* But it would be nicer for a little more notice than that - it's not as if he didn't know until the minute of this thread. Well, there have been other issues that have been demanding his attention lately. Like for instance, the problem with the site going down twice this week. both of which were not his fault and he as well as the other mods were making sure the site was up and running as soon as possible. Just remember that if you happen to miss the first day of the release keep this in mind, the last release lasted more then a few days, so what if you miss the first wave? There are always people on here helping out other users to get the eggs they missed. Just visit some of the trading threads, like "Departures", or "Take and Egg Leave an Egg". That's how I got my first gold and my first silver. Share this post Link to post
Posted September 1, 2013 Thanks for the heads up, although it did give me a minor heart attack when I saw the thread title. I'd assumed the release would be next week, so was in the middle of breeding pretty things when I saw this thread... *heart attack avoided* Share this post Link to post
Posted September 1, 2013 Have you missed the first wave of coppers by any change? I missed it.... I still have not been able to complete my wishlist for them, they were no longer available after the first day. So missing it can be a big deal, we should not marginalize that. Also: like many others: my scroll was cleared, my breeding and trading halted for a release. It is disappointing when you arrange your schedule and find out as you are about to hunt, that there is not going to be one, and you have time for one (maybe 2) hunting cycles before you have to clear again. I understand that TJ has a lot going on, I get that other (technical) stuff can be preoccupying. If this means that TJ can not deal with the community announcements as well as he could, then maybe some of the mods here can fill the role of community manager for him. That might make things more fun for all of us..... that being said: back to my breeding-programs for me. Share this post Link to post
Posted September 1, 2013 (edited) how sad, next week I´m on vacation, so no chance for me to catch anything, if it turns out to be extremely rare...;_; Yeah, hopefully not. Or at least as not as hard to get as the Green Opals or Coppers Maybe something will be different this time, like blockers won't mix in within 4 hours of the release :I Edited September 1, 2013 by BlightWyvern Share this post Link to post
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