CB Prizes: A User Guide

[shades-of-chaos]

Ok *phew* thank you so much for replying so fast! I don't think I'd been able to sleep without at least a little assurance

 

But just in case, I'm going to abandon at least one of the eggs tomorrow morning. I'm so afraid of botching this up, now that I've actually made a few plans for breeding Pucey (that will be the name and code of my Bronze Tinsel). Me, who's never ever made actual breeding plans before

 

I have to say, the Colour combination charts made by @shadesofchaos are absolutely marvelous in that regard. It's difficult to decide how the lineage might look, just from looking at the dragons on the scroll. With the charts - thank you, shadesofchaos, for the hard work!!! - it's much much easier to decide, together with the advice on which dragon breeds are better for getting prize dragon offspring.

You're very welcome!! :3

[angelicdragonpuppy]

I'll throw in my two cents:

 

Blockers or more recently released commons will take you some time due to ratios. For example I've tried getting a shiny from Myst x Falconiform and I am getting nothing but shiny fails. Apparently Flaconiform not only dominates rares, its dominating many of its more common mates as well. When asked for a specific mate, don't be afraid to ask around and get opinions of how well that dragon is breeding not only its own breed but the breed of any mate its had. If the breed requested as a mate from you is dominating most of its bred mates, then offer an alternative.

 

All in all patience is key. Be smart about your breedings and the requests you take and as someone said, no one can force you to breed your prize with a mate you don't like. I personally do not like brimstones at all and I will not breed Myst to that dragon. So if there is a particular breed you do not want to breed your dragon to don't hesitate to make that clear.

 

Just because someone is requesting an egg from you and trading you upfront does not mean they have the right to boss you around on what to breed or not. Be careful as well, some might not be rude about how they try to boss you around. Some might be polite or try to bribe you extra into breeding your prize with a mate you don't agree with. Stand firm in your decisions or else you might stress yourself out.

Just to add to what Ananokami said:

 

Consider alternating between people on your list (if you have a list!) every week. So let's say person X wants one from Royal Crimson, person Y wants one from Blusang, and person Z wants one from Copper. If you try to get X's dragon first, you will probably be looking on the better part of a year before you get the first shiny, whereas if you breed X, Y, X, Y, you'll soon likely get a Blusang shiny, then you do X, Z, X, Z, soon likely get a Copper shiny, and so on. It helps keep your list from stagnating, people on the list from crying, and (hopefully) encourages people making really common requests to consider changing.

 

Otherwise, yah, you might want to consider not breeding to super commons, for the sake of your sanity. It's a shame, too--some of the really common things look great with prizes--but at the end of the day spending months to get one Prize is probably not worth it.

[buckskinmist]

I still haven't decided what gender to make mine, much less what I want to breed him/her too.

 

Does anyone have any tips about which dragons are really not the best to breed to in order to get prizes?

 

Maybe go the mid range route? Not breed to super commons, but not rare either?

Edited January 26, 2015 by buckskinmist

[TCA]

I still haven't decided what gender to make mine, much less what I want to breed him/her too.

 

Does anyone have any tips about which dragons are really not the best to breed to in order to get prizes?

 

Maybe go the mid range route? Not breed to super commons, but not rare either?

Mid-range commons, like Nebulas and GWs, those all breed well. Heck, my best-breeding common pairing is with BALLOON and my guardian lines aren't half bad breeders.

 

I'd say don't try Olives or anything that hasn't been out for at LEAST a year unless people are reporting they're hard to breed. And you can get a 'guinea pig' 5th-gen or deadline and breed it with commons to test them.

[arula]

Thank you for all the thoughts on breeding frequency (and more are always welcome)! Very helpful to get a feel for what I should expect.

 

I'm almost tempted to start trading "breeding weeks" instead of eggs-- so for a paper you get one week, for a neglected you get five weeks, etc. You can choose whatever mate(s) you want for your weeks, and you get whatever eggs are produced as a result. So you could end up getting five 2nd gen shimmers or nothing at all.

 

In practice this probably wouldn't work that great-- what I really want is to give my trading partners one shimmer, and I'd feel too awful if it looked like they were going to walk away with nothing. But it would make list times extremely predictable, and it would do away with the problem of people choosing too-common mates-- if they want to risk their weeks of breeding, it's totally up to them!

 

Maybe instead I'll tell people they can choose whatever mate they want for the first N weeks, and after that ask them to switch to a holiday/rare mate of their choice. I wonder if people would be up for trading under those terms.

 

[Ruby Eyes]

In terms of "uncommon enough" breedability, it seems that Seasonals breed shinies, too. Also, the usual uncommon suspects such as Blusangs, of course ... but I think this kind of discussion should actually go to Prize Breeding: https://forums.dragcave.net/index.php?showtopic=166121 don't you think?

[Ponie]

So, who thinks this will be the weekend they come out? If it's the same as last year, it likely will be, but I don't know what TJ's schedule is like. Can't wait for my new shiny!

[arula]

So, who thinks this will be the weekend they come out? If it's the same as last year, it likely will be, but I don't know what TJ's schedule is like. Can't wait for my new shiny!

Yessss, I think it's going to be this Sunday and I'm ridiculously excited. I've started writing terrible fan fiction about my does-not-even-exist-in-pixel-form-yet dragon. I can't wait to see everyone's codes, too! If I got the one I asked for, then she's going to be a girl and have a name that matches her code, but if I didn't then I think I may make him a boy and give him a completely different name and personality and rewrite all my fan fiction.

[Prince_Xanthius]

This Sunday would make sense, but last year the emails were sent 6 days earlier, and the eggs sent on the first, which is almost 3 weeks. That said Sunday is the deadline to claim this round of prizes, so who knows! I think it depends if TJ has already got all the eggs that have been claimed up till now ready to go or not.

[zaverxi]

I still haven't decided what gender to make mine, much less what I want to breed him/her too.

 

Does anyone have any tips about which dragons are really not the best to breed to in order to get prizes?

 

Maybe go the mid range route? Not breed to super commons, but not rare either?

If you can't decide on which gender to make your prize, think of the holiday and Valentines and pick which ones you like best and go from there. Or if you like male silvers vs female silvers, different dimorphic poses of various dragons, female vs male hellfires, etc. If you seem to favor one gender over another, pick the opposite gender for your prize for breeding purposes.

[Amazon_warrior]

This Sunday would make sense, but last year the emails were sent 6 days earlier, and the eggs sent on the first, which is almost 3 weeks. That said Sunday is the deadline to claim this round of prizes, so who knows! I think it depends if TJ has already got all the eggs that have been claimed up till now ready to go or not.

I bet some of the delay from last year would have been down to reshuffing winners up or down according to redraws, sorting out who took an HM over a Prize, weeding out people who fluffed up their forms and so on. With no HMs and no option to move up or down, hopefully it'll be quicker this year.

[aurora-australis]

I'm getting really excited since I imagine we'll be getting our eggs sometime soon. I've been leaving slots free just in case. c: Going to be influencing mine to be male~

[Gingehfish]

I think I've decided to influence mine female, since I really want to breed her with Radiant Angels and male Golds! These pairings are giving me a lot of ideas, but those are my two favorite pairings so far.

[Ylvanne]

I bet some of the delay from last year would have been down to reshuffing winners up or down according to redraws, sorting out who took an HM over a Prize, weeding out people who fluffed up their forms and so on. With no HMs and no option to move up or down, hopefully it'll be quicker this year.

But the redraw is still happening, right?

So I guess TJ has to send the new e-mails before... Or does he give the eggs to the primary winners before?

[Prince_Xanthius]

But the redraw is still happening, right?

So I guess TJ has to send the new e-mails before... Or does he give the eggs to the primary winners before?

The redraw is still happening, but in other years eggs were given out in 2 batches, first the primary winners and then the redraw winners 1-2 weeks later. So I think the eggs will go out before or very shortly after the redraw emails are sent

[Ylvanne]

The redraw is still happening, but in other years eggs were given out in 2 batches, first the primary winners and then the redraw winners 1-2 weeks later. So I think the eggs will go out before or very shortly after the redraw emails are sent

Oh, I see!

So... Am I still allowed to have some hope on the redraw? D

[Prince_Xanthius]

Oh, I see!

So... Am I still allowed to have some hope on the redraw? D

Haha yep, redraw shouldn't have been done yet as any winners had 2 weeks from Sunday the 18th to reply

[Ylvanne]

Haha yep, redraw shouldn't have been done yet as any winners had 2 weeks from Sunday the 18th to reply

OwO!

I'm so excited (again)!

I know I shouldn't let my hopes go high but... I can dream right? (I probably shouldn't, tho.. It was hard to get over not winning the first time already... )

[Lily14130]

OwO!

I'm so excited (again)!

I know I shouldn't let my hopes go high but... I can dream right? (I probably shouldn't, tho.. It was hard to get over not winning the first time already... )

I'm so excited, too!

We can dream together!

[aurora-australis]

I think I've decided to influence mine female, since I really want to breed her with Radiant Angels and male Golds! These pairings are giving me a lot of ideas, but those are my two favorite pairings so far.

Ahhh, I completely forgot that Radiants are male only. :/

 

In terms of holiday breeds, I really want to breed mine with Rosebuds, Solstices, and Mistletoes. There are also a number of breeds where I prefer the female sprite (Harvest, Fleshcrowne, Spring, Autumn, Undine, etc.), so I'd like to be able to pair him with those.

Plus I'll be able to breed myself a mate for this Arsani that I caught by surprise last year!

[Talisraye]

Haha yep, redraw shouldn't have been done yet as any winners had 2 weeks from Sunday the 18th to reply

Interesting. I can only hope, too. I haven't ever won anything on any of my sites, especially dragcave.

[Ruby Eyes]

Ahhh, I completely forgot that Radiants are male only. :/

 

In terms of holiday breeds, I really want to breed mine with Rosebuds, Solstices, and Mistletoes. There are also a number of breeds where I prefer the female sprite (Harvest, Fleshcrowne, Spring, Autumn, Undine, etc.), so I'd like to be able to pair him with those.

Plus I'll be able to breed myself a mate for this Arsani that I caught by surprise last year!

You'll have to decide then, since Rosebuds, Solstices, Arsanis and Mistletoes are all female-only The cave is cruel at times, isn't it?

[aurora-australis]

You'll have to decide then, since Rosebuds, Solstices, Arsanis and Mistletoes are all female-only The cave is cruel at times, isn't it?

Well I'd already made up my mind that I want it to be male, it's just kind of disappointing that Radiant Angels are also male. They're one of my favorite holiday breeds so far. c:

[zaverxi]

Well I'd already made up my mind that I want it to be male, it's just kind of disappointing that Radiant Angels are also male.  They're one of my favorite holiday breeds so far. c:

Even-gens are still an option! Even if you can't breed your prize directly with a RA, you could always make a shimmer/RA/other dragon lineage. Maybe use another dragon that you like the female sprite of as an intermediary, like the harvests you mentioned.

 

 

Not bad.

 

Or a spiral, that looks pretty nice too!

 

[aurora-australis]

Even-gens are still an option! Even if you can't breed your prize directly with a RA, you could always make a shimmer/RA/other dragon lineage. Maybe use another dragon that you like the female sprite of as an intermediary, like the harvests you mentioned.

 

 

Not bad.

 

Or a spiral, that looks pretty nice too!

 

Good idea! I'm glad you reminded me of the spiral part, because I'd been thinking that I'd love to make spirals with each of the different holidays. I also still love even gens, so I'm open to that as well. It's going to be so much fun to try coming up with lineage ideas!