Solstice Sprites

[SilverQuetzal]

If that's what was intended, then it should have been common knowledge.

 

Not some random, unpleasant surprise when it's too late to do anything about it.

I can understand that is it not nice not to be informed. But in my opinion complaining does not help.

 

I would like a black sweetling or a tri coloured snowangel but my scroll say no. I do not complain about this. I think there are othe things that are not "nice" on this site.

 

Sorry for my English.

[TCA]

Edit: and if they ARE still going to be obtainable, somehow, sometime, someway--please stop toying with us and assure us of that, at least! I don't need details, but just confirmation that they'll keep being available...

This ;^;

[FiveSix]

Leaving behind the transparency issue in favour of dealing with what it's currently affecting:

 

Odeen, how would you feel about giving, say, Sunrise and Sunset dragons a BSA to switch individual Solstice dragons from Blue to Blush and Blush to Blue respectively? If that's something you'd not mind and is generally otherwise considered acceptable I'd like to suggest it as a BSA so people can get to use both lovely sprites with their own decisions on which works in which lineages.

 

And if Odeen wouldn't mind this, what would other people think?

 

Edit: I realise this makes some assumptions about whether the current plan is to keep them available, so if I'm wrong there just ignore this :3

Edited December 24, 2014 by ObsessedWithCats

[SilverQuetzal]

Leaving behind the transparency issue in favour of dealing with what it's currently affecting:

 

Odeen, how would you feel about giving, say, Sunrise and Sunset dragons a BSA to switch individual Solstice dragons from Blue to Blush and Blush to Blue respectively? If that's something you'd not mind and is generally otherwise considered acceptable I'd like to suggest it as a BSA so people can get to use both lovely sprites with their own decisions on which works in which lineages.

 

And if Odeen wouldn't mind this, what would other people think?

 

Edit: I realise this makes some assumptions about whether the current plan is to keep them available, so if I'm wrong there just ignore this :3

This would be a nice idea!

[Guillotine]

I can understand that is it not nice not to be informed. But in my opinion complaining does not help.

 

I would like a black sweetling or  a tri coloured snowangel but my scroll say no. I do not complain about this. I think there are othe things that are not "nice" on this site.

 

Sorry for my English.

Complaining is the only way TJ would know about the playerbase's feelings on game mechanics. If we stayed quiet, DC would probably have died from stagnation ages ago.

 

Plus, this isn't real life, it's a game where previously there were extremely few exclusives. I really don't like that this is indicating a trend towards more exclusive sprites (and I dislike basically every non-spriter alt (since they're gifts for the spriters) exclusive as well!).

Edited December 24, 2014 by Guillotine

[seshat1407]

I can understand that is it not nice not to be informed. But in my opinion complaining does not help.

 

I would like a black sweetling or a tri coloured snowangel but my scroll say no. I do not complain about this. I think there are othe things that are not "nice" on this site.

 

Sorry for my English.

The difference is that people KNOW full well some scrolls are coded for different sprites.

 

Or it's happened as a result of various glitches and site-issues and has been 'fixed' in a very short amount of time (iirc the issue with the Snow Angels was fixed within 24 hours).

 

None of those things were planned for a year in advance without telling anyone, despite it being very obvious that people were discissing e.g. their breeding plans for this dragon based on colour-schemes etc.

 

I don't have to be "nice" when people choose to pettily withhold information that affect the way I play my game. I can complain all I want about underhanded deceit and thoughtless superiority, thanks.

[lollipop00]

I can understand that is it not nice not to be informed. But in my opinion complaining does not help.

 

I would like a black sweetling or  a tri coloured snowangel but my scroll say no. I do not complain about this. I think there are othe things that are not "nice" on this site.

 

Sorry for my English.

Yes but Black Sweetlings still produce black sweetlings and tri-colors will still produce tri-colors on your scroll. Solstices will produce blue ones instead of sunrise/sunset on any scroll. Does a Pink Sweetling produce a black? No it does not (but it could if your scroll was made to do so), people are getting mad cause it does not stick to its intended color. They expected that color for over a year and made many lineages with it, and to make it turn out that they will turn blue? Well there goes many lineages down the drain. At least you know what color you were getting these we did not know.

[Ruby Eyes]

Odeen, how would you feel about giving, say, Sunrise and Sunset dragons a BSA to switch individual Solstice dragons from Blue to Blush and Blush to Blue respectively? If that's something you'd not mind and is generally otherwise considered acceptable I'd like to suggest it as a BSA so people can get to use both lovely sprites with their own decisions on which works in which lineages.

This sounds like an awesome idea Kind of like Soulpeaces whose BSA works on one type of dragon only as well!

[lollipop00]

Leaving behind the transparency issue in favour of dealing with what it's currently affecting:

 

Odeen, how would you feel about giving, say, Sunrise and Sunset dragons a BSA to switch individual Solstice dragons from Blue to Blush and Blush to Blue respectively? If that's something you'd not mind and is generally otherwise considered acceptable I'd like to suggest it as a BSA so people can get to use both lovely sprites with their own decisions on which works in which lineages.

 

And if Odeen wouldn't mind this, what would other people think?

 

Edit: I realise this makes some assumptions about whether the current plan is to keep them available, so if I'm wrong there just ignore this :3

I would very much like this instead. I get to keep the color I like and can adjust it to fit certain lineage needs.

Edited December 24, 2014 by lollipop00

[TCA]

Yes, some way to obtain both sprites in bred form would be lovely. I had been planning Almandine x Solstice for the longest time and the pink tones on the Solstice are what made it work. Same with Black Tea. However, I actually think my Silver Tinsel checker will look better without the sunset wings.

 

If the trick can be a BSA, fine. If it's breeding before/after the solstice, fine. Heck, making them based on whether you breed during the day or night would be fine!

[nextavengers]

My first solstice ever is one without the sunset wing, I like both but tbh I'd like it to be one or the other. Snow angels are annoying enough

[Lurhstaap]

TJ, I'm sorry, but this was a poorly thought out decision as a game designer. I get that you guys thought this was a pleasant surprise, but it's not for a LOT of us. I am extremely disappointed now. I will never own a sunset wing and it's honestly about to make me cry. Yes, I'll get over it, but I went to a LOT of work trying to catch Solstices because I liked them AS THEY WERE. This is frankly unfair. I understand that nothing is going to change, but I feel I must at least express my extreme disappointment. Please, in future, don't spring this kind of thing on us as a surprise. I realize that for you it's "always been planned this way," but we can't read your mind, and no, Odie didn't say a thing. Player communication is important and something like this should really not be done without warning. I say this, by the way, NOT merely as a DC player, but as someone who was head admin of a similar game for a couple of years. I have less experience than you do as a game designer, perhaps, but I know a bad player relations choice when I see it.

[angelicdragonpuppy]

I can understand that is it not nice not to be informed. But in my opinion complaining does not help.

 

Voicing our issues with the site has seen countless awesome changes happen--we got raised Christmas / Valentine limits, easier ways to sort our dragons, changes to how names are lost during inactivity, easier GoN summoning, maybe even Frills coming back. Like Guillotine said, it's precisely because we've spoken up before that the site has moved forward in these and other ways.

 

Also, like Lollipop said, at least Snow Angels and Black Sweetlings still breed true on certain scrolls. There's also no double dipping; you get one or the other between the variants, but it's not like some people were getting all the varieties while others got just one. Unlike now. It has other negatives as well.

 

1. This change highlights the difference between CB owners and non-CB owners. In the past, calls by some for past CB Holidays to be obtained have always been shot down because there's no "real difference" (although that's debatable, IMO) between sprites, but that's no longer the case.

 

2. Again, this is the first time a Holiday sprite will be unobtainable in original form after its initial release. I do not like the precedent this establishes, where every Holiday we might now have to worry about losing the original forms come next year.

 

3. Last but not least, it's pretty unfair to people who have been planning lineages and doing trades thinking they'd get the pink version. We've had 15+ Holiday releases without something like this happening. People had no reason to expect different this year, and now some are suffering because of the lack of forewarning.

 

Again, all of the above is operating on the assumption that pink wings will not be obtainable again. I sincerely hope I'm wrong and will later feel sorry for what a ninny I was about it. But since we have received exclusives in the past and both TJ and spriter have commented without giving us any bread crumbs to hope for their return... hard to be optimistic.

 

If it IS a permanent change, I would love to see a BSA that allows them to switch from blue to pink. In the extra info Odeen gave about the breed last year, it's stated that "For one week a year around the Winter Solstice, when the nights are longest, Solstice dragons will take to the sky at sunset and not land until dawn, their crowns shining like beacons in the darkness as they cavort among the stars." Perhaps such prolonged exposure to intenser than usual starlight causes a change in their coloration, one we can influence by whether or not we let our Solstices take part in the flight. I think that'd be a great way to let people enjoy the best of both sprites, and it'd make the change a positive one for me. I would like to have both colors... just not at the expense of the pinks!

Edited December 24, 2014 by angelicdragonpuppy

[SilverQuetzal]

Yes but Black Sweetlings still produce black sweetlings and tri-colors will still produce tri-colors on your scroll.

If you had one on you scroll yes. But Even when the mother is gold tri-coloured it woud turn white on my scroll. Same for sweetlings.

[JavaTigress]

Voicing our issues with the site has seen countless awesome changes happen--we got raised Christmas / Valentine limits, easier ways to sort our dragons, changes to how names are lost during inactivity, easier GoN summoning, maybe even Frills coming back. Like Guillotine said, it's precisely because we've spoken up before that the site has moved forward in these and other ways.

 

Also, like Lollipop said, at least Snow Angels and Black Sweetlings still breed true on certain scrolls. There's also no double dipping; you get one or the other between the variants, but it's not like some people were getting all the varieties while others got just one. Unlike now. It has other negatives as well.

 

1. This change highlights the difference between CB owners and non-CB owners. In the past, calls by some for past CB Holidays to be obtained have always been shot down because there's no "real difference" (although that's debatable, IMO) between sprites, but that's no longer the case.

 

2. Again, this is the first time a Holiday sprite will be unobtainable in original form after its initial release. I do not like the precedent this establishes, where every Holiday we might now have to worry about losing the original forms come next year.

 

3. Last but not least, it's pretty unfair to people who have been planning lineages and doing trades thinking they'd get the pink version. We've had 15+ Holiday releases without something like this happening. People had no reason to expect different this year, and now some are suffering because of the lack of forewarning.

 

Again, all of the above is operating on the assumption that pink wings will not be obtainable again. I sincerely hope I'm wrong and will later feel sorry for what a ninny I was about it. But since we have received exclusives in the past and both TJ and spriter have commented without giving us any bread crumbs to hope for their return... hard to be optimistic.

 

If it IS a permanent change, I would love to see a BSA that allows them to switch from blue to pink. In the extra info Odeen gave about the breed last year, it's stated that "For one week a year around the Winter Solstice, when the nights are longest, Solstice dragons will take to the sky at sunset and not land until dawn, their crowns shining like beacons in the darkness as they cavort among the stars." Perhaps such prolonged exposure to intenser than usual starlight causes a change in their coloration, one we can influence by whether or not we let our Solstices take part in the flight. I think that'd be a great way to let people enjoy the best of both sprites, and it'd make the change a positive one for me. I would like to have both colors... just not at the expense of the pinks!

I actually... would approve of this idea, ADP.

 

I understand that maybe the form we are seeing now is what the spriter orignally inteded, but SINCE it wasn't made clear to all of us that ONLY CBs, apparently would look like that, which i don't approve of, by the way... a solution like this , that would allow a person to collect BOTH sprites would be nice.

[Lurhstaap]

Complaining is the only way TJ would know about the playerbase's feelings on game mechanics. If we stayed quiet, DC would probably have died from stagnation ages ago.

 

Plus, this isn't real life, it's a game where previously there were extremely few exclusives. I really don't like that this is indicating a trend towards more exclusive sprites (and I dislike basically every non-spriter alt (since they're gifts for the spriters) exclusive as well!).

THIS.

[Lurhstaap]

If you had one on you scroll yes. But Even when the mother is gold tri-coloured it woud turn white on my scroll. Same for sweetlings.

Yeah but that's the whole POINT. Since they breed true on at least SOME scrolls, that makes it possible for people with OTHER scrolls to have a chance to at least ACQUIRE them. Not breed them true, maybe, but at least have a CHANCE to own them. This is a precedent-setting change in that paradigm which should not have been implemented without warning to the player base. Period. Again, on that point I speak not as a disgruntled player, but as a game designer. This was a bad move from a pure administrative perspective. I don't even have to look at this as a player to highly disapprove.

[lollipop00]

If you had one on you scroll yes. But Even when the mother is gold tri-coloured it woud turn white on my scroll. Same for sweetlings.

Do your colors still remain the same though every year? Yes they still do. Solstice Dragons were sunrise/sunset colors and now they are blue. They changed in a year without warning.

[Pteprocks]

Oh goodness, I suddenly wish I hadn't AP'd all my Solstice offspring.

[Fuzzbucket]

Sheesh. I am staying out of this thread before it spoils Christmas

[beautifuldragon5000]

Sheesh. I am staying out of this thread before it spoils Christmas

Same here. I stated my feelings and I am done.

[SilverQuetzal]

Same here. I stated my feelings and I am done.

I will do the same.

[angelicdragonpuppy]

@those above:

 

I guess the people who have already had their spirits slightly dampened by losing the chance to get or at least work with a beloved sprite are less important? *shrugs*

Edited December 24, 2014 by angelicdragonpuppy

[AnanoKimi]

Videogames are not life, for one. And while you may not have CBs, nothing is stopping you from getting Christmas sprites. Besides, of course, the ill-fated decision with the Snow Angels (ugh, tri-colors), and now these Solstices. But even with the Snow Angels at least, no unfair advantage is being given to older players as far as getting the dragon goes, it's random for everyone. That's true for everything, in fact, outside of Frills and Old Pinks which were only removed because of other circumstances. With all of the drama over those, you'd think they wouldn't make the same mistake again with these sprites.

 

It's also a mistaken conclusion to think that everyone here who doesn't like this decision hates the blue ones or wants them gone. I would rather it be alternating than have them removed entirely, I just don't like the red ones being exclusive.

The thing is exclusiveness happens. It is unavoidable. That aside though I understand not everyone wants them removed. Which is why I stated only those who want one or two or all their blue winged babies changed can. Otherwise eithe ra BSA to change them from blue to sunsetty or alternating sunset/blue wing releases every other year.

 

I'm not entirely saying "Suck it up." But.... if it is a permanent change and no plan is made to offer the CB version to those without it then, I'm sorry... but Oh well. It's TJ's game and if he wants to make certain breeds exclusive despite some disagreement he has every right to. If you don't like it but like the game then that is unfortunate and there is really nothing that can be done. Sadly if TJ does not want to or does not feel like changing it, he is not obligated to. You can cry to your local channel news but it does not mean his decision will change.

 

I do not agree with some decision but seeing as I do not invest in the site directly, nor do I own it, The best I can do is suggest a change. If it is shot down or not changed, then the best I can do is roll with it.

[Nyastara]

Leaving behind the transparency issue in favour of dealing with what it's currently affecting:

 

Odeen, how would you feel about giving, say, Sunrise and Sunset dragons a BSA to switch individual Solstice dragons from Blue to Blush and Blush to Blue respectively? If that's something you'd not mind and is generally otherwise considered acceptable I'd like to suggest it as a BSA so people can get to use both lovely sprites with their own decisions on which works in which lineages.

 

And if Odeen wouldn't mind this, what would other people think?

 

Edit: I realise this makes some assumptions about whether the current plan is to keep them available, so if I'm wrong there just ignore this :3

I really like your idea with the BSA. Both sprites look beautiful and I would love to collect more of each.