Less Dragon Updates

[Lastalda]

I think scheduled monthly releases of 1-2 breeds (3 as absolute maximum, and only 1 breed if there are different variations!) are pretty ideal to both provide people with new dragons and not over-tax those who like collecting some of each breed but also like breeding in between releases.

 

I really want the scheduled releases back! They were so much nicer for those of us who are very busy IRL and hence have very limited online time, especially on weekends!)

Edited May 13, 2015 by Lastalda

[Odeen]

I like pretty things, so more pretty things more often is always my preference. IMO, the only time a release felt overwhelming was the 7th birthday mass release when everything came through in a huge rush. Anything less than that (which was itself an unusual case) I think is fine for the average DC user to manage.

[Shin'a'in]

I think scheduled monthly releases of 1-2 breeds (3 as absolute maximum, and only 1 breed if there are different variations!) are pretty ideal to both provide people with new dragons and not over-tax those who like collecting some of each breed but also like breeding in between releases.

 

I really want the scheduled releases back! They were so much nicer for those of us who are very busy IRL and hence have very limited online time, especially on weekends!)

THIS! Due to health reasons as of late,I can't be lurking the forums 22/7 so having the scheduled releases back would be AWESOME...especially since I very nearly missed the April release COMPLETELY.

[VixenDra]

THIS! Due to health reasons as of late,I can't be lurking the forums 22/7 so having the scheduled releases back would be AWESOME...especially since I very nearly missed the April release COMPLETELY.

Same.

I discovered it purely by a lucky accident

Edited May 13, 2015 by VixenDra

[Vhale]

I don't support fewer releases. 6 months without a regular one was too long as it is.

[Lavinia]

First, remember that this thread isn't representative of the opinions of the DC user base - not all kinds of users will self-select to be active on the forums and on Suggestions/Requests. Please don't cite statistics such as

There may be one member saying 'STOP THEM AND LET ME CATCH UP' while ten say 'KEEP THE RELEASES COMIN BABY.'

We have no idea what is the userbase's actual spread of opinions.

 

Second, be careful what you wish for - it may come true. (This applies to people on the "fewer releases!" side and those on the "more releases!" side.)

 

Personally, I loved the regular, scheduled releases for a while. Then it felt stale and predictable. Then the releases became fun surprises again, and I'm still loving that. After a while, I'm sure I'll be sad and missing the previous regularity. I loved the 7th birthday release for a couple of days and then it became stressful and overwhelming. I loved the between-holidays breaks from releases each year all the way up until late February, when a March release still felt a long way off, then it started to feel boring.

 

I played a different adoptables game for a couple of months, which had 10-20 new releases per month on average. At first that was exciting - so many sprites! It quickly became tedious. I stopped caring if I collected all of the new ones, because there were just so many that each individual one felt like a checkbox, rather than a special new breed. Also, when accepting so many sprites, the quality of the accepted art went way down; there were still some beautifully sprited breeds, but many of them were messily done or just plain ugly. I love that DC goes a different route than the average adoptables game. Breeds are only released 1-3 at a time (lately), and each new breed feels special. There is enough time between releases to get used to the new breed addition to the DC family. TJ is very selective about the released breeds and they are all beautifully done, and I wouldn't want that very high quality to decrease even though I know there are so many breeds waiting in the Completed List.

 

I think the number of sprites released per year could go down a little without making the game unplayable for anybody. I also think it could go up a little without making the game unplayable for anybody. By "a little," I mean new breeds should be reduced or increased by no more than 4 breeds per year.

 

Personally, I have piles of collecting projects and breeding projects (many are projects with Seasonals so there is always time pressure to breed the necessaries before the season changes). I can never keep up with even without new releases interfering with my breeding schedule. I actually chose to not catch eggs during the Pyralspite release because I was behind on breeding (then 2/3 of them went rare and... oh well). Every time there is a new release, I curse it for putting me even further behind on my projects. Even so, I wouldn't seriously advocate for substantially fewer releases, because they do add interest and decreasing them really would change the game.

[Mistress of Whispers]

I'd really like to go back to pre-announced releases, though they need not be 'regular and scheduled'. Just give us a heads-up when to be online and have a free scroll - I dislike having to choose between APing eggs, or hoping *this* release isn't the next Copper/Pyralspite. On a similar note, I'd rather not have any more super rates - too often it seems like the only way to catch those, is to be in a timezone that can be online for the first 12 hrs after a release.

 

As to quantity, I do like monthly but would prefer (roughly) only 2 new catches. I'm counting color alts as separate catches for that purpose (so Gemshards as a release on their own). That leaves room for collecting the new breeds *and* working on lineages at a decent speed.

[Syphoneira]

I'd say single Releases do have advantages - but also disadvantages, which is why I personally like having a mix of sometimes single and sometimes multiple Releases of varying sizes.

 

While I've liked all dragons of recent Releases, not everyone is going to like every dragon, since we all have different personal tastes.

 

In the past, we've had Releases of 3 or 4 types where I only really liked (and could then concentrate on) one new breed - and I'm not the only one.

 

It would be rather disappointing to those who happened to not like, or perhaps even actively dislike, the dragon in a single-breed Release...

 

 

Personally, I wouldn't want a really huge Release more than perhaps once a year or so, but if the dragons were all Commons, I'd actually like another big Release for DC's B-day, (quackly ducks flying moldy cheese overhead, lol,) although ideally spread out to 2 or 3 days per sprite, perhaps over two weeks of celebration, so that we get several pairs of each off the hop (and would LOVE the extra Time-based egg-slot for 4 pairs! for 3rd gens!) but that's just one of my fantasies, lol.

 

It certainly would help liven up the biomes, though.

 

But I do miss regular announced monthly Releases, although at least for DC's B-Day, I'll know to let my scroll empty out by the 21st, in case, although the 22nd seems more likely, being a Friday.

 

A lot of us have been spending much of various months not hunting or breeding prior to week-ends, on the off-chance of a Release, while others forget to check into DC at all, to see if any new dragons are happening and too-often, if one occurs, then miss the whole thing.

 

 

 

While the forum commenters may not necessarily express the views of the entire site in a representative manner, apart from unannounced Releases resulting in people potentially having to dump wanted eggs in case the new ones are hard to find afterward, how many people does anyone know who actually says: 'darn, pretty new eggs, gotta hate that', even if lineage plans are being put on hold in order to eagerly catch some of them?

 

 

Edit: one person's 'stale' may be another person's scheduling - and what appears, going by comments on and off-forum and personally felt results, to be the effects on the site of issues such as a lack of regular Releases (among other things, such as over-Common-blocked biomes and high - whether perceived as such or so in reality - Refusal rates,) are quite noticeable.

 

People come here to have fun, and new dragons which are catchable even for those with limited time are great fun, so that making the site more fun logically ought to result in more people spending more time here, and hopefully running some of the fansites they use while they're here.

Edited May 15, 2015 by Syphoneira

[AnanoKimi]

I'd really like to go back to pre-announced releases, though they need not be 'regular and scheduled'. Just give us a heads-up when to be online and have a free scroll - I dislike having to choose between APing eggs, or hoping *this* release isn't the next Copper/Pyralspite. On a similar note, I'd rather not have any more super rates - too often it seems like the only way to catch those, is to be in a timezone that can be online for the first 12 hrs after a release.

 

As to quantity, I do like monthly but would prefer (roughly) only 2 new catches. I'm counting color alts as separate catches for that purpose (so Gemshards as a release on their own). That leaves room for collecting the new breeds *and* working on lineages at a decent speed.

I'll actually have to agree with this. If at minimum it cannot be done in a "Release will be x day at x time" a simple "I plan to make a release next weekend so heads up" on the week before to at least give players a time frame of "Ok hatch and don't lock your self."

 

On top of that I can also agree that the more color variations or alt variations a release has, the less dragons that should be mounted on to it. So as the example used, gemshards having been their own release seeing as there were 3 different color variations with 2 gender versions meaning 6 total variations to collect.

 

Rares should also be spaced out as suggested meaning that maybe 1 rare to be released every 3-4 moths maybe with an uncommon release somewhere in there as well as common releases.

 

I dont see an issue with 1 release per month so long as that is used for releases like the gemshards. Otherwise I think we can do 2-3 common dragon releases in one go should they have only one variant to catch per breed.

[brisingrrider1]

I definitely agree with returning to scheduled releases as well as limiting the number of sprite sequences in the release. For myself, I prefer one or two dragons/sprites but three is manageable.

[Predat0rs]

I want to see scheduled releases returned. It's frustrating when I have some pretty good eggs and out of nowhere a release happens. As far as how many sprites? 3 is fine as long as one dragon doesn't have a different coloration or two. I'm speaking of the recent gemshards specifically. They could have been easily released on their own.

[lightningsky]

If the release is permanent, it doesn't bother me if they're frequent. I'll have forever to collect them - so usually if I'm not around, or have valuable eggs, I don't stress about being there at the exact moment they come out. Gotta learn to pace yourself.

 

Denying others of frequent releases isn't the way to go. Some people only play for the new things every now and then. ^^

[Syphoneira]

Well, most of us never do get blase about new eggs and do want to get them immediately, in no small part due to concerns about only being able to catch them in Floods.

 

But those who dislike frequent Releases can ignore them or only pick up a pair or whatever, as best suits them and their chosen playstyle.

 

When Releases are random and unannounced, though, it tends to foul up virtually everyone, one way or another.

 

Including those who might be planning trips away from internet access and pick the wrong week-end as a result.

 

It's a lot better when people can plan for things, know not to breed, hunt or trade a couple of days in advance so that they can fully participate in the Release without any added stress, something very few people need more of these days, lol.

 

 

[AnanoKimi]

Well, most of us never do get blase about new eggs and do want to get them immediately, in no small part due to concerns about only being able to catch them in Floods.

 

But those who dislike frequent Releases can ignore them or only pick up a pair or whatever, as best suits them and their chosen playstyle.

 

When Releases are random and unannounced, though, it tends to foul up virtually everyone, one way or another.

 

Including those who might be planning trips away from internet access and pick the wrong week-end as a result.

 

It's a lot better when people can plan for things, know not to breed, hunt or trade a couple of days in advance so that they can fully participate in the Release without any added stress, something very few people need more of these days, lol.

on top of that, with releases not being scheduled, one has no idea of the breed to be released could be the next Pyralspite in terms of it was meant to be a common uncommon but popular and huge demand has them at the almost impossible level of super rare.

[MessengerDragon]

Shouldn't this be discussing the frequency of releases, not the amount of prior warning?

[Fuzzbucket]

Shouldn't this be discussing the frequency of releases, not the amount of prior warning?

I think warning is a legitimate concern within this suggestion - as part of the problem with frequent unpredictable releases is never feeling safe to breed for lineages in case we miss a release - and while many of us want monthly ones, and more than one breed and the rest, it is a bit of a pain never knowing when these lovely things will happen. I think there would be more support for more/less call for a reduction if we could plan better

[Syphoneira]

I think warning is a legitimate concern within this suggestion - as part of the problem with frequent unpredictable  releases is never feeling safe to breed for lineages in case we miss a release - and while many of us want monthly ones, and more than one breed and the rest, it is a bit of a pain never knowing when these lovely things will happen. I think there would be more support for more/less call for a reduction if we could plan better

 

 

 

Bingo!

 

Some of us wind up not breeding or hunting half the week at points where there's any slim possibility of a Release; some of us wind up dumping wanted eggs because we're afraid we'll only be able to catch new eggs in a Flood and that never be able to get any/many later; some of us now often only check in to see if there's a Release - and then may well miss them anyway.

 

Those of us who pretty much have a tent set up in DC are usually OK - as long as we don't hunt or breed several days a week in any month where a Release hasn't occurred, just in case - but part of the fun of a New Release is getting eggs immediately and parking on the thread to share the excitement and speculation, or being able to catch quickly while on a break or before running off to work, school/shopping, whatever.

 

Leisure time normally has to be scheduled between RL things, and not everyone has internet access and time to play games at any given moment.

 

But if Releases are invariably a worry because people never know when they'll occur or if they'll be able to catch the eggs later, there goes a good deal of the fun.

 

And if people are worried about catching 1 new egg, this multiplies exponentially with more.

[cyradis4]

I think warning is a legitimate concern within this suggestion - as part of the problem with frequent unpredictable releases is never feeling safe to breed for lineages in case we miss a release - and while many of us want monthly ones, and more than one breed and the rest, it is a bit of a pain never knowing when these lovely things will happen. I think there would be more support for more/less call for a reduction if we could plan better

I agree.

 

I love all releases, whenever they happen. It keeps things moving, and.... To be honest, I got really really really bored with the site right around February. Holidays had grown, no new releases, and nothing was breeding.

 

So, I do not support this. I like the monthly releases.

 

Mind, I would much prefer for advanced notification, or a schedule.

 

Cheers!

C4.

[nlechoppa]

Monthly releases and about 3-4 dragons each month would be good. The backlog of completed dragons is enormous.

[brisingrrider1]

Monthly releases and about 3-4 dragons each month would be good. The backlog of completed dragons is enormous.

The sheer amount of completed dragons is indeed a /lot/, but so is 3-4 dragons per month, all at once. If the releases were spread out more like people in the thread have been suggesting, 3-4 dragons over the span of maybe 2 months is fine as well.

 

Perhaps a beginning of the month and a mid month release? Or maybe drop the dragons, not in a flood, but in small batches at a time? Spreading out releases makes things more manageable for players.

[Syphoneira]

One problem with having Releases more often than once a month would be that such Releases represent a lot of work for TJ, who's also working full-time.

 

Personally, I happen to like having varied Releases, some large, some small, some singles.

 

If I recall correctly, the single Releases were originally suggested by various forum members as being suitable for fill-ins between Holidays, and a major issue with the more traditional multiple Releases used to be not that there were too many pretty dragons, assuring that people would like at least one dragon among them, but that they were not always possible to easily obtain later. (Edit: or in some cases, that it was possible to obtain nothing else for quite some time.)

 

If we had the extra Time-Based Egg-Slot, probably most of us could get a pair of each of 4 types off the hop and, if (please, all of the Dragon Gods!) Commons, fill out basic pairings down the road.

 

I have to admit that on special occasions, such as DC's B-day or perhaps something random like the Mod Mayhem Release, a larger release than 2 or 3 eggs would be nice, at least from my viewpoint, only perhaps spread out over a couple of weeks or even just week-ends, with 2 or 3 days to allow people to hatch eggs between. (The fantasy lives, lol, but TJ might need hypnosis applied and new batteries first.)

 

But the major excitement of the site always came with new eggs and plenty of them...

Edited May 19, 2015 by Syphoneira

[AngelicGracelyn]

Personally, I had the most fun when I had a backlog of dragons to catch up on. Now, I've pretty much got one of everything (except neglected, dinos, and leetle tree. But hunting rares can be a bit. . fruitless for my slow computer.), and breeding isn't really a hot topic for me.

 

I for one wish there were more dragons to collect o^o But in the mean time, I like to lurk in Dragon Request, lookin' at all the pretty dragons that may get released in the future.

[Whitefire]

Not certain but i think the scheduled releases were nixed in part due to stress? Or something? What if we at least got 'A release is going to happen at some point this week!'

 

It gives us time to clear out our scrolls and leaves a bigger window than a specific day for the TJ to do the thing, and we wont know the specific day like usual but not at stressful because well at least have some sort of warning.

[Mistress of Whispers]

Some of us wind up not breeding or hunting half the week at points where there's any slim possibility of a Release; some of us wind up dumping wanted eggs because we're afraid we'll only be able to catch new eggs in a Flood and that never be able to get any/many later

^ This.

 

At this point I sorta dread new releases since they force me to eithero AP eggs that I do want, or hope that this release isn't the next Copper/Almandine. Neither is any fun. I get why TJ cancelled fixed monthly releases, but a simple heads up ("release sometime next weekend ya'all!) would be all we need to unlock in time.

[Lurhstaap]

You know what? I was on hiatus for several YEARS. But I don't expect the game to slow down just to cater to me. That was my own decision and my own mistake. And frankly I haven't found catching up to be particularly difficult. I had a bronze trophy when I first started actively playing again last year and I'm already up to gold trophy. With trading (and I find the market at lower levels to be way more active than some will tell you) and wonderful gifting communities like The Giving Tree here on the forums, it's really not that hard to get caught up.

 

Of course, I'm not the sort of person who tries to get every sprite possible, but even if I were, I'd feel the same way. The game has to cater to its -active- players, not to people who wander off and come back a while later.

 

Unscheduled vs. scheduled releases are a different issue. Personally I get why TJ likes making them a surprise, but I also think that -all- of them don't necessarily need to be that way. Having some appear as a surprise while others are given a week's 'heads-up, release incoming' warning would make things a bit less stressful for people. (Although personally I've never had a problem dumping lesser priority eggs to make room for new releases, but then again that's because when I'm locked it's almost always with easily replaceable stuff.)

Edited May 19, 2015 by Lurhstaap