ANSWERED:[Suggestion] Bring back scheduled releases?

[diaveborn]

I'm unsure if the joy of the new sprite balances out the stress. I think I've hit the point of neutrality on that, on a downward trend.

This is exactly what I'm experiencing. The fun I get from the site is starting to be not worth the way I feel during new releases. In a game where rarity is a thing and I don't even see rares/coppers/etc in the cave hearing "releases are permanent" does nothing to change how I feel. At this point, I sadly have to wonder what percentage of my staying here is due to fun and what percentage is due to habit.

[Natayah]

Honestly, I'm beginning to feel a bit burnt out on monthly releases. I appreciate the new beautiful sprites and they are amazing. I think they are so amazing they are starting to overshadow the old ones. I also get concerned about having too many breeds and not enough biomes to really get in a good rotational variety after the release.

 

I'm not saying we should take a break from releases or stop them, but I wish there were some months it would be dragons that some people will really like that others will not. That way some of the people can hunt them, and the rest of us can do other stuff. I don't like big multi-dragon releases too often. Its too much for me. We have so many dragons, and while this is great for people to love and hoard different designs, there are also certain ones that get left out of that love.

 

So I think, for some of those artists that want to do a tiny bit of touch up, that helps to spark some renewed love and attention in what we have now. Also, I like the Non Standard Breeds getting some more love and attention. That way we have more variety for those who really enjoy Two Heads, Drakes, Pygmies, etc, and with more variety, they might also get more into those breeds. I would also like to see some more Hybrids as this allows people to go into puzzle solving mode and breed with what they have now to find the "secret". And if they are missing the dragons to make this Hybrid... well now they need to go restock their scroll with two different dragons to get that Hybrid (or trade or get gifts too).

 

I like the random. I just think I'm starting to get overwhelmed with the numbers of variety. There are so many lovely dragons I still want to see released, but I'm not sure how I feel about balancing that against with the ones I have now. If I want to keep the best of the best, does that mean I have to limit myself to a few of each breed, choosing to completely disregard certain breeds that don't meet my personal standards of love. And then I find a dragon I love that needs that mate so then I go stock up on it? I want to "show off" my scroll. That's hard to do when I have multi-thousand dragons with many pages for people to sift thru. I think some scroll changes would make this less angsty for me. Cause I love the dragons, but I want my scroll to look awesome as well. People who have 8 or more pages on their scroll... even if every dragon was amazing... I wouldn't even know where to begin on trying to sort thru their scroll and enjoy it. This is why people have had to creating "offsite lists of their various best dragons" as their scroll just cannot convey that information in its current format.

 

So bring on the Releases, big and small, scheduled and unscheduled, I just think the scrolls in their current format make the number of dragons in this universe too large for even the most dedicated scholars in its current form of organization. And a scroll is what you use to show off your dragons, so it does tie in with releases too. Its not just about new dragons. It's about the scroll, the lineage, the hunt, the trade, the name, all of it.

 

I don't want my scroll to grow beyond 5 pages. My brain caps out at Four pages for some reason. It really preferred three. I love breeding projects, but I couldn't fathom doing my own checker.... too much time and too many options which breed is my best choice before something even more shiny catches my eye....

 

And as a final comment, I mentioned something about "rumors" of upcoming releases or a heads up notice a few hours, or few days before it happens. We had talked about wild dragons having fun play functions for us to visit them. If you decide to put in a "dragon rumor system," discovery of a new breed might be a good use for that idea. As a wild dragon is probably going to know about a new breed before the human explorers. And rare hiding dragons are more likely to trust a dragon before a human. Or a dragon might have heard of something. Maybe its not always right to keep us on our toes, but I think that might add to some fun and rumor speculation. Which, as long as it isn't always mostly false, would probably be something players might enjoy. And that is a way to spread info about a potential upcoming release, maybe even info about the breed, even if its false or offbase or only partially true.... sometimes speculation is fun to trying to figure out the mystery.

Edited July 31, 2015 by natayah

[StormWizard212]

The unscheduled releases don't really bother me, but I quite liked knowing when they'd be and wouldn't mind going back to scheduled releases. So I do support this suggestion, but it's not really a big deal, in my opinion. If a lot of people are experiencing stress the way things are currently going, though, then I think that's reason enough to change.

Edited August 1, 2015 by StormWizard212

[Syphoneira]

For what it's worth, I'm on the site every day (except for internet-free vacations) and I don't feel rewarded by the unscheduled releases at all. I feel hindered by them. "Better make sure your scroll is open in case there's a release this weekend. Oh, there's no release and you could have used the time for something else? Oh well, sucks for you." I'm unsure if the joy of the new sprite balances out the stress. I think I've hit the point of neutrality on that, on a downward trend.

 

That being said, I'm genuinely glad it's working out for some people, at least, even if I'm not really one of them. Dragon Cave doesn't have to work for me personally as long as it's working for a large amount of people.

 

I used to be in the 'wait for the hype to die down and then nab the eggs then' camp, but if I see things like the xenowyrms where it strikes me as plainly obvious the CBs are going to be soul-crushingly rare later the moment I even see them announced in the news thread (a single breed with six variations, the only wyrm so far, super gorgeous sprites, spread across all biomes, artificially flooded for more than 24 hours), it makes it clear to me that the mindset behind this tactic is regrettably not actually supported by the way this site functions. Probably not even intentionally; I dunno.

 

I don't enjoy it when I catch my eggs 'on time' in these scenarios - the moment scarcity sets in, I feel sad for the people who didn't manage to nab any. I've sat at my computer a few times before, unsure if I should continue hunting or if I should be giving the ones I've caught away. I'm not a super catcher, I am "just" OK at it (and sometimes get lucky), so the question mostly boils down to whether I think I can catch enough for myself or whether I should give up on my caveborn sets for that type for a few years and make sure people who are more active with lineages at least get some, since I won't be able to finish my set.

 

*takes deep breath*

 

That being said, I don't think this would be a problem if the ratio system were reworked, but since I don't know exactly how it works now, it's difficult to give concrit in that direction.

 

I do like the idea of a heads-up of a few days, though.

 

 

 

 

Totally agree! I always have DC up but typically wind up with an empty scroll on any weekend when a Release might be even remotely possible.

 

I was lucky enough to have been able to snag 7 Zeno's twice, just before the Flood stopped, and while I certainly didn't get the number I would have liked, also managed to gift an even dozen, (even if caught at a rate as low as of one or two a day or none some days,) to various people who'd missed out, before they became utterly invisible to me.

 

Except that if I hadn't managed to catch mine during the Flood, I'd have had very few and, being a selfish person here to collect dragons for my own scroll, would have gifted far fewer and probably not unless I'd managed at least a pair of each, which I might not have managed at all...

 

But then again, these people would have had the fun of being able to catch for themselves, had they made it for the Flood, as I did.

 

Once people get out of the habit of checking in even for Releases, they miss out, which seems at least as likely (far more, in my experience) to discourage them further as it is to encourage them to check in more often.

 

I know several long-term people still more-or-less-here some of the time but forgetting to check on eggs they may never have even put into fansites, which was most unlike them before, being here daily as they used to be and no longer are.

 

 

But yeah, some warning would help at least some people, if they happened to check in at the right times.

 

I'm currently holding two hatchies for someone I'd told I was going to try to trade for, (as eggs) but while she used to be on a lot, the past year or so, I suppose (I was gone for 7 months myself last year, with no internet, so not sure about time lengths for others, but I know that I was relieved to have missed so little, apart from the Pyrals, with a wonderful friend having fast work internet catching some for me as a series of surprises, and another gift from another wonderful person, arranged by yet another wonderful person, lol) she's just not been bothering with DC much anymore, except here and there, mostly for Releases, it seems, and I'm hoping these won't grow up before she thinks to check in to take them. People once DC-addicted just seem to literally forget about DC these days...

 

 

So we do need to bear in mind that many of the most discouraged people may not be on to give their viewpoints or if they still are, may not see much point in repeating things they may have been saying, or seeing others say, for years. It's mostly down to those who may not mind so much or ar all and those who've still stuck it out, hoping for positive changes.

[cyradis4]

Myself? If I think a release is likely, I work on things I don't mind tossing. A few extra CBs, some freezies, some "nice but not important" lineages, and the like.

 

But I would *really* like a heads-up a few days in advance. It could be as simple as "this week something fun is happening!" or, "don't worry about new stuff for 3 more weeks".

 

And for those who are looking for scheduled releases..... Come October, we'll be on a set schedule until after February.

October: Halloween

November: probably nothing but maybe something at the end

December: Christmas

January: nothing, unless you count the Raffle

February: Valentines

March: probably nothing, but maybe something at the end

 

So.... 5 months in ever year does have scheduled releases.... Because TJ never releases new stuff in a Holiday month, and very rarely in November and January.

 

Cheers!

C4.

[AnanoKimi]

A heads up is really a lot more feasible than the return of scheduled releases. I can understand how non scheduled releases could offer a little more freedom for TJ but seriously a heads up isn't gonna kill him or anyone for that matter. I pretty much almost missed the most recent release and well if it wasn't for the fact that these are dropping almost dirt common now I might have not even had a chance at getting one.

 

A week to three day advance heads up would be amazing considering some of us have things to do. Its really not that bad to say "Hey, you guys better have some space left over this week. Just saying." and the rest of us go "Oh okay." and done.

[perzephone]

I think I'm in the 'as long as I have a general day of the week to expect, I'm cool' camp. Right now I have the rare opportunity of being off on the actual weekend, so if there is a release I'm able to take my time with hunting.

 

I can definitely understand the frustration people feel by not knowing if they can breed or hunt for rares or whatever because they don't have a set date. Kids especially - they have no control over their family plans, so for them knowing that the release will be a certain weekend each month allows them to ask friends for help w/catching new eggs.

 

I would like to be able to breed more on the weekends than during the week - but I find myself waiting around with an empty scroll just in case. Being a grown-up means I can always tell the hubster, "hey, gimme 5 or 10 more minutes to fill my scroll..." and he usually indulges me, lol. And then I breed like crazy until the next month!

[Digital Decay]

I personally don't mind either way. I like the way it is now, you can guess when something is going to happen, but you never know for sure.

 

That being said: I think that a new release every month is just too much. I know that there are wonderful sprites on the Completed List, and I'd totally hoard the heck out of some if they are ever released... but, four weeks to catch a new dragon isn't really that much, unless you are lucky enough to have a totally empty scroll on the day they're released.

 

I think the main problem is that so many "common" sprites tend to become near unattainable after their release, so I feel compelled to catch as many as I can on the very first day. Unfortunately, that means every new release kind of throws me off course with my usual breeding plans and collections.

Lately I've observed that I don't really have scroll goals anymore, or care about the lineages that I'm trying to build, but merely try to gather as much "trade fodder" as I can get, just to get some of the new dragons in case I couldn't catch them on release day.

 

Not that I mind trading, but I used to care about the beauty of the sprites more than "can I trade that for something good?" and it's kind of sad that I don't get to enjoy the core of the game as much anymore, for fear of missing out on something [almost] permanently.

 

Edit: So, I think I'd enjoy random, but more spaced out releases the most.

Edited August 9, 2015 by Digital Decay

[olympe]

I know people are on both sides of this and I dont have an opinon but we kinda in a way do have a sceduled release, ever since random release the non holidays have come out the last weekend in the month every single time.

Pretty much this.

 

Anyway, I'm neutral by now. At first, I wanted scheduled releases back, but I can see how itmight be inconvenient for TJ to stick to a tight schedule. Overall, I'm okay with the way things are right now.

[Shajana]

It doesn't matter for me, but I really want to keep an release every month.