Returning abandoned eggs protocol

[sparkle10184]

It depends on the egg... I have a hard time catching rares with my slow internet, so when I do get something really nice from the AP I get very excited. I'm not sure I could bring myself to give back a CB Gold.

[AGYK]

Just my 2c - once you abandon something it's gone, auto'd or not. It's reasonable to ask for an auto'd egg back, but not reasonable to actually expect it. A lot of players don't even have forum accounts. And if you ask someone to return a valuable egg, I think it's only fair to give them something in exchange. Back in the days when trades were bounced through the AP and there was a formal Lost in Trades thread, it was fairly common for someone to put you on the list for the dragon you returned a lost egg from, or to give you a roughly equivalent breeding.

 

With that said, if someone asks politely for an egg to be returned, I see no reason not to return it. There's nothing particularly special or valuable about an Incubate, an Influence, or a Teleport unless you're brand-new and have relatively few BSA dragons available. Players with bigger dragon collections will probably not even notice the extra spent BSA. There's certainly nothing valuable enough there to be worth keeping an egg you would otherwise return.

 

There shouldn't be drama about abandoned eggs. You abandoned it, someone else found it, that's how the game works. Killing a parent shouldn't be happening unless that parent was slated for death anyway (as in the case of the 2g Spitfires I abandoned to catch Spirit Ward eggs during their release - the parents are due to be sacrificed as zombie fodder and are named as such). Spite-killing is just rude.

[Ribombee]

If I accidentally AP something, I just assume it is lost and move on. If I ever saw a dragon with names like "PLEASE RETURN EGG", I would definitely contact the breeder, however. It's just a nice thing to do, and I try to be a nice person, in general. I see no reason to cause drama over it, though. Sure, if it is a hard-to-get outcome (like a prize or metal from a really common mate) it might be nice to have it returned, but EVENTUALLY you can rebreed it and get the same outcome.

[shades-of-chaos]

I've abandoned more valuable eggs than I care to admit. When it's a metal from one of my metal checker projects that I've been trying to breed for months, I'll change the parents names to something like "Accidental autoabandon" and "shadesofchaos would love her baby back", and pray I get a PM X'D I've gifted things like a 3G prize or CB metal to people who've returned metals that I've spent months trying to breed, that's how important they are to me...and often I do actually get them back! Anyone who returns an egg to me are awesome and usually end up getting showered in 'thank you' gifts because they didn't have to give my egg back yet they were kind enough to do so, and I want to make sure they don't regret that decision.

 

The one really bad experience I had was with someone who PMed me just to tell me that they caught my metal egg and that they wouldn't be giving it back because it was "my own damn fault" for not paying more attention when breeding and that I "could go suck it because I had no right to ask for it back". They even named it "Not ur property".

 

...I'm sorry, but excuse me? Changing the parents names is just a request on my part - a request I'm more than entitled to make. I'm not entitled to get the egg back, but I sure as hell am entitled to at least ask. I didn't kill the parents (though I was so ridiculously close...) but I did change the parents names to something stupid like "asjdkfljsdflkjsdlfjsdlfjslfdjldkfjlsd"...I pretty much keyboard smashed until I couldn't add more letters and hoped it would annoy them as much as they were annoying me by their attitude. Yes, it was immature, but they were so rude that I refuse to feel guilty about it I don't care if someone keeps an egg I requested to get back (I would never kill a parent or rename it something ridiculous like I did this time to someone who just kept the egg) but don't be a jerk about it like this guy.

Edited September 1, 2015 by shadesofchaos

[Confused Cat]

When I catch an egg that I recognize as something someone has posted on the forums as accidentally auto'd, or the parents were renamed to something indicating they would like it back, I will always return it.

 

If I accidentally auto-abandon something I would have wanted to keep, I'm not sure whether I would try to get it back, because if it is found by a not-very-nice person like the one shadesofchaos encountered and I got a PM like that, I wouldn't know how to deal with that emotionally. (I'm an adult, but sometimes... I'm not.)

I'd rather just hope it will end up on a nice person's scroll and make someone happy.

 

(On the other hand, I hope everybody else will rename the parents or post about eggs they want back, because I wouldn't want to accidentally keep something that is dearly missed by someone else... It's complicated! )

[Pippyspot]

Hmm I didn't think it was a big thing either, I've never actually gotten an AP egg that someone has wanted back, but I often see people with signatures saying they've accidentally abandoned an egg and would like it back. I think it's up to the each individual if they actually want to give it back or not, they shouldn't be pressured to do so. It's up to the original owner of the egg to check before breeding that they have space for it, and if they have more than one of the same egg, to check it's the egg they actually wanted to abandon

 

With that said, I think asking for your egg back is fine whether that be with a message or changing parents names, but harrassing or killing parents/changing names with intent to upset/bully/guit trip is just taking it too far. It happens, most of us have done it at some point, I auto abandoned a Silver Tinsel x Mistletoe just lately by mistake, but hopefully someone found it and it made them happy

[KittyHeart]

I would return an egg if I was asked to nicely and if the person explained why the egg held so much value to them. If a person ever expects me to return the egg without them even asking for it back then too bad for them. My scroll name and forum name is the same so it will be easy to contact me about something like this. I also believe it is finders keepers on the AP page. So if you didn't pay close attention to tour scroll limit when breeding rares then it is not my problem.

[Amazon_warrior]

Generally, my attitude is "If it's in the AP, it's fair game for everyone" - and that definitely includes dragons I've accidentally auto-abandoned. I can think of very few occasions when I've looked to reclaim an auto'ed egg, but usually if it's gone, it's gone and I hope the finder likes it.

 

OTOH, I usually don't mind returning something if I was asked nicely. Key word is "nicely!"

[Prince_Xanthius]

I've never got hold of an AP egg that had changed parents name as far as I can remember, and have never been aware of anyone looking for one, but I think if I did then it would depend a lot on how much I needed that egg (such as for a lineage or scroll goal) and how much I felt I could ignore the request (named parents probably can ignore, a PM not so much). There would be very few instances that I can think of however where I would NOT return the egg should I be aware someone was looking for it. Well, if it was a CB anything then tbh that's your own fault, screenshots or no, but something you bred I'll happily return if I know you want it.

 

I remember autoing a holiday I really needed once, and changing the names of the parents and getting it back. Unfortunately I can no longer recall which dragon or which user and I don't have the info on my spreadsheet (usu I would note something like that down!), but I was incredibly grateful. I think it's a nice gesture and is one of the better interactions seen in the DC community.

[Ylvanne]

To be honest, I think that returning a dragon that was auto abandoned, is the right thing to do. I understand the "if it hits the AP is fair game", but I do not share that opinion. I wouldn't force anyone to give back my autoed eggy, but I'd never keep for myself an egg that was autoed by someone else.

 

Recently, I autoed an Ice I really, really wanted to have. It was a mix up of being distracted because feeling angry about something in personal life, and internet issues, because I've clicked on an egg on the biomes several times and after long time loading I got the message "egg has been taken by someone else", so I bred my dragons thinking I didn't manage to get the egg. What a surprise when my egg aoutoed and I went to check my dragon's first page and there was the egg I wasn't supposed to have.

I renamed the parents and got a PM from a lovely person that returned the Ice back to me. I offered something in return but the person said they didn't need anything. I'm eternally grateful and I'd try to get anything for that person if I was asked.

 

I think thanking the person that returns your egg is very, very important, because they don't have the obligation to give back your egg.

Something like what happened to shades is really awful. Even if that person didn't have to give back the egg, they didn't need to act like a complete jerk.

 

I honestly believe that being a nice person is important, and even if you don't get a PM or if the egg you caught is really valuable, if you find out the egg was autoed, you should at least PM the owner to see what could be done about it.

Off course, if you're the one who abandoned it, you shouldn't demand for your egg to be returned, you should be nice and then be grateful if eggy is returned.

Edited August 31, 2015 by Ylvanne

[Gealach]

Some time ago I accidentally abandoned an egg I needed, so I renamed the parents, and a few days later it was returned to me. I'm very grateful to that person, and I'll definitely do the same if I come across an egg someone is looking for.

[Carthasis]

Eh. I'm of the "if it's left your scroll, you're no longer entitled to it" mindset. All that trading via getcode links before teleport gives one a thick skin

 

I generally speaking only keep CB eggs, rare eggs, or eggs with a very nice lineage from the AP, and I only keep stuff I really want. So if somebody wanted something back... I would return it. On the condition I get the next identical egg from that pair - in which case I suspect most people would chose to just breed the next egg for themselves and write off the auto-ed one as a loss.

[elynne]

I returned several eggs back in the days when the AP was the only way to transfer, but haven't since the introduction of Magi. if somebody contacted me, or if I noticed the parents' names had been changed, I'd likely give it back--but I'd be kind of o__o about it.

[Iside]

It happened me once that I found a gold egg in the AP. It was a nice 3rd gen checkered with a lot of common siblings bred before it, so I wrote to the breeder asking if it was auto-abandoned by mistake and that in that case they could have it back clicking on the trading link. They took it without even answering back my PM.

 

Since then, if I find something pretty in the AP, if I see the parents are renamed like "please return to xxx" or if I am politely asked to return an egg I would gladly give it back. But otherwise it is mine and point.

[Natayah]

Well, I'll answer this since it recently happened with me. I breed a lot of stuff to the AP and a lot of stuff to give away via Forums. If I breed something nice to the AP by accident, I just replace it, generally speaking. (I Had a gold x rosebud for awhile that would occasionally breed 3EG Gold Egg I actually wanted to keep but managed to AP drop it by mistake twice before I got a final third breeding to keep myself, but it wasn't anything I would have died to hunt down.)

 

Normally I don't and wouldn't care. I'm happy if someone got a nice line for me, even if my intention was that I would have preferred to keep it. If I drop it to the AP, its gone, and not mine and I certainly have no intention of "demanding" it be returned or harassing someone into returning it to me. I would rename the parents, offer something nice (I believe in offering a finders fee, I mean, goodness of heart and do unto others is nice, but I think you should offer something for someone's time and effort or just luck. But I appreciate very kind people and know many people wouldn't ask or would prefer just a thank you, that being said, If I returned something of value, I'd like to be offered something to replace it and then decide if I wanted it or not. I just think it means the person was more serious and understood someone was giving up something.), and if I get it back, great, if not, that's fine too.

 

My particular situation on this last egg happened to be the ONE time I wanted and needed to do something for someone and felt like a complete and utter moron and wanted to curse myself for not even checking before attempting to breed. It's not like I couldn't replace a future one, I just wanted to do something on a certain time schedule to help someone who had helped me and it was really nothing to do with owing the egg to someone or wanting to trade it for my benefit. If it was for my benefit, I wouldn't have cared. I felt like I was letting someone down I had promised to help and felt horrible. I hate that feeling.

 

But I talked to some people, and within less than a week, the situation was resolved, fixed and actually in a better position. I guess I could have changed the parents name, but I also did spend a few hours hunting the AP at least attempting to find it when I calculated I thought it should have hit. So I appreciated getting it back, and would have certainly offered nice things in return for it, but it ended up after all was said and done, I was actually ok and didn't need to get it back. I wasn't sure until I was specifically told I was ok and at that time, returned the egg back to the nice person who returned it to me and offered them whatever else they might want of various varieties before and after. And I'd have been happy to return the original returned to me baby and then some just for being nice. Cuz I appreciated the effort and kindness and that it didn't need to be done.

 

But I also know people do some crazy things when they "lose" an egg and "don't have it returned to them." View bombing the egg (most common response), killing off one of the parents (although both which you mentioned sounds crazy to me and that just makes me sad to think someone would do that), sending bunches of PMs, stating mean things about that person, etc. etc. I don't understand that reaction. They game clearly states if the dragon isn't on your scroll, you have no possession or rights or claim to it. I don't see a point to posting it on the forums cuz I think it draws more unwanted attention to the situation, so I think temp Renaming the parents is the best solution. But, using the forums, you will also have a bunch of nice people who would watch the AP and help it to just be nice. It depends.

 

But, in a nutshell, I wouldn't normally ask unless it was a really unusual circumstances, and I don't understand people not saying Thank you, offering something in return, or being jerks and doing extreme things. But I also know some people are super possessive of owning where "their" offspring goes. And I don't get that either.

 

I am on the nice side of things and would return it if I found an egg, but I would expect someone to be grateful and thankful. If someone was a big fat jerk however, I would seriously think twice.

Edited August 31, 2015 by natayah

[tjekan]

I know an accidental abandon does happen every once in a while, and when it does the person is overjoyed to recover that egg-- but the VAST majority of the eggs in the AP were abandoned there on purpose. If you're picking them up, hatching them, and then PMing them back to the people who bred them, I'm really not surprised that you're not getting thanked. Most people who drop eggs to the AP have no interest in getting them back and are probably very confused that you're doing this.

[Lizzyluna]

I was here before Teleport existed and trades were a pain, with the constant risk of losing an egg that took weeks to breed. So yes, I'd give the egg back because I've experienced how much it sucks to lose one myself.

[Jazeki]

If I picked up an egg that I saw someone was looking for whether through forum signature or by re-naming parents, I would do my best to return it. Otherwise, finders keepers.

 

For me, I've accidentally bred things to the AP, but I saw no reason in trying to get them back because someone else may enjoy the egg. I also don't see the point in angrily naming or killing a dragon because the offspring was not returned.

[olympe]

Personally, I probably would return an egg that was auto'ed if I'm asked nicely. Someone with a bad attitude, though, is a very different thing altogether. First of all, I'd tell them what I think of their attitude, then block them from PMing me again (if necessary). If one of the parents of my new egg got killed, I'd probably go to the trouble and make a description for that dragon stating the how and why, making at least (not-so-)veiled hint at the breeder acting out of spite. And, of course, let other people now about this "nice" person.

 

Of course, a name for the baby dragon that says something like "Spite Killed My Mommy" would also work quite nicely, especially with the description in tow...

Spite Killed My Mommy - or Skimm, for short - learned early on that humans are not to be trusted. First, she was abandoned because the keeper of her parents was careless with her egg, which she actually witnessed from within its confines. Because of that, it took a lot of love by the human who picked her up to coax her out of the safety of her shells, which had become her only safe haven. Later, as an adolescent, Skimm took great pains to find out more about her family's whereabouts. When she finally found the place their parents called home, she only found her father still alive. Her mother, indeed, had been killed by her keeper as a punishment for "neglecting her egg", even though Skimm vividly remembers that her abandonment was not her mother's fault. This only served to reinforced the earliest lesson she learned in life: To never trust a human being. She also learned rather quickly that humans taste best when burned to a crisp charcoal on the outside, leaving the inside still juicy. [...]

Edited August 31, 2015 by olympe

[tjekan]

It sucks even more when somebody TRADES you a nice low-gen prize egg, then kills its parent because they're ticked off with somebody else who isn't even you. Yeah, never going to be trading with that person again, not that he cares, LOL. :-)

[NotBambi]

It sucks even more when somebody TRADES you a nice low-gen prize egg, then kills its parent because they're ticked off with somebody else who isn't even you. Yeah, never going to be trading with that person again, not that he cares, LOL. :-)

You're so right. Actually I did not had that experience but I knew about the issue so when, not long ago, the person was posting a trade, I avoided it like the pest and I bet I was not the only one.

 

Anyway, back to topic. I've been quite lucky. My experiences with returning eggs were positive. The person that had bred the first egg I returned (and she is responsible for me joining the forum, so blame her ) was offering a reward, I think was a CB Silver. That I do not took, not because I'm a saint but because while the returned egg was very valuable for her for lineage reasons, was not for me. Fair is fair. The latest experience (just happened) was very nice as well. The breeder found out that she didn't need the baby anymore and I have it back. Thank you, you know who you are

Friends of mine, the ones that mocked me heavily and made me start this thread, had unpleasant experiences.

 

All things considered, after reading different posts, I think that I'll keep returning eggs even if I'm not asked to. In particular because, not having my username in my dragons and having a scroll username that is different from my forum username, that's unlikely to happen But if I catch an egg in the AP with the names of the parents changed to give information, I will do my best to return it.

 

Edited because I can't write

Edited September 1, 2015 by NotBambi

[Cinnamin Draconna]

I'm of the 'if you abandon it, it's no longer yours'... even if it was an accident. I've goofed MANY times, and while it would be nice if I could get the eggs back, I've NEVER demanded their return... heck, I've rarely even asked.

 

The only ones that really upset me are when I accidentally abandon a lineage egg. Case in point, I lost a Targaryen egg just a couple of days ago.. I bred it to give to a new member of the lineage and totally forgot I was locked. (I was waiting on an incuhatchable egg and didn't realize that it hadn't hatched yet.)

 

The egg I lost is a hatchling now, so at least it's being taken care of which is good. I just wish there was some way to keep that dragon in the lineage, even tho it's not on my scroll or the intended giftee. Unfortunately, the new owner of the Targaryen hatchling isn't showing their scroll name, so I can't even PM them to ask them to name it appropriately or join the lineage. *sigh*

[NotBambi]

The egg I lost is a hatchling now, so at least it's being taken care of which is good. I just wish there was some way to keep that dragon in the lineage, even tho it's not on my scroll or the intended giftee. Unfortunately, the new owner of the Targaryen hatchling isn't showing their scroll name, so I can't even PM them to ask them to name it appropriately or join the lineage. *sigh*

You could still rename one or both parents, just for a couple of days, to ask the catcher to contact you for "information on lineage". Maybe when the hatchling grows so they know you are not asking to have it returned.

[Esmeia]

I'd likely return an egg (as much as it might sting to if it was a really rare or valuable catch! :'D ) to someone who kindly asked for it back. I can understand that feeling of being a bit absentminded and breeding something when you were already full-up.

 

On the other hand, it's not hard to simply go up to that little trophy/the help page to see if you've hit an egg or overall limit yet. Only takes a second. And once it hits the AP, it's pretty much finders-keepers. If that person chooses to keep it, it might suck, but they caught it and shouldn't be harassed to "give it back".

[Firefury Amahira]

Add one more to the "will return if asked nicely, but otherwise if it's off your scroll, there is no obligation to return it" camp here. Along the same lines, that's why I never make any trade/giveaway requirements about naming, no biting, and so on- once that egg is off my scroll, any right I had to how it is treated has been forfeited.