Make Eggs Visible in Biomes

[Alrexwolf]

This entire game already favors those with a faster connection; biomes loading faster, AP loading faster, able to load quicker on the 5 minute drops.

If we're really going to consider this internet speed shouldn't really be a factor unless it would be so much slower it would hurt everyone. Like, yes it sucks but also... it's unfortunately just kind of the name of a game like this. Internet speed is important. Even those of us with fairly good internet, like myself, have times where the biomes refuse to load or the AP loads like 1 egg at a time.

Even if your internet is fast, it doesn't mean you'll always get something just because you see it first. I've had plenty of times where I've clicked just like 1 pixel to the right of an egg and missed it because I had to then realize my mistake and click again. C'est la vie. 

 

I also don't think it benefits old users more than new users necessarily. Any user with x amount of a dragon could have the bonus, with the encyclopedia setup. I still have breeds I don't have a single individual of; I don't like them, therefore I don't keep them and don't raise them. I'm sure there are some older users who don't even have their entire encyclopedia full. 

That's kind of the beauty of a system like that, imo. I collect Sinii Krai, Fleshcrownes, Magelights, Bluesangs, and Specklethroats among others. Me being able to see their eggs in the AP makes sense even in-lore because my "player," self is probably an expert on them by now.

Heck, I'd support having a really high limit for the egg to show up; 15-20 eggs obtained, maybe? So you have to actually work to unlock it, not just passively breed or see them. Kind of like specializing your "player," in certain breeds you really like to be able to recognize them in the AP.

It'd be an awesome extra long-term goal for everyone, kind of like becoming a dragon master

[elderberrysyrup]

I can't say I really agree with this change purely because what is essentially argued is that it should be easier to hunt if we eliminate something that is intentionally used to mitigate the ease of hunting. If we want to do that then it should be entirely argued that this and any species that use this as a mechanic, such as lunar heralds, firegems, gemstone etc. should essentially be stripped of a mechanic.

It makes several variants (tan ridgewings and dorsals) easier to hunt and "lowers" the difficulty for reasons I still don't really understand beyond it's annoying so it should be removed. I don't really see that as a reason to remove something existing behind many species as it is. Am I missing something?

[Alrexwolf]

3 minutes ago, soullesshuman said:

I can't say I really agree with this change purely because what is essentially argued is that it should be easier to hunt if we eliminate something that is intentionally used to mitigate the ease of hunting. If we want to do that then it should be entirely argued that this and any species that use this as a mechanic, such as lunar heralds, firegems, gemstone etc. should essentially be stripped of a mechanic.

It makes several variants (tan ridgewings and dorsals) easier to hunt and "lowers" the difficulty for reasons I still don't really understand beyond it's annoying so it should be removed. I don't really see that as a reason to remove something existing behind many species as it is. Am I missing something?

The mechanics behind lunar heralds and firegems, at least, isn't in place because of hunting. If you catch a firegem or a lunar herald they're always going to be the same color based on the day or the time. Same as if you breed them. It doesn't really... hurt anything to have them shown. Anyone who got the wrong color would just toss 'em into the AP and get the color they want anyway.

As for those who have random colors in cave like gemshards or ridgewings, people have proposed good solutions; turn them grey, pick one of the colors to display in the biomes, etc. 

The reason it's a problem is because as we get more and more species anything that makes differentiating easier is warranted. Sure, when there were only a handful of breeds in the cave having a mystery egg certainly didn't hurt anything. It was easier to remember the descriptions back then, I presume. For some of us it's just a lot quicker to see images than to read an entire sentence. 

It also helps with breeds who have really nifty sounding descriptions that always get you hooked but they're the wrong darn thing. I can't tell you how many times I've picked up a two-headed lindwurm egg (a species I don't even raise or particularly like) because it had moonlight in it  Or how every time I see a Cassare egg "makes you feel uneasy," makes my brain go that must be some rad dragon! Take it! 

It'd also give a lot more fluidity to the descriptions. Nebula dragons changed their description out of the blue and I ended up with a handful of them because it was around the time of the 11th birthday celebration and my mind was like could that be a new dragon!

I think it'd also let us give some eggs more fitting descriptions. There's no reason so many eggs - from different biomes, no less - need the same bland description. I mean, Dr Paine said "the original pitch [for the flamingo wyvern egg description] was 'This egg is bright pink and smells like shrimp." 

On a site that's so lore-driven and takes pride in the individuality of its species, having a differentiating first impression in egg descriptions for each breed seems like a no brainer - even if they're close. 

Having an egg and a description would give TJ more flexibility to change either/or while still having the egg be recognizable and without much fuss. 

[elderberrysyrup]

1 minute ago, Alrexwolf said:

The mechanics behind lunar heralds and firegems, at least, isn't in place because of hunting. If you catch a firegem or a lunar herald they're always going to be the same color based on the day or the time. Same as if you breed them. It doesn't really... hurt anything to have them shown. Anyone who got the wrong color would just toss 'em into the AP and get the color they want anyway.

As for those who have random colors in cave like gemshards or ridgewings, people have proposed good solutions; turn them grey, pick one of the colors to display in the biomes, etc. 

The reason it's a problem is because as we get more and more species anything that makes differentiating easier is warranted. Sure, when there were only a handful of breeds in the cave having a mystery egg certainly didn't hurt anything. It was easier to remember the descriptions back then, I presume. For some of us it's just a lot quicker to see images than to read an entire sentence. 

It also helps with breeds who have really nifty sounding descriptions that always get you hooked but they're the wrong darn thing. I can't tell you how many times I've picked up a two-headed lindwurm egg (a species I don't even raise or particularly like) because it had moonlight in it  Or how every time I see a Cassare egg "makes you feel uneasy," makes my brain go that must be some rad dragon! Take it! 

It'd also give a lot more fluidity to the descriptions. Nebula dragons changed their description out of the blue and I ended up with a handful of them because it was around the time of the 11th birthday celebration and my mind was like could that be a new dragon!

I think it'd also let us give some eggs more fitting descriptions. There's no reason so many eggs - from different biomes, no less - need the same bland description. I mean, Dr Paine said "the original pitch [for the flamingo wyvern egg description] was 'This egg is bright pink and smells like shrimp." 

On a site that's so lore-driven and takes pride in the individuality of its species, having a differentiating first impression in egg descriptions for each breed seems like a no brainer - even if they're close. 

Having an egg and a description would give TJ more flexibility to change either/or while still having the egg be recognizable and without much fuss. 

With all due respect, this still seems to just be a boiling down of "it would be easier for me if it was like X, so it should be like X". I for one don't really find the differentiating of words particularly hard, nor difficult to really remember the description I'm hunting for. I'm not really seeing a need for this change. I would agree it would be easier and it would benefit me if it changed as well, but I also don't see why it is necessary for it to be changed just because it would make it easier to hunt. 

Also, I don't really mind the changed descriptions or whatever. I can see a need to change the descriptions of, maybe the "strange markings" eggs for the one case where there is an overlap in biome. I more have an issue with the completely visually showing each egg drop for the pure reason that it would be more convenient .

I am also not particularly worried about speed either; it is in fact faster to prevent images from loading onto a screen with a script, iirc. Add this to a browser like google chrome or an explicitly speed-based browser like pale moon and even a slow connection can make up for without needing images and just going by the description alone. It is partially why it can be very efficient to use bots- bots only need the HTML. Although, image-identifiers for such controlled circumstances are also pretty trivial to code.

(That being said, if it was given a separate reason, like to help those with dyslexia or similar, I can get behind this for those purposes.)

Also being said, I don't really understand how the encyclopedia works or why it works the way it does (I have raised a few dragons with it on and they repeatedly do not register in the encyclopedia; I find this highly unintuitive but since it is also not necessary for me to play the game I have no issues ignoring it) and I do not believe the encyclopedia fully explains how it works to new people either. A reliance on this for the mechanic is something I'm therefore very wary and suspicious of; this can just be my being an old curmudgeon.

[Sundew]

18 minutes ago, Alrexwolf said:

The mechanics behind lunar heralds and firegems, at least, isn't in place because of hunting. If you catch a firegem or a lunar herald they're always going to be the same color based on the day or the time. Same as if you breed them. It doesn't really... hurt anything to have them shown. Anyone who got the wrong color would just toss 'em into the AP and get the color they want anyway.

...

It also helps with breeds who have really nifty sounding descriptions that always get you hooked but they're the wrong darn thing. I can't tell you how many times I've picked up a two-headed lindwurm egg (a species I don't even raise or particularly like) because it had moonlight in it  Or how every time I see a Cassare egg "makes you feel uneasy," makes my brain go that must be some rad dragon! Take it!

1.) I really doubt it was done with no intention of making hunting more difficult/rewarding players who paid attention to time. And while, yes, you can absolutely abandon the wrong color egg and pick up the right one, you still need to wait either 5 hours or 7 days to hunt/breed again, thus creating higher stakes for picking up eggs carelessly.

2.) This is something that happens for everyone, and it's just part of the game. I think it's important that there are punishments for impulse clicking without reading the description of the egg you're picking up.

[Fuzzbucket]

12 hours ago, soullesshuman said:

With all due respect, this still seems to just be a boiling down of "it would be easier for me if it was like X, so it should be like X". I

 

This. I too am a curmudgeon. Who actually got a purple ridgie I didn't want yesterday till I suddenly realised it was Z-coded. Looks aren't everything -

[Bison]

14 hours ago, Dew said:

2.) This is something that happens for everyone, and it's just part of the game. I think it's important that there are punishments for impulse clicking without reading the description of the egg you're picking up.

 

But you're not just punished for impulse clicking. You're punished half the time trying to pick up eggs that share a description (like Flamingos/Pinks). Its does nothing to gameplay but add frustration and punish users for trying to grab certain species.

[Sundew]

1 hour ago, Bison said:

 

But you're not just punished for impulse clicking. You're punished half the time trying to pick up eggs that share a description (like Flamingos/Pinks). Its does nothing to gameplay but add frustration and punish users for trying to grab certain species.

If you're clicking on a Fire Gem or Lunar Herald without thinking about the time constraints, or picking up a Flamingo/Pink without realizing this is a biome that only one of those breeds fall in, I would consider it an impulse click. Again I'd be fine with Horses/Frills getting updated descriptions or biomes since they share a biome, but for the rest I don't really think there's an excuse.

[Pokemonfan13]

As someone who absolutely knew all of the descriptions when the cave was young, and now only knows the handful that I actively hunt plus the ones that I just naturally remember, I would argue that the dynamic of the cave has changed and this is a reasonable suggestion.  Maybe it's just the way my brain works, but I find it much easier to hunt in the AP and remember the images of dragons I'm interested in.  And if this suggestion keeps the descriptions as well as adding images, it works with people who remember words better too.

 

It is also possible to show the image without showing which alt it is, if that's something we want to do.

[Predat0rs]

I barely remember descriptions anymore. I know some of them by heart, but the more recent releases (IDK, maybe 2 years roughly?) I cannot for the life of me remember them, unless they're super rare/I hunt for them a lot (Xenowyrms for one). We have a lot of Breeds now that require memorizing their descriptions, and as the years progress, we're just going to get more and more descriptions to remember. I think adding images into the Cave would not only benefit us, but it would definitely be more like how we'd ~actually~ hunt for eggs: with our eyes!

[DigitalGarden]

Lore-wise... You're entering a cave guarded by large, reptilian beasts. It's probably PRETTY DARK in there. You very vaguely see the eggs, estimate their size, texture, warmth, some of the colors and other properties. You can't tell much, you grab something quickly before you get noticed and eaten alive ;p, walk outside where you actually have proper conditions to examine the egg... aaand it's not what you really expected. This also applies to other breeds, like Fleshcrowne eggs hidden in the trees - you as a thief don't have much time to look, you are supposed to grab and run. You're taking a risk. Though, isn't that odd that we still can't see much in the cave since it's illuminated by so many shiny/glowy eggs already? lmao

 

I don't know if I want the change. On one hand, me and others would like to take a peek d: and on the other hand... connection speed for some people isn't as blissfully fast as mine. I may not notice a change in hunting efficiency, but for some it may visibly cause problems.

[Empererpenguin]

On 7/5/2017 at 8:37 AM, Dalek Raptor said:

Make the egg visible to those who finished a breed Encyclopedia

I like this thought it would bee a nice reward for finishing encyclopedia entrys.

Maybe there could be a text only option for those who feel it slows things down or days with lag.

Edited November 6, 2017 by Empererpenguin

[Nyxity]

I'd support it for those who have trouble when it comes to reading be it dyslexia or some other reason. (Has a sibling who never has done well with reading...) Nevertheless, I wouldn't do away with the text - that can be helpful for others whether it is slow connection or colorblindness causing trouble.

[Paradisiske]

@Dalek Raptor

 

checking on this thread after awhile and saw that you listed the image of eggs being based off of encyclopedia progress and i would just like to point out that its not my idea lol it was @Alrexwolf idea. 

 

as for this i do think as more and more breeds get added into the cave something will need to be done. new biomes, having images along with or without text, etc

[olympe]

To me, it doesn't make a difference whether I don't catch a CB gold because the image loads too slowly or because I don't recognize the description fast enough or don't see them at all in the first place. (Not to mention that there's always that shock moment when I actually see the description - it would probably be the same for seeing the egg.) 

[mouse050909]

I would much rather just keep it this way, with the question marks. If this was made a thing, being made to unlock a breed in the encyclopedia would be the best way to do it. Not much support here, but I don't mind if this was made a thing

[Fuzzbucket]

No support because of red dorsals and tan ridgewings. At the moment we can all get them by chance. If they were visible - not so much.

[olympe]

They are visible. Just put the lineage link into your browser... (After all, the /view page was disabled a while back, but not the lineage page...) Also helps with same description eggs, of course.

Edited January 1, 2018 by olympe

[Fuzzbucket]

Still no thanks.

[HeatherMarie]

Yeah, I honestly don't really care for this suggestion. I understand the benefits, and the frustrations over the mystery eggs we see now, but honestly to me that's just a part of how DC works. If you want to hunt the biomes you either need to know the descriptions of those you are looking for, or just take a chance on what you click. Now I'd totally support slightly changing the Frill or Horse description, since they drop in the same biome with the same description and yuck. But for all others that share a description, there are simple ways to differentiate (like noting the date/time for Lunars, or noting the biome for others). And Fuzz has a very good point, there are certain breeds where it seems like we are *supposed* to not know the variation until we pick it up, like dorsals and ridgewings. If we could see those, how many people would actually pick up the regular variation of those, and how much harder would it be to snatch the alts?

[olympe]

So, how do you tell Sunstones and Moonstones apart?

 

Besides, the issue of Dorsal and Ridgewing color morphs can easily be dealt with by showing the more common version (purple for both) in the cave. This way, it's still a surprise if you get a red/tan variety.

[HeatherMarie]

I can see it now, tons and tons of people posting complaining and confused about why no red/tans show up in the biomes, why the purple egg they clicked on is actually a completely different color. Honestly I think it's worse to see the actual egg and then get a completely different one, like would happen in that scenario, then to take a gamble on a mystery egg.

[Fuzzbucket]

38 minutes ago, olympe said:

So, how do you tell Sunstones and Moonstones apart?

 

You hope for the best

[IVIandy]

1 hour ago, Marie19R said:

Yeah, I honestly don't really care for this suggestion. I understand the benefits, and the frustrations over the mystery eggs we see now, but honestly to me that's just a part of how DC works. If you want to hunt the biomes you either need to know the descriptions of those you are looking for, or just take a chance on what you click. Now I'd totally support slightly changing the Frill or Horse description, since they drop in the same biome with the same description and yuck. But for all others that share a description, there are simple ways to differentiate (like noting the date/time for Lunars, or noting the biome for others). And Fuzz has a very good point, there are certain breeds where it seems like we are *supposed* to not know the variation until we pick it up, like dorsals and ridgewings. If we could see those, how many people would actually pick up the regular variation of those, and how much harder would it be to snatch the alts?

I agree with you 100% Also when I first joined DC I didn't know a thing about what the descriptions meant. Showing the sprite for the eggs will kill the mystery and surprise for any new person. 

Edited January 1, 2018 by IVIandy

[olympe]

21 hours ago, IVIandy said:

I agree with you 100% Also when I first joined DC I didn't know a thing about what the descriptions meant. Showing the sprite for the eggs will kill the mystery and surprise for any new person. 

Not really. Because the adult dragon is still a far cry from the egg. In some cases, egg and adult don't even look that much alike. (See GoN, Black Tea, Sunstone, Sunrise/Sunset, Anagallis, Brimstone, Canopy, Vine, Diamondwing... it's a long list, really.)