Make Cool Downs More Flexible (count full days instead of exact time)

[Cinnamin Draconna]

It's definitely that 'you can breed in 1 day' thing that is so annoying. Let's say I bred my dragon at 10:42am on Tuesday 02/06/18.. why can't the system say, you can breed again at 10:42am on Tuesday 02/13/18.

 

The clock is already coded in the system

The calendar is already coded in the system

The 7 day wait is already coded in the system

So why isn't the exact info we need already available?

[Tears in Rain]

On 14/02/2018 at 12:46 PM, TJ09 said:

I can see how this provides a system that "just works" (you breed your dragon on a day and that same day a week later you can breed them, without fussing about time creep or any of that).

 

But it seems like doing so in a manner that is intuitive is the actual challenge. It's clear even from this thread that it takes some mild mental gymnastics to understand why/how this actually does work. Especially since the likely scenario is that the action timers would stay vague instead of the request to make them more precise—"You can breed this dragon on Wednesday, February 21" is technically sufficient here because you don't actually need to know "when on Wednesday," even though that's the natural follow-up question.

 

Oh, hi TJ  

Yeah, I understand what you mean, it's tricky  And I suppose such a change would definitely require some getting used to.

 

The text you provided, I'm thinking maybe, if it's possible, it could also mention something that indicates that breeding can be performed at any time of the day? Like, 'You can breed this dragon again on Wednesday, February 21, starting with midnight', 'You can breed this dragon at any time on Wednesday, February 21' or some other variation. And since Dragon Cave has an on-site clock, hopefully that prevents some additional confusion  

 

Or, if action texts are actually supposed to be vague, maybe just include detailed info on that in the Help pages?

I mean, the current way may be considered confusing too (like, the timer tells you the dragon can breed in '1 day' like Fuzzbucket mentioned above, but when in 1 day? It might as well be in 1 minute but it doesn't tell) - it's just that it's worked that way for ages so ppl are used to the system and that breeding is enabled after exactly 7 days  

[Fuzzbucket]

We can easily tell which DAY. It's having to wait all day to find out WHEN that day. It can't be bred "any tine starting with midnight" until he day AFTER it was first able to breed. It can be bred 7 days to the SECOND after it was last bred. Which could be 00:05 or 22:59. You DO need to know "when on Wednesday" if the last time it was bred was last Wednesday.

 

Sure, people are "used to it - they are used to it being rather a pain. Surely it need not be ?

Edited February 15, 2018 by Fuzzbucket

[Tears in Rain]

4 hours ago, Fuzzbucket said:

It can't be bred "any tine starting with midnight" until he day AFTER it was first able to breed. It can be bred 7 days to the SECOND after it was last bred. Which could be 00:05 or 22:59.

 

B-but when I was suggesting "any time on Wednesday" I was talking about my suggestion and what text the action timers could have, not about the current breeding system and its texts   I was responding to TJ about the point he made on implementation and trying to make the system intuitive.

 

I do agree though that precise timers would be cool for the breeding system that's in place. Pls don't be angry at me, I wasn't trying to argue with that   It's just...not rly what I'm suggesting, lol, I think this needs a separate thread (which exists from what I recall).

[Fuzzbucket]

I'm not angry.

 

I just wanted people to be absolutely sure what was being asked for here Peace ! (Though I don't understand exactly what you are asking for - but that's OK )

 

 

[Tears in Rain]

5 minutes ago, Fuzzbucket said:

I'm not angry.

 

Oh, okay, phew  

 

5 minutes ago, Fuzzbucket said:

I just wanted people to be absolutely sure what was being asked for here Peace ! (Though I don't understand exactly what you are asking for - but that's OK )

 

It seems like ppl who responded are mostly in favor of exact timers, or the system I suggested (or either of these).

And yeah, I'm sorry about the latter btw!  There'd need to be a way to make the whole thing easier to wrap one's head around - if it were to be implemented ofc.

 

Peace  

[Afeare]

I really like the flexible cool down suggestion. It would be a massive help for the people trying to do weekly breedings. That time creep is definitely a pain in the butt--especially when I do most of my breeding at 4a-6a during the weekdays and then midday on the weekends. :/ If I miss breeding a pair before I go to work on Monday because it won't let me breed them yet, I usually don't come back to it until Tuesday, and then I've lost almost an entire day.

[Fuzzbucket]

The trouble would be time zones. My Wednesday ends 5 days hours (thanks, olympe ) earlier, my time, than cave time. Other are in an even worse position. And to check the day of the week, I would never want to have to use the cave clock - even if it appeared in St Pat's - (I can't use the default skin).

Edited February 16, 2018 by Fuzzbucket

[olympe]

5 hours ago, Fuzzbucket said:

The trouble would be time zones. My Wednesday ends 5 days earlier, my time, than cave time. Other are in an even worse position. And to check the day of the week, I would never want to have to use the cave clock - even if it appeared in St Pat's - (I can't use the default skin).

 

Uh, I think you meant hours?

Anyway, I don't really think that time zones are much of an issue here. So, my 24 hour breeding period wouldn't start at midnight (my time), but at 6 am. So what?

[Fuzzbucket]

 

I did indeed.....

 

But why not just stick with the old way ? What happens, for instance, if I breed on a Wednesday my time at 23:59 cave time. I get to breed effectively a day early next time ?

[Shadowdrake]

3 hours ago, Fuzzbucket said:

What happens, for instance, if I breed on a Wednesday my time at 23:59 cave time. I get to breed effectively a day early next time ?

This argument has been brought up before, and the answer is that yes, you do get to breed a day early next time if you choose to breed at 00:01 Wednesday, but any breeding after that has a minimum of 7 days cooldown, with most people probably breeding later than the 7 days if they're breeding that early. And on the flipside, if you breed 00:01 the first time then at 23:59 the next time that's almost 8 days instead of 6. It evens out if you breed regularly, and if you don't breed regularly then cooldowns hardly matter at all since you're probably leaving them unbred for 8 days or more, even if you breed them at 6.5 days or whatever this one time.

 

It's a fairly understandable fix I think, since it all boils down to "If you can breed on this Wednesday you can breed on next Wednesday, no ifs ands or buts." It would just be the Last Bred date +7 days. I suppose the problem though is if someone breeds sometime midday and DC midnight for them is right before, the next week they'll still have to wait around midday or breed the morning-ish after to be on the same day of breeding.

 

Also here's the accurate breeding cooldown timers thread, which still hasn't gotten TJ's attention yet.

[Fuzzbucket]

Well, sorry - but I'd MUCH rather it stay as it is and that we get a more accurate timer.

[StormWizard212]

I'd love a solution to the current issue of not knowing exactly when dragons can be re-bred. I think a more accurate timer is the easiest solution, like some others have suggested, but I'd support anything that works and is more specific/easier to track.

[The Evil Doer]

Why is this even a discussion? Better yet what in god's name can make anyone argue against this suggestion?

 

If I got it correct, they're suggesting that if I bred a dragon on Wednesday at any given time, I'll be able to breed it on next Wednesday at any given time, how is this a bad thing? I don't need to keep notes of when exactly I bred it, I don't need to go through pages of actions, I don't need to calculate the time difference, basically all I need to know is that it's Wednesday, how is this a bad suggestion and outside the fact that any change is scaring the hell out of you, why would you possible dislike the suggestion that gives you less headache?

[Fuzzbucket]

And what have you against a timer that says "Dragon can breed again in 1 hour 15 minutes" rather than "you must wait one day" which is the message you get now when 1 hour i5 minutes is the actual wait time required ?

 

Oh and Wednesday isn't the same all over the world. It would still be "Wednesday -  DC time".

Edited February 20, 2018 by Fuzzbucket

[olympe]

Wednesday DC time is fine for me. Date change DC time is 6 AM for me (most of the time), so that's not a problem.

However, as much as accurate timers would improve things overall, there's still the issue of time creeping up on you even if you have an accurate timer. Because, let's face it, it's not always possible to breed on Wednesday, 6:12:24 PM. Next week, it might be 6:15, the week after it might be 8:42. And so on. Which is why I find the "count days only" suggestion to be so very elegant.

[The Evil Doer]

40 minutes ago, Fuzzbucket said:

And what have you against a timer that says "Dragon can breed again in 1 hour 15 minutes" rather than "you must wait one day" which is the message you get now when 1 hour i5 minutes is the actual wait time required ?

 

Oh and Wednesday isn't the same all over the world. It would still be "Wednesday -  DC time".

 

 

I have nothing against it.

 

After playing dc for a a few weeks, I understood when does dc day start and end when compared to mine, so to me it's not an issue.

Edited February 20, 2018 by The Evil Doer

[Tears in Rain]

Guys, please don't fight over this 

Upd: ty  

 

Can't comment on the difficulty of implementation (actually I think the timers might be easier coz time of breeding is already stored in the system, you know?), but I think both ideas deserve to exist and ppl can discuss them, it's ok if someone prefers the accurate timer, or the cool down update, or wants neither of them  

Edited February 20, 2018 by Tears in Rain

[Fuzzbucket]

Not fighting. Evildoer and I get along just fine. As do I and olympe. I just want one thing and they want another. Inevitably we'll argue. That is not the same as fighting.... A discussion thread will always go to and fro.

[Tears in Rain]

It seemed to me like the whole thing was getting a bit tense, sorry, lol  I just don't want the topic to cause drama because both 'versions' of the cool down/timer change have the same kind of thought (making keeping track of actions easier) behind them, you know? But then I saw some edits happened and stuff, and your post is reassuring too; thanks very much  

[Fuzzbucket]

We truly love each other. Don't we, evil doer ? (I would have sent a Valentine days ago but I don't know your scroll name !!!)

 

I can live with time creep, myself, too.

[The Evil Doer]

16 minutes ago, Fuzzbucket said:

We truly love each other. Don't we, evil doer ? (I would have sent a Valentine days ago but I don't know your scroll name !!!)

 

I can live with time creep, myself, too.

 

You just got bombarded with cards  sorry if i came off.... agressive

 

Have a cool day ya'll!!

[Fuzzbucket]

I did ? You do know my scroll name ? Or have I used up all my space....

 

Anyway - kiss kiss and all that You came over no more aggressive than moi-même.

[MoonShark]

I would love this. I play pretty casually as well, but having a specific day I can remember to go breed would be awesome.

 

Alternatively, the exact countdown timer would be awesome as well, but I doubt that will be implemented because then people will want it for their eggs/hatchies as well.

[Hibiwiki]

I love both these ideas! They sound like they would work really well with bsa's as well, which we know we all use.