2018-05-21 - Dragon Cave's 12th Birthday!

[CreatorHolly]

Happy BDay!

I'm loving the new eggs! They're gorgeous

Edited May 22, 2018 by CreatorHolly

[blockEdragon]

21 minutes ago, songwithnosoul said:

The Slytherin hatchling seems to have grown wings when it matured, so it looks like it's not a Wyrm. Possibly an Amphiptere instead.

I suppose that's the 2nd best but it still feels like a wasted wyrm.

[HeatherMarie]

Just now, blockEdragon said:

I suppose that's the 2nd best but it still feels like a wasted wyrm.

 

Agree. I was so excited for another wyrm (and loving the way it looked as a wyrm too!)... When I first saw the stage-2 I couldn't see the wings (they are so tiny!) so I hoped maybe the description was just wrong. Dang.

[Whirlaway]

6 minutes ago, blockEdragon said:

I suppose that's the 2nd best but it still feels like a wasted wyrm.

 

I'm pretty disappointed too...

[Gsea]

Hmmmm I was super skeptical about implementing a market system of any kind on DC because the one thing I love about this site is its simplicity and lack of currency buuut this is actually a rly nice way to introduce a monetary system in a way that isn't like hyper-competitive or totally overwhelms gameplay. I like it. Cool idea.

 

The new Red sprites look amazing. Love love love.

 

Happy birthday DC!!!

[Shadowdrake]

Amphitheres only have 4 breeds/5 sprites before this (including zyu and garland). Non-pygmy wyrms are only 2 breeds, but technically have 8 sprites (xenos and omen), so either way I would have seen it as expanding a much needed dragon type.

[SamuelMaybird]

4 hours ago, Lantean_Pegasus said:

 

Oh dear... If that ever happens I will sit in a corner and cry for weeks on end. And after that I'll probably still sob now and then.

Because correct anatomy or not, if they get updated they'll loose those gorgeous colours (everything that gets updated ends up brighter and shinier for some reason), and they'll loose bulk (because it seems to be really hard to do more detailed antomy without loosing bulk). And then they'll not be my gorgeous, perfect, DC-favourite sprite anymore.

Also, probably because I'm no expert, I can't even make out any anatomical errors in the sprites. (At least not when I see them normally sized on the view page.)

If it has to be updated, then I'll have to accept that, but I sure hope it will take years until that's necessary !

 

And speaking of this...

-snip

The new seasonals didn't lose their bulk at all. Not a single one lost their barrel chest and thick legs.

 

Royal blues have no elbows and slight ball thighs especially in the male. Plus the male has an incredibly wide chest and thin hips. The size and wings aren't consistent between genders. They need updated along with vines, Greens and Stone dragons. Their sprites are becoming less to standard, wherever that might be.

 

About the shininess, Silver is a metal dragon all metallics are shiny. Hollies are a Christmas dragon looks like it's based off a red Christmas ornament ball as well as holly. Reds we're shiny to begin with but now it's more refined. Seasonals and Splits weren't given the shiny treatment because that's not what they are. Nor did either lose their bulk. If they're going to respect the old poses then they'll be fine just needing the necessary update to be up to snuff with the rest of the site.

 

Yes they might get brighter but that's what happens with proper lighting and cleaner muscle definition. But look at how the Split and Silver had looked. 

[Alexiel Dragoness]

I knew that eventually this day would come. I was looking at my red dragons and thinking about it. Fearing it. And yeah it happened.

With this obsession for perfection we lose precious things. For me the red dragon is absolutely ruined now, will never love it the way I did before.

Also, the seasonals, I loved better their round shapes, now they are so... pointy.

The red was the first dragon I caught, and I loved it for being so medieval, old-style. I was hoping that we could keep the red untouched at least.

What to say? I'm just heartbroken. Can some things in the Cave remain untouched, please?

 

Don't get me wrong, I think all the new sprites are great and very well done, but it's not the same.

I loved all the changes in the game but this one. NEVER TOUCH THE MEDIEVAL OLD-STYLE RED DRAGON, IT'S SACRED! (sorry, I know it's too late to say this) 😭

[julesjag1]

Oh my goodness... I am at a loss for words. Best birthday ever!!!

[Denwayasha]

Happy Birthday DC! 🎉 

 

I was late to the party but I happily caught my 8 in one 5-minute drop! Can't wait to see what these grow into! Don't think I'll personally use the Market too often, but it's certainly a nice feature to have.

[HeatherMarie]

33 minutes ago, Alexiel Dragoness said:

I knew that eventually this day would come. I was looking at my red dragons and thinking about it. Fearing it. And yeah it happened.

With this obsession for perfection we lose precious things. 

 

That is actually a very, very good way to phrase the way I feel about sprite updates in general, thank you for phrasing it that way. On one hand I understand an artist wanting to correct obvious flaws as they get better at their craft, but it does sometimes feel like everyone is too focused on 'perfection' rather then appreciating the things we already have. Is it really so horrible if a couple sprites have a few anatomy flaws? They are dragons, it's not like they are realistic to being with. I feel so torn about this because I *do* totally understand artists looking at something and going 'omg that's not right' or 'how could I have ever made those mistakes' or something (I'm a writer, and a book is often crap without editing...). But where is the line drawn? Is this quest for 'perfection' going to lead to re-updating the sprites 5+ years down the line when maybe an artist sees something wrong with this new version? At what point is it okay to just go 'okay it's not perfect but that's the way it's going to be'? 

 

(Also, since other people have now talked about it, Royal Blues are the one I mentioned earlier. They are my very-very-very favorites, so much so that I honestly can't imagine how heartbroken I'd be if they were 'updated'. I've dealt with the golds, the silvers, the nilias, and so many others, hated the change but dealt with it. But Royal Blues... My heart would just break. And no I really don't care at all about any anatomy flaws, RBs are perfect to me just the way they are.)

[Ashywolf]

9 minutes ago, HeatherMarie said:

That is actually a very, very good way to phrase the way I feel about sprite updates in general, thank you for phrasing it that way. On one hand I understand an artist wanting to correct obvious flaws as they get better at their craft, but it does sometimes feel like everyone is too focused on 'perfection' rather then appreciating the things we already have. Is it really so horrible if a couple sprites have a few anatomy flaws? They are dragons, it's not like they are realistic to being with. I feel so torn about this because I *do* totally understand artists looking at something and going 'omg that's not right' or 'how could I have ever made those mistakes' or something (I'm a writer, and a book is often crap without editing...). But where is the line drawn? Is this quest for 'perfection' going to lead to re-updating the sprites 5+ years down the line when maybe an artist sees something wrong with this new version? At what point is it okay to just go 'okay it's not perfect but that's the way it's going to be'? 

 

I'll give you an artist perspective (obviously, my own, not exactly that of the artists in question).

 

For an artist, improving a sprite can rival the desire of users who want it to remain the same "as it always was". If I had a sprite 5 years ago that was part of DC, and I saw many ways to improve it, I would. Not because I want to be perfect, or that I want the dragon to be perfect, but because it is an expression of my vision of a creator. That vision is refined over the years. Similar to how a younger child scribbles to represent complex subjects -- as time goes on they improve in drawing skill and find that their way of showing their appreciation for something has changed (as a result of growing improvements in their skill, or style changes). 

 

There is of course some bias -- as an artist, you notice more flaws than non-artists, especially with anatomy, and there is always a desire to "correct" those artistic mistakes. But there is also a more personal side to it as well. When you see sprite updates it isn't always a forced change just to meet standards of the site in 20XX. Often, it is just a passion to polish something to meet standards -- and those standards can be quite basic, just different.

 

I don't want to be the one who says "you should just accept it because the artist wants it, too bad", but I do want people to consider that it isn't just striving for perfection. The artists make these changes because they genuinely feel that this is what is best for the dragon, and that can be personal, rather than conforming to "standards" (although at times that is important as well, but more-so for new dragon requests). And although I can't force you to agree that the artist's personal wishes for the dragon species should be welcomed, I hope this might help explain why some of these changes happen.

 

edit: obviously for older breeds this is a bit obsolete, given the old artist(s) are not around. In these cases it is just conforming to current art standards.

Edited May 22, 2018 by Ashywolf

[Tini]

The old red was becoming a bit of an eye sore for me personally, I'm glad to see the new updated one and the hogwarts dragons though I do wish the slythern remained a wyrm without wings, I'm excited to see the adults. The updates aren't really all that different, the shading on the red turned to actual scales, and the seasonal just a bit of polish and just look bigger to me personally. The red hatchlings are the major difference, and that's mostly because (I assume) the exact pose is shared with a couple other breeds. I love the new reds, now I want to horde them again ;_;

 

Edit: I only wish the winter's didn't get a different colored headpeice, but of course that brings them in line with the others. I just liked the one color head for them.

Edited May 22, 2018 by Tinibree

[gotw3]

These eggs are gorgeous, especially the coast and volcano ones! I've only just now seen this topic (whoops) but caught the new eggs pretty easily. I hope they're still dropping by the time this batch hatches- I only have two of each, right now!  ;

 

Also, the new reds look so amazing!  And the seasonals, too! The summers are probably my favorite- the sprites look really dynamic, for some reason. But I like how the quality has improved for the winters and autumns, too!

[dragonwishes]

Errr, I think what's the matter is that @Alexiel Dragoness liked how the red dragon had a theme! Like it looked liked medieval style and they grew fond of it that way. But now that the update happened, it looks like a normal dragon or just one without a theme. Trying to perfect the dragon threw away it's theme or gimmick. I honestly did not care for the look of the red dragon before, but that was cause that's all I saw it as. A dragon that was Red. Alex say it as something special and cool. I don't really care cause I didn't like it before and now I think it looks more true to what it is on the time: a dragon. That's red. But I do get it, cause like, it was a cool story book dragon that matched to the description. But now it's just a red dragon. We didn't lose anything precious, but we just lost what made the red dragon more it's own. I still way prefer this new one, but I didn't like the older one in the first place either way so 

Edited May 22, 2018 by dragonwishes

[Tini]

1 hour ago, dragonwishes said:

Errr, I think what's the matter is that @Alexiel Dragoness liked how the red dragon had a theme! Like it looked liked medieval style and they grew fond of it that way. But now that the update happened, it looks like a normal dragon or just one without a theme. Trying to perfect the dragon threw away it's theme or gimmick. I honestly did not care for the look of the red dragon before, but that was cause that's all I saw it as. A dragon that was Red. Alex say it as something special and cool. I don't really care cause I didn't like it before and now I think it looks more true to what it is on the tine: a dragon. That's red. But I do get it, cause like, it was a cool story book dragon but now it's just a red dragon. We didn't lose anything precious, but we just lost what made the red dragon more it's own. I still way prefer this new one, but I didn't like the older one in the first place either way so 

I don't see how it doesn't look like a medieval one anymore though? To me it looks just like the medieval dragons I've always loved. Unless its the art style? But for me the shading turning into scales makes it so much better than it was. I've always loved it for being the old fairy tale dragon too, but I don't think that's changed at all with the update.

[Mira15]

The new spirits are beautiful! I'd really like to see the black, stone, or dark green updated next

[Syiren]

12 hours ago, Fuzzbucket said:

They are absolutely lovely. But they are VERY different. It was a shock.

 

I see what you mean. The original does look very nice, but I'm glad they updated the sprite.

[purpledragonclaw]

Finally got my last one from the Forest, now I can focus on the other three!

 

@Mira15 love your avatar. 

 

 

[HeatherMarie]

11 minutes ago, Tinibree said:

I don't see how it doesn't look like a medieval one anymore though? To me it looks just like the medieval dragons I've always loved. Unless its the art style? But for me the shading turning into scales makes it so much better than it was. I've always loved it for being the old fairy tale dragon too, but I don't think that's changed at all with the update.

 

To me, it still looks 'medieval' in pose and maybe in body-type, but it's lost the 'medieval drawing' quality. Like, to me, the new sprite looks like a modern artist's interpretation of what a medieval dragon would be, while the old sprite looked like an actual medieval drawing, like something that was drawn looooong ago, and that gave it a quirky personality that has now changed. (I honestly don't mind the red update that much, just explaining my view.)

[dragonwishes]

@Tinibree

Like, imagine old drawing of medieval dragons. Like, if a person from that time drew a dragon on a piece of paper. They didn't know what dragons looked like, they just kinda drew with what they thought looked like one. Like this, or this, or this silly clip art. Arms up and ready to attack. Like what people of those times thought dragons looked like, not the "now" dragon. As if people from those times drew a dragon on a scroll.

[tjekan]

6 hours ago, Lantean_Pegasus said:

 

Oh dear... If that ever happens I will sit in a corner and cry for weeks on end. And after that I'll probably still sob now and then.

Because correct anatomy or not, if they get updated they'll loose those gorgeous colours (everything that gets updated ends up brighter and shinier for some reason)

 

 

Yeah. I still mourn for the original sunset dragons. They were so rich and vibrant looking, and now they look like faded plastic. The anatomy fixes are nice, but not good enough to be worth the color wash.

[Splash]

OH MY GOD ARE THESE BASED ON THE HOGWARTS HOUSES???!!!?!?

[LadyLyzar]

26 minutes ago, tjekan said:

 

Yeah. I still mourn for the original sunset dragons. They were so rich and vibrant looking, and now they look like faded plastic. The anatomy fixes are nice, but not good enough to be worth the color wash.

Heh sorry about that - on the originals I had no clue how to do highlights :x  They were meant to be much brighter.

[Dirtytabs]

Any name guesses?

"Slytherin" - between kyanite pygmies/leetle trees - lanky leaf lamprophiidae?

"Gryffindor" - between leetle trees/luminae - lively lucky loyal lion leonine?

"Hufflepuff" - between magmas/mints - maize mellow metallic mighty mineral meles mellivorinae?

"Ravenclaw" - between radiant angels/reds - rascal reasoning ravens?