Expanding Holiday Breeding Season to Two Weeks

[MoonShark]

As Halloween approaches, I am deep in the midst of figuring out the logistics of breeding for my holiday lineage projects. Unfortunately, even with using all my slots for the entire week for breeding only, I still have to postpone several projects until next year. This is the most frustrating part of holidays on DC--the extremely limited breeding window.

 

There are so many beautiful holiday dragons now (9 dimorphic and 2 single sprite Halloweens, 12 each of Christmas and Valentine's if you don't count that you can do interesting things with bred Hollies and Mistletoes). I have so many lineages I'd love to work on for myself as well as with friends working together to create larger lineages than we could manage on our own. But it's impossible to do so when the breeding window is so tight. A single scroll, breeding 8 dragons every two days (in order to have space for 8 new ones come the release day) and using incubates, can manage 24 dragons in one holiday season. That's only about 2 per breed if you happen to be working on lineage projects for every breed. Even if you only have a few favorite holidays you work with, that's still not many...and you run into the need to choose between starting new projects with beautiful new releases or continuing older projects to higher generations.

 

I'd like to propose extending the holiday breeding season for all three holidays to two weeks. This will provide more time for people to work on lineages they enjoy with dragons they love but only have access to once a year.

 

Some important details that have come up in discussion:

 

The AP - In order to balance out the extended breeding season, the AP will need some sort of holiday update. Either a separate Holiday AP or a line of non-Holiday eggs in the AP would solve this issue.

 

Breeding CD - An artificial breeding cool down would be necessary to avoid double breeding--this is already in place for holidays raised during that holiday period, so hopefully wouldn't be hard to implement more globally.

 

Multiclutching - Although it has been suggested to alleviate the pressure on the AP by removing multiclutching, the majority of voices so far have been against this idea, instead preferring an AP change as described above.

 

 

Edited September 25, 2020 by MoonShark

[schenanigans]

I support. Even if others might not think it necessary now, it will almost definitely become a necessity in the future. Not even thinking about just the holiday rosters that continues to grow, we get so many new dragons throughout the year that only add to the dilemma. It's hard to catch up. Halloween is especially difficult. 

 

I know some people are going to be pretty irritated about this suggestion because of the AP. I feel like something can be worked out for this, though. Maybe a Holiday specific AP. We only get one week a year per holiday though for a max of 3 weeks, so people should be understanding and hopefully not get too up in arms about it. 

 

 

Edited September 15, 2020 by schenanigans

[cabuso]

Big support! Totally agree with the points above, I don't have much to add here.

[Ruby Eyes]

I had the feeling I've seen a suggestion like this before ...

 

[Rekha]

Big support. As the years continue to pass here on dragcave we are running out of room and having to make decisions on how we wish to breed and what we wish to breed due to the window of opportunity.

[Sunrunner]

Hear, hear!  Bravo!  Definitely agree!  👏

 

Not much constructive to add except that having holiday breeding expanded in some way would be a major blessing!

[MoonShark]

1 minute ago, Ruby Eyes said:

I had the feeling I've seen a suggestion like this before ...

 

I had done a search but didn't see that thread. However, it hasn't been touched since 2018, and it's not exactly what I am suggesting. I have no problem with dragons bred that year not being breedable during the holiday until the following year. I just want people to have more time to breed dragons.

 

If you'd prefer I go bump that thread instead, I'm happy to do so. I just want this idea out in the open for people to consider as the holidays approach.

[Fuzzbucket]

I support longer breeding BEFORE the event - but there is a risk of an AP tied up for even longer with only holidays. That wouldn't be great...

[MoonShark]

2 minutes ago, Fuzzbucket said:

I support longer breeding BEFORE the event - but there is a risk of an AP tied up for even longer with only holidays. That wouldn't be great...

A solution for this would be a separate Holiday AP, which might even encourage players who don't enjoy holidays to stick around and play.

 

Even if the AP were tied up for two weeks, it's only two weeks per holiday out of the 52 weeks in a year. I've definitely had times when I was so busy with breeding and such that I didn't even look at the AP for weeks, although I understand everyone has different playing styles. I think people would learn to accept it as a necessary cost to have a longer breeding season if TJ didn't approve of a separate Holiday AP.

[purplehaze]

I support this idea. I find myself unable to continue all the lines that I would like to because I run out of space, no matter how well I try to manage.

 

4 minutes ago, Fuzzbucket said:

I support longer breeding BEFORE the event - but there is a risk of an AP tied up for even longer with only holidays. That wouldn't be great...

I think this may need to be coupled with allowing non-holiday eggs to have some space in the AP during the holiday breeding. I know there has been a suggestion for that before anyway.

[olympe]

Or, alternately - we get a longer breeding period, but only during the height of the breeding seasons (aka the current breeding week / week leading up to the event), there is the chance of producing multi-clutches.

 

So, multi-clutches for one week only, single-egg clutches for the rest of the month in question.

Edited September 15, 2020 by olympe

[Paintra]

2 hours ago, olympe said:

Or, alternately - we get a longer breeding period, but only during the height of the breeding seasons (aka the current breeding week / week leading up to the event), there is the chance of producing multi-clutches.

 

So, multi-clutches for one week only, single-egg clutches for the rest of the month in question.

 

I actually really like this suggestion. Single eggs during the whole month of the event, and multiclutches during the current breeding week. I support this suggestion regardless of how it's implemented in specifics, though.

[Cal-ifornia]

I support this. I don't really breed CB holiday dragons (I don't have the patience for that), but I really enjoy seeing the lineages others create with them.

[HeatherMarie]

As I said in the older linked thread, I'll only support longer holiday breeding if something is changed about the AP. Not everyone *likes* the week-and-a-half AP holiday wall as it is. Look at the past few year's News threads 2-4 days after the breeding period ends, lots of people complaining about holiday eggs still clogging the AP. Not everyone does holiday lineages. Adding an extra week would effectively mean at *least* three weeks of nothing but holidays in the AP, three times a year, and those of us who would rather hunt normally will not be happy. So, yes, I get the frustration for lineage-builders, but either add a separate 'holiday AP' or remove the mechanism that makes holidays show first in the AP.

 

edit: Also, has anyone thought how a longer breeding period will affect AP-times? I see how many people post complaining every single time the AP gets below Influenceable-level (again, look at those News threads). Are people *actually* going to find it better to have an extra week if it means an extra-long time of un-Influenceable eggs?

Edited September 16, 2020 by HeatherMarie

[schenanigans]

1 hour ago, HeatherMarie said:

As I said in the older linked thread, I'll only support longer holiday breeding if something is changed about the AP. Not everyone *likes* the week-and-a-half AP holiday wall as it is. Look at the past few year's News threads 2-4 days after the breeding period ends, lots of people complaining about holiday eggs still clogging the AP. Not everyone does holiday lineages. Adding an extra week would effectively mean at *least* three weeks of nothing but holidays in the AP, three times a year, and those of us who would rather hunt normally will not be happy. So, yes, I get the frustration for lineage-builders, but either add a separate 'holiday AP' or remove the mechanism that makes holidays show first in the AP.

 

edit: Also, has anyone thought how a longer breeding period will affect AP-times? I see how many people post complaining every single time the AP gets below Influenceable-level (again, look at those News threads). Are people *actually* going to find it better to have an extra week if it means an extra-long time of un-Influenceable eggs?

 

I have thought about AP times if this was implemented actually, yes. But the longer we go on the way we are - everyone breeds as many lineages as they can because we only have one week. Especially during Christmas and Valentine's, where influencing is far less prevalent, those last minute hail mary breedings can be a blessing. Even with Halloweens, I'll take a chance with a possible misgender than having to wait a whole extra year. Also the holiday egg showing first mechanism could actually make the walls worse if removed. Based on your comment in the other thread, I actually don't think you do understand the frustration of lineage builders at all.

 

Which flows nicely into my next point... I can definitely sympathize with others who really like to AP hunt during holidays. But you have 48 weeks out of the year to do your hunting. I have 3. I'm not opposed to a separate holiday AP at all, it would definitely get less salt flowing and make both parties happy. It is just more than a little frustrating when a holiday breeding QoL suggestion gets made, a herd of people cry "but what about uuusssss???" And ALWAYS the AP suggestion gets dragged back in. I actually did shoot down a suggestion in the other thread because I do consider how it affects the AP.

Edited September 16, 2020 by schenanigans

[HeatherMarie]

Sometimes compromises have to be made. No *change* is ever going to make everyone happy. But that's *why* people bring up the AP situation, to *attempt* to figure out ways to make things a little easier. I'm not trying to say that AP-hunters are more important, or that lineage-builders are less so. And I'm not saying that holiday breeding is fine the way it is. But in order to find a solution that will be the best for the most people, the AP situation *must* be considered. ...... Although I guess if multi-clutches are done away with entirely than the AP wouldn't be affected by longer breeding seasons as much. I doubt anyone would want that though.

 

I personally don't think it's productive to look at AP-hunters as having the majority of the year to hunt normally or whatever.... That's not what this is about. A suggestion should try to figure in *all* players, and tinker with options so that the *least* amount of players are negatively affected. No matter what happens the rest of the year. That's why I like the idea of a separate holiday AP, it allows for things like expanding breeding opportunities *while* allowing for normal AP-hunting.

[Ruby Eyes]

13 hours ago, MoonShark said:

If you'd prefer I go bump that thread instead, I'm happy to do so.

I don't care - I'm not a mod. I only linked it so people can see what other thoughts had been shared on this topic before

[Fuzzbucket]

1 hour ago, HeatherMarie said:

Sometimes compromises have to be made. No *change* is ever going to make everyone happy. But that's *why* people bring up the AP situation, to *attempt* to figure out ways to make things a little easier. I'm not trying to say that AP-hunters are more important, or that lineage-builders are less so. And I'm not saying that holiday breeding is fine the way it is. But in order to find a solution that will be the best for the most people, the AP situation *must* be considered. ...... Although I guess if multi-clutches are done away with entirely than the AP wouldn't be affected by longer breeding seasons as much. I doubt anyone would want that though.

 

I personally don't think it's productive to look at AP-hunters as having the majority of the year to hunt normally or whatever.... That's not what this is about. A suggestion should try to figure in *all* players, and tinker with options so that the *least* amount of players are negatively affected. No matter what happens the rest of the year. That's why I like the idea of a separate holiday AP, it allows for things like expanding breeding opportunities *while* allowing for normal AP-hunting.

 

Indeed not. And my issue is not so much with the length of time the AP is clogged as the low time issue. Doesn't matter as much for Christmas and Valentine's, but over Hallowe'en it does matter - they end up too low-time.

 

2 hours ago, schenanigans said:

 

I have thought about AP times if this was implemented actually, yes. But the longer we go on the way we are - everyone breeds as many lineages as they can because we only have one week. Especially during Christmas and Valentine's, where influencing is far less prevalent, those last minute hail mary breedings can be a blessing. Even with Halloweens, I'll take a chance with a possible misgender than having to wait a whole extra year. Also the holiday egg showing first mechanism could actually make the walls worse if removed. Based on your comment in the other thread, I actually don't think you do understand the frustration of lineage builders at all.

 

I know I have actually pretty much given up breeding holidays except when asked, as I am fed up with seeing them die.

 

But surely we can get the single line of non-holiday eggs in the AP that many of us have asked for for ages ?

[Jazeki]

I do like the idea of holiday breeding longer than a week. I know it doesn't necessarily matter, but other adoptable games have month long breeding/activities. Breeding for two weeks instead of one doesn't seem that big of a compromise. It would also give users with a lot of dragons (like me) a chance to spread out breeding instead

of either trying to cram it all in or fizzling out and skipping it completely because there's just not enough time. It could possibly also reduce the ever-growing wall that we see at the end of breeding.

 

I think the only problem for me is the possibility of making the holiday wall even worse than before.

 

TJ did mention reducing multiclutches at one point in regards to one of these suggestions. I'm not sure if it was relative to breeding or not.

 

 

 

 

[Fuzzbucket]

PLEASE don't hurt multiclutches.

[Stromboli]

ehhhh, not a huge fan. Unless this comes with some changes like reduction or removal of multi-clutching, or alterations to the limited-release breeds' AP precedence so some regular stuff can filter through, I'd rather pass on this. The Halloween hunting already went on for nearly a week after the close of the breeding window last year, didn't it?

[tjekan]

I like the idea of a separate Holiday AP. Then anyone who doesn't like a particular holiday doesn't have to participate, and we could expand the breeding season to accommodate the MANY more holiday breeds we have now, while still not aggravating players who don't like them.

[Classycal]

I support a longer breeding period, too.

[purplehaze]

At this point I am hesitant to pick up any new holiday-kin checkers because I know I will never have enough time and scroll space to breed mates for them. I just passed up a very pretty one for that reason. I would really like more time to breed holiday dragons!!! Please!

[Keileon]

Honestly, support. We have so many breeds and such a small time to get them now.