Get Rid of Name Exclusivity

[StarlightLion]

10 minutes ago, Miltank said:

I just think it's pretty goofy to act like people who enjoy having exclusive names for the sake of exclusive names are somehow acting entitled. It's part of the enjoyment of the game for me. I hunt codes for the same reason, I like having them, I like that they're unique, they feel special to me.  When creature collecting games like this DON'T have name exclusivity I feel a bit disappointed, but I would never go on to suggest they should add it because I want it, so I find it equally silly to come along and demand a change like this. I respect that people want different things and unfortunately there's no compromise that will make us all happy, but it's so rude to just handwave away the people who enjoy name exclusivity as part of the game as snobbish or entitled. My enjoyment is just as important as yours.

 

A thousand times this. The vast majority of collection games don't have name exclusivity (at least, as far as I'm aware); I dabble in some others, but I always come back to dragcave, and a big part of that is the name exclusivity. The fact that I can go through my scroll and know that each and every one of these dragons is uniquely mine is a great source of joy for me in this game. And I don't name my dragons simple names - for the most part, I use phrases as names.

My Floral-Crowned dragons, for example, are named Firstborn Trahearne and Flower Crowned Pharaoh and yes, I love the breed and I would collect them no matter what and yes, if those names had been taken I would have simply named them something else - because as was pointed out above, I name all of my dragons as I get them and names being taken is something that I (as what I think would be considered an old player for the sake of this debate) still deal with constantly. This sort of thing is why we're allowed to trade for names. They're simply another resource that we as collectors enjoy, just the same as rares and codes.

[Firstborn Dragon]

I don't bother naming most of my dragons anymore.  It's not fun spending an hour plus to find a name I like that isn't already taken.   Sooner or latter we'll hit a limit where names avalible are going to be black223476 or something in order to NAME dragons. 

 

It's easy to think that unique nameing is fun, but then there's a market for only NICELY named dragons which puts newer players or people who don't have a million hours to name all their dragons to find nice names that's going to be an issue.

[KageSora]

22 minutes ago, Firstborn Dragon said:

I don't bother naming most of my dragons anymore.  It's not fun spending an hour plus to find a name I like that isn't already taken.   Sooner or latter we'll hit a limit where names avalible are going to be black223476 or something in order to NAME dragons. 

 

It's easy to think that unique nameing is fun, but then there's a market for only NICELY named dragons which puts newer players or people who don't have a million hours to name all their dragons to find nice names that's going to be an issue.

 

If you don't like games with name exclusivity, do not sign up for them.  The name exclusivity isn't some secret that's hidden in some weird, out-of-the-way place you'd never be able to access until you already started playing.  It's right there in the help page which you can look at before you even make an account.  If you didn't bother to read that and then got upset because you couldn't get the names you wanted that is your problem, and you shouldn't try to strip out functionality from the game that makes it fun for others and also that doubles as an accessibility feature just because you decided to play a game where you can't have your way.

 

Also, people ask for all kinds of stuff players who are brand new and/or who don't want/are unable to dedicate a lot of time won't have available.  If you're not an in-game artist who has an alt, you'll never be able breed spriter alt kin to trade with people who want those.  If you don't have a CB prize, you'll never be able to trade for people who want 2nd gen prizekin.  If you don't have the time to dedicate to build up nice lineages you'll never be able to trade with people who demand them.  If you don't have the patience or the time to hunt the cave you'll never be able to have a steady supply of desired CBs to trade to people and those who have the time and interest to do so will always have the advantage over you.

 

Or, and this one doesn't matter if you're new or old--if you don't happen to be able to breed or catch a dragon with a code that meets arbitrary criteria a given user sets out you won't have your trade accepted by the person asking for them!  Seriously, there's a fair market for word, name, all-caps, etc. codes and if you're not lucky on the RNG to get a code that meets those criteria then you're even more out of luck than if they ask for nicely named parents.  At least with named parents you can sit down for a bit and come up with something, codes are entirely down to luck of the draw.

 

There is literally no way around not having the kinds of things people are looking for in trades at times--even as a veteran player I often run into situations where people are asking for stuff I don't have and can't get and have to pass on offering on a trade that has something I'm after.  If they want a CB gold, and I just have zero luck even if I spend all day hunting and I just never find one that's just my bad luck that I can't obtain what they want.  Doesn't matter if you're new or old at that point.

 

Also, quite frankly, with the sheer combinations you can make, I'd be more likely to bet the game would shut down before we run out of viable combinations that don't just have "simple word followed by a bunch of numbers" as the only choices we have left.  Especially if it were possible to up the number of characters--even by just 5 letters would drastically add to the number of possible "nice" name combinations.  (Which, by the way, is entirely subjective.  What makes up a "nice" name is gonna vary player to player--there's no uniform consensus on that.)

[Fuzzbucket]

On 10/4/2022 at 4:50 PM, ylangylang said:

How is not getting a name you want "punishment"....?

 

Also in my case I added sth similar to tags, so that all my dragons have a name scheme similar to (breed name)(word), for example "Albino word" "Black word" "Red word" and so on. That could help ypu solve the name problem maybe?

 

Indeed  this - Mage's xyz would get over that for you.

 

On 10/4/2022 at 4:52 PM, Dogmage999 said:

"punishment" in this case, is negative consequences of something. The "something" here is not joining dragcave when it launched, and the "punishment" is not being able to use the names you want just because some other player who might not even play anymore claimed it twelve years ago.

 

And I so wanted to name a dragon I don't like but needed for a line after someone unpleasant who only showed up on the celeb radar a few weeks ago. It was gone - and I looked it up - it was named last week. It happens to us ALL, you know. And for heavens's sake - who on EARTH would name their dragon Flurp (my scroll name) - well, it was gone. These things happen. (however - if the owner wants to discuss it....  )

 

On 10/4/2022 at 6:29 PM, StarlightLion said:

 

Thank you so much for putting this point into words.

I joined in 2015. There are a lot of names that I can't have, and many names that I got lucky with and snatched up. Ultimately, getting the exact name you want absolutely is the same as getting a code you want, or getting that CB gold that just showed up in the Coast. If you are quick enough, you get it - if not, someone else does. Should new players be gifted CB rares because players who joined years before them have had a lot longer (and, if they're from far enough back, periods of much less competition) have had more chances to get the ones they have?

No, of course not, because that's absurd. You start when you start, and you start from the exact same place everyone else did. People had platinum trophy and eight eggslots when I first joined and only had (4? I think the starting number is four, it's been a while). Is it technically unfair if I have two red eggs and two pink eggs and another player with exactly the same eggs gets that Blusang we both just saw because they have an open eggslot and I don't? Maybe, but only if you judge that situation as a singular moment with no context. The reality of the matter is that the other player has been here for longer, put more effort into the game than I have, has earned those extra eggslots within the structure of the game, has already been in my position over the course of their play, and does not owe me anything.

Names, as an exclusive commodity, are not different.

 

This, very much. I joined that flower game. It seems there are LOADS of things I actually can never do or get because I wasn't there when it started. But I still have pretty flowers. At least here duplicate names are the ONLY thing that are impossible for people to get (OK and unbitten CB vampires.). TJ has added past CB holidays and all sorts for our enjoyment. ETA and of course Spriter's alts - but I assume those are OK by you - even though they are unique to individual players ?

 

On 10/4/2022 at 6:29 PM, StarlightLion said:

edit to add: I had an incredibly positive experience as a new player, by the way. Older players frequently gifted me dragons to help get my scroll started - and I, in turn, do my best to do the same thing. Old players and new players are both core parts of the game's ecosystem, that's kind of the whole point.

 

Me too - and I try to pass that forward...

 

On 10/4/2022 at 8:12 PM, KageSora said:

Nah, that's just how games with some exclusive aspects are.

 

Is it a punishment to join a game that makes no secret that it retires content and then to be upset that you do not get to access the retired content?  No, because that was something you should have known going in and if you're not the sort of person who can handle joining a game where there are things you will never be able to access then you should not play games that have limited, exclusive, or retired content.  I legit just do not play games if I'm so sad that certain content is retired and I'll never get to experience it it would interfere with my ability to enjoy the rest of the game.

 

 

This is the weirdest part to me.  It's not as if all of us older players have all of our dragons long since named and don't name anything now and the only names we have are names we've been lording over the newbies for years and years.  I literally named a bunch of dragons last month.  I'm still naming dragons.  I plan to name more dragons later this month--I like to do them in batches, whenever a name strikes my fancy.  Older players may have had first crack at the mega ultra super simple common names, but we've hardly used up all of the halfway decent names available.  Which, by the way, is entirely subjective.

 

A name somebody wants could literally be taken minute before they try to name something that way, it's not all older players hoarding all the good names.  I've gotten quite a few names this year alone that I think are quite fun and interesting.

 

Also older players have run into the issue of "I couldn't have the name I wanted" since the beginning.  I named a dragon with a double space between the two words back in '09 because the name I wanted was taken--turns out the name was later freed up and I missed my chance to snap it up because there's a dragon from '17 that now bears the name I wanted lol.  So this is not something that only new players within the last few years are running into.  This is something we've been working around since the beginning.

 

Also I run into this even now!  Plenty of times recently I've tried a name only to find it taken.  I just shrug and go "Okay, I'll try something else" because that's the way the game works.

 

It's literally not "old vs new" unless you're determined to make it into that divide in order to have some sort of "woe is me, I deserve what others have" thing going on.

 

 

That's a really good analogy.  That feels a lot more accurate to me.

 

100% agree.

 

On 10/5/2022 at 12:55 AM, Firstborn Dragon said:

I don't bother naming most of my dragons anymore.  It's not fun spending an hour plus to find a name I like that isn't already taken.   Sooner or latter we'll hit a limit where names avalible are going to be black223476 or something in order to NAME dragons. 

 

It's easy to think that unique nameing is fun, but then there's a market for only NICELY named dragons which puts newer players or people who don't have a million hours to name all their dragons to find nice names that's going to be an issue.

Edited October 7, 2022 by purpledragonclaw
Incendiary language removed.

[Tiira]

I really, really think this topic is getting too heated... 😿

 

But I, too, want to ask if people could please not treat this as a war between new and old players. It has nothing to do with such. This is not a question of discrimination of any kind, there's always been competition over names and we're all in the same boat when we're naming our dragons.

 

I don't even know how to put this into words, but if you think of it realistically - there can only ever be one dragon named James or Mary. Just one Dragon, one Harry Potter and one Potato. It doesn't matter much whether you signed up yesterday or on the very first day. It is and has always been about good fortune, not about advantages. No veteran player has ever been able to name their dragons freely (in case they even cared about naming when they started). The number of common and simple and short words, popular real names and well-known fictional characters is surprisingly limited, while there is an endless amount of possible variants and combinations.

 

(Moreover, as it has been pointed out, one can always pick a personal naming system, such as "[your username here]'s [your preferred name here]". One can also choose to not name their dragons at all, or to name just some of them, since naming is not obligatory but it's up to the player if they want their dragons to have names or not.)

 

I'm sorry for this blah blah blah, or if I sounded offensive. Didn't mean to attack towards anyone. Personally I feel that the playerbase of DC is actually quite welcoming towards newbies, and very supportive in general. Full of kindness and players who like to help others with their scroll goals or lineage projects, send unexpected gifts and offer advice when you don't know how things work. So it didn't feel right to see name exclusivity discussed as something that would only be unfair to new players and, instead, an advantage that the old players have and wish to hold on to.

 

1 hour ago, Fuzzbucket said:

And for heavens's sake - who on EARTH would name their dragon Flurp (my scroll name) - well, it was gone. These things happen. (however - if the owner wants to discuss it....  )

 

By the way, this is very much off topic, but... I have many times tried to name something Satakieli, only to see that you have it! Now how on earth? 🐦 I don't need to discuss it, though - I'm sincerely just curious. 😹

[Fuzzbucket]

1 hour ago, Tiira said:

But I, too, want to ask if people could please not treat this as a war between new and old players. It has nothing to do with such. This is not a question of discrimination of any kind, there's always been competition over names and we're all in the same boat when we're naming our dragons

 

This, so much. And you have a message !

[Dogmage999]

I think why I personally find the name restrictions frustrating is because I’m very picky with names in a game- I don’t like adding titles, numbers, or anything that isn’t the virtual creature’s actual name. (For example, my Pokefarm breeding pairs don’t have their percents in their names, only in the description.)

Time for me to find a naming scheme that I actually enjoy looking at, I guess.

Edited October 5, 2022 by Dogmage999

[Fuzzbucket]

1 minute ago, Dogmage999 said:

Time for me to find a naming scheme that I actually enjoy looking at, I guess.

 

YAY ! I do hope you find one; it's so much the least stressful option ! Good luck.

[Rosedamai]

31 minutes ago, Dogmage999 said:

I think why I personally find the name restrictions frustrating is because I’m very picky with names in a game- I don’t like adding titles, numbers, or anything that isn’t the virtual creature’s actual name. (For example, my Pokefarm breeding pairs don’t have their percents in their names, only in the description.)

Time for me to find a naming scheme that I actually enjoy looking at, I guess.

For me what worked was basically giving them a surname of sorts-a naming scheme wherein all the dragons on my scroll had the same word, made up or otherwise, at the end of their name. If said word was say, pol, the naming scheme would be like (name) pol, (another name) pol and so forth. Personally since we have a limited character count for names I found that shorter words are better suited for this, but that is up to you. Good luck!

Edited October 5, 2022 by ylangylang

[KageSora]

7 hours ago, Dogmage999 said:

I think why I personally find the name restrictions frustrating is because I’m very picky with names in a game- I don’t like adding titles, numbers, or anything that isn’t the virtual creature’s actual name. (For example, my Pokefarm breeding pairs don’t have their percents in their names, only in the description.)

Time for me to find a naming scheme that I actually enjoy looking at, I guess.

 

It might come as a surprise, seeing as I argue in favor of the exclusivity--but I also don't like adding random titles, numbers, etc. to every single thing on my scroll.

 

What I instead do is, if I feel that it's needed, I give breeds a sort of "group name" or specific themed naming--especially if they're part of a single lineage.  If I like the look of it enough I'll use it for the entire breed, otherwise I'll use it just for dragons in a particular lineage.  It means I don't have one single naming pattern on my scroll, and none of them are "xXx Dragon Name xXx" or "Dragon Name 897612" or "ScrollName's Dragon Name" or whatever.  Gives me variety and flexibility and I don't even always stick to it if a particular name strikes my fancy--I take inspiration from the codes a lot.  Not always something that you'd make sense of at first glance, but it's often whatever pops into my head first that I like the sound of when I look at a code. If it's part of a lineage, I tend to merge the names of the parents in some fashion--that can be kind of interesting, especially in longer lineages where you trace out where the original pair of parents who influenced the name the most were in relation to all the other dragons in the lineage.

 

There's a whole lot of variety out there you can pick from and you don't have to limit yourself to any one single pattern if you don't want to.

 

(I do incorporate numbers into some of them, but that's almost always because the code had numbers and I thought it was entertaining to name something, say, 374 Lakefront Properties because it had the code 374LF and was a Water dragon)

[Fuzzbucket]

I do that too - have  group names - almost all my dorsals are called Fervens (don't ask) and my Sophrosynes are all Soul...

[purpledragonclaw]

This thread has quickly devolved into hostility again, so after discussing it with the mods we're shutting it down again. Since this is the second time we've had to close it we have no plans to re-open it since some people can't seem to remain civil when discussing this.