Lineage Sharing / Trading Improvement

[Auriene]

Growing number of dragons means more possibilities for nice lineage combinations - but it also means that lineage sharing / trading for specific lineages becomes more and more difficult with every year. It can be especially bad when Valentine and Christmas dragons are concerned, with their short breeding period and CBs limits. We have all been there, I suppose:

 

* In Trading Hub, chances that you find exactly the lineage you want are often small, especially in the middle of Holiday breeding chaos. Not to mention that in trade description it is usually impossible to list all the lineage combinations you are searching for.

 

* On forums, searching through trading topics takes time, even with Search forum option. Not every user posts there or even visits those topics. If you are trying to build a not-exactly-popular lineage, chances are that your trade for bloodswap won't have any offers for the entire Holiday breeding / trading period. There are threads and posts where people offer to breed their dragons for free on request, there are Lineage Aid Centers - and the idea is awesome! - but again, searching through ever-growing list of lineage combinations and dozens of spreadsheets becomes harder every year.

 

Possible solution:

 

* DC Lineage Sharing / Trading Database - it would be awesome if it could be implemented on site, but I suppose it wouldn't be possible since players would need to communicate via messages of some sorts. So maybe in some form, it could be done on forums. The idea is simple:

 

- users submit lineage combinations they are willing to breed, for free or in exchange for a bloodswap - there could be separate categories for "Holidays," "Drakes," "Pygmies," "Two-Headed," "Non-holiday Dragons," "Prize Lineages" etc.,

- there would be a form to make searching as easy as possible,

- every user posting automatically agrees to receive PMs concerning their listed lineages.

 

How it might work?

- after typing, for example, "3rd (m) Red x (f) White", using "Search: in this topic" option on forums, user gets a list of people who can breed the specific lineage,

- there could also be other factors, such as "shortly named parents" etc., depending on form.

 

* A unified form could also be added to "Holiday Trading Thread" or other lineage trading threads, so that searching for already existing trades would be easier.

 

The main goal is to create a unified form for lineage swapping / trading offers and a place where they can be easily found through forum Search option.

 

What do you think?

[Fuzzbucket]

I honestly think it's too huge to work. The EG one works fairly well, but what I tend to do  is ask in my sig !

[Jazeki]

Does the search function as it is now not allow users to do this?

 

I'm not a fan of the auto-pm option. This seems like clutter and invites unwanted communication.

 

Like Fuzz, I put info in my profile and signature regarding breeding.We also have many gifting and lineage-specific threads.

Edited February 20, 2021 by Jazeki

[Auriene]

10 minutes ago, Jazeki said:

Does the search function as it is now not allow users to do this?

 

It allows, but in a limited way. You can search the forum / the topic for the name of one breed, "Royal Blue" for example - but you may end up with numerous "Royal Blue x something" combinations, various gens etc. Not to mention that you may also get posts where Royal Blue is someone's 'want / looking for'. Quickly findning the exact "A x B" lineage is almost impossible that way.

 

Also, people are posting their 'have' trades without any form - some use egg images instead of breed names, some use shortened versions of breed names and so on. Introducing a form - even to already existing topics - would help a lot, especially for Holiday trading seasons.

[Fuzzbucket]

57 minutes ago, Jazeki said:

Does the search function as it is now not allow users to do this?

 

I'm not a fan of the auto-pm option. This seems like clutter and invites unwanted communication.

 

ARRGGGH I missed that. NO to ANY auto-pms even of any kind !

 

57 minutes ago, Jazeki said:

We also have many gifting and lineage-specific threads.

 

Quite.

 

34 minutes ago, Auriene said:

 

It allows, but in a limited way. You can search the forum / the topic for the name of one breed, "Royal Blue" for example - but you may end up with numerous "Royal Blue x something" combinations, various gens etc. Not to mention that you may also get posts where Royal Blue is someone's 'want / looking for'. Quickly findning the exact "A x B" lineage is almost impossible that way.

 

Also, people are posting their 'have' trades without any form - some use egg images instead of breed names, some use shortened versions of breed names and so on. Introducing a form - even to already existing topics - would help a lot, especially for Holiday trading seasons.

 

Maybe the answer for what you want is to set up a thread where there is a rigidly set format for trades; people can then set the thread to PM when there is new activity. I don't actually think it's reasonable to expect the whole forum to set rules for posting trades to suit one player. I know I post them on all sorts of different ways. according to the way I feel that day and what kind of player I hope to attract. I DO often use egg images and I shall carry on doing so. People scanning quickly can see them at a glance.

 

You can search for combos - especially with google.

[Fuzzbucket]

I just did: site:dragcave.net +"silver x rosebud" got me a good few ! Not all trading posts, but even so.

Edited February 20, 2021 by Fuzzbucket

[Jazeki]

I agree that a new specific thread might work. You can't expect people to have a uniform way of expressing their wants and needs. As long as people are in the right area, it should be easier to navigate. Many people only know breeds by their sprites or they know very few breed names. 

 

Perhaps you want to make a Google doc or Google forms like Secret Santa does to encourage communication.

[angelicdragonpuppy]

For checkers, we've got you covered:

 

 

[Auriene]

45 minutes ago, Fuzzbucket said:

I don't actually think it's reasonable to expect the whole forum to set rules for posting trades to suit one player.

 

24 minutes ago, Jazeki said:

I agree that a new specific thread might work. You can't expect people to have a uniform way of expressing their wants and needs.

 

Trading / lineage aiding threads have their own respective rules. Although I am convinced that establishing a unified trade form would benefit all players, because it would make searching easier (allowing both sides to quickly find what they are searching for and increasing the chance of getting offers on your trade), I am far from forcing this point of view unto anyone. Only people responsible for trading threads can decide if the thread rules should be changed or not.

 

6 minutes ago, angelicdragonpuppy said:

For checkers, we've got you covered:

 

Why. I. Haven't. Discovered. This. Earlier Thank you! ❤️

[Jazeki]

I don't think either of us accused you of forcing your point of view on anyone. This suggestion would probably benefit a lot of people, but there are many different trading preferences. It might be hard to decide how to implement this in a way that's useful to the most people while still being easy to understand and navigate.

Edited February 20, 2021 by Jazeki
Clarification

[Fuzzbucket]

37 minutes ago, angelicdragonpuppy said:

For checkers, we've got you covered:

 

 

 

Hey YEAH.... (not the easiest database to navigate but yes. Off to look for something I need !)

 

9 minutes ago, Jazeki said:

I don't think either of us accused you of forcing your point of view on anyone. This suggestion would probably benefit a lot of people, but there are many different trading preferences. It might be hard to decide how to implement this in a way that's useful to the most people while still being easy to understand and navigate.

 

Exactly this. Which is why I think your best bet is your own thread with the rules you want to see. If people find it hugely valuable, they will be there in their droves.

[angelicdragonpuppy]

16 minutes ago, Fuzzbucket said:

 

Hey YEAH.... (not the easiest database to navigate but yes. Off to look for something I need !)

 

 

Exactly this. Which is why I think your best bet is your own thread with the rules you want to see. If people find it hugely valuable, they will be there in their droves.

Can you tell me what you find hard to navigate? Everything is organized by male --> female so if you're looking for a specific it shouldn't be hard to find. I usually ctrl + f my way around on laptop, but I had to use it a couple times on mobile this week and it was easier than expected to just scroll to what I wanted.

 

 

[Fuzzbucket]

Getting to the person you want ! NO biggie. Maybe give PM links - because if you can't find them by scroll name on forum...

[angelicdragonpuppy]

11 hours ago, Fuzzbucket said:

Getting to the person you want ! NO biggie. Maybe give PM links - because if you can't find them by scroll name on forum...

There's a tab within the document that lists everyone's info, PM links included

 

 

Anyway, as for the suggestion itself... I don't think a unified form would really work, simply because there's so many tens of thousands of possibilities with lineages. It's hard to make a form that encompasses everything from "I want a messy" to "I want a 3g PB Prize" to "I want a Storm x Solstice stair where the Solstice color alternates every generation." My best advice is to simply hang around threads featuring whatever you're looking for, and find like minded players. You're never going to find every single thing you hope for, but you tend to find a lot. I love checkers and Holidays, and between the Checker Database and the Holiday Lineage Aid threads, I'd say I find more than half of the lineages I look for. Not bad when there's so many potential lineages out there!

 

If there's not a thread particular to your tastes, you can also start one. Just try to find a format that's easy for others to use.

Edited February 21, 2021 by angelicdragonpuppy

[HeatherMarie]

I agree with others that trying to make a unified trading form among all users is probably not going to be possible. While I understand it can take awhile to search for what you want when there are so many different threads and different terms, that's exactly why this wouldn't work: There is too many possibilities to consider, there can't possibly be a single unified form/thread/etc that would meet *everyone's* needs. 

 

We have separate threads for many different trading and lineage options already, many with fairly specific goals and rules. I believe most users can find *some* appropriate place with what we already have, if they spend some time looking, and if we don't have a specific trading/lineage thread one could always be made! 

 

(Just an example of why any sort of unified 'database' with the goal of easier searching wouldn't always help: I'm looking for a messy. But *most* users have a very different idea of what 'messy' means than I do, with many posting 3rd-gen stairsteps as 'messy' just because there isn't a pattern with the breeds. In my experience, someone posting a messy for trade is not going to be detailed, they'll say it's a messy 'good for freezing' or whatever. Even if there was an effort to have some unified form, users are *not* going to put something specific like '15-gen messy inbred with multiple different patterns'. No form is going to help that.)

[Fuzzbucket]

5 hours ago, angelicdragonpuppy said:

There's a tab within the document that lists everyone's info, PM links included

Oh. Oops. OH  Thanks.

 

It is BIG and - well, I am living proof that it isn't the first thing that one sees !

 

5 hours ago, angelicdragonpuppy said:

If there's not a thread particular to your tastes, you can also start one. Just try to find a format that's easy for others to use.

 

Exactly this. Most of us seem to work OK with the threads that exist, after all.