2021-08-22 - August Dragon Release

[Fyrebird]

Volcano eggs show no sexual dimorphism... so any variation seems to be at the adult stage... at least until more of them hatch.

 

1 minute ago, Cthulhu said:

I cannot believe that I checked the Cave every night this week just in case, but failed to check here last night!!!  I feel kind of stupid, but oh well.  

New releases (barring holidays) are almost always at midnight Sunday, cave time. I remember TJ doing tests/surveys to determine this gave people the best chance globally to have free time to pursue eggs.

[Elizabeth Moonstone]

I really hope variations will show at the hatchling stage as well… It would be unprecedented to have a dragon where you don’t know what you get until it grows up. All other variants show upon creation, hatching or gendering.

 

 

[HeatherMarie]

Does the mottled s2 have flame-hair?? That looks cool! Can anyone tell any subtle differences in the s2 sprites? I've even zoomed in but can't see anything... Adult-only variants would be frustrating! The striped s2 looks kind of strange to me, that head seems a weird shape or curved in a strange way.

[blackfirewarrior]

8 minutes ago, Elizabeth Moonstone said:

I really hope variations will show at the hatchling stage as well… It would be unprecedented to have a dragon where you don’t know what you get until it grows up. All other variants show upon creation, hatching or gendering.

 

 

 

Agreed. Unless there's some very exact combo/action that needs to be done to get them, having to raise a dragon all the way to adult only to find it's the wrong one would be absolutely infuriating and frankly, BS. (Although perhaps this is an indication that it is in fact a very specific combo/action)

[Fuzzbucket]

Oh ho not that simple... the desert/alpine are either biome related or there's something else... the pale ones have one of each sex.

 

 

Edited August 22, 2021 by Fuzzbucket

[Tini]

Everyone trying to figure out how the dark egg works while Infi was sitting in the dark with popcorn, knowing they had secret alts in the wings.

 

Anyway i kinda get dark v light unicorn vibes from infi's. I'm really digging it and I'm glad i ended up with 4 of each instead of 2 and 6 like i planned. Its probably biome based but its also infi so. lmao.

 

Doha's still hold their secrets tight. No difference in any of the s2. Rainbow flames as adults has my vote. Or 3 adults with dimorphism. But we can only wait.

[Fyrebird]

9 minutes ago, Fuzzbucket said:

Oh ho not that simple... the desert/alpine are either biome related or there's something else... the pale ones have one of each sex.

I don't think it's biome related... those who caught their eggs in a mix of biomes (instead of all of one biome then another) say they sort in grab order, which means there's no division by biome. If there was a color shift by biome they would sort by biome (or at least, that's how it's always worked in the past).

 

It's possible that it really is a temperament difference by gender. Which, as I said before, would make these the first dragons to reveal gender upon birth.
Incubated versus not incubated is still an option.

Edited August 22, 2021 by Fyrebird

[MissK.]

Oh boy, all the volcano hatchlings are the same. Does that mean I called it with 3 different variants with dimorphism? I didn't want to be right

[Fyrebird]

29 minutes ago, MissK. said:

Oh boy, all the volcano hatchlings are the same. Does that mean I called it with 3 different variants with dimorphism? I didn't want to be right

Well, there is some speculation that they'll be like the anti-gemshards, with a color based on which day they grow up.  Or on an hourly basis like the firegems. That would force us to finesse day/time they became adults, which we have so far not had to do.

 

Edited to add: there is the siyats, but that's just hatching day, not maturation day.

Edited August 22, 2021 by Fyrebird

[Elizabeth Moonstone]

I really hope there will be an easy way to distinguish Volcano variants. Something unambiguous like the day of the week they were grabbed… otherwise it will be very difficult to trade or gift them.

 

Edit after Fyrebird post: or they could be like the Siyats, except the variant is determined by how long they take to mature instead of how long they take to hatch. That would actually be quite neat. 

Edited August 22, 2021 by Elizabeth Moonstone

[caya]

Had to wait for a few eggs to hatch, but grabbed my new set - 4 Volcano, 2 Desert, 2 Alpine. Can't wait for them to hatch 😃

[Fyrebird]

8 minutes ago, Elizabeth Moonstone said:

like the Siyats, except the variant is determined by how long they take to mature instead of how long they take to hatch. That would actually be quite neat. 

Yeah, you'd have to make sure they got enough views to insta-hatch BEFORE they reach 4 days, then hide them until the proper day. Which means you'd also have to trade them before that day... just within a timeframe where the target day is possible. (If you need them to grow up on Tuesday, one that hatched on Sunday or Monday wouldn't work because they wouldn't reach hatchable age in time.)

[MissK.]

20 minutes ago, Fyrebird said:

Well, there is some speculation that they'll be like the anti-gemshards, with a color based on which day they grow up.  Or on an hourly basis like the firegems. That would force us to finesse day/time they became adults, which we have so far not had to do.

 

Edited to add: there is the siyats, but that's just hatching day, not maturation day.

 

As long as there's some kind of reasonable pattern to it it's fine I suppose, I was just hoping for another chill release like the last one and instead both breeds seem to have variants, possibly multiple ones at that. Oh well, as long as it's not more complicated BSA-based stuff.

[Elizabeth Moonstone]

I was thinking more of the timer than specific days of the week. A day of the week mechanism would be fiddly and there will be max 6 adult variants (I think the seventh hatchie will be frozen) so what happens on Sunday? Gemshards hatch in a random color on Sunday but for a dragon to grow up in a random sprite wouldn’t be fun, I think.

 

If it’s timer based, it’s a bit less fiddly as you just have to fog them until they hit the desired time and then ER. Maybe three sprites with dimorphism, one for hatchlings that grow up at 4d-3d1h, one at 3d-2d1h and one at 2d-0h. 

[Moranna]

I thought the drop would happen next week, as it's usually the last Sunday of the month, so I'm egglocked with Market eggs. 😭 I hope I can still find them after they hatch on Monday.  I hope that there isn't a fiddly mechanic to get all the Volcano variations.  I'm still working on the Gemshards and Cantors, and only with Market eggs.

[Cthulhu]

2 hours ago, Fyrebird said:

 

New releases (barring holidays) are almost always at midnight Sunday, cave time. I remember TJ doing tests/surveys to determine this gave people the best chance globally to have free time to pursue eggs.

Yes, but that does not take into account my horrible memory and not remembering that it was Saturday leading into Sunday, and just wanting to go to bed.  But I did manage to get some eggs.

 

So I managed get a couple of stripey eggs that the codes end in 'z', so after the cooldown period is over, I will be posting them on the Trading Hub..

Edited August 22, 2021 by Cthulhu

[Sunrunner]

22 minutes ago, Moranna said:

I thought the drop would happen next week, as it's usually the last Sunday of the month

For future reference, it's usually the 4th weekend of a month, rather than the last - some months have 5 weekends.  But August was a little wonky, with the 1st being on a Sunday, so I wasn't sure about a release this weekend either.  At least most of my eggs will hatch later tonight & I can grab a few more new eggos then.

 

Another thing to note: it's also been 4 weeks since the last new release.

[DragonLady86]

2 hours ago, Elizabeth Moonstone said:

I really hope variations will show at the hatchling stage as well… It would be unprecedented to have a dragon where you don’t know what you get until it grows up. All other variants show upon creation, hatching or gendering.

 

 

Not unprecedented. Snow angels are this way. The difference is, you only need 1 to grow up to know what every other one will hatch into.

[Fyrebird]

Just now, DragonLady86 said:

Not unprecedented. Snow angels are this way. 

Really hope it's not like Snow Angels. I know I'm not the only one heartbroken to not be able to get all of them, or at least choose.

[Jazeki]

Gonna breed the flame-y ones with Blazebacks probably.

 

The gendered hatchies look cute. 

[Cthulhu]

15 minutes ago, Fyrebird said:

Really hope it's not like Snow Angels. I know I'm not the only one heartbroken to not be able to get all of them, or at least choose.

 

Me too.  I am also heartbroken to have gotten the least decorative of the Snow Angels and can never get a different one, even in trade. 

[Caileh]

2 hours ago, Fyrebird said:

I don't think it's biome related... those who caught their eggs in a mix of biomes (instead of all of one biome then another) say they sort in grab order, which means there's no division by biome. If there was a color shift by biome they would sort by biome (or at least, that's how it's always worked in the past).

 

It's possible that it really is a temperament difference by gender. Which, as I said before, would make these the first dragons to reveal gender upon birth.
Incubated versus not incubated is still an option.

I incubated one of my eggs, sorted in the middle because of when it was grabbed, to see if it would jump to the top/bottom but it stayed in the middle. So it seems like incubated or not isn't the answer.

 

Anyway, so exciting with a release!! 😀

[VioletWhirlwind]

New release! I got my 8, now it's a waiting game.

[anetofstars]

A surprize!  Thought the drop would be next weekend. Thanks to all!

[HeatherMarie]

2 hours ago, DragonLady86 said:

Not unprecedented. Snow angels are this way. The difference is, you only need 1 to grow up to know what every other one will hatch into.

 

Technically that would still be unprecedented in 'regular' releases, Snow Angels are holiday releases and holiday releases don't exactly stick to the same way regular releases go (see Solstice colors depending on time-bred *but* all CBs being the same color... Plus the whole Sweetling issue...)

 

2 hours ago, Jazeki said:

Gonna breed the flame-y ones with Blazebacks probably.

 

Yeeesss! Two awesome blaze-y dragons definitely go together. 

 

edit: I have two of the striped eggs now, one from each biome, and one of the mottled eggs. Waiting very impatiently for some eggs to hatch...

Edited August 23, 2021 by HeatherMarie