2023-10-31 - Happy Halloween!

[Tiira]

They are fantastic! Huge thanks and congrats to Moonshark and Schenanigans, well done! I've been anxious the whole day because I knew I couldn't be home when TJ's dragons should grow up. Well, the adults most certainly didn't disappoint me! Or okay, perhaps the fact that these aren't leviathans but wyrms after all did, a bit, but oh well, maaybe they're quite leviathan-y wyrms still. It is so very exciting to have an oceanic Halloween breed, I have a thing for marine dragons, so that trait alone would be enough for me to enjoy these, but... I think these abyss watchers are just great in every way. 🌊👻 Also thanks to TJ for choosing them, and again for the extended drop!

[daba555]

Oh, my, those are pretty....worth the fight and the wait.

 

Thank you for these and for putting up with me

[alatus]

Really cute dragons! Thanks to everyone who made them possible  

[Gluria]

Oooh I love them!

Definitely going to make a small lineage project with Lotaan dragons!

[SharaIshvalda]

3 hours ago, haligtree said:

 

I guess I'm not seeing the same posts you are. I saw one person saying people shouldn't complain, yes, but I also see people expressing that they don't find this dragon to be very Halloween-y, people having discussions about what does or does not make a dragon Halloween-y, and people talking about Iridichis. and then I see a few people, including myself, saying that claiming spriters are out of ideas is rude. because it is. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Only one person said that, though. Not that I'm defending them because yes, that is really rude lol. But the rest of us have been reasonably expressing our disappointment with the new dragon WITHOUT bashing on the spriters. Therefore it's also pretty rude for people to tell us to stop complaining and just be happy.

[Murkydepths]

Very nice spritework. The lore is lovely and I'm in love with the bioluminescence.

 

But echoing the sentiment that they don't feel halloweeny at all, no more than many regular dragons. And I'm usually all for non-conventional designs, I liked Iridichis. I like designs that push the boundaries. But however much I love this design (and I really do) it lacks the extra special flare of a holiday dragon. A shame because I love the sprite, I'd like to collect these as regular dragons, but not as holidays.

 

 

[LizardMonster]

1 hour ago, Naruhina_94 said:

It is a lovely and well designed dragon, nice color, lovely shading and pose. The concept is cool too, being an abyss creature is fascinating. I'm very happy for a new sea-dragon to be relased in the cave, its actually the first holiday dragon to be marine breed i think. That being said I humbley think it is not fitted for an halloween relase as it doesnt give me any halloween vibes... if it could be more of scary looking, i would absolutley adore it. maybe it could be made reminding a kraken? With tentacles? I dunno. Thank you for a new wonderful dragon relased tho, I think it will make beatiful lineages with many existing dragons ❤️

Though I love the current design, I agree that tentacles or some kraken inspiration could have made this dragon a lot creepier. It already resembles a "vampire" squid, so leaning more into an unnerving deep sea squid aesthetic may have made it fit better as a Halloween breed.

[Teez]

I think these sprites are gorgeous, but I'm disappointed that this is the Halloween dragon.
 

I don't plan to get rid of the ones I've got on my scroll --- no sense in releasing them at this point, and again, they're gorgeous on their own --- but I can't see myself dedicating any of the limited time and egg slots available for Halloween breeding/collecting to a dragon that doesn't give me any Halloween vibes whatsoever, "commercial" or otherwise.

If this were a non-Holiday release, without the Holiday limitations, I'd be snapping them right up.

I see people bringing up Iridichis, and I was happy to have those as Halloweens. To me, not everything scary/spooky or kitschy is Halloween, and not everything Halloween is spooky/scary or kitschy... That said, while I understand the intention for this year's release, I also don't find the appearance and description spooky or scary at all, on top of the missing "Halloween" vibe.

[Modusiticate]

I think these guys are totally fine. They're Halloween exclusive for lore reasons. Yea, they could be more festive or spoopy, but it's not a huge deal.

[Daypaw]

I absolutely love these dergs - the sprites are beautiful, and the will-o-the-wisp type effect described in the breed info sounds perfectly Halloweeny to me. It doesn't need to be a literal ghost to be ghostly - there is a ton of real world folklore about things just like this. Honestly, I'm super happy to have something that isn't just 'it's a pumpkin, but a dragon' or 'it's a candy corn, but a dragon.' Those things are all well and good but the more broad concepts like this one just... feel more like they fit into the universe and less like something tossed at us to fit a theme, y'know? These are super different from anything we've had before, and I like that. 

[stagazer_7]

Very pretty and well made sprites! I have to join the "not very Haloweeny looking" camp, and while I do prefer my holiday releases campy I'm more then happy to add them to my collection and I'll be making nice lineages with them for sure as their coloration makes them perfect for combination with breeds that I don't usually use for Haloween. So pretty much win all around. 

 

Thank you spriters & TJ & everyone else involved for a awesome HW event! 

[Lagie]

10 hours ago, MoonShark said:

They do have encyclopedia notes (which will be uploaded hopefully soon), but here's a few fun facts about Abyss Watchers to tide you over!

Thanks for the additional info!

The dragons are beautiful!

 

@Ashywolf, your wee flappy dragon is another of my favourite treats this year.

[Sextonator]

Yesss finally a thalassophobia dragon! Much better than what I’ve ever thought of. I love that it’s red!! Congratulations Shenanigans! And I love it so muchhhhh!

[dracornithologist]

This is meant to be a genuine question about the how the forum works: is this space for expressing what people would like for future Halloween releases? It seems to me like there isn't going to be a change to these dragons - they're released in full, but I'm only recently on here so maybe I'm not aware of dragons being edited post release as a common thing? 

 

I just feel like I'm seeing people say it doesn't "look like" Halloween, but I can't imagine every person saying that has the same idea of what *would* look like Halloween. And I'm sure they don't have the same idea as me, because to me, the lore + appearance makes this dragon Look Like Halloween. 

 

As I've seen the reminder for only productive criticism, it seems to me that saying it seems like a regular release isn't productive, as one, there's no direction for what would change that (while individuals have made gestures towards wanting a more "classic" Halloween dragon, that doesn't look the same for everyone and so doesn't seem like an actionable critique to me), and two, there's no direction to go from there, as the dragon is already released. So I'm wondering if this space is meant to be sort of as opinion gathering, to hear what people want? Or maybe there's another function I'm missing, as this is my first event on the site!

 

Sorry if this comment itself is annoying or unproductive! I'm definitely not trying to step on anyone's toes or invalidate anyone's opinion. 💖

[MoonShark]

12 minutes ago, dracornithologist said:

Sorry if this comment itself is annoying or unproductive! I'm definitely not trying to step on anyone's toes or invalidate anyone's opinion. 💖

I appreciate you raising that question. I've been here for going on 15 years now, and I'll be honest that I'm not sure what the answer to that is either. I will say that I appreciate a mod stepping in to say something earlier to a lot of the negative criticism that was being raised, but it is sad to see continued debate about whether or not they're "Halloween-y" enough. To me, as the conceptor, they embody a lot of my favorite things about Halloween--spooky colors, eerie and fear-inspiring appearance, and hailing from a dark and terrifying place few ever venture. Things that go bump (or glow!) in the night have always spooked me a lot more than more contemporary Halloween things.

 

I do understand they are not everyone's cup of tea, and that's okay. No single release is going to ever satisfy every player, because there is always a range of expectations for what a release or a dragon should be. I just wish that this release, which I was so excited for that I was bouncing around my room at midnight when I saw them dropping, was not overshadowed by commentary regarding what a Halloween dragon should or shouldn't be. I don't believe there's any one true answer to that, and I think that is reflected in the beautiful variety that we have among the Halloween breeds that exist on DC.

[Lagie]

2 minutes ago, MoonShark said:

I think that is reflected in the beautiful variety that we have among the Halloween breeds that exist on DC.

This would apply to all breeds, holiday or otherwise. There will always be people who agree and disagree with a release and its characteristics. I find the ocean scary in daylight at times (and I live in The Bahamas...); the depths are terrifying. So while the Abyss Watchers aren't classic overt Halloween, they certainly fit the bill for things that go bump in the night (and bioluminesence is also kind of creepy even while it's pretty!).

[Luckystarz103]

couldve atleast added tentacly extensions around the mouth and body to mimic a spooky deep sea squid and give it a more eldritch vibe

[Glaciarie]

The halloween dragon is very cool!

Edited November 4, 2023 by Glaciarie

[meeps114]

 

5 minutes ago, Luckystarz103 said:

couldve atleast added tentacly extensions around the mouth and body to mimic a spooky deep sea squid and give it a more eldritch vibe

I think debating on what to add to this particular dragon isn't constructive -- as previously discussed, it's not going to be retroactively changed so it's just criticism. I think the sprites and concept are beautiful! It's not really halloween-y to me more than many other non-halloween dragons, such as a Deep Sea Dragon, but I'm excited to add it to my hoard and have lots of lineages planned. 

[Luckystarz103]

5 minutes ago, meeps114 said:

 

I think debating on what to add to this particular dragon isn't constructive -- as previously discussed, it's not going to be retroactively changed so it's just criticism.

It's constructive as it suggests what can be done better next time, obviously no one said the new ween should be changed retroactively. You are free to disagree but that does not suddenly make critism unconstructive.

[Bison]

The sprites are really beautiful. The colors and shading are fantastic. I also like the concept and the lore, I think it's all really cool.

 

I echo the sentiment of others that wish that the Halloween dragons would be more Halloweenish though. It would be nice to have another breed that's more fun instead of super serious, like Pumpkins and Arcanas. (Considering my 314 Pumpkin hoard, my preference for silly and super Halloween-y dragons is pretty obvious!) But I also wish that Abyss Watchers were a normal release so I could actually collect them! There's too much going on during Halloween with the more festive releases.

[BriannaKitty]

I absolutely love the Abyss Watchers..!! They are SO CUTE!!!!! I have a friend who has a deep fear of the ocean and this absolutely feels like a creature of the deep they'd be freaked by... I also love the lore for them! If only I could go visit the ocean near me each halloween season, I could absolutely see myself setting aside time for that.

I see where people are a little confused about why this is a halloween critter, but I really enjoy the idea behind it and the lore. ❤️ Thank you so much to the team who made these fellas! 

Edited November 4, 2023 by BriannaKitty

[Nagapie]

Abyss Watchers turned out fantastic! I personally see a bit of humboldt squid crossed with anglerfish and I love it. (Not to mention I love how the name reminds one of Dark Souls)

Overall, a lot of spooky to go around!

Edited November 4, 2023 by Nagapie

[dragondoodle]

Just went into the AP to snag some  Halloweens and this came up after refreshing a few times. Not sure what the odds are that the colors would match so well, but I also laughed at the number of users online

 

[purplehaze]

3 hours ago, MoonShark said:

I just wish that this release, which I was so excited for that I was bouncing around my room at midnight when I saw them dropping, was not overshadowed by commentary regarding what a Halloween dragon should or shouldn't be.

I am sorry that your joy in having the dragon released has been dampened by player comments. Please know that there are plenty of us who think it is absolutely appropriate for a Halloween dragon. Many of the previous Halloween dragons didn't seem particularly Halloweeny (whatever that is) to me, but I understand that we all have different ideas and not every dragon in the cave has to be to my taste. There are dragons in the cave, both holiday and non-holiday that are not my cup of tea. That's fine! It is not the artist's or conceptor's fault. I just collect more of the ones I really like.

 

 

Edited November 4, 2023 by purplehaze