2024-03-24 - March Dragon Release

[DigitalGarden]

1 hour ago, KageSora said:

...Well, crud.  That COMPLETELY messes with my sorting system to have a dragon that's both pygmy and not.

 

I have no idea how to handle that.

 

So, are they able to breed without using the BSA?  It just changes which dragons they can breed with?  Because that would be fascinating to mix lineages using them

I would personally sort them according to what the encyclopedia says, or... assuming the forms are permanent until toggled back, split it into two groups?

[UnicornMaiden]

I love this. I'll probably have some that I keep permanently large and others that I keep permanently small, but it would also be really interesting to make mixed lineages by switching some back and forth.

[KageSora]

12 minutes ago, DigitalGarden said:

I would personally sort them according to what the encyclopedia says, or... assuming the forms are permanent until toggled back, split it into two groups?

I have my dragons largely sorted by breeding categories, so one that can breed cross-category throws a huge wrench in that...  But I think I might just do 2 groups, no clue what I'll do with any I want to breed into a mixed line if that does end up being possible

[Fuzzbucket]

1 hour ago, KageSora said:

 

It sounds like the switch is manual, but with a 7 day cool down between being allowed to change again so as long as you're careful you should be fine.

But see - I'd have to have one CB in there (in each half as well as its child) - and if it changes back - even if only the CB - IN THE LINEAGE - that would wreck my fabulous pygmy line !

 

1 hour ago, KageSora said:

 

Maybe I'll keep some permanently large, some permanently small, and split them between where I sort things?  It'd only get Weird if I tried to make a mixed lineage, I might have to build in a new section and re-sort things then...  Hmm...  But maybe I won't do a lineage with them anyway.  Eh, that's a problem for future me!

 

That's where I stand.

 

56 minutes ago, MissK. said:

This is going to be so strange...so we could make a lineage with a pygmy version, then switch it to big version? And the pymgy will have one big and one small parent in the lineage? (Or vice versa for the sizes.)

That would worry me a bit....

 

56 minutes ago, MissK. said:

 

For myself I'll probably keep some for each size permanently, since I want to have all the sprites for sure.

I guess - just like Aegises. But I have grave doubts about my special line, just the same.

[ealbiest]

2 hours ago, Dizzywing said:

an eq'd delta grew up - i don't own one, but it was posted on discord.

  Reveal hidden contents

they have a "shrink" bsa that allows them to become a pygmy. they're able to breed with pygmies and produce pygmy eggs!

after using it, the bsa goes on a 7 day cooldown and is replaced with "enlarge".

(female sprite. no male ones have grown up yet, so no way to check for dimorphism, but there should be one soon..)

i bet they look really nice with painted rays and glowbacks.

So cute! Love that. I wish it could then remain pygmy, even if it were possible to enlarge the pygmy version at will after cooldown. Anyways a neat new BSA, thanks guys!

[Edenello]

oooo I'm going to have a lot of fun with these lineages! I was already planning on hoarding the deltas but now I can shrink them? Heheh. I need to make plans.

[Jazeki]

Do the pygmy versions have dimorphism? 

[Murkydepths]

I would not ever have imagine a bsa with the potential to mix pygmies and regulars would EVER get in game. This is huge. I'm amazed and excited.

[KageSora]

1 hour ago, Fuzzbucket said:

But see - I'd have to have one CB in there (in each half as well as its child) - and if it changes back - even if only the CB - IN THE LINEAGE - that would wreck my fabulous pygmy line !

 

Would the CB have to be bred by another player?  I could see the issue with that, but if you can provide the CB yourself then if it's a manual switch couldn't you just not make that one big again?  If they automatically return, yeah, that'd be a problem though...

[Fuzzbucket]

No - it would all have to be mine - so then that CB would have to stay that way (two of them, indeed) for ever. I might not want that, but....

[D-wing]

wow, a cool bsa! maybe I would collect a pygmy delta x normal or normal x big...

[Sarjis]

I think the Lalopias is going to be a popular Halloween mate.

[MissK.]

1 hour ago, Jazeki said:

Do the pygmy versions have dimorphism? 

 

I would assume not since TJ only has 4 in his post. Should be one hatchling and one adult for each size.

[Seejey]

That's awesome! I wish they could use this BSA on other breeds!

 

Now we need one that pops out a second (or, maybe even a third or more) head(s) at will and one that becomes a drake somehow! Then pygmy versions of these, then a two-headed that becomes a drake, then vice versa and so on... ^^

 

Thanks, TJ and whoever had the idea!

Edited March 28 by Seejey

[Nerei]

17 minutes ago, Seejey said:

Now we need one that pops out a second (or, maybe even a third or more) head(s) at will and one that becomes a drake somehow! Then pygmy versions of these, then a two-headed that becomes a drake, then vice versa and so on... ^^

 

I’m skeptical about drake/dragon breeding ever entering the game for moral reasons (drakes having animalistic intelligence and dragons having human-level or greater intelligence). 

[KageSora]

8 minutes ago, Nerei said:

I’m skeptical about drake/dragon breeding ever entering the game for moral reasons (drakes having animalistic intelligence and dragons having human-level or greater intelligence). 

 

And yet they allow us to dictate who they're allowed to breed with and when they do, including being told to breed every single week and have the resulting eggs taken away from them and dumped to die, be killed, or be traded/given away and not care at all even the dragons that are of social breeds that communally raise hatchlings.

[Animals65]

Okay so just to make sure I'm understanding all of this: The only way to get different sprites of the Spotted dragons is to use their unique BSA which changes their size? Am I getting this correctly?

[Nerei]

4 minutes ago, KageSora said:

 

And yet they allow us to dictate who they're allowed to breed with and when they do, including being told to breed every single week and have the resulting eggs taken away from them and dumped to die, be killed, or be traded/given away and not care at all even the dragons that are of social breeds that communally raise hatchlings.

 

Very true. However, there is still some element of consent with breeding partners since some pairs refuse to breed, show no interest, or have more success than other pairings. Dragon/drake couples would be less believable for lore reasons than pygmy/dragon couples that are separated only in size but share the same level of intelligence. 

[Gluria]

6 hours ago, Dizzywing said:

an eq'd delta grew up - i don't own one, but it was posted on discord.

  Hide contents

they have a "shrink" bsa that allows them to become a pygmy. they're able to breed with pygmies and produce pygmy eggs!

after using it, the bsa goes on a 7 day cooldown and is replaced with "enlarge".

(female sprite. no male ones have grown up yet, so no way to check for dimorphism, but there should be one soon..)

i bet they look really nice with painted rays and glowbacks.

This is so, so insanely cool, I'll collect them and make a lineage with something massive like Stone Dragons lol

[TCA]

1 hour ago, KageSora said:

 

And yet they allow us to dictate who they're allowed to breed with and when they do, including being told to breed every single week and have the resulting eggs taken away from them and dumped to die, be killed, or be traded/given away and not care at all even the dragons that are of social breeds that communally raise hatchlings.

There has to be some degree of story and gameplay separation or the entire premise of Dragon Cave falls apart pretty fast, but there is a line to draw somewhere and implied violation of the Harkness test is a decent line to draw.

Edited March 28 by TCA

[seventeendeer]

Agree with TCA, and also - drakes are specifically the only dragon-like creatures in the cave that aren't actually dragons. They're specifically described as a different species. Pygmies and two-headeds are still dragons, just different types of dragon.

 

Would love to see a dragon with the ability to go two-head mode temporarily in the same vein as Deltas. Absolutely delightful mechanic!

[Caileh]

Cool mechanism! Love the idea of making lineages with both pygmies and normal-sized dragons. 😁

 

ETA I also love the colours of the lavas. So very shiny. 🤩

Edited March 28 by Caileh

[tjekan]

54 minutes ago, KageSora said:

 

And yet they allow us to dictate who they're allowed to breed with and when they do, including being told to breed every single week and have the resulting eggs taken away from them and dumped to die, be killed, or be traded/given away and not care at all even the dragons that are of social breeds that communally raise hatchlings.

 

I always figured it was more like choosing romance trees in a CRPG than breeding horses. From a meta perspective we are "making" them mate with each other but within game, they are choosing it.

[Shokomon]

Hell Yes Fire Leviathans.

 

We have Fire Leviathans, Air Leviathans, and Water (normal) Leviathans! All we need is Earth then we'll have all the elements! 

 

Technically they are Earth Leviathans too because they swim in Lava and melt the ground to swim, but my brain is like "Heat = Fire." Lol

 

Also new mechanic! Yaaas.

Spoiler

Now we have the only dragon allowed to breed across subgroups.

 

What I will probably do is have one that breeds exclusively with pygmies and the other with normals. 

 

I am glad they have pygmy-sized eggs because a female non-Delta pygmy is going to have a real tough time with a normal sized egg.  Just saying.

 

Thank you for all the lovely dragons, @Munin, @Hawaiianbabidoll, and @JOTB!

Edited March 28 by Shokomon

[KageSora]

Dragons don't seem to have any morals about inbreeding, though.  And before anybody goes "but there's no in-game penalties for it" parent/child or siblings breeding is an issue in sapient entities like humans even when offspring aren't a problem due to issues with consent and power imbalances.  The game does allow this for all breeds including ones that have hierarchies or social structures where you might consider it analogous to a human family unit.

 

Yet the game happily allows us to breed dragons regardless of relation and doesn't even lightly discourage it.

 

Then there's the sheer amount of dragons that, despite "human or greater" intelligence are clearly written as behaving in an animalistic way, so they're not the same as humans in terms of dragons morality or standards.

 

So it seems a bit strange to try and apply human morality on one thing that would be a problem IRL but not a different one.

 

I don't particularly care in general, just seems a but strange of a place to draw the line between gameplay and lore separation.  The entire premise as it currently functions gets real creepy, real fast as soon as you start thinking about it in human terms for more than a few moments.