That's right, the vale has been in existence for three years. Wow! Over the years we've bred dragons, decorated islands, raced for Kairos, gifted gems, and made some wonderful friends. It's been a fun, sometimes frustrating, journey on these flying islands. Why don't you tell us your DV story?
As we approach the 3 year anniversary of DV, do we want to reflect this occasion w/ our writings? I know I have a few things to say ( not too surprising, right? buffy can certainly yap! ) I know some of you have some thought about DV. The one on-line game you have been playing for so long; some way, some how lead us to this forum, thru ups and downs, has intricately connected us from all corner of the world by this "invisible thread". It can be anything; my piece will be on why I started playing DV (will be later on)
This idea is not entirely mine. Last night, I read Kyle's post on DV Wiki and perhaps we could do something here. Kiyoji21 will you start, please? Bane Cane and Adriano also share their thoughts on DV Wiki. Kudos guys!
Some of us here are older than the Bone dragon. Others are learning the ins-and-outs of breeding. No matter what please share with us your thoughts on the game! What's kept you playing? What're your favorite dragons? Tell us some success stories! This is a place for reminiscing. What fond memories do you want to share?
Last Edit: Sept 9, 2014 16:37:44 GMT -6 by lemmyloop
On September 30, 2011, I had just received a new iPod for my birthday and wanted to download a few new games to try out. The first section I checked out in the app store was "Free Games" and DragonVale proudly stood as one of the top 3, so I downloaded it. I only played it occasionally. Maybe picked it up every 3 days or so to check out my park since I did have a handful of other games to play on my new iDevice. The first dragon that I had bred was in fact, the Bone dragon for the Halloween celebration early on in the month. I slowly worked my way through collecting all of the hybrids and snagged a couple of Rainbow dragons too along the way.
A year later, I created my very first fan art for the game in November 2012, which consisted of two Air dragons flying high above the clouds. There was just something about each dragon's design that I loved so much, I just had to draw them all. Now almost two years later, I have created over 275+ pieces of DV fan art and concepts. To this day, I am still creating DV art in one way or another, whether it is through drawing a super long fan comic or sculpting 3D models to be printed in the near future
It's not just the game that's amazing, but also the team behind it as well. BFS's extremely helpful one-of-a-kind customer support is one reason why I have stuck around with this game, as they have helped me through technical problems both thick and thin, fixing my park when I needed it most. DragonVale is the only free app game that I have spent money on, not only for more in-game content, but to help support the amazing people behind the creation of it.
I wouldn't have made so many online friends if it weren't for the creation of this game. I'll continue to enjoy playing this game until the end.
As we approach the 3 year anniversary of DV, do we want to reflect this occasion w/ our writings? I know I have a few things to say ( not too surprising, right? buffy can certainly yap! ) I know some of you have some thought about DV. The one on-line game you have been playing for so long; some way, some how lead us to this forum, thru ups and downs, has intricately connected us from all corner of the world by this "invisible thread". It can be anything; my piece will be on why I started playing DV (will be later on)
This idea is not entirely mine. Last night, I read Kyle's post on DV Wiki and perhaps we could do something here. Kiyoji21 will you start, please? Bane Cane and Adriano also share their thoughts on DV Wiki. Kudos guys!
We have till the 12th to share our feelings...afterward I can combine all the posts and move them to Att. BFS'thread.
Ok then, I'll just copy what I wrote on the wiki here:
Mobile games hardly ever hold my interest for long, so for me to have continued playing this game after about 1.5 years says something about how I feel about it. BFS has done such an amazing job with this game from the art, music, and customer support just to name a few. This is probably the only free game that I would have no objections with spending money on. I never felt the need to spend any money to get ahead or felt like I was getting the short end of the stick. DragonVale is all about patience and I wouldn't have it any other way. There are just so many goals for me to work towards, and that keeps me interested and excited to see the changes this game has to offer. I have played many other dragon breeding type games like this but none of them even comes close to the quality of this game. If not for this game, I would not have the opportunity to meet so many great people and have a place to call home at the DV Community forum. I want to thank BFS for creating such a great game and I also want to that the people of this wiki as well. I'm sure this game would be a lot tougher for me if I did not have this wonderful resource to refer to.
So thank you Backflip Studios, thank you DV wikians, and Happy 3rd Birthday DragonVale! I look foward to whatever comes next.
Post by anyahastur on Sept 9, 2014 17:21:06 GMT -6
I have been playing the game since may 2013 and have loved it since the very first day. My only regret is that I didn't get to play the game since the beginning, when it was released for iOS. It was like a race, trying to catch up to so many dragons that I didn't have. I couldn't get any of the gemstone dragons during the first months. And there were so many limited dragons that I didn't have! My first BEB was hectic. Somehow I managed to get many of the limiteds that I didn't have. I wanted especially those that would't return during the following year: panlong, leap year, paper... I had to use gems to speed things up a bit but it was worth it. But if it weren't for three things, I wouldn't have made it: this forum, the breeding sandbox and the wiki. And of course the people from BFS. I have always loved playing games, but some of them get boring after a while. But as time goes by I love Dragonvale more and more. I intend to play it until the very end, which I hope is very far away. I still have so many thing that I want to accomplish. Apart from breeding whatever new dragons they release, I want to display more eggs, since I have but a few, especially of the limiteds and epics. Crowning some dragons would be nice too. And I want the game to go on so that I can continue to follow the forum and talk about it here. It has been so nice.
Last Edit: Sept 9, 2014 17:55:35 GMT -6 by anyahastur
Really happy with my gorgeous avatar by ElektronX! GCID: Andr3i4 Any and all friends for Cooperative Breeding are welcome. Gladly accepting any twins also.
Post by crumble608 on Sept 10, 2014 4:30:22 GMT -6
I just want to take you on a little time travel by telling my DV history. Maybe some "oldies" have experienced similar things :
I started playing DV during the Easter holidays 2012 and got hooked within hours. The first weeks were the most adventurous ones. I remember saving every gem for the EBI. Hoping every day to get at least silver in the colosseum. And then the moment when I had nearly enough gems and accidentally sped up a Tree !!! Thank god it was not a Crystal .
The first limited dragon that was available for me was the Bloom and I "worked" hard to get it. In the meantime I tried to accumulate the DC (breeding Cactus after Cactus) for the Vernal fountain (I already had the plan to put it in the middle of a small village). I managed to get both, and both are sort of special for me.
The next big aim was to net two Panlongs. In that time the shrine grind was the only way to level dragons past level 10 and the Panlong was the only dragon with four elements. That took some months.
In May 2012 we got a big update which introduced the gem dragons, the Emerald being the first. At the beginning of the following months there was always the big search for the right combination. That's something that I miss.( whilst I suppose that those who did all the testing to find the combination don't miss it)
In July 2012 I subscribed to this forum after lurking for a long time.
I remember the relief when in October '12 the Bone dragon was the first returning limited. This gave room to hope that other limiteds would come back too - except for the rare LYD ! For me the LYD will always be connected with Lion and his demand "Bring back the Leap Year Dragon !"
Also in October 2012 was the appearance of Kairos. Do you remember all those hours of races just to get the final piece for it ? At that time I fully played in three (!) accounts, and in all accounts I summoned Kairos. What an addiction !
Then round about Christmas '12 started the first Bring 'em back. What a surprise ! At last a chance to get a LYD ! On January 18th 2013 I had two of every possible dragon in DV ( except for gem dragons and Kairos of which I had one of every kind). And on May 10th 2013 all my shrines were golden - shortly after Backflip changed the procedure.
Now it's September 2014, I played DV for two and a half years. It always has been a source of joy for me. But I don't think that I would still play it if I hadn't joined this community. The interaction and exchange, the support and the teasing, the great art work and the wining, all this is improving the adventure of DV. Thank you all for this.
dragon list (last dragon : Gatren) DV friend id: Crumble#7733 friend link coop friends always welcome, but all my gems are spoken for
Post by unknownlance on Sept 10, 2014 7:14:51 GMT -6
I became a fan of Backflip Studios when I got hooked onto Ragdoll Blaster. Ever since then, I look forward to every single quality game that they release. And they NEVER disappoint. All their games are enjoyable and consumes all my time because they are just so addictive!
So when DragonVale came along, I knew I had to play it. Hence I started from the very beginning. I played it on my iPod Touch. Being in college, I had the luxury of wireless in most locations so I could feed my dragons, collect dragoncash and breed them. But after a while, it became a hassle to have to look for wireless locations and I stopped playing for a while. I can't remember how long was that. But I managed to catch up with EVERYTHING in 4 months - the now rampant Sun and Moon Dragons, the few and far between Leap Year Dragon and Panlong Dragons (that I managed to snag during the first Bring 'Em Back event at the cost of some money to get gems to speed up breeding and incubation), and arguable once in a lifetime Apocalypse Dragon. I am glad to say now that I am still playing on my iPod Touch but I am able to use my cellphone as a wireless hotspot so that I can satisfy my need for DragonVale on the Apple device.
I would say that I am rather successful (and lucky) with the game. I can count the number of limited dragons on one hand that really gave me a run for my blood pressure in attempting to breed them before their expiry- Leaf Dragon, Sunstruck Dragon, Victory Dragon. But it definitely takes a lot of patience to do well in the game. I have never gotten the complete Dragonium and I am perfectly fine with that because I know it'll happen one day when everything aligns nicely and I don't have to play catch-up (albeit for a while).
I remember how I would randomly tweet my friends about how great and amazing DragonVale is just for the sake of it. And every time I can imagine her just rolling her eyes upon reading the tweet. That is how obsessed I am with it.
Random Thoughts: - My only regret is probably not paying for the Lost Island during the Magic Eggs event. It would have been perfect for the decorations of the Gemstone Dragon or the egg pedestals. - My favourite dragon is the Paper Dragon. It just looks really original and unique. - I wouldn't crown any dragons because I like that the orb on them indicates their primary element.
I LOVE DRAGONVALE. (Think I that as a tweet to my friend.)
- I wouldn't crown any dragons because I like that the orb on them indicates their primary element.
I agree with you. I am reluctant to crown my dragons because I also like the orb that indicates the primary element. And I have all my dragons in their primary element habitat, even if it means not being the most efficient in terms of earning DC. Plant habitats, for instance. I have lots of dragons in them because of this primary element thing. But since I think plant habitats are quite beautiful, never mind the DC thing.
Really happy with my gorgeous avatar by ElektronX! GCID: Andr3i4 Any and all friends for Cooperative Breeding are welcome. Gladly accepting any twins also.
Post by wapatango on Sept 10, 2014 13:45:48 GMT -6
Here is my DV story. On Christmas morning 2011, someone gave my dad an ipad for Christmas. His reaction was, "What am I supposed to do with this?" My dad is a PC guy. We've never owned any apple products. It might have been the next day, he loaded a dragon game on the ipad for my little brother. I said, "Dad, that's a bad idea. You'll never touch the ipad if you put games on it. He'll always have it. Oh, and you better set it so he can't make in-app purchases. This game allows that." My dad did that. When my brother went to open it, I was sitting with him, and became just as interested. The two of us worked together to do our park. We spent a few gems to speed up our fire dragon. Later we realized how foolish that had been. After we had been playing for a while, we thought about spending $5 to get the EBI and support BFS. However, my dad had forgotten the password he needed to change the permissions. In January, we started a second account on the ipad. We shared the two parks, but we wanted to see whether we could catch up to the first park using the knowledge we had gained. At some point that year, we decided that we each got to make the decorating choices for one of the two parks. He got the first park, I got the second, and now that they were ours to decorate, they also became ours in thought. We started making different choices for the two parks because we play very differently. Of course, I didn't live at home, so my brother managed my park for me whenever he wasn't with me. He visits me a great deal. At Christmas in 2012, I received an ipad of my own so that I could play DV for myself. In our first park we missed reindeer because we didn't know enough about what we were doing. However, we got a sun on our first breed with cold & lightning when we didn't even know that was how you got a sun dragon. It was because of the mysterious 48 hours that we found the wiki. From there I found the external forum, and it was at the wiki's external forum that I heard about this one and decided to join here too. Now, in September 2014, I have every dragon in the game (and multiples of every limited), a stash of over 2,000 gems, over 5 billion DC, and over 60 million treats. I still greatly enjoy the game and am very thankful that my dad did NOT listen to my advice when I told him not to install that dragon game. But the best part of all is that I get to enjoy sharing stories, jokes, and gems with the amazing people on the forums. I am sure I would not still be playing if not for that.
I love my vine dragon avatar created by ElektronX. Now, if only BFS would add it to the game...
DV friend ID: Likylind#5293 Baby park: DORULIND#1400
Like wapatango's dad, I'm also a PC person. I started my nerd life with DOS (alright, it kind of dates me. But I'm not an antique , and I also have the excuse that I was a teenager. One of those terrible kids who come dangerously close to hacking and piracy. Now you have my true confessions). (And anyway, I do have other lives).
On top of that, I kind of blew one of my first jobs on a Mac, so it took me awhile to come back around to Apple. Maybe it was the fact that I studied art and all my designer friends swore by it. But I guess the superior cameras clinched the deal, along with the fact that it's not comfortable schlepping 2 to 4 kilos around the world just to be sure you get your e-mail (mine tend to be attachment-heavy and don't work well with phones) while travelling.
Anyway, those were the reasons for the iPad. I think I told the DragonVale story elsewhere: I was in New York visiting a friend and he infected me. Initially, it was our way of keeping in touch (designer friends, you know. DV was tops in design).
I started haphazardly, almost idiosyncratically. I only went for the dragons I liked. Then it became harder, you needed certain species to breed, and I realized I had to collect. By that time, Leap Year was over, I had missed the Panlong and even Sakura. I never even made Paper. All those I had to get on BEBs.
My first gemstone dragon was a Diamond (called her "Marilyn"), to give you an idea of when I got to the kosher level for breeding them.
Even then, playing with just one friend is a solitary business. I also had to look for information, and that was how I found this forum. Now I don't feel so alone -- or so weird. My most therapeutic experience in that regard was the thread "You know you're a hopeless DV addict when..."
I believe wapatango was leaving an opening for me to tell how I came to start the game. Yes, she and her brother played it, but I had nothing to do with it. I never did anything with the Ipad, it was their game. I'm not sure I had even looked at it. Come about August 2012, my husband told them to start an account for him, DOLILIND was born. They did everything in the account, but he would ask how it was doing. My son now had 3 accounts to manage. I started to get wind of a little friction between wapa and kydo. He wouldn't always remember to do the things she wanted or was just too lazy (a boy thing). That's when I entered the picture. I had wapa teach me how to play, so I could manage her account the way she wanted. The best way to learn was to start an account for me, hence RULILIND was born. Shortly after I started, my husband decided to learn also and took over his account. We were playing 4 accounts on one Ipad. A lot of time consuming changing of accounts and battling for the Ipad. My husband figured out his password for in app purchases and they bought me gems to get my island and catch up a little. When BFS came out with DV for Android my husband started a new account on his phone, which got one person off the Ipad, but it just meant I was managing 3 accounts. I'll admit, it was frustrating getting limiteds in other peoples accounts before mine, and it did happen frequently. I managed 3 accounts until Christmas, when wapa got her own Ipad. I continued to play the the other 2 accounts until Nov. when wapa took it over to play on her new Iphone. My son ended up with his account on the Ipad and I play mine on my Iphone. Not having to switch accounts constantly is great, but the Ipad is more enjoyable to play on. The game itself is fun, challenging, frustrating, a diversion from RL, and definitely addicting, especially wondering what will BFS come out with next. However, the game wouldn't be the same without this forum! So many interesting, encouraging and creative people. Thank you all.
My very first three FRs were LiseyBell, ninjakiwi., and GregDarcy. I picked Lisey and Darcy, because I can relate to the characters, gosh I have watched all P & P movies, over and over…
It took GD a long time to accept my FR, once he did I sent him a gem, and it took GD a long time to return my gem, "hhhmmm" . Okay, self note, just stay away from him.
You didn't read GD's signature about all his gems being committed already and not needing new gem friends?
My very first three FRs were LiseyBell, ninjakiwi., and GregDarcy. I picked Lisey and Darcy, because I can relate to the characters, gosh I have watched all P & P movies, over and over…
It took GD a long time to accept my FR, once he did I sent him a gem, and it took GD a long time to return my gem, "hhhmmm" . Okay, self note, just stay away from him.
You didn't read GD's signature about all his gems being committed already and not needing new gem friends?
I read.
You think GD had that stmt in his sig a year and half ago?
GD joined DV comm April 2013, I got on board June 2013.
You didn't read GD's signature about all his gems being committed already and not needing new gem friends?
I read.
You think GD had that stmt in his sig a year and half ago?
GD joined DV comm April 2013, I got on board June 2013.
I know its been there a LONG time. I got on the board early Nov 2012. -- right before the first BEB. When Bloodstone first got here, I thought he was my best friend who had introduced Dragonvale to me because he approaches the game in the same way (And she tends to take male personas on online stuff). And it was shortly after I'd told her about the forums in an email. It took me a LONG time to be persuaded otherwise.
BTW your avatar is affecting me in some way. I got a Lotus on my baby park and went "YAY! A limited" Then realized it was not!
Last Edit: Sept 11, 2014 12:11:12 GMT -6 by vonfirmath
You think GD had that stmt in his sig a year and half ago?
GD joined DV comm April 2013, I got on board June 2013.
I know its been there a LONG time. I got on the board early Nov 2012. -- right before the first BEB. When Bloodstone first got here, I thought he was my best friend who had introduced Dragonvale to me because he approaches the game in the same way (And she tends to take male personas on online stuff). And it was shortly after I'd told her about the forums in an email. It took me a LONG time to be persuaded otherwise.
BTW your avatar is affecting me in some way. I got a Lotus on my baby park and went "YAY! A limited" Then realized it was not!
Yeah the Lotus and disappointment go hand in hand.
Posts: 237
Platform: iOS Currently Sharing: It changes so often! Accepting New Gifts: Sorry, no. But, always happy to have new breeding and party hat friends!!! Forum Name to Tag: shoemom
I remember going into the office one day in August 2012 and our IT director said, "Hey! You need to download this game for your kids. I think they'd love it. It's called Dragonvale. Download it when you get home." So, we did - later that same day. We put it on my phone, our family iPad, my oldest DD's iPod Touch, and my husband's phone. We were hooked. Now we have six iOS devices with parks (one on a local park because the phone doesn't work any more...no cell data or wifi capabilities) -- so everyone in the family has one!
This community has been such a wonderful help -- decorating tips, mapping out a strategy for the shrine grind (remember when there was no gilding with gems?!), deciding who to crown, coming up with silly or punny Dragon Names, etc. etc. etc. And gracious gravy at the cheese you all have served to go with my whine. You know how the RNG hates me. I am usually getting a limited dragon at the last possible minute. Where my oldest daughter gets them almost immediately. It's just insane. And not fair. Oh, wait...I'm whining again.
Just a fun, joyful game -- thanks BFS!!!
If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all/Gloom, despair, and agony on me... {HeeHaw, 1970s - totally showing my age)
You didn't read GD's signature about all his gems being committed already and not needing new gem friends?
I read.
You think GD had that stmt in his sig a year and half ago?
GD joined DV comm April 2013, I got on board June 2013.
Ah but all my gem friends were spoken for before I even joined the forum. It took me a while to work out the sig though. and for that matter to understand how to set notifications for GC.
Most of those original Gem friends have left the game though, so these days I just return gems I receive though that can take a while as the list is long; and fulfill pledges ( speaking of which ). I also pick the occasional newbie to gift on a regular basis to help them over the difficult early phase.
Main GCID: GregDarcy Secondary: GregDarcyToo All gems friends spoken for. Happy to accept friends for party hats. I blame Apple's auto incorrect for all my typos. I actively discourage challenges. All challengers are unfriended.
My daughter introduced me to Dragonvale when she was visiting us at Christmas 2011. I kept watching over her shoulder as she played and finally she told me what she was doing and we downloaded it to my iPod Touch. I loved it from the first time playing, and have loved it ever since. I kept the same game going when I got an iPhone, and later on started all over again on my Kindle Fire, now same Facebook-based game on my Nexus 7 :-)
Daughter has long since moved on, more or less. I think she looks at her game maybe once in six months, whereas, mama-the-addict logs in usually at least once a day. On both.
I don't have much time to stop in here anymore, and I apologize. But, had to come over and add my story and answer the poll. Thanks to all for keeping the forum going.
Has no one nominated this for POTM? Then allow me.
POTM! For celebrating the anniversary of the wonder that is DragonVale. And for the Century, which represents our sometimes lengthy waits for epic dragons. Beautiful work, crumble608!
Edit: Added to POTM.
Last Edit: Sept 14, 2014 2:01:14 GMT -6 by Kiyoji21
GCID: rionhow Thanks to ElektronX for my Light Rift avatar!
'... overwhelming goodwill, and witty humour, profound grace and compassion blended with the spice of relentless taunts.'
Note: This is an independent forum and is not affiliated with Deca Games, the developer of DragonVale.
It was created by and is managed by DragonVale fanatics.
All who observe the following brief guidelines are welcome to this great community: no personal attacks & no spam.
not too surprising, right? buffy can certainly yap! 
) I know some of you have some thought about DV. The one on-line game you have been playing for so long; some way, some how lead us to this forum, thru ups and downs, has intricately connected us from all corner of the world by this "invisible thread". It can be anything; my piece will be on why I started playing DV (will be later on)
