21:36 Twenty one hours and thirty six minutes. Gather 'round children and listen to my tale of irony and woe. And triumph.
I took stock this evening. Surveyed my park and contemplated the war chest of coins, treats, and gems I have accumulated. I am a cautious player, in Dragonvale and in life, saving for a rainy day and making decisions with meticulous care. Just recently I annihilated my vast store of treats raising one of each primary dragon type to Elder status. I was unsure I really wanted to do this right away because I am level 70 and this act would bleed a regrettable amount of unrealized XP uselessly into the ether. But I did it. And it made me happy to see my 10 glorious Elders striding and gliding majestically in their various habitats, and it made me happy to seek out the 10 elusive banner wizards celebrating their arrival in my park. And because that heady and wild act made me happy, if treat-poor, I resolved that I would have an Omen. I. Would. Have. An Omen.
So I poured myself a glass of wine and I put on "Dark Side of the Moon" and I began spending gems. When I started I had 2140. I alternated breeding sites depending on which was currently the cheapest to buy out, but only flirted with the CBC now and then to break up the monotony because of the conventional wisdom that the probability of success in the CBC is comparatively miserable. I resolved to remain undaunted by the seemingly endless parade of Silvers, Electrums, Suns, Moons, and Rainbows (thankfully the Doctor never reared his fearsome heads). And, oh, the rush of adrenaline as I dipped into my stash with abandon! You will not deny me, Omen! I will breed you before the night is done!
When I started to approach 1000 gems remaining it occurred to me that the incidence of unwanted Epics was too high. Too high. I had been breeding level 15 Moons and Apocalypses on the theory that the Omen's rarity would be better served by the enhanced probability afforded by higher level parents even though this also meant the double-edged sword of more frequent Epic fails. I needed to shake things up. So I hied me to the Hibernation Cave and retrieved some baby Apocalypses and Moons. I fed them to level 4. Only 4, and not a bite more! I pressed the younglings into service and continued my quest. And it seemed to me that, indeed, the frequency of Epic fails was much lower. But still no Omen. A demon of doubt began to whisper in the back of my mind. I was fast approaching a gem level of 500 remaining. This. Isn't. Working. I need to shake things up again. So I deleted Dragonvale. Don't really know why. Just to try something new. And radical. And utterly illogical. When the reinstall finished I got back into my park and hit Retry. Again. Hey, look at that! Achievements have reset! I'm a Breeder! Again! But apparently not an Omen Breeder. Storm. Cactus. Fail. Fail.
And then it happened. 21:36. I kept hitting the button to double check. Triple check. Quadruple check. I quit Dragonvale and went to the Sandbox. Yup, 21:36. That's an Omen. And look how many gems I have left: 120! That means I spent... 2020. Ahahahahaha! If I had just bought the dragon in the market I would have spent 2015! Hey! Isn't that neat! The Omen's market cost is the same as the current year! That's gotta be an omen! For the first time in a long time I am a gem pauper. And it will make me happy to see the glorious Omen striding and gliding majestically in his habitat!
I. Have. An Omen.
Last Edit: Oct 2, 2015 0:05:27 GMT -6 by Skitch: Sigh. You really can't write this much text on an iPad without typos...
GCID: akaSkitch
Hydrogen is a colorless, odorless gas, which if left alone in large enough quantities, for long enough, will begin to think about itself.
I try to stay clear of tech talk because I don't understand most of it, but if I am reading this thread correctly, it seems to me that if my ability to get a difficult dragon became linked to the number of gems I spend, I would be quite annoyed. There's already been much outrage about BFS pushing for dragon/gem/any type of "greed". If they changed the rules and linked it to how much you spent, these same players would go ballistic.
The suggestion I've made would leave your probability exactly as it is now if you don't want to spend gems. It would simply make the choice to use a lot of gems more fruitful (and I actually tied it to the effort you're putting into the breeding rather than the gems you're spending... the gem tweak is simply a nod to BFS's legitimate desire to fairly monetize the game).
GCID: akaSkitch
Hydrogen is a colorless, odorless gas, which if left alone in large enough quantities, for long enough, will begin to think about itself.
Why? They may as well just give you everything up front. Sooner or later the probability would become certainty. how much fun would that be?
Don't forget their ultimate reason for designing a game is to make money. Getting the balance right to achieve this long term is a a major balancing act.
100% agree! I write mobile apps for a living (utilities and reference apps rather than games, but customer sat is always a consideration) and rage-deletion of apps is something we always worry about. If we release an app that makes certain tasks harder to accomplish or that introduces "friction-causing" bugs, then we can see a precipitous drop in our install-base.
In the case of a game like DV, you want to find a way to increase the desire of achieving something without also increasing the frustration at not achieving it, and you want to have that happen right in the sweet spot across several sigmas in the center of the bell curve of your user-base. That's where the desire to achieve translates to buying in-game advantages like gems. You aren't making money if high user frustration is chasing away far more players than it is attracting whales.
In the scenario I described, the breeding probability would only climb during the last-call phase and in the event that the player is demonstrably trying to achieve the departing dragon (and possibly tied to gem-spending). That keeps more players non-frustrated without the probability actually reaching certainty.
GCID: akaSkitch
Hydrogen is a colorless, odorless gas, which if left alone in large enough quantities, for long enough, will begin to think about itself.
Ugh. My silly little Omen-driven, unrealistic wish-of-the-day: BFS should add a frustration-mitigation factor - if you haven't yet bred a dragon currently in last call status, and it has a locked combo that you have been breeding with non-stop or have spent a large number of gems speeding up (or maybe if it's in last call and simply a possible result of any combo you've been repeating), start increasing the breeding odds! Dragon-breeding is a magical affair, right? It's not like it's a real simulation of actual animal husbandry, right?? The wizards could give us a little help, AM I RIGHT?!?!? BFS, DON'T YOU WANT TO PREVENT YOUR LOYAL USERS FROM RAGE-QUITTING?!?!?!?
/rant
GCID: akaSkitch
Hydrogen is a colorless, odorless gas, which if left alone in large enough quantities, for long enough, will begin to think about itself.
Would anybody with a test account like to make some testing with Nogards Fire dragon ? Delirium + Fire should only result in Obsidian, Blazing, Lava or Smoke. If you get something other, then Nogards dragons are special !
Or only test Fire + Fire...
I've personally seen Nogard share Fire, Polarian and Antarian dragons before. It's been pretty random and I've never observed him to share the other Galaxies before. He was sharing Fire this morning and I'm 90% certain he was sharing it yesterday too. Thinking about it, I don't remember when the last time I saw him share something other than Fire was, but I know I've seen it before because I tried to breed with his Polarin back when I didn't have one.
I'm not sure what triggers the change over.
It's funny to me, because he shows up as a level 70 that shares level 4 dragons, but when you go to his park it's only level 31 and he has single level 1 Arcturian and his only Fire is level 10 OMG HAX!
Ahahaha! Nogard is a hacker! I suppose if you think about it, wizards are just hackers of nature...
They will be soon if my profits continue to plummet!
Just get them in debt with your Company Store.
3000 Dragon Fruit, whadda you get? Another day older and deeper in debt... Great Nogard don't call me, I can't go... 'Cause I owe my soul to the Company Store!
GCID: akaSkitch
Hydrogen is a colorless, odorless gas, which if left alone in large enough quantities, for long enough, will begin to think about itself.
That is so interesting if Debra An has been able to breed more Galaxies with just her original and Nogards. Fire isn't even an epic. Perhaps Nogard dragon is a special case?
Heh, indeed! And now I realize the sandbox might not be such a valuable resource for her as it reflects our current understanding that galactic/non-epic won't produce another galactic...
GCID: akaSkitch
Hydrogen is a colorless, odorless gas, which if left alone in large enough quantities, for long enough, will begin to think about itself.
Later in a few months I will post a list I am working on about my Galactic Dragons the Co Op Cave and breeding only with The Great Nogard and what ever he allows me to breed with. I think it will be fun for all to see the possibilities I had got the pleasure to breed and add to my park. Which my park is getting larger by the day. Since I am retired and currently I cannot leave the home do to the contagious eye infection I got in both my eyes, thank to my spouse giving it to me! I have lots of time to play (hours)! I started this list after I realized how important it was for people to know what I used (parents) to make the new baby dragon. So that they may try it themselves to hopefully get the same results.☺☺☺☺☺☺☺
Welcome Debra An! By all means you should continue to make your list if you enjoy doing so (many of us track things carefully), but you may be interested in this site many of us use: www.2084.org/dragonvale/breeding-sandbox/
This online tool lets you choose any two dragons and see the result of breeding them.
Last Edit: Sept 30, 2015 18:50:01 GMT -6 by Skitch
GCID: akaSkitch
Hydrogen is a colorless, odorless gas, which if left alone in large enough quantities, for long enough, will begin to think about itself.
Haha! Now I'm mildly annoyed I spent my leftover tickets on things I didn't really need after I bought my must-haves! I got an extra SF5 and an extra Rainbow theme, but now food is even more precious!
Edit: note that this new twist makes it less compelling to level multi-element dragons to 20 for Colosseum purposes and more compelling to do it with Primary element dragons (although in the early stages this isn't very easy)!
Edit 2: another change I quite like: the "new" marker on the social icon (the red exclamation point) now goes away after you visit even if you have twin eggs in your Gifts tab! Drove me nuts that it was there all the time even when there wasn't anything new to see!
OTOH, there's a couple ways the Colosseum could go: Elder dragons continue the level-based odds progression and at level 21 they'll essentially never lose, or they're now so ancient and decrepit that they can no longer compete!
GCID: akaSkitch
Hydrogen is a colorless, odorless gas, which if left alone in large enough quantities, for long enough, will begin to think about itself.
They look fearsome! Love the artworks. But my problem is I like them small. In the FoY they go, one by one. What are we going to call them - babified elderly?
Ah, the natural circle of life: when the elderly enter their second childhood!
Last Edit: Sept 29, 2015 14:49:51 GMT -6 by Skitch
GCID: akaSkitch
Hydrogen is a colorless, odorless gas, which if left alone in large enough quantities, for long enough, will begin to think about itself.
I must say that I really like the direction that DragonVale seems to be headed in. Sadly though, I don't really have much time for it anymore, with homework and other hobbies/interests eating up most of my free time (which is fine with me; I mean, I love DV but mathematics and linguistics are more satisfying). I haven't given up on it, not at all; I will just not be as active here and on DV as I once was.
Maybe I will drop in here from time to time to say hi, but don't count on it. I love you all on this forum. It is a wonderful place which I am very happy to be a part of (no matter how small and insignificant it may be).
Also, Skitch, you should better find a more reliable gem friend.
Goodbye for an unspecified time!
Sorry to see you go, but thanks for all the stuff! Do drop in occasionally!
GCID: akaSkitch
Hydrogen is a colorless, odorless gas, which if left alone in large enough quantities, for long enough, will begin to think about itself.
Haha! Now I'm mildly annoyed I spent my leftover tickets on things I didn't really need after I bought my must-haves! I got an extra SF5 and an extra Rainbow theme, but now food is even more precious!
Edit: note that this new twist makes it less compelling to level multi-element dragons to 20 for Colosseum purposes and more compelling to do it with Primary element dragons (although in the early stages this isn't very easy)!
Edit 2: another change I quite like: the "new" marker on the social icon (the red exclamation point) now goes away after you visit even if you have twin eggs in your Gifts tab! Drove me nuts that it was there all the time even when there wasn't anything new to see!
Last Edit: Sept 29, 2015 14:17:18 GMT -6 by Skitch
GCID: akaSkitch
Hydrogen is a colorless, odorless gas, which if left alone in large enough quantities, for long enough, will begin to think about itself.
OMG, just found a flag bearer! *quickly zooms in to see if there are others*
Edit: can anyone see if the banners are on their visitors icon before they zap away the flag bearer? I was a dork, clicked on her without thinking to take a screenshot and without first noticing if there was a banner to tell us she was walking around. It was the witch dressed in dark green, and she was worth 20,000 something...not sure if it was DC or XP. Can't find others so far.
My visitors icon doesn't have banners, nor can I find a flag bearer
Yours must have been hiding in the bathroom when the Wizards closed your park to perform the renovation spell...
ETA: though Bloodstone's theory is intriguing!
Last Edit: Sept 29, 2015 13:50:44 GMT -6 by Skitch
GCID: akaSkitch
Hydrogen is a colorless, odorless gas, which if left alone in large enough quantities, for long enough, will begin to think about itself.
The badge on dragons in their habitats is also a different shape based on their level
By badge do you mean the halo?
If you select a habitat and look at the individual dragon buttons on the bottom menu, the badge indicating their level is now circular, a diamond, or a hexagon (and maybe another shape for Elders, which I don't have yet)
nota bene: I use the term "badge" because that's what Apple calls those little red numbers in a circle that appear on app icons on your main screen
Last Edit: Sept 29, 2015 13:37:34 GMT -6 by Skitch
GCID: akaSkitch
Hydrogen is a colorless, odorless gas, which if left alone in large enough quantities, for long enough, will begin to think about itself.
I realized that the prize tent doesn't take care of the storage tower when I bought Omnitats for my little park one week ago. "Oh, haven't I bought one before, why is it still showing 0/3 ?" Sorry, I didn't post a warning. But I would like to share another thing I noticed : While most of the prizes of this event can't be sold afterwards,( and therefor maybe clutter up your storage tower), the gnomes can be sold. This was the final reason to buy some with my last tickets
And I also thought of a little search the gnomes in "Impromptu contests" ...
They can be sold back!
Thats awesome! I bought them immediately thinking they were cute and then someone mentioned that they will be cheap for gems during the BEB, so I should not buy them with tickets. Now I know I can get those tickets back! Yay
As crumble says, you can't sell them back for tickets, but you really don't want to do that anyway! You need to keep the rarer Faire editions with their lower serial numbers so you can get more for them later on eBay. Oh, and leave them in their original boxes for maximum collector value!
GCID: akaSkitch
Hydrogen is a colorless, odorless gas, which if left alone in large enough quantities, for long enough, will begin to think about itself.
Was very happy to get all my banked tickets, 6,000 or so was enough for me to buy Snowflake5, the Vernal Glass, and one Earth Garden Gnome™. I thought they'd be bigger, but I'm glad they're 1x1, as it makes them so much easier to decorate with. I'll definitely buy several sets when they return.
Earth Dragons have always been one of my favorite species, they make lovely noises (sort of like purring?) and I like the way they amble about steadily. You could say they're very down-to-earth. *cough*
I placed it on my Panlong island in honor of the of the oldest and first crowned dragon in my park, an Earth Dragon I got during or soon after completing the tutorial. He's a bit of a celebrity to the other dragons. Or alternatively, he's the "Back in my day, we only had one island and max level was 35" guy.
My first Earth dragon is the first-crowned in my park also. I was so enthralled with "her" when I saw one in my grandson's game & decided I wanted cute dragons for myself & here I am 3 1/2 years later. "Eartha" is still one of my favorites; she also adopted a baby Iron who was the first to go through the FoY, so will never grow up. She's a good mother & also always brings home the gold (5 gems) from the coliseum. I'm glad to know there is someone else who appreciates these Earth dragons!
Funny to have an emotional attachment to animated pixels, but I am quite fond of my first crowned dragon, a Firefly dragon named Serenity.
GCID: akaSkitch
Hydrogen is a colorless, odorless gas, which if left alone in large enough quantities, for long enough, will begin to think about itself.
Now I can concentrate on Loot in the CBC (with enough tickets left as backup to ensure success) and Bismuth in EBI and EBC, and suddenly a sparkly Dragonarium seems in reach!
GCID: akaSkitch
Hydrogen is a colorless, odorless gas, which if left alone in large enough quantities, for long enough, will begin to think about itself.
It may also mean that we can only use mo5 + mo5 to get another, which would mean CBC is required if you only have one.
Hm... I wonder if I should forgo the three new themes and go for a Monolith 5 instead then...
It's a risk. We just don't have a precedent yet for limited Monos and Snowflakes. I have enough tickets left for a Mono5 or a Loot, so since I'm wondering the same thing I'm breeding for Mono5 like mad before I pull the trigger either way.
GCID: akaSkitch
Hydrogen is a colorless, odorless gas, which if left alone in large enough quantities, for long enough, will begin to think about itself.
'... overwhelming goodwill, and witty humour, profound grace and compassion blended with the spice of relentless taunts.'
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OMG HAX!
Speaking from "experience?" for some of us here, 
