April Release & Question about May Release

[mondat]

From TJ's post:
Hello all,

The usual monthly release will be delayed a few hours. I'm going to try something new: doing a release during a time when the main audience of the site is actually awake (rather than, you know, at midnight).

Specifically, the new release will happen at 1 PM EST tomorrow. Let's see how it goes.

For me, the new drop time will be at 3am on Monday morning, this means I could catch them right after waking up. And I cannot believe that TJ did not announce such news at least 12 hours earlier, again. There are people who wake up early or have plans changed for the release.

Anyway, I have a question regarding the May release.
Do you think there will be a giant release like in May last year because of DC's birthday? I'm not sure if I should prepare myself and getting me more Red & Pink Dragons...and I have no idea how to deal with it if there will be one, with all the eggs...

Comments

[jocosa]

Gah, so tired of TJ power tripping. He knew this well in advance, why not announce it?

Great for a few, sucks for most. I think he forgets not all who use DC are in the US. This makes it a Monday for so many people, plus Sunday is a day for family, church, etc for the US folks. It also means those of us with really old, slow connections (like me) have no shot at eggs when we have to grab them when everyone is awake and trying for them. It is 10am for me, I can't be here then, nor for a coupe hours past that. If it's a normal drop by the time I can get on they will be mixing. So, basically, no more new eggs for me. Grrr.

The old time was perfect. For a lot of people. Myself included. I could jump on at 11pm my time, 2am cave time. Drop was still going on. Most people had their fill. And the biomes were less chaotic. I could get the eggs. Now I will get on hours after it started, biomes will be packed. No chance in hell.

[alicit]

We'll have to wait and see, I suppose. At first sight it doesn't seem such a great idea. With the midnight drops, Asia and half of America would be awake, most of Europe would be sleeping. I would get to the cave around 8 or 9 am and it would still be 3 or 4 am in the cave, so not too many people there. With most of the DC diehards having caught their (our?) fill, whoever started later didn't have such a difficult time unless their connection was bad or the eggs were getting particularly rare.

With an afternoon drop everybody will be there at the same time, it's evening in Europe, late evening in Asia, and afternoon in America. The only hope is that people are usually busy at that time, so perhaps not everybody would be able to be there, but if this turns ino a regular thing, I am sure we'll all make the time. Anyway, let's see how it develops.

About the May drop... I dearly hope there isn't a mass drop. I found last year's really stressful in the end; I distanced myself a bit from dragoncave after it, and another week like that might make me quit altogether. I am in DC for enjoyment and relaxation. Excitement and anticipation are great, but I am not here to get stressed out - and yes, I am aware that that is my personal view and that what I dislike may be something other people love, but this is just my opinion.

[novembermond]

meh. how will it be helpful if even more people are online. and now I don't know when the drop will be, my time. I'm so bad at converting times.

I hope there won't be a giant drop in May, that was no fun. I also don't think TJ would do the same thing every year. Maybe for the ten year anniversary.

[dancing_serpent]

Meh, I'm not so happy about that. I loved the midnight drops - they are at 06.00h for my time zone, so usually I could just get up at eight or nine and catch my fill, because the midnight crowd was already in bed and the Europeans were sleeping late on Sunday mornings. Now it means 19.00h - lots of people online around here.

I don't think there will be a huge release in May. Last year was the first one, and making it a Birthday week for seven years of DC made kind of sense. Eight years? Doesn't fit as neatly.

[kshandra]

And the biomes are empty. Thanks a pantload, TJ.

[nakuru]

I don't like the change at all, but I guess I won't mind as much if the new eggs drop for at least 12 hours without other eggs mixed with them.

As for the May release, I really hope it isn't like the one last year. It was exhausting and the issue with Coppers still annoys me.

[krait]

the issue with Coppers still annoys me

Can I ask what the issue was?

I mean, I'm still kicking myself for not loading up on Verdigris Coppers at the time (could've jettisoned the hybrids and bred more later!), but I'm not aware of any defined issues with them aside from a couple of bugs in their breeding results, early on.

[mondat]

Memo to myself: if there's a giant release, never breed hybrids and use the space for other eggs*g*

I think Nakuru talks about the rarity of the Coppers after the release. I didn't see any in the cave for months myself.

[alicit]

You wouldn't have been able to load up on them even at that time. They came out on the fifth day of the drop. If I remember correctly, the maximum number of dragons you could get to be able to catch some of each breed without been scroll-locked was three or four a day using incubate. There were three different colours of Copper dragons and, of course, the creator said on the forums that they were not rare, so nobody thought that we needed to get rid of the hybrids or if one colour would be harder to get than another. They disappeared the next day and for a long time were harder to get than golds and silvers. I have to say I am still annoyed too.

[krait]

Ahh, okay, yes, I do remember the "are they rare" / "wow they disappeared fast" thing (and despite the spriter's words on the subject, they're still classed as rare by most Cavers and I believe they're right to do so, based on the numbers I see!)

And yes, argh, I had actually misremembered -- I thought they were the 7th release, but you're right, they were fifth, so I was torn between "ooooh, these look pretty, let's get lots!" and "what if the next one is even prettier?" Ultimately I held off for fear of missing a future awesome dragon... which wasn't quite the case, but by then there was no way to lay hold of a Verdigris, since the drop had stopped.

Sigh.

[nakuru]

To be more precise, for me it's more several issues that combined are just too much.

Starting with the way they were released (in a middle of a gigantic release and were mixed with other eggs a few hours later), their supposed rarity vs. their real rarity and the how their breeding is supposed to work vs. how their breeding is working now.

Though mostly, I'm just annoyed (more now than during the release, tbh) because I have spent at least an hour almost every day since December trying to catch a Verdigis to influence male (I like having at least on CB pair and now I also have two dragons that need a male CB one as mate it would be only one if it wasn't for the breeding issues, since more than one person has tried to help me getting a 2nd gen one, to make a checker instead of a stair, without any luck) and I have seen more CB Golds during that time.



And this ended being rather TL;DR venting. Sorry.

I see your venting, and raise you. :D

[krait]

Yes, the Coppers are a pretty notable example of "how not to do a metallic release", overall! *facepalming* In sum: three versions + part of a multi-release + middle of that multi-release + extremely short drop time + unsupported reassurances of non-rarity.

Honestly, I'm especially annoyed by the creator coming in to assure everyone that they're not rare, as though 1- the creator can say that with any level of truthful certainty (does TJ let creators set the ratios for the Cave? Does he even tell them what the exact ratio is at any given time? I think not.) and 2- as if a pat assurance from someone who's not in charge of the site is a viable counter to the experiences of dozens/hundreds of players.

You didn't intend for them to be rare? Great; tell that to the fifty people who haven't seen one in the Cave for three months, and see just how much credit they give you. Have you noticed that, on the Forums, they're being traded as though they're equivalent to a CB Gold? Have you tried trading for one when you don't have a CB Gold to offer? Go on, try it, and let us know how it works out for you. Then come back and inform me that they're "not as rare as metals." *eyerolling*

I feel like it was just throwing fuel on the flames, basically. If players are upset about something and want explanations, well, this whole site is TJ's show. TJ is the only one with the authority to make definitive statements about aspects of how the Cave is run. I don't know whether the creator decided on their own recognizance to issue statements, or whether TJ approved that move, but it was a bad decision on both their parts either way.

Re: I see your venting, and raise you. :D

[nakuru]

*nods*
Everything related to Coppers was handled in such a bad way. If only TJ would have said upfront "yes, they're the new rares" it would be less frustrating.

I'm willing to accept they seem to have better breeding ratios than other metallics though. But that doesn't make them less rare as CB. And the trading market is ridiculous; I have seen more than once people trading one CB Verdigis and asking for more than one CB Gold/Silver.

I can't understand how some people still insist they aren't rare...

Coppers and the market place are two of the three things in DragonCave that make me rant at length.