Suggestions

So I've seen a few suggestions for 'mutations' or other mechanics that add a random chance to breed a rare/special characteristic. As with a lot of suggestions there are those who are for and against. @DragonSage I hope you don't mind me quoting you here: [quote=MUTATIONS] Personally I would not like to see random mutations. There are many players who are breeding for particular aesthetics, and a random mutated dragon is not what they want-- the 'rareness' (and thus potential profit) may not make up for the fact that dragon just ruined that round of breeding for a particular breeding project they may have spent months breeding for. [b]I'd love to see the possibility of mutations occurring in offspring if you expose dragons to a mutagen[/b]. If mutations became a thing I personally think they shouldn't be art intensive mutations (such as wingless dragons or double-headed dragons both of which would essentially end up work wise the equivalent of a new breed and as such I'd rather the time be spent on creating a new breed rather than a variation on an existing breed), but should be relatively simple things like albinoism, melanistic and leucistic (essentially a black or white translucent layer that darkens or lightens the existing colors) or things that don't require artwork (such as size mutations). Dragons affected by a mutagen should have some kind of identification marker. If mutations become a thing there should probably be a scroll to remove the mutation and/or the effects of the mutagen. However a removal scroll should not be used as an excuse to make the occurrence of mutations random--a player should not have to pay to remove a mutation they did not want in the first place. An item to prevent mutations from occurring is also not a good excuse to make mutations random--a player should always have say on if they want the possibility of a mutation to occur and should not have to pay to prevent it.[/quote] All great and valid stuff. I bolded the 'mutagen' part because that's what I'm suggesting (I'm not sure if this is what DragonSage meant by this, but here goes.) [center][u][b]"Mutagens"[/b][/u][/center] Baldwin's brew or gem items that would be applied to a nest similar to a boon of fertility (mutagen button next to the incubate button that is greyed out unless you have one in your inventory.) I think this idea would work best where the mutation is something unique that cannot occur outside of the use of this item. These items don not guarantee a mutation in the offspring but introduces a small chance for the eggs to hatch with a mutation. I imagine it would work so that each egg in the nest receives x% chance for mutation, so a 5 egg nest will have a higher chance that one of the eggs will be a mutation than a 1 or 2 egg nest. Perhaps the effect could be stackable? (using more mutagen items on a nest increases the chance of mutations?) There could be different types of mutagens to introduce different mutations (breed, gene or colour etc. There are many great mutation suggestions out there that could be implemented this way, though I would personally prefer that breed mutations be implemented slightly differently as I will elaborate below.) [center][b][u]'Cuckoos' (rare breeding exclusive breed/s)[/u][/b][/center] [center]I'm not proposing a breed named 'Cuckoo', just using the term to explain the mechanic.[/center] For breed/mutation suggestions like @foff 's [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/sug/1631395]Random Mutation Dragon Breed[/url], where a breed is only rarely available exclusively through random breeding chance. Similar to the mutagen idea, an item (I think a gem item would be appropriate here) would be used on a nest that would introduce a chance to hatch the mutation breed. What they end up being called could be breed related, or something generic like 'Blessed fertility statue'. Lore wise, the breed in question would behave like cuckoos and lay their eggs in favorable nests they come across. "Oooooh, a 'Blessed fertility statue'! This is a great place to leave an egg." They could be pests like cuckoos with a negative impact on their adoptive families. Or they could be positive, blessings left behind, bestowed on worthy nests by a mysterious/ near-mythical breed that brings good fortune etc. I'm not sure if the cuckoo's egg/s should replace eggs in the nest or add more eggs to the nest. If a 4 egg nest is laid then the item used would all 4 have the chance to hatch the breed, similar to mutagens? Or could foreign eggs be laid in empty nest spaces, leaving 5 egg nests unable to use the item and 1 egg nests with potential to receive 4 foreign eggs? Just adding to the already existing nest could end up with 6 egg nests (or more, depending on if the item would allow the chance for more than one egg). If they replace already existing eggs the lore could state that the removed eggs are the unhatched ones found by scavenging or in the coli, or are taken by the cuckoo to the region's deity or something. They don't need to 'die' or anything horrible. There could also be a visual cue to show the player that an egg will give a cuckoo before they hatch. One of the eggs starts glowing after an incubation or use of the item? Great for creating hype before hatching and will probably result in lots of "Look at my nest! Can't wait till it hatches" threads. Below I'll add any posters additional suggestions/changes etc. so if you'd like to add to this or disagree with something please discuss!

reserve

@Fishbone I don't mind at all. I personally saw the mutagen being applied to the dragon (permanent unless removed by a mutagen removal item); but applying it to the nest works just as well. And by applying it to the nest there's the befit of it being a renewable sink. Possibly have both--a gem mutagen applied to the dragon and a craftable mutagen to be applied like a boon.

There have actually been brood parasite suggestions in the past (here and here are the two I could find quickly on google)--it would be interesting but it would have to be implemented to avoid 'ruining pairs.' My personal preference would have a toggle on a nest to allow for "Cuckoo eggs" and Cuckoo eggs would fill an empty slot (so only possible in nests with 1-4 eggs) in the nest rather than take the roll of an egg ((So the nest would be rolled, then roll to see if a cuckoo lays an egg in the nest)) and cuckoo eggs would hatch into gen one ungened hatchlings of whatever breed that is chosen for the cuckoo breed. I do think Cuckoo eggs should have different art--it shouldn't be an issue code wise as they could probably do something similar to how they handled rotten eggs when egg rot was a thing for the art. Also any nests containing a cuckoo egg should not be eligible for the five egg achievement

My biggest concern with 'breed only breeds' is I think all breeds should be scrollable (an existing character might be perfect for the new breed and if I can't scroll them I'm screwed; even imps are/were scrollable although there were only a limited number of scrolls available) so perhaps allow a limited time to be able to craft a cuckoo scroll--and after that the scroll is retired but cuckoos would still be able to occur in nests. Or instead of having a limited time to craft them, instead have cuckoo scrolls be a very rare occurrence (on the lines of how rare Nocturne scrolls were) in chests or at Pinkerton or a very rare drop in gathering.

@DragonSage

I hadn't thought of cuckoo hatchlings being gen 1 ungened, but that's a good idea and makes sense.


For colours I think it might be nice if they were kept within the range of the nest parents, so that users can make goals to breed for cuckoos with certain colours, even if the chance for a cuckoo is small. The lore could be something like 'Hatchling cuckoos take on similar colouring to the parents and other nest hatchlings in order to be accepted as one of their own' or something of the sort.
Or do you think the colours should be random like other gen 1s?


As for scroll drops... I agree they should be limited and cycled like the noc scrolls. We already have NotN as a 2 week long event dedicated to 1 breed, so I think it would be better if it worked slightly differently. Maybe scrolls only have the chance to drop/be crafted for only a few days every month (either sequential days or split up over the month and different days of the week)?

I kinda like the idea of a sort of 6 or 8 day cycle. Every 6 or 8th day on FR would be a cuckoo day. This day would have scroll aquisition (drops/crafting/gathering, whatever works) and slightly increased chances of cuckoo eggs in nests (might work well with the nest toggle idea of yours.)
There could be any number of days in the cycle as long as it's not 7,14 etc. since I think that it would work better if it doesn't always fall on the same weekday and give everyone the chance to participate eventually.
It doesn't have to be a huge event like a festival or NotN, just a noteworthy occurance. "Oh, it's a cuckoo day today, I'll go try my luck in the coli for a scroll" or something like that.
I would prefer that the more often the day occurs the lower the chance for scrolls/eggs. Having it more often may be preferable to busy players though.

I can support something a user introduces themselves to get some sort of mutation (though I would say perhaps only color/gene wise (Basically what Dragonsage said)

That way a user has control over whether or not they want mutations.

As for a nest item, perhaps it could be something a user buys and places, and until they buy a 'removal' they have a chance to get the mutation.

As for the cuckoo nests, I would say that the breed of dragon has no impact on the lair or family, they are, for all intents and purposes, simply another dragon hatchling, just different breed. I say this mainly because I don't really see how the site could code the effects and I feel that is something that should be left up to the user to add to their own personal lore.

Perhaps, like DragonSage says, the 'cuckoo' breed does have scrolls ,but instead of it being limited time, perhaps it just takes a LOT to create it at baldwins. I am thinking along the lines of perhaps some sort of 'magical' items (items that are said to have magic in them or can influence magic) and maybe one or two treasure breed change scrolls (I mean different breed change scrolls)

Also, if yo uwant it to remain rare and exclusive, it would need to be infertile. or perhaps can only breed true with its own kind. Every other breed would produce that other breed.

@Fishbone if the only way to obtain them is via them appearing in nests or via scroll then limiting their colors to the host's nest is probably best; however if they could be bred for--even if there are additional restrictions, then treating them like a typical first gen egg (completely random colors) is probably best. [quote name="Jemadar" date=2015-11-04 13:13:21]Also, if yo uwant it to remain rare and exclusive, it would need to be infertile. or perhaps can only breed true with its own kind. Every other breed would produce that other breed.[/quote] Not necessarily -They could possibly create a 'special' rarity category that would denote breeds with different breeding requirements in an effort to keep them more challenging to achieve without making it infertile or only possible to breed true if both parents are of that breed. For example normal category requirements could be having them programmed to have smaller nests (max three eggs) and inheritability on a similar level to the rare category or even rarer. Species in this category could also possibly have individual quirks for example The Cuckoo's might be that if the female parent is a cuckoo--they will only lay eggs in an occupied nest (and if the number of cuckoo eggs would exceed the five egg limit for nests, those extra eggs would be discarded). There were several interesting ideas on how to handle breeding in the two threads I listed to. This would require more coding than adding a typical new breed but it would allow for more flexibility in partner choice and would add for some more interesting lore possibilities that could show up in game rather than just as flavor text/background information

Thinking this over (and perhaps being a bit more coherent and ABLE to think, been a rough couple of days) I like the idea of having both a dragon and a nest mutatgen.

Let me see if I can get this out correctly :D

For the dragon, The only way a mutation would happen is if BOTH dragons have the mutagen applied (ie the genes are recessive and require both). This is something that MUST either make the dragon not eligible to be sold (can be traded though) or have a very visible icon somewhere saying this dragon has a mutation gene. Now, the dragon can be bred to any other dragon like normal, but if it is bred with another dragon containing the mutation gene, then there is a good chance that the offspring will have a VISIBLE mutation.

For the nest, it would work pretty much like having been said. Some item somewhere, gems or baldwin, or perhaps both, to apply a mutagen to a nest giving a chance (probably a bit lower than the dragon's chances) to have mutations in the offspring. It should have some sort of life span, such as five breedings etc.. and then it must be renewed.

Now there is one further part to my idea: The dragon mutations and the nest mutations would affect different parts of the offspring.

Perhaps say dragon mutations could affect the breed of the offspring, maybe giving a chance to get a different regular breed (except imps and nocturnes, and wildclaws perhaps) and/or a completely new breed.

The Nest mutations would then work on color or genes. Again, perhaps it could give colors outside the normal range for the dragon pair (same thing with genes, though no gem genes) and/or give new 'colors' (like the albino etc.. discussed earlier) or genes (perhaps, if the item is a baldwin item, it could be baldwin only genes, I don't think that this would be a good way to introduce new genes that can ONLY come from here, so there should be a different way to get the gene, but perhaps rare/difficult enough it feels special)