General Discussion

[quote name="MythosSnakey" date="2014-08-09 22:49:23"]I think what was being said was when there's a specific contest between two flights (ex. Shadow and Light this week). I do understand what you're saying, though! It does kinda get on my nerves, but I'd say the thing to hope for is that people won't exalt them right away. I don't tend to exalt babies as soon as I get them from the AH--in fact, I usually keep 'em! [quote]And I'm noticing the main culprits are from either Shadow or Plague most of the time.[/quote] Can I ask what you meant by this? I'm not getting angry by this statement, but I've usually had people from Arcane exalt my stuff more than Plague or Shadow. Is this something you've noticed by checking in with other people, or is it just your own experience?[/quote] Yeah that's just been my experience. Never had Arcane exhault spams from my den, but then this thread is for people to add their experiences, so there you go, more than two clans are going at it hard with the spamming it seems. It's just been every time someone buys and straight up exhaults hatchlings from my den they've only ever been plague or shadow. Mostly shadow. I get that people are competitive, but they're getting to the point of football fanatics (i.e. suggesting that the way they show their competitive support for their team could be ruining other people's good time just makes them get very offended and shirk all responsibilities for their actions rather than taking on board the comment. And then get up in your face basically saying 'u wanna go mate?') Like dude, I'm OK with people being super into dominance battles, but they don't need to bite my head off when I make the comment that their dominance battle activities are impinging on other people's enjoyment of their gameplay experience here. I'm seeing a lot of responses along the lines of 'U CANT TELL PEOPLE WHAT TO DO WITH THE DRAGONS U SOLD THEM'. Yes, yes I am aware of that. I did say I can't tell you what to do with your treasure. I'm also aware that I run the risks putting my babies or adults in the auction house. But it shouldn't be that a majority of sales are just people having these dominance fights, surely? What I wanted to do here was make people aware that what they are doing can annoy other players. And no one really answered my question of WHY dominance is so important to them if they are cancelling out the benefits. Seriously, are you just trying to win for bragging rights? Is winning said bragging rights so very very important that you're ready to abuse anyone who says 'hey, the way you're playing this game isn't really cool because it's impinging on how other people play, can you play it a little different in a way that keeps all parties happy?' If in your head you are saying 'Yes. Yes dominance is more important than everyone enjoying themselves. Because if this annoys them I don't care, it's their fault they don't like it, I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing despite a compromise being possible', then you are being a) completely immature b) making your clan on the whole look pretty bad and c) a twat. I started this thread to have a reasonable discussion, but because people seem INTENT on taking offense (and I am not aiming this at the person I quoted because they're clearly not coming into this with a hot head, I was just answering their question) then I'm washing my hands of the discussion. Because really, it's not a discussion. It's an immediate dogpile by people who's only concern in this game is a childish need to be part of the dominant flight at any cost. People who it seems lack the ability to even discuss something regarding their gaming methods and would rather take the line of 'if you don't like what I'm doing it's your problem not mine'. Alright, you didn't HAVE to be rude about it, but you went that way because you're selfish. Thankyou for taking something enjoyable and making it a whole lot less so.

Extra note: No-one has said 'stop exhaulting'. A suggestion was made that a daily exhault cap might be useful to stop people from over-manipulating the game. It would be very in line with the other daily caps for gathering and trading post activities.

I have heard something outside of the game via a tumblr discussion regarding mods trying to encourage exhaultation to assist the game economy. I can understand why then, an exhault cap would probably not be considered.

The more dragons there are in circulation, the less people will buy, and when breeding is at a constant rate, you have a massive backlog of babies and no lair space to give them (because we all know how expensive a lair gets the bigger it gets). To not exhault would be to destroy the game mechanic and that would screw EVERYTHING up. I'm sure the mods know intimately just what difficuties they face balancing a virtual economy in a state of exponential growth.

But as someone else pointed out in a fresh thread relating to this one, players can make an effort to exhault 'ugly' babies. The problem with that of course is people's varying aesthetic tastes means the concept of what's pretty and what's ugly can't be pinned down. Also that dominance players probably don't care as much about aesthetics as breeder players when they're not looking for keeper dragons.

All the same, no one has suggested people stop exhaulting all together. The suggestion is that people be more discerning with their exhaultations so that everyone is enjoying themselves and not just the people who enjoy dominance battles.

Exalting dragons is hardly a cruel act anyway. Speaking in terms of what the game says, it just means they are sent to work for a higher cause, right? They're not just tossed out or met with a terrible fate. It just means they're living, healthy, and working for a powerful god. That to me, is pretty cool.

Unfortunately in this case, the Auction House is far too non-personal because it's pretty much a one-click-buy kinda deal. You don't gotta know the person, or where the babies are from, or why it has to matter. IF they're put up for auction, the buyer gets it in their head that you, the seller, DON'T care what they do with the dragon. And when it's nameless, just hatched, and possibly being sold for a cheap profit, it's especially hard to think differently.

If you are that connected with your baby dragons, I think another option besides the AH is needed. There are plenty of ways to sell or put dragons up for adoption without needing to auction them off, and talking with members on the forum in your own sale thread is a lot more personal, ain't it? It'd help give people an idea what YOU want, while letting you feel more comfortable knowing who wants to buy the dragon from you!

Edit: Oh wow I type slow. Tons of other posts have shown up now. Pfff. Hope this is still somewhat of a relevant post still.