Find a Dragon

@TempestDragon
That's totally fine. I can hold two dragons for you, I have room for once. I'll just set up a 2-way CR.

Hi, could someone let me use a nest?
@ImpossibleJedi4 @Marchelute @Ryuuna @Succubuslust @thatonespeedster

@libi i have a nest open

Thank you, will send right away :D @thatonespeedster

@PocketD @Roheryn @VoyagerII

Hey there! I usually use the nest network to get other eye colors, but the earth flight has been particularly slow to respond lately, and I have to go to work soon. Anybody have an earth nest I can borrow?

@Velifer My nests are open right now~

@Roheryn Awesome, thank you so much!

@AetherSeer @Aleksandrov @AmmieKatt @amuseoffirebane @AndleRandle @Annobethal @Bodmhall @BotanyBlack @ClockworkFlames @Cloudburst2586 @clover61 @CupcakeCass @DanitheET @Decian @DuchessIceFire @Facella @flowerpower12345 @Ganondorf @GinnySheep @ilexopaca @Kaisen @Keiene @lavarift @Libi @Loreka @mechanical @MegaraBane @napstabl00k @Nixifer @OdysseyLotus @orbitalsquabbles @PalominoPrincess @PlushiePalooza @rainerain @SeaCrest @Spooner @Succubuslust @SummerLark @Valtristus @Velifer @Venusian @VoyagerII @watercress @Zaggy @ZoeyRedbird

Hello! How is everyone doing with their projects? (No, really, I like to know, especially if you're struggling - that way I can give you help!)

Over the years, we've had many new faces join us, thank you, all of you, and for me, it's been fairly touch and go as far as getting new breeders. Initially, I assigned whoever was asking for a new wish to work on, the oldest unassigned wish with very little regard to ability, and discovered that is a recipe for disaster. Throwing you guys into the deep end doesn't quite work out well, and puts more work on myself in the end.

So I pretty quickly changed to attempting to gauge each breeder's ability, and attempting to give that breeder a project best suited to their skill level. This has been the status quo for the past several years, and it's worked out... okay, but not great. For one, projects are incredibly unpredictable, and what looked easy could turn out to be a nightmare. (*Cough.*) And for two, it is hard for me to gauge your abilities, when I don't know you personally or don't have a history of completed (or not) projects you've attempted in the past.

Fairly recently, I also wrote up a guide on breeding projects, to give to new breeders as a sort of "stepping stone" for them to at least have some bare bones understanding and starting skills. Even so, I still run into problems with some breeders struggling with their projects, and it's not a happy scenario for anyone involved. Especially with folks who are starting with very little experience, if any, I don't always have easy wishes to give them, even when I reserve the easiest wishes we receive for new breeders only.

Therefore, I had this little idea pop up in my head: Going forward, we could do an entrance requirement of sorts: Breed a triple gem gened, triple colour, Wildclaw or Coatl, for our Nursery starters, unrelated to the ones we currently have.

For those who don't know, BotanyBlack, who manages the nursery and buy thread, has begun a small collection of these dragons, intended to be used as starter "long-range" parents - by being triple gem gene and gem breeds, they can still be useful for almost any genes/breeds required. For example, I used Dimitri for my Red/Red/Metals project, where his Metallic/Alloy/Opal proved very useful, and his colours worked out well with the right partner to get me something closer.

Giving new breeders something to breed that isn't a wish, and therefore isn't as much of a commitment, does serve a second purpose: Some folks don't realize how difficult breeding for specific goals is, or some folks don't realize that it's not as exciting or interesting as they thought it'd be, that'd it'd take so long, and they just don't have the patience for it. And some folks, as folks will do when they lose interest in a game, straight up disappear! Therefore, giving a low-commitment goal as a 'first project' would help discern who is here to stay, without making a wisher wait longer for their dragon because their wish got assigned to someone who later decided they didn't want to be a breeder anymore, and needed to be reassigned.

In the end, the new breeder gets a little experience under their belt working on a stress-free project, the Nursery gets another potential starting dragon, and the wishers get breeders who are ready to make the commitment and have a starting framework of the skills needed.

On the other hand, I've always been accepting of everyone who wants to give breeding a try, and I worry this might be a deterrent, rather than a help. Having entrance requirements might make people hesitate, no matter the reasoning behind the requirements, nor their purpose.

It's an idea, anyway, and I wanted to get your thoughts on it, as many of you have started out fresh and brand new. Do you think this would help, or would it do more harm than good? Do you have any ideas, anything you wish was done when you were new, etc?

@ganondorf, I'm not opposed to the idea of an entrance req/test! My worry is that triples tend to be popular, so we'll have to assess the ease of getting viable parents for each test. Like a triple White would be too easy compared to, idk, triple Swamp. Maybe check the AH at time of assignment to make sure there's not a breedable pair, both triples of the desired color, being sold?

@Ganondorf
hey! i’m having a little bit of a struggle finding dragons to breed for my project ^^’

but i am relatively new, so i don’t have any thoughts to look back on

so far i’ve had a positive experience working with DWF both purchasing and breeding