Sunday, September 16, 2012

September Edition 2012

Letter from the Editor:

Hello Everyone!

As you might have noticed there are many more articles this month then last month. We have had several new faces join the newsletter and I hope you enjoy their articles as much as I did. We're hoping that there will be something for everyone, though if you would like to see something else please PM me or post in the thread. There is always a need for new ideas!

I hope you enjoy this issue!

~Snow



Hi Everyone! 

This is tufted here co-editor, and I wanted to apologize for the extremely late edition this month. We encountered some technical difficulties (literally!) and therefore, this issue was published way past it's planned date. Again, Snowy and I sincerely apologize for the long wait. 

Enjoy!
tufted


Forum Games

This month, there's been a forum game boom. Some new games include: "Would you Wear That?", "Be Punny", and "What would you say if..." These games seem to be popular due to the fact that people have to think about their posts. Mindless posts are forgotten, but it seems that the posters of these new games keep coming back!

The most popular games are ones that we've probably all heard of: "CPA", "How high can you count before a mod posts?", and "Count to 1,000,000!" "Change one letter" is also among the games with high post-counts.

Now, we all know that the CPA is the essential place to chat with friends and strangers. Almost every forum member has seen it and nearly all of those that have seen it are members. The thread it already at Volume Fourteen and has 13,479 posts and counting. Even if the CPA isn't on the first page, it returns in a few days at most. Since the CPA is the only place where off-topic and random chatter is encouraged, it is a central hub for compulsive posters.


Interview with Lagie:

DC Newsletter: How did CPA start and what were your thoughts?

Lagie: When CPA first started, Parakeet, Leap and I had been chatting in the Boys vs Girls thread about
compulsive posting. We decided we needed a place for people to share their experiences about compulsive posting and thus was born CPA. It opened on December 13, 2009, in the General Discussion Forum and was not originally a chat thread. It was just a place for people to talk about their compulsive posting. Gradually it evolved into a chat thread/support group and during Volume Two was moved into the Games Forum. We lost a few people with the move but have gained many more over the following volumes.

DC Newsletter: Did you foresee the reaction from DCF's members?

Lagie: I never expected CPA to take off the way it has. I certainly never expected it to still be around fourteen volumes later. We've had our ups and downs, and hiccups, but we continue, compulsively posting, chatting, supporting each other. Help from our awesome mods make the whole place run smoothly.


DC Newsletter: Can you tell us about furry handcuffs?

Lagie:  Furry Handcuffs began as a typo way back in Volume Two. Lady_Nightfox meant to say "Hell hath no fury..." and typed "Hell hath no furry..." AlicornsPrayer then stepped in with a comment about furry handcuffs. It became a running joke and somehow transferred to people who top pages. Dragons began to be named with 'Handcuffs' or 'Cuffs' in their names, freddyness was the first person to be cuffed with a dragon for topping a page back in Volume 3, and thus a CPA tradition was born.


DC Newsletter: What can you say about CPA now?

Lagie: Anyone out there remember the FRP (Fish Replacement Project), the Attack of the Zombie Werepickle, or the parties that used to be held regularly for each 100th page? If you've been a member, come back and visit us again. if you haven't checked us out, please feel free to do so. We'll welcome you with open arms, and maybe a brownie or two.

Next in post count is "How high can you count before a mod posts?" It's a stunningly simple game, but it is also stunningly popular. Perhaps because it only requires a number per post. Perhaps because of people's determination to beat the previous record of 477. Rubyshoes, a Site Discussion moderator, is frequently dashing people's hopes of beating the record. Still, the posters are quite determined to keep trying.

"Count to 1,000,000!" is another simple, yet popular, forum game. Again, counting games seem to be very popular. Maybe because there is clear goal of the thread, people find it very achievable, so the only obstacle is the hugeness of the number one-million.

So there you have it, my fellow DCers. The new, the popular, the simple. Keep in mind that if you plan on creating a forum game, keep it simple, have a goal, and keep it active.



By: Mousia


May 22, 2012 Dragon Release

As of May 22nd 2012, two brand new dragons were introduced to the world of Dragon Cave for its 6th birthday. Tsunami Wyverns and the Luminas, these two are a wonderful addition to the numerous breeds already released. The Tsunamis are the seventh type of Wyvern on the cave; I was very interested in the breed when I first saw the “small waves”. The dynamic poses and potential power of these dragons sends a thrill through my body.  While the tsunamis show me power and strength the Luminas remind me of a picky rich kind, always strutting around and wanting everything that’s “perfect”.  The Luminas are a beautiful looking bred with reflective scales, this new add on has a curious state. If you breed it with a water horse, turpentine, or an albino, the beautiful white scales will dull as a reaction to the oils.  

But, they were not the only ones released on May 22nd; a new only breed able bred joining the Blunas, Shallow Water, and Geodes. The UltraViolets. This new hybrid is the child of a Purple and Spitfire, with the Spitfires long tail and markings, with the Purples body type and long horns. Reminding me of a dog the UltraViolets are a friendly breed, if I could I’d want one as my companion. All in all I love these three, and have all on my scroll.

~By: GuardianProtector


July 22, 2012 Updates

If you have been on your Dragon Cave account lately you might have noticed some changes. Ever wished you could easily find one breed on dragon or all your BSA dragons? The new filter and sort buttons allow you to do that with a simple click. Just click the small black arrow and you can filter things such as; eggs and unfrozen hatchlings, your unnamed dragons, and any available for breeding and BSA. Or you can find a certain dragon by sorting out its age, name or breed.

Two other cool updates done to DragonCave are the action log and trade update. Under the account button, second down is a new option, Action Log. This new appearance on the cave allows you to view all your history. Forget which egg you influenced, or when you last used summon? Action Log helps you by holding all this info for you. Trading with someone for an egg with a certain lineage? The trade update is supper useful when doing this; you can now view the other eggs lineage and ID number.

These next two updates go along with the trade update and filter button. The breeding list has been updated, pairings of dragons will now appear on the list but on the bottom labeled rejected. While a mating pair that doesn’t produce any eggs will appear as successful. This is to prevent any confusion from not being able to find your dragons. When transferring eggs something has changed, if you click on a transfer link that is already taken or you accidently click it twice. Instead of the past used phrase of There does not appear to be any trade with the provided claim ID, newly and personalized wording tells you the same. 

Not having an easy time getting a Guardian of Nature? Well prepare readers of the Drag Cave News! A little update call Summoning Scaling is about to make that a lot easier, the more group of the trio you have the higher your chance. One last optional update is apparent, you can now share your eggs and hatchlings codes with your friends via Facebook, Twitter, and Google plus. But again this is just optional and as of right now you have to activate it in your account settings. All in all I personally love these updates. They allow me to easily find anything on my scroll, a more likely chance for a GoN. And share/brag about a rare egg I got to my friends!

~By: GuardianProtector 


Newbie Advice

When many people start playing Dragon Cave, they already know how forums work. Maybe not specifically the Dragon Cave Forums, but as a user, once you’re familiar with a forum you can work out pretty quickly how most of them work. What I’ll try to explain in the following text is how to use this forum in a way that can be understood by any user, no matter how much experience they have with forums. The most important thing to understand is that forums are divided in two parts: your controls and the forums.

CONTROLS You can access them by clicking on “My controls” (top right side). There you will see different options to change your avatar, signature, access your messages… You can also access your messages and see if you have unread ones by clicking (or just looking, if you want to know if you have new mail) “New Messages”. The number in front of it indicates how many unread messages you have.

FORUMS The Dragon Cave Forums are divided in several parts:
  • Dragon Cave: everything that is about the games goes here. There are threads of fansites in “Fansites”. Maybe you find a new one you didn’t know about. Also, lineage threads are under “Breeding” and several trade threads and projects where you can win dragons, under “Trading”.
  • General Discussion: this is the place to discuss anything that is not DC. You want to find members who like your favourite tv series? See if there is an existing thread or make your own. You want to see what other people are reading? Just click “Books”.
  • Role Playing: all RPs are found here. If you like RPing take a look around and see if there are any empty spots in one of the existing games. Or, if you prefer, try to create your own.
No matter what thread you’re on, make sure you’ve read the OP (opening post) and the next few posts, if they have been written by the project account or by the person who make the first post (sometimes rules may be in the second or third post). If you still have any questions, there’s a list of thread-mods in most threads. They can answer any questions you may have. POSTS Once you’re in a thread you just need to scroll up to the top of the page or down to the bottom and click “Add Reply”. You will see a place where you can write your text and a box with options. If you want to write in bold, highlight your text and click “B”. “I” is italic and “U”, underlined. Also, if you want to insert a link, click on “http://” and follow the instructions. More about different colours, sizes and other options not present in the box will appear in future articles.

~By: Raistlin24


The winner of DC Photography Contest #57 is.... Aerouant!

This contest's theme was "Union."


Bumblebee and Lavender, Aerouant's winning submission!


DC Newsletter: Why did you decide to enter the photo contest?


Aerouant: I've been participating with the photography contest since the 12th contest (12: Travel Photography), which I won! So I tried to enter the following contests too, unless I did not have the right picture or did not manage to create one in time. This time I just returned from visiting my parents-in-law. I made pictures of the bumblebees and lavender, which I thought was matching the theme Union well. Not only because those two need each other to survive, but also because I mostly see bumblebees on the lavender, as a perfect match. 

DC Newsletter: Did you expect yourself to win?


Aerouant:  I did not expect to win, no. As there was a similar picture (bee on a flower) was entered earlier, I thought that one would get more votes, and the adorable lovebirds were popular too. Perhaps tikigurl91 could have won if the voting was open for a little longer. You never know what the others like.

DC Newsletter: What was your first thought when you found out you had won?


Aerouant: My first thought was: Yay I won! This is the seventh contest I host, sooo.. what theme shall I do this time?

If you are would like to see all the entries, here's the thread.

~By: sparkle10184


Viewbombing 101


Viewbombing is a term used to describe the act of posting growing dragons on multiple sites to obtain a lot of views/unique views/clicks for them in a small amount of time. You have probably viewbombed your own dragons before in hopes of forcing them to hatch, gender, or mature faster. There is nothing wrong with this – they are your dragons after all! However, this article isn't about viewbombing your own dragons. There are people out there who – out of bitterness, boredom, or whatever reasons – add others' dragons to various different sites with the purpose of sickening/killing them. This is not to say that it is always done with malicious intent – indeed there have certainly been people out there who have done it with the intention of helping. Regardless, it is against the rules to aid users without their permission.

Unfortunately, there is no real way of enforcing this rule as it is virtually impossible to catch the culprits. Unable to combat this menace offensively, we must go on the defensive. Instead of stopping it, we must prevent it. The big question is, "How?" Suggestions have been flying around for ages, but little has yet been done.

A lot of pressure was put on fansite administrators, as several of these suggestions were dependent on changes on their end, such as tying passwords to accounts or utilizing an API login. In order for these changes to be effective, all fansites would have to comply. Not only that, but it would not entirely solve the issue, since fansites are not the only way to viewbomb a dragon. Due to this, these ideas were eventually thrown out.

Fear not, for not all hope is lost! There are at least two perfectly viable suggestions left. One is adding a "whitelist" system to Dragon Cave. This would be an optional feature that would allow a user to choose which sites their dragons could be posted on. Sites not mentioned on the whitelist would not be able to display the dragons of that user. Another is a BSA that allows users to fog dragons currently tied up in teleports. The dragon would not be able to gain views/unique views/clicks, but it would still be tradeable. The BSA has been suggested for multiple dragons, including (but not limited to) Grays, Daydreams, and Guardians.

The biggest issue we face with viewbombing is getting support for a means of prevention. Despite the countless tombstones and eggshells whose untimely ends can be attributed to this pest, it always seems to get pushed to the backburner. There are plenty of people who haven't had it happen to their dragons often enough (or at all) to motivate them to push for a change. How much longer with these harassers go unhindered? Well, that is ultimately up to us.


~By: Chanilove



Lineage of the Month – Pictish Lizards

The Pictish Lizards is a lineage started by deblogan in early 2010. The idea was to use starting pairs of Pumpkins and Pygmies to breed even generations. The names of the dragons can be chosen by the player without the need of special suffixes, prefixes, themes… At the time the lineage was started, there were only original Pygmies available, so the main colour was yellow, but with the addition of the other Pygmy breeds in May 2011, all Pygmies are allowed, although the original lineage still remains of original Pygmies and Pumpkins only. As Pumpkins only breed Pumpkins once a year, true checkboards are very slow growing, but there is a new generation of real Pumpkin x Pygmy checkers every year. Deblogan likes Celtic mythology and the name of the lineage comes from the Picts, a small Celtic folk that lived in the Late Iron Age and Early Mediaeval Scottish Highlands and the lizard size of these dragons. Also, the Pumpkin dragons reminded deblogan of a lizard crawling over the pumpkin, so she decided on calling the lineage Pictish Lizards. Thanks to deblogan for the information.

~By: Raistlin24

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