Creature Adventures and more

armageddondoll • 14 September 2022 at 11:59 AM

So, this is an idea that came about from a previous suggestion I've made, with some incredibly helpful feedback and suggestions from @kataclysm , so consider her the co-creator of this.

There is a font of potential for Egg Cave when it comes to interactivity. We have coves full of creatures, we have lore for them and the worlds they come from, as well as lore for Ark itself. But what do we do with it? How can we use it? How can it make a fun and daily impact at the core of Egg Cave?

Creature Adventures!
Imagine, if you will, a portal in Ark (perhaps discovered through a site event or something!). At this portal, you see icons for all the worlds that creatures have come from, including places in Ark, like the Volcano or the Asteroid. You click on one of these places and have the option to send one or a small handful of creatures you pick to this place, with the potential for rewards (we'll get to those in a minute). But the key is, the lore matters.

Take Fairy World for example. A Volcano or Ocean habitat creature might do poorly there, but a Fairy World creature would be perfect! So you send your troop of Fairy World creatures to the world. Maybe you send a Luminette who has an advantage at traveling long distances, so they can adventure longer. Or you send a Matta, who is the all-seeing eye of the Fairy World, and might have a better shot at rewards that other creatures might miss.

Rewards:
As for the rewards? Maybe they're things tied to that locale. An Adventure into Fairy World might get you the fairy-based travels, some sparkling plushies, fairy foods and items like books, or even some EC or an egg or two. (Rarity of said eggs is not an argument I'm going to get into or entertain in this thread, so please don't start with that.) Alternatively, there could be some interactive oopsies, like sending say a Volcano habitat creature to the Ocean could have some consequences. Maybe they come back with less happiness and need a cozy meal to perk back up like hot stew or something spicy (reasons to use items!) Or a Cold World creature needs some ice creams after going to the Volcano.

And if it went all out, there could even be a little pre-emulated snippet of their adventures that fills in with the information. 'Creature X went to X world. They tangled with dangerous flora, found -list of items found- in a secret treasure chest in some X world ruins. And after a much-needed nap, they found a lost Creature/Egg species, and they hope you'll give it a good home.'

Co-Op:
Maybe maybe MAYBE, there could be a co-op implemented. Inviting a friend to send their creatures on adventures with yours. You both pick your creatures to go, and then click 'ready to go', once both parties are ready, the adventure begins. The first time you send your creatures on a co-op adventure, it unlocks a new stat (clickable, like 'items used') on that creatures page: friendships! When you click it, you can see who that creature has been on adventures with. The more adventures together, the higher the friendship, and maybe to have actual benefit aside from cuteness, better stats for adventures from working with their creature buddy. Best friends going on an adventure together might take less time, or come back with more rewards.

End Note:
I understand that this would be a massive undertaking, and would probably take ages to implement, I'm not saying that it wouldn't. I'm suggesting this because it could add so much to the interactivity of the site and its lore, create some lasting longevity, give rewards for efforts, and really bring a social interaction boon between players.

So please keep your replies relevant, and constructive.

@muppet @ian @kataclysm

kataclysm • 14 September 2022 at 12:11 PM

We already know I'm down to clown when it comes to increasing interactivity, so I'm already behind this notion. Being able to do something with my pets instead of letting them chill out in a cover forever would be super fun.

In theory, it also wouldn't need to be too code heavy - especially if it were a text based adventure - and the cool graphics can come later.

I often think that one of the most rewarding parts of playing games like Pokémon is that moment of sparkling excitement when Charmander starts to evolve. The interactivity there isn't huge, but it's gratifying to see that the adventure you and your pal have been on is paying off with a visual change, a little music, and a cute and basic animation.

The same could be achieved here, if the staff were interested in doing so, and I think the incentive to partake is really exciting. Adventure exclusive eggs? Hell yeah. A loaf of fairy bread from fairy world? Yes please! Maybe they go to space and come back with a star.

And yeah, I know the arguments are going to be 'But I paid money for my creature to have a star!', and that is just wonderful for you, Beffica, but if I'm not willing to spend my real money on some collectable pets (I'm not!), it would be nice to have even a 0.0002% chance to achieve that through playing a silly lil' game with my silly lil' pets.

I also really enjoy the notion of cooperative play, and that's speaking generally - not even solely with respect to this idea. Maybe I want to send my pets on an adventure to @muppet 's cove and send some toys with them so both pets have a chance at a stat increase. Maybe I want to send little presents with each adventure and trip. Send me back to the days of Nintendogs, when my chunky little Labrador could come running home with a new tennis ball from my bestie's identical Labrador.

I think, overall, this idea is super cute and I think it would revitalise some of the stagnating crowd on eggcave. Give us more to do, keep us engaged, etc etc.

Plus, I recall @ian mentioning an achievement system in the future... If you guys ever ran out of achievements to make around existing site activities, the options are endless if you consider what you could make out of an adventuring set of 'cheevos.

❤️ that's just my (very enthused) two cents, and I hope fellow readers can see this idea for what it is - a way to bring more fun and entertainment to our funny corner of the internet. Why not, yknow?

heatherm19 • 14 September 2022 at 12:50 PM

This definitely sounds like a huge undertaking and something that would take awhile to test/implement... But I LOVE the idea!

So, as a still-sorta-newbie coming from another (extremely different) adoptables site, I feels like this idea fits right in with what I've discovered Eggcave to be. Eggcave is already more interactive than I'd expected, much moreso than any adoptables site I've tried previously. I've grown very fond of the Quests, and to me this feels like 'Quests but with creatures!' or something. I like the idea of lore factoring into it as well, with different types having varying success in different places.

I have other thoughts but words aren't my friend right now, but this is such an interesting idea and I feel like there could be so much potential with it, even expanding on the original idea.

snowywinter • 14 September 2022 at 5:20 PM

@armageddondoll
O.O This is such an amazing and well-thought out idea! It sounds so fun!

I didn't vote though as I'm on the fence.
- In and of itself the concept is a lot of fun and sounds totally like something I'd be into on one of the old virtual pet sites I used to play (*coughNeopetsneeze*.) Knowing the site lore felt like a privilege and accomplishment. And it was nice being rewarded for that.
- In the past few days though I joined another virtual pet site and all there is to do on it... Well, Eggcave in its simplicity felt like such a relief to come back to.

Though, I've been saying since I joined here that I wish there was more to do around here. (Specifically games. - Casual/clickable/arcade) I may not be explicitly for this being adapted to Eggcave, but I likely wouldn't speak out against it either. (low-key support?) (If it was ever put to a vote or Ian asked if we wanted it - depending on the iteration of rules n such, I'd likely vote/say Yes.)

Would I participate if it were implemented? Probably more often than I Quest (which has only been about three sessions since I joined a year and a half ago.) Maybe once or twice a month if it were a regular feature opposed to event based.

Consequences more related to to how things on this site runs - instead of a pet losing happiness I could see possibly losing something out of inventory - or just not winning a reward*. Or it being very small, like only getting 5 EC instead of 200 EC. (Just an example.)
(* an example being in July how the Asteroid thingy can zap something and it turns to a lump of coal, or in March when the Dragold takes something... but the odds are less for actually losing an item.)
(I wouldn't want to see a new complicated system for pet happiness implemented here, and losing happiness wouldn't or should NOT affect pets protected by Leaf of Vaka. And if it did, that would be a slap to players who bought one, or in the very least the "consequence" would be laughable if it would automatically regenerate as it should. - And it almost wouldn't seem fair to the players who hadn't bought one would if pets were still protected by the Leaf. And many could see the whole Adventures game as a money grab to get more people to buy Leafs** if they did still protect pets... it just goes on with the complications and complaints. - So I think it would be best if just keep the "consequences" simple - not tied to happiness.)
(** I think? the proper grammar here is Leafs instead of Leaves since its a name??? p.s. fount, not font of potential. ; ) )


@kataclysm
As to the cooperative aspect it horrifies me that people could just randomly come in and mess with my pets stats in such a way (Outside of the typical V/C/F). Unless there would be an option in preferences to turn off mutual adventure quests requests I'd be against that part of the feature.

muppet • 14 September 2022 at 6:50 PM

OMG!!! I LOOOVE IT!!!

armageddondoll • 16 September 2022 at 6:34 PM

@heatherm19 @snowywinter
I appreciate the feedback!

As for the consequences part of things, I need to clarify a little! I don't mean losing happiness in terms of how we track our creature's health, because that's a little overboard, especially as you said, for players who purchased Leaf of Vaka. The Adventures are meant to be fun, not a risk. I mean happiness in the more abstract and emotional sense. Like a little notification after an Adventure "Spot could really use a pick-me-up after all that Adventuring, maybe some -soup/ice cream/ coffee/etc a food based on their habitat or theme- will make them feel better!" (Giving a Volcano habitat creature something hot or spicy, or giving a themed creature like a Giramint something Christmas themed). And maybe it could tie into achievements.

Nothing that would negatively impact your creature's health/status or put them at risk in any way, just another layer of cute interaction.

As far as the co-op thing, nothing along the lines of people randomly coming in! A totally optional thing where someone can invite you to adventure with their creatures, but you would have an accept or reject option. Just like how trades work, they can make the offer for you to send creatures on an Adventure with theirs, but in the end, nothing happens unless you accept or reject the invitation.
EX: "ArmageddonDoll would like to invite your pets on an Adventure to -World-! Would you like to join? ACCEPT - REJECT" If you accept, you pick what pets to send, and click 'Ready!' and they'll go. If you reject, the user gets a notification the invite was rejected, and your creatures don't go anywhere.

So nothing that would take any agency away from you! Maybe there could be the option of making Adventure requests friends only, or something like that, but either way, nothing happens without your say-so over your creatures.

snowywinter • 16 September 2022 at 6:58 PM

@armageddondoll

Sounds Great! ^^

And if the happiness factor could be an isolated Adventure element all that much better.

This is really starting to sound like an addition to Eggcave I'll be in support of 😊

cranberrycat1 • 17 September 2022 at 9:51 AM

This is an amazing idea @armageddondoll

armageddondoll • 24 September 2022 at 6:19 PM

@cranberrycat1 Thank you! Hopefully, its something that can be considered for the future!

wonder404exe • 24 September 2022 at 9:03 PM

@armageddondoll
this will make this site come to life even more! I'd love that! (since I have already had dreams about this website....)

Just thinking about the adventures and lore... so exiting... ooOOOOOooO Co-Op!!!! MORE SOCIALIZING!!! XD
maybe this could be another way to explore new CSP and monthly creatures instead of just looking at them in your/other people's cove?