Your latin american pack would do soooo much for South American representation, I'd instantly buy it. I was also very happy to read that, according to your theory, the Coati has fairly good chances to appear soon.
The theory Frontier does not want you to see! (Top 1 theory + wishlists)
- Thread starter Narwhaler
- Start date
Well if summer of next year is soon to you then yeah
I feel (some people might say I'm too optimistic) that tree kangaroo and coati are fully to be expected, like, Frontier has not a single reason to not include them in the game? And stopping support when so many heavily requested animals are still left to be added makes like, no sense at all, it's like outright saying "we do not want to make a profit".
We have gotten packs that featured only mammals, so how is it hard to imagine one that features only birds?
With all due respect my love Budgies are in pretty much every Australian area as a walkthrough animal. They’re cheap, easy to care for, and colorful so they get a ton of guest appeal.hahaha thanks (I'm a he) unfortunately we don't have narwhals in the game to do that
I mean me too, but we have to prepare for anything! The next clue is gonna be the Anniversary animal...
Also thanks everyone for your comments, I definitely agree there are a LOT of simpler, cloney animals that still stand a chance but weren't included here... Altho that is not as much of a big deal as animals that are unique not getting added. Also regarding Australian birdies I think cockatoos if anything stand a bigger chance than budgies (What's the big deal with budgies? Like they are cute and all but I'm pretty sure they are universally seen as a regular pet, like hamsters, they don't hold any "exotic bird" vibes like others do)
ZooMiami, ZooTampa, Bronx Zoo, all major players in the American Zoo league have these in their Australian areas.
They’re also really really adorable. Cockatoos stand less of a chance in my opinion due to the fact that they’re somewhat territorial and having a million in a walkthrough enclosure would be kind of problematic from a care perspective. Lorikeets and Budgies are great for the purposes of maintaining large flock sizes, like the bats we have ingame and the butterflies.
I guess that explains it, I haven't been in any zoos with specialized Australian sections
That said I'm not against them being added, I pretty much welcome any small parrot, I just didn't know the reason :d
Everything Leaf said! Haha. But in addition to that... they really lend themselves to guest interactions (e.g., landing on people like the butterflies do). Y'know, if Frontier was feeling particularly ambitious. LOLI guess that explains it, I haven't been in any zoos with specialized Australian sections
That said I'm not against them being added, I pretty much welcome any small parrot, I just didn't know the reason :d
Budgies are pretty common for walkthrough bird exhibits where you can also fed them. My local zoos and aquariums have them and I’m in New England. I’d welcome any birds though.
Ayyyy! Another New Englander!
Stay safe tomorrow. Lee’s coming.
Oof, hurricanes are not funny business. Last major hurricane, Hurricane Harvey in 2017, had effects that lasted up until 2020.
We're (Houston) now raising houses up to prevent getting homes flooded, because Houston is prone to flood. So, be safe y'all. Make sure y'all have a lot of clean water to drink, potentially even filling up some buckets or the tub with water to bathe and wash hands. Non-perishable food, if the power goes out or there's a food shortage. Keep away from windows. I'm sure y'all already are settled, but it's always good to have a couple of reminders
We're (Houston) now raising houses up to prevent getting homes flooded, because Houston is prone to flood. So, be safe y'all. Make sure y'all have a lot of clean water to drink, potentially even filling up some buckets or the tub with water to bathe and wash hands. Non-perishable food, if the power goes out or there's a food shortage. Keep away from windows. I'm sure y'all already are settled, but it's always good to have a couple of reminders
Thanks! It’s not gonna be too severe but you can never be too sure. Weather Is unpredictable. We’ve had a couple small tornadoes in my hometown a few times this summer and we haven’t had any before that so you can never know.
I still think that larger flying birds (macaws, eagles, owls) ought to have their own aviary systems that aren't tied to the walkthroughs.
Pretty much in the same boat as lorikeets (and to a lesser extent cockatiels). Pretty much the ideal birds for the walkthrough exhibits.
You too! So far just some light wind here.
Had to run to the basement during one of the MANY tornado warnings this year crazy stuff!
I'd love lorikeets and hope they get added.
yeah. I think we’ve exchanged nor’ easters for tornadoes now.
I live on a hill too. The winds are gonna be crazy. And I live in a coastal town.
Hopefully it’ll be good
You would certainly have my vote! These packs would be a dream!Hello everyone and welcome to this little thread where I will be playing with our hopes and dreams because such is the life of a Planet Zoo fan
So finally, with the announcement of the Oceania pack and soft confirmation of content for next year I wanna explain a little theory that if true could be quite exciting.
I think we can call this theory the meta-wishlist or top 1 animal theory. So this theory isn't really new, but definitely people seem to have forgotten about it:
Frontier is just following the order of the most voted animals in the meta-wishlist for the order of their dlcs.
And you'll say: but the Tassie has remained number 1 for the whole year! Well at first glance yes, but in truth, not really. Let's have a look at the 3 packs we got thus far this year: tropical (linnaeus two-toed sloth was top 2 back then iirc), porcupine (again, top 2) and finally Tassie which had been the top 1 for so long. Thing is, if you combined the votes for sloths in general (two toed + three toed) and porcupines in general (African crested, Cape, Indian) the Tasmanian devil actually wasn't the real top 1. And that is one thing I think many players are overlooking in the wishlist: Frontier is not basing the dlc order on the wishlist exactly as it appears. Which is well, kinda obvious if you consider how often votes will get split between virtually identical animals (and I mean virtually identical as in people REALLY don't care which one we get, unlike the gibbon-siamang or arctic fox-red fox which do have discerning opinions on one over another).
Now look at the current meta wishlist (removing Tassie that is), the apparent top 5 is:
1. Secretary Bird (216 votes)
2. Wolverine (208 votes)
3. South American Coati (205 votes)
4. Walrus (193 votes)
5. Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroo (192 votes)
Okay so from this you could say if following this theory "hey that would mean we first get secretary and then wolverine, or maybe just wolverine next? Because Frontier HATES birds!" Well... No. And that's because just like with the porcupine and the sloths, the wishlist is not reflecting the true order of the most wanted animals. However, many people use the meta wishlist superficially, so the "apparent" top 10 does matter because it definitely affects what a lot of players are expecting to get next, just look how many players have been raging about the Tasmanian devil for not coming in previous packs, even though it wasn't the real top 1 animal until now. So now that (finally) the top 1 animal is apparently a bird, combined with the existing frustration in the community for Frontier yet again ignoring flying birds, the majority of people will definitely expect a bird pack next, which translates into a huge negative backlash if we don't get them even if the winter pack isn't inherently bad. Frontier can no longer delay birds when there is no top mammal seemingly occupying the first place, there are no more excuses to "delay" them. The point is that right now birds are the absolute topmost need for the playerbase. Keeping that in mind, lets rearrange the meta-wishlist top 5 correcting the votes:
1. Secretary bird (birds are undisputed top 1 regardless of votes for one specific bird)
2. Tree kangaroo (Matchie's + Goodfellow's = 249 votes)
3. Coati (South American + White nosed = 239 votes)
4. Wolverine (208 votes)
5. Walrus (193 votes)
So as you can see, both tree roos and coatis are over the wolverine as most wanted animals, that would mean the highlands pack would be further than most would expect as it quite clearly isn't the actual priority. It would also explain why the tree roo is absent in the Oceania pack. So considering all these clues I think the most plausible DLC lineup until winter of next year is:
1. Winter 2023: Bird pack
2. Spring 2024: Forest Animal Pack
3. Summer 2024: Central/Latin America Pack
4. Fall 2024: Highlands Animal Pack
5. Winter 2024: Tundra Pack
---END OF THEORY---
Now based on the theory I have made my new wishlists which are more subjective, as you may know I have a clear bias for lagomorphs and waterfowl, even then, I have tried to base looking also at others wishlists, with plausible additions for each pack considering what people usually ask for:
1. Bird/Aviary Pack.
View attachment 367231
The eternal debate, what makes up for a good bird pack? Birds, that's for sure
This pack remains as big mystery around what it can have so I'm not gonna discuss further, keep in mind it's just a wishlist that tries to be reasonable but definitely nothing is ever safe when it comes to birds. Some people even argue that it could even be a larger expansion than previous packs, but I feel that is wishful thinking more than anything. Also an important note, after the birds pack the logical assumption is that Frontier will finally start adding birds as WE in other packs as well. So the rest of the wishlists will have birds in them.
- Secretary bird. The top 1 animal and the big habitat bird seller.
- Golden pheasant. Another heavily requested bird, as most requested habitat birds are aquatic, one more terrestrial bird would offer more balance, and the golden pheasant is definitely one of the most commonly found birds in zoos.
- Black swan. Ducks? Swans? Well I obviously favor swans, it doesn't really matter in the end because most likely Frontier would separate a duck and a swan in two different packs so you have to buy both to be able to make a decent waterfowl pond, also the black swan adds a nice representation for Australia I guess
- Brown pelican. At least one habitat bird has to be from America, as there are basically none ingame, and pelicans are by far the most requested type of bird that fits here.
- Lastly everyone expects that the pack will have various birds in walkthrough exhibits (combinations vary but the most clear consensus is macaws is one of them), at this point it has gotten a bit ridiculous that a mechanic that is so obviously designed to house birds has not gotten us any (I'd say the reactions to flying fox were pretty funny) but if you think about it it makes sense that they wont randomly add one WE bird out of nowhere, that would heavily reduce the impact of the bird pack. If the bird pack is actually the first to add birds in the WE it instantly becomes a must-have. I definitely see this pack being the first one to have several different WE animals, my personal preference would be kookaburras and fruit pigeons, but people also favor many other birds including lorikeets, cockatoos, hornbills, turacos, etc. any bird of prey would definitely be housed alone and would honestly expect one or none (I see the bald eagle as the most clear choice for a bird of prey).
2. Forest Animal Pack.
View attachment 367232
Many people often put the hypothetical "tree tops" and temperate/woodlands packs in their wishlists, so I'll go ahead and say, why not combine the two? After all, forests is the natural deduction of wanting these two. Makes sense that it would come in spring because of the usual seasonal link (spring=plants) spring dlcs always have. Also as important notion in the naming theoretically either forests or temperate can work (except the shoebill which is my personal oddball pick and could change, all the animals in this pack inhabit temperate climate areas, yes even the tree kangaroo, the ocelot and the black howler), but I think it is more likely to be a forest animal pack than a temperate animal simply because the general audience doesn't link said animals to temperate climate even if they technically are temperate, and broadening the term justifies better the addition of Central/South American species. Now the list to expect could be something like:
3. Latin America Pack.
- Goodfellow's tree kangaroo. As the top 1 animal of the pack.
- American black bear. or wild boar. Whatever.
- Ocelot.
- Reeve's muntjac. Small ungulate small ungulate.
- Mandarin duck. This would be the complementary animal to the waterfowl added in the bird pack.
- Oddball. (many animals can fit in here: Virginia opossum, Shoebill (if named forests), Patagonian mara (if named temperate), Tamandua...)
- Black howler monkey. They would definitely split the spider and howler monkeys in two packs as well.
- WE: Rainbow lorikeet.
View attachment 367233
Broadening the term from Central America to Latin America allows to improve this roster, but a Central America pack is also plausible (altho that would mean no mara, maybe tamandua instead). This one would be a scenery pack, considering of the themes that are left, a Latin American building theme is definitely one of the strongest contenders in terms of building pieces simply because Latin American architecture is beautiful and colourful which is nothing like the current South America pieces we have. Fortunately, it being a scenery pack wouldn't be taken negatively anymore thanks to the previous forest pack already adding some South American species, thus both packs would complement eachother.
4. Highlands Animal Pack. The good ol' highlands pack might come later than expected, but it definitely remains as the wishlist with the most solid and consistent picks.
- South American coati. As the top 1 animal of the pack
- Patagonian mara. Highly requested, from the only region that currently has 0 representation.
- Tamandua/Peccary.
- Geoffroy's spider monkey. The other top requested monkey.
- WE: Toucans. After macaws, they are the most notorious South American bird, and a WE toucan exhibit would be perfect. Alternatively hummingbirds would also be nice additions, despite their small size they are super charismatic critters and would work perfectly as WE.
View attachment 367234
5. Tundra Pack.
- Wolverine. As the top 1 animal of the pack
- Spectacled bear.
- Pallas cat.
- Hamadryas baboon.
- Markhor.
- Takin.
- Darwin's rhea.
- WE: Among plausible highland birds, the Raggiana bird-of-paradise is definitely the best choice, birds of paradise are incredible birds in general, and this species inhabits the montane forests of the New Guinea highlands over 1,500 meters above sea level, making it fit nicely into the highlands theme. Another option would be a bird of prey or vulture, but I personally don't find them too fitting for the WE given their size.
View attachment 367235
The last pack I can honestly think of, the Tundra pack would be the final conclusion to the game, we end where we started, in the Arctic region, it actually would be pretty poetic to have the first and last packs be themed around this region that remains extremely threatened by climate change, and personally I would be completely down for it (way better than "haha have birds bye byeee foreverrrr"). It would be a scenery pack with building pieces based on another quite requested building theme which is the Native American (specifically West Coast) building theme, I do think this theme is very much needed in the game as North America is the only continent with no building pieces themed around the native culture, I think it is important to note that at the same time making this building theme specially can have negative repercusions if done wrong considering the long history of cultural appropiation Native Americans have suffered, but I trust Frontier will approach it in a sensitive and respectful way as they did with the Australia pack theme (and possibly the Polynesian of the Oceania pack?), understanding and supporting the cultures on which it is based on. Anyhoo ethical considerations aside this pack could be:
Lastly to mention I wont really delve into the anniversary animals but for this theory to be correct the plausible this year's aniversary animals could be: blackbuck, ABB, ocelot or peccary/wild boar.
- Walrus. Last top 1 animal.
- Muskox. I find the muskox to be quite an ironic animal, being requested since the Arctic pack, but perhaps coming in the very last pack instead lol.
- Sea otter.
- Oddball. I always put the Arctic hare in here because I want my lagomorph but it can be something else, maybe the rockhopper penguin even though it's an Antarctic animal or even the Patagonian mara could be stretched into this pack if they decide to make a Central America pack instead of a Latin America pack, but I find that unlikely.
- WE: Snowy owl. By far the most requested owl species and a yet again the best possible fit for this theme.
To wrap up I find this theory to be pretty solid based on the packs we have got this year but I'm aware it is not flawless, but a theory without flaws is not a theory, and one's wishlists are always bound to leave out animals others might deem as essential. I perfectly see that the bird pack list might not be the best considering there is no ibis and crowned crane for example, but I'm being cautious as nobody really knows how Frontier would approach a pack that has more focus on WE animals than on habitat ones. Also a petting zoo pack might not be a thing, but I do think that petting mechanics should come better as an update feature, not as a specialized pack (also farm building theme is lame). Also I kinda find it better than other theories I have seen, such as the one that said this year's packs were complementing the packs of 2021, hence why people speculated so much on temperate lately, which clearly was wrong.
Overall I still have hope Frontier will do what is best for the game and wanted to share my thoughts, and I'd like to see yours, too. Thank you for your time!
PD: if this is proven to be wrong and we somehow get the secretary bird in some kind of grasslands 2 or savannah pack with MORE african animals (also hamadryas, sulcata and blackbuck) I will genuinely die I'm so tired of African animals
I’m in the (wishful and unrealistic) camp that thinks a bird pack should be larger than others, and a bit more expensive. But I think you gave a very balanced take on what it should be! My only issues with your prediction is that we don’t have these in game yet.
NEW ENGLANDER SPOTTED
