Planet Zoo | Americas Animal Pack | Announce

[Mjmannella]

You are not the only one in the forum constantly misusing the term, though. It's a desease these days, now that it is a trend term and misinformation is spread around like crazy.

And you know I appreciate you a lot. I really do. But is indeed a "you" problem. And I am not saying that in a dismissive way. But you are framing concerns and frustration of others as "negativity", completely ignoring that even critisism and concerns grow out of the love for the game and out of the reason to wanting PZ and down the line PZ2 to succeed. Besides that, I have absolutely rarely seen anyone hating on the WHOLE pack. It is always accompanied by "okay, I love this and that addition". So you really have to ask yourself: Why is YOUR focus on the "negativity" and not on the appreciative and acknowledging part?

I am not saying it is the case with you, but sometimes people are afraid of the "negativity" of others, because they have subtile concerns of the direction things are heading as well but try to surpress them or gloss over them, Very rarely get people who are TRULY okay with everything going on get triggered by others opinion.

That said: In any community there should be room for pure happyness and satisfaction and for frustration and concerns (if not proposed in a trolling manner). No side should be made silenced just because the other side might feel annyoed or uncomfortable. Which is why I would never qupte anyone who is 100% happy with the pack and ask: "You are truely happy with another sheep?! How can you not see we already paid for sheeps three times in a row!"

I 100% agree, but I think the problem is bigger than just 1 person. There's a good deal of people across the community (the forums, the subreddit, Discord servers, etc.) that are very much stigmatizing and hostile towards people who give even an ounce of criticism. It's always just retorts like "stop being negative!", "you're ruining it for others!", and "let others be happy!". While these statements may have good intentions, the end result is fostering a clique that becomes so ultra-positive that it's outright toxic.

Are there bad ways to frame criticism? Yes, of course! If you're pointing fingers at people and saying they aren't allowed to enjoy this, that's a poor way to get your ideals across. Going to the root of the problem is far more effective at getting the message across without meltdowns. But it becomes a glaring double-standard if people chastise negative commentators who point fingers but completely endorse positive commentators who also point fingers. If you're going to judge others for their behaviour, your judgement should at least be consistent regardless of how much their views align with yours.

 

[Xrystal]

I just really hope they won’t make us wait until November with the next pack. Ideally one more pack for the summer and one for autumn/winter.

If they are not currently working on the next incarnation of Planet Zoo then, yes it would be good to have more. But if we are on a thinned out DLC cycle, perhaps that is because they are starting work on the next version. I live in hope rofl.

 

[Swjosdotschka]

But it becomes a glaring double-standard if people chastise negative commentators who point fingers but completely endorse positive commentators who also point fingers.

I think we should stop pointing fingers all together. Because "how can you be happy about the Bighorn sheep" is as inappropriate as "how can you not be happy that we even get content after so many years?"
It's dismissing others feelings about something without absolutely no reason that could move us forward. The Bighorn Sheep can actually be a terrible and a wonderful inclusion at the same time, just for different people. Just as we can be happy about our favourite game still getting support and still acknowledging that the gap between Frontier and the community is growing and they are detached from what was asked for (pointing mainly at the lack of Coati here).

For me valuable feedback (may it be cheers or criticism) basically comes from good explanation. "I like the inclusion of said animal, because XY."
"I feel disappointed about the lack of animal XY, because..."

Frontier can do a lot more with whatever comes after the "because..." than with any blunt blanket statement of any direction.

 

[SanRazo]

I think it’s time for us to realize we might be in an echo chamber here on the forums. In Delady’s video she said she had a poll were people were the least excited about monkeys as a group than other animals. I’ve heard similar sentiments from other spaces online. But they all love cats and dogs. We are zoo nerds here, we alone don’t keep the game alive, it needs to general animal lover. It makes sense for Frontier to appeal to them and give us here on the forums one or two picks (like the saki) to pacify us.

Sidnote: I love that we have SA stilt dog and SA stubby dog now. Best of both worlds

 

[Swjosdotschka]

I think it’s time for us to realize we might be in an echo chamber here on the forums. In Delady’s video she said she had a poll were people were the least excited about monkeys as a group than other animals. I’ve heard similar sentiments from other spaces online. But they all love cats and dogs. We are zoo nerds here, we alone don’t keep the game alive, it needs to general animal lover. It makes sense for Frontier to appeal to them and give us here on the forums one or two picks (like the saki) to pacify us.

Sidnote: I love that we have SA stilt dog and SA stubby dog now. Best of both worlds

But if we really base it on general audience you gotta ask why we got the Saki and not the Pippi Longstocking monkey...
Besides: People are drawn to different content creators and ZHSPlays community repplies completely different for example. Yes, we are zoo nerds here, but we should not forget that even Content Creators just attrack different groups.

 

[FoxyDee]

You are not the only one in the forum constantly misusing the term, though. It's a desease these days, now that it is a trend term and misinformation is spread around like crazy.

And you know I appreciate you a lot. I really do. But is indeed a "you" problem. And I am not saying that in a dismissive way. But you are framing concerns and frustration of others as "negativity", completely ignoring that even critisism and concerns grow out of the love for the game and out of the reason to wanting PZ and down the line PZ2 to succeed. Besides that, I have absolutely rarely seen anyone hating on the WHOLE pack. It is always accompanied by "okay, I love this and that addition". So you really have to ask yourself: Why is YOUR focus on the "negativity" and not on the appreciative and acknowledging part?

I am not saying it is the case with you, but sometimes people are afraid of the "negativity" of others, because they have subtile concerns of the direction things are heading as well but try to surpress them or gloss over them, Very rarely get people who are TRULY okay with everything going on get triggered by others opinion.

That said: In any community there should be room for pure happyness and satisfaction and for frustration and concerns (if not proposed in a trolling manner). No side should be made silenced just because the other side might feel annyoed or uncomfortable. Which is why I would never qupte anyone who is 100% happy with the pack and ask: "You are truely happy with another sheep?! How can you not see we already paid for sheeps three times in a row!"

I really do not appreciate trying to frame me as someone who is trying to shut down constructive criticism. I am not. It is the comments like "anyone would really pay for these flop animals?", "The Saki is not even sure to have sexual dimorphism, lol flop pack", "The Coyote is an insult to the community" (no it is not, it is just an animal that you do not like, saying it while cheering on the Ocelot while its like out 16th cat is especially hypocritical to me). This is not a constructive criticism to me.

 

[Swjosdotschka]

"The Coyote is an insult to the community" (no it is not, it is just an animal that you do not like, saying it while cheering on the Ocelot while its like out 16th cat is especially hypocritical to me). This is not a constructive criticism to me.

Since that is something I said, let me remind anyone reading this of the context: It was said because excluding the Coati (highly requested) and slapping in the Coyote (not highly requested) is pretty tone deaf to what the majority of the community asked for. I actually would not mind a coyote in a vacuum, IF done propperly.

And speaking of coyote:

Here is why I constantly mentioning sound work:

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNV-twEcoD4
(Headphone users: Caution, please).

Do I think the extra work that is in my opinion needed to deliver a quality animal was done? Nope.

And regarding the Saki and sexual demorphism: With Sifakas using animations they could not really do IRL, a Malayan Tapir that has not looked like one FOR YEARS and neighing donkeys, I absolutely get why people are wary of assuming the sexual morphism was done correct when they see a screenshot of two male-looking Sakis next to each others.

 

[FoxyDee]

Anyways, here is a new screenshot of the Coyote:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1909909197002547480

Source: https://twitter.com/planetzoogame/status/1909909197002547480?s=46&t=I6QzgwjGXK4AUS7nmNZtTA

 

[Mjmannella]

Is it weird that as a North American, I very much never considered coyotes to be an icon of my continent? I always just thought of them as being there and around, but not an animal that makes North America stand out in biodiversity. I hold that position more-so to animals like moose, alligators, and even turkeys.

 

[FoxyDee]

And regarding the Saki and sexual demorphism: With Sifakas using animations they could not really do IRL, a Malayan Tapir that has not looked like one FOR YEARS and neighing donkeys, I absolutely get why people are wary of assuming the sexual morphism was done correct when they see a screenshot of two male-looking Sakis next to each others.

Worry if you must. All I am saiying is that we should maybe wait and see if it is truly true BEFORE calling it a slop work based on an assumption.
As if it could not be a screenshot of two males? It would not be the first time when Frontier showed only one sex of the animal in the initial screenshot.

 

[Swjosdotschka]

Worry if you must. All I am saiying is that we should maybe wait and see if it is truly true BEFORE calling it a slop work based on an assumption.
As if it could not be a screenshot of two males? It would not be the first time when Frontier showed only one sex of the animal in the initial screenshot.

WARY not WORRY. WARY = being careful to assume the job is done right. In this case based on a weird screenshot. No one would screen shot two male lions together, so why two male Sakis?
WARY = waiting to feel assured in if there is sexual dimorphism or not.
WORRY = "What if there is no sexual dimorphism?"

 

[Marvinb]

Also wouldnt be the first time something bad from the screenshot turned out to be true.
Still, best to wait for the actual reveal

 

[Swjosdotschka]

Is it weird that as a North American, I very much never considered coyotes to be an icon of my continent? I always just thought of them as being there and around, but not an animal that makes North America stand out in biodiversity. I hold that position more-so to animals like moose, alligators, and even turkeys.

Moose I have to chuckle about because for us europeans we think of them of scandinavian, not american.

And don't worry, I don't consider some of the animals in the europe pack as iconic, so... it tracks.

 

[Villanelle]

WARY not WORRY. WARY = being careful to assume the job is done right. In this case based on a weird screenshot. No one would screen shot two male lions together, so why two male Sakis?
WARY = waiting to feel assured in if there is sexual dimorphism or not.
WORRY = "What if there is no sexual dimorphism?"

Please can you not capitalise, it feels like shouting.

& I will manifest to my heart's content thank you very much

 

[FoxyDee]

WARY not WORRY. WARY = being careful to assume the job is done right. In this case based on a weird screenshot. No one would screen shot two male lions together, so why two male Sakis?
WARY = waiting to feel assured in if there is sexual dimorphism or not.
WORRY = "What if there is no sexual dimorphism?"

I will tell you who would. Frontier. They did that before. The point was that calling it a flop based on assumpion is just disrespectful. Surely we can agree on that? If it will turn out to be true, I will gladly join your criticism of it. Until then, it is NOT constructive.

 

[SanRazo]

But if we really base it on general audience you gotta ask why we got the Saki and not the Pippi Longstocking monkey...
Besides: People are drawn to different content creators and ZHSPlays community repplies completely different for example. Yes, we are zoo nerds here, but we should not forget that even Content Creators just attrack different groups.

Well yea I think Frontier tries to be fair and give zoo nerds a couple of slots. Like the Saki and Rhea for example. But the marketing is focused on general public icons like dogs and cats

 

[Swjosdotschka]

I will tell you who would. Frontier. They did that before. The point was that calling it a flop based on assumpion is just disrespectful. Surely we can agree on that? If it will turn out to be true, I will gladly join your criticism of it. Until then, it is NOT constructive.

Fair, then they did that before. It still is not proof to me that no mistake was done this time, because the mistakes actually add up in the last packs. That is not premature criticism, it's holding back convincement.
We can agree that stating no sexual dimorphism as fact is not constructive critizism, but accept one person I have no one ever seen it stated as fact. Including me.

If you'll concentrate on hate (vs. criticism) you'll find it. If you'll concentrate on positivity, you'll find it.

 

[Annie_konik]

The coyote is gonna bring new TNT and Anvil enrichment items to the game, that feels pretty dangerous for 10-year-olds

But Minecraft has those items and no warnings?!


(The text below is not an answer to your post, Aardvark, just a general thought.)

I'm quite surprised to read a couple of extreme reactions to this pack. It didn't feel quite controversial to me, honestly. More like a reasonable mid-tier pack. The biggest flaw is the omission of the top requested animal from the meta wishlist. It's painful, I got it, and I'm sad about it too (and about Mara!). Maybe this decision was some kind of weird mistake? Or was it harder to make a good model of it because of climbing? Or is this species unknown to the more casual PZ players? But it must be better known than the bush dogs or saki? I have a feeling we will get this animal at some point. Fingers crossed!

And yes, some animals in this DLC are very similar to what we already have (flamingo, bighorn), and in general, the pack is missing the wow factor. But, to be fair, some of our wishes were answered: we got two birds and a monkey in one pack and more SA animals in general. And I think it's not mentioned often enough: the ocelot looks awesome. I can't find a flaw in the model; perhaps it's the most realistic-looking cat in the game.

What makes me sad is that there is no indication of a free update or any new plants. Annoyingly, among the new scenery items, they listed paper flowers. Why add paper flowers but no real ones? That seems like a weird decision on their side.

 

[jcp011c]

The biggest flaw is the omission of the top requested animal from the meta wishlist. It's painful, I got it, and I'm sad about it too (and about Mara!). Maybe this decision was some kind of weird mistake?

The more I think on, the more I think the theory that they mixed up the coati and coyote seems legit.

 

[Marvinb]

Obligatory ranking after a nights sleep on the pack

1. Saki: Finally another south american monkey! Its not the one everyone wanted, but after being starved off monkeys for years, beggars cant be choosers.
Which is kinda sad for the saki, as everyone seems to like it for being a monkey rather than its own sake. Shame really, since i think sakis are a really cool species.
9/10

2. Rhea: Not much to say here. I was never really the biggest fan of the rhea, to me it was always like the blackbuck: a usefull and needed animal but super samey to similar animals we already have, so its hard for me to be overly excited about it. So it being on number 2 is probably a little forshadowing
7/10

3. Bushdog: As canines go these were pretty much the most interesting option left. Neat species but nothing i really ever cared much about or think ill use much if ever tbh.
All in all a cute little weirdo, but couldnt the cute little weirdo of the pack be the infinetly more usefull coati or mara? 5/10

4. Ocelot: Usefull animal no doubt as the niche of a smaller cat for the americas remaind unfilled untill now. But pretty much the same situation as with the rhea to be honest.
5/10

5. Flamingo: How did a color morph sneak in here? In all honesty this is probably the lamest animal addition ever as its just the great flamingo but pink. And that paired with the big lack of variety in birds in this game and the rest of the animals in this pack also not exactly reinventing the wheel, makes this pick over the spoonbill, whistling duck, southern screamer or a pelican all the more painfull. 3/10

6.&7. Coyote and Sheep: Yeah, these just aint for me. 2/10

So in conclusion, a south america revisit was my most requested theme for a long long time, but getting none of the animals i actually wanted out of such a theme (aside from saki, which is a passable alternative to howler or spidermonkey) just leaves me kinda sour and dissapointed.
So im gonna vote with my wallet here and not get the pack as a first time for me