Honestly, do you have a patreon or paypal or something like that? I'd love to at least spend you a coffee! I have no doubt that it is because of the meta-wishlist and your work that we get more and more animals that we really want. Your time and effort is so important for the community and reading that you indeed don't want to start over from scratch because we would lose important data (e.g. higher numbre of players participating) is really relieving.
So, if there is any other way to thank you than to just shower you with praise, please let us know!
Thank you so much! I'm good with doing this for free, I do it for fun after all! I just couldn't stand the hundreds of random invidual wishlists threads created since the game launched. I bet it was really hard for the devs to keep track of every list (if they ever tried) and it just felt frustrating to see all the fruitless enthusiasm showed by people who posted their wishlists.
I figured why not ask, and randomgoat can decide what they want to do.
I'm not sure if a new list will be created at all, due to all the data that's already gone into this list. I was one of the first people to submit a list back in the day, and a lot of time has passed since then. So if there isn't gonna be another list (which I think makes total sense) then there needs to be a way to update the old votes. There could be simple rules for this to make things easier. For instance: a vote list must be at least 4 months old if you want to change your vote. Something like that.
I know, I've been checking the first lists and many people voted for 3,4 or up to 5 animals who then made it to the NA pack. Yes, it's been a long time and I understand that you'd want to replace the votes that already made it to PZ. But changing lists/votes now would be too much extra work as, even though you are all trustful people, it would be mandatory for me to check each and every individual list to see if people post more animals than they should or they repeat some of their choices (even if not on purpose). Also, there's the argument that people who voted for NA animals and got them added in the DLC were already lucky enough to get those animals that allowing them 'extra' votes could be seen as unfair. Some people like Swjos (just now), Aramar, yoav and so on have also raised some concerns about how appropiate or cost-effective would be to allow re-voting or make a new list.
Starting a new meta-wishlist thread is still on the cards, but the option to allow 'X' number of additional votes to everyone is getting more likely at this point. Whatever it is, we'll have to wait and see at least until the next DLC is announced. Next DLC can be key to determine whether I accept aviary animals from now on and the value of this 'X' additional animals I'd let everyone vote for.
What would also be important is, that you can not replace animals from your list that were added with a DLC. It would mess up with the reliability of the data as it would result in a lot of "second choices" one would normally not choose as important for the game.
I disagree here. The main point of updating the list is to replace those animals added in the North America pack or the lemur in the anniversary. The people who voted after those animals were released aren't playing on the same conditions that the people who voted before and that's unfair.
I disagree here. The main point of updating the list is to replace those animals added in the North America pack or the lemur in the anniversary. The people who voted after those animals were released aren't playing on the same conditions that the people who voted before and that's unfair.
I totally understand your POV and I even share it to some degree. But the other argument is also valid in my eyes. Those 'checked' votes to animals that were added in DLCs kinda served their purpose - they (supposedly) made PZ devs consider adding them - they were added. Imagine someone whose list contains 5 animals from the NA DLC and 3 animals from the next (Xmas?) DLC. If this person is allowed to re-vote 8 animals, they'd get to vote 28 animals while others might remain with just 20.
I really see both sides of the story, imo both options have advantages and downsides and it's hard to reach a consensus. The thing is that one option takes much more work than the other D:
The top 30 general list is the best idea ever. Thank you man! You are the best
I was just thinking about antelopes in general and summing them up might also give a nice number. Not sure if you forgot about them or the sum number is really not that big
Thanks nutrit!
The thing is, how do you define 'antelope'? That's the problem when grouping animals
I, for instance, would never ever consider the saiga in the same 'group' as an addax. They're both so unique and so taxonomically distant (just share Bovidae family) that I would never mix them. This could apply to some others like the klipsringer, the nilgai and so on.
I totally understand your POV and I even share it to some degree. But the other argument is also valid in my eyes. Those 'checked' votes to animals that were added in DLCs kinda served their purpose - they (supposedly) made PZ devs consider adding them - they were added. Imagine someone whose list contains 5 animals from the NA DLC and 3 animals from the next (Xmas?) DLC. If this person is allowed to re-vote 8 animals, they'd get to vote 28 animals while others might remain with just 20.
I really see both sides of the story, imo both options have advantages and downsides and it's hard to reach a consensus. The thins is that one option takes much more work than the other D:
I understand it's difficult and I would even say it is impossible to reach a consensus. You can't know if the lists of the new users are their first option or if their lists would have been different if the North America pack didn't exist. The only way to be fair is that all lists are based on the same amount of animals available in the game. New users don't need to consider some animals because they are already in the game, but they weren't when the old users made their lists. I guess the best way is to allow old users change their old lists after one or two new DLCs are released, so that all lists are based on the same amount of animals.
I understand it's difficult and I would even say it is impossible to reach a consensus. You can't know if the lists of the new users are their first option or if their lists would have been different if the North America pack didn't exist. The only way to be fair is that all lists are based on the same amount of animals available in the game. New users don't need to consider some animals because they are already in the game, but they weren't when the old users made their lists. I guess the best way is to allow old users change their old lists after one or two new DLCs are released, so that all lists are based on the same amount of animals.
A minor request here, but can you not cross out the names under the "animals added in DLC" section... not only is it a bit redundant, but it makes it hard to read the list.
After roughly half a year, and following the requests made by numerous forum users, I'm setting up this thread in order to start another 'Essential animals meta-wishlist' where I record users' animals wishlists and put them all together on a meta-wishlist. Given that we've gotten 3 DLCs since I started the previous thread; this time around I ask you all to please post a list of just 20 habitat animals.
The more people participating, the bigger the sample size will be so better conclusions can be drawn. I’m writting down every user who posts their list in order to avoid having repetitions. I intend to keep this updated as much as I can. Last update: 10th November, 2021
The spirit and basic rules of the thread will be similar to those of the first one. Which means:
For the sake of keeping the same wishlist structure, I ask you to post your 20 essential habitat animals that you’d like to see in the game. Lists with anything above 20 animals will be discarded.
Exhibit animals will be omitted from the main meta-wishlist. Exhibit animals include arthropods, amphibians, small reptiles (< iguanas), small fish and mouse-size mammals.
Flying birds and bats usually housed in aviaries will be omitted from the main meta-wishlist. Flying aviary birds include birds of prey, parrots, Columbiformes (pigeons), Passeriformes (small birds), Charadriiformes (gulls) and so on. Mainly ground-dwelling or semi-aquatic birds (mainly Waterfowl, Galliformes, Ratites, Pelecaniformes, Penguins, etc.) will be added to the list.
Extinct species will not be considered.
As a general rule of thumb, animal species is the preferred category for animal submissions. Subspecies from already in-game animals are also accepted. Subspecies from animals that are not in-game will automatically be allocated to the superior species category. Specific domestic animals breeds are also accepted.
To simplify data collection, those answers that include several species in one slot (eg.: 1. Any species of sloth) will be automatically treated as a single animal and added to the most requested species inside that generic animal group (eg. in this case: Brown-Throated Three-Toed Sloth). This obviously leads to an underestimation of the total key requested animals.
As you can see, a total of 465 animals have been considered 'essential' by at least one forum user.
TL;DR: Post your 20 essential habitat animals wishlist here. I will record each wishlist and add it to the Meta-list. Aviary and exhibit animals won’t be taken into consideration.
A minor request here, but can you not cross out the names under the "animals added in DLC" section... not only is it a bit redundant, but it makes it hard to read the list.
I have pet rats so I think they’re just the perfect animal. A mix between a panda and a rat that you can hold like a little baby? Come on! Lol
The Smithsonian National Zoo and the Bronx Zoo has them, so I know they can be kept in zoos. They’re about the size of meerkats and prairie dogs, and arboreal like the binturongs, so I think it’s feasible to have them as habitat animals.
Hehe, this is why grouping can be a bit of a mess because it's ultimatley subjective.
Would everyone consider howler, spider and squirrel monkeys in the same 'new world monkey' category? I mean, they are new world monkeys, but they're very different from each other.
Would you include the walrus along with the other pinnipeds?
Would you put all the caprids together, including muskox and takin?
Lemurs, rodent (not capybara), tortoises, crocodilians, bears (already in) and adding marmosets to tamarin are reasonable to me.
Hehe, this is why grouping can be a bit of a mess because it's ultimatley subjective.
Would everyone consider howler, spider and squirrel monkeys in the same 'new world monkey' category? I mean, they are new world monkeys, but they're very different from each other.
Would you include the walrus along with the other pinnipeds?
Would you put all the caprids together, including muskox and takin?
The reason I suggested monkey categories is because when combined the monkeys rank much higher, and the game lacks in primates. It's just that the votes are spread between more candidates than every other category.
And you are correct about the walrus, I havea suggestion for better categories than pinnipeds:
Walrus
Fur seals and sea lions (Otariidae)
True seals (Phocidae)
This way the taxonomical split is along the morphological split.
After skimming over the meta-wishlist, I have to point out that "sulcata tortoise" is just another name for the African spurred tortoise, which would bump it up to 180th place with 4 votes in total, I think.
After skimming over the meta-wishlist, I have to point out that "sulcata tortoise" is just another name for the African spurred tortoise, which would bump it up to 180th place with 4 votes in total, I think.
1. Goats
2. domesticated sheep
3. domesticated bovines
4. guinea pigs
5. bunnys
6. Horses and Ponys
7.Donkeys
8. Walrus
9. Sloth
10. Wolverine
11. Deer
12.Manatee
13.Emu
14.Maned Wolf
15.wild bovines
16. bears
17. big cats
18. small cats
19. can I just say "more subspecies" here? personally, i would enjoy having 20 different kinds of lions (for example) that all look basically the same. Especially if some would be "extremely rare" to find, and can breed with each other but those lions become "wothless" and can't be released, only traded. But i feel like this might be niche opinion.
The reason I suggested monkey categories is because when combined the monkeys rank much higher, and the game lacks in primates. It's just that the votes are spread between more candidates than every other category.
And you are correct about the walrus, I havea suggestion for better categories than pinnipeds:
Walrus
Fur seals and sea lions (Otariidae)
True seals (Phocidae)
This way the taxonomical split is along the morphological split.
