Will the Sheltopusik's Inclusion/Exclusion Make or Break what could be Coming our Way?

[yoav_r]

So seeing a potential European pack in the near future, I wanted to discuss the important issue of the importantest represntative of the European fauna.

The Sheltopusik is the most important European animal, and it represents my childhood with its majestic look. It is very meaningful to me as my Grandma was saved by a Sheltopusik when she was a child.

And if you think it is not a must have inclusion, just look how cute it is! It's a mix between a lizard and a snake!

It would make for an amazing exhibit animal!! And if it isn't in the game it is ruined and unsuccesful!

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Hopefully the title pulled you in, and now we can get to the serious part of the post.

There's a rising trend over the forums to declare the inclusion (or ommission) of an animal from a pack (or the existance of a pack) as make it or break it events for the game.

Not only is this kind of post unproductive, it creates an imaginary 'standard' for any future pack, which than leads to backlash and dissapointment when the DLC doesn't deliver on promises that were never made in the first place.

It seems the greatest expectation is for a European pack, which may or may not come through this December, but then there's this building hype for niche animals which barely occure in Europe/are extinct in Europe, with the most notable mentions being the Saiga, Przewalski's Horse and Walrus.

And then there are those that say that European animals are collectively boring, and a European pack will "break the game", as if it's the last pack/every pack needs to appeal to all audience members.

In Summary, I think we should stop making sweeping statements about which specific decisions by Frontier will make or break the game, and focus on the more prodcutive discussion of what we'd like to see and what will improve the game.

Edit: For clarification, while the title is referencing a specific post for the purpose of parody, the post itself is meant to discuss a more general conversation which is prevalent throughout the forum in good faith, not to target the post from which the title is parodied.

 

[NZFanatic]

I know this is tongue-in-cheek, but for me it almost would!

The scheltopusik is very special to me, because it's the closest animal to an actual snake that New Zealand is allowed to have. Not even our zoos here are legally allowed to keep actual snakes, so the two major ones have scheltopusik instead. It's my absolute number one pick for a European exhibit animal.

 

[yoav_r]

I know this is tongue-in-cheek, but for me it almost would!

The scheltopusik is very special to me, because it's the closest animal to an actual snake that New Zealand is allowed to have. Not even our zoos here are legally allowed to keep actual snakes, so the two major ones have scheltopusik instead. It's my absolute number one pick for a European exhibit animal.

It is a great animal. I love them, even if I was using them to make a point.

 

[nutrit]

I live in the area where I can see their close cousins Slow worms on every day basis during the summer.
They like to catch sun at the end of the day lying on the forest road.
My leg less lizards (slow worms) are much smaller than Sheltopusik but also very cute.
Very interesting animals indeed.

 

[Aramar]

I don't like a them because I don't like snakes. Please give me a salamander, a turtle, a chameleon or even another frog instead

 

[Swjosdotschka]

Thank you for this thread @yoav_r , you made me smile.
I can't with these overdramatic threads lately

And I admit I never knew the Sheltopusik even exists.

 

[Swjosdotschka]

I know this is tongue-in-cheek, but for me it almost would!

The scheltopusik is very special to me, because it's the closest animal to an actual snake that New Zealand is allowed to have. Not even our zoos here are legally allowed to keep actual snakes, so the two major ones have scheltopusik instead. It's my absolute number one pick for a European exhibit animal.

You know, you mentioned the rules for NZ several times, but I can't stop shaking my head every time I read them. I mean, I get the reason behind it. But there are thousand of species that could be a thread to rural wildlife when escaped and with a lot of others no one ever thinks about that possibility.

Germany is starting to get extreme with other species now as well. I come back when I finally remember the name of that small deer-like species...

 

[PeppyPepp]

In general, I don't like this notion of "make or break" a game. The game is already "made", it has a solid, dedicated, and passionate player base. Planet Zoo is also a financially successful game, it has already "made it".

We will get whatever species we get, and hopefully with the consideration of the meta-wishlist, we have made Frontier's decision about the roster a little bit easier.

 

[yoav_r]

You know, you mentioned the rules for NZ several times, but I can't stop shaking my head every time I read them. I mean, I get the reason behind it. But there are thousand of species that could be a thread to rural wildlife when escaped and with a lot of others no one ever thinks about that possibility.

Germany is starting to get extreme with other species now as well. I come back when I finally remember the name of that small deer-like species...

Snakes are notorious specifically for decimating endemic birds populations on islands. Snakes on NZ could decimate the very fragile ecosystem much more easily than most other invasive species.

 

[SalamAnders]

I come back when I finally remember the name of that small deer-like species...

The muntjac. You can come back now

 

[Swjosdotschka]

The muntjac. You can come back now

THANK YOU!

@yoav_r Thanks for the explanation. But is the risk snakes could escape from a zoo really that high? I can understand they aren't allowed in private hand, though.

 

[yoav_r]

THANK YOU!

@yoav_r Thanks for the explanation. But is the risk snakes could escape from a zoo really that high? I can understand they aren't allowed in private hand, though.

The problem with small animals like snakes, rats, rabbits, toads and so on is that once a breeding specimen escaped to the wild you can never erase this population again, due to small size and quick reproduction rate. So all you need is a single pregnant female to escape to (eventually) decimating the local ecosystem.

Invasive megafauna like pigs and deers are a bit easier to control, but they still do a lot of damage.

 

[[VR] Deggial]

I don't like a them because I don't like snakes. Please give me a salamander, a turtle, a chameleon or even another frog instead

Then you will be happy to learn, that this beautiful creature isn’t a snake, but a legless lizard!
Isn’t nature awesome!?

And yeah, without it’s integration, the game will be a worthless pile of trash, I will cancel my steam account (the platform which dared to support this failed game) and burn my computer, which was cursed to run this travesty!

And also yeah, hyperbole apparently is the current way to go nowadays - be it on the internet or in real life (gosh, so much in real life!) - in order to get attention and support from others.
And I wish, people (which are basically we all) could get rid of this attitude.

(Gift gladly accepted with great thankfulness for the free lesson in a foreign language.)

 

[Aramar]

Then you will be happy to learn, that this beautiful creature isn’t a snake, but a legless lizard!
Isn’t nature awesome!?

Yes, I knew that, but since it looks like them that's why I don't like it either

 

[shirandhak]

And I which, people (which are basically we all) could get rid of this attitude.

May I make a little present in form of a "wish"?


@topic: I nealy skipped this thread unread, but because it came from yoav_r, who is normally very sensible, I decided to read it nevertheless - lucky me.
Yes, this "drama-queen"-habit of forum-thread-writers is a real pain! And because I don't like cringe, I tend to avoid threads like "Is xyz make or break the game". Who ever writes in this click-bait style doesn't seem to realize that in this particullar forum there are many people dedicated to science and prefer discussing stuff in a reasonable way in form of pros and cons.

 

[DarthQuell]

pigs

I have to disagree. They are so annoying. You know, there are literally hunting expeditions where people go up in choppers and shoot them (imagine that Jurassic World scene where Masrani and 2 ACU troops shoot the I-rex. Exactly the same)

Well, the pigs learned. They learned to hide whenever choppers would come.

I'm not making this up, either. They kill people, they're walking brutes, it's ENCOURAGED to kill them. They're spreading across NA

 

[DarthQuell]

Oh, and on subject, I'd love this guy. They remind me of the little Texas brown snakes I see in my yard all the time

 

[NZFanatic]

Invasive megafauna like pigs and deers are a bit easier to control, but they still do a lot of damage.

Pigs are actually among the worst, because they destroy local flora. NZ's invasive species problem has always been immense, hence the massive overreaction to certain species (we can't keep foxes either, as another example of a fully banned animal). The only animals allowed to be imported for the pet trade are Australian lizards but even that is going away, because irresponsible pet owners keep releasing things into the wild.

Edit: As a little anecdote about pigs - when I was at university we went on a little field trip to some DOC land to document gecko numbers, and discovered when we arrived that the whole place had been wrecked by domestic pigs. All of us were astounded, thinking the pigs must have been there for weeks, but no, it had only been two days. The neighbouring farmer was charged because he knew it was DOC land, he just thought that his pigs doing some foraging was more important than the native geckos and other animals living on the protected land (that was literally his court defence).

The pigs had uprooted young trees, flattened or dug up all the undergrowth, even overturned rocks. They'd soiled the water, too. It was a disaster. I never did find out if DOC managed to recover the land.

 

[yoav_r]

Pigs are actually among the worst, because they destroy local flora. NZ's invasive species problem has always been immense, hence the massive overreaction to certain species (we can't keep foxes either, as another example of a fully banned animal). The only animals allowed to be imported for the pet trade are Australian lizards but even that is going away, because irresponsible pet owners keep releasing things into the wild.

Edit: As a little anecdote about pigs - when I was at university we went on a little field trip to some DOC land to document gecko numbers, and discovered when we arrived that the whole place had been wrecked by domestic pigs. All of us were astounded, thinking the pigs must have been there for weeks, but no, it had only been two days. The neighbouring farmer was charged because he knew it was DOC land, he just thought that his pigs doing some foraging was more important than the native geckos and other animals living on the protected land (that was literally his court defence).

The pigs had uprooted young trees, flattened or dug up all the undergrowth, even overturned rocks. They'd soiled the water, too. It was a disaster. I never did find out if DOC managed to recover the land.

Oh yes pigs are horrible as invasive species. It's amazing how much a single large animal can destroy an ecosystem just by going on its daily activities. Here we have a big problem with the Nutria, which destroys the ecosystem of most lakes and rivers in the country.

 

[Laura_91]

I know in the UK if you trap/catch and invasive species you're not allowed to release it back into the wild, you're supposed to cull it. I dont know how many people actually do this though