Update 1.8 coming to Planet Zoo, 14 December 🍽️

[NZFanatic]

I understand that the Asian small clawed is more common in zoos all over the world, but I wouldn't call the Eurasian otter "very regionalised" when it's the otter that has the largest distribution area and ranges from North Africa to Skandinavia and even overlaps with the small Asian one, so it has the grassland, temperate, tropical, taiga and tundra biomes.

In any case, I prefer to have a red deer over the otter.

Regionalised in captivity. In Europe/the EAZA there are 139 facilities holding the Eurasian otter, compared to 271 facilties in the same region holding the Asian small-clawed otter. Even in its native land the Eurasian otter isn't especially common in zoos, with most of those 139 facilities being smaller wildpark-like places.

I wouldn't call the Eurasian otter niche, but I agree the ASCO is far far more common.

Niche was meant for the giant otter - regionalised for the Eurasian otter. In effect both are the same, not representative of captive otters as a whole, unlike the ASC which has a global presence and is probably the otter most laypersons think of when they think 'otter'.

Anyway, I have no beef with the Eurasian otter on its own, it's just that it will doubtless make the ASC a lesser priority if it's included and I think Frontier should know better that the ASC is the specific otter most of us want, as opposed to just "any small river otter".

 

[markun]

We could easily get the ASCO in any one of a number of DLCs or animal packs (forests, wetlands, tropical, small animals, Asia, lots of possibilities…) They’ve given us several bears and canids for example so I don’t give up hope on this one at all.

 

[Aramar]

By the way, ASCO in Spanish means "disgust", so every time someone says it when talking about the cute little otter I can't help laughing

 

[Peythur]

I think we shouldn't be too worried about any species coming or not. If anything, the Himalayan Brown Bear - Grizzly Bear in base game showed us that they are willing to put two very similar animals in the game. Remember, the Asian Small Clawed Otter would rather be a smaller Giant Otter (similar Tropical Biome), while an Eurasian Otter will be more different in terms of habitat design. Maybe that might be the reason why they could go for an European otter species.

I am welcoming any animal. I mean, in the end even a similar subspecies that is from another region or whatever, will just add to a palette of animals to choose from when designing a zoo. Like with the bears, I rarely put both the bears in a zoo, but sometimes in an American area, sometimes in an Asian Highlands area. Same for the Tiger (One Tropical, one Taiga) or any other species. Who knows what the future will bring?

 

[biggest_dreamer]

I think it's unfair to expect otters to be held to a similar standard as bears and canids. Plenty of zoos will have multiple species of bears or canids, but only your absolute largest ones will have two different species of otter. That translates into what people expect and are okay with in a zoo game as well - a wide selection of bears and canids is perceived as arguably fine, but with otters you'd end up running into diminishing returns a whole lot faster. Frontier knows this, and they should also know that the ASCO is by far the most popular choice for a second otter. It also seems that many of its proponents are very clear that they want the ASCO specifically, not just any smaller otter. The Eurasian otter would be a huge misstep for these reasons, the likes of which we haven't seen in quite a while as far as animal choices go.

This is speculation on my part, but I also imagine that if we started off with the ASCO instead of the giant otter, there would be substantially less demand for a second otter altogether. People largely don't want a variety of otters so much as they want this specific species.

 

[markun]

Personally I do want a variety of otters. Because I’d want a Eurasian otter for a European forest zoo, for example, and an Asian small-clawed otter for an Australian city zoo, for example. I want the right animals for the right zoos rather than being happy with a single otter species for every zoo I build.

 

[Peythur]

I think it's unfair to expect otters to be held to a similar standard as bears and canids. Plenty of zoos will have multiple species of bears or canids, but only your absolute largest ones will have two different species of otter. That translates into what people expect and are okay with in a zoo game as well - a wide selection of bears and canids is perceived as arguably fine, but with otters you'd end up running into diminishing returns a whole lot faster. Frontier knows this, and they should also know that the ASCO is by far the most popular choice for a second otter. It also seems that many of its proponents are very clear that they want the ASCO specifically, not just any smaller otter. The Eurasian otter would be a huge misstep for these reasons, the likes of which we haven't seen in quite a while as far as animal choices go.

This is speculation on my part, but I also imagine that if we started off with the ASCO instead of the giant otter, there would be substantially less demand for a second otter altogether. People largely don't want a variety of otters so much as they want this specific species.

If that's what is the case, then there is not really much to say I guess. In that case, if the otter gets announced today, some people might be disappointed, but that's okay. Frontier can't keep everybody satisfied Luckily for us, the DLC pack is totally optional to buy, so if people think it's a misstep, they can decide not to buy the DLC (unless you want the otter animals, then you are stuck with it, hehe badum-tssk)

 

[Naturaroca]

By the way, ASCO in Spanish means "disgust", so every time someone says it when talking about the cute little otter I can't help laughing

me too! LOL

 

[avietar]

But 'animal drinking from a creek' could be anything, like a deer. I don't read otter into it al all.

 

[Doran]

Leak:

 

[SibCDC]

I'm a bit late to the after(stream)party, but only because I was so excited about the whole thing. I just want to say what an amazing story that was. It was the perfect nod to European fairy tales such as Tijl Uilenspiegel, Reynard the Fox, but especially the Bremen Musicians. I know a lot has improved in terms of communication about upcoming features and DLCs over the past few months, but please Frontier do not keep us waiting for months to then drop a bomb shell like that on us! Imagine the hype if we'd gotten that story like a month earlier! I'm afraid now it'll just be a week of hype, the DLC will release and then everything will die down again. Nonetheless, I am very happy with a Europe DLC and even happier that I was pretty much spot on with my prediction two months ago.

Since everyone else is giving their thoughts on a possible animal roster, I might as well share my thoughts to. Credits go to @GiornoPizza for finding some nice little connections between the instruments and the animals:
[Lynx] brand trumpet
Alfred [Badger] inventor of flute
[Otter] brand drums
[Chamois] leather is used for violins

Personally I think we're going to get an Ibex instead of a Chamois simply because it is more iconic and it recalls the classic Zoo Tycoon nostalgia. But regardless of what we'll get, I'm just so excited to finally see Europe getting some love.

 

[avietar]

Leak:
View attachment 279019

What's that supposed to be? A hunting visor/vision thingy?

 

[Hinvolur]

I'm a bit late to the after(stream)party, but only because I was so excited about the whole thing. I just want to say what an amazing story that was. It was the perfect nod to European fairy tales such as Tijl Uilenspiegel, Reynard the Fox, but especially the Bremen Musicians. I know a lot has improved in terms of communication about upcoming features and DLCs over the past few months, but please Frontier do not keep us waiting for months to then drop a bomb shell like that on us! Imagine the hype if we'd gotten that story like a month earlier! I'm afraid now it'll just be a week of hype, the DLC will release and then everything will die down again. Nonetheless, I am very happy with a Europe DLC and even happier that I was pretty much spot on with my prediction two months ago.

Since everyone else is giving their thoughts on a possible animal roster, I might as well share my thoughts to. Credits go to @GiornoPizza for finding some nice little connections between the instruments and the animals:
[Lynx] brand trumpet
Alfred [Badger] inventor of flute
[Otter] brand drums
[Chamois] leather is used for violins

Personally I think we're going to get an Ibex instead of a Chamois simply because it is more iconic and it recalls the classic Zoo Tycoon nostalgia. But regardless of what we'll get, I'm just so excited to finally see Europe getting some love.

There's also a brand of drum called 'Stagg'...

 

[LN]

Just adding something to the speculation:

 

[Doran]

They mentioned it in the stream yesterday, the other shops will come at a later date!

Also aardvark (not counting badger) will be the only one animal to get burrowing behaviour this update. Other species down in the line.

 

[yoav_r]

I think it's unfair to expect otters to be held to a similar standard as bears and canids. Plenty of zoos will have multiple species of bears or canids, but only your absolute largest ones will have two different species of otter. That translates into what people expect and are okay with in a zoo game as well - a wide selection of bears and canids is perceived as arguably fine, but with otters you'd end up running into diminishing returns a whole lot faster. Frontier knows this, and they should also know that the ASCO is by far the most popular choice for a second otter. It also seems that many of its proponents are very clear that they want the ASCO specifically, not just any smaller otter. The Eurasian otter would be a huge misstep for these reasons, the likes of which we haven't seen in quite a while as far as animal choices go.

This is speculation on my part, but I also imagine that if we started off with the ASCO instead of the giant otter, there would be substantially less demand for a second otter altogether. People largely don't want a variety of otters so much as they want this specific species.

Disagree. PZ tends to go for two variants of every species, one common and one rare. Having two otters in the roster doesn't mean having two otters in every zoo.

 

[Peythur]

So my speculation for the animal DLC, for the reupload of the stream has subtitles (yay) so I could dig deeper in the fairytale

Lumi, the feline with a trumpet = (Eurasian) Lynx
perched on a mossy tree trunk, dark slender body and big expressive eyes = At first, when I read 'perched' I was like GASP Only birds do perch! But then I learned that my English knowledge was lacking, cuz I thought it was just for birds, but it is also just sitting on something high/narrow. So I guess it's the Fire salamander, who is very small, so the tree trunk might be very high for him haha. Also the addition of moss (so specific), makes me confirm it more, since fire salamanders are often found around mossy treetrunks
(Wikipedia: Fire salamanders live in central Europe forests and are more common in hilly areas. They prefer deciduous forests since they like to hide in fallen leaves and around mossy tree trunks.)
An animal at a grass clearing, with soft brown fur drinking from a stream, playing drums = a deer species. I think it's a deer over the otter, because of the grass clearing and it's drinking, not swimming. Also, there are hand drums that are made of deer-hide (google it, mostly used for shamanic rituals)
Small sturdy animal, appears out of nowhere with flute = Badger, quite obviously since the inventor of the flute (named here couple of times already) and the sudden appearance might hint to the burrow behaviour?
Mountain animal with booming voice, hooves and a violin = Ibex, quite obviousaly, though I'm interested what the booming voice has to do with it? Yodeling?

 

[Cynogale bennettii II]

I guess another animal that could be drinking from a stream in a grassy clearing, has soft brown fur and is playing the drums is the brown hare. They definitely have soft fur, brown is literally in their name and, if looking for a connection to the instrument, there is a Scottish drummer called Brendan O'Hare. They also have a strong connection to fairy tales and folklore across Europe.

 

[Peythur]

I guess another animal that could be drinking from a stream in a grassy clearing, has soft brown fur and is playing the drums is the brown hare. They definitely have soft fur, brown is literally in their name and, if looking for a connection to the instrument, there is a Scottish drummer called Brendan O'Hare. They also have a strong connection to fairy tales and folklore across Europe.

Ooh good one! Hares do live in grassy clearings and they are known for thumping, kind of like drumming on the ground! And I guess they have softer fur than the deer species.

They are only hold captive in 3 zoo's though haha and would be a surprising animal that rarely anyone expected First Leporidae animal incoming?
(source: https://zooinstitutes.com/animals/european-brown-hare-3208/)

 

[Michael77]

I hoped for a bird DLC, but I think we will get an Europe DLC with the following animals: the Lynx, the Stag, the Badger (is using burrows), the Fox (is using burrows), the Rabbit (is using burrows) and the Wild boar. Maybe we will additionally get a white stork (this would a be a surprise and needs special habitats). As the vivarien animal it would be a Fire salamander or a Tree frog. Everything is speculation, but all the times were we've got a DLC the free of charge update exists of something which was neccessary for DLC. I'm happy that the game is still featured with updates and so I'm sure that birds as weel as Aquariens will come one day. Jurrasic World 2 shows, that flying animals are possible.