Extraordinary results so far. Thanks Random_goat
I would really never guessed that European Lynx would be so high on the list and also if we would add all the species of Lynx to the one vote it would get even more votes than a Meerkat. Very similar situation with Ibex if we would add Nubian, Alpine and Iberian it would end up much higher on the list. Shocking because I thought that both of those species are not so desired by the community but I was wrong.
This is an interesting observation, now I would love to think that the reason for the Iberian Lynx to be ranked so high is because being the world's most endangered cat earned their spot to be in this game. But I do not think this is the case, my reasoning is that this was one of the animals featured in the data mining that took place after the beta was released, so the players ran with it, and have been expecting the Iberian Lynx ever since. There is also the possibility that a great percentage of the players that frequently post in this forum are Europeans, and many of them want to see European species in the game, it seems to be an important issue for them. Lastly there is the Zoo Tycoon effect, that is just something I have made up, but it is the best way I can understand it. So Zoo Tycoon comes along many years ago, a game based loosely on the concept of building and managing a zoo, and it is my believe that had a lynx in it, not sure if it was the Iberian or what it was, but they did. Now many years later there is a large segment of the PZ community that have a sentiment of nostalgia for this game and feel that every animal featured there has to somehow either be part of this game or take precedent over others. Simply put if it was part of Zoo Tycoon then it needs to be part of PZ.
That makes me wonder, should we really specify species and subspecies so exactly or should we just use the types of animals like sea lion or lynx or ibex or leopard or African rhino or gibbon or beaver?
This is another great observation, I would interested to see how this list changes if presented in a different platform where most players are very familiar with RL zoos, species subspecies etc. You have a lot of knowledgeable and passionate players in this forum, but you also get your random, "I wish they just add another monkey" ok which monkey? "The game is missing a leopard" Frontier adds the Amur Leopard "Wait that leopard looks very similar to the snow leopard, a mod could have done that, it moves exactly like it, there is no new animations, there is not even a melanistic variation of it, this is not the leopard I had in mind" Not saying this is what is going to happen but it is very possible. Many times the players themselves do not even realize what they are asking for.
I will give you an example completely unrelated, one of the mods created an African Penguin species that aside from a neck glitching situation, looks exactly the part. The same mod went ahead and changed the Red Panda to what he called a Binturong and it was a disaster, honestly not sure why he would even show that. I know his standards are high, so he has to know that it looks absolutely nothing like a Binturong. Now ideally we would receive every single possible animal in this game, but most of us know that is just not possible. I want an official Frontier African Penguin and Binturong, but if I could only have one, it would definitely be the Binturong, because I know that it would be close to impossible for a mod to do them justice given the original models currently available.
An Amur Leopard can easily be created out of a Snow Leopard, the change will be miniscule, mostly coloration and minor anatomic adjustments. An Indian/African/Indochinese Leopard would be a lot more difficult to create, as not only their anatomy is completely different but also the range of movement associated with their mechanics would be night and day from anything we have in the game. In short the players will end up exactly with they want and have requested, but it will handicap the future diversity of the game. Of course I understand that many people do not see it this way, and currently do not care about it. The day official support ends and mods are the only alternative, they might change their mind, but it would be too late then.