Analyzing required animals by Taxonomical group

[TheHippoGirl]

Canines: We don't need any more canines. If the game lifespan was unlimited, I would not say no to the bat-eared fox or raccoon dog but with only a few DLCs left, I prefer to get other animals.

Apes: It would be fine to get another gibbon but not essential. My preference would be northern white-cheeked gibbon.

Suids: The red river hog is essential to me. Other than that, I'm fine, even though the inclusion of the collared peccary would not be bad. Not really interested by the wild boar.

Mongooses: I think we need another mongoose ! Big personal preference for the banded mongoose but yellow or dwarf would be good choices as well.

 

[jcp011c]

Discussion #6: Canines, Apes, Suides, mongooses

Canids are my favorite group of the entire animal kingdom. I want as many as possible, and 2 are in my top 10 mammal wants. But from the standpoint of having only a handful of packs left, those spots should not be taken up by additional canids. If frontier wanted to put in a jackal or the bat eared fox though, I personally wouldn't complain. But none additional needed.

Apes - At this point another Gibbon will be great, and we'll probably get one, but I don't honestly think it's needed. Highly wanted and maybe a second tier of necessity, and I absolutely wouldn't begrudge a spot going to a second gibbon, but if we didn't get one I wouldn't feel the lack either.

Suides - Yes, a third "piggy" is needed. Personal skew to the Red River Hog, but the Wild Boar gives us another European animal, and a Peccary would give us something from the Americas. Even though the RRH seems to be favored over the other two, and by me as well in fact, it's actually the choice that would give us more of what we've already got. Still want them though, but to answer the question - a third piggy is necessary, perhaps even a fourth.

Mongooses - I'm not against them, but I also don't feel like they're necessary. The Meerkat far and away is the most represented of this family, and their absence for the first year and a half was deeply felt, but once we got them, I don't see a lot of support for another mongoose. Maybe if we actually did end up getting full 2024 content sure, but I'm thinking that may not be likely.

So out of these groups, really only a third representative of the Suides.

 

[YesIndeed]

So my thoughts.

Canines
Mabey a bush dog or tanuki I do really like both them. But at the same time I would be totally fine if we got no more.

Apes
One more gibbon be nice. I personally like the white cheeked over the lar but either is fine. But nice is all they are, their not really necessary when monkeys are a much higher primate priority. And if we only get let's say 4 more primates, I don't want one to be a gibbon.

Mongooses
Don't really want more mongooses. I'm not sure if the fossa counts but mongooses are it's closed relatives and I assume we're not gonna have a solo fossa talk. So I just wanted say here that fossa is the best and it should get in.

Suids or pigs
Wild boar - last animal I really want for Europe aside from Wolverine (which is from multiple continents) and Barbary macaque (which only kinda count). It would really complete the continent.
Peccary - adds something new and different to the americas. Would also be a really good base pig for mods.
Red River Hog - I don't really want, not because it's bad inclusion but because having it could mean we don't get other pig species I want more.
Vietnamese pot bellied pig - sorry but I had too mention this. These guys are amazing and a farm style domestic animal that still feels sorta exotic. Would go great in an agriculture pack with the Highland Cattle and Shetlands pony.

 

[nutrit]

Canines: I don’t fell like any other canine is essential although if we would get Bat eared fox, Black backed jackal and Bush dog I would be really happy become each and every one of them is really special and would enrich the game. Bat eared fox is mostly insectivorous which makes him great companion for the mixed habitats with suids and rodents. Black backed jackal represents jackals that are now absent from the game and their behavior is extremely interesting. Bush dog is getting more and more popular in zoos and their looks are just striking plus SA representation.

Apes: Lar gibbon as the most popular in zoos and distinctive looking species would benefit from brachiation. I am super happy we’ve got siamang but lar gibbon is essential too. Plus they have like 20 different colormorphs.

Suids: The red river hog is ultra essential to me. The most distinctive looking from all the other suids. Very colorful, playful, common in zoos, often presented on Facebook pages of zoo’s and great for the mixed exibits. I belive that from all the species I desire this one has the biggest chances to make into the game. Also any peccary species would be great because they are always present in low budget zoo’s along with Coati, Mara and Rhea so I may consider it essential.

Mongooses: It would be great to have more species for the diversity reasons but don’t consider it essential.

 

[HunterIsCookie]

Discussion #6: Canines, Apes, Suides, mongooses

What we have:

Canines:

1. African wild dog
2. Arctic fox
3. Arctic wolf
4. Dhole
5. Dingo
6. Fennec fox
7. Maned wolf
8. Red fox
9. Timber wolf

Apes

• Bornean orangutan
• Bonobo
• Siamang
• Western chimpanzee
• Western lowland gorilla

Suids

• Common warthog
• North sulawesi babirusa

Mongooses:

• Meerkat

Explain what you think is still needed from the aforementioned groups, and give your reasoning as to why. Take into account that slots in the roster are not unlimited, so try to keep the discussion realistic.

Mongooses:
I personally find the Banded Mongoose to be the most iconic (it was the first species I was introduced to when I was little), and it would be pretty neat to have. But in no way would I consider it, or another species, necessary for the game

Apes:
We're pretty much done for great apes I think, only options left are 2 species of Orangutan and 1 species of Gorilla. In terms of gibbons though, I'd honestly take two more, and I think at least 1 is necessary. The Siamang kinda sticks out like a sore thumb with the other gibbon species in my eyes, so I think it's essential to have probably the Lar Gibbon (since it's still highest on the wishlist) to add a more "normal"-looking gibbon species.

Suids (and family):
This is definitely the group with the most "essential" species left in my eyes. The group is so lacking compared to the variety out there, similar to deer, but this time I have narrowed it down to three species that I think should all be in the game by the end of support.
1. Wild Boar - It probably wouldn't have made the essential list if it weren't for the number of classic European fauna in the game now. The boar adds probably the most classic depiction that comes to mind when you think of wild pigs, and would be great for getting close to "finishing" Europe in my eyes.
2. Red River Hog - I personally have this one as my highest priority cus it's my favourite pig, but y'all seem to really want it too so booyah. African rainforests still have so many species it would be fantastic to get, but if we could just get this I one I be ecstatic.
3. Collared Peccary - Not a pig, but I feel it's safer to just get it dealt with now than later. Adds much needed variety to NA deserts as well as South America on the whole. Considering it's technically not a pig, it also represents a new animal group for the game.

Canines:
After we got the Maned Wolf in the last dlc, I don't think there are any canines that we need, per se. However I would still be fine with more canines so long as they're not taking up a space that could've gone to a more interesting carnivoran (like the wolverine or something). My highest species would probably be the Japanese Raccoon Dog and Black-Backed Jackal, but that's just a personal preference type of thing. I would probably take the Coyote if there's absolutely no better alternatives or it fits the theme really well, I don't dislike the species, it's just that it's not that important to me in the slightest outside of NA deserts. Bush Dogs and Bat-Eared Foxes are also neat, but not at all needed.

Edit: I accidentally pressed send before I could write up the canines, nothing else got changed if that's important or somethin

 

[yoav_r]

and I assume we're not gonna have a solo fossa talk

I do have a slated Viverroid (minus mongooses and hyenas) talk which would include the fossa among others.

 

[KönigDerKaffeebohnen]

Sounds like im gonna have some hot takes.

Apes:
Nothing essential left, buuuuut a second gibbon while i dont want one would be one of the better choice for a "clone" animal.
If i had the choice between the lar gibbon and the blue wilderbeast, it isnt really a headscratcher that id prefer more primates

Mongooses:
While i agree that they wouldnt be essential i do think that getting a second one would be neat, id defenetly take it much rather then most other carnivora lol.
For species the 3 common ones, dwarf mongoose, banded mongose and yellow mongoose, all have their own pros and cons but overall all are equally good options with the real deciding factor being the subjective enjoyment of which one looks the coolest/cutest/pretiest/insert positive adjektive to anybody. For me thats the banded mongoose and i actually have build a fake habitat for them in the past shortly before the NA pack, where the prariedogs found there home.

Suids:
Well hot take number 1.
Red River Hog propaply is the most overrated animal in this community.
Like i get it, its red common and pretty, its a good inclusion but its no where Nessecary.
But you know whos nessecary?
Who covers biomes, body types and continents that have no pigs and are quite iconic in their own right?
Yk who i mean, its obvious, collared peccary and wild boar, arguably the last nessecary animals to finish of north america and europe, atleast id be satisfied with their rosters if we got them.
Both are also more common, look equally as unique as handsdown all 3 + the 2 piggies in the game look very distinct and unique from each other, fill in more underrepresented areas then africa, cover more biomes with the peccary covering every biome of the red river hog and then some.
I obviously also would like to have all 3, but if we are talking about essentials, 2 of them are while the red river hog really is the least needed of the 3 by a large margin.

Edit: Completly forgot but obviously a domestic pig would be essential with either the kuneku or vitnamese pot belly being my preffered choice.

Canids:
Hot take number 2:
I have no interest in the racoond dog, bush dog or any other dog that cant just be the clone of the pack.
I agree that we propaply will see more canines and if we do id rather get something to fill out underrepresented areas while also being lower on the needed effort.
Long story short, if i had to choose one more canine for the game, id want the corsac fox.
The corsac fox has 3 main advantages.
1. It should be able to be made rather easily from the arctic and/or red fox while still looking quite distinct and recogniseable.

2. They are quite common in Zoos with 61 EAZA holdings.

3. They have a massive range and inhabit the grasslands and semi deserts of central asia.
They would fit very well in themed areas with the bactrian camel and prez wild horse, giving the asian steppes that little extra bit of representation.

 

[BananaLeech]

Dang I can't believe I forgot the corsac fox as well:/

 

[nutrit]

Sounds like im gonna have some hot takes.

Apes:
Nothing essential left, buuuuut a second gibbon while i dont want one would be one of the better choice for a "clone" animal.
If i had the choice between the lar gibbon and the blue wilderbeast, it isnt really a headscratcher that id prefer more primates

Mongooses:
While i agree that they wouldnt be essential i do think that getting a second one would be neat, id defenetly take it much rather then most other carnivora lol.
For species the 3 common ones, dwarf mongoose, banded mongose and yellow mongoose, all have their own pros and cons but overall all are equally good options with the real deciding factor being the subjective enjoyment of which one looks the coolest/cutest/pretiest/insert positive adjektive to anybody. For me thats the banded mongoose and i actually have build a fake habitat for them in the past shortly before the NA pack, where the prariedogs found there home.

Suids:
Well hot take number 1.
Red River Hog propaply is the most overrated animal in this community.
Like i get it, its red common and pretty, its a good inclusion but its no where Nessecary.
But you know whos nessecary?
Who covers biomes, body types and continents that have no pigs and are quite iconic in their own right?
Yk who i mean, its obvious, collared peccary and wild boar, arguably the last nessecary animals to finish of north america and europe, atleast id be satisfied with their rosters if we got them.
Both are also more common, look equally as unique as handsdown all 3 + the 2 piggies in the game look very distinct and unique from each other, fill in more underrepresented areas then africa, cover more biomes with the peccary covering every biome of the red river hog and then some.
I obviously also would like to have all 3, but if we are talking about essentials, 2 of them are while the red river hog really is the least needed of the 3 by a large margin.

Canids:
Hot take number 2:
I have no interest in the racoond dog, bush dog or any other dog that cant just be the clone of the pack.
I agree that we propaply will see more canines and if we do id rather get something to fill out underrepresented areas while also being lower on the needed effort.
Long story short, if i had to choose one more canine for the game, id want the corsac fox.
The corsac fox has 3 main advantages.
1. It should be able to be made rather easily from the arctic and/or red fox while still looking quite distinct and recogniseable.
View attachment 345189

2. They are quite common in Zoos with 61 EAZA holdings.

3. They have a massive range and inhabit the grasslands and semi deserts of central asia.
They would fit very well in themed areas with the bactrian camel and prez wild horse, giving the asian steppes that little extra bit of representation.
View attachment 345190

Everybody’s entitled to have their own opinion but please Red River hog overrated and no where necessary? Give me a break. Those opinions here should also be at least a little bit realistic and red river hog is a staple zoo species that owns nr 4 most desired animals on the wishlist and we just can’t ignore this fact.

I understand that my love for African wild donkey or Chinese deer that many people find useless may seem overrated but I think that your opinion here is just unjustified and hurtful for this specific species.

I respect your opinion but don’t agree with it at the smallest point.

 

[jcp011c]

Everybody’s entitled to have their own opinion but please Red River hog overrated and no where necessary? Give me a break. Those opinions here should also be at least a little bit realistic and red river hog is a staple zoo species that owns nr 4 most desired animals on the wishlist and we just can’t ignore this fact.

I understand that my love for African wild donkey or Chinese deer that many people find useless may seem overrated but I think that your opinion here is just unjustified and hurtful for this specific species.

I respect your opinion but don’t agree with it at the smallest point.

I also agree that the Red River Hog being the one I'd like to see most, even though it doesn't give us any new biome or continent representation for a suid already in the game. @KönigDerKaffeebohnen is also absolutely right in that, the Wild Boar and a Peccary would give us additional range and biomes for a suid. Like many though, even knowing that, I'd still rather have the Red River Hog. Getting all three would be great to be honest, and to me it's among the mammal families that needs more representation (along with monkeys).

Still, even with 1 more being necessary and possibly even 2 more getting us to a point where there's an adequate amount of the family, I doubt we'll get all 3. Hoping we do just get 2 at least. Not even going to try to fathom not getting another 1 because it really has to happen.

 

[KönigDerKaffeebohnen]

Everybody’s entitled to have their own opinion but please Red River hog overrated and no where necessary? Give me a break. Those opinions here should also be at least a little bit realistic and red river hog is a staple zoo species that owns nr 4 most desired animals on the wishlist and we just can’t ignore this fact.

I understand that my love for African wild donkey or Chinese deer that many people find useless may seem overrated but I think that your opinion here is just unjustified and hurtful for this specific species.

I respect your opinion but don’t agree with it at the smallest point.

The fact that its nr 4 on the meta wishlist just adds to my opinion that its overrated.
Its good dont get me wrong, easy 7/10 addition, but its not the second coming of christ as people talk about it.
If we get the hog or not wont be a big difference in the quality of the game, making them imo not essential, while there are animals that certanly have and still will with the most recent example being the emu and the red necked wallaby, but also many others like penguins, otters, the red crown crane, capybara or the fallow deer.
These animals elevated the game and other animals in a way thats special, they added completly new and unique things to the game or were major factors in making it all come together, especally for their respective habitat types or thematic areas, making the game activly worse if we wouldnt have got them.
Meanwhile the red river hog is a take it or leave it animal, if we get it neat if we dont whats the difference?
Tropical africas representation wont make or break if we get the hog or not, same for pig representation.
It is neat, but nowhere near essential for me and i dont know how that makes my opinion "unrealistic".
Do i think we will get it? Yes
But it wont be that big of a gamechanger as everybody is hyping it up to be.

 

[yoav_r]

Red River hog overrated and no where necessary?

Objectively it doesn't add much to the game. We already have a tropical african pig, the RRH is not endangered, it is not famous to general audiences, it is not from an underrepresented region and it is not that common in zoos.

Most it has going for it is its rather striking look and being common in zoos in specific countries.

Not saying it would be a bad inclusion but I don't consider it necessary in the way animals which are completely unlike anything in the game are.

 

[jcp011c]

Objectively it doesn't add much to the game. We already have a tropical african pig, the RRH is not endangered, it is not famous to general audiences, it is not from an underrepresented region and it is not that common in zoos.

Most it has going for it is its rather striking look and being common in zoos in specific countries.

Not saying it would be a bad inclusion but I don't consider it necessary in the way animals which are completely unlike anything in the game are.

Those are the very reasons I want it. It's common - and in my local zoo, always a plus for me - and looks as different from the Warthog and Babirusa than the Wild Boar and Peccary do. Again, knowing that in biomes and continents, it adds absolutely nothing new, it's still some people's first choice in the family.

 

[nutrit]

The fact that its nr 4 on the meta wishlist just adds to my opinion that its overrated.
Its good dont get me wrong, easy 7/10 addition, but its not the second coming of christ as people talk about it.
If we get the hog or not wont be a big difference in the quality of the game, making them imo not essential, while there are animals that certanly have and still will with the most recent example being the emu and the red necked wallaby, but also many others like penguins, otters, the red crown crane, capybara or the fallow deer.
These animals elevated the game and other animals in a way thats special, they added completly new and unique things to the game or were major factors in making it all come together, especally for their respective habitat types or thematic areas, making the game activly worse if we wouldnt have got them.
Meanwhile the red river hog is a take it or leave it animal, if we get it neat if we dont whats the difference?
Tropical africas representation wont make or break if we get the hog or not, same for pig representation.
It is neat, but nowhere near essential for me and i dont know how that makes my opinion "unrealistic".
Do i think we will get it? Yes
But it wont be that big of a gamechanger as everybody is hyping it up to be.

Your opinion is very personal point of view unsupported by any hard facts. Just preferences.

While you are the one that thinks that 4th unknown to wider audience fox would make huge change to a gameplay.

We live in different realities then. But I am totally ok you are living in yours since you’re entitled to.

We don’t have to agree on everything and I am still happy you’ve got your very much desired Red deer which is beautiful but useless to me.

 

[nutrit]

Objectively it doesn't add much to the game. We already have a tropical african pig, the RRH is not endangered, it is not famous to general audiences, it is not from an underrepresented region and it is not that common in zoos.

Most it has going for it is its rather striking look and being common in zoos in specific countries.

Not saying it would be a bad inclusion but I don't consider it necessary in the way animals which are completely unlike anything in the game are.

Totally don’t agree. We can say the same with big cats.
RRH would add tons to the game, it’s super popular on many facebook zoo fan pages also well known wider audiences.
Sometimes I think we live in a very tiny bubble here on this forum.
But your opinion is valid as only other. I just seem to don’t agree with it.

 

[jcp011c]

Oh I cannot wait for the feline discussion

 

[Captain Callum]

Jeez if we can't have the red river hog without a civil war , let's wait until someone suggests another tiger

 

[KönigDerKaffeebohnen]

Your opinion is very personal point of view unsupported by any hard facts. Just preferences.

While you are the one that thinks that 4th unknown to wider audience fox would make huge change to a gameplay.

We live in different realities then. But I am totally ok you are living in yours since you’re entitled to.

We don’t have to agree on everything and I am still happy you’ve got your very much desired Red deer which is beautiful but useless to me.

I dont think the fox is essential nor that my opinion is objective truth, i literally stated that the fox is the canine id most tolerate if we would get another one.
Also hard facts? What hard facts?
Just using the red deer here, its more common in zoos, was from an equally underrepresented family, from a WAY less represented region and is important for building european wild parks, it has all the numbers on its side, how is it useless?
That is just your personal opinion, if you want to rely on "hard facts" red deer > red river hog should be an easy call, just as peccary, wild boar and domestic pig > red river hog are.
All are more common, more different, more unique. And that wont change from attacking my opinion.
I explained over now 3 post while i personally think its overrated with atleast in my opinion reasonable and rather unsubjective arguments and id appreciate if we could drop it now.
Your entitled to your opinion and everybody else for theres, im happy for you if we get it but for me its not a priority by a long shot.

 

[jcp011c]

Maybe what it comes down to...is it's just that hard facts about what's more important is that someone's opinion is just as valid as another person's. Distribution/biome wise it is a fact that the RRH would not be a newly represented biome/continent for a suid species and a Wild Boar and Collard Peccary would be. But while that's a fact that doesn't necessarily make them the more important choice to everyone. Everyone's opinion of what's more important is valid, as it's inherent that it's just for that person alone.

It's a fact that my opinion that the RRH is more important than the WB or CP. Someone's opinion that the WB or CP is more important is also valid, and a fact that it's their opinion.

Hard numbers and maps of data ranges are factually proven, the idea of what's important is not.

 

[nutrit]

I dont think the fox is essential nor that my opinion is objective truth, i literally stated that the fox is the canine id most tolerate if we would get another one.
Also hard facts? What hard facts?
Just using the red deer here, its more common in zoos, was from an equally underrepresented family, from a WAY less represented region and is important for building european wild parks, it has all the numbers on its side, how is it useless?
That is just your personal opinion, if you want to rely on "hard facts" red deer > red river hog should be an easy call, just as peccary, wild boar and domestic pig > red river hog are.
All are more common, more different, more unique. And that wont change from attacking my opinion.
I explained over now 3 post while i personally think its overrated with atleast in my opinion reasonable and rather unsubjective arguments and id appreciate if we could drop it now.
Your entitled to your opinion and everybody else for theres, im happy for you if we get it but for me its not a priority by a long shot.

That’s exactly my point:

“All are more common, more different, more unique.”

Cheers mate