This is probably going to be a bit of an odd question, but what I'm asking is, for the DLCS that have come in the past and lacked a particular animal(s), that you would have thought should have gotten in the pack, has that omission now been added to the game? I realize not every single animal can be added to the game and what's "missing" is going to vary from person to person, but it's just something I've thought about at times. Also of course, as the DLC has been more recent, there's less of a chance that your personally missed animal has been added in.
A note on wording - I'll use words like missing, vital, necessary, or excluded, etc and that should be taken as just my own opinion. I'm well aware that what one person considers missing may be an animal that other people don't care if it's in the game or not. That's fine. Just taking it to be that we're not being critical of other people's opinions or choices when we use those words. Everyone has a right to consider particular animals missing, or more vitally important than other animals.
To give a few examples:
The Arctic Pack - we didn't know how the packs were going to play out, what kind of content, how much, how often or anything. So it was kind of difficult to base expectations at launch. I may not be alone in thinking that this pack were some animals that just didn't make it into the base game due to time limitations, and that it was a smaller pack than we'd get in the future (little did I know!) I felt like the pack was pretty strong and despite the desire for an Arctic Fox (which is in now anyways), there wasn't a particular animal that I had felt was necessary to include that wasn't. At that time anyways, now I wished they'd included a Wolverine lol. But really, there wasn't one to include on this one.
The South American Pack - This pack was a point where we could see a pattern developing in price, general release schedules and content. The big omission here for me was the Capybara, which has now made it in the game. A Sloth would have been a personal choice but at that time I didn't consider them critical to the game. So...1 for 1 course correction.
Australia - The habitat animals here were so close to my own wants, aside from the Wombat not being included and the Cassowary being included (which was my next choice anyways). So...also 1 for 1.
Aquatic - Beyond the substitutions of the Asian Small Claw Otter for the Giant Otter, I didn't really have any missing animals on this pack. As the ASCO is now in, so that's another course correction.
South East Asia - I felt like this was the strangest roster for the game (and still is). The two things critically missing for me here were a Gibbon and the ASCO, and we've gotten them both. So that's actually good on this one, 2 for 2 additions.
Africa - I would have made this an animal pack, but as far as the four habitat animals chosen, I wouldn't have changed a thing. No nothing to correct here.
North America - Really pleased with this roster, the only main missing animal for me was the Wolverine, and would have switched out the Prairie Dog for it. So the game is still missing the "critical" animal for me.
Europe - I would rather have seen the Wild Boar instead of the Fallow Deer, but I didn't consider them critical to have in the game. Their omission wasn't enough that I would consider a "course correction" to be needed.
Wetlands -2022 was really the year that we started to get a bunch of excluded animals I felt were glaring omissions in previous pack. And different types of themes too we weren't predicting but would still formulate our opinions of the rosters after the reveals. For this particular pack I did feel like the Red River Hog was vital and should have been included instead of the Caiman. So that one's still missing.
Conservation - To no one's surprise I would have dropped the African antelope, as I would have considered the Tasmanian Devil vital instead.
Twilight - I would have considered the Maned Wolf, Crested Porcupine, and Tasmanian Devil vital additions to this theme. But that was when we were looking at a nocturnal pack. When it came down to the release and reveal to be a scenery pack, I felt that it was okay to not have all 3 in the pack. I will say...I was more forgiving on the Fox instead of Maned Wolf (which we got anyways), than the Tasmanian Devil that should have been included instead of the Skunk, as well as the omission of the Crested Porcupine. So for the scenery pack roster consideration, there's still of 2 missing.
Grasslands - obviously omissions in this pack haven't had time to be included as yet, but as far as the pack helping to fill in other missing animals, it didn't . Almost, but since I didn't consider the Emu and Maned Wolf glaring omissions at the time, not quite. For most I'm sure that those two will have helped out though. If anything, the continued exclusion of an Old World Porcupine continued to frustrate me, and I would have considered them a vital inclusion for this theme as well.
So for me, we got...the Capybara, Asian Small Clawed Otter, Siamang (Gibbon), and Wombat - a total of 4 animals "course corrected"
What's still missing that was considered a vitally missing animal would be the Wolverine, Red River Hog, Tasmanian Devil and Crested Porcupine. Only 4 and it's no surprise they make up 4 of my top 5 wants as well. And aside from the Wolverine, they're all missing out of packs that came out this past year. Still plenty of time to get them in.
So that's how it's going for me. What about other players?
A note on wording - I'll use words like missing, vital, necessary, or excluded, etc and that should be taken as just my own opinion. I'm well aware that what one person considers missing may be an animal that other people don't care if it's in the game or not. That's fine. Just taking it to be that we're not being critical of other people's opinions or choices when we use those words. Everyone has a right to consider particular animals missing, or more vitally important than other animals.
To give a few examples:
The Arctic Pack - we didn't know how the packs were going to play out, what kind of content, how much, how often or anything. So it was kind of difficult to base expectations at launch. I may not be alone in thinking that this pack were some animals that just didn't make it into the base game due to time limitations, and that it was a smaller pack than we'd get in the future (little did I know!) I felt like the pack was pretty strong and despite the desire for an Arctic Fox (which is in now anyways), there wasn't a particular animal that I had felt was necessary to include that wasn't. At that time anyways, now I wished they'd included a Wolverine lol. But really, there wasn't one to include on this one.
The South American Pack - This pack was a point where we could see a pattern developing in price, general release schedules and content. The big omission here for me was the Capybara, which has now made it in the game. A Sloth would have been a personal choice but at that time I didn't consider them critical to the game. So...1 for 1 course correction.
Australia - The habitat animals here were so close to my own wants, aside from the Wombat not being included and the Cassowary being included (which was my next choice anyways). So...also 1 for 1.
Aquatic - Beyond the substitutions of the Asian Small Claw Otter for the Giant Otter, I didn't really have any missing animals on this pack. As the ASCO is now in, so that's another course correction.
South East Asia - I felt like this was the strangest roster for the game (and still is). The two things critically missing for me here were a Gibbon and the ASCO, and we've gotten them both. So that's actually good on this one, 2 for 2 additions.
Africa - I would have made this an animal pack, but as far as the four habitat animals chosen, I wouldn't have changed a thing. No nothing to correct here.
North America - Really pleased with this roster, the only main missing animal for me was the Wolverine, and would have switched out the Prairie Dog for it. So the game is still missing the "critical" animal for me.
Europe - I would rather have seen the Wild Boar instead of the Fallow Deer, but I didn't consider them critical to have in the game. Their omission wasn't enough that I would consider a "course correction" to be needed.
Wetlands -2022 was really the year that we started to get a bunch of excluded animals I felt were glaring omissions in previous pack. And different types of themes too we weren't predicting but would still formulate our opinions of the rosters after the reveals. For this particular pack I did feel like the Red River Hog was vital and should have been included instead of the Caiman. So that one's still missing.
Conservation - To no one's surprise I would have dropped the African antelope, as I would have considered the Tasmanian Devil vital instead.
Twilight - I would have considered the Maned Wolf, Crested Porcupine, and Tasmanian Devil vital additions to this theme. But that was when we were looking at a nocturnal pack. When it came down to the release and reveal to be a scenery pack, I felt that it was okay to not have all 3 in the pack. I will say...I was more forgiving on the Fox instead of Maned Wolf (which we got anyways), than the Tasmanian Devil that should have been included instead of the Skunk, as well as the omission of the Crested Porcupine. So for the scenery pack roster consideration, there's still of 2 missing.
Grasslands - obviously omissions in this pack haven't had time to be included as yet, but as far as the pack helping to fill in other missing animals, it didn't . Almost, but since I didn't consider the Emu and Maned Wolf glaring omissions at the time, not quite. For most I'm sure that those two will have helped out though. If anything, the continued exclusion of an Old World Porcupine continued to frustrate me, and I would have considered them a vital inclusion for this theme as well.
So for me, we got...the Capybara, Asian Small Clawed Otter, Siamang (Gibbon), and Wombat - a total of 4 animals "course corrected"
What's still missing that was considered a vitally missing animal would be the Wolverine, Red River Hog, Tasmanian Devil and Crested Porcupine. Only 4 and it's no surprise they make up 4 of my top 5 wants as well. And aside from the Wolverine, they're all missing out of packs that came out this past year. Still plenty of time to get them in.
So that's how it's going for me. What about other players?
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