DLC20 Discussion (maybe, but why not?)

AndyZoos

A
NachoB said:
Yeah man but why the heck has to be an elephant (or some other boring clone like the coyote). For India for instance you have:

  • Peafowl base for pheasants
  • Crane base for cranes and storks
  • Swan base for ducks
  • Meerkat base for mongoose
  • Buffalo base for gaur
  • Gazelle / Antelopes base for blackbuck
  • Deer base for chital or barasinga or what ever indian deer you want
  • Dik dik base for muntjac
  • Big cat base for asiatic lion
  • Ocelot base for fishing cat

No one asked for a second asian elephant. No one wants that, and there are plenty of other clone options people would be happy with so why being so tone deaf with your community just for the sake of it... is annoying lol
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We're in 100% agreement here. Like I said above: I don't really want or need a new elephant. But it feels super likely that one is coming.

But even in that case, I don't think it necessarily means the pack will be bad either! If we wind up with a pack that's the honey badger, lion-tailed macaque, a new elephant species plus the blackbuck, Asiatic lion, mongoose, and a pheasant? That roster would be really strong for me still!

Heck, this is a rare instance where swapping out a small mammal (mongoose) for another ungulate (muntjac, chital) wouldn't bum me out.
 

NachoB

NachoB
AndyZoos said:
We're in 100% agreement here. Like I said above: I don't really want or need a new elephant. But it feels super likely that one is coming.

But even in that case, I don't think it necessarily means the pack will be bad either! If we wind up with a pack that's the honey badger, lion-tailed macaque, a new elephant species plus the blackbuck, Asiatic lion, mongoose, and a pheasant? That roster would be really strong for me still!

Heck, this is a rare instance where swapping out a small mammal (mongoose) for another ungulate (muntjac, chital) wouldn't bum me out.
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Yeah... i'm just counting one less spot in the roster for this one for now, but even so is one of those rare ocasions when pretty much every other choice is good because of how much india is needing in the game. And just like you this is one of those instances in which i think it will benefit greately from all the ungulates (minus the unnecesary elephant). But we could still get bad stuff like indian leopard and indian wolf tbf...
 

PlanetSoyJak

P
Have you guys forgotten about the Sri Lankan Leopard

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Marvinb

Marvinb
DarthQuell said:
Honestly, I can't see these ever coming. The leopard would be real redundant with the African subspecies, and the wolf would basically be another dhole...
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I mean i personally think the african leopard was already redundant since we already had a leopard (that one being the most zoo relevant aswell), every species of big cat plus one extra subspecies and with lion, cheetah, caracal and sand cat africa was far from lacking cats aswell.
 

PlanetSoyJak

P
Marvinb said:
I mean i personally think the african leopard was already redundant since we already had a leopard (that one being the most zoo relevant aswell), every species of big cat plus one extra subspecies and with lion, cheetah, caracal and sand cat africa was far from lacking cats aswell.
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You could argue people wanted a savannah leopard which was the case. It was also free so I don't know. Also all the savannah large cats are from release.
 

Iben

Iben
AndyZoos said:
But it feels like people are jumping to conclusions based on what they want to be true rather than what seems to be happening.
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Honestly, I think it's because there's just absolutely no room left for the benefit of doubt lately.

It's something that's been going on for a long while now and I think we hit one of our lowest lows as a community when one of the community managers had to step in because for some reason people had convinced themselves that the saki possibly wouldn't have sexual dimorphism just because the one picture we had of them were two males. This to me feels like a continuation of that sentiment.

Again, I don't really care that much about whether or not we're getting another elephant. We're 20 packs in, over 200 animals with the big majority of the heavy hitters already in the game, of course not everything is going to be everyone's cup of tea. I wouldn't put it high on my list either frankly. But it was always going to be inevitable that we'd end up here with the community being divided as much as we are when it comes to packs ( because really, I've seen just as many people being super happy with Americas as people who call it mid).

So, is it possible that we're getting another elephant? Absolutely. Are there other reasons as to why they could have included an elephant in the key-art but not putting it in the pack? For sure, plenty have been given so far. So maybe we should just wait this one out for once. It absolutely wouldn't be the first time a pattern gets broken, and it would certainly not be the first time we get upset over something we shouldn't have had.

I don't know about you, but as much as I absolutely loathe toxic positivity, maybe getting all worked up ahead of time isn't worth it either.
 

Marvinb

Marvinb
PlanetSoyJak said:
You could argue people wanted a savannah leopard which was the case. It was also free so I don't know. Also all the savannah large cats are from release.
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Yeah sure, but how much more request was something like the ocelot or serval if you really wanted a cat as the annyversary. Or nile croc for example, also something thats really missing from the african roster and the only other true crocodile is also from basegame and far from good looking.

But i dont really wanna argue about that to be honest, as that has already been done enough in the past
 

NachoB

NachoB
Marvinb said:
Yeah sure, but how much more request was something like the ocelot or serval if you really wanted a cat as the annyversary. Or nile croc for example, also something thats really missing from the african roster and the only other true crocodile is also from basegame and far from good looking.

But i dont really wanna argue about that to be honest, as that has already been done enough in the past
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Their decisitions are weird a lot of the time when it comes to picking animals. Like you said there are clearly more popular or demanded options that wouldn't require more resources than the ones they choose, yet they go out with curveballs all the time.

That said, the african leopard was requested by many of us (maybe i wasn't like super desperate for one and for sure i think other "clones" would have been a better pick for anniversary animal, but i wanted it regardless so i wasn't mad about it)
 

AndyZoos

A
NachoB said:
Yeah... i'm just counting one less spot in the roster for this one for now, but even so is one of those rare ocasions when pretty much every other choice is good because of how much india is needing in the game. And just like you this is one of those instances in which i think it will benefit greately from all the ungulates (minus the unnecesary elephant). But we could still get bad stuff like indian leopard and indian wolf tbf...
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I guess those "bad" choices are possible but I Frontier so rarely delves into pure "clone" territory that I'm less worried about those two. Especially with several of the more obvious picks you highlighted that could be in play.

Thinking on the Americas pack, even the most "same-y" species in that one serve some sort of purpose. That pack is a mix of unique species (bush dog, white-faced saki); animals that fill regional niches (greater rhea, bighorn sheep); smaller regional option (cat - ocelot); base game "remaster"/different option of sorts (flamingo). The only one I struggle to say is "unique" for one reason or another is the coyote which is another North American canid that looks a lot like the other canids... But it's also kinda inarguably fitting of the theme when you consider its range (and I also think they were wanting a second North American species that could work; and weirdly I think they maybe went with that over the NA black bear to avoid clone allegations).

I get that people might be bummed by some of those choices still. But, to me, what you're suggesting would be like Frontier putting, say, the Mexican wolf instead of the coyote in the Americas pack. Frontier isn't immune to species that are similar to one another but I think they're smart enough to offer an "upgrade" from existing models and textures if it's similar to an in-game species that justifies its inclusion...

Maybe I'm being too optimistic, though?
 

AndyZoos

A
Iben said:
Honestly, I think it's because there's just absolutely no room left for the benefit of doubt lately.

It's something that's been going on for a long while now and I think we hit one of our lowest lows as a community when one of the community managers had to step in because for some reason people had convinced themselves that the saki possibly wouldn't have sexual dimorphism just because the one picture we had of them were two males. This to me feels like a continuation of that sentiment.

Again, I don't really care that much about whether or not we're getting another elephant. We're 20 packs in, over 200 animals with the big majority of the heavy hitters already in the game, of course not everything is going to be everyone's cup of tea. I wouldn't put it high on my list either frankly. But it was always going to be inevitable that we'd end up here with the community being divided as much as we are when it comes to packs ( because really, I've seen just as many people being super happy with Americas as people who call it mid).

So, is it possible that we're getting another elephant? Absolutely. Are there other reasons as to why they could have included an elephant in the key-art but not putting it in the pack? For sure, plenty have been given so far. So maybe we should just wait this one out for once. It absolutely wouldn't be the first time a pattern gets broken, and it would certainly not be the first time we get upset over something we shouldn't have had.

I don't know about you, but as much as I absolutely loathe toxic positivity, maybe getting all worked up ahead of time isn't worth it either.
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I hear you on all fronts! And wanting to avoid toxic positivity or negativity is why I'm looking at what's directly in front of me and making assumptions based on that. Four years of key art including species that are in the pack and nothing else is enough for me to assume we're entering elephant season. I will be very happy to be wrong and just as happy to see what a 2025 elephant looks like (because, as we're talking benefit of a doubt--when Frontier adds a "similar" animal they usually do a good job of making sure it's distinguished in some way from what we have in game).

To be absolutely clear, though, I'm not at all worked up about this. And if my posts are coming off in that way then I've grossly misrepresented my feelings about all of this. :confused: I'm more perplexed by the reaction of the community than the potential content of the pack itself...
 

Iben

Iben
AndyZoos said:
To be absolutely clear, though, I'm not at all worked up about this. And if my posts are coming off in that way then I've grossly misrepresented my feelings about all of this. :confused: I'm more perplexed by the reaction of the community than the potential content of the pack itself...
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No no absolutely not, I was talking in general, not about your reaction.

AndyZoos said:
Four years of key art including species that are in the pack and nothing else is enough for me to assume we're entering elephant season.
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And whilst I would agree with that, I personally also can't ignore the evolution that I see in these animal pack key-arts where more and more clearly recognizable base game items pop up as silhouettes in them, even where they're actively mixed with new pieces ( Zookeepers with the lanterns and the rope they're on), to a point where using the zookeeper and base game animals for place making just feels like a natural evolution in that regard.

For me, that's where I want to give them the benefit of the doubt. As one swallow doesn't make summer, one flamingo doesn't mean that all packs are now going to have at least one "almost actual clone".

PS: I'm aware that the argument can be made that there's a difference in how "deceptive" it is to use scenery vs animals; but with the fact that animal packs now come with scenery I'd say it's equally deceptive to then prominently feature silhouettes of base game pieces (Zookeepers and Americas) among the DLC pieces.
 
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PlanetSoyJak

P
Iben said:
Honestly, I think it's because there's just absolutely no room left for the benefit of doubt lately.

It's something that's been going on for a long while now and I think we hit one of our lowest lows as a community when one of the community managers had to step in because for some reason people had convinced themselves that the saki possibly wouldn't have sexual dimorphism just because the one picture we had of them were two males. This to me feels like a continuation of that sentiment.

Again, I don't really care that much about whether or not we're getting another elephant. We're 20 packs in, over 200 animals with the big majority of the heavy hitters already in the game, of course not everything is going to be everyone's cup of tea. I wouldn't put it high on my list either frankly. But it was always going to be inevitable that we'd end up here with the community being divided as much as we are when it comes to packs ( because really, I've seen just as many people being super happy with Americas as people who call it mid).

So, is it possible that we're getting another elephant? Absolutely. Are there other reasons as to why they could have included an elephant in the key-art but not putting it in the pack? For sure, plenty have been given so far. So maybe we should just wait this one out for once. It absolutely wouldn't be the first time a pattern gets broken, and it would certainly not be the first time we get upset over something we shouldn't have had.

I don't know about you, but as much as I absolutely loathe toxic positivity, maybe getting all worked up ahead of time isn't worth it either.
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From what I've seen, Planet Zoo fans is literally the public relations team of the Planet Zoo team. Just because there's a skeleton crew doesn't equal show undivided support. They are a company and they are only looking in the interest of money. They see the money starting to tank? Then they have to listen.
 

DarthQuell

DarthQuell
AndyZoos said:
I hear you on all fronts! And wanting to avoid toxic positivity or negativity is why I'm looking at what's directly in front of me and making assumptions based on that. Four years of key art including species that are in the pack and nothing else is enough for me to assume we're entering elephant season. I will be very happy to be wrong and just as happy to see what a 2025 elephant looks like (because, as we're talking benefit of a doubt--when Frontier adds a "similar" animal they usually do a good job of making sure it's distinguished in some way from what we have in game).

To be absolutely clear, though, I'm not at all worked up about this. And if my posts are coming off in that way then I've grossly misrepresented my feelings about all of this. :confused: I'm more perplexed by the reaction of the community than the potential content of the pack itself...
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Yeah, and honestly, to be honest honestly, I'm honestly happy, to be honest, that we're honestly getting for DLC so late in the game, honestly.

Like, to be honest, considering how most Frontier games are, Planet Zoo has really lasted a long time. It outlived JWE 2 and nay even last until JWE 3 is hypothetically released. We've gotten most of the most requested species, and lately we've been getting birds and more primates, which I think that, despite not being the best choices, are really adding to the overall roster.

For me, that's good. I have my wants, but all in all, I'm pretty satisfied with how the game is right now
 

DarthQuell

DarthQuell
PlanetSoyJak said:
From what I've seen, Planet Zoo fans is literally the public relations team of the Planet Zoo team. Just because there's a skeleton crew doesn't equal show undivided support. They are a company and they are only looking in the interest of money. They see the money starting to tank? Then they have to listen.
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Hey. For a skeleton crew, I wouldn't say they did too bad. Barnyard was the start of that "skeleton crew" (assuming it was, of course). Overall, every pack from Barnyard to America's (well, only 3, but you get the point), it's been fairly mixed. Not too shabby.
And I'm assuming that, since this DLC has been teased so early, we're getting it this summer (correct me if I'm wrong. I didn't see the livestream). If that's the case, who's to say we won't get yet ANOTHER pack after, perhaps a total of 4 this year?
 

NachoB

NachoB
AndyZoos said:
I'm more perplexed by the reaction of the community than the potential content of the pack itself...
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Tbf is understandable for people to be upset that they are reselling the asian elephant to us as something new and at the same time taking the place of literally anything else in a paid DLC. With so many animals being constantly skipped over (tree ro, coati, secretary, ducks, pelican, popular new world monkeys, blackbuck, musk ox, etc) it does rubs me the wrong way they prioritize something that has zero demand just because they are probably working on the sequel alongside these DLCs so they have an spare new skin and model for the Asian elephant they can throw into paid content and make a few more coins in the mean time by locking it behind actually wanted animals like the honey badger and lion tailed macaque...

OK i went full on conspiranoic mode in the last bit, but the first half of my statement still stands haha
 

becks474

B
When could we expect the announcement? Personally I think it will BE announced tuesday in a week, the 10th of June and the Release will be in the 17th. At least this would fit with the old Summer dlc released within the week of midsummer.
 
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