Kinda torn on this one. I do think more late game mechanics / challenges would be good to keep up interest because it does get to a point where it is too easy.
I think introducing something like emergency animal dumps which you could accept or not. if you accept you get a boost to zoo rating or something but you can't sell or release the 5 animals dumped on you which all have pretty poor stats (ex pets or circus animals for example) would be a good mechanism because a) you'd be forced to redesign your zoo to accomodate them but b) they wouldn't be able to skew the market. You could even make it so you can't breed them.
I disagree that it should be made more competitive - I like management but have no real interest in competing and I don't have any issue with the fairness or otherwise of franchise. So i have no problem with other people farming for CC at 3x speed. Whatever floats your boat basically. I'd rather be challenged by the game itself. That also feels somewhat more realistic. In real life Zoos don't really compete with each other directly for customers or for animals because they usually aren't next to each other and tend to be less destination attractions themselves than theme parks (You don't go to San Diego just for the Zoo, you do go to disneyland). And since the bad old days of taking most zoo animals from the wild, the requirements for genetic diversification and maintaining healthy populations basically means reputable zoos are cooperating much more than they are competing.
I've always been against direct trading because they do present a barrier to new or casual players if you have to effectively join a discord or play with your friends to be able to get hold of animals. I wouldn't mind them raising the cap a bit though - especially for some species. it should feel like work to get a giant panda or a herd of elephants.
I do have to say though that I am not one of those players who has accumulated millions in cc. I have plenty for what I need in terms of I'm rarely unable to buy what I want because I don't have the CC but I also don't tend to sell for a profit much. Different play styles are going to produce very different outcomes so that's another reason I think it makes more sense for challenges to be game based not player based.
I think introducing something like emergency animal dumps which you could accept or not. if you accept you get a boost to zoo rating or something but you can't sell or release the 5 animals dumped on you which all have pretty poor stats (ex pets or circus animals for example) would be a good mechanism because a) you'd be forced to redesign your zoo to accomodate them but b) they wouldn't be able to skew the market. You could even make it so you can't breed them.
I disagree that it should be made more competitive - I like management but have no real interest in competing and I don't have any issue with the fairness or otherwise of franchise. So i have no problem with other people farming for CC at 3x speed. Whatever floats your boat basically. I'd rather be challenged by the game itself. That also feels somewhat more realistic. In real life Zoos don't really compete with each other directly for customers or for animals because they usually aren't next to each other and tend to be less destination attractions themselves than theme parks (You don't go to San Diego just for the Zoo, you do go to disneyland). And since the bad old days of taking most zoo animals from the wild, the requirements for genetic diversification and maintaining healthy populations basically means reputable zoos are cooperating much more than they are competing.
I've always been against direct trading because they do present a barrier to new or casual players if you have to effectively join a discord or play with your friends to be able to get hold of animals. I wouldn't mind them raising the cap a bit though - especially for some species. it should feel like work to get a giant panda or a herd of elephants.
I do have to say though that I am not one of those players who has accumulated millions in cc. I have plenty for what I need in terms of I'm rarely unable to buy what I want because I don't have the CC but I also don't tend to sell for a profit much. Different play styles are going to produce very different outcomes so that's another reason I think it makes more sense for challenges to be game based not player based.
