I have a question about the META-Wishlist; if Frontier looks at it to see what animals PZ players want in the game (which seems to be the case), then why do we have separate wishlists for aviary and aquarium dlc? Was it just assumed that those would never happen? Wouldn’t it make more sense to assume that if our choices for those lists were put onto the main one, Frontier would see and possibly consider adding them?
Question About The META-Wishlist
- Thread starter JoeD915
- Start date
Frontier is obviously aware of the fan demand for aviary and aquarium species. It would be impossible to not be aware of it. But despite that, it's still 100% up in the air whether or not Frontier will determine the investment for the necessary new mechanics to be worthwhile. So while I can't speak for random goat, the user who maintains the primary meta wishlist, I can only assume he chooses to only include species whose inclusion aren't contingent on new mechanics being added to the game to make it easier on his part and to keep the list more grounded and focused.
- There's no one-to-one correlation. Not every pick is high on the meta-wishlist, and many high-list picks get in because they're obvious choices anyway.
- Frontier's not gonna change their minds on aquatics/aviaries based on the wishlist. Whether or not they're getting in is unclear, but it wouldn't come down to their inclusion on a fan-made list.
That's a bit of an understatement and doesn't line up with reality. It's not "they might look at it", they definitely look at it. Africa, North America and Europe consisted completely of animals from the meta-wishlist, and the majority of Wetlands also came from the wishlist.
It's more than just "they might look at it for inspiration like any other topic", that's kind of clear at this point.
Yes.
Or more, it's assumed that they probably won't happen. Popularity isn't the only thing determining what Frontier puts into the game. Although our friendly neighbourhood nasayer Doran is incorrect about how much influence the meta wishlist has (as Iben says, it's pretty obvious they use it as their primary source for inspiration), he is correct in pointing out the other factors; development schedules, cost benefits, technical limitations, and so on.
Both aquatic and aviary animals are possible (we know this because we have a vague understanding of what the game engine is capable of), but whether they are possible up to the standard Frontier would expect for Planet Zoo is another question entirely, and whether they consider it worth the effort to do it; keep in mind that either DLC would require lengthening support considerably, which means making a long-term commitment. Right now we can roughly gauge that they only plan ahead by about a year.
Regardless of if or not aviary or aquatic animals happen, it’s fun. It’s a way of showing our passion for certain animals, plus introduces us to other animals that we may not be aware of. On my aviary list, people have listed many bird and bat species that I am not aware of.
frontier has done a pretty good job reading our requests on habitat animals (while there are a few odd additions), if they ultimately give us aviary and aquatics then I believe they will take highly consider our highly requested animals.
frontier has done a pretty good job reading our requests on habitat animals (while there are a few odd additions), if they ultimately give us aviary and aquatics then I believe they will take highly consider our highly requested animals.
I agree that they use the list, but don't agree with the argument. I think we also have to keep in mind the point made by @coatifan that many species were clear or logical choices anyway. There haven't been many cases where a popular wishlist species was picked over a species that would make more sense based on popularity in real zoos, choices in past zoo games and fittingness to the theme.
Africa seems strongly wishlist-inspired as it picked popular species over classical 'safari species' that you may normally expect in an African themed DLC. While the rhino and meerkat were obvious choices, the fennec and African penguin were less so, but this is purely a personal view.
For Europe, I believe that the four animals picked were also the four that made most sense, with the fallow deer picked over the far more popular red deer.
For North America, most species were both popular and logical, but the arctic fox feels out of place and may have been added due to popular demand.
For Southeast Asia, it seems like the entire pack is not based on the wishlist as few species of the pack were notably high on there. Sure they were on there, and some pretty high, but that counts for almost any species you would logically pick for a zoo game.
I think the most definite confirmation we have that they use the wishlist is that Frontier themselves announced the Wetlands DLC mentioning that they picked some highly popular animals. Interestingly enough, the pack also included some of the least demanded choices of all DLCs so far.
There are pretty clear limits as to what animals can be in the game with current mechanics, so it's rather useless to put animals which literally can't be made in ghe current system in the main wishlist as it wastes slots. That includes fully aqauatic animals, aviary birds, and exhibit mammals.
Oddly enough, the manatee gained quite a lot of traction on the main list despite being fully aquatic.
Oddly enough, the manatee gained quite a lot of traction on the main list despite being fully aquatic.