Spring 2024 DLC Speculation

[Frogstrich]

I'm not sure, is there anyone you all thought was a glaring omission for a proper Eurasia pack?

Probably Eurasian Beaver. Probably The Face For The UK's Rewilding Projects. I Also Find Them Neat.
Also More European Exhibit Animals. Maybe Olm, European Stag Beetle, Mediterranean House Gecko And, Mediterranean Green Snail Along With Hermann's Tortoise. I Would Probably Replace The Boar With The Beaver.

 

[NachoB]

Cappercaillie, roe deer and chamois. That's pretty much it for Europe when it comes to not extreme clone animals that are missing. And tbh i would only care for the cappercaillie. To me Europe's roster i very complete not counting flying birds.

Now for Asia... Well: Golden pheasant, mandarín duck, Palla's cat, blackbuck, grey langur, markhor, etc.

 

[markun]

Main reason I don't like the saiga is that it isn't kept in captivity.

It is kept in captivity. In a very limited number of collections in a very limited number of countries admittedly but it’s still in captivity.
EDIT - Pictures below are from Almaty Zoo in Kazakhstan

 

[Frogstrich]

Lets Hope This Year Has Barely Any Ungulates. Seriously We Only Need Deer And A Non-Domesticated Camelid, Nothing Else.

 

[Marvinb]

It is kept in captivity. In a very limited number of collections in a very limited number of countries admittedly but it’s still in captivity.

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But none of which are zoos to my knowledge

 

[Frogstrich]

But none of which are zoos to my knowledge

According To Zootierliste There Is Some At The Almaty Zoo.

 

[Corail]

Why I don't dislike the pack as much Arid is because, in fairness, it's still a pretty good representation of Eurasia. Like excluding the markhor who else was missing?
Maybe another bird? Like my beloved ducks like the Mandarin, but TWO waterfowl in one pack seems too good to be true.
I think people associate the Great White Pelican more with Africa than Europe.
There's very little reptiles in Eurasia to begin with.
Mammal wise? idk... Maybe a rabbit? Like do we really need a FIFTH European deer (ALL the deer in game are found in Europe)? I'm not sure, is there anyone you all thought was a glaring omission for a proper Eurasia pack?

When it comes to Asia, there are still some glaring omissions in both India and China. The blackbuck, the golden pheasant, any Asiatic deer (more important than any European deer), an Indian monkey are all important slots IMO.

For Europe, in terms of ungulate, the chamois is still a very worthwhile addition and the mouflon is a good idea too. Otherwise, a marmot or a rabbit are good smaller European mammals.

There's still a possible slot for small carnivores too. The European wild cat or the Pallas cat and the Eurasian otter would be our first cold climate small cat and otter, respectively. Eurasia could've used a smaller mustelid too, like a marten or a mink (in all fairness, north america could use such a slot as well). For a slightly larger carnivore, the golden jackal would have also been a great choice. But they gave us the wolverine so that's fair.

Then, there's a lots of birds possible here - a duck, a heron, a stork, a crane, a spoonbill, the capercaillie...
IMO the Eurasia roster was the best possible options for the European part of the roster (mute swan, wisent, wild boar, wolverine), but had a lackluster Asian part (the takin was good, but the saiga was a mid choice and the sloth bear wasn't the most needed Indian animal they could've chosen).

 

[NachoB]

Well saiga was decently high on the wishlist. Cant remember exactly but somewhere between 15-25 i think

Right. I forgot about that. Still, it was probably high in the MW but don't remember people actively talking about wishing they come to the game like the blackbuck or the markhor. Actually other than just being listed in wishlist i didn't remember it coming up much in conversation and speculation.

 

[Fallax]

It is kept in captivity. In a very limited number of collections in a very limited number of countries admittedly but it’s still in captivity.

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Yea I meant in Europe. Even so, they have historically done quite poorly in zoos outside of their native range.

 

[markun]

But none of which are zoos to my knowledge

Almaty Zoo in Kazakhstan

 

[jcp011c]

Lets Hope This Year Has Barely Any Ungulates. Seriously We Only Need Deer And A Non-Domesticated Camelid, Nothing Else.

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I wouldn’t go quite that far. The Markhor and Muskox are pretty popular.

 

[CharlieXGaming]

The Markhor and Muskox are pretty popular.

Agreed on the Markhor cause we haven't got a goat in a while but do we really need the Musk Ox- I mean we just got 2 more buffalo built like creatures (wisent and takin).

 

[Fallax]

Agreed on the Markhor cause we haven't got a goat in a while but do we really need the Musk Ox- I mean we just got 2 more buffalo built like creatures (wisent and takin).

We got a Himalayan caprine last pack.

I would like to see both but honestly I have a hard time calling either of them necessary, the Asian caprine niche is filled by the takin and the muskox isn't really that common of a zoo animal anyway. That being said both of them do have some merit.

The markhor has an iconic appearance and having a more typical goat for Asia would certainly be appreciated. The muskox is one of the most iconic Arctic animals there is alongside the walrus.

Those two and my beloved aoudad are the last three caprines I want to see but I don't think I'd call any of them necessary and if anything the aoudad fills an empty niche more than the other two lol.

 

[HunterIsCookie]

Going off the top 20 meta wishlist animals, if you could pick 20 animals for the final dlc what would you pick? It can be as selfish as you want.

1. Secretary Bird
2. Hamadryas Baboon
3. Rock Hyrax
4. Goodfellow's Tree-Kangaroo
5. Short-Beaked Echidna
6. Shoebill
7. Blackbuck
8. Walrus
9. Muskox
10. Scarlet Ibis
11. Greater Rhea
12. Black Howler Monkey
13. Geoffroy's Spider Monkey
14. Spectacled Bear
15. Markhor
16. Ocelot
17. South American Coati
18. Patagonian Mara
19. Honey Badger
20. Great White Pelican

 

[CharlieXGaming]

We got a Himalayan caprine last pack.

I was more referring to the structure, we have a wide variety of stockier built up buffalo like creatures in the game:

Meanwhile we haven't gotten an actual looking goat species in a while.

Would be nice to see these 2 come up.

 

[Cooper_yang]

I just want some Asian deer and monkeys

 

[Milurian]

Now here's something to chew on...

What if, hypothetically, we DO get a big, grandiose farewell pack with 20 animals, bringing the roster to 200 on the dot.

Would the current Top 20 on the Meta-Wishlist suffice? Really examine it now.
Can you confidently "YES, These are the exact animals we require to have a complete roster"?

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I would say that almost all of those are great choices swap the great pelican for the australian one, swap the serval for the gelada and then its perfect.

Let's see where people are right now regarding certain groups. Out of these "core zoo animal" groups which is your most wanted habitat species?

Carnivorans - South American Coati
Ungulates - Reeves' Muntjac (I think this and the blackbuck are the last two that are truly essential)
Primates - Any Callitrichid (Tamarin, Marmoset, etc)
Other Mammals - Rock Hyrax
Birds - Too many, I think right now I would say Pelican, Rhea, Stork, or Guineafowl, all my most wanteds are birds at this point.
Reptiles - African Spurred Tortoise

carnivorans: ethiopian wolf
ungulates: gerenuk
primates: olive baboon
other mammal: manatee
birb: secretary bird

Must be fake, frontier would never willingly walk down the aisle with birds

dont you know the developers are allergic to feathers

What is everybody's worst case scenario?

If a final DLC was 4 habitat and 1 Exhibit animal, what should it be?

the only thing a roster could be to make me actively disappointed in it would be all hoofstock or all primates otherwise pack with the themes east asia, south pole/polar, savannah/safari, latin america and boreal since these themes will destroy any chance of pack themes that I do want happening.

It's actually crazy how many ungulates we got last year compared to everything else:

Carnivorans - 4 (Fossa, Sand Cat, Wolverine, Sloth Bear)
Ungulates - 11 (Red River Hog, Somali Wild Ass, Addax, Dama Gazelle, Black Rhino, Dromedary Camel, Collared Peccary, Wild Boar, Saiga, Wisent, Takin)
Primates - 1 (Lar Gibbon)
Other Mammals - 3 (Crested Porcupine, Quokka, Tasmanian Devil)
Birds - 3 (Kiwi, Little Blue Penguin, Mute Swan)
Reptiles - 1 (Asian Water Monitor)

Almost 50% of the habitat animals we got in 2023 were ungulates. I love ungulates but I must admit it was a little bit overkill. I've said it before but (not counting the can of worms that is domestics) the only two necessary ungulates left are the blackbuck and muntjac... Both very common and iconic zoo animals that are unique and would greatly boost their respective regions.

I have been screaming this from the rooftops since arid that the game has such a bad balance of ungulates to other animals.

Yeah. Like was there really a need for the saiga and dama gazelle? They are nice and all but really no one was asking for them (or at least not in place of far better options). Those two could've been something else entirely like replace saiga for Palla's cat or heck even for the blackbuck or markhor if they wanted an ungulate clone, and gazelle for baboon or tortoise.

Boar, peccary, RRH, takin, wild ass, dromedary camel we're all asked for so we can't really complain. Wisent was wanted for Europeans players mostly and i guess just like the black rhino are iconic enough to grant their inclusión in the general Game roster in one pack or another. Addax holds conservation value, ZT 2 nostalgia factor and was at least mentioned more frequently than the gazelle.

But saiga and dama gazelle i really don't get.

saiga I understand its a conservation icon its got some public presence and its goofy but dama gazelle really had not purpose it was in a pack that was 90% ungulate fills almost the same role as 2 other ungulates and is basic as a gazelle can be without being the actual basic gazelle we needed the impala.

 

[Frogstrich]

I wouldn’t go quite that far.

If We Have More Than 2 Packs Left Then I Would Definitely Like To Have More Than 2 Ungulates. I's Just That We Got So Many Last Year. I May Have Also Forgot About Markhor And Muskox.

 

[PnGLINNyo]

I just want some Asian deer and monkeys

Can you name a few? (Just outta curiosity)

 

[Angeł]

I'm not sure, is there anyone you all thought was a glaring omission for a proper Eurasia pack?

I’ll always say it and always get flack for it. But the Eurasian Brown Bear. If we’re talking iconic Eurasian species, this is the one. It is the face of so many Eurasian countries, and has probably the most widespread range of any Eurasian animal. It is one of the most charismatic megafauna of both continents.

Another is the Pacific Walrus. One of the only unique ABC zoo animals left, and native to Eurasia’s northern reaches. A cold climate aquatic animal, and could’ve been a clinch for a pack like this. I was very surprised not to have seen this one.

And finally, the Muskox. A relic of the Eurasian Mammoth Steppe, and such a highly requested animal. It was the FIRST animal I’d have expected from a Eurasian Animal Pack (other than the Wolverine).

If I were to have done the Eurasian Animal Pack, it would have had a habitat animal lineup like this:

• Pacific Walrus
• Eurasian Wild Boar
• Wolverine
• Eurasian Brown Bear
• Saiga
• Muskox
• Wisent