Spring 2024 DLC Speculation

Many people find primates creepy, especially chimps and baboons.
Nah what do you mean how can you tell me this isn't adorable.
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Its basically a panda like whats the difference.
 
Seriously though reading through everyones thoughts on the top 100 list, it seems like the overall consensus is that if an animal is popular, cute or colourful then it is generally liked by the community, it doesn't even have to be a new type of species, it can just be cute like for example the ASCO, we already had the Giant Otter yet the new one is so much more used. This can explain some of the recent picks that weren't as expected such as the Sand Cat, Quokka and Saiga, perhaps frontier thought that because these animals are cute and recognizable or in some cases for their strange appearances that they would be liked. However, even the more recent "cute" animals have been lacking because the general public or average player doesn't know what they are or it wasn't something they thought they wanted. At this stage in the game it doesn't matter what animals frontier chooses for future packs, aside from a couple like Walrus, Ducks or a Baboon they won't get as big of an audience as the packs from 2022 and earlier did, and this is what I think influenced the closing for support upon other things. I really hope that they do cover 2/3 of the last icons in the final pack because they are the singular missing animals (to clarify, classic recognizable animals missing, nothing to do with SA and its dumpster fire of a roster, thats another situation).
 
Seriously though reading through everyones thoughts on the top 100 list, it seems like the overall consensus is that if an animal is popular, cute or colourful then it is generally liked by the community, it doesn't even have to be a new type of species, it can just be cute like for example the ASCO, we already had the Giant Otter yet the new one is so much more used. This can explain some of the recent picks that weren't as expected such as the Sand Cat, Quokka and Saiga, perhaps frontier thought that because these animals are cute and recognizable or in some cases for their strange appearances that they would be liked. However, even the more recent "cute" animals have been lacking because the general public or average player doesn't know what they are or it wasn't something they thought they wanted. At this stage in the game it doesn't matter what animals frontier chooses for future packs, aside from a couple like Walrus, Ducks or a Baboon they won't get as big of an audience as the packs from 2022 and earlier did, and this is what I think influenced the closing for support upon other things. I really hope that they do cover 2/3 of the last icons in the final pack because they are the singular missing animals (to clarify, classic recognizable animals missing, nothing to do with SA and its dumpster fire of a roster, thats another situation).
Unlike the other oddballs, tamarins are colorful and super common in zoos worldwide. I think they are deeply underrated, even when I tried to be objective. SA has no birds other than the king penguin. The ocelot would almost certainly go over well, the spectacled bear has been decently requested for a while, and the coati is cute. Tamanduas and maras are also somewhat cute, but I think the former is a little flashier. Tamarins, coatis, ocelots, and a colorful SA bird would probably sell the pack to a general audiece. Rheas, maras, spectacled bears, and other monkeys would make the forums happy. I really think a Latin America pack is the most necessary.

I also see your point about the walrus, baboon, and ducks. I would add an African bird for sure (GCC or Secretary). Tree Kangaroos are popular here, and I'm fairly sure they would be well-received. Those animals are also iconic and important additions. I also think a global finale pack is necessary.

Those two would be the bare minimum in my eyes, but of course I'm hoping for more DLCs.
 
Large Carnivores: The spectacled bear and walrus would probably be somewhat popular, but I don't think they would be at the top of a list like this. The ABB would probably be comparable, especially if they add the color morphs. An African leopard would probably be loved by the general audience and hated here.
3 bear species don't make in the top 100 list, Sloth Bear, Formosan Black Bear and Himalayan Brown Bear, two here are mainly black, so the Spectacled Bear will likely be unpopular since most general players do not care about "the sole bear in SA". I agree it is essential for Andes theme but those general players may not build the theme for specific regions in one continent, most of them just make general continental themes like SA theme, NA theme, or taxonomy themes like Carnivore theme, even without any theme, just randomly keep species they like.
GSNM are extremely important for China, and Indian players might want a local monkey, too. They make up a huge proportion of the population, but I don't know about their proportion of the playerbase.
The Deladysigner collected the votes through Google Drive, China blocks Google and YouTube so Chinese players may not participate the vote, which may explain why the Giant Panda just ranked #16 not the top 10. But one thing is certain GSNM is top-demanded by most Chinese players but neglected by most non-Chinese players. The Indian players seem not to make a big proportion of the playerbase, b/c the Indians can access Google and Youtube without obstacles but Indian Rhino and Sloth Bear don't make in the top 100 list
Nah what do you mean how can you tell me this isn't adorable.
Mandrill is absent of top 100, so Baboon and Gelada may have the same fate.
 
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3 bear species don't make in the top 100 list, Sloth Bear, Formosan Black Bear and Himalayan Brown Bear, two here are mainly black, so the Spectacled Bear will likely be unpopular since most general players do not care about "the sole bear in SA". I agree it is essential for Andes theme but those general players may not build the theme for specific regions in one continent, most of them just make general continental themes like SA theme, NA theme, or taxonomy themes like Carnivore theme, even without any theme, just randomly keep species they like.
Sorry to their fans, but sloth bears are the ugliest one irl. The other two excluded ones are subspecies that probably should not have been added. I think the cute face markings of the spectacled and color morphs of the ABB would make them more popular among the bear species. Still, most of the bears are not near the top, and they would definitely sit behind the panda and grizzly. They would be good filler in packs, though, and provide a large animal to contrast with some smaller, cute ones.
 
I think the mandrill is one of the most underrated animals in game and definitely cracks my personal top 20 list. On a side note I just updated my prehistoric kingdom game with update 10 and I gotta say the cave lion is pretty darn impressive. They even nailed the signature roar lions do irl. Man it’s a shame frontier doesn’t do their lion justice and give it a overhaul as it’s by far the most disappointing animal in game. A updated look and adding that roar modification would be just as good as a new dlc imo.
 
So assuming we got support throughout 2024 with a final pack in spring 2025, what themes would yall pick for this year?
Not saying it happens, just curios
Spring 1. Childrens Zoo Pack
African Dwarf Goat / Squirrel Monkey / SA Coati / Dwarf Rabbit / WE: Budgies
Scenery: Farmstuff/horizontal Wood Wall Set/ new Wooden Farm Fence/ Hay bales/etc

Summer 2. Latin America Animal Pack
Black Howler / Patagonian Mara / Greater Rhea / Andean Bear / Ocelot(Andean Cat :p) / Black and White Tegu / Red rumped Agouti / WE: Mawcaws

Autumn 3. Coastal Pack
Walrus / Sea Otter / Brown Pelican / Green Sea Turtel / E: Coconut Crab
Scenery: Harbor and Coastal Pieces

Winter 4. Safari Animal Pack
Secretary Bird / Hamadryas Baboon / Blackbuck / Honey Badger / Greater Kudu / Hanuman Langur / African Spurred Tortoise / E: Cobra or WE: Weaver Birds

Spring and Final 5. World Zoo Pack
NA / American Black Bear / Roadrunner or Burrowing Owl
SA / Spider Monkey / Scarlet Ibis
EU / Western Capercaillie / Alpine Marmot
AF / Grey Crowned Crane / Mantled Guereza
AS / Mandarin Duck / Markhor
OZ / Tree Roo / Perentie or Echnida
WE: Bald Eagle / E: Carmeleon
Scenery: Generic Zoo Stuff / Car Probs / Stroler / a complete Wall Sign Collection / etc.

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I doubt that some top-demanded species in the new 2024 META wishlist like Black Howler, might not be popular from the perspective of general players. Animal-nerds: "Black Howlers have significant sexual dimorphism and distinctive howling behaviors, and representative species of Pantanal, Cerrado Savanna and Grand Chaco, so it is one of the must-have species in the game ", general players: "numb and bloated monkey"
Community unironically decied that possibly one of the least appealing primates is the most important one to add. Loud thus annoying and on top off that unlike most primates sluggish and sleeps a lot.
I think primate additions should be first and foremost active and fun to watch, not something you get bored after watching quickly and encourage to mute game lol.

Like average person expect monke to go swing, but this monke does nothing and be loud.
 
Honestly I don't expect them to announce the DLC until a month later of the console release, like they did with the Arctic Pack back then. Like right now they are just gonna focus on promoting the console version.

As much as you can speculate we all know the last DLC is gonna be underwhelming just like the rest of 2023 packs were.
2023 to me wasnt underwhelming the problem was 2022 was just really good grasslands and wetlands were the best animals packs were have gotten by far, twilight had walkthroughs and conservation had really good scenery the animals were meh. 2023 on paper was mid tier and mid tier packs just dont feel amazing anymore If these packs release in year 1 or 2 they would of done amazingly.
I will never understand why people consider some of the 2023 packs underwhelming when frontier literally gave us exactly what we asked for from the meta wishlist. Like I get it, some of the wildcards were different, but they are no more different than when we got the caiman in wetlands and aquatic, when we got a Halloween pack, when we got wombat instead of devil in twilight, etc. Tropical for example, considering it had 4/5 wanted animals and 1 wildcard, was no better than the highly praised aquatic Pack.

The only difference is that we got a build up of those incidents over and over again, which doesn’t really bother me. Most of those surprises were really good, for example the swan which no one saw coming.

We can’t blame frontier 100% when considering that some of the surprises they give us are good, so they think that we’ll appreciate more surprises.
It was truely a case of good-ok animals bad theming.
Tropical shouldnt have been a scenery pack and arid should of been one with less of a north african focus. Oceania was fine it was just too niche of a theme to appeal to a broad audience and the scenery was meh not too strongly themed. Eurasia was the only one that actually had a good theme in its entirety it just suffered from no one outside europe wanting a whole european animal pack I feel it would of done better as a scenery pack.
So assuming we got support throughout 2024 with a final pack in spring 2025, what themes would yall pick for this year?
Not saying it happens, just curios
ANTARTICA also central america, taiga, temperate and desert.
I love how frontier is actively avoiding answering the preorder animal questions on every post.
because they know its a trash idea that no one likes
 
The SEA pack was good for what it was, the animals in it are iconic I guess, thing is Southeast Asia is way less well known biodiversity region among the general public compared to South America, so I always found odd how they decided to make the first animal pack about it? Not only that but later DLCs just kept adding more and more SEA animals at the expense of leaving tropical South America pretty much barebones, with the very TROPICAL pack having literally just 1 SA animal, that is the EXHIBIT animal, how pathetic is that? Literally one of my main criticisms to that pack is how it just kept pandering to an already well represented region.

Like isn't it sad how the community right now is debating what New World monkey we will get, all while SEA got literally 2 gibbons. If SA got the same love SEA did we would be getting all 3 monkeys howler spider and tamarin + coati, tamandua, ocelot, Andean bear, rhea and mara, all of which I find way more iconic than any of the SEA animals.

I am annoyed by it, but since they have no other option than to make the next pack SA focused I am sure most of these animals will finally get into the game. However that also means (unless they make a "world wide" pack kind of deal) that no secretary, no tree roo and no baboon will get to the game. And if they also ignore North America, no walrus, no muskox, and definitely no duck and no rabbit. What a nightmare. 😭 😭 😭

Like no matter how I look at it realistically the last dlc is gonna be underwhelming because no way they are making a pack with 20 animals. The only way it's not disappointing is if it's not the last pack and we get another 3 packs, and with the information we have rn, the chances of that happening are basically zero.
 
The SEA pack was good for what it was, the animals in it are iconic I guess, thing is Southeast Asia is way less well known biodiversity region among the general public compared to South America, so I always found odd how they decided to make the first animal pack about it? Not only that but later DLCs just kept adding more and more SEA animals at the expense of leaving tropical South America pretty much barebones, with the very TROPICAL pack having literally just 1 SA animal, that is the EXHIBIT animal, how pathetic is that? Literally one of my main criticisms to that pack is how it just kept pandering to an already well represented region.

Like isn't it sad how the community right now is debating what New World monkey we will get, all while SEA got literally 2 gibbons. If SA got the same love SEA did we would be getting all 3 monkeys howler spider and tamarin + coati, tamandua, ocelot, Andean bear, rhea and mara, all of which I find way more iconic than any of the SEA animals.

I am annoyed by it, but since they have no other option than to make the next pack SA focused I am sure most of these animals will finally get into the game. However that also means (unless they make a "world wide" pack kind of deal) that no secretary, no tree roo and no baboon will get to the game. And if they also ignore North America, no walrus, no muskox, and definitely no duck and no rabbit. What a nightmare. 😭 😭 😭

Like no matter how I look at it realistically the last dlc is gonna be underwhelming because no way they are making a pack with 20 animals. The only way it's not disappointing is if it's not the last pack and we get another 3 packs, and with the information we have rn, the chances of that happening are basically zero.
Feel like it's probably got a fair bit to do with appeal to Chinese customers. Here in Australia, South-East Asia seems well represented, being a neighbouring region (Adelaide Zoo for example has entire areas dedicated to South-East Asia, as well as a couple species in non-themed areas, like Small-clawed Otters).
 
Honestly I am glad Frontier at least some what listens to Forum requests instead of whatever the general audience wants because no offence but from that top 100 they have poor taste and are basically this forums worst nightmare with the insane carnivore bias. 🤣
 
Honestly I am glad Frontier at least some what listens to Forum requests instead of whatever the general audience wants because no offence but from that top 100 they have poor taste and are basically this forums worst nightmare with the insane carnivore bias. 🤣
It's pretty similar when it comes to dinosaur suggestions for JWE. Doesn't matter how little we know about it, or how similar it is to other species (applies to some herbivores too).

A lot of it is attachment to names I think.
 
As a Chinese, let me share my views.
First of all, the ranking of the giant panda did not enter the top five. I personally think this is very normal, and I think this result is of great reference value for some controversial topics on the forum, such as the meme about the "golden monkey".
I personally think there are two main reasons why the giant panda failed to enter the top five rankings:
1. As I have always emphasized, the language used by an online platform basically determines which countries the main audience on this platform comes from. Although in the past few decades, learning English has been promoted by the government and included in textbooks in China. One of the subjects taught in middle school. But compared to the mother tongue that is used every day in daily life, English is obviously not a language that ordinary Chinese in Asia can use proficiently. The two languages are so different that you can hardly find any similarities. Therefore, it is normal for voices from Asia, especially China, to be weaker on English-based platforms.
2. We should separate the groups of ordinary tourists, animal lovers, and PZ players. For ordinary tourists, giant pandas are definitely the stars among stars. Even in China, people are willing to take rides, trains, cars, etc. Even if you go to a zoo or breeding center that owns them, you still have to queue for more than 2 hours to see them. Some ardent fans can even be there all day long and can identify different individuals. To be honest, sometimes, I feel that some of them love pandas more than humans. As for some non-Chinese regions, I believe there are certain similarities, otherwise it would be impossible to explain why zoos spend such high rents to rent such animals. (PS: By the way, California will welcome giant pandas again). But for animal lovers, the giant panda may not be so unique in its appeal. If a group of animal lovers were gathered together and asked about their favorite animal, I believe the answers would be varied. Similarly, for PZ players, it is normal that pandas are not very attractive to them. Moreover, as I said in the first point, this is an English-based platform. Statistics show that players in Asia, especially China, have a language barrier, and secondly, you need some "skills" to use YTB in China.
Finally, I would like to once again call for the misinformation about giant pandas in games to be corrected. I have several manuals on the care and management of captive giant pandas. I know that due to language issues, most people in this community cannot read Chinese, but don't worry, I will translate the key information.
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1、Adult giant pandas are solitary animals, whether in the wild or in captivity, with males and females only getting together during the breeding season. Several underage pandas can appear in one habitat, but adult pandas must be kept alone. Please modify the in-game settings.
2、In addition, regarding temperature, I suggest that the lower limit of the optimal temperature can be adjusted to 0 degrees Celsius, or even minus 5 degrees Celsius. Like the takin, the giant panda is an animal that is afraid of heat but not very cold . In its native environment, the average annual temperature does not exceed 10 degrees Celsius. In an environment above 26 degrees Celsius, your heartbeat will speed up and you will feel uncomfortable. However, giant pandas have very good adaptability to cold climates. In captivity , they like to play in the snow very much. At minus ten degrees Celsius, they do not show any discomfort and are still very active. Therefore, this aspect of the game also needs to be modified.
3、If the attractiveness value in some websites is based on ordinary tourists, then please adjust the attractiveness of giant pandas to the top three positions. Giant pandas are not as attractive as lions. This is really baseless.
 
Idk why its such a big deal for some that the panda is "just" top 20.
Personally im even surprised it got this high as its quite the clunky animal to make use of ingame, similar to great apes, elephants, rhinos and hippos.
They all require much more work and dedication, often with entire sections themed around them, meanwhile smaller animals like the otters you can just throw whereever and they will thrive
 
Seriously though reading through everyones thoughts on the top 100 list, it seems like the overall consensus is that if an animal is popular, cute or colourful then it is generally liked by the community, it doesn't even have to be a new type of species, it can just be cute like for example the ASCO, we already had the Giant Otter yet the new one is so much more used. This can explain some of the recent picks that weren't as expected such as the Sand Cat, Quokka and Saiga, perhaps frontier thought that because these animals are cute and recognizable or in some cases for their strange appearances that they would be liked. However, even the more recent "cute" animals have been lacking because the general public or average player doesn't know what they are or it wasn't something they thought they wanted. At this stage in the game it doesn't matter what animals frontier chooses for future packs, aside from a couple like Walrus, Ducks or a Baboon they won't get as big of an audience as the packs from 2022 and earlier did, and this is what I think influenced the closing for support upon other things. I really hope that they do cover 2/3 of the last icons in the final pack because they are the singular missing animals (to clarify, classic recognizable animals missing, nothing to do with SA and its dumpster fire of a roster, thats another situation).
The ASCO is also one of the most “real looking” animals in the game so it has that going for it.

Regarding cute animals and small animals. Two more points in favor of a Coati. I’m convinced we’re going to get them more than any other animal except a New World Primate. It pretty much checks all the boxes and the main thing against it is it will be complex to design. Which we’re likely to have one animal like that for sure.
 
Idk why its such a big deal for some that the panda is "just" top 20.
Personally im even surprised it got this high as its quite the clunky animal to make use of ingame, similar to great apes, elephants, rhinos and hippos.
They all require much more work and dedication, often with entire sections themed around them, meanwhile smaller animals like the otters you can just throw whereever and they will thrive
Yeah i think one has to remember that this list is favorite animals in game, not favorite animals in general.

Like in game my favorite is probably the african penguin, while in real life i dont really care too much about them
 
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