Wyrm Egg Convention limits?

[HopefulMonster]

So, in an effort to be fair to everyone, including those who cannot physically attend a given convention, AND those who attend and want to collect Wyrm eggs, I'm posting here to get some feedback from everyone.

Our problem is the fact that I can't make enough teacup Wyrms to meet the current demand at conventions. Unless I split the entire con stock into groups and put out only so many per day, I tend to run ut entirely by the second day. And with the increasing number of Handlers who are offering to pick up Wyrms for those not attending conventions, the demand is only going to increase. I'm kind of stuck...I don't want to run out of Teacups within an hour of the dealers room opening, but I also don't want to leave those unable to attend the conventions in the lurch! I understand not being able to travel great distances to gt to certain conventions, I'm in the same boat myself sometimes.

So I'm asking the opinion of the Handler population at large. What do you all feel is fair? I'd said 5 eggs per day limit, but thinking about it, this idea has two major problems. One, handlers will be less inclined to help fellow handlers out getting Wyrms, because they may want to preserve their egg grabs for themselves. And two, keeping track of faces at bigger conventions is going to be veeeeeery hard. Particularly cons like Anime Boston, where attendance is nearly 20,000 people!

Thoughts? I know we can't please all the people, all of the time, but I'd like to at least find a solution that is as fair as possible to the handlers interested in adopting Wyrms.

[Arazia]

I'd actually thought the five-egg per day limit was pretty reasonable.
If we set up something where we note the badge-name of people who purchase Wyrms on their receipt, it wouldn't be that hard to track, either.

Of course, there's always the internal setup of trying to make up weekly or monthly goals for ourselves, so that we produce enough Wyrms to cover the convention season without the 'crunch' at the end, and build up a stock so that there isn't as much stress leading up to conventions. What we need to do there, is come up with a goal of Wyrms-per week/month, and try to stick to it. Something reasonable that you think you'd be able to do. That way, we keep stock building rather than doing last minute mad dashes to make lots of Wyrms. It should make doing larger numbers of them more possible, if we can set it up and stick to it. This would let us bring more Wyrms to the conventions, and hopefully be less stressed in the process.

Now, my thoughts when it comes to trying to help international people and those who cannot attend conventions is... continue to have random clutches online whenever you have time. We could continue to do, for instance:
- New Handler clutches
- International Handler clutches
- Other special clutches such as ones to expand some breeding populations

These sorts of things we could do whenever there is time between con-prep and breeding season work, as a way of trying to reach out to handlers who might not be able to attend conventions.

[HopefulMonster]

I'm all for the building up stock during the months, but my problem is hours. I need to find a way to balance Wyrms with other stuff, since I DO want time to work on art that isn't Wyrm related. I do plan on occasional online clutches, but I'm going to limit them, since we've got conventions, breeding seasons, and other work. I'm actually leaning more towards doing clutches on etsy instead of the usual FA\DA scramble.

[Arazia]

I'm all for the building up stock during the months, but my problem is hours. I need to find a way to balance Wyrms with other stuff, since I DO want time to work on art that isn't Wyrm related. I do plan on occasional online clutches, but I'm going to limit them, since we've got conventions, breeding seasons, and other work. I'm actually leaning more towards doing clutches on etsy instead of the usual FA\DA scramble.

Right.
That's the challenge for this year, I think.
Trying to balance what you want to do along with the demand for adorable critters.

In some ways, specific clutches for things like international or new handlers wouldn't really be workable via etsy, though. Other random ones would be fine, through there. I think we're always going to have some issues where it's going to be easier for some handlers than others.

[Hekomi]

I think the 5/day is really fair. TBH I was a bit worried someone would snag a bunch before my grabbers got there. I only want 2-3 wyrms myself, so it's really good to hear.

Though what Arazia said is kind of interesting; I don't know if you sell out at cons, but there is a HUGE demand for them online since a lot of us can't get to cons. Would it possibly make more sense to cut back on the amount at cons [this may be a stupid thing to say, as I don't go to cons, and I'm only talking from an online point of view] and offer more online clutches? Right now the demand for them is so crazy it's a "who can post fastest" kind of deal, but perhaps with more online clutches vs. con wyrms it might help?

Also I assume [correct me if I'm at all wrong] that most online handlers will register their wyrms and play the game so more wyrms would be available into the breeding stock. I know a lot of people go to the cons specifically for wyrms, but other people who just pick up one here or there might not be interested in the game aspect [which is totally fine and understandable] so your beautiful creations might not get registered.

It's something me and another handler were talking about a few days ago, not sure if it's really pertinent and feel free to correct me if I'm totally off, haha.

But you definitely need time to work on your own project. xD I imagine one gets sick of wyrming and needs a break after a while. <3

[Nanorat]

I agree with Hekomi! The limit of 5 at cons seems fair, AND I think it would be really nice to get more wyrms posted online than sold at the cons. Most of this game happens online after all. From all people Ive seen around, only a couple has commented about being able to attend a con; the majority cant go to any cons. The request topic is cluttered with requests while only 2-3 people are willing to pick up wyrms at cons for others. So rather than bulding a huge stock for cons, maybe post more online clutches instead... so that people who cant go to cons, dont have to ask someone to pick one for them and just buy one online. Teacups seem quite fitting for online sales... and standards and up can be sold mostly at cons, so that people have a chance to look at them in person before buying such an expensive thing?
But, obviously, it's just my opinion!

[Arazia]

Just a quick note to explain to some people.

Conventions are a really great place to sell because you can get your work out there and known by so many more people than the internet. To give you all an example: Chickensmoothe-folks discovered Wyrms at Anthrocon last year, and since then, we've exploded with new handlers. So going to that one convention has been the trigger to bring so many of you people who are interested in the game over here.

Conventions give us a lot of opportunity to get work out to people who don't know us. People might pick up a Wyrm in passing, and then get involved in the game because of it. Word spreads a lot faster at the conventions, too, since one person can send other friends to a table to get involved. Where-as, online things tend to spread a bit slower and you tend to get the same people a lot.

From my own experiences here, I would say that conventions are still going to bring in the core of our new players, either directly or indirectly. Conventions are always going to remain important to the growth of the game, as well as for HMS to be able to feature some other artwork of hers.

[Hekomi]

Ah, yes, very true. ^^ Had it not been for CS at anthrocon I wouldn't be in the game. It's hard to get a perspective on it when you don't really go to the cons. But that makes a lot of sense.

Is there information when you get a con wyrm about how to register and how the game works? I mean I'm sure there must be, but that might help as well to bring new players directly into the game should they so choose.

[Arazia]

Ah, yes, very true. ^^ Had it not been for CS at anthrocon I wouldn't be in the game. It's hard to get a perspective on it when you don't really go to the cons. But that makes a lot of sense.

Is there information when you get a con wyrm about how to register and how the game works? I mean I'm sure there must be, but that might help as well to bring new players directly into the game should they so choose.

I believe that in the past, HMS has printed out little 'inserts' that come with the Wyrms, pointing them to the website and where to register their new Wyrms.

I know that for Anthrocon, I hope to actually bring a digital camera and allow 'immediate' registration. This means, I snap a picture, I have the digital card, and the new Wyrm can be registered within 24-hours (as soon as I go back to my room and have internets to register them in for people).

[Hekomi]

Oh that would be awesome! I'm always sad I don't get to see all the wyrms that are released at the cons, so I would be really interested in that. Plus it would kinda help get the people right there and then involved in the breeding and collecting aspect. c: