Has your Sanctuary Animal rewarded you yet?

[Luckyloo]

Are you sure the plank wasn't left by a townie? Tell us how and where the plank appeared. I have fed my animal 8-9 times now, and still zippo from hippo.

I just got a tape from my Daisy (hippo), so sanctuary animals do give us drops you guys ☺️

[SmallChange]

Minor update maybe?! Or likely a glitch affecting some players but not others.

My Elephant has been fed several times and again recently...still no reward.

[MiniGardener]

I doubt if I will get any gifts from Godot. She looks so peaceful sleeping in the river, that I haven't awakened her for the last couple of days. I think my townies enjoy seeing that behavior more than watching her tramping around in the dust. I know I do.

I now have enough bushels of herbivore feed (23) to last until the next update, particularly if I don't have to feed her since she's happily sleeping. She has a pile of feed. That ought to last forever. I may put some in the RSS to see if they sell.

Having visited Greg's farm a number of times and watched his animals pass right through each other when they meet, I can now say that I'm not looking forward to getting more animals except a mate for Godot who can also spend his time dozing in the river. I like the little pond that comes with him, too. Too bad I can't choose which puzzle to complete.

[Friscolc]

I do wake my pets individually. A few days ago, I got to zero (just had a drop after waking farm animal) and then woke my giraffe and then counted every animal after that. The giraffe did not contribute to waking pets/farm animals at all. I have been getting the occasional gift from visitors visiting my sanctuary and the saws, coins, etc... end up laying on path in front of sanctuary book until I pick them up. I will be honest, I did not believe the posts saying their animal gave them a gift. Well I just woke my giraffe up and I got the burst going up in the air and an ax flew into my barn. Next time my pets are all asleep I will have to retest whether giraffes are now contributing to pet count or if it is more like releasing a visitor from their building in town.

Farm Level: 160
Town Level: 50

[SmallChange]

I do wake my pets individually. A few days ago, I got to zero (just had a drop after waking farm animal) and then woke my giraffe and then counted every animal after that. The giraffe did not contribute to waking pets/farm animals at all. I have been getting the occasional gift from visitors visiting my sanctuary and the saws, coins, etc... end up laying on path in front of sanctuary book until I pick them up. I will be honest, I did not believe the posts saying their animal gave them a gift. Well I just woke my giraffe up and I got the burst going up in the air and an ax flew into my barn. Next time my pets are all asleep I will have to retest whether giraffes are now contributing to pet count or if it is more like releasing a visitor from their building in town.

Farm Level: 160
Town Level: 50

That's interesting. I've just woken my pets (typical ) but I'll try again with Mr E later too. I'm not sure what time Mr E will want to be woken though...

[SueDL]

The graphics in and around thesanctuary are beautiful and I can only imagine the time they took to create.

There is a cardinal rule in dog training (or in teaching) that in order for thestudent to make forward progress, there must be reward. Rewardstrengthens a given behavior. Psychology 101. Part and parcel with that conceptis that reward must be: of perceived value, received frequently enough to beapreciated, and viewed as attainable.

Yes! Very well put! Are you a behaviorist by any chance? If the goal is to increase the time spent on the game, our reward (acquisition of the animals& extra visitor rewards) must be more attainable and frequent. Right now their approach seems to be to make precious items less attainable and more random to increase play. Unfortunately, they don't understand that this is actually more frustrating to the player and has the opposite of the desired effect. The randomness and uncertainty of acquiring precious, necessary items only drives players away. This is particularly true because any "jackpot" or "reward" isn’t large. When one does get lucky, the player still needs 35 more pieces to earn the animal. (I have the same issue with the land expansion permits.) This is extremely frustrating for a player and doesn’t foster more play over time. It’s like a slot machine that only pays out one coin, IF the player hits the jackpot. Who would sit and play a machine like that for hours? If the goal is to earn a prize of “luck,” then the “reward” should be large enough to be worth the effort.

The animal sanctuary isn’t a lost cost cause though by along shot. It’s still a new and exciting feature. We all agree that the animals are cute and interesting. SC should be commended on two points—they didn’t make the sanctuary expensive to build, nor did they make the time to waiting time to open it extensive. So, thank you for listening to us on those points! However, I think we all agree that we need a few tweaks here. Just a few could make it a very rewarding part of the game for players. First, make the pieces easier to earn. Let all the boats we complete give us a puzzle piece (I really like earning pieces on the boats), and add puzzle pieces to the random prizes that the townies give us. This will help players earn the animals faster but not necessarily too fast. Diligent playing will be rewarded. Additionally, have all the townies visit the animal sanctuary after being served in the town. This will keep the animal sanctuary exciting even after we attain all the animals because we earn something when the visitors go observe them. I’m more likely to serve all of my visitors at all of the town places if I have a chance at double rewards when they’re done. Finally, as others have mentioned, have our sanctuary animals drop rewards for feeding and waking them like our other pets.

Personally, I think they need to go back to their roots in this game in the future. Update the game more frequently with many new and exciting features. Remember how great some of the past updates were? We got neighborhoods, shortly followed by the introduction of the town. I loved that time period. These were new and exciting features that kept players playing. The neighborhoods brought players together, and the town had to be acquired and unlocked with effort and lots of diligent game play. These were rewards of playing the game. An occasional new machine changes game play too, and makes balancing resources a new challenge. This can be fun.

And I know I’ll get some flak here, but players need stop complaining about all this perceived “greed.” This complaining probably led to the frustration we find ourselves in now. Every time they make a feature attainable faster through diamond use, they get accused of greed. They are trying to listen to their players. However, accusing them of greed is unfair. They are a gaming company; this game is their product. It costs the company money to make their product. They have to spend their time and resources to maintain and expand the game. They may hire new people to help them. This game is actually someone’s job. Their creativity is how they earn their living. They keep the game free for us, but they have to earn their money some way. SC doesn’t force anyone to buy diamonds; it is our choice. They OFFER diamonds to facilitate faster game play. They give us opportunities to make special purchases on them too. (I’d like to see them bring back their special one-time discount diamond packages more frequently though. Hint, hint.) . Sure, sometimes it feels very compelling to purchase them. However, it is still ultimately a choice.

OK, I’m done now.

[illinirick]

I just received first drop from my elephant...a plank. The drops from the visitors to the sanctuary have been pretty good. More or less consistent with what is received from the town building visits.

[illinirick]

Good points in your post SueDL, although getting a puzzle piece from every boat is way too often and would be too fast. Just 1 out of 7, 1 out of 10, 1 out of 15 would be fine, as long as we know there is a decent chance of getting one a day.

What SC has done right the last 2 updates is not have the permits and puzzle pieces take barn space.

[Ellvera]

Just got a saw from my muddy elephant.

[BostonRott]

Yes! Very well put! Are you a behaviorist by any chance?

No, just someone who has spent two decades training and titling working-bred dogs. I'vé spent a lot of time learning about learning: reward schedules, +P vs -R vs +R, figuring out how to motivate, deciphering *what* is motivational to a particular dog or child.

I would like to see boat puzzle pieces randomized around n=5. So on average, 5 boats, but randomly 2 boats, 7 boats, 3 boats, 1 boat, etc. Randomized reward builds the strongest behavior, once the behavior is understood......thus the addictiveness of gambling.

For me personally, pure random reward holds little value. I played a slot machine twice and never again. It is throwing my money away: I can do nothing to turn the odds in my favor, I can not work toward the reward. For me, not rewarding. Some randomization, around an average number achieved through work (see boat example above) works best for me: keeps it exciting, but also rewards effort.

What we are seeing right now is behavior extinction following a burst. Quite common, and not being well managed. New oportunity/reward creates a burst of drive/behavior. Lack of perceived reward leads to extinction of behavior. Behavior that is not self-rewarding and which is not externally rewarded will extinguish.

In other words: bring out the puzzle pieces!