Do any of you guys think it would be worthwhile to go on a species-improving project? I.e., focusing on breeding and raising something like Pumas or Unicorns, or any of the other available species on the site, and making them available through breeding and offspring sales/giveaways while culling any with inbreeding/red genes via a Reserve or the State Portal Service? And are there any species on the site that could particularly benefit from such an effort?

Well there is a natural tendency towards that happening in the game, as people pound pets that are less appealing and breed ones that are better.

But as for improving the breed, cockatrices, pumas and throdama need more sires on the breeding offers with better genes. People don't really specialise in them so much.

Unicorns and lykos already have a lot of good sires (in some cases, there are perfect deviant unicorns on the breeding offers to breed with at really low prices) so you don't really have to worry too much about them.

Perfect deviant pumas I can definitely make a plan for, but what do people look for in throdama sires and cockatrices? Cockatrices don't have deviant colors (as far as I know), and I know throdama genetics can be complex, but I'm not sure what particular genes people are looking for in them. High stats with a lot of green stats is a given for all, of course.

Ah, if you look up Monues, they have what they call "Cancermancer" cockatrices, which have pretty dang good genetics. Any pets that have PS and *** in their name are generally pretty good as well. I can't answer your question for Throdama though.

Thanks for the suggestion, RaptorKitty. The Cancermancers gave me some darn good ideas for what I want to aspire to. Does anyone have any input on Throdama?

Thanks for working on improving the options for players on the site! :)

I'm currently working on gryphs myself.  Why, why, why is elemental vulnerability so common with them?

@Epona: It's my pleasure! I enjoy the thrill of the challenge, I must admit, and what a challenge it is to focus on the less popular breeds such as cockatrices! Symurghs, too, are catching my eye, though I feel they are moderately popular and have a lot of people working on them. (Unless I'm wrong?)

@LadyChipmunk: Have your researched into whether any of them share a common ancestor? The HYPP gene in Quarter Horses, which literally causes affected horses' skin to fall off, can be traced back to a single stud who was enormously popular back in the...I think it was between the Sixties and the Eighties. Can't recall rightly at the moment. It could be a similar thing, in that certain bloodlines with the gene are so popular that it runs rampant. You may want to consider either retiring, portal-sending, or neutering and making into worker beasts any griff with low enough stats and the vulnerability. Once I have the cash, I'm considering going on a buying spree and retiring/neutering/portal-sending anything with too low a stat to get them out of the population.

Oh, none of MY gryphs have elemental vulnerability.  I got rid of all the carriers long ago.  

I have not done a huge amount of work on why certain traits are more common or anything.  I'm much more interested in making my own perfects than the history of how the supply came to be what it is now. :)

I'd say there are a lot of players trying for "perfect" Lykos—I've managed one Lykos that I consider flawless, and a lot more that I really like, but that's due in large part to the fact that a lot of other players did the hard work first. 

I've been making some efforts with cockatrices and throdrama, off and on, but it's been much harder going because not as many players are interested in them. So there are fewer of them to buy, fewer breeding offers, and of those that are available, few have really nice genes.

@Sheliak: I'm working on Cockatrices myself. Most of my finds have been pound rescues, and I'm in the middle of seeing who's best in combat and explore before I start neutering and sending them to my Reserve. If you'd like, we can work together to see if we can get any results there. What are you looking for in Throdamas, as well?

@LadyChipmunk: Awesome work! Nothing better than the feeling of crossing a hurdle with your own supply.

@Sez,

What are you trying for with your Cockatrices so far? They have a lot of interesting genes, so I've been struggling a bit to decide on a goal! (For now, I'm just trying to weed out the "normal" and bad genes, and to accumulate as many as possible of the useful ones.)

My current idea is Acid Gland + Petrifying Gaze + Bet Expert + Poisonous Claws + Steel Bones + Spitting Muscle + Regeneration + Stench, just because that gives so many options for Battlefield tactics. But in practice something else might be better! 

I'd be fine with working together! Fair warning though, I tend to go through periods concentrating on the game and then neglecting it for a couple of months, so I'm not the most reliable.

With the Throdamas, I'm hoping for explorers and Battlefield squad members. My goal is Large Mandibles + Acute Eyesight + Quickmind + Agile Paws + Steel Muscles + Elemental Resistance. 

Of course, Nimble Legs is a neat gene too and a lot more common than Agile Paws, but I'm hoping for at least some Counterstrike Throdama for the battlefield.  (I might end up going for a secondary goal with Nimble Legs and Determined, though, for arena/explore.)

Hah! I'm telling Monues how famoua her Cancermancers are...

I specialize I Unicorns, but I've been growing in dragons, gryphons and lykos. I keep a ridiculous Google spreadsheet with all the parents I have, their genes and comments. From there I find potential mates. It's a little too much to be honest. I feel like I need to scale back and focus on maybe one species. I've gone overboard and am running low on space... Let that be a warning!

I think gene improvement projects are great. It may also be worthwhile to bring out rare combinations of genes for the purposes of quests and events. Best of luck. If you need any help with the species I mentioned I'm happy to offer or let you peruse my ridiculous spreadsheet.

I have two types of perfect lykos after a LOT of work and help from many people, most notably Arete.

My current projects are gryffs and pumas, but I've been toying with throdama off and on.  Getting throdama with agile paws is SO hard.

My perfect throdama would be:
Large Mandibles
Acute Senses
Quickmind
Agile Paws
Steel Muscles
Normal Organs - There are no super good organ options for them.
Elemental Resistance/Thick Skin

Just my two cents.

My Lykos spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1o7YthInFsc7b2j89O-aQGCZee7lwgy8_VgZbZ3azr4s/edit?usp=sharing

My Gryphon spreadsheet: 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1y_Hzcha4EiHN0GUBH0JyQkw09PmTnGXwkyC7uTf8UGg/edit?usp=sharing

I'm working on a unicorn one.... If anyone would like to breed let me know. Happy to offer my genes for improvement.