While reading over the premium changes thread that was got locked, I've noticed that someone suggested to raise the exploration energy cost to 5 and increasing the resouces of each island to make it quicker to explore islands.

Now sometimes I like to explore islands, when I have a lot of time on my hands. But sometimes I don't and it becomes a chore. Although the increased-energy-increased-output is a nice idea, I think it would be better if we had a choice. Before we enter the portal, we can choose to enter a small island that uses 2 energy and has the same amount of resources as before. Or we can choose to enter a big island that uses 5 energy and gather even more stuff. I think that'll be a nice compromise between those that want to explore and those that want to get this done as quickly as possible.

Piney, you are a genius. G-E-N-I-U-S. I fully support this.

oh this is a really good idea

I think this is actually a really good idea. On pets I wasn't sure I could beat the mobs I'd do 2 energy at a time and on pets I knew I could beat the mobs (and not lose resources, because losing right at the beginning of an island sucks!) I would do 5.

If it was a scalable thing like this, they could even make an HUGE island that takes 10 energy.

Edit note: While I say "small" "large" "huge" I wasn't actually refering to the size of the island -- just the amount of resources and enemies on the map that you'd obtain. So obviously a 5 energy island would give 2.5 times the exp and resources as a 2 energy island, and a 10 energy island would give 5 times the resources as a 2 energy island.

Support, I like the idea being able to choose.

Though I was thinking the island size stay the same or similar size and the resources/experience mechanic be would be changed. (For example, an item would give 2-4 of itself so you would find about the same amount as you would have exploring 2 1/2 islands before. EXP given per battle would be doubled. Buildings would have a higher chance of appearing.)

Because if it's about the time taken to explore, making the islands 2 1/2 times larger doesn't actually save time.

How would this work with the way islands are currently scaling to pets according to their level though? I think it's a good idea, but I'm wondering how something like this would be implemented. Maybe it could be made to still scale with the pet's level, for instance, a level 10 pet's big island wouldn't be as big as a level 50 pet's big island or something.

But something else that I'm kind of interested to see how it will be handled is the buildings themselves. As it is I don't have any high level pets, so I may be wrong on this, but when a building appears there's always one to a map. With the current exploration model of 2 energy per exploration and 5 chances to explore per pet - how would buildings be handled with only two maximum chances to explore using the larger islands? A chance for more than one building per map? Or should it be considered a perk of only spending 2 energy at a time for more chances to explore and therefore more chances to encounter a building?

I guess the only reason I mention it is because at 5 energy, it's essentially 2.5 normal exploration chances, and so to make it equal with 5 chances at two energy apiece versus 2 chances at 5 apiece it feels like there should be at least one guaranteed building per exploration at the 5 energy mark.

Bottom line, support.

I like Ankokou's idea of doubling resources and experience instead of size. As for buildings, you could have one building on a map, and you can use it twice? Or for shops, they'll offer you two items/trades and you can choose to take none or one or both. I'm wondering instead of using 5 energy for a richer island, you'd use 4 so the math works out better. 

And thanks for the support everyone. ^^

I would like to offer a case of against, for the purposes of a greater and rounded discussion.

Sometimes one does not have the time to explore, move around the map, fight monsters and find items, silver, food, resources, special buildings, due to constraints in life, etc...There is simply not enough time, or not enough incentive, or I wish to equally level all of my pets XP very strictly, etc...

So what is there to do?

Prioritize.

Sometimes when exploring, I only fight monsters, then return to the portal. I simply wish to level my pets, with no time for collecting resources and food.

Sometimes when exploring, I only collect resources and food, as safely as one can, then return to the portal. I simply wish to gather, with no time for levelling pets.

It is advantageous to have a pet with Acute Eyesite, as this lowers the potential movement steps on any island. Perhaps then, Acute Eyesite will become more...Valuable, as people learn to use it more? Will people learn to breed explorers? Scavengers? Foragers?

Although the terrain does not always allow for such separated "battle" and "forage" goals, I believe it fair.

If you don't have time for something, then do it less. "I need food! I need building materials!" Perhaps consider buying them, the market needs to keep moving. There are quests to make money, studs and trophy-item trades, and town halls to aid. If you are in debt for too many mouths to feed, then downsize and reorganise, and better yet...Prioritize.

Thing is, on such a new site, there's not enough stuff *coughvermillioncough* to acomplish your goals without exploring. I think that the map should be:

Larger or smaller based on level

Have more or fewer resources based on energy needed.

Support!