to me, a gem gene offers something that is desirable for making a dragon seem "fancy," for some value of the concept. (in the case of stained and pha/sarc, i have a sneaking suspicion that these are gem genes specifically because of their value as a kind of "tech choice" for g1 collectors, with soap being a gem gene simply to keep it on even footing with stained.)
i am willing to acknowledge that my own initial "why are these gem genes??" reaction totally came from feeling like the harlequin theme didn't meet the arbitrary standard for ~elegance~ that exists in my head. and that's a two-way street: i was super surprised that flaunt/flair were treasure genes due to their detailed art and elegant, sparkly aesthetic. but, you know, obviously that's nothing to complain about, haha.
all that said, it is also interesting to me to think back to when butterfly (and eventually petals) came out: those were game-changers at the time, being only the second gene type to introduce accent colors and doing so in a more "elegant" way than poitox. but would we react the same way to butterfly + petals genes if they were released today? i'm not so sure! truly, we've been spoiled with so many cool options.
I feel like petbutt (lol) is next-level rendering, too. It's not just accented but appears to change the form of the dragon's wing, from breed-typical leather or feathers to a butterfly's wing. The primary also looks like raised leaves due to the pattern's complexity. I disagree with flaunt/flair being gem-level, even if they are very cool, because they don't appear to change the form. Maybe brewed? Filigree and glowtail, while lazy, make sense as gem genes because they also change form in a very striking way. Spines is a plainer variation of form, so it makes sense as a brewed gene.
Glowtail and filigree are especially disappointing because they're really cool concepts, but I don't think they were taken far enough. Maybe glowtail could've accented the hindlegs with glowy scales? And filigree is just not quite enough detail on the larger breeds.
There's a comment further on down here that's bait, but I also agree with it. FR is mid "and always has been," lol. I think they've gotten lazy with genes like firefly and even the leopard family. God, that is horrid quality. Soap's a step up, but I really wonder what happened to the standard that brought us wasp/bee. I keep thinking they lost a better artist, but who knows. I'm just talking shit. 8^D
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+1
(Anonymous) 2023-04-17 11:25 pm (UTC)(link)to me, a gem gene offers something that is desirable for making a dragon seem "fancy," for some value of the concept.
(in the case of stained and pha/sarc, i have a sneaking suspicion that these are gem genes specifically because of their value as a kind of "tech choice" for g1 collectors, with soap being a gem gene simply to keep it on even footing with stained.)
i am willing to acknowledge that my own initial "why are these gem genes??" reaction totally came from feeling like the harlequin theme didn't meet the arbitrary standard for ~elegance~ that exists in my head. and that's a two-way street: i was super surprised that flaunt/flair were treasure genes due to their detailed art and elegant, sparkly aesthetic. but, you know, obviously that's nothing to complain about, haha.
all that said, it is also interesting to me to think back to when butterfly (and eventually petals) came out: those were game-changers at the time, being only the second gene type to introduce accent colors and doing so in a more "elegant" way than poitox. but would we react the same way to butterfly + petals genes if they were released today? i'm not so sure! truly, we've been spoiled with so many cool options.
Re: +1
(Anonymous) 2023-04-22 03:58 am (UTC)(link)I feel like petbutt (lol) is next-level rendering, too. It's not just accented but appears to change the form of the dragon's wing, from breed-typical leather or feathers to a butterfly's wing. The primary also looks like raised leaves due to the pattern's complexity. I disagree with flaunt/flair being gem-level, even if they are very cool, because they don't appear to change the form. Maybe brewed? Filigree and glowtail, while lazy, make sense as gem genes because they also change form in a very striking way. Spines is a plainer variation of form, so it makes sense as a brewed gene.
Glowtail and filigree are especially disappointing because they're really cool concepts, but I don't think they were taken far enough. Maybe glowtail could've accented the hindlegs with glowy scales? And filigree is just not quite enough detail on the larger breeds.
There's a comment further on down here that's bait, but I also agree with it. FR is mid "and always has been," lol. I think they've gotten lazy with genes like firefly and even the leopard family. God, that is horrid quality. Soap's a step up, but I really wonder what happened to the standard that brought us wasp/bee. I keep thinking they lost a better artist, but who knows. I'm just talking shit. 8^D
Re: +1
(Anonymous) 2023-04-22 05:26 am (UTC)(link)NAYRT such a good point! I feel like Wasp/Bee is from a different game entirely lol. It's just so different.