ZooChat 'Embrace the ABCs' Challenge - Mammals

[FunkyGibbon]

For one thing this challenge is a nice deviation from the usual annual challenges. A real strenght is that this challenge is not so much influenced by visiting a few major collections. Another element that I really liked is the tactical part. With this challenge I had to think ahead and plan my choices (though I made some major mistakes in hindsight: I never realised how vital Burgers' Safari was for my score until I had left the zoo!).

This is all good to hear, and I'm pleased the tactical component was fun. I think the potential for making mistakes does add engagement and enjoyment, as well as making replaying the challenge quite viable.

One thing I'm a bit unsure about is the "sense of urgency" as you called it. On one hand it did trigger my competitive spirit - resulting in a super fast visit to Ouwehands when I saw a chance to do so. However, it doesn't give a lot of time to catch up when you're falling behind. I understand that there's a delicate balance between creating urgency and allow for some opportunity to catch up again. It may have been a leaning a bit too much to the urgency side for me.

As @twilighter mentions, probably the challenge played slower because it was winter season. The sense of urgency is an important part of the game, and it might be that if it plays really fast in the summer that's also fun, but at the same time the more people can play the more they can enjoy it. I think a simple adjustment might be to expand the podium to five places rather than three.

As a mentioned before, this challenge add more excitement and educational part to my zoo visits. I even tried to reach Jaguarundy, but they canceled my fly to Poznan on 21/3 due to Corona. When you see certain number of zoos and mammal species, man stops pay much attention to Crocuta crocuta or Nasua nasua, but the game made me revisit their enclosures few times

Yes, this is a strength of all the challenges and the main reason I enjoy them.

I think, that the rules are adequate and the only reason, the challenge took more time is the winter season. I could add one or two more 3 pointers, like Jaculus jaculus in Bronx, but preferred to play safe.

As mentioned above, it will, hopefully, be interesting to see how things play out with another round in the summer.

Would love to play this challenge on yearly base, with the term to get maximum points, instead for timing. The current world maximum - 69 points is achievable and would be great to run for it. May be next year . The total maximum of 71 points is historically available, but I do not think there are current holdings of Urocitellus undulatus and Indri Indri .

I think this would be a bit slow for most people, but there's absolutely no reason for you not to do it yourself and keep us updated

 

[Someokapinextdoor]

So as you may guess I really was in love with this challenge from the moment I first read the rules. Considering that "The ABC" and "Animals" were the only thing three-year old me cared about I couldn't not give it a try. I would never have guessed that only having winter weekends in Germany and no car would be enough to finish it before anyone else. And if my jagouarundi quest at the Wildkatzenzentrum didn't fail I would even been able to complete it without ever moving more than 50 km form my home. And the only far away zoo, Dortmund, was ticked of on my way home from a holiday in Amsterdam that was unrelated to the challenge.

The most fun part of this was being on a "mission". For my visit to Wildkatzenzentrum I had to walk 7 km both ways through muddy Brandenburg fields from the train station because on Saturday there isn't even a bus going there. I would never have considered doing such a thing if there wasn't a prize laying on the other end (even if I didn't get the full one in this case). So this challenge definitely helped me getting to know the surroundings of my new home city, something I want to definietly expand on when it's possible again.

Just to give you an impression, my initial plan included Berlin Z, Berlin TP, Eberswalde, Leipzig and Nürnberg and shifted multiple times with Amsterdam, Oranienburg, Schönebeck, Straßfurt at least taken into consideration before settling on the final plan. Even on the final day I had to decide between completely ****** weather in Nürnberg (and dragging my parents through the rain as we had fixed the date weeks before) and potentially one more point (Libyan striped weasel) or only moderately ****** weather in Berlin and depending on a potentially shy deer to complete the challenge at all. We decided to postpone Nürnberg to the summer (hopefully) and I was rewarded. People must have really wondered why I jumped with joy when I saw a boring deer lie in the back of its paddock while only mildly smiling when seeing two cuddly pandas playing only 30 meters next to it.

So, if there was anything that could make three year old me proud that would be: "Being world champion at visiting animals by ABC rules". Even though I haven't technically won yet, I see this as a peak in my life from a certain perspective.

Anyway, a few thoughts on challenge structure:

• It's a little pity that many of the three point species were very standard species. That is a bit by design because the species discovered first tend to get scientific names where species and generus name are identical (like Gorilla gorilla or Suricatta suricatta). I don't think this "problem" should be or can be solved, it's just an observation
• Without ZTL, I wouldn't have been able to do it. So I think, a bonus for non-european players wouldn't be inappropriate
• I already looked at the birds. At least in the German speaking area it looks doable, but again it's tricky. Birds are often less easy to reliably spot and sometimes even kept behind the scenes.
• I would also enjoy mammal challenges with a more narrow focus (ungulates only or mammals native to africa)

 

[twilighter]

Congratultions @Someokapinextdoor, your quest sounds very exciting I like your idea for narrow focus, cos this will gave us a chance for another interesting Mammal round.

@FunkyGibbon I can try, why not Finding the 3 point taxons was the most triling part of this game. With 61 points(62 potentialy) was not even close this time, but still have the lead, when it comes to non-bonus result

 

[FunkyGibbon]

Anyway, a few thoughts on challenge structure:

• It's a little pity that many of the three point species were very standard species. That is a bit by design because the species discovered first tend to get scientific names where species and generus name are identical (like Gorilla gorilla or Suricatta suricatta). I don't think this "problem" should be or can be solved, it's just an observation
• Without ZTL, I wouldn't have been able to do it. So I think, a bonus for non-european players wouldn't be inappropriate
• I already looked at the birds. At least in the German speaking area it looks doable, but again it's tricky. Birds are often less easy to reliably spot and sometimes even kept behind the scenes.
• I would also enjoy mammal challenges with a more narrow focus (ungulates only or mammals native to africa

I was quite surprised at how many three point species there were. I suppose you are right but there isn't much we can do about it in this paradigm of the challenge.

With regards to ZTL advantaging European players, this has always been the case in the global challenge and there's never been a bonus there. I appreciate this challenge does need more targeted knowledge though. Something to think about. I'm more inclined towards a mechanic that acknowledges the disparity rather than compensates for it.

For birds (heaven knows when that will be), I am going to introduce a new rule that allows people to fill the more difficult slots since it does appear to be much more difficult.

Did you look to see how possible more restricted mammal challenges would be? I haven't. In any case, I already have a good concept for next year

 

[birdsandbats]

Just putting this out there - for birds I know there is a 3 point "X" species possible in Europe. The species might be kept in North America somewhere as well, though I'm not sure.

 

[Someokapinextdoor]

If anyone is interested and able to read German: I did a detailed writeup of my challenge experience on the forum of the German zoo community. You'll have to register there to read it:

Zoofreunde Board

I'm sorry I cannot provide you the text in English, but writing a text of this length in a language other than German is not something I'm very keen on.

 

[HOMIN96]

Zoo Plzen 23/6/2020
Hystrix indica, Indian crested porcupine
Jaculus jaculus, Lesser Egyptian jerboa
Rhinoceros unicornis, Indian rhinoceros

Current list:

A: Atherurus africanus, African Brush-tailed Porcupine, 3pts, Prague
B: Bison bison, Bison, 3 points, Wien
C:Capra caucasica, Caucasian tur, 3pts, Prague
D: Dasyuroides byrnei, Kowari, 2pts, Jihlava
E: Eira barbara, Tayra, 2pts, Prague
F: Felis chaus, Jungle cat, 2pts, Jihlava
G: Gorilla gorilla, Lowland gorilla, 3pts, Prague
H: Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris, Capybara, 3pts, Jihlava
I: Hystrix indica, Indian crested porcupine, 1pt, Plzen
J: Jaculus jaculus, Lesser Egyptian jerboa, 3pts, Plzen
K: Kerodon rupestris, Rock cavy, 2pts, Jihlava
L: Lynx lynx, Eurasian Lynx. 3 points, Wien
M: Mephitis mephitis, Striped Skunk, 3pts Brno
N: Nasua narica, White-nosed coati. 3 points, Wien
O: Otolemur garnettii, Garnett's galago, 2pts, Jihlava
P: Phloeomys pallidus, Northern-Luzon Giant Cloud Rat. 3 points, Wien
Q: Equus quagga, Plains Zebra. 1 point, Wien
R: Rhinoceros unicornis, Indian rhinoceros, 2pts, Plzen
S: Suricata suricatta, Meerkat. 3 points, Wien
T: Tapirus terrestis, South American tapir, 3pts, Jihlava
U: Ursus maritimus, Polar Bear. 2 points, Wien
V: Varecia variegata, Black-and-white ruffed lemur, 3 pts Brno
W: Wallabia bicolor, Swamp wallaby, 2pts, Prague
X: Xerus inauris, Cape ground squirrel 2pts, Prague
Y: Herpailurus yagouaroundi, Jaguarundi, 1pt, Prague
Z: Vulpes zerda, Fennec fox, 1pt, Jihlava

+2 points for 3rd place

Points: 63

So @Someokapinextdoor asked if I could possibly finish the challenge and thus close it with my latest Plzen visit. Because I completely forgot about this thread, I didn't really pay attention to the Latin names during my visit, so I wasn't sure if I'll be able to close it but fortunately, it did work out.