Introduction

Hello everyone! It is me, Bane Cane, and I am here to welcome you to the fourth annual DragonVale Year In Review.

This is to celebrate the sixth year of DragonVale and all of the content which came along with it.

For anyone who does not want to read "The Review", feel free to scroll down to "The Celebration" portion of this anniversary celebration.

The Review

Beginning with the release of the Wyrmwood Dragon and the the 5th Anniversary Statue there has been a lot of content released into DragonVale this past year; September 14, 2016 through September 13, 2017.

Over the course of the year a lot of new dragons and decorations were released to us, both limited and permanent.

We ended the fifth year of DragonVale with 310 dragons released and to date we currently have 381 dragons obtainable in the game.

Backflip Studios didn't just stop with dragons and decorations. They introduced new events similar to ones seen before and for the third consecutive year had a large summer event spanning more than fifty days.

The first event we played was Whitbee's Candy Bash 3: The Sweetening where we had to collect candy and were introduced to various dragons and other limited decorations and prizes. With this event we had the option to purchase the Eerie Theme or our islands, as well as see a dragon with spooky decaying animation.

The Om of Noms returned as The Om of Noms 2 and brought with us dragons of the past as well as introduced us to an epic-primary hybrid dragon. Players were introduced to the Harvest Moon Dragon which required the limited Harvest Dragon and Moon Dragon to be bred. During this time Goody's Treatery and the Magical Greenhouse were available, along with many discounted deals on various dragons and treasure through the market.

Next up was the Frosty Jubilee event which introduced not only new dragons and decorations, but the Seasonal Theme for the our islands. This theme is like four themes in one as it changes with the seasons just like the habitat and dragon of the same namesake.

During this time most limited content previously released became available again during fifth "Bring 'Em Back" event which lasted into January 2017.

Speaking of the new year, we received the Epoch Dragon to represent the new year change. This dragon aged, but aesthetically it aged in reverse! The baby stage looked like an elderly dragon while the adult stage looked like a shiny newborn dragon baby!

The first new event to begin in 2017 was the Gardenia's Gathering of Roses 2017 event where once again players were able to collect roses to trade in for prizes. Players were able to purchase the Roseheart Path to add to their sidewalk construction options.

The Frosty Jubilee brought us more Ornamental Dragons and some new hybrid dragons mixed into the prizes and the Gardenia's Gathering of Roses 2017 event brought us more Aura Dragons with some new hybrids mixed into the prizes.

Although it may have affected being able to fit all of that specific element's dragons into one habitat it was nice to see the epic elements of the year prior being continued while still introducing creative limited hybrids too.

Soon after this event was the Mythic Egg Hunt which brought back nostalgia for some players who experienced the egg hunts the past three years. Players had to collect eggs to trade in for some animated prizes.

Some of these prizes consisted of the new Hidden Dragons which had animations which would make them look like inanimate scenes of nature such as trees, clouds, and flowers. As with the past two events which added more dragons to last year's new epic elements, the Chrysalis Dragons had some new dragons added as well this event.

With the Mythic Egg Hunt behind us it seemed what was once mythic was about to bid farewell to our parks, but then something more mythical happened! Elminster dropped into our parks and brought along two mythical friends, Bahamut and Tiamat. Thus came forth the Mythic Dragons which could be obtained via dice rolls in the Mythic Hall of Mysteries to build a puzzle to summon one of the dragons at a time.

Last in our line up of events from the past year was the one which seemed like it was going to be a repeat of last year's summer event right down to the promotions and loading screen. The Arcane Pentournament II began only to soon take a turn and become the Roar of the Rift event. This event lasted a little over 50 days and had the five houses from the Arcane Pentournament last year trying to save the vale from The Rift. Players had to earn magic through their houses and collectively their totals combined to earn a house mascot dragon and an Egg of Mystery while closing The Rift and restoring peace to the vale simultaneously!

Was magic said to be the currency? The same currency as in the first DragonVale event which brought the light and dark elements? Yes, that magic was said and that magic came back, and along with the return of it came a whole new element which is still being figured out by players; the rift element.

The rift element has been assigned to certain dragons which were obtainable throughout the Roar of the Rift, as well as being assigned to the Light Rift Dragon and Dark Rift Dragon. These two dragons had their opposite element switched to the rift element at the start of the event, as well as had a makeover in appearance.

In addition to the new dragons and three new decorations was the opportunity for players to choose to buy more Light Reward Habitats and Dark Reward Habitats. These habitats could house any light or dark element dragon containing its respective element, but also any dragon with the rift element. On top of that, instead of only being allowed to have one of each, it became possible for players to currently have three of each now.

If this wasn't all enough swirling around in our parks during this event, the Roar of the Rift also gave us the opportunity to find multiple hidden items for the first time to earn currency instead of just one hidden item. Players were able to collect hidden eggs, hidden presents, and hidden star dust clusters.

Something gigantic entered the vale during this time too as the largest island ever summoned into the vale thus far was made available. During the event players had an opportunity to spend magic on the Gargantuan Island which is almost bigger than two standard islands combined.

Besides the Gargantuan Island, this year four more standard islands were introduced to the DragonVale as well as a surprise update of 45 new tree and rock themed decorations some players had been asking to see for multiple years.

To lead up to the end of the year Backflip Studios put The Rift Gate into parks following the Roar of the Rift. While this was available players were able to collect additional daily rewards from it with the last reward on day 14 resulting in a choice of any dragon with the rift element from the Roar of the Rift.

I know I have not mentioned everything Backflip Studios released into DragonVale in the past year, but they did give us a little bit of everything the past twelve months including 15 additional park levels.

Some underlying humor was also given to players in the form of some of Noel dePlante's amusing pop-up messages during the time The Rift Gate was around.

To end the fifth year off, Backflip Studios graced players with a huge update allowing players to enter into The Rift and having them enter the next year of DragonVale discovering what it has to offer.

Here is to the upcoming seventh year of DragonVale and may it be another great one! It may have its ups and downs, but if it is like past years, it will be fun and many of us players will continue to play on!

The Celebration

If you made it this far (or skipped past the review portion) here is where we can show Backflip Studios how much we appreciate and enjoy DragonVale.

For anyone who wants to celebrate the past year of DragonVale whether it is by writing a thank you note, a poem, a paragraph, a few sentences, or anything written honoring the content (not the wiki) in DragonVale please share it below in the comments.

For any of the artists out there who want to celebrate through visual art, a gallery will be placed in the first comment of this thread in which all images can be placed. You may also leave a link to your image or your image in the comments below.

If anyone feels like his/her celebratory post is too long you can always put it in a blog or sandbox and post the link in the comments instead.