Topic

Butterfly lifespans in houses are too short

During the past couple tests I have been paying close attention to the lifespans of my butterflies in my home. I have concluded that if you own enough milkers that you can empty them out before they are filled (so that they are able to constantly milk the butterflies) those butterflies will "ascend to a higher plane" three days after they were hatched. They will live longer if your milkers reach maximum capacity for awhile before you come back to collect. I had 3 milkers in my home with 4 butterflies at any given time (replacing them as they vanished), and played enough during this last test to empty out all the milkers long before the 2nd one ever filled up. Every single one of my butterflies died 3 days after I created them.

I understand that at least one of the reasons for making this happen is to clear out over-crowded streets. If this is the case, it's not serving its purpose: since we can't put milkers in streets, those butterflies aren't affected much by this. It's the homeowners that have them in their yards that are being punished. Their lifetimes are so short now that it seems pointless to even name them. It adds insult to injury that butterflies that "ascend" due to overcrowding leave behind milk bottles, but ones that "ascend" due to over-milking do not. 

I would be happy if the lifespans were doubled. 6 days or so with constant milking by milkers seems much more reasonable to me. I also rather enjoy having to replace them with new hatchlings, but not every 3 days. Also, different rules for houses vs. streets would be helfpul: make the limit on total number of interactions less than it is now in streets, and greater than it is now in homes.

Posted 15 months ago by Shepherdmoon Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • Yep...way too short for me.

    In fact, I'm still confused as to why we even need to have the lifespans in our homes, since we have the ability to release them.
    I understand and think it's great out in the world, but not in our homes.
    Posted 15 months ago by sgjo Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yeah, I'd agree to something like a butterfly feeder just to keep them alive longer. 6 days seems like a reasonable lifespan. I can't really verify if butterflies in the wild even perish, they seem to live forever.
    Posted 15 months ago by roderick ordonez Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I agree with you SM - I was actually thinking about it this morning. I no longer name my butterflies either because, "What's the point?"  They're just going to be gone in a few days anyway. Six days is a lot more reasonable for the butterflies that are pets.

    @roderick - You make a good point. How 'do' we know if wild butterflies perish? It's sort of perplexing. How do we make the comparison without even knowing that one vital piece of information?
    Posted 15 months ago by CoffeeSnob Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Agreed! Please let us keep our butterflies for longer.
    Posted 15 months ago by Melody Pond Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I had a dozen butterflies and one milker. They never died. But I released them all today. Fly and be free!
    Posted 15 months ago by Mac Rapalicious Subscriber! | Permalink
  • +100 Shepherdmoon. 

    Like Sheperdmoon I also tested the lifespan of my butterflies, starting two tests back, naming them with their day and date of creation, with the same results. I certainly feel we are being punished for having the remote herdkeeping skill.

    Butterflies outside in my quarter have lived now for a long time, all 13 of them quite happily. Whilst I'm happy for them to have a lifespan, I really think to keep things in perspective it should relate to their age not how many times they have been milked.
    Posted 15 months ago by Teena Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Agreed!  Last week's butterflies, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta, lasted three or four days with two milkers.  This week, I pulled the milkers out to give Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, and Theta a fighting chance.  When last I saw them, they were fluttering around happily, never knowing what evil almost befell them.  If this persists, in the future, I'll sing to my own butterflies, but only milk the ones in the streets.
    Posted 15 months ago by glum pudding Subscriber! | Permalink
  • So weird. I had four or five butterflies and never had one die. Ditto my pigs and chickens. I have (had. tears.) RHK and butterfly milker. No probs.

    Maybe there were packs of coyotes that no one knew about?
    Posted 15 months ago by emdot Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I believe it has something to do with the number of milkers you have. It seems that having one milker doesn't kill them. One suggestion I can think of is that devs could modify the "sing to" behavior so that singing to butterflies can extend their lifespans.
    Posted 15 months ago by roderick ordonez Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I like Rodrick's idea. Domesticated butterflies live longer because of better care (daily singing), but die faster if you abuse them for their resources.

    And 3-6 days seems almost reasonable while we're in beta, but I think once the game is open 24/7, it will get REALLY old to be hatching new 'flies twice a week.
    Posted 15 months ago by Sheepy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I was quite saddened to see that my butterflies were gone when I returned home the test before last. I loved seeing them fluttering about. I only have one milker, though, and they still had expired. I would also love to see a longer life span for 'domestic' butterflies. But all the butterflies on my street were merrily fluttering around when this last test closed.
    Posted 15 months ago by Miss Tara Subscriber! | Permalink
  • With the current butterfly lifespan / maximum number of milkers, it seems much easier to me to go out and milk wild butterflies.
    Posted 15 months ago by Lipt Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I suggested this as a possible solution.

    beta.glitch.com/forum/ideas...
    Posted 15 months ago by Zeezee Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I agree that the latest tweak to butterfly life leaves them too ephemeral.

    This seems to me to be true both in our homes and in the wild.

    Pigs are definitely the better investment right now, and it seems like it should be more balanced.
    Posted 15 months ago by clare Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I remember hearing something about the number of times a butterfly is milked, a pig is nibbled and a chicken is squeezed impacts their life span.

    I added more butterflies with 2 milkers. If you aren't emptying them frequently, I think they will live longer.
    Posted 15 months ago by g33kgurrl Subscriber! | Permalink
  • The butterflies have a total of 3 days productive lifespan inside of them. Time where they aren't being utilized will make them "live" longer, but they are being useless during that time.... besides looking pretty, I suppose.

    The pig and chicken lifetimes are apparently (through experimental evidence) either infinite, or longer than could be observed during the last three tests.

    EDIT: I suppose that if you frequently interact with your butterflies in addition to having milkers that you empty out before they fill up, their lifespans will be even shorter than 3 days. I was told by devs that ALL butterfly interactions count toward this, including massaging them and singing to them.
    Posted 15 months ago by Shepherdmoon Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I never had a problem with butterflies dying, and I was always looking out for it. I only ever used one milker though, and had a flock of 6 or 7 all named after Doctor Who villains. Yes, even the Daleks were never defeated by my milker. Even with just one milker it seemed like I always had a lot on my hands, I just kept a stockpile in the backyard.
    Posted 15 months ago by Keymo Machine Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Sounds like you had the most awesome butterflies in Glitch, Keymo :)

    I'm sure with 6 or 7 butterflies the one milker filled up very quickly, and there was alot of time where the milker was sitting there full, not doing anything until you dropped by to empty it. That down time is was extended your butterfly's lives. Sounds like you had enough milk to suit your needs, so it worked perfectly for you. When I was working on projects I would go through milk very quickly, though, since alot of cheese and butter is required for some phases. 
    Posted 15 months ago by Shepherdmoon Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yes, it seems like many just need to add more butterflies to expand their life spans if they have many milkers...since more butterflies would be milked less by the milkers until they are emptied.  I doubled the number of my butterflies and they indeed seemed to live longer...but I'm one of those that gets more than enough milk from just one milker also...
    Posted 15 months ago by b3achy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I had one butterfly milker only and my butterflies died quickly. Maybe 4 and a half game days. Not sure on the rights and wrongs of the ones in the houses but the most need I have to get rid of butterflies is on clogged public streets where there are frequently so many it slows down the game. Have been longing for animal poison for quite a while!
    Posted 15 months ago by Violet Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Good feedback and we'll have a look at how to tweak it! However, keep in mind that with a whole swaggle of milkers in the yard it's kind of like factory farming conditions for those lil' butterflies so they aren't going to live forever ;)
    Posted 15 months ago by stoot barfield Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Swaggle is a fantastic word. I may have to use it myself.
    Posted 15 months ago by Theremina Lute Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thanks, Stoot! I don't need them to live forever, but a bit longer than it currently is would make me happy. 
    Posted 15 months ago by Shepherdmoon Subscriber! | Permalink
  • lol Shepherd...I'm pretty much the opposite - out in the streets they should have much shorter lifespans - but in my yard I figure I should be able to have them live for a very long time ...no matter if I have a lot of milkers or not - otherwise, what's the use of having them if you can't depend on them to make you a profit?
    Posted 15 months ago by sgjo Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yes, sgjo--if something like butterfly vitamins, which was suggested in another thread, were implemented to increase their lifetimes, it would balance the game better, since feeding piggies keeps them alive indefinitely. 
    Posted 15 months ago by Shepherdmoon Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Maybe the butterflies in the yards could occasionally spontaneously lay an egg or something to reproduce.  That way there is another reward for taking care of them.  I agree sgjo that the ones in the street should have shorter lifespans - especially on the streets where someone has released 500 of them!

    I love "swaggle!"  Great word!
    Posted 15 months ago by lovintnt Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I had only one Milker and one butterfly.  I never lost a butterfly until the recent tweaks in life spans.  The first time the LS was tweaked I lost my butterfly which I had had for a while but it was no older than my pig and chicken neither of which died.  I also had a meat collector.  I just happened to have a caterpiller (because I think they are cute) so I fed it and got a new butterfly.  The next day (as I recall) there was a second LS tweak (or nerf) and I lost the new butterfly which had filled my milker only once.  So, yes, I agree, at home the butterflies die too fast while out in the streets there are way too many of them.  I cannot enter a door without having to choose between the door and the butterfly.  I cannot pet a tree without milking a butterfly.  I cannot mine ore without milking, massaging or singing first.  There are also way too many chickens in the streets and occasionally too many pigs.
    Posted 15 months ago by Brib Annie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • 8O...+1, lovintnt - for that egg idea!!

    Yep, brib...I'm a touchy feely kinda gal, myself - I'm always messin' with the critters, both in my home and out in the world (maybe that's why they follow me around so much...they like it, they really like it! :D :D :P )

    But I've been critternapping the piggies who are being crowded out in the streets - wish we could critternap the butterflies and chickens too :)
    Posted 15 months ago by sgjo Subscriber! | Permalink
  • +1 sgjo! Yeah! With a Butterfly Net! :D
    Posted 15 months ago by Arii Subscriber! | Permalink
  • +1 for the egg idea too. If piggies leave meat when they perish, I think butterflies should also leave something when they go.
    Posted 15 months ago by roderick ordonez Subscriber! | Permalink