EV Inflation from Riding Schools?

Since riding schools have come around, it's been really fast and easy to make money, but I'm also noticing a spike in credit prices and, to a lesser extent, show prices. I am wondering if this is detrimental to the EV economy... in another year, selling horses for millions til you can't count the 0s. Anyone else concerned?

Not concerned in the slightest.

Credit prices seem to be more of a supply/demand type of deal. It is what it is, so long as people are buying them between 80k and 125k, they will be listed as such. Hooray internet capitalism!

As far as showing goes, I suspect that the prices are due to a number of factors, and I don't think it really has anything to do with how "easy" it is to make money in the riding schools. One, there are many members who spent the 10k per arena and had enough arenas to make 300-1000+ shows. By having it limited to 200 active shows at a time, that cuts into a good deal of profit/way to recoup the cost of the arena through show entry fees. I was making over 400 shows a day with $20 entry fees and getting 20k a day in entry fee profit. To keep up a similar profit, I started increasing my show fees to $50 unless...

(Second)...I'm actively trying to reduce the number of horses entering some of the shows I make with the intention of hopefully only getting 5-6 entries MAX by the time the 24 hours are up. This is purely so my own horses can place better and get the stat gains. I'm certain there are some other members who are doing this as well. I rotate which horses I focus on to do this, and I certainly saw this happening in other disciplines and levels when I was focused on a different show herd. So, if you take a gander on any given day at R4 or R5 Showjumping shows, you'll probably see over 50 shows I've made at $100 for 3 of my horses and then maybe 10-20 shows I made at $20 for the people who autoshow on the "cheapest" option (these are the shows I put my horses within a few points of leveling since they are guaranteed to get more entries, and effectively funnel the competition away from my $100 shows). The $100 shows will ysyally get only 2-3 more entries each, which is ideal.

Third, on any given day or week there are large swatches of divisions and disciplines that simply don't have enough entries to fill 10 or 20 shows for horses to gain stats. There are also levels of disciplines that have SO many horses and not enough shows. In that case...supply and demand - not enough shows, jack up the entry fees to cash in on it. Sometimes this changes rapidly....it is very noticeable when larger herds are rotated out of showing and when larger breeders are locked or unlocked.

Personally, I try to spread some of the lower-entry fee show love around with whatever shows I have leftover after making sure my Jumpers are taken care of. I usually find myself grumpy the next day because I have 10-100 active $20 shows that, by the ever-changing luck and timing of that day, have hardly any entries and are taking up valuable "active show" slots that my own horses could be utilizing.

Last edited on 2017-02-14 at 22:26:38 by Ducky

I agree with Ducky but would like to point out something else as well. Most of the players that sell things, like art, in which auctions go very high, have been here for quite a while. The longer they are here, the more they make. The players doing most of the buying and selling having more money means a spike in prices. I don't think it's the riding schools jacking up the prices, but simply people gaining money by being here longer. Many newer people still struggle to get enough money. Horses have a very low market right now, so, I wouldn't say everything is up, just certain desired items. Supply and demand.

@Silver - I don't necessarily agree with the older members having more money based on personal experience. I've been here since 2012, but never went into the millions until just recently, and even still I can't seem to keep myself in the millions because i'm an impulsive art buyer. I came back from a long break just a month ago, blew almost all 5 million i had from reselling old characters, broke the bank and dropped to 100k - if that, and here i am again, having earned over 900k in just the last week, from art sales. I think it's art sales that are really driving members to crank the cash. It's been discussed before how members don't find it fair that people who are even the slightest decent at art can bring in millions from selling it whereas people who can't even draw a straight line are stuck looking for their horses to bring in money, which is understandable, but surely the art selling and buying isn't going to go anywhere. I think the art is really something that's messing with a lot of people.

Ducky hit everything spot on. I use the same showing method she does as well.
The only things i've seen increasing in price are peppermints (though that's easily explained by the fact that they are much harder to find than pre-recode) and credits.

We did just have three new credit items made available, so connecting that to the increase in prices is a perfect example of supply and demand.

there's also been a general decrease in horse sale/stud prices, but i think that's due to the unlimited EC horses we can buy and the fact that so many players used that new perk to start foundation herds, and so aren't looking outside their own lines for horses or suds as frequently as they did before.

tldr; not concerned, it's just coincidence and the changing nature of capitalism :)

I voiced a concern about his several months ago, suggesting a revamp of the system because the money is coming out of thin air (got shot down big time). No one pays anything out of pocket to participate in riding school, the owners of the school don't invest anything beyond having a deluxe, and yet both sides stand to rake in thousands a day. There's no competition, you get bulk items at 0 cost, AND you get paid and usually get stats. I think it's too easy, and while it's nice on days where there isn't time to show or perhaps as an all the time thing for those with tons of horses, I still maintain that it will damage our economy long-term.

I agree that the current credit prices are more supply and demand based and show prices are strategic with the new system, but I still think there are flaws with rising school that need to be addressed.

"Thousands per day".

Loling.

I hardly get anything from my riding school.

I price my shows at $100 because I'm unlucky and have about 8 R2 level horses and I hate my horses to be in the same shows as each other. So, I jack the prices up on my shows to minimize people entering them while I'm dealing with shows.

@kuk - loling? just entering the horses i have everyday at full 10 hours for 400/an hour i bring in at least 10-15k a day. It's VERY easy to bring in thousands with a larger number of horses, not that i'm complaining.

I agree with Wey's first post- just because you've been here longer doesn't mean you're rich. I've been here since the beginning of 2015, so two years, and I just now reached 1mil for the first time.

But on topic of the original post, I actually am slightly worried... because of past experiences. All of the other horse games I've played- not exaggerating -had extraordinarily overpriced things. Once you bought your first horse, you had like no money left. I've been here as long as I have because it was easy to build your herd and also be able to afford to take care of them. That being said, I don't think this will happen to EV any time soon, but I am worried in the back of my head.

However, I don't support lessening riding school earnings. I get about 10-12k a day from schooling all of my horses. Because of that, I managed to go from 400k to 1 mil in literally almost a month. I don't do art and my horses aren't currently show-focused, so schooling helped me gain a large amount of money in a short period of time. Is that a bad thing? No, not to me.

Last edited on 2017-02-15 at 11:26:59 by Lovestruck Raptorfang Ω

Wey, I'm talking about people using my riding stable, since it was mentioned that school owners and people using the schools can "Rake in thousands". I hardly, if ever have my stables used.

Even if I dumped all my horses into riding schools, I wouldn't make nearly as much as I do from shows. At max, I would make 22.4k. I make double that from showing, daily.

Actually, I agree that "money from nowhere" may be a problem.
I've joined this game about one month ago, for one or two weeks I send every day +/- 30 horses to Riding Schools (I haven't got that many earlier) and I could afford to spent 15k on one covering, 30k on a horse, about 10k on other coverings, to upgrade one tack complet (saddle, bridle, tail guard and splint boots) to its maximum level (5/5), expand my horses' limit to 40, I train all of my horses every day and I still have 150k EVD in bank.
Not that I'm complaining or something but...it's too easy to earn a lot of money. I'd have them even more if I hadn't put horses only for group lessons (I need exp to get 10th level).

I think the riding schools are definitely good especially for someone who may be new, can't make art, and is starting their own herd of horses who obviously wouldn't be top showers/money earners and are looking for ways to get the money to, say, upgrade tack which is extremely expensive.

Sometimes i spend more on shows in one day than i make back, even with my 600+ stat stallions.

I understand everyone is worried about the economy, but I am relieved by the riding schools. I can afford to do things I WANT to do with my herd now. I literally hate shows. Even when I first started I hated them. Now I don't have to show a horse unless I want to.

I really love the riding schools, but I have absolutely no use for showing because I don't know how to do it to benefit my horses and my bank. Without that knowledge you better FORGET having cash because showing will bankrupt you. I spent $6,000 on shows just last week for all of my Regionals, and almost $2,000. I hate shows because you literally have to know how to work them to win. I don't have time for that.

I agree with blue moon on that too. If i don't have time to go through individually and show my horses, i can easily throw them into riding schools where i'm guaranteed to get money and stats, and it's sometimes easier to just use riding school than hope for my horses to place in shows.

I think Kuk and Blue Moon together bring in a valid point and I will add: Riding Schools and Showing allow for more flexible game play, and allow for a broader appeal for many different types of players. This is a *good* thing - the broader the appeal, the more likely for more active players to stick around. More active players = game expansion and fun goodies (crossbreeds? a new breed? a new discipline?!)

Don't have the cash to fully upgrade your tack to make your horses more competitive? Riding school to the rescue! Don't want to take the time to show effectively? NO PROBLEM! Put horses in Riding School. Have herds that make money in showing? FANTASTIC! Show those horses in whatever method makes sense for you that maximizes profit/stat gain/whatever your priority is.

Ultimately, this game should be fun. Fun involves rewards, such as access to a cashflow. People *should* get rewarded for playing the game, even if they don't have 2+ hours/day to spend.

"The economy" is also, unfortunately, relative. A lot of it has to do with luck and timing of who's active/unlocked at the time, who's working on a project that meshes with what I have available OR what I'm looking for, etc. I think, ultimately, attracting and retaining more active players with more varied interests and playing styles will help. And that circles back around to there being a wider appeal, more flexible play, rewards and available cash flow for *all* categories of players.

**This isn't to say that the concerns raised aren't valid. They surely are. But I don't think the Riding School is to blame, I think that's ultimately a too-narrow focus on a pretty interconnected issue**

(I should also add that I personally try and make an effort to buy horses from newer members *when it makes sense * -- I stick those into riding school. I'm also going to start making a point to buy art when it is financially feasible from members who are just beginning --I like to encourage people to work on their skills and profit, I think is a good way to help)

♥

Last edited on 2017-02-15 at 12:34:29 by Ducky