How can we improve Equiverse?

Long, sorry.

I support the idea of having an 'auction house' rather than privately trying to auction a horse off on your own. There's another game that does this, and it's the ONLY way you can auction a horse in the game, and it works quite well. It's easier to browse through the auction 'catalog' and see everything that's available in one place, and the auctions can be set to end on certain days (perhaps each auction cycle would run three days, once a week?). Were this to be implemented I would suggest removing the money from the bidder's account at the time the bid is placed to ensure the horse will actually be paid for. If someone outbids another person then the money is automatically returned.

And speaking of bids, I would like the ability to bid on horses that have flat prices to be either removed or given the option to be turned off. This is a serious point of frustration for me, and I know for some others as well.

I am firmly against paying real money for foundation horses beyond customs. If I couldn't just go off to the EC and create some new foundation horses without having to pay real money, that might actually be something that would drive me away from the game. Yes, I know one person is hardly any big loss, but I'd bet there are others who feel similarly.

I have club ideas, which I mentioned some time ago but then never made a post about it. I'll try to remember to do that at some point soon. I will say that having game-mandated stat requirements would drive me away from bothering with the clubs anymore (unless they were extremely low - like 125 for foundations and 150 for everything else... but even then I really don't support it). There's nothing wrong with allowing the president of each club decide what their criteria for the month is going to be.

Honestly I need LESS to do, not more. I spend 4-5-6 (or more!) hours a day on here just trying to slog through training, treating, figuring out what horses should go to 'riding school' and entering shows (not to mention general care, creating shows, breeding, etc). I strongly want to see treating returned to the old way it was, where each horse is assigned its own treat and is included in the auto-care. That alone would cut out so much wasted time and allow everything else to progress more quickly. And even among training, and possibly showing, I'd like to see checkboxes to select a group of horse to train (or show) at a time rather than going through each one by one.

I don't want to see anything that offers yet more stats - they are coming almost too easily at this point. While I appreciate the addition of being able to gain stats faster, I think there is such as thing as too much. If they're being handed out like candy then there really isn't anything left to work for or feel accomplished about.

I do like the idea of bringing back confo shows. How about one a week where the classes are broken down by breed, and the top three in each breed show earn points that are specific to confo (not overall points), and the final show each month is an open competition based on the top X number of horses based solely on points earned in confo shows (and ONLY those horses - if a horse doesn't qualify based on point requirements it cannot enter)? The final show each month could offer a significant reward - say $100K for first, $50K for second, and $25K for third. That sort of payout alone would be a good reason to limit these to once a month.

I have no problems with finances or getting horses sold (with the exception of a tiny handful) so I'm not sure what the remedy there could be. What about an early retirement option, where a horse is sent to 'pasture' (and off the player's account) to live out its days? These horses would NOT be retrievable - once it's sent to the retirement pasture it's gone permanently (records remain, horse can be viewed, player CANNOT get it back for any reason, including by paying with EVC - if that were possible this would become ripe for abuse). This would be handy for culls, poor performers, stuff that just doesn't sell, or any horse at all really.

I would like to see the addition of being able to spay mares. While I realize this is fairly uncommon in the real world, it does happen, and I think it'd be a decent option anyway. As it is I can geld a stallion and then sell him and not worry that he'll be used to make a zillion foals, but the same cannot be said for mares.

I do not support a cap on how many offspring a horse can have - the market will take care of that without implementing any sort of 'controls'. I DO support a minimum stat requirement for breeding (which, while I normally only breed once horses hit 18, this would affect me too as I currently have a line of horses that I'm doing solely for color purposes, stats be damned - but I'd be fine with having to change this project up). No horse should be able to be bought at 3 from the EC and then bred immediately. What about, say, a 200 stat minimum for foundations and then something different for pedigreed horses? I don't really know what the numbers should be.

Pretty sure you've already said cross-breeding won't ever be a thing, but if it were I would only want to see crosses amongst breeds that permit it in real life (such as, I can breed my Appaloosa to a QH, Arab, TB, or other Appaloosa and have the foal be an Appaloosa, as this is what the ApHC permits). Since there are so few breeds right now I'm not so sure this would even be worth it.

I would REALLY like to see the addition of new disciplines. Doesn't have to be a ton, but something like eventing, huntseat, and break down 'western' in to more specific events (pleasure, barrels). Also gaited/saddleseat for those who want to stick their TWHs in a traditional discipline. An addition of a SMALL bonus for putting a horse in a discipline it would naturally be better suited for would be cool but I would understand if most folks would rather that not happen. Are the breeds we have now it, forever, or will others be considered in the future? I came from a game that offered every known breed in the world, and while that would definitely be too much, I think the addition of at least a few more (and yes, I am fully aware several were removed for the recode) *might* be a draw for new players (and might inspire older players to give something new a go... I'd love to have Standardbreds :D ).

The game needs more players. The most people I've seen on at once lately is 70, and that's about 20 more than it usually is. Do you have any sort of advertising going on? It can be done for free, especially with the likes of social media.

A point about free advertising: referral competitions and referral rewards always do well on every game I've played. That would certainly help to bring in new players.

auction houses

yay! I personally don't look at horses for auction, since they're often very expensive (and it doesn't say on the list what price the most recent bid is). When I'm procrastinating I would definitely look through the auction house to see if any new horses were up.


limiting general store items

yay! I think limiting the items is a great idea, if you put a couple in riding school you'll have enough treats anyway, but a new player might be able to make some money if they run out.

crossbreeding

NO!! It would make all groups of horses smaller, making it more difficult to find good horses for sale/stud. I just don't like the idea.

height/temperment
Depends. If it's just to personalize the horse a bit more, sure! If it affected shows however, that'd be unfair to players who've had the same lines for years and years whose horses suddenly become less valuable.


crops

Nay. what would happen to the in store treats? if they're better than store treats then it would put deluxe members in a very, very unfair advantage, since all the basic members would have to buy the good treats off the deluxe. if they're worse, then I'd just keep using store treats. if they were even.... then why would you bother putting them into the game?

Oh and also getting that referal number sorted out would be really cool. maybe a monthly prize for whover referred the most members?

The way I've seen referrals done on most games is threefold:
- rewards for certain milestones, e.g. 1 referral = 1 small reward, 5 referrals = 1 larger reward, etc.
- a small 'cut' if someone you referred purchases game currency with real money, e.g. if someone you referred buys 50 credits the game gifts you 5.
- contest rewards, e.g. most successful referrer each week/month/contest period gets an additional prize, plus also prizes for 2nd, 3rd, etc.

On a separate subject, another good way I've seen games keep interest alive is through regular updates and communication of this to the player base. 'Updates' in this context can be as simple as bug fixes and minor improvements, which is already happening. The key is communication. If a notice is put out on a frequent, regular and predictable schedule just stating what the latest changes are, it keeps people interested as something new is always happening. These regular updates can also sometimes include official competitions. In the EV context this could be anything from art competitions, to puzzles, to special shows with extra large prizes.

Last edited on 2016-06-03 at 19:35:40 by UlyssesBlue (spare)

For me, I don't care if height will affect the shows or not. I think height should be part of conformation.
However, for temperament... I would love it if it will affect shows somehow (like, get bonuses, etc). It will make the game much more challenging and fun for me lol.

I would love to see more additions of disciplines as well.

Height for conformation maybe - I see it as each breed would then have to have a set standard, which would need to be published in the FAQ or wherever, and horses that are either under or over the min./max. would then be severely penalized, if not disqualified outright, in conformation shows (which the shows would have to be programmed to detect, though I've no doubt Abbey can do that). I absolutely do not want to see height affect actual showing, as that is, for the most part, irrelevant to the real world - I think we've all seen ponies who can jump the seemingly unjumpable and 17hh horses who can barely stumble over a crossrail. :P

Last I'll say is that a lot of what is being asked for already exists, almost entirely, in a different game (that I'm not naming and not recommending). That game is not fun and hasn't been for quite some time (it may not even exist anymore, I'd have to check, but last I knew they were hanging on by a thread and threatening to close down because they were no longer making enough money to support the game - because a mass exodus took place when all of the awful changes were implemented - I'll go check on it later today and see if they're still afloat). People asked for "real" and got it and promptly regretted it (I had been against it from the start as I play these games to have fun and not have them mimic real life in an extremely close manner - I started playing horse SIMs after I'd suffered a terrible real-life horse loss and needed something to distract myself and have a world where the ponies were always happy and healthy and, you know, alive). I'd just suggest caution in what you're asking for, because while I don't think Abbey is evil and I know she wouldn't want to destroy her own game that we all love, there are aspects of things that are desired that aren't always thought through completely until it's too late.

Oh, okay, THIS is the last thing I'll say - what would people think of expanding the vet checks to a small extent? Something like regular vax, periodic teeth floating, and Coggins testing...? Coggins testing could be made to ensure people who are showing but sometimes neglecting health care actually perform said health care as horses with an expired Coggins wouldn't be able to show. But PLEASE no actual EIA deaths (that was one of the horrors of the game I mentioned above - you never knew which of your horses might be dead when you logged in every day, though it was a relatively rare occurrence for the most part). Realistic is not always better. I can't stress that enough, especially if we (collective) want to attract and retain new players. I am happy to spread the word of this game on FB, though I am admittedly not friended to either a whole lot of people, or people who would be likely to sign up. But I might be able to snag a couple.

Re: the above vet suggestions, I am totally fine with the way it is now and if adding that stuff in is too much of a pain and/or no one else is really interested it's all good. It was just something I figured I'd toss out there.

I would never have horses die just randomly o.O that sounds horrible. If I was going to have horses die by illness, I'd give players a chance to treat them at the vet first - and if they failed to treat the illness, THEN the horse would die. Not that it's something I'm even considering at this point.

Last edited on 2016-06-04 at 05:07:53 by Abbey

Just want to bring up a point Ulysses said about communication, I agree it's a key factor in sim games even if it's just a monthly or bi-weekly update. I know other players have mentioned in private discussions that not knowing whether a bug is being looked at or if their suggestion is being considered or just not knowing what's going on in general with the game can be a little bit discouraging. I notice there's a few players that constantly bump bug posts and suggestions, and it starts to get annoying after a while but they're going to keep doing it until they get an answer really. Surprises are nice, aka the riding school, but there's still no hint of what's happening with things that are known and are going to be added eventually. Basically, progress updates would be wonderful.

Abbey, yeah, I know you wouldn't, and yes, it was pretty rotten. Realism run amok. lol

I also agree about regular communications. I think the idea of a bi-weekly blurb is a good one, even if there is very little to 'report' or any bug fixes are just little things that hadn't really been affecting anyone. You could keep new additions under wraps until they're introduced and just use the blurbs to say 'hey, here's what's going on at the moment', or similar.

Others mentioned a referral system... I had almost brought that up when I mentioned advertising for the game, but thought it had the potential for abuse, which probably wouldn't be a huge problem here, but the potential is still there. Even still, if it works to draw in new players it'd probably be worth a try. :)

The problem is that I can say I'll look into a bug, but I can look at the coding and see nothing wrong. When I say I'll look into a bug, it's generally expected that the bug would be fixed later that day/week when in fact it can take me weeks to actually figure out what is going on in some cases.

On another project, there has literally been a bug existing for 2 years until I've figured out what was actually causing it.

I guess I can post when I start looking at a bug? All bugs posted on the boards are acknowledged as such, but until I have been able to fix it there's nothing really much I can say unless I need to ask for more information.

I am happy to start trying to do bi-weekly updates on what I plan to do, but sometimes those plans get sidetracked and I always feel bad for not keeping to them - which is why I don't do it currently :P

It's a weird situation and I don't know the correct answer.

looking at it from an updating perspective it would be nice to know about future projects but at the same time im going to look at it once and then never again lol maybe if you made a sticky post in this board and just list all your plans for the game and an expected date, or like still thinking about it, etc. and if you don't update it again then someone can just ask on the post and you can update the list then. honestly i am the same way with my 'to-do' lists i never really keep up with them and its terrible but i just do stuff when i feel in the mood to do it and not really on like a time schedule.

idk. i mean i love seeing news updates but when you don't update all the time and i see that news notification i get excited because i know that you added something awesome to the game (;

Last edited on 2016-06-04 at 12:37:19 by madoka.

I hear ya. I don't really know either, especially if you don't have anything to really 'report'.

Do you keep a change log anywhere in the forum? I haven't seen one but that doesn't mean it's not there, lol. I don't know if that would be worth the time to do, though you wouldn't need to update it every single day. Just days when you did something, even if it's just 'began investigating XYZ bug'. And set it so only you can post to it so it doesn't get overrun with OMG FIX IT type comments, haha. :D

I have a rough plan to make updates to the game every 2 weeks. Sometimes, when I get the time, I will update the game more often than that (I would love to do weekly updates but I can't guarantee that I will always be able to do that).

During those 2 weeks of downtime I will fix small bugs and help users who make reports (or send emails about activation codes, etc).

But anyway, that's the plan. Equiverse is due an update this coming week so I'll try to formulate a rough plan of upcoming features and a plan for bugfixing.

I just like surprising you guys :P

@ Madoka, I agreed! News Update is one of my favorite thing. I feel giddy every time I saw notification for new news update.


I do like the idea of "to do list". I remember that we used to have one... for EV1, I think. That will help give us a general idea of what you are planning to add to the game. It doesn't have to be fancy TDL, a simple list will do, with no dates or whatever so Abbey can still surprise us because we won't have a clue if she is working on it right now or not.