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Congratulations on your upcoming wedding. I can understand why it's hard to get much else done when you have something that major coming up. Good luck with everything involved!

1. What do you think would encourage members to breed outside of their own stock of horses?
-I think that this might be improved with theoretical expansion of the clubs. Right now it's so cumbersome to register horses (especially when you have a lot of different breeds), that I often forget to or put it off. Having the stud and sales list within the clubs is hugely helpful... if people are active enough in the clubs to check those listings out.
-A lot of the reasons I don't frequently breed outside my herd is as Jezarae said; I plan my breedings in advance so I know how many foals I'm going to get out of individuals or pairs, and so I know what day it will be necessary to breed in order to avoid having a horse age out. If I hope to breed to an outside stud, it could really mess up my plans if something of the quality I'm looking for wasn't available when I needed it.
-I really dig Ulysses Blue's proposal for increased visibility of studs!
-I strongly dislike the idea of being limited in how many EC horses I can buy, although a cap as high as the one Wisteria suggested wouldn't be bad. But the old limits made it very hard to build up a base of foundations. I also don't like the idea of limiting how many horses you can put in the RC; being unable to delete horses, that's really the only way to get rid of a horse you don't want and can't sell.
-I do like the idea of a *minor* boost for breeding to another stud. Maybe a very small stat boost or conformation boost, or a bonus to how quickly the horse gains experience and points? I wouldn't want to feel penalized for breeding to my own horses, but some small incentive to use outside stock would be nice. (The idea of slightly better conformation inheritance is actually my favorite of those; it's probably the hardest thing currently to improve, so even a small boost to it could be a big incentive.)

2. Why do you think there is a problem with it at the moment?
-Communication. I 100% understand with the wedding stuff (and that real life always takes priority!) but I know people are frustrated when it feels like things are going wrong and then not being addressed. I'm sure that'll even out once things calm down for you, though. :)
-The economy is still a little shaky. I think it's actually improved dramatically with the inclusion of the riding schools; it seems like newer players especially have a steadier source of income, which allows them to spend money on improving their stock. I've been pricing just below what I used to, but still what I'd consider reasonable, and I've been selling horses reasonably quickly in most cases as compared to before, both to old and new players.
But as a few people suggested, some kind of pricing guidelines could be helpful. I know that you had said back in the suggestions thread that you didn't want to have static values on things, because you'd prefer the economy fluctuate, and I understand that. (Plus pricing can be based on so many things; color, stats, conformation, length of pedigree, etc.) But disagreements over what horses are worth seems to be one of the biggest frustrations... older players want fair compensation for the amount of work that has gone into their horses, newer players are upset they can't afford some horses... having something explaining or discussing pricing could be a helpful resource.

3. What do you think would encourage members to sell and buy horses more frequently?
-I always breed spare foals to sell, partially for income, partially to ensure I get the genetic combinations I'm after. And at least for some breeds, my horses are very good and sell very quickly. But for horses that aren't among the best, or horses of breeds that don't seem to be especially popular (my poor Friesians...) it's hard to get them to move. I think that improved visibility of sales (again, as Ulysses Blue suggested) might help. Or if there was some small boost (again, higher rate of experience/point gain, or very slightly higher luck in stat gain from shows?) to encourage purchasing outside blood. I still wouldn't want to feel penalized for keeping horses, or to feel like a horse I sell is always going to wind up better than one I keep in the end, because that isn't fair either, but a bit of a boost could be incentive.
-I also buy a lot of outside horses, and would buy more if there were ones that suited my goals. But I don't want to buy horses that will cause a stat hit in my herd, or that don't have the colors I'm looking for. I'm picky about the horses I want to bring in, and I get the feeling that a lot of other people are as well, which is hard to really address.
-I feel like this might even out a bit as time goes on. Right now we're just hitting (or are just after) the point where people are breeding the foundations they got when the recode opened. When the new art and new genetics happened, I know people were super excited to start their own herds (I certainly was!) Now that a little bit of the brand new excitement has worn off and people have their own foundations, I hope people will be a little more willing to look for outside blood. I could be wrong about this happening, though.
-Unfortunately, there's was sort of a community-wide attitude that having your own lines is superior to having ones that come from other people. I don't see it as much in the recode as I did on the old game (and that's not intended as a dig at people who want their own lines, or anything), but there was once a sense that you weren't a "serious breeder" unless your horses all traced back to foundations you'd personally raised. I don't think that attitude is as prevalent anymore, which is good. Having your own lines is great, but outside blood isn't a bad thing!

4. Do you think that there should be an overhaul of how stats work with horses? Should they be more static to encourage breeding horses at younger ages (and make the game less static for the first 15 weeks of playing)?
-I'm not sure how an overhaul of stats would work. I wouldn't want stats to be static, because otherwise it feels like you're not making progress. (And with the current highest level of showing [International V] being 5000+ stats, it'll be quite some time before anyone achieves that level. I wouldn't want stats to feel stagnated, the way they did in the old version.) And having horses only gain until a certain age, or having them only gain by inheritance would be more of a frustration, I feel like, and make a lot of things feel pointless.
-I'm not sure I'd be in favor of much earlier breeding, simply because it can already be challenging to find horses that don't have common pedigrees, and having many horses out of the same parents creates difficulties for several generations when suddenly everything is related. (That's something that discourages me from buying horses; if I know there's a very common horse in its immediate pedigree, I don't want to have a hard time breeding it/selling offspring later on.) Even if people felt like there was less reason to wait to breed, in order to avoid overbreeding (whatever your standard for that is), you'll still breed the same number of times, so making it earlier wouldn't really change much, I don't think. If you breed at 10 and 15 instead of 19 and 20, you just have less to do for the last 5 or 10 weeks instead of less to do earlier.
-I understand the complaints that the first 15 weeks of a horse's life aren't especially exciting, though, but I'm not sure how to address that. :/ Breeding and getting new foals is by far the most exciting part of the game, and I don't know what else could capture that kind of "yay!" feeling.

Holy cow, that got long.

1. I agree with the limit to how many created horses. People seem to make a ton of foundations and then ditch half of them in the rc to get what they want instead of looking for an existing horse that is for sale or a stud. The price guide is also a great idea or just having an estimated value that appears next to the horse itself based on color rarity, stats and conformation.

2. I think people favor starting over new lines over searching what exists. Also the RC is a pain to sort through. I have to shift through tons of records to see if there is a horse I'm interested in and I've noticed the horse search for the rc horses doesn't work.

3. Maybe make creating horses more expensive too unless you are a newbie so there is a better deal going to member sales? Also I used to rotate horses more frequently when I could find decent horses in the rc but now that neglected horses die, most of them are just brand new horses with low conform. Maybe having another incentive of getting an RC horse like a stat bonus or getting to change a discipline for free. Something that helps customize the horses for better incentive.

4. I would feel like I didn't have enough time to raise their stats. I play leisurely so sometimes I miss a treat feeding or a training and my horses at 5 and 6 are nowhere near where I would want them to be. I try to breed closer to 12-15. The other thing is I feel like people would cast off horses even earlier after they breed them because there wouldn't be a point in keeping them. I think it would be cool to have a retired division with less care needed for the horse if that is the case. Where it hides the horse from training, etc so you can keep the lineage going but once you retire them it just locks them there and lets them live out their days ;)

Congratulations on getting married, Abbey! :)

Enjoy your wedding time Abbey!

1. What do you think would encourage members to breed outside of their own stock of horses?
I honestly don't have much trouble finding people wanting to buy my horses and I can also find ones for myself when I'm looking to buy (which has been way to much lately for me I went on a bit of a spending spree XD) So I haven't actually seen this/had a problem with it personally :)

2. Why do you think there is a problem with it at the moment?
^above answer applies.

3. What do you think would encourage members to sell and buy horses more frequently?
Once again I don't have a problem finding or selling as there is always something available when I go looking so I don't really know.

4. Do you think that there should be an overhaul of how stats work with horses? Should they be more static to encourage breeding horses at younger ages (and make the game less static for the first 15 weeks of playing)?
I honestly don't think that is a good idea, but if it's something others want I guess I'll have to deal XD Currently I put my studs up for stud at 16 and will sometimes breed my first foal from them at that age if I'm wanting to be sure I get some color or what have you. Often before they reach 17 they have reached their 3 outside foal limit I have set. Once the second baby is born from the 20 year breeding and I have chosen which I want to keep I put my other foal up and its usually snapped up within a few days :)

Congratulation on your wedding!

I'm kind of a new player still, and I have to say, the fact conformation wasn't in any way an impact on the horse in showing or anything else was quite a surprise to me, seeing how imperative a good conformation would actually be! As for the questions, I do have some feedback on this.

1. What do you think would encourage members to breed outside of their own stock of horses?
- Maybe a slight boost to a foal born from wayward parents? Otherwise, I really don't have a good idea. The problem you can't make it a detriment to breed within your own lines, as that would have a very big, negative impact on players breeding for niche goals. It's well possible to find someone to share you goals, of course, but with many breeds already, and likely more of them, way down the line, finding one or two that also focuses on your own breed can be difficult.

2. Why do you think there is a problem with it at the moment?
- Now this is my two cents, after looking around a lot, reading a lot, taking in a lot of opinions over the weeks I've been here... but I think the problem is in a very niche idea that has become a common practice. The idea that only a few, very, veeery few, foals are born of any one horse. This is fine, of course, players play the game how they want to. The problem is only that It's so widespread, that It will have consequences. First of all, the studs availability. With the mindset of "only a few foals per horse" this means they cycle, a lot. They'd retire quickly and are often highly priced. There is no surprise this puts a higher stress on the market. It also leads to a second problem. The studs of players that do not care about a short list of offspring will be used frequently, especially If decently priced. This means a lot of the bred foals that DO happen from breeding outside of people's own accounts are closely related. So instead of having a diverse, healthy gene pool there is a situation where the EC is the only way, especially for new people, to go for fresh blood. This, thirdly, means the EC system CAN NOT change a lot from what it is today! Currently, It is well possibly to gamble for one, possibly two or three EC foundies a day for a new player as they try to get something remotely valuable and that they are able to work with towards their own goals and agendas.
So limiting the EC, not an option. Instead, making the RC better is probably the way to go here! How about a buff system, for horses that was abandoned to the RC? If you pick one up from there, It would, for as long as it stayed with the one who did actually rescue It, gain a boosted amount of stats from all sources? This, I imagine would be a static bonus, so that If they got treated, trained and showed every day in their life, the bonus at the end of their lifespan is a set amount of bonus points. This set amount would be the same regardless of the age you pick it up at, meaning the younger horses would be getting seemingly fewer overall points, than the 15 year old you picked up, but in fact, treated correctly, they end up at the same total bonus amount. And of course, they would completely loose all accumulated bonus points If abandoned again, or If sold.

3. What do you think would encourage members to sell and buy horses more frequently?
- Again, this is so closely tied to the "few offspring per horse" mindset a lot of the players have. Of course there won't be a lot of horses for sale, when there are so few births. This jacks up the prices to ludicrous levels, impossible for newer players to get into. The fact that new and non deluxe players completely misses out of the revenue from a stable, means things needs to be balanced for this, at least to a degree. Perhaps DO let anyone own a stable, if they so desire, but If you a non-deluxe you can ONLY focus your stable on a single discipline. If a deluxe member, with all available facilities, can no longer afford to get a deluxe, they choose one of the disciplines and the other facilities will be locked. Horses already boarded can use those locked ones until their currently payed time runs out, then they have to find new boarding, or accept and use the available one. This will pretty much remove the detriment for boarders already at a stable that suddenly has all but one arena locked.
I otherwise don't know how to let the stress of all the things you need to do for your horses to be considered worth a grain of salt even in other peoples eyes will ever not be a problem. To a degree, of course, they always will be, being new will always be starting more or less empty handed. But the monetary problems for new people are huge.

4. Do you think that there should be an overhaul of how stats work with horses? Should they be more static to encourage breeding horses at younger ages (and make the game less static for the first 15 weeks of playing)?
- Short version? Yes. Absolutely.
Long version? It is unfathomable that conformation has no effect on stats at all. I'd imagine any given stat would be tied to a pair of conformations, and their combined value would determine the rough starting point of the horse (foal or foundie) and also determine the maximum possible. And there should be a maximum possible...! Otherwise, one day there is no way for a new player to EVER catch up, this will be impossible to get Into. And It's already daunting. Not to mention we'll go around "Oh, my horse has 12500 in speed! It goes miles in the blink of an eye!" situation going sooner or later...! And while the idea of Sonic the hedgehog horses racing across the world is a silly and amusing thing to think of, this game doesn't sell itself as a silly game where your horse can eventually literally jump to the clouds, O'hoy all below so you don't get landed on! So it should probably find a limit somewhere.

Also... can we have foal pictures everntually? It's really... jarring to look at a foal, and see a fully grown horse...! I understand the art will cost to make, but... honestly, I LOVE anglo's and the idea to breed them, but I'd sooner see a "New Foal" actually being a foal! xD

Firstly, congratulations on the wedding!! :)

Secondly, I love the ideas which you have reviewed. I haven't had chance to filter through the boards myself so this is the first I have heard of them. And they sound GREAT!

As for the questions... (Please note.. I am still getting used to this game, for the second time....)

1. What do you think would encourage members to breed outside of their own stock of horses? - For me, I do not like the thought of interbreeding as I'm sure others are not either. I do not know how people check their lines thoroughly.. I am yet to figure out a way that suits me! So this is a put off for me as I find it is easier to just breed with what I have. Maybe if there was an easier way to check this? Is there one that I have not found? Maybe if there was something to make it easier to check if not? Or is that me just being lazy?? XD

2. Why do you think there is a problem with it at the moment? - As I stated above, for me it is the worry of interbreeding.

3. What do you think would encourage members to sell and buy horses more frequently? - Just a wild thought... Maybe if there was a box at the side of the screen which randomized items which were for sale. Whether this be the horses themselves or even players items too. Possibly even a 'For Stud' box. It might catch someones eye? Advertisement!?

4. Do you think that there should be an overhaul of how stats work with horses? Should they be more static to encourage breeding horses at younger ages (and make the game less static for the first 15 weeks of playing)? - Personally I do try and wait for my horses to achieve better stats. But I am far too impatient and cannot wait to see what little foalies are made! I don't think the stats should be changed.

I have been thinking though, when it comes to keeping the same breeds and specialities.. I simply do this because I find this easiest for me. I recently cleared out a lot of horses as they were different specialties and I just could not keep track of the treats to boost their stats. I am not sure if there is an easier way already? But possibly adding a 'recommended treat' when going to give it to them?

Apologies if I have repeated a lot of what other members have already posted, or if I have misunderstood anything.. Rushing around!!

Oh, I love the personal cron idea. :) I'm on another sim that has that and it's super handy if you can't log in that day. Less worry. I like the limited crossbreeding idea, too, 'cause I'm working with both Arabians and Thoroughbreds and it would be nice to have some Anglos.

congrats to you and your fiancee Abbey. Hope only the best for you. i love this game although can't get oh as much as i would like to. Great job on the game . Thanks for all you do

Trophies, more XP (woooo), personal CRON, rewards for logging in daily, and limited crossbreeding are my favorites! Also the snowball fight/scavenger hunt (last December was so fun)! I also really want height added!
I don't have an answer to most of the questions, but I can answer #1:
1. What do you think would encourage members to breed outside of their own stock of horses?: Crossbreeding! I.E.: an Arab breeder has Arabs, right? But now that crossbreeding was implemented, they want Anglo-Arabs too. So they breed to someone else's QHs so that the foals still have good stats (instead of getting a foundation QH).
Just a guess ^^

Thank you so much Abbey! This update is fantastic and i cant wait to see what all gets added. I hope you have a lovely wedding as well! ♥

Congrats! I got married on September 6th last year and it was crazy hectic for a while beforehand.

1. I really have no solution, this seems to be an unfixable issue on many games I've played. You could give a stat boost, but This could be easily abused, it's not hard to transfer a horse to a different account just for breeding. Being able to see the ENTIRE pedigree on one page would be helpful.

2. It's just really easy to raise your own stock. Plus I have different goals than other players. I don't want horses with less than 60 confo in my lines and many players don't breed for confo, I also like symmetrical lineage, therefore I just get my own horses. Broken lines are also an issue for me and many others. you can't control what others do with their horses, so the risk of a horse having a broken line also makes me cautious about using someone else's studs.

3. Again, another issue found on so many games. I don't like idea of limiting how many foundies you can buy, because this kind of screws people Who are looking for higher confo. People who buy numerous horses from the foundy store, are the same people that buy numerous credits to support this habit lol, which supports the game. To be honest I don't think this issue is fixable. In the end I think If your foal or horse is worth buying, it will be bought. Every new player (we've all been there, and especially if they're really young) will breed, basically, worthless horses that no one wants, due to simply a lack of knowledge about the game. Perhaps giving new players more knowledge of what a desirable horse is would help?.

4. I see no issue with the stats right now. I think showing and training over the course of the horses life, and being patient till they've earned a good amount of stats is how it should be. What is the point in encouraging breeding at a younger age? It's more fullfilling when your patience earns you a good stated foal..just my opinion. Maybe have special championships or something, just for something else to strive for or look forward to, other than breeding?

Congrats Abbey on getting married. Hope it's the perfect day and everything you want! :D

I love the idea of having confirmation shows. And I like the idea of adding height and temperament to the stat list. I think temperament could be used to see how a horse learns and gains points through the riding school and/or shows.

I like the idea of limited cross breeding. I would not mind having some Appendix Quarter Horses and Anglo Arabs.

As far as disciplines go, would there be a chance to add a new one? ;P I wouldn't mind seeing eventing or cross country in the game.

First off, congrats on getting married! Hope you have a fantastic day!

Just a preface here, I am a player that has joined in the last year, so I haven't had the experience on this site as others may have had.

1. What do you think would encourage members to breed outside of their own stock of horses?
Like above I agree with the idea of a small bonus of some sort, gene wise maybe, but you have to be careful not to alienate those who only breed in their own lines(maybe a different kind of bonus for them?). Personally I breed to outside studs, because I like the new blood in my horses.
2. Why do you think there is a problem with it at the moment?
There seems to me(imo) that breeding outside your lines is frowned upon. Thus no horses being sold for fear of crossing lines at some point.
3. What do you think would encourage members to sell and buy horses more frequently?
See above(LOL), I buy for color or I need to add another horse to pair up with another.
4. Do you think that there should be an overhaul of how stats work with horses? Should they be more static to encourage breeding horses at younger ages (and make the game less static for the first 15 weeks of playing)?I like how stats work now, but would need more info as to how you would change breeding horses at a younger age before I can form a clear opinion on that.

I love the presonal cron idea, the daily rewards and crossbreeding!

Questions:

1. What do you think would encourage members to breed outside of their own stock of horses?
I usually breed because my own stallions are not good enough, but affordable prices would be nice XD Also, more studs available, since sometimes I find really few studs available, and especially good ones with reasonable price.

2. Why do you think there is a problem with it at the moment?
I think I'll answer kinda the same thing twice, it's hard for me to get it apart, but the main problem is that there aren't enough good studs at reasonable prices, and if there's one everyone breeds with that stud and it will only limit the choices for the next generation since like 10 foals will have the same father which means they or their offsprings can't be interbred. If we take into account how few really good studs there are, it will limit breeding quite a lot if someone wants to make good foals. I think it could be helped with what I suggested in question 4.

3. What do you think would encourage members to sell and buy horses more frequently?
If horses had shorter lives, but please don't take this as a suggestion. I personally think - and it's also my own example - that I don't buy horses often because I have my own little stock and they live a long while so I focus on them instead of breeding until I can't see of the foals. I also breed, but I sell the foals that don't turn out how I wanted them to be, but that's about it. Sorry I could be no help here.

4. Do you think that there should be an overhaul of how stats work with horses? Should they be more static to encourage breeding horses at younger ages (and make the game less static for the first 15 weeks of playing)?
It should be changed, but I think it should be set to random like how I guess Conformation gets inherited now. It's really a buzz-kill when I can count how many overall stats my foal is going to get, it kills off the fun of breeding, so if that could be shaken up, that would be awesome. Like, you could breed a 100 mare to a 900 stallion and it could either be a foal like the mother, around 100, or be even 800 because the father increased the mother's "genes". I don't think breeding at younger age should be encouraged, since it's not realistic plus there are enough issues already with being able to sell older horses

This should be a forum thread, for this to further advance, like the 'improve Equiverse' one. But for now...

1. * Personal cron - where horses only age, lose hunger/happiness/etc, have their shows reset, Deluxe days decrease, etc. when a player logs in for the day-

Why? Isn't this what account locking is for? This would also mean the removal of horses 'dying' when they cease being cared for. That was a GOOD addition, not one that should go away.

2. * Limited crossbreeding, where breeding an Arabian with a Thoroughbred can create an Anglo Arab, etc. These cross breeds would not be available to purchase from the Equine Center.

What about starting with legit, IRL-recognized outcrossing instead (App x TB/QH/Arab = App, Paint x QH = Paint, TB x most WB breeds = said WB breeds, etc)? Zero interest in random cross-breeding (which has been a "not gonna happen" as long as I can remember anyway). If to be implemented, I would at least ask that stallion owners are given the option to stand studs only to mares of the their same breed so as to not end up with a bunch of grade foals ('private' stud wouldn't cut it, because if players ignore auctioned horses, they REALLY ignore private studs).

3. Anything involving doing/making something for additional gain-

As long as it's 100% optional and doesn't punish/negatively impact the gameplay for those who choose not to/don't have time for even more stuff to do everyday, that would seem reasonable enough.

For the rest:

1. What do you think would encourage members to breed outside of their own stock of horses?

I didn't know there was a problem here. I do this all the time when I can find what I want/need. In fact I prefer to in some cases because in some cases, gene pools are limited.

2. Why do you think there is a problem with it at the moment?

I don't.

3. What do you think would encourage members to sell and buy horses more frequently?

Again not something that's a problem, based on both my own buying and selling. My horses go quickly when they're for sale, sometimes before I've even advertised them (and the handful that take a little longer are simply to be expected). I buy when I find something that either meets my needs or is simply just something I like. For those that want to sell auction-style, I should think the 'auction house' would help, since it would pair sellers & buyers with those who enjoy that style of buying. I've seen lots of people say they skip over horses being auctioned, though I don't know why. I've gotten a lot of nice horses that way.

If people are having a legit hard time selling, maybe they need to reevaluate what they're selling and how they're pricing it. Those insanely overpriced foundations that are 10 years old, have had a gabillion foals, and haven't been touched otherwise aren't going anywhere, except maybe the RC, no matter what you do to them at that point. Maybe there should be some sort of (formal or informal) tutorial on selling to help new players out.

4. Do you think that there should be an overhaul of how stats work with horses? Should they be more static to encourage breeding horses at younger ages (and make the game less static for the first 15 weeks of playing)?

No. Not unless there are drastic changes made to the game in its entirety. Besides, stats have already changed a great deal with the recode, mostly in that you can't sneeze without a horse gaining a stat or ten along the way. With stats currently skyrocketing I think it might be best to leave it alone until there's some evidence there's actually a problem. There's no reason to breed at younger ages (unless something like early 'natural death' or player-induced retirement is introduced)(there are isolated exceptions; I've had to breed young a couple of times to preserve lines I otherwise wouldn't have been able to, but beyond that there's no reason to encourage it any further - three-year-olds fresh from the EC are being bred like mad as it is).

But besides that, there's already nothing saying you *can't* breed young if you want. The offspring will be poorly statted and not desirable to super-serious players, but there are more than enough people around who don't care about that stuff - if they like it, they like it, and they'll probably buy it. I've been known to buy on looks/genetics alone, even when it means a hit to my own breeding program even if I wait until the very last day possible to breed. Sometimes, depending on what you're ultimately going for/getting, taking the hit can be worth it, particularly now that stats are so much easier to build up in a much shorter amount of time.

Congrats on your upcoming wedding! Hope your day is a blast. :)

1. What do you think would encourage members to breed outside of their own stock of horses?
--- I think this comes down to personal preference. People who are only interested in raising their own lines of super ponies aren't going to introduce new blood, period, unless it's from foundation stock they raise. I understand the desire to stimulate the economy, but for some people that's just not what they want.
Personally, with all my breeds I have set breeding pairs and then I have a group of horses that don't have pairs for one reason or the other (I'm trying to breed for conformation and stats, so I avoid poor x poor at all costs). These horses are the ones I look for outside studs and broods for. It doesn't mess up my pre-planned pairings, but it allows me the option to introduce new blood in the next generation to "boost" my herd's conformation. My problem is that I can't always find a stud or brood available that I'd like to use. I've actually started messaging the owners of horses that aren't listed as for private or public stud, and take the hit by breeding a mare before the age of 19 in favor of having at least one ideal mating. **I imagine that, as time goes on after the recode, that I will more readily find good outside mates. **

2. Why do you think there is a problem with it at the moment?
---- Eh, I think this may be partially due to the inbreeding block, which I think is good overall. One of the side effects, however, is that in breeds with limited gene pools and only so many desirable studs (for confo or stats, whatever), when public stud is bred many, many times...it can make breeding in the future more difficult. This has been discussed to death in the forums so I don't really think I can add to it. BUT I think this explains, reasonably I might add, why there's some trepidation.
Again, I think it's more about people being true to their goals, discerning, and proceeding with caution.

3. What do you think would encourage members to sell and buy horses more frequently?
----- I don't particularly think this is an issue? Personally, I consider myself to be a relatively big spender when it comes to adding horses, and I actively try to buy from a variety of players (established, new, etc.). I have a running wish list of what I'm looking for my herds, and heck, I managed to get into a whole new breed because I drank a bottle of wine.
With so many people trying to breed competitive foals (this is good!), and given how long horses live/15 weeks before many breedings happen... there's bound to be some down time in sales.
I view buying/selling of horses in this game kinda like a car sales lot: not every car on the lot is going to sell, even at a discount. It all depends on your horse and what any member is looking for at any given time.
I do think that streamlining and organizing the classifieds would help a ton. On board completely with Ulysses.

4. Do you think that there should be an overhaul of how stats work with horses? Should they be more static to encourage breeding horses at younger ages (and make the game less static for the first 15 weeks of playing)?
---- Absolutely not. The stat gain in the first 15 weeks is what motivates me. If I spend a few hours a day showing my horses, only for them to get hardly any stats...I would honestly probably decrease the time I spend on this game. I like to see some return in SOME way for my time commitment. I battle the static-ness by staggering my herds so that I get a group of breedings every 5 weeks or so.

Congrats on the wedding!
I have to say, my account is pretty old (veteran) but I play this game on and off, and rarely get involved with the community, so I can't say much for any overall feeling of why some things are what they are. I personally *hate* games that limit imports/gamebreds to the extreme, but do pretty well when limited to, say, 5-6 imports per week. That number, in my experience on another game, is either too much for some people and they sell/give away imports to others, or not enough, so those players either buy imports, pay a large amount to the game for extras, or buy pedigreed animals from others. Here, the unlimited gamebreds encourage buying tons of relatively cheap, low-stat animals, sorting through them, and dumping the unwanted in the RC. Because the RC is so cheap, I get a lot of imports from there.
1. I prefer breeding horses descended from *my* imports and feel proud of what I've created with my time and energy - not what someone else did. I just plain don't like outcrossing. I don't do it unless my import/gamebred animals are limited to like, 2 a month. I dislike depending on others for quality animals, so, in all honestly, I can't really suggest what would make me want to breed with others' animals, except noticeable bonuses.
2. Aside from my personal viewpoint (and it appears that some others share this sentiment), horses are sold for prices so high I can't fathom having the money to buy them, ever. I've had an account for like 5+ years and my show winnings never amounted to the kind of money people are charging. $10k or more per stat is ridiculous, unless you're raking in tens of thousands from shows daily - and from what I've seen, most people don't. Stud prices are also extremely high. I resent it, and if anything, it discourages me further from participating in the breeding community.
3. Perhaps some kind of merit system? Rewarding breeders for having their horses shown by other people (and having those horses rank up in someone else's hands - maybe reward per rank the horse gains), and rewarding those showing horses bred by others, could be convincing. It would have to be significant though, and not entirely discourage homebreeding (because that would discourage me, haha). Penalties for inbreeding might be motivating, too.
4. Uh...I think I missed when the game made the switch over to training, but I liked when my horses gained stats a lot faster. I have horses (that were locked) that have almost 200 stats from, I guess showing (I don't remember how it was), and my current horses of similar ages of really low stats. It's taking waaaay too long to increase stats, so I'd prefer anything that made stats increase more easily, within moderation.

Congratulations on the happy day!!!
I just have one comment that I feel is important. I am reluctant to purchase stock from other lines due to situations in which one parent ends up deceased on the pedigree. For that same reason I don't sell any horse without selling all of it's offspring that I own. Im still hoping some gaps are filled in on my current pedigrees.
I'm working on conformation stock with decent stats btw.
But that is just how I have decided to play the game. Smiles, Paula

Reading a lot of the responses here really confirms that the differences in opinion regarding what constitutes "reasonable" pricing seems to be a major sticking point.

Pre-recode, the "10k/100 stats" was fairly standard for both sales and studs. Since stats are easier to come by now, I've decreased that for my own sales/studs, usually knocking 10-15k off of that price. (Also depending on the popularity of the breed/whether it's a good color/high conformation/etc.) With few exceptions, my horses have been selling fairly consistently, and my studs net at least a few breedings.

I think there are people who both overvalue horses (as Rising Dawn said, an unremarkable foundation that hasn't been shown/trained/etc by age 10 is unlikely to fetch a five-figure sum) and undervalue them (a 1000 statted horse for sale, or a 600+ statted foal, etc represents a lot of work and time, and should be relatively expensive.)

Perhaps it would be worthwhile to have some community discussion about different player's pricing strategies and reasoning as to what seems too expensive or too cheap?

All this is coming from a newbie, but here's my two cents anyway.


[b]1. What do you think would encourage members to breed outside of their own stock of horses?[/b]

I'm going to start this answer by responding to previous ones: I... [i]semi[/i]-agree with limiting the creation of foundation horses. I only agree with it if there is a way to get out of it. It could be something like buying upgrades to raise your limit, but I think a better way would be say... 20 foundations a month [i]until[/i] you reach level .... I dunno, 10. I think horse sims are all so different that new members come in knowing nothing about the culture, because even if they have been on horse sims before there's no way to predict all the values and such of the game's members. So I think if you start with newer players, you might be able to create some change, because they're the most likely to buy stuff because they haven't been told what's "good" yet. And if you make unlimited foundations something members have to earn, it forces them to spend their earlier time on the game building up a herd from a mix of lines from other people as well as perhaps a small foundation base of their own. And that would allow for unlimited foundations as well, just after a point. It'd make building your own lines a sort of right of passage, something you have to earn first after learning more about the game.


[b]2. Why do you think there is a problem with it at the moment?[/b]

I haven't been here long enough to really consider it a problem. xD But it seems like people are for the most part dead set on having their own lines because they can control them and have ultimate familiarity. I kind of jumped on the bandwagon just because I want to be able to have that pride of creating something good all by myself. Like when I breed my first 1000+ stat horse or whatever, I'll know it was thanks to my own hard work. *shrug*


[b]3. What do you think would encourage members to sell and buy horses more frequently?[/b]

I kind of more addressed this in my first answer but the logic is the same for both. xD


[b]4. Do you think that there should be an overhaul of how stats work with horses? Should they be more static to encourage breeding horses at younger ages (and make the game less static for the first 15 weeks of playing)?[/b]

If you want earlier breeding, you'd need a different system than stats. I don't think you can really have both, because as long as there is something to be gained over the course of a horse's life that is genetic, people will think it's better to wait. The only way to switch it would be to get rid of stats and instead have just an inherent talent of some sort that was able to pass to the foals right away.

Like for example say a horse was born with just one percentage to quantify its quality -- with 100% being the best possible quality horse and 1% being absolutely completely terrible. Percentages would affect showing ability, quality of foals, etc. and would [i]never[/i] change over the course of a horse's life (unless you say it starts going down when the horse is older). This example is obviously never going to happen, it's just my long-winded way of trying to say that a stat system will not encourage people to breed earlier, because as long as there are changing numbers, older is going to be better. But honestly there's nothing wrong with that. Animal sims are about patience; you have to be in it for the long haul, and you have to consider the journey as important as the end result. It would be so much less satisfying if you didn't have to work for good horses.