EQ Economy and Weekly Allowance

^ I also don't like how hard it is to raise foal's stats, since the can't be shown, there are very little options for getting their stats to a nice number before they CAN be shown. Even though the training center is currently unavailable, it was my understanding foals couldn't be trained (not sure if maybe 1-2 years could be, but I know my foals couldn't be, which is how it was for pleasure riding on the old EV, but with the 30 minute time limit, it makes it hard even if they CAN be ridden in pleasure riding. Even for just 10 foals, I don't have hours to wait around.) That's one thing that could be improved, especially for the foal situation.

I've actually had more luck with the single treats then the bagged/crated ones XD

Rides don't give stats anymore, so the time limit shouldn't be a problem there for any aged horse.

Though wishing for the horses can give stats. :)

Ahhh okay, I haven't really been using the ride feature anymore because of the time thing. But glad to know wishing for the horses gives stats! It does however take away the ability to get money from the fountain (which is one of the ways to make an income) and I know that was the main issue of this post. Maybe you'd have to just balance those out? Idk. :)

About 50% of the time the horses will give you money when you wish for them ;)

Also, as Abbey has said prior; there will be more things added to rides in future, might be stats, might be more rare or credit items etc....not sure as of yet.

For players who are on a few hours a day or multiple times a day rides can be far more profitable at 30min intervals vs max 4x a day.

Same with interest - a weekly allowance is a set amount, interest will fluctuate with your bank account. If you play daily and remember to collect it it will be far more profitable in the long term.

Guess you could say making the game more realistic will help people learn how to budget and survive in the real world =)

i agree with everything roxas is saying XD

those were words of gold roXas

Completely agreeable roXas :3

And that is true about the players who are on a lot during the day (me) being able to profit from rides more, I'm just speaking for the players who aren't, but eh. we all want what we can't have.

I personally don't have a problem with anything about the new EV or EV in general, there are obviously some things that could be tweaked or changed that would benefit players and would make the game a little more spunky, but I'm just grateful there's an EV in the first place, and Abbey has put a lot of work into this recode, so I'd hate to seem like I'm bashing on it.

I think the shows may be the bottleneck. You pretty much can't advance without showing, both your horses and your ranch level. Fully upgraded tack is a must to have any chance of winning, and that is terribly expensive for anyone just starting out. To start out with entry-level foals, you have to be prepared that showing will be a painful but necessary money-sink for a long time.

To show, you first have to board your horse somewhere. Hopefully you can find someplace cheap. Then there are the show fees - at least $100 for ten shows per horse. Small potatoes if you have a solid nest egg in the bank, but it can be a real strain when funds are tight. Then you need the full set of tack - $750 per horse. You can't even upgrade it at first, so you have no chance of being competitive. But you have to show those horses, or you will never get the ability to upgrade tack, and your horses will forever sit in the doldrums where you feed them a carrot or an apple a day and hope for a point or two of improvement.

You end up debating how much you are willing to spend towards improvement, and how much you want to hoard in your bank account. Each $10k yields only $25 a day of income. That's not even enough to enter a single show. You pray for luck at the fountain. All your horses end up needing vet and farrier at once, because you bought them all at once. For only five horses, that's $2500. The fountain might not have been enough to cover it.

Now, is it possible to make it? I'm sure it is, if you buy only a couple of horses and are super smart and frugal and patient for a long time.

Or, you could do what most of us did, take a look at the beautiful horses, get a little carried away. We do it, even understanding the economics of the game. New people aren't going to know the economics. They're going to put themselves in that hole. That awful hole where you're struggling to buy feed, let alone make any progress. They're going to buy a small herd, and then find themselves trying to take care of them with $5000 to their names. $12.50 a day in income. Then they figure it out, but it's too late. How do you dig your way back from that?

What is a new person going to do at that point? Put all their pretty but unsaleable horses in the Rescue Center, and patiently wait for those $12.50's to add up until they can afford to own a horse again? Probably not. They're going to ditch the game and find another one. They're definitely not going to invest their real life money in ERC.

I'm not saying it shouldn't be work to upgrade your horses and build a successful farm. Of course it should! But there should also be ways for new people to explore, and make mistakes, and put themselves into holes, and then find their way out. Before, getting a regular salary helped a lot. You could downsize, tighten your belt, and play it conservatively for a bit, and things would get better in a reasonable amount of time.

The health of any game of this nature depends on a fresh influx of players who can find the right balance of reward and challenge to keep them hooked, hopefully hooked enough to spend real money. I believe this new version of Equiverse is headed in that direction, but I do think it needs some tweaking to get there. And I do believe the pinch point is how easy it is for new players to get themselves in deep financial trouble, without enough ways for them to play themselves back into solvency before they get bored or fed up and walk away.

Is the answer going back to a flat, weekly income? I don't know. I do know that Abbey has done a phenomenal job with this game, and I trust her to find a balance that works.

As an old member who doesn't make art, I feel like I can confidently say that making money is hard without peppermints and selling EVC. And without peppermints on this game, that basically means I have to spend money (real money) in order to make it. It doesn't really matter to me because I have a job and it's not a big deal, but I can see how it would be super tough for the younger generation.

But what really makes me sad is the lack of interest in horses for sale. I play the game purely for the horses and breeding and it can definitely be disappointing when my effort doesn't pay off. I love the satisfaction of training and breeding great horses, but it would be nice to be able to make enough to maintain it without selling EVCs. Everyone wants their own lines and their own store horses and it makes selling anything that has been bred next to impossible unless it's next to nothing.

...The whole point of horse sims is to have showing as your main way of income. Your income isn't supposed to be from breeding your horses.

You're also not supposed to be at the top of the A game within a day. It's /supposed/ to be a challenge. It's /supposed/ to take time.

YOu're also ignoring the fact that you can buy an extra division, shove the horses in there, and lock them until you have enough money to pay for everything.

Honestly, the people that are going to get themselves in financial trouble are the kids that don't know how to budget. They're not the ones that are going to be able to pay money for EVC. It's the adults who /can/ budget their money who're going to be buying EVC.

does anyone know how much new players will start off with?

^ I would like to disagree that it's just the adults finding their way around and budgeting. I admit I am a horrid spender on art, but I do know what everything takes and costs and what I'll need, and can always find my way back into having enough money whether it be refraining from buying art for a while, maybe selling a little bit of art here and there, or just spending my money appropriately on the things my horses need, and here I am only fifteen years old. I do also know there are some other members around my age making their way pretty nicely along in the game, as I am friends with a lot of them.

I also think that everything Atomic said is very important and provides Abbey with some insight for improvement and what is/isn't currently working. This also goes for what Confessor said, and she makes a great point. I'm on both sides of this "argument" (very well aware we aren't arguing, but didn't know what else to call it). I know how easy it is when you have the ability to make an income off of art, but I also know how long and how much work it takes to build your herd into something great. Sure it takes work, that's definitely one of the amazing points of this game, but for newer members who can't at first pick up what Equiverse is about or find a way to make things work, it can be very tough and Equiverse may even be a little boring if they do have desires to buy the fancier, prettier horses and art while they're limited to waiting for an income to begin rolling in.

I also just want to say the statement about low tack not having a chance of winning is false. Up until today in fact I was to lazy to put tack on all of my horses and my Mustangs, which are generation 1/store horses were still able to place with no tack on them whatsoever. I'm to lazy to deal with special treats so they haven't been fed those either so they are just regular stated, store horses that were placing without tack at all.