Horse Racing Fantasy Community

We have recently noticed quite a few threads in the forum associated with the trainer game, specifically where people would like to see modifications or changes. There have also been a few thread posts on bugs, but I strongly suggest that bugs be sent directly to support@horseracegame.com for quicker handling.

There has been a lot of good feedback. Some of the ideas are already being considered and an evaluation on how they can impact all of our current programming and, just as important, our business model is being looked at. But - and everybody has a "but" - it's so early in the trainer game, please don't expect any radical changes anytime soon. It's just not possible. I know everyone in this community loves our virtual horse racing game and wants this to grow, grow, grow. And - we'll get there. There are so many cool features being developed to further tie everything together. I promise, my partners promise, that at the end of the day we'll far exceed any expectations.

Enough with the sales pitch. Let me address a few of what I felt were very valid points made by some players. After this post, the subject of the trainer game will go back into hibernation on the outside so my team can focus on development on the inside. The community can continue to talk and we will be clearly listening. Just don't expect any comments back between now and the next update.

Lenth of Tournaments - There are a group of players who want the tournaments to be quicker. This is easier said than done. The amount of work on the backend would be substantial and has direct impact on our business model. Yes, we're a business with employees and bills and those employees and bills cannot be ignored. The concept of longer tournaments not only allows the players to do all the things necessary (jockey instructions, training instructions, time to enter), but also allows us to space the tournaments out in a way where we can eventually start subsidizing tournaments with additional bonuses because we can take part of the monthly stable fees and put them back into the prize pool. This has always been our plan. We are building a subsidy program where tournaments running two weeks or longer will have bonus pools paid out to the winners if they are a VIP. (Sorry, but we are a business) Those bonus pools can be substantial as our player trainer horse base gets larger. Again, this was always the plan. Shortening up tournaments will affect that subsidy, which we are not willing to do. With this said, once the player trainer horse base gets larger (around 5,000) we are going to implement a whole bunch of one-week tournaments with limited entries, so you will in theory go to the upcoming trainer tournaments and see tournaments that will start in as early as 1 or 2 days and be over with very quickly (about a week) for quick action. How fast these start appearing and how many depends on how many player trainer horses we have. Right now, almost 16% of our tournaments are being canceled for not enough entries. Not only does that hurt us, but it also hurts the players who sat in those events waiting for them to start. That 16% number is already higher than we want.

For the players who love the longer tournaments and have the better quality horses and at the same time are not only trying to win tournaments but also want to meet the requirements of getting into our breeding program where the super big community point payout lies - those tournaments will be there and they will be there in full force.

In addition, during the next few months, a lot of new features are being added to further substantiate a little time in-between tournaments and longer tournaments. These features, such as auctions, tournament sponsor programs and others bring a whole new level of social gaming to our community. But, hey, please give us time to get it developed. Our trainer game is not even a month old.

Classification Program for Lower-Quality Horses - Already in the works (has been for weeks) . First of all, we were going to approach this in one of two ways - sell the virtual horses for more (which we did not do) or sell them for less (which we did do) so everyone can play and know right up front that a certain percentage of horses just are not good enough to make it to the tournaments (just the luck of the breeding). We're not going to be developing a typical classification program. We're developing a classification program based on your tournament success or lack of success. Horses that don't make it to the Breeders' Cup final races will be eligible for a second-tier development program. Again, remember that this is all brand new. We're all getting our feet wet here. Look for more information on this in upcoming weeks.

More Clarity Regarding Training Between Races - Already in the works. There will be a direct tie between the Performance Report and the training routines you provide between tournament races with a training validation report.

Horses Age - One of the issues I'm seeing is that players want their horses to race more before aging, and race more years before retiring. I've already discussed this in previous threads. Again, a VIP feature will be (it is in the works) to allow VIP horses more tournaments to race in. It's a way we're able to provide an advantage to VIPs without providing an unfair advantage during the actual tournament itself. So, if you have a good horse or maybe a great one, you get more opportunities to earn community points and maybe even make it to the breeding shed.

Breeding Shed - We've rolled out the first phase of the breeding program. We're watching it. We already know that some modifications have to be made. Our objective simply is to make sure some horses get into the program so the players who own those horses win big, but make sure it's a small enough group to remain "elite" and the benefits remain huge. There is no doubt that this program will be modified several times in order to reach our objective. In a nutshell, we want player horses in the breeding shed sooner than later. It's a big plus for the community.

Stable Fees - Stable fees are discounted for VIP members and are not discounted for non-VIPs. Stable fees allow us to keep horse prices low and will eventually help us subsidize, for our VIP players, the tournament prize pools. If you have a couple of horses in your barn and you don't want to buy points, refer some friends or do some free offers from the Free Points tab. The program is actually very fair and very reasonable.

Trainer Tournament Record Holders - Been in the works for two weeks. In testing today - be live by Monday or Tuesday. We will start out with some rock-solid general information (leading barn, leading horses) and will constantly be expanding to accommodate more and more features. I've seen several posts talking about history and record hodlers. This is something I've mentioned numerous times and we're now finishing it. Simple to use and looks great.

Naming My New Virtual Horse Before Gender Is Known - For our VIP players, I've already announced the solution to this issue. VIP members will not only be able to identify the gender they want but can also pick their color. One other thing, now when you name a horse with multiple words for the name, the first letter in each word is capitalized.

More Diversified Tournaments - I'm constantly hearing requests for trainer tournaments to fit very ambiguous conditions. The problem is, we don't have enough horses yet to fit those conditions. As the base of trainer horses grows, we can start offering more diversified tournaments to meet the needs of the individual trainer horses out there. We run a computer program that not only tells us how many active horses we have, but their perfect racing conditions and we currently build the tournaments by evaluating those numbers. But (and this is a big one), sometime in June, we're going to be implementing a new feature comprised of a dropdown menu where players can request a tournament for their horses, and when the requests for certain tournaments reach a certain number, we'll automatically build the tournament. Believe me, we want as much turn on tournaments as the players do.

Super Horses in Game - It is constantly a battle between having the super horses (the likes of Midnight Lute's offspring and others) with their very inconsistent performances in the game or not having them. Right now, the players who want them in are the overwhelming majority. So they stay. Personally, I would not breed to them, but some players think it's an advantage, or at least provides some quicker action. I can tell you that, over time, based on all the mathematical calculations we have done, they are not an advantage or a disadvantage. Part of that mathematical calculation that no one is figuring on (and I've read a lot of threads in the community) is that these super horses can suck your points dry really fast. You get into a tournament, do great in a preliminary race or two, pay points for those two races and then run totally off-form in the final. When you equate all the factors including entry fees, there is no mathematical advantage with a super horse. It's just another level of game play, and for the hard-core gamer (who we need), another avenue for excitement. Every game stretches reality - they have to.

Comments Under the Race Results - Comments under the race results currently are more for entertainment purposes and are somewhat of a guide for brand new players. If you really understand horse racing, those comments add no value. But, if you're new to horse racing and try a different distance, they actually help the newbies. Our long-term plan is to add a much more sophisticated comment program using a new artificial intelligence program that we just purchased. The comments will be tied to over 100 factors. We're assigning one developer to the task which will begin in July. It is not a simple project. We thought that helping the newbies and having something there was better than nothing. And, if they really don't help the experienced players, just don't read them. We'll get to the level of comments that really add value soon enough.

Performance Report - We are making enhancements to the Performance Report to include verbiage that will assist trainers to identify the probable training routines that are best for their horse during tournament races. It's something I thought would be done by now, but like everything else out there when it comes to software programs, there are always issues that take priority. We'll have it out soon enough. It will be free for VIPs probably forever and free to non-VIPs for at least 30 days.

Mentor Program - The depth of the trainer game has me really thinking about this mentor program. The feedback has been good and we're evaluating it. We're leaning toward a mentor program that actually pays the mentor an override on the community points earned by the players who they mentor (those players' horses in the tournaments). Imagine now mentoring 2 or 3 players, which helps the game and the community grow, and at the same time earn a whole bunch of points as their horses race in tournaments. This really adds to the social aspect of the game and the community and helps us build our player base. It's a win for everybody.

Bugs, Bugs, Bugs - The trainer game took two months to design and four-and-a-half months to build. There are bugs. When you find a bug, simply send an email to support@horseracegame.com or private message me. Publicly announcing bugs doesn't really do anyone any good. The forums are always visited by new players, or worse, players thinking about joining. People have a tendency to complain when something doesn't work right and not be as vocal or expressive when something is right. This can represent an unbalanced representation of our game to potential new members. I think I've said it several times and I'll say it once more. Our success comes from your enjoyment. Your enjoyment generates our success. If you like it here, let people know. Be vocal in the community and everywhere else. Support us, support the game that is providing fun and entertainment for everyone. By June 15th, I'll be providing another complete trainer game update. If you see posts in the forums about trainer game features, enhancements, suggestions, please simply point them to this thread.

- Puddles