Play To Win
There are 4 tournaments now open for play totaling 150,062,400 community points amounting to USD $15,006.24 for prizes in our shop.
Recent Winner
Navigation
Poll
Jockeys TV show will soon start airing - Which jockey do you expect to be the star of Animal Planet's new series?
Chantal Sutherland - because she's beautiful, funny, smart and a great jockey, as well.
50%
Joe Talamo - great young jockey with a great personality, loves horse racing and can touch your heart
50%
Aaron Gryder - consistent top jockey in California, optimistic, positive energy and a true leader in the racing game.
0%
Mike Smith - Kentucky Derby winner, great jockey, keen sense of humor, quiet but confident and, of course, rides Zenyatta.
0%
Alex Solis - a horse racing celebrity for years, a top rider, a great set of hands, he always has the right thing to say.
0%
John Court - a consistent rider, all business on the track, knows how to handle a horse and work the crowd.
0%
Kayla Stra - eager, ambitious young rider, worked horses since she was 8, loaded with talent and a bright future as a jockey.
0%
Total votes: 2
Why I won't be spending any money on this game :(.
Posted on: Tue, 06/03/2008 - 1:13pm
Why I won't be spending any money on this game :(.
I was really looking forward to this game. I purchased the last version right after the 2005 horses came out. I loved playing it, and still do. The thought of a graphical update had me quite excited. When I foiund out that the old horse files weren't going to be compatible with the new version, I said, "oh well." But I thought that, well, gee, I spent $70 on the old version...I'd be glad to spend another 70 or a bit more to get the same value out of the new version.
But then I saw the prices for the horse files on sale. The pricing is INSANE.
I recognize that you're not going to give them away for free...but think about this.
In my old version I had the following (I had the American Version)
Best Horses of 2005
Best Horses of 2004
Best Horses of 2000-2003
Best American Horses of the 1990's
Best American Horses of the 1980's
Best American Horses of the 1970's
And FOUR separate files of fictional horses.
That makes nine horse files, all for the $70 I paid for it.
Now look what the equivalent would cost me in the new version:
The 2006 complete horse files would cost $39.80 (four files, including the 2-year-olds, to make the complete year)
2005 and 2004 currently have only three horse files each, because they don't have 2-year-old files yet. When they do, they'll be the same $39.80.
So I would be out $119.40 off the bat. And that's not counting whatever it would be for all the other horse files.....the point is that if I want an experience that's even close to what I had with the old version I have to spend several hundred dollars.
I don't begrudge you guys a profit, not at all. I'm a longtime PC gamer myself. I understand that for independent games like this you're always going to pay a bit more. But the escalation in price, for the same approximate experience, from the last version to this is insane.
I understand this version is drawing in many new purchasers who never saw the last version. But your current pricing policy--the value you get for the same money--has gone way down since the last version.
Without us folks who bought the last version, and the other ones over the last several years...there would never have BEEN this new version. Your pricing policy screws us over.
Tournament Schedule
Featured VIP Member
Newest Forum Topics
Most Active Topics
Horse Racing Totals
Last 20 Days
Total Horse Races: 2,488,862
Total Jockey Races: 664,579
Total Bettor Races: 343,257
Recently Active Members
There are currently 16 users and 31 guests online.
Comments
I feel your pain and I too am torn. I have spent around $50 bucks+ a year for 5 years on this game....(by buy ing upgrades and converting horse files I made). Now I am paying $120 for a subscription and probably another $30-60 bucks a year in horse files. When the trainer game comes out, not even sure if we will be able to create our own horse files. In tough times like these where I am scaling back it is tough to justify costs.
I will say I do love this game and would be saddened not to continue.
im just upset that we cant create our own horses anymore. i dont understand why we cant? and i think there should be more horses in these files. we're paying 10 for only 40-50 horses per file where as we used to get alot more horses per file with the other version plus another 120/yr for the subscription. the 08 more horses file, i only heard of about 20 of the 47 that are in this file. i think most of them are claimers and allowence horses.
I'm not buying horse files until the trainer game comes out. Also, I thought the VIP thing should be a one time fee of $100 or something. If we stick with this game for 5 years thats $600 bucks were spending.
It's a great game, don't get me wrong but it can be costly.
Hi
I read your comment and went threw your numbers and at first glance they make sence if you do not understand our full program and price model . The truth is for 9.95 per month not only can you earn a ton of files but you can do way more in this game then ever before(community access ,tournaments for prizes ,original content and so much more ). We are moving into a community based game for many reasons and with that will come with so many great features and way more hours of interactive fun and game play for our users. First let me say that the files can be earned for free. All vip members can earn now 4000 points per day and soon up to 5000 points per day(150,000 per month) that is equal to 1.5 free files a month so in turn you can earn up to 18 files a year and get all the other cool benifits of the game and VIP status. Once you earn them they are yours to keep . You can not even compare the old game to the new game with all the upgrades we have made and those that are soon coming(at any level). We are now a real company with many people working and they need to get paid so we can grow. In the old game we had a nitch user base in this game we want the nitch user base(our core fans we love you guys) and the younger game or fantasy game player so we can create a growing base of new fans for the sport of horse racing. Please understand it Also it takes 15 minutes to 20 minutes to build 1 horse let alone a entire file. Now we need to figure in all the development costs and content costs and staff (you get the picture)
Please also note players do get hundreds of horses for free to play with and 40-60 new each month with the VIP program . We will have tournaments soon for big prizes. We now have all types of content from real figures in horse racing to add value to the game and the community. This is just the start of what we want to do . You will soon see it will all come together .
In summery for 9.95 per month you will end up with thousands of horses and a lot more interactive engagement and fun. I do not really think that is such a bad deal. I took my son and girl friend to a 2 hour movie the other day and spent 42.00........1 movie -2 hours(THAT'S CRAZY)...Now for 9.95 per month the fun can go fo a long time and in many different directions.
Thanks for your input we take the good and the bad .
Mike
This will be a free race given to any VIP member . Look for it friday. As part of your VIP program you get 4 plus pre built races a month . The belmont Stakes is one of them this month
Please also remember to build up your community points to enter tournaments and get discounted and free race and horse files files .
I was going to make a similar comment that as a VIP member you don't need to go out and buy all the files at once. Why not use the benefits of VIP to earn free files using points.
One thing though, as a VIP member I was wondering if you would consider offering ownership of community horses to VIP members who stay on for a full year. In other words, those 40-60 community horses per month would become ours once we pay 120 dollars for a year. The thing that concerns me as a VIP member is that we don't really own anything for our money.
I think you make a good point. Players that are loyal to us and the game for atleast 12 mo's should be able to keep horses from the community(we will figure it out for sure) . We are learning and its because of players like you and everyone that feeds us info we can go over every move we are making for the horse racing game . The files you buy with your points are yours to keep please also understand that.
Please keep up the feed back and I am sure when the smoke clears everyone will see what we are trying to do for long term play and fun.
As a long-time owner of the original game I, too, had similar thoughts to those first raised by deusex regarding the pricing of the new game. However, much of that has been compensated by the new interface, which is great. While I plan on continuing to be a VIP member, however, the fact remains that many of us simply don't have the time to run the number of races that would be necessary to build up 5,000 points per day. (Heck, I'm lucky to win one out of seven races in the jockey mode!) But still, it's a fun game to play and I look forward to new racetracks down the line, too. It would be really cool to see each racetrack in its own unique surroundings, too. (Though I'm sure it would cost a small fortune to show the twin spires of Churchill Downs--which they probably wouldn't allow!) Still, I view this as a development stage for the game and we should all be happy that the programmers and developers are active members of the Forum--unlike so many other games today.
Is it ever going to be possible to create our own horses?
We are sending out the belmont stakes simulation today to our members to play around with as a pre -built race. Please look for it soon.
Building your own horses will be the first phase of our training game . more details of that next month. Our focus rt now is more files and the start of horse racing game tournaments .
We are also just finishing up a new refer a friend program that gets you 10,000 points per friend that signs up and runs 10 races. Your friend gets 5000 points . As part of this program your refer a friend gets added automatically to your friend list and you have the ability to compare your stats head to head with your friends .
We are young,new and have a lot to learn and a lot to do. We will get our horse racing game there and you guys will be a BIG part of the reason !!!!!!! Tons of great stuff to come .......................
Mike
We have launched the refer a friend program as of midnight . This is a great way to earn 10,000 (yes 10,000 points ) for everyone that you get to register and play 10 races ..that is it. If they do register we also add them to your buddy list and you can compare their stats against yours ......
morse good horse racing and horse racing game stuff to come
Hey...
I hate to call people out, but it sure seems all your posts are moaning and complaining....you have anything good to say? Come on guy...this is a community...helping is good, in fact great...but constant belittling is uncalled for. IMHO.
To all - sorry if that was out of line..but i've been on many community boards and see them get out of hand with guys like this...either be constructive or quite...it's how i feel.
Puddles.........people always complain about price, but seldom think of value, your game is going to be one of the best online games ever........all that costs $$$..........If someone likes your game, pay for it..........it amazes me how people pee away $$ on nonsence and bitch about something they enjoy........to use a old saying......"there ain't no more free lunches"
After another 18 hour work day it is nice to have that type of support.
There are some people that can not afford to spend money in the game and I understand that(if you can be a VIP please do we need the support and it helps everyone). Being a VIP helps us and you the players but we are not here for the money(I sure do not make 1 dime right now) . We are here to help the sport we love and the people that love it . We hope we build a horse racing game and horse racing community that people can have fun with but also learn about this great action sport.
One day we will make a profit but we will put that back into the horse game and the sport itself. There are so many ways we want to help.
Now I am going to run a few races (maybe get lucky)
Puddles
I just signed up over the weekend and I already feel I've got my money's worth. $9.95 a month is a great deal. I'm not sure where else you could find this much value for your money. Keep up the good work!!!