Redwood Valley Equestrian Centre || Discussion

[SydneyandStorm]

I like the sound of those! ^^

We do have the advertising thread but unfortunately I'm leery to require everyone's posting to anything other than the main thread (for joining) and the bank thread, which is relatively inactive and only pops up with new members so I feel less bad about that ^^' I'd like to have the advertising thread be more popular but unfortunately it's in a bit of an obscure area and I don't want to annoy anyone by continuing to bring it up on the main thread xD

The form may work well, and I'd be happy to put it back up! We can try the post and also include the form to see which is more effective and just kind of move on from there so that if the form alone goes over well I can just take down the post on the main thread c:

I'm hoping buying and selling does get more popular! I've decided to up the prizes in showing by a bit so that hopefully people have more currency to distribute versus having to save a lot ^^

[Sandy Hoofprints]

That all sounds great, I'm onboard <3

[OutFoxed]

Hello,

I apologize for my lack in interaction.
I moved a month ago - and life has been nothing but chaotic (honestly driving me insane). I am a grade A+ lurker though. RVEC is never far from view; with the recent updates and new horse adopts, and of course new members (yay! welcome!).

To chip in my two cents about generating more activity:
Personally, I need the shows to help generate income and better my training/show string. My goals in RVEC all center around competitions - and when they're not happening for months/weeks at a time, it makes it harder to stay current and active. On top of experience gained through the shows, currency is also a must needed benefit, that is otherwise lacking in fluent transactions - greatly impeding the ability for forward progression. I might be hesitant to spend a lot of money, but everything adds up, and adds up quickly: Purchasing a horse is 1,000c at base value; adding tack is 125-550c; entering in a competition is 100c - getting any kind of pay out happens only when the horse is three and then only half, but need to be older than five to get the entire winnings. And of course, you can't just have one horse, so the fees are multiplied how many times over. Breeding then becomes a method to stay current - but if you don't have a reason, it becomes another 'mouth to feed'.
I'd also love to see more activity from associations - understandably there's some hypocrisy there - as I've wanted to start a couple of associations but failed to generate them.

The quest incentives are interesting, with hard work and dedication, should be attainable. The only thing I see as an issue, although minor, is that they could lend in 'grade' breedings and just adding to the population without having a use. Just minor and I think a great start for generating other means for income.

- I have a devil's advocate mind set apparently c:

Baby corn - Anyone up for awesome coding/editing help for a hunter/jumper association, field hunting club, eventing association? Ooh a pony club type situation would be fun - or like a quiz bowl (hmm, possibly super over-complication situation, to excuse web searching and make it solely study/knowledge game [as it is in rl])
So if anyone has some time on their hands and wants to collaborate on possible RVEC associations - send a PM!

Anyways, sorry for the ramble/rant/text block.
I love all the work that's gone into this SIM and it shouldn't be held back.

- Fox

[SydneyandStorm]

I hear you, OutFoxed, and I really do want to say that I'm so sincerely sorry for the lag in shows. That's one thing I wish I were better about keeping up with and fully intend to do. I'll try to get better about that in the coming weeks and put it at my number one priority :)

This is going to sound oddly like blame placing/blame diversion, but believe me, it's not intended to in the slightest, it's just my analysis of why things have gone wrong with showing xD Here's the thing: I currently have an Excel document up and running of all show entries, past and present, with all fields to be filled out and scores and rankings, etc. and it works super well. Like, for most shows with 5-6 entries, I can have judging done in only an hour or two, which is really quick and way faster than it used to be. The problem arises (see what I said about blame placing? hahaha) with 3DE, because it's not one show; it's actually three. And because it's eventing, it's not as simple as using the formulas for jumpers, dressage, and XC either. It's just a lot more complicated and involved so that the correct score can be assessed at the end of the judging. So if you take the 1-2 hour estimate for regular shows and apply that to eventing, you can see how this would very quickly become a highly involved ordeal that I need to have a big block of time for, because the other thing is that I really need to do it all in one sitting for the best results or else I lose my place in the calculations xD So that's about what that's worth, and unfortunately I don't know that there's any clear solution to the problem; I just wanted to explain why I keep getting hung up on the judging.

Now that I think about it, perhaps what I end up doing is actually publishing the scores for each phase one at a time as I complete judging, so that it's more live and can happen with breaks in the middle and I actually feel like I'm getting somewhere? I don't know, would you guys rather have eventing scores distributed over three or so days while I judge or have the entries continue to come in all at once? Either way, I think I'd have to have it so that about half the running shows are judged Saturday, half are judged Sunday, and 3DE is judged starting Monday (if we go with distribution) or around Wednesday (if all at once) so I don't get overwhelmed, hahaha. However, providing shows are still entered regularly, I will make it my number one priority to judge them on a rigid, regular schedule so that everyone can be entering them on a regular basis.

That said, I have also decided to up the prizes in regular shows by either two or three times what they normally are with the entry fees remaining the same. Additionally, "green" and youth horse shows will be removed and replaced with futurities for 1-4 year olds, which will hopefully bring competing young horses from one of the least lucrative events to one of the most financially rewarding undertakings. Details will follow tomorrow after I've had a chance to sleep, but hopefully that will help somewhat :)

I agree about the associations, but unfortunately I'm at a loss of what to do here to help make them more active ^^' If anyone has any ideas, please PM me!

You make a good point for the quests. I'm not entirely sure how to resolve that issue, although perhaps I could add a stipulation that the horse being used to complete the quest must be pure or a first generation reasonable cross? I'm open to any other ideas! <3

I greatly appreciate your input, OutFoxed! I certainly hope all this might help at least somewhat, and if you or anyone else has any other thoughts, please please please let me know! ^^

[caf.]

if i may add on the eventing issue, Startbox (the main source of eventing scores) indeed posts scores one at a time - most eventers check their scores after dressage, then again following cross-country and once more following stadium so they can see how much their errors might have cost them. it definitely wouldn't be unrealistic to post phases one at a time, since large shows usually run only one or two phases each day (at schooling shows, they run the phases on the same day, but that's a small detail).

[OutFoxed]

Thanks Sydney - You do such a great job about making sure each person is heard whether idea, suggestion, or comment. It's very appreciated.

Hmm... What kind of system are you using to calculate the 3DE? Wouldn't doing a by phase system by easiest? (using the same set up as real life?) Even if you just have spreadsheet formulate the outcomes automatically - by setting it to run Dressage first, then factor in Cross Country, with Stadium Jumping last - and computing the outcome as a whole?
Possibly working similarly to the real life system of penalty points occurred over the phases - dressage giving out the base score, cross country penalties added - with a percentage of eliminations; and show jumping phase being the chance to beat scores.

I was also wondering if training should be a heavily influenced portion in cross country at the very least. There's been a decent amount of news coverage in just the past year discussing how the horses are ill-prepared for the events - don't have the stamina to make the long runs. The installment of the Short Format (taking out the stamina testing Roads and Tracks portions) has mixed reviews on whether it's decreasing injuries or creating problems of ill-prepared rides.

I do not envy the Show system you've had to set up/utilize - Completely appreciate all the work and energy you've put into the entirety of the SIM. Thank you!


Definitely interested in your next update concerning 'Futurities'. Something along the lines of 'will this young horse have the correct/strong stats for their intended disciplines'?

[SydneyandStorm]

Aw, I'm glad to hear it! ^^ And good to hear that that wouldn't be super unrealistic for showing, since that's probably make it easier on me c:

Yeah, from what I understand about what you've written, that's pretty much exactly how the current showing system works, haha ^^ The thing is, it's designed to be hyper-realistic as far as I can understand eventing, which I primarily studied from watching the Olympics (horses are judged as normal in dressage except the end score being the score subtracted from 100 to assess penalties, then the cross-country round with penalties assessed for various events and some horses eliminated, and then a jumpers round to finish it all off) so it's also quite long to judge since I have to do all calculations by hand ^^' The Excel sheet helps a ton with the organization but unfortunately it's all too complicated with the random factor and all to just plug it in and let it do the work. Although I'm thinking if I posted the scores for each phase one at a time, that might make it easier on me because it breaks up the workload c:

That's a good idea! Training does play the biggest factor in competitions out of all other factors but I could definitely have it play a bigger part in getting out of situations on course like getting caught over a jump, maybe? What do you all think about that?

Haha, thank you, I appreciate it! It's a lot of work but I still feel bad that it's taken me so long to get back to everyone on it ^^' So I'm definitely going to try to get better about that and run them regularly!

Exactly ^^ I'll try to have them 100% fleshed out later today if I can!

[caf.]

syd, if you ever need help with eventing scoring, i've been jump-judging for a year and can give you a rundown of penalties, eliminations, etc., eventing can get messy!
i do like the idea of training playing a role in avoiding accidents on-course. maybe horses that were started later could also have a lower risk of a breakdown later in life? like horse that started showing at 5 is less likely to encounter accidents or go lame than a horse that participated in futurities? this is merely a suggestion, i just saw 4 (minor) injuries that resulted in scratches at a show this week, all on horses that were under saddle at age 2, so i think it could potentially be more realistic if you don't think it'd be too much work!

[SydneyandStorm]

Ooh, I'd really appreciate that, caf.! ^^ Want to make sure I'm doing everything accurately c:

I really like that, too! I'd always kind of considered having something where horses started later in life could continue competing for longer whereas those started earlier would burn out or break down sooner, but I never really implemented it ^^' So I'd love to incorporate that or at least give them a higher risk of injury during competing c: What do you all think about that?

[caf.]

feel free to pm me, syd, i've been skimming the rulebook due to my own competition season so i should be quite up-to-date on eliminations and penalties, aha!