Redwood Valley Equestrian Centre || Discussion

[SydneyandStorm]

All right, sounds great! In that case, we'll try out ultrasounds starting now and maybe implement them for sure in a couple weeks' time, unless anyone has any objections ^^

Anyone have any thoughts about the barns?

[caf.]

i dig the ultrasounds! they sound pretty neat, solid additions.

i can't say i'm sold on the barn ideas yet, honestly. the only reason i could see a player wanting to be a horse broker would be to get a ton of c, which isn't really all that useful until you start breeding and competing with your own horses. i don't know, honestly, it just doesn't seem like it'd be very popular since most players seem most interested in certain breeds or disciplines.

as for the rescue barns, it honestly sounds like they'd turn into mini-adopts of their own. i'm not sure how that would work out. again, most players here seem interested in a specific discipline or breed, i can't say i can see rescues being a popular idea.
i do love the idea of writing and art-based rescues, i think that should certainly be brought back! i'm just not sure if rescue barns are the best route for incentive for people to adopt, since i don't know how many people would create them. perhaps an incentive program would encourage players to adopt? RVFHA has a program where players can submit their horse's show winnings and earn extra c from the association just for competing with their feral horses - in real life there's a similar program for off-the-track racehorses known as the Thoroughbred Incentive Program.
again, that's not the only route, just the one that immediately came to mind.

definitely like the idea of bringing back western and English barns - good way to introduce new players!

again, these are just my opinions based on the trends i see - don't take my word as law, i could be very wrong!

[SydneyandStorm]

I really agree with that, caf. ^^ Thanks so much! Since everyone seems to be in agreement here, we'll introduce ultrasounds and bring back English/Western-specific barns and leave the rest as it is c:

[SydneyandStorm]

Hi all; just wanted to seek out some quick opinions on invitational shows since I'm in the middle of planning them out!

How they work so far (and why it's taking me so long to finish) is this:
Each discipline has a set number of obstacles and has the same number of rounds as in real life, so that hunters has two over fences and one under saddle, jumpers has one elimination and one speed round, etc. etc. So it will take an incredibly long time to judge (most likely about two weeks) but it should be very worth it for those who enter.

As of now, it's set so that geldings have about a 20% chance of an event at an obstacle, mares have a 30% chance, and stallions have a 40% chance, although that will change by discipline depending on how many obstacles there are so that no one discipline is harder than the other. The actual events are still random and horses will still have different reactions to each event depending on their personalities. Additionally, having the proper attitudes will give them a bonus in shows, and horses will have to pass a vet check before and after the show to avoid any potential injuries and treat them if they happen.

What I'm trying to decide on is what to do with physical stats, natural talent, and training. Initially I was going to simply give those with higher stats a bonus, but I thought that perhaps, rather than only inviting horses with multiple wins in their discipline, invitational shows could be restricted to horses with a minimum amount of physical stats and/or training so that a horse has to have sufficiently high points already to be invited in the first place. It could be only training, only physical stats, both, or none as a prerequisite, and of course, I'm still looking for suggestions ^^ Natural talent will be implemented as an overall bonus for all horses in invitational shows. Please let me know your specific opinion with regard to invitational shows; I'm really looking for "I like this more than this" instead of "thumbs up" responses because I can't decide between these options, but please let me know what you guys think so I can finish these decisions up as soon as possible! <3

[caf.]

nice! i can't wait for invitationals, i'm super ready to take a new level of competition!

first of all, if i'm going to be honest, i think those percentages of events are awfully high. generally, schooling shows are somewhat eventful with rider falls and all, but invitational shows tend to run pretty smoothly. keep in mind; schooling shows are meant to habituate a horse while invitational shows are meant to be a test of skill. invitational courses aren't really designed to cause disasters with the exception of a couple of fences/movements designed more to throw off a horse than anything. plus, barring realism, i think that'll just make it that much harder for you.
that being said, if you ever need help coming up with events, i've seen my fair share of events at hunter shows, horse trials, dressage shows, and western classes, aha.

i like the idea of natural talent being a factor, but i feel like physical stats play a big part - after all, a good-hearted horse can only get so far on terrible legs. i feel they should add a bonus or have some other major effect on the score.

perhaps training and natural talent could go hand in hand? after all, a good trainer works on improving a horse's natural abilities first and foremost. so those two stats together create that bonus.

i like the idea of a minimum physical stat to enter - it shouldn't be overwhelming, but definitely should place a solid limit.

[SydneyandStorm]

Thanks so much for your input, caf.! ^^ I really appreciate it!

To address your concerns about the high percentages, that's really less of a something-bad-is-going-to-happen thing and more of an equalizer -- events take away minimal points and are primarily a horse rubs a rail or throws in a buck rather than a horse blows through a jump type of thing cx I do understand your concerns and probably will be lowering it a bit more to help stallions out a bit, but I'm basing most of the events and percentages off of the Olympic trials and what I saw happening there to even professional horses ^^ I may include a cut in likelihood for the horses with the highest natural talent, but that is of course something more to be discussed! I would like to make these shows highly skill-based, so hopefully I can figure out a way to factor that in realistically c:

I definitely like the bonus thing; what I may end up doing is sorting horses by natural talent and then adding extra points in order or even adding it to their final score, the latter of which would certainly be easier but maybe less realistic ^^' It'd be interesting to have natural talent and training go hand in hand, although I want to be sure to reward breeders that worked to produce high natural talent in their horses instead of just those whose horses were blessed with high trainability! I may have them work together but in different parts of the show so that training helps horses get out of situations and natural talent gives them an inherent bonus?

In that case, I'll go ahead and start setting up minimum natural talent requirements! Many thanks for responding -- I so appreciate your input! <3

[SydneyandStorm]

Hi all! Just wanted to make two more announcements really quickly to see everyone's opinion on them cx

First of all, for those with stud/breeding barns -- should straws be available for all barns to draw or should only stud/breeding be allowed to draw them? I know that the kind thing to do is, of course, to allow all barns to draw them, but I want to be sure you guys feel you have sufficient bonuses as it is c:

Additionally, I'm going to begin announcing discounts on horse imports; however, such information will only be released on the advertising thread, so make sure you're constantly checking up on that if you want to take part in those deals!

Thanks for reading! <3

[caf.]

perhaps stud/breeding barns could have a discounted/free price for drawing straws? or a limit could be placed on straws per horse for non-breeding barns? just thoughts - as a non-breeding barn, i'd like to have access to the service, but i understand if those players want an upper hand.

sweet, sounds exciting!

[SydneyandStorm]

I like that, caf. -- thanks for the input! I think I'll set it so that stud/breeding barns can draw straws for free and I'll up the price a bit for non-breeding barns cx I'll go change that right now!

[Oddly Shaded]

Thought i'd just through a little hello out there!

Its been a while but I will be checking out whats going on around here again (Seeing as I kinda dropped off the face of the earth for a bit there! XD)

Could anyone re-cap whats been happening??