Complaining in the spoiler topic *is NOT * going to stop this . If you want action you need to make sure the howrse team see it . Not that they will take notice , I complained about them being greedy on the test server with the Time - Limited items once just to be told that they will ban me from the forums .A year and a half later suddenly they are have ' listened' to us .

If howrse doesn't like what you are saying they will just ignore you . They will block you . They will ban you . They don't care about you . Just the great customer service we get on this game Honestly they act like toddlers if you point out something wrong.

Rest assured if and when the test server goes up for this EVERYONE will complain about this change . But don't expect the howrse team to listen . They will tell us ' we will take your comments into consideration ' 'We will share your ideas with the rest of the howrse team ' but they never do the test sever always closes before we get a reply

This is a money making endeavor -- companies have to make money, sorry that is the way the world works-- for a long time I bought no passes, had no pass horses, and STILL played the game
My financial situation got better and I got some divines and passes --
Every game I have ever played had to make money -- good example, Sony Online Entertainment,. played EQ2 for years--loved it
SOE (parent company) bought by Columbus Nova -- SOE name changed to Daybreak Games --- I quit pretty soon after that -- why? Game went downhill and they started "Nickle and Diiming " us to death, among other things I found totally unacceptable---- but lots and lots of people stayed, are still playing and love it -----
conclusion,. EQ2 is far from dead just because one player quit ( and I am sure many more loyal and PAYING players left)
It is healthy, alive and kicking and this game will survive too--- some of us will hang out and stay, and new players will come in

[quote=1403336661][author]<em>Retired breeder</em>[/author]This is a money making endeavor -- companies have to make money, sorry that is the way the world works--[/quote:0]

Everybody knows that.

[quote=1403336661][author]<em>Retired breeder</em>[/author]It is healthy, alive and kicking and this game will survive too---[/quote:0]

I love this game despite my not being happy about some of the changes but to think that this game is healthy....no, I don't agree with that.

Being the active player that I am, I noticed the difference way back when we had "player employees". After years of instantly finding, was it stable hands (whatever the first job was called), all of a sudden you had to wait sometimes up to 3 days for those jobs to fill. That was the first initial noticeable slowdown.

Again looking at the amount of "connected players" tells me this game is not thriving like it once did.

Several years ago, the original Ow told us that these games genuinely have a life span of 3 years. I'm glad it has lasted all these years and I hope it will last for many more but do I believe that it will....not with the direction it's been going in.

Anyone knows whats the next promos?I looked a few pages back but all I could find was people talking about the pass changes. Complaining on spoiler topic isnt helping..

There are lots of games out there that people have been doom and glooming for years,-- EQ,EQ2, Age Of Conan and now the latest one, Star Wars the Old Republic -- none of them dead, but go and read their forums, the doom sayers are there -- and I am still p!aying SWtOR -- not as much as I used to, but I am -- the game hasn't " sunset" yet,
sheesh have some faith guys

Testing for the next promo hasn't opened yet. That's why it's mostly dead of "regular" spoiler talk in here

[quote=1403336597][author]cheanut[/author]I think with the new changes everyone just needs to think about how Ubisoft and owlient need money to keep this free for every one. Not all games are free, and people like having free games to play. Just be grateful we dont have to pay every month or whatever to play.[/quote:0]

I feel like this is going in circles, so I'm going to put some actual numbers out there to give some perspective on what Owlient is losing by making so many changes that loyal pass buyers dislike.

I have bought well over 1000 passes in my time on the game. That is more than £1000 I have spent on this game over the years. It is money I was happy to spend because I was enjoying the game and felt the money was worth it. Despite now being far more financially stable than I was as a student (which is when I did the majority of my pass buying), and being in a position where I could comfortably be spending twice as much as I used to (which I almost certainly would have done back then if I could have), I am now spending nothing at all. Even if I had simply maintained my old pass buying habits, I would now easily be somewhere in the 3000 range of passes bought - that is a potential £2000 from me alone that Owlient did not get because a player got fed up of not being listened to or taken seriously. When I was a happy customer, I paid happily; when I stopped being a happy customer, I stopped paying - how many other players have done the same, and how many more are looking at doing so now? If they 'need money', keeping their frequent buyers happy is important.

If there had been a subscription fee it would certainly have been cheaper overall than the passes I have bought (and I have been playing for over 8 years), so I honestly wouldn't have cared if Howrse had become pay to play and feel no real reason to be grateful that it remained free for everyone. My money is part of what paid for this site to be free for everyone. If Howrse is truly that concerned about keeping the game free and accessible to all, they need to keep their pass buyers happy and willing to spend - which currently they aren't making any real effort to do.

[quote=1403336673][author]<em>Retired breeder</em>[/author]sheesh have some faith guys[/quote:0]

I will if they don't stamp on our trust. I lost my trust in them when they broke the promise they made about foundie GP. The saying "once bitten, twice shy" comes to mind.

*most certainly would have done

Lots of people buy passes, maybe not as many as some do -- but we do buy passes and we do have an opinion, and we don't always agree, but really, to say that just because some of us have spent such and such amount of real money is not going to sway what the admins want to do -- we are all players, we all matter whether we spend real money here or not ---
And. I for one love the increase in genetics for foundations and new players -- I still shudder when I remember being a beginner and having my bum kicked in comps by the top horses and divines --. Good for the admins!! Give the new players some love, it is hard being new sometimes

Of course they won't listen thank you I know that the test server time is not long which means howrse has a great excuse to not even look at your comment

Honestly they act like toddlers if you point out something wrong [THis describes it all] thank you for pointing out

New players seem to be the only ones that benefit from change. Would be nice if once in a while us older, more experienced players would actually get something nice. :/ They get a lot more than when I first joined this site. (One horse, no tutorial, and thrown out there to brave it) We were all new at one point yet managed. You just need to work up like everyone else did.

^^We don't know what's next. Testing on Equideow hasn't opened yet

New players think this is good cause they haven't had a pass horse yet and they believe that they will earn 100 passes from theese points that people in the test server with 12.000.000 equus (correct me if I am wrong) and 100 passes could barely win

If ubisoft is so poor they can't afford to pay their workers, they might want to slow down on all the changes, because that takes time and a lot of coding. They could just stop, or slow down, on changes that weren't asked for. I can remember when there was a forum so we, the players, could make suggestions for changes, and some of them were amazing. But it seems they spend all their time coming up with new features no one wants. Change for its own sake is expensive and is harming the game. I have noticed the drop off in active players. This sort of thing happens all the time. Like Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream. It was amazing when it was a small company, then it got bought off, and now, the ice cream is just like all the commercial "premium" ice cream.

You know, I would pay to get the game back to what it was when I first joined. That would be worth it.

What keeps me here is the artwork, you know, the stuff done by the PLAYERS. My favorite part of the month is from the 5th to the 14th when I get to see the new stuff coming in.

Here's a question: If you can get passes for free, wouldn't that inflate the BMI market, horse market, price of divines, etc? Would the price of being a VIP go up too? I wonder if the cost of being a VIP goes up, if it would be able to be supported by the exact amount of passes you would get for free each month...

I have looked back several pages in this thread and in the current promo thread but couldn't find what I'm looking for. Is there a post that tells what ornaments are needed for each divine tree? Thanks!

Not really, because they're also removing pass horses, making us get twenty less passes that usual. And let's just say reports have been very negative for the new pass meter, most saying they're only getting 6-8 points per day instead of the usual ten we get now

@kismetfarms
At the top of page 1981 there is a chart in a spoiler for all the prize requirements.You'll have to scroll that image oved for the divines

Thank you!

Well there are some people who do not want to spend money on games because they cannot so those who dont pay for games wouldn't be happy.

^My point was, telling me to be grateful the game is free at all is really not a good argument in favour of not being irritated by the coming change, because with the way the game is going I would be happier paying a monthly fee and not having endless promos and spendmoneyspendmoneyspendmoney shoved in my face constantly. The game is free because of pass buyers, not because of Owlient's unending generosity. A company should value its customers, not expect its customers to be grateful it exists, and right now many players aren't feeling at all valued.

Even the free passes aren't really a purely generous gesture. The idea behind allowing a small amount of premium currency to be earned for free is that players will like the taster of the advantages it gives them, will want more, and will therefore be more likely to buy more. It is something most micro transaction games do.

^^ This is true! The only reason Howrse gives you passes at these times is so you get a little taste of what it's like to have passes and get addicted to the flavour. And the thing is, now no one will buy passes very much because of these changes unless they're new players that have never known any different.

And you know what one of the worst parts is? The fact that Howrse knows what we want, and knows how we feel about these changes. They know that we have good and efficient ways to get more tastes of what it feels like to own passes, and they don't care! They don't care about the players, they care about the money. And it's nausciating!