[UPDATED] Devs' Corner: October 2024

Our developers have something to tell you! Every three (3) weeks, our devs will provide you with information about their work in the “Dev’s Corner.”

This publication is a way of keeping everyone updated on what’s happening with the game. We invite you to discuss and leave your feedback for each of the publications.

Note: All posts must adhere to the forum guidelines and be constructively made.

Take a look at our very first Devs' Corner publication!

Warm wishes,

The Howrse Team
 
Ow
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The Dancing Granny
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Can the next update be night and day version of the site? Like you can choose which one you want in account. It's extremely blinding to play this game at night so I usually turn down the brightness on my computer and phone.

I don't like the co share changes as it was much easier to just see green to know if someone's co is on and it was more smashed together so you can see more co's at once but now you have to do more scrolling if you have more co's.

Overall the new setup is refreshing but unnecessary like many others said, I'd much rather get updates that actually impact my game play positively like less lag.
kanima
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I don't mind any of these changes but I definitely agree with the post above me asking for a day/night version of the game...so many websites are offering that nowadays and it's hugely helpful for anybody who struggles with light sensitivity/migraines/etc.

For me, it's the harsh yellow-green backgrounds that are really hard on my eyes and really annoying to look at, so I'd be really happy if they were finally removed/replaced with something a little more neutral, even if it is white/off-white backgrounds with a hopeful future option to switch to dark gray/black.

ShadowKokufu wrote:

Okay. Now when are you going to change the dewing peggy, dehorn uni and remove WoY objectives? Why did you intentionally leave those out? Why do you want us to mutilate our horses and waste our passes?


I don't mind those objectives at all and I certainly don't see it as "mutilating" a pixel horse/"wasting" passes. default smiley (o) I actually look forward to the "remove a unicorn horn" objectives since I usually have lots of otherwise useless male unicorn foals sitting around so it's nice to be able to get 10-20 passes for them.

If you don't like them/don't feel comfortable doing them/can't afford to do them, you don't have to do them...but you don't have to try to make other people feel bad for being okay with doing them/try to speak for everybody.
.: Dяєαм :.
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Not really impressed, I experienced lots of lag. Instead of adding changes to the game, maybe try and fix pre existing issues like the lag that hits maybe 7-8 hours before update. It's not my connection.
eternity
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I like the remove the water of youth objective for older blup immortal mares. I don't like dehorning and dewinging ones could get costly or cause problems with golden apple coats.
Ravenknight
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objectives should remove the donkey and draft objectives as well as the de-horn, pull wings, and remove youth.
Equestrian1
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Overall not a fan of this update. Once again they decide to put a new coat of paint over things that really didn't need it rather than actually listening to what the players want :/ I absolutely hate the new co-account design, it's actually harder to tell who is who, and the simple green indicator worked incredibly well. The rest of the design is fine I suppose, but still: why fix it if it ain't broke?
ShinyLugia1201
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By Retired breeder, 4th August 2020 15:54:26
Has anyone else NOT received new objectives today?
Adding extra:
The Configure simplified training is not working default smiley :( Rides are fine and can be changed, but training times stay the same even if I try to change them.
Rhysand
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2 things:
1) The simplified training setting for VIP is in a crazy order. What logic said "let's go stamina-gallop-speed-trot-dressage-jumping"?
2) When I change the simplified training times in my settings, they do not change for my horses. So it appears I have a wasted VIP perk until this is resolved. Not happy, seeing as VIP costs me ~33 passes per day.



Oh, and:
3) Would the howrse team PLEASE stop fixing things that aren't broken! We have had several "buggy" development rollouts in the past few months, and for the past few months the players have also been dealing with an absolutely ridiculous lag on the howrse server which renders the game unplayable for up to 12 hours/day.
~Fifi~
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YES!!!! What ~Fifi~ said above!

Fix the lag! Stop breaking things that aren't broken! Howrse isn't losing players because their co-man sharing account layout looks a particular way (or any of the other things howrse "fixed" this time). They are losing players because the game is virtually unplayable during the horrid latency times (about 11 pm EST to 4 am EST).

As for the changes themselves, well, sure I guess I really wouldn't care if they actually WORKED and if there weren't real issues the howrse team is ignoring, They are unneeded changes I guess howrse programmers need to do to have jobs...
c_mdowns
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I think we can all agree that the account page didn't really need to be updated, it was fine the way it was.

But for the sake of all that is holy, PLEASE fix the LAG on this game!
Stormborn
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I really do wish that Howrse would add a dark mode, especially if they plan on updating the whole site, not just our account -page. It is really bright right now and it's not really working well with Howrses basic color scheme.

And I also hope that they fix that co-management bug. And take a better look at what is causing this website being so laggy at times. Like it can't be just our devices, especially since there is people playing this game all over the world, and everyone is experiencing "the lag" at the same time, no matter what devices they use, no matter what internet they have and no matter where they are located. So please take a look at it and try to fix it soon. All servers don't have it as bad as international. default smiley :)
rend
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ShadowKokufu wrote:

Okay. Now when are you going to change the dewing peggy, dehorn uni and remove WoY objectives? Why did you intentionally leave those out? Why do you want us to mutilate our horses and waste our passes?
As someone who has spent well over half her life studying the Jack The Ripper case, your choice to use "mutilate" here is really, really overdramatic... Please save the Drama for the Chihuahuas (and goodness knows that my Chihuahua cheerfully manufactures her own Drama, lol).

As for those objectives... If people don't like them, I encourage them to not do them. I especially LOVE the objective to remove WoY, as I always have old (25+) horses upon whom that item is absolutely useless in my eyes, and I'm happy as anything to get rid of it, since WoY cannot seem to do the decent thing and "fall off" when Morpheus' Arms does... After a horse has all the skills it can get from Missions, WoY gets really useless and annoying to me.

I always have AP or "mothballed" horses bought cheaply with equus that I can remove wings or horns from, so I also don't mind those objectives. So honestly, there's no "waste" of passes, or of Medusa's Bloods won in promos, just a gain of passes from doing the objective. Again, if one doesn't like these objectives, we have free rein to just skip them.

The new Account page is terribly *bright*, though, isn't it? Luckily I don't spend much time on that page, so it is more of a surprise than something bad. I seldom use night/day settings on websites but I see the sense and the use of them, and I agree that it would be good if Howrse developed this for the people who want and need it.
Becky Barnes
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I've got VIP and wanted to check out the Statistics bit, but its asking me to register AGAIN for VIP!


Is anyone else experiencing this?
sophies_mommy2001
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I agree with the majority of players:

1.) I DO like the setup of the new account page but it is way too bright! I have the same issue with reading the new notification center. This was a change that could've waited.

2.) The updates on changes are way too vague! Please start actually listening to your players when doing stuff.

3.) What EXACTLY have you changed about the "Reach XXX years old with one horse" objective? I hate surprises but even I know that game changes are not something to surprise players about, if that is the intent by the vague descriptions and explanations.

4.) Correction of bugs is always welcome! I do have to thank you on that. Despite me never actually having witnessed any of these bugs, I do hope that the fix has helped others with their game-play.

5.) I feel as though the "Deleted the covering offers from a unicorn when its horn is removed" was rather unnecessary. There are many other changes that are needing implementation but you are clearly ignoring doing so. I hope you start weighing what should be priority versus what can be put on the back-burner.

My final opinion is that you start delaying the cosmetic work and start focusing on the more important complaints. But then again, many players have been complaining about this in the update forums but nothing is getting done about it. I highly doubt the developers even read these anymore.

I hope my comments help the developers or other players! Happy Howrsing!
Livey
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It is, apparently, much easier to tweak things or change things that actually add little to nothing to the game rather than spend time and money fixing things that have long needed fixed.

I do not like the white background on anything. It is too bright, even for those of us who aren't sensitive. It makes things harder to see. The horse coats, for instance...they do not show up as nicely nor look as attractive when you have to squint to block out the bright light behind them!

The lag is SO frustrating!! As has been said...not our many different devices, our time zones, our internet, period. It's the server. PLEASE fix it!! It just wastes our time and kills our enjoyment.

Yes, more details on any changes that you make, for clarification...helps avoid the same questions and comments being made...and saves us time and frustration trying to find the answer!

And on a side note: I do not understand why people need to single out any player for the words they choose or their opinions. It's totally rude and unnecessary. This is supposed to be a forum to let the DEVS know what we like and don't like. If you don't like someone's opinions, or how they express them, then don't click the heart in the corner! No one should be shamed for stating their opinion! If it isn't appropriate, the Mods will remove it.
PaintItBlonde
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Here's an idea that, if used, might satisfy many players if not all of them...

Allow a "skip" for Daily Objectives the way we have a "skip" for voting on new coats and backdrops.

When we vote on creations, we have 50 votes per day and can "skip" three times.

What if Daily Objectives allowed 1-2 "skips" per week? You get one you don't like or want to do, you click "skip" and get a new one.

If Daily Objectives allowed 1-2 "skips" per week, maybe that would allow people who really hate removing wings and horns and WoYs to still have a chance (though not a guarantee) to complete the week and get the HOP. This also would help out newer players with ones like the "get the color bonus" ones, which some of them might be able to do easily, and others not so much.

At the same time, a maximum of two "skips" per week would not (hopefully) make it "too easy" to complete the week's objectives, since they should be at least a little bit of a challenge and not a "given".

Of course, there would still be the chance of seeing the skipped objective pop up again later in the week, but that comes down to using "skips" wisely, not totally unlike using them in voting for creations.

It's a thought. It still wouldn't make Daily Objectives so easy that they'd just be a "given".
Becky Barnes
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For me I don't really like all these updated pages because everything is enlarged and you either need to zoom out to see the whole page on your screen or have to scroll to the information you are looking for. The type is spaced out so much that you have to scroll to see everything. Plus it seems like every time a page is updated we lose some functions that were handy. Like being able to preview backgrounds before buying them. I usually zoom in now 300% so I can get an up close view of the background but then it becomes difficult to navigate. I also miss being able to see what horses have the background already. I can still go to the Creation directory to find out but seeing that the whole site seems to be slowly being converted I suppose it will no longer be available there either when it is updated.

Also for me I liked the older icons and background colors that we had before. The new icons are gray and faded. The gavel and horse head and brightly colored gift box were easier to discern than the new icons in our Notification center. I know we can use the drop down filter to see different information but it felt a lot easier to just take a quick look in our Office. Although I do like being alerted now when my Greyfells die so I can resuscitate them right away. I used to forget them all the time. I hope too that the links to the players we buy horses from is added back in. I really liked being able to congratulate them.

I guess I just prefer the more compact format we had before. The new format feels uncomfortable like someone standing too close to your face or someone posting messages in all caps.

I'm glad though that we can still access our item history from the Black Market and Store pages. I like being able to see if I received an item from the promotions. default smiley :)
Sincerely
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Becky Barnes wrote:

Here's an idea that, if used, might satisfy many players if not all of them...

Allow a "skip" for Daily Objectives the way we have a "skip" for voting on new coats and backdrops.


Please oh please suggest this to Howrse using the Contact Us! This is a great idea that should be brought straight to the developers' attention seeing as they don't read the feedback in the forums.
Livey
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I love that idea. The cover a unicorn or donkey or draft of heaven help me the "give birth to a unicorn" have totally ruined a full week of objectives for me.
miketg
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I like knowing about when workshops are completed while I'm on mobile version.
Ravenknight
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sophies_mommy2001 wrote:

I've got VIP and wanted to check out the Statistics bit, but its asking me to register AGAIN for VIP!


Is anyone else experiencing this?


You have to have choose the access stats perk for VIP. It under the choose 10 options
eternity
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By Retired breeder, 4th August 2020 22:55:57
9
Me when I go to the My Account page:

In all seriousness, I do agree that a duller color, such as the normal muted green, would be much easier on the eyes than the bright white that was added in the update. Hopefully this can be changed so it's easier on the eyes! default smiley ;)
sophies_mommy2001 wrote:

I've got VIP and wanted to check out the Statistics bit, but its asking me to register AGAIN for VIP!


Is anyone else experiencing this?


If you don't have the statistics perk, you can't view VIP statistics. Are you sure that's one of your 10 chosen perks?
The Fifth Queen
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