[UPDATED] Devs' Corner: September 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 |
By Retired breeder, 7th January 2023 14:32:57
My reply
“ Thank you for your contact and constructive feedback about the trophies. Every idea and feedback received from a player, is submitted to our game designers for consideration. As Howrse is an international game, Howrse’s other language versions are also taken into account in the realization of ideas and aspirations. For this reason, we cannot promise the realization of ideas and wishes. We would also like to remind you that we have a large number of ideas, and unfortunately, for this reason too, we are not able to fulfill them all. Despite this, at Howrse we believe that the ideas and wishes of the players are valuable, as they enable our game designers to develop Howrse in the desired direction. Your feedback will be shared with the team. However, we cannot guarantee that changes will be made or that possible changes will be exactly what you would like. Don't hesitate to contact us again if you have further suggestions or questions. Kind regards, KiitOw” And also: “Your feedback is shared with the team. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that changes will be made or that possible changes will be exactly what you would like. Thank you for your understanding. Kind regards, KiitOw” |
Despite this, at Howrse we believe that the ideas and wishes of the players are valuable, as they enable our game designers to develop Howrse in the desired direction. I don't know whether to laugh or cry at this gem. 
|
Well, we have seen them transition more and more of the site to the mobile design, so we've seen this coming, but, yikes. Howrse is just not a mobile game. There are too many things that are not feasible on mobile devices at all, unless you have a large tablet or something. Not even just due to the design, but the expediency of having multiple windows open side-by-side to do things.
According to admin on the French server, they want the Browser and Mobile version to be completely identical, and "Numbers don't work on mobile" so it HAS to be percentages. I see where the players are talking about this message, but have you been able to find where it was originally stated, by chance? And in regards to how Collections affect General Ranking calculation for anyone who likes math, and until we get an answer, I did an experiment. Part II will be tomorrow. On the UK server I had 56,798 points for my Score yesterday. The only Collection I added/completed was a Winged Donkey. My seniority increased as well obviously, but none of my horse skills changed, and neither did my trophy count. My Score today is 56,897. I went up 99 points with the increase in my seniority and completing one Collection Today I'll just add to one of my in-progress Collections without completing it, to see how much incomplete Collections count.
|
Soooo..
What's going to happen to the ECs if they're forcing the mobile version like this? I HATE the mobile version and it's layout. I play solely on my phone in my browser on desktop mode. Looks like I might actually quit the game too.. all the effort I put in for nothing  Howrse, customers can see when people take shortcuts or be cheap and put in no effort. It rarely ends well, especially when it's this obvious. Effort gets rewarded. Being cheap does not unless you can do it really well. And when it comes to Howrse, you're failing miserably at your attempts at being cheap while keeping customers. Personally, I think you should employ someone that is competent enough to deal with this mess because its obvious that you can't.
|
The problem with the app is that it just isn't that user friendly, especially if you do a lot of blupping. I've tried it and it took like 4 or 5 times as long due to the lag and extra steps required. Instead of trying to make the game more like the app, they should be working on making the app less of a chore to use.
|
"According to admin on the French server, they want the Browser and Mobile version to be completely identical, and "Numbers don't work on mobile" so it HAS to be percentages."
Who asked for them to be the same? I play on mobile and browser and the pages being different never bothered me. After reading this comment, I checked the mobile site and what do you know, it still looks so different! It is also still broken in many areas as it has been for months. This update fixed nothing and has only created problems. I cannot believe that we are so meaningless to them. They will continue to ignore us until the angry players give up and leave so they are left with an army of children to command to buy Golden Apples > 
|
Who asked for them to be the same? Although the optimum solution should not be to adapt the desktop to mobile. It should be the other way around. For mobile, they could have just made the game mobile friendly in its resizing, rather than creating a different site design altogether.
|
*to make desktop adapt to mobile, I mean.
I'll never be able to figure out the mobile version
|
I think they might be misjudging what desktop players like about the game if they think a mobile version will have the same pull.
I personally WANT the desktop experience. I want the little intricate details. I wouldn't touch any mobile game or app for that matter with a barge pole. I don't like faffing about on a tiny screen. Or faffing about on a mobile version on my desktop. 
|
I see where the players are talking about this message, but have you been able to find where it was originally stated, by chance? Sure, here: Click to display C'était peut-être la réponse de Calypsow ? "je réponds à vos questions : * Les joueurs n'aiment pas la façon dont les trophées apparaissent sur les pages des fiches des joueurs. --> Nous essaierons d'y ajouter plus de personnalisation plus tard * tous les trophées divins semblent se concentrer sur de nouvelles séries ---> Plus de trophées seront ajoutés plus tard * la jauge est en pourcentage, elle serait plus claire en chiffre ---> Nous essayons de garder le même format entre desktop et mobile. Sur mobile, nous ne pouvons pas avoir de numéros * Dommage pas de PO et RH dans les collections ---> Très complexe de les intégrer aux collections. Equideow a un nombre de robes PO et paysages RH extrêmement important (pour les PO on parle de bien plus que les ~4000 POD déjà conséquentes). * chute au classement général ---> On a intégré collections au classement général. *Serait-il possible que la nouvelle page Trophées inclue l'icône de la tâche en question, au lieu de la médaille de base que nous voyons ? ---> Ce n'est pas prévu. Il y aura + de trophées ajoutés à la page des trophées plus tard, et certains d'entre eux seront difficiles à représenter avec une icône dédiée. * Pourquoi les 'trophées' ne sont-ils pas organisés par bronze/argent/or ? Au lieu de cela, toutes les couleurs sont mélangés ensemble. ---> Ils sont organisés par catégories * Pourquoi ne pas simplement déplacer la page des trophées dans son ensemble vers "collections" et ajouter ce nouveau page en tant que page "trophée"? ---> Il existe de vrais trophées qui ne sont pas liés à un mécanisme de collecte (comme les compétitions) * garder la page actuelle des trophées classiques. ajouter en supplément des «défis/objectifs à longs termes» qui seront en plus des trophées et des objectifs quotidiens. Avec cette solution, vous garderez ainsi la progression de chacun en respectant notre travail et vous incorporez votre idée. Cette nouvelle fonctionnalité qui pourra être autant utile pour les nouveaux que pour les anciens joueurs sera beaucoup mieux acceptée ---> Avoir deux pages trophées/défis en parallèle pourrait être assez confusant. L’ancien système de trophées regroupait tout à la fois de la collection d’objet et des objectifs liés aux autres gameplay du jeu (compétitions par exemple). Mais dans ce système la grande majorité des trophées étaient lié aux collections. Il paraissait plus judicieux de dédier un espace à la collection sur Equideow (nouvelle page des collections) et un espace pour des objectifs dédiés aux autres Gameplay (nouvelle page trophée) * "Je trouverai utile de connaître les futurs cadeaux, et le nombre de points nécessaire pour les obtenir. Par exemple, si j'ai bien compris, il y a environ 5 ou 6 cadeaux du MN, puis un divin... Pourquoi ne pas nous dire à l'avance ce que on peut gagner ? Ça pourrait motiver certains joueur" ---> 9 cadeaux MN puis un divin, et ensuite ça reboucle. Les divins sont de plus en plus intéressants et le pool d’objets MN proposés tente d’intéresser le plus grand nombre. Les divins sont gardés cachés pour laisser la surprise au joueur de les découvrir en progressant. * "Dommage aussi que l'on ne puisse pas voir les trophées que l'on possède, j'ai deux trophées diamant mais aucun moyen de savoir a quoi ils correspondent ! J'imaginais pouvoir cliquer dessus pour les visualiser, mais non" ---> Actuellement ce n’est pas possible. Mais nous gardons l'idée en tête à voir si on peut la développer * "Il n’y a rien qui indique qu’une série est complète dans les collections. Un petit «v» serait au moins agréable pour être impactant visuellement. Et pourquoi pas, une petite récompense vu que vous en donnez déjà pour les trophées" ---> En effet, une indication est sans doute manquante, nous verrons s'il est possible de l'ajouter plus tard" This is the full post by Calipsow, taken from Preprod and brought to the Equideow Forum. The part that interests you is this one: * la jauge est en pourcentage, elle serait plus claire en chiffre ---> Nous essayons de garder le même format entre desktop et mobile. Sur mobile, nous ne pouvons pas avoir de numéros
|
Thank you, Nalu
|
I don't know whether to laugh or cry at this gem. Indeed, that was a gem. I guess they have been reading some of this blog and decided to change it up a bit appearing to care. Naaaa, didn't work.....it's going to take more than that. 
|
Actions speak louder than words...
No matter how many times they send generic replies SAYING they care about the ideas and wishes of the players, their actions currently say the exact opposite. Well, actually they are screaming the opposite.
|
By Retired breeder, 7th January 2023 16:14:47
That's amazing
|
I like the new trophy page. It brings new excitement to the game.
On the trophy page, it says the gauge will begin again when it is finished. I have several gauges that are completed, but they have not reset. They are the diamond trophies. Once the diamond trophies fill, will they not reset?
|
The reward gauge is the one that resets. I think.
|
I like the new trophy page. It brings new excitement to the game. On the trophy page, it says the gauge will begin again when it is finished. I have several gauges that are completed, but they have not reset. They are the diamond trophies. Once the diamond trophies fill, will they not reset? The trophies do have an upper limit, so you probably reached the max on some. On ones where you haven't progressed as far through the tiers, those will reset.
|
This is a poor attempt by Howrse to modernize. It's like all of those apps turning themselves into TikTok, not realizing that if people wanted to be on TikTok, they'd just go on TikTok. Howrse is made to be a browser game and that's its appeal. If people wanted a modern mobile game, they would play a modern mobile game. People like the old-style ways of Howrse, that's why we're here. This change affects the way players trade, which in turn affects the sense of community. One of the reasons to be on here instead of playing one of those mobile games is the community. If players don't trade, then that means less interactions between players, creating more of an isolated game experience that none of us are here for. But apparently Howrse doesn't account for that, especially with the way it closed the forums on other servers. Having a sense of community makes people loyal to this game. There may be games that are more "modern," more advanced, more popular, more whatever, but there are certain qualities that keep people playing this game, like the community and its "old-style ways" in a period where browser games barely exist anymore. So they should maintain those qualities. Companies are so weird nowadays, turning themselves into whatever the trendy thing is instead of maintaining the qualities that got them their userbase in the first place.
Also, if Howrse thinks it can attract a brand-new userbase by turning itself into one of those mobile games, it must be kidding itself. I mean, let's be real, Howrse is a little obscure. It's never going to be one of those trendy mobile games. And so what? Not everything needs to be trendy and modern and hip to maintain a userbase. If that were the case, nothing outside of the mainstream would ever exist. Howrse is just not designed to be one of those mobile games with the microtransactions. If they wanted to make it into that, they'd have to do a complete overhaul of the game. Today's kids are not going to find Howrse addictive enough to want to spend loads of their parents' money on it. I mean, there's a reason why most of the players on here are adults. I think Howrse doesn't see a need to change this back because they figure people will get used to it eventually and stop complaining. But even if they do stop being vocal about their disapproval, it doesn't mean that their enjoyment of the game hasn't significantly decreased. If Howrse doesn't want to end up like all of the other Owlient games (As in, now defunct), they need to listen to their players. It was the same problem with their old game, Babydow, which was severely neglected and they never listened to us players. And then the game shut down. I don't get the reason why they don't want to listen to the players. That's like a marketer not listening to the demands and desires of their customers. It makes no sense. Is stubbornness some kind of inherent Owlient quality? I dunno, but I don't want to see Howrse shut down. But if it did, I'd make a rewritten version, and we can call it Howrse 2: Electric Boogaloo.
|
It was the same problem with their old game, Babydow, which was severely neglected and they never listened to us players I miss Babydow so, so much. It had such nice (albeit niche) gameplay and the most cozy community.
|
This is a poor attempt by Howrse to modernize. It's like all of those apps turning themselves into TikTok, not realizing that if people wanted to be on TikTok, they'd just go on TikTok. Howrse is made to be a browser game and that's its appeal. If people wanted a modern mobile game, they would play a modern mobile game. People like the old-style ways of Howrse, that's why we're here. This change affects the way players trade, which in turn affects the sense of community. One of the reasons to be on here instead of playing one of those mobile games is the community. If players don't trade, then that means less interactions between players, creating more of an isolated game experience that none of us are here for. But apparently Howrse doesn't account for that, especially with the way it closed the forums on other servers. Having a sense of community makes people loyal to this game. There may be games that are more "modern," more advanced, more popular, more whatever, but there are certain qualities that keep people playing this game, like the community and its "old-style ways" in a period where browser games barely exist anymore. So they should maintain those qualities. Companies are so weird nowadays, turning themselves into whatever the trendy thing is instead of maintaining the qualities that got them their userbase in the first place. Also, if Howrse thinks it can attract a brand-new userbase by turning itself into one of those mobile games, it must be kidding itself. I mean, let's be real, Howrse is a little obscure. It's never going to be one of those trendy mobile games. And so what? Not everything needs to be trendy and modern and hip to maintain a userbase. If that were the case, nothing outside of the mainstream would ever exist. Howrse is just not designed to be one of those mobile games with the microtransactions. If they wanted to make it into that, they'd have to do a complete overhaul of the game. Today's kids are not going to find Howrse addictive enough to want to spend loads of their parents' money on it. I mean, there's a reason why most of the players on here are adults. I think Howrse doesn't see a need to change this back because they figure people will get used to it eventually and stop complaining. But even if they do stop being vocal about their disapproval, it doesn't mean that their enjoyment of the game hasn't significantly decreased. If Howrse doesn't want to end up like all of the other Owlient games (As in, now defunct), they need to listen to their players. It was the same problem with their old game, Babydow, which was severely neglected and they never listened to us players. And then the game shut down. I don't get the reason why they don't want to listen to the players. That's like a marketer not listening to the demands and desires of their customers. It makes no sense. Is stubbornness some kind of inherent Owlient quality? I dunno, but I don't want to see Howrse shut down. But if it did, I'd make a rewritten version, and we can call it Howrse 2: Electric Boogaloo. Well said. I think they should just strive to be the best browser-based game they can be. Good browser-based games are already in short supply, and growing fewer and fewer. I mean, what happens when everyone reaalises the app market is oversaturated and players are seaarching for browser-based alternatives? Do everyone run in the opposite direction to try and recreate the past? Pendulum swings, and all that? (Then again, the latter might actually be a preferable option at this point. At least then we'd have some competitive options to select between...)
|
By Retired breeder, 7th January 2023 18:16:35
These changes and inability to listen will cause people to leave the game and perhaps even cause competition by creating their own browser or app horse game. So unless Owlient is attempting to get competition it may be wise to heed players' warnings
|
These changes and inability to listen will cause people to leave the game and perhaps even cause competition by creating their own browser or app horse game. So unless Owlient is attempting to get competition it may be wise to heed players' warnings If someone does this, tell me and sign me up, I'm already intrigued 
|
The diamond trophy for rosettes is to win 5000 rosettes with ONE horse
|
The diamond trophy for rosettes is to win 5000 rosettes with ONE horse  Unless there is a divine out there with more? It'd probably be easier with a divine, and then you chip away at it over time. I'm all for a challenge, but that's just...no
|
Problem is, with these trophies, we can't tell what people have won the trophies for!
Getting the gold trophy for winning 2,500 rosettes with 1 horse, is a huge achievement compared to just entering comps or completing stuff with divines!
|