I've decided to leave Howrse. If you would like some items, feel free to message me and I can gift them to you! I have given away all of my horses that can be given away. At this point, I still probably have almost all items. Just ask and I'll check! Contact me through my other options below for a faster response. I will deleting my account eventually, after everything has been given away, but I wanted to explain why I was leaving before I did.
Click on the button below to visit my art blog and keep in contact with me (to follow, all you need is an e-mail address). It also contains links to my business Facebook account, my Instagram (monoceros_arts), my Redbubble shop (Unicornarama), my Tumblr (MonocerosArts), my Threadless shop (MonocerosArts), and my DeviantArt account (MonocerosArts).
I am leaving because Owlient claims they own legal copyright to all of my artwork in the Creation Space, regardless of the fact that they sign no contracts with artists. This means that even though we make the art, they don't want us to do anything with it except use it here. As an artist, I am not comfortable with this situation. It's greedy and unprofessional. I'm not even sure it's legal. I know for sure that no professional American client would ever treat an artist this way. By US copyright law, anything a person makes is their own personal property, and while they can give rights to another to use it (such as uploading it in the Creation Space), a formal contract must be made between the creator and the client if the client wishes to own the sole rights to the material. Owlient claims sole ownership to all artwork in the Creation Space even though they create no formal contracts with artists and have no artists' signatures to confirm any sort of agreement. Because the Creation Space was the only reason I was able to keep up in the game as an adult with low income, I've made the decision to leave.
After I declared my intentions to leave, Howrse sent me a note saying that one of my June Creation Space submissions was plagiarized, but I can't help but notice that they failed to provide the material I supposedly stole. They also stated that I was not allowed to contact them about the matter. It's as if they're throwing a tantrum. There have been several instances throughout my time on Howrse when something that I drew and painting myself was flagged as plagiarized. After doing some research, I found out that I am not the only artist with this experience. Many professional (or professional-quality) artists have stopped submitting to the Creation Space or have left the game altogether. Owlient is actively driving away artists. We suspect that if enough mini-mods report something as plagiarized, then Owlient accepts the report and bans the image, regardless of whether or not it actually violates copyright laws. We suspect this because when we ask Owlient about it, we get told that our original artworks were reported "multiple times" by "many players" across "several versions." We notice that non-fantasy creations tend to get banned most often. Have you noticed how the Creation Space results each month are more and more favoring strange, bizarre, often ugly hybrid creatures that might not even pass as horses? These surreal illustrations are, while rather ugly, undeniably the least likely to look like anything else that could possibly exist already, and are therefore the least likely to get flagged as plagiarized. A drawing of a regular-looking horse, or even a pegasus or unicorn with down-to-earth anatomy, could very possibly look a bit like another image of a horse out there, and therefore carries a huge risk of being reported by the ignorant mini-mods, and, if enough of them report it, it seems Owlient just up and bans the submission and sanctions the artist. Owlient is actively driving away artists who make non-surrealist artwork.
Deciding to leave Howrse wasn't an easy decision, but it is the right one, and if you're having second doubts, don't let Owlient suck away your time, your money, or your artwork. As someone on the Autism Spectrum, socializing with other kids was extremely difficult for me growing up. Howrse was the high point of my early teen years, even going into my college years. When I saw all the changes the game made, I genuinely tried to enjoy them and even defended Howrse from the people who were, in my eyes, hating on it. I made statements such as "there are real people who make this game." But over the years, more and more issues kept cropping up where I was sanctioned, told off, had my comments removed from forums, etc. for reasons that I didn't understand. I seriously thought about leaving multiple times, but there was always something that held me back. And each year that I stayed, I was tempted to spend money and I spent hours creating artwork for the Creation Space.
I kept running into bizarre, unpredictable problems with the Creation Space. I've worked for many art directors and various clients over the years, and none is as difficult to work with as Owlient, and they don't even pay us money. Owlient is, to date, the single most unprofessional client I have ever had the misfortune to work with. And to think that I spent hours of my life slaving over artwork for the game... The voting system appears to be rigged, with popular players who have accounts across multiple versions asking people to vote for them (or at least it was a few years ago). The mini-mods are insane. Mini-mods do NOT understand copyright laws. They do NOT understand the idea of public domain and free stock images. They report anything they recognize as remotely similar to public domain images. And what's worse? Owlient LISTENS to the mini-mods! I could understand ignorant teenagers and pre-teens reporting artwork that's actually completely legal, but Owlient should know better than to listen to them. Even artwork that has no connection to any other work, public domain or otherwise, may still be reported as plagiarized (and therefore banned) at any given time. Professional artists cannot work for extended periods of time in this kind of environment. I felt like I was walking on eggshells, never knowing when I'd be banned from the Creation Space. And then Owlient claimed I am not allowed to sell my own artwork in my online shops. There are words for people like that, but I'm going to be mature and not say them here. Legally, Owlient is wrong. I never signed a contract with them giving them the sole rights to my artwork. They have no signature from me, and therefore they have no rights to my artwork, other than the obvious right to use it as GA coats and Helios Ray. All they have are tiny, low-res PNGs. I will continue to sell my artwork because, by law, I have legal right to do so, no matter what Owlient says.
I will miss my friends on here, but we can keep in touch in many ways! I may be leaving Howrse, but I'm still an active, thriving person elsewhere online. I have a very active Instagram filled with animal (especially horses!) artwork, fun products, and cute animal videos. Similar material is also posted to my Facebook, if you don't have Instagram. My DeviantArt account is thriving as well, with lots of artwork, as well as movie and TV show reviews, animal welfare information, and all kinds of fascinating discussions. But if you'd rather not keep in touch on social media, you can always follow my blog anonymously and comment whenever you wish!
Click on the button below to visit my art blog and keep in contact with me (to follow, all you need is an e-mail address). It also contains links to my business Facebook account, my Instagram (monoceros_arts), my Redbubble shop (Unicornarama), my Tumblr (MonocerosArts), my Threadless shop (MonocerosArts), and my DeviantArt account (MonocerosArts).
Hello! I'm an "adult" player (quote-en-quote, lol), but I don't bite. I'm a very geeky person and I love to help people out, so feel free to send me a message if you have any questions or problems!
