[UPDATED] Devs' Corner: May 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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default smiley (n) Horse tack is now visible on the coverings page. I have this option turned off for a reason. Thanks for ignoring my preference and forcing me to see tack.

If you've managed to fix reindeer pages from slowing down, how about fixing the rest of the site? The Game Lagging topic in the VIP forum was created May 29, 2020 (although the issue started before that). It's chock full of player info on how the lag affects them. We are your customers and fan base and deserve to have our old game back that was quick and enjoyable to play. Howrse is a distraction and place where we can de-stress and have fun but with the lag it's more work than what we're trying to escape from.
Crystal Coven
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I experience lag sometimes even when I have fast internet. Usually I have to close page and reload.
Ravenknight
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uh, what *possible* reason is there for showing tack on covering pages? it doesn't affect begging at all and is just another extra thing to load on an already bogged down and laggy site lately. very confused why this was added versus more important things being addressed (like, say, uni dehorning!!!!!! it's been years now!)
answrs
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Looks like you also changed the layout for adding BMIs from a horse's page. I just went to use a Black Orchid on a Wind Divine and almost used passes instead of one from inventory. How about changing the default payment option on BMIs to use from inventory first? I'm sure we'd all appreciate that.
Crystal Coven
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By Retired breeder, 16th February 2021 18:00:52
20
The display of equipment on horses is incredibly infuriating! I was hiding it just like that? I don't want to look at it anywhere. It’s not clear why they added this thing in miniatures, so it’s also on the covering page now, although I’ve never seen anyone ask for it. On the contrary, there were many complaints default smiley :(
Super happy that the reindeers no longer get that bonus from the divines, it made it impossible for other players to rank higher when one player had multiples of the divine and all their reindeers were in the top rankingdefault smiley (y)
szynszyla
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Hey, so thankful for all the work you guys do!
I have a horse that randomly disappeared, like she wasn't for sale, and one day I just logged on and she was gone. I was wondering if you have any idea why that would be or how I could check to see where she went?
Thanks!
Gypsyvanner
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Nvm, I think I found her. Thanks anyway. I have not had much problems with lag, but I'm glad you are trying to fix it! I think it is an interesting idea to have tack on the page when you are covering a horse, but if that gets done, then wouldn't it make sense to have tack on every picture of horses, such as the thumbnails on the pages with covering options and sales? I'm just wondering where the line would be drawn.
Gypsyvanner
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Personally, I hate seeing tack on horses. Woud like an option to disable this on the breeding famr (and now in coverings).
Hannah.i
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It was a bit weird when you'd cover a horse without tack and her saddle cloth would appear when you used tears or something... I guess it's more consistent this way. But yeah, wasn't a major problem (unless it was related to the lag!)
RowanGreen
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I'm glad others are just as frustrated about adding tack to the horses on the covering page. It is a useless "update." Most have this feature turned off because it's unattractive and lags the game. At this point, I'm pretty sure things like this are just to make the developers look like they're doing something productive with "updates."

What happened to the poll systems? Why don't we have developers send us polls about potential updates that their customers would like to implement or not? I feel like this would be far more productive and helpful in getting things fixed and pleasing those who support the game.

It is because of random things like displaying tack on the covering page as an "update" that I have ceased supporting Howrse. I rarely even come on anymore because I don't feel as though I'm being heard, and I've been a player here for 13 years now (like some other customers). I'm so disappointed in the Howrse developers that I wouldn't consider myself a "fan" of their product anymore. I just exist here now.
Livey
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Giraffegirl13 wrote:

I sold mine years ago ��♀️ still doesn’t do anything, and I think for collectors who paid a lot for them it’s a bit cheeky & wrong (same as bringing pets back!) they can’t think of any new ideas so are reusing old ones...!


They also don't ask for our actual opinion. They assume everyone will use that little link at the bottom called "Contact Us" to submit feedback. I have submitted quite a few things for serious issues and still have not seen any progress or mention.
Livey
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By Retired breeder, 16th February 2021 21:44:06
1
I'm not fond of the idea that you now see the tack on the covering page but oh well. Other than that, thank you for the hard work you all do! default smiley :)
Crystal Coven wrote:

Looks like you also changed the layout for adding BMIs from a horse's page. I just went to use a Black Orchid on a Wind Divine and almost used passes instead of one from inventory. How about changing the default payment option on BMIs to use from inventory first? I'm sure we'd all appreciate that.


Yes, I always make sure to double check because the option is always set to pay with passes, so I absolutely HAVE to make sure to change it so I use BMI items already in my inventory. I've never personally made the mistake of accidentally using passes for an item I already had...but other players MAY have, so I would agree that BMI inventory should be default.
CharlieA
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I dislike the fact that I can no longer see where my reindeer is in the rankings. Especially since you can only see the top 10, and the top 50 are paid out
mirkat999
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Crystal Coven wrote:

default smiley (n) Horse tack is now visible on the coverings page. I have this option turned off for a reason. Thanks for ignoring my preference and forcing me to see tack.

If you've managed to fix reindeer pages from slowing down, how about fixing the rest of the site? The Game Lagging topic in the VIP forum was created May 29, 2020 (although the issue started before that). It's chock full of player info on how the lag affects them. We are your customers and fan base and deserve to have our old game back that was quick and enjoyable to play. Howrse is a distraction and place where we can de-stress and have fun but with the lag it's more work than what we're trying to escape from.


I've said this many times. If your customers aren't happy with the stuff you're putting out and you ignore their complaints, you're doing something wrong. It says there are moderators looking at people's comments, but it obviously isn't being seen by the developers because people have complained about specific things multiple times and nothing has changed.
Emberly
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I find it kind of odd to see 'pay with passes' is the standard option... It seems kind of tricky? On purpose? Like people will forget to click the one in their inventory and ~poof~ there go your passes - something which seems just unfair because passes certainly are not cheap at all or easy to come by, especially for the people that spend real money on them. So far I'm a non-pass buyer but it sure looks like it will be staying that way default smiley :(
Kipduif
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As for the tack... If it causes lag, why do they bother to put it on?
I just wish I could remove tack pieces as soon as I have BLUPped my horses. On some it looks quite good, but I just want certain horses to /not/ have tack, but I want others to have tack.

For example my pretty cremello unicorn, she looks fantastic without tack but if I want to BLUP her (and I want to because she is my best uni) I have to place that off-white or brightly colored tack on her. default smiley :@
Kipduif
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Having tack load on horses causes lag & that just causes other problems. I had that option turned off like many other players did for that reason. There is NO REASON to turn it on when players have it turned off. You are not helping us, just hindering us & making us hate this game. I'm glad that I have found a much better horse game online that is more true to actually raising horses. While I can't get fancy coats & can't change the sex of the horses, I enjoy being able to do the proper genetic breeding. If you continue to make changes to the game that we don't want, I won't continue to play & any money that I might spend on passes here & there on this game will go to buying their special currency on that game.

Really sad that you see that players aren't happy with the game & the changes that you have make, like the notification bell that's beyond stupid, and don't listen to your players at all any more.
Gayle5
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Most of my Howrse time is spent on the Aus server and the lag is now much worse than before this update - and even then it was awful at certain times of the day. As for how BMIs now get added to a horse, strikes me it must have been designed to take up more time and maybe make it more likely for players to use passes by mistake (?)
Rommy
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By Retired breeder, 17th February 2021 08:30:53
Ok, still new here (forums anyway) and as far as I can tell, only players with less than 4 days senority actually have their posts moderated.
on the pass bmi thing, afaik it's always been that way for years now at least. figure I might chime in before a staff comes in and dismisses all the valid criticisms of the specific update to only say that and it to be the only thing ever acknowledged. (I know many a site that does this, though I'm not sure if doing that or just never responding to the thread at all is less consumer friendly...)

it's a gross way to get people to accidentally spend their hard earned premium currency, but unfortunately it's well established and just gets them more money. default smiley :(
answrs
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I mean, it's nice that the lag on the reindeer pages has been fixed, but can we please do something about the site wide lag?

I spend about a minute or two working my reindeer every day and I don't care if I have to skip a day because of the lag.

But going a whole day, several days in a row, weeks, even, where the game is completely unplayable every time I log on, and I can't do my objectives, or AP farm, or do any blupping/breeding for my team, that's absolutely ridiculous, and should be more of a priority than reindeer.
.: Dяєαм :.
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I don't like the change to BMI... when I put something on my horse I liked seeing how many of those items I have. And I certainty don't like the default buy with passes. Its just cumbersome....
PiXeL
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Can we get an update on the lag situation - something a little more than 'We're looking into it' would be great. Perhaps resolving lag could be a priority over promotions? default smiley (8)
dogloverloops
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