after finishing the event tutorial. She is the only way besides passes and the Advent Calendar, that you find decorations as well. If you want to participate in the Event, you have to do the tutorial and get Blitzen

What I don't understand is why people think only horses with 100 blup are "quality" horses?
Top teams (prix teams especially) have figured out that you don't need to 100 blup every single generation and still produce great horses - proven by the fact they are on top of the leaderboards...they win prix.....

A lot of the comments I see are very misguided - 100 blup greatly affects IBS and does affect GP gain, but to less of a degree. That's why skiller foals are so expensive. They take lots of effort - blupping both parents to 100 to ensure the best IBS and GP gain, using tears to increase the IBS, and possibly paying for wands, arms, or orchids.
With the new change, reaching 100 blup won't be harder but producing skillers will be, since now arms fall off at 30 - you bet that's going to increase the price of preps, making things harder and disrupting the equilibrium in the howrse economy.

I got a little off track but I guess my question is this: why do players think that 100 BLUP horses have a greater value than say, at 70 BLUP horse? If teams want to breed at 70 BLUP and they can consistently do so to produce the top horses in the game...why aren't those horses considered "good" or "good stock"?

In the game, gains are calculated by formulas - which we don't know exactly but can make darn good guesses after blupping thousands of horses.

I see people saying "Oh I only blupped 3 horses in a day because I care about the quality of my horses, while a top team will be breeding out 30-40 horses *just* to increase their gp".
Uh...that's the whole point of the gp race (just one aspect of howrse I know - dont chew me out I know there's more than the GP race)...increasing gp.

Kudos to you for blupping to 100, but it's completely unnecessary for gp gain. Resources are often better spent producing more generations with a lower blup in order to increase gp gain.

A huge part of the game isn't just blupping but how resources are spent. For teams, aging points are the key currency of the game. They determine what methods are used for blupping and how many blups to run. You can work out the math yourself and either agree or disagree with other's math, but often it is more efficient to blup to a lower number and save those aging points.

I do not see this affecting the GP race at all. The top teams will continue to perform as they have in the past, but smaller teams and non-competitive breeders will have a much harder time getting wins - especially as the top teams blanket comps for wins and run all the comps at certain levels. I for one, cannot foresee individual breeders getting wins easily if at all...not to mention poor donkey breeders.

I like that there is a distinction between 70 and 100 blup. I don't see how the new change will affect top teams, but for a private breeder like myself who works mostly with a lower gp breed (percherons) this is harmful. Currently my top horse has a gp of 5850. I have to blup 10 horses for each 100 gp increase. Getting to 100 blup is incredibly difficult, not impossible but it would take much longer and it would put me even further behind the top percheron teams (which have reached 6400).
This harms solo breeders imo, and I wish howrse didn't make this change. I think that the reward of getting 100 blup - a skiller foal - is reward enough. I don't understand why the game made uni breeding easier, but now is making normal breeding harder. Imo, it should just stay the way it is.

since the blup change is happening, for better or worse, does anyone know what will be the difference in gp gain, between 70 and 100? thanks

ok let's just sit back and think clearly here ... what we have on all servers ( US included) are monopolies -- teams that have so many high GP horses, that it is difficult for ANY competition teams to get up to them and challenge them ...
They do what I call "turbo-blup" -- they blup tons of horses every day to 70 or so -- that adds up, the minus they get in doing this is small-- so why NOT do it ?
NOW they will have to stop and THINK -- what do we do ? Blup to 70 and take a larger hit in GP --
or what ? Partially blup some of our horses, and 100% blup some others to counter act some of the new, bigger minus hits we will take?
It will make them think -- which is good ... Small breeders (like me) don't have this problem, we have a lot fewer horses to blup --- just part of being a small, casual breeder --- so ...
blupping our horses ( possibly ALL of them ) to 100% is not as big a deal -- never has been for me ..... so folks, if you really think this out, it could be a blessing for small, casual breeders
because it could slow down the blupping and breeding by the big boys, and give us a chance.... ( well, let me put it to you this way -- IF I was on a top team, it would make me rethink how I bred and blupped, that is for sure ... ) --- the glass is "half- full" here if you just calm down and think about it ...

I never paid much attention to BLUP numbers before in my breeding and usually only bred at 100BLUP when I cared to increase GP. We still have one more day till the new rules come into effect and I want to take advantage of this while I still can (since coverings taking place before nov 7 will still follow old rules?). I have a GP mare with 71blup right now and I read on this forum that 70 blup (following old rules) will still give max GP gain? Is there anything else that would be changed with 71blup vs 100blup? (IBS, etc) Thanks! I want to cover her today so I can squeeze out a foal with gp increase before I need to work up to the full 20 wins.

I can promise you,top teams are thinking about this a lot We dont need Howrse to say "oh hey guys..you arent thinking straight,let me fore you to do it our way".

There is a reason why some teams 50-70 blupp. There is a reason why some teams do SIB and not BB. There is a reason why some teams prefer 100 blupps only. Point is; let the player decide how they want to blupp and how they want to achive.

RIght now, teams in second and third position can gain passes from their lower GP blupps if they play it smart. If the top team is racing to increase the gap, or is having a fight with nr2 team for nr1-position, even the team in 3rd position can gain passes from their blupps.

How?

Here is how: By blupping differently. While team nr1 and team nr2 is racing with 50-70 blupps, even if those teams dominate that market, their blupps are not 100%. If the team in 3rd position puts out horses that maybe are some GP behind, BUT, 100%, they can sell them for passes if they are lucky. It is possible right now.


As soon this changes take place,its over for them. The top Team will grab all the passes from them,because if they decide to switch to 100% just like everyone else, then everyone is in the same pond. Blupps will be 100 % (if everyone decides to switch over to that ). Meaning if the blupp-potential is identical, the buyer will go after the best GP horses.

Unless the lower GP horses have smething that thehigher GP ones dosent. But that would have to be something really special. .

it is called competition -- right now on the US server a few major breeders own their breeds --- all I really want is a tad bit fairer competition -- in the real sense of the word --
there was a reason for the US to come up with anti-monopoly laws in the late 1800's -- there is a reason the energy industry is doing better now that my state allows competition in the energy providing field -- ( the consumer benefits -- and here they might too -- too early to tell -- but the small breeder will -- they might have to invest in BMIs to up the IBS of their horses to make them more valuable, but I do that for ME now anyway )
teams come and go -- differences happen between members, infighting accurs -- I've seen it happen more than once ----
and a very determined small group CAN do well if they plan and don't over extend themselves ... for instance, we may have to choose just one team to work with, instead of many -- time is the factor -- it takes TIME to 100% blup and remember, the blup before 10yrs is going away from what I understand -- no more ViP perk advantage there ... yes, I do believe this will help the small and casual breeder

Anti-monopoly laws? This is not iRL,this is a horse sim game.Anti-monopoly laws dont apply here. A player can be in as many teams as they want,either the 10 teams VIP allows, or just 3, or be in old-fashion affix-recognizable teams. If someone wants to join top team they will have to work for it like everyone else.


And what is being on several teams have to do anything about GP change? People still will be on multiple teams. A player is allowed to be up to 10 teams (with VIP perk) if they want, and even if they don't have VIP, they can decide to run old-school affix-team to skip monthly 10-pass pay.

The blupp change wont affect one thing; people wont stop dominating one breed just because something changes. I guess 30-40 blupps may be the new 50-70 blupps next year. Or year after that. We will see.

And if you are on a team and have support,it doesn't take that much time to get 100 blupp.
I am fully aware of how fast teams changes, and how easy it is to reach top if you and the team you are on use your resources sparingly. I was in the GP race that allowed lippies to claim Prix after 2-3 weeks.

right this isn't real life -- that was an analogy I used to get my point across -- it works the same --- and yes it IS a game --- I play for FUN --- I don't get PAID to have the top team -- I get NO retirement or benefits either -- it is a game ... period and I play it that way -- for relaxation only -- for entertainment purposes only --
I was an end game raider in EQ2 also ---
we were in the top eight on the server guild wise ( which was quite an accomplishment, because we only raided twice a week and not four like the other top guilds)
-- yes I loved it -- for a year, then I realized it wasn't FUN anymore and quit -- as long as this game is fun, I will play --- and yes, casual players need a little break -- just some little break ... that is all I ever asked for and I am happy we got it ... and yes, it should be harder to get top horses --- it has been too easy for too long ---- time to change the game for the good a little bit .... time for IBS to become a little more important -- THAT will help the game too -- I breed for IBS -- the best IBS on the lowest GP I can get -- everyone plays differently, but we all deserve a break and some changes needed to be made...

that perk was still available on the test server when we tested the Blup change, and I used the perk myself to make sure it still work and it did. So far as I know, that perk will still be available

The old formula for how BLUP affects GP is known (I published this in 2015 here), as shown below.

Based on preliminary data, the new formula for how BLUP affects GP (currently on preprod) is also shown below, but the exponent value of 2 has not been confirmed, and may be anywhere between 1.8 - 2.1. I do beleive an exponential formula is being used however, as confirmed by the work of some other players.

Old BLUP/GP modifier formula:


New BLUP/GP modifier formula:


Basically, by using exponentials they can make higher BLUPs more and more rewarding. Here's a table showing the differences. So for 70 BLUP before this change, you could get up to 85% of the GP gain. Now, with only bolding and no wins being only 60 BLUP, PLUS the drop, you'd get only 64% of the GP gain.

The cards - with a grayfell and new Maori divine for the win, followed by the usual Christmas tree promo with a bunch of divines to be won

Christmas tree promo. i could only find a couple things, but we know about I love you, The water Maori divine, and sequoia, but who is this reindeer? i hear we get him in the tutorial. is he something we get to keep after the promo or just the duration, and what does he do? look pretty or is there a function. also the main prize divine. saw some great pictures but no description.

As far as I know, the reindeer divine's name is Blitzen, we get him in the tutorial and we can keep him, but he doesn't have any perks. At least that's what I heard from somebody from the test server.

Did I hear the words free divine? Count me in!!

Has anyone figured out the perks of the new divines, Thor and Loki? Or will we find out when we get preprod

Thor's perk, as Loki will be in the Christmas Packs. Not sure if we'll be informed of Loki's perks during testing or not.
Thor's perk is:
Thor is one of the Nordic horses.

Lift the veil that has descended on the Nordic worlds by winning points with rides to Asgard, Midgard and Niflheim. Take care when choosing which ride to go on!

When you get to 420 points, the veil is raised and Thor gives you a prize:
eclairzeus 1 x Zeus' Lightning Bolt
This horse cannot be sold.

Does anyone know when the next 'special item (SoA, divine, Double sided medallion)
in HoP promo is? Also could you PM me the answer. Probably won't check back hereNot sure if this needed spoiler or not, so I put one to be on the safe side

I heard from others that we keep him but offers no bonus after the promo.