In which you essentially called people who use co-managment cheaters...

It is going to be harder for people to play in a team environment with these dumbed down co features. I am not against de activating co for accounts where the owner has not logged in for a month, but the rest of these changes are pointless, it's almost like going back to the old days when we had no co.

But you do you. I doubt many people will be laughing when the game is made pay to play when howrse can't make any money because loose the biggest player base (teams) through micromanaging silly things that make is seem like we might as well go back to playing how it was a few years ago. Might as well bring v1 graphics back too while we are at it, that will probably be more of a hit than micromanaging co management.

This is nothing more than an attempt to punish the masses for the actions of a few. It's sure going to be a disappointment to tell my friend who is blind and bedridden that nobody can tend her account anymore because there isn't software out there that can work with this game.It's the one things she actually asks me about every single time I speak to her out of all the topics we chat about.

Everything evolves including this game which is now about collecting time wasting divines, so if that's the intention than just end teams altogether. And while you're at it take away rankings for competitions too because it isn't very often that my friends and I are all here at the same time to enter each others competitions. Maybe some don't mind that lovely gullfaxi (prestige killer extraoridnaire) going in their cross but I would prefer having something of my choosing. Same with dressage where there are now many breeds that can see the top comps because the top dressage skill in it is so far below the top GP on the game.

It seems this is yet another action taken as a result of people on other servers taking advantage of poorly designed architecture within the game itself. There are so many other ways co management could work without really destroying what was always the main reason why it was created.

I hope the powers that be are well prepared for the worst possible outcome if these changes are implemented here. I, for one, won't miss the game but I will sure miss my friends.

Somebody should take a screenshot of the amount of players there are on this server right now and compare it to the amount of players once the pass horse and co-management changes have been enforced. I’m about 110% sure the number will go down drastically.

All these major changes as of late, that be the possible pass horse change, the recent blup change and now the Co change, all seem to be feeding towards the mindset that now everyone gets the exact same stuff regardless as to how little or how hard they work, it being the most apparent with this pass horse change. If someone is willing to put in more work then they should get more benefits and that is just how it works. Might as well take away allowing VIPS to allow 10 people to Co their account as it isn't fair that any other accounts only has 2 they can allow to Co. For that matter, how about removing VIP and Pegasus so that everyone is on a level playing field? Oh, wait, doubt that will happen, both are money makers.

I wonder, those of you who are strongly against getting rid of pass horses, would you be happy if they replaced them with a system that really took the same place in the economy, and allowed people to make as many passes without killing horses?

As a new player I was quite shocked to find out killing horses was the main way to make passes on here. I've stayed, but I wonder how many new players don't? Maybe Howrse has done the market research and found this is a factor in falling numbers?

Of course, unhappy players is off-putting too! I agree wholeheartedly that 'money squeezing' tactics are not the way to go. Players that don't pay real money now may spend it in future and bring in friends who do, IF they are kept happy.

Also as a non-team player, I can see where Haffy is coming from. I don't want to become part of a competitive team as it does sound like 'Chowrse' to me, having to maintain my responsibility and do my share of 'work'. I'm on here a lot and use a lot of energy in this game, but I like to have control and be able to do what I feel like! And it can sometimes be a bit depressing that I've probably got no chance of reaching the top in various things as a single player. Not to mention meeting with solid walls of filled events when I'm trying to blup a horse... I don't have the option to use fillers (though I deal with this by doing comps as I train, so my horses get their wins across skill levels, not all at once). I do agree that it sounds like the only sensible part of the co-man changes is having to log on every 30 days, the rest does sound like excessive 'micro-management'. That one rule would surely stop the cheating by using an abandoned account that Haffy is talking about.

How is it possible that there are only 96,000 players now? It is becoming harder and harder to sell horses, let alone horses for passes, yet the economy on this game has become increasingly more expensive and unaffordable. I remember when there were upwards of 2,000,000 players and times were so different. The game was fun to play, players were eager to buy horses. Nowadays it seems as if everyone is just trying to save every penny to somehow maintain their accounts..I've played competitively and leisurely and both have become more difficult over the years, especially recently.

If they came up with a system that enabled us to still receive the potential 30 passes a month in a way that was actually possible and not them fudging the numbers then sure, go for it. But I do not see Howrse doing that, look at how they treating it on the Italia server. Dropping them down to diamonds which are not usable for horse purchasing.

Is it really that shocking that having a horse die over 30 returns a pass? It's not like there is anything graphic and I can't see that being something that turns someone away from the entirety of the rest of the game.

As another non team player I think you have to understand that the teams make an effort to get to the top, they work hard and it sounds like it's a tough environment up there for them. I don't attempt to compete and sure finding walls of un-run fillers is annoying but It's the way the game goes and I bet those teams are the large majority of pass buyers, ruining things for them sounds like a fab way to lose your revenue.

Perhaps a solo player horse ranking/comp ranking is whats needed? That could be something fun for those of us that don't have the time or desire to join a team.

on my server, which is the Italian server, I'm only granted 90 diamonds per month. 90 diamonds are not even ONE THIRD of what people are granted on other, luckier servers and that's only if
- I considered diamonds equals to passes (which they aren't)
- I consistently complete my daily missions, many of which ask me to 'use a fertility wand' or 'birth two unicorns' or, my personal favourite, 'win a competition with your Divine horse'
THAT is a problem.
The loyalty bar sounds nice in theory, but as they tweak and tweak they take and take more from us. As of June 26th, there will be no longer a way to get ANY free pass on my server.

that you can't receive any free pass for your activity there? First they stopped the pass horses system and bring the passes meter for activity. Now, they want to cut down every free pass you could earn, 'cause they are gonna give us max 3 diamonds per day (you must complete two tasks - first is for 1 diamond, second is for 2 diamonds). Czech version of Howrse is like a Titanic. Coming down and down.

A ranking for solo players would be great!

Yep I do really find pass horses a bit shocking. It doesn't need to be graphic to bring up bad associations with me. I'm sure giving a pass for a horse looked after till past 30 is basically a nice idea (especially if it started when the game included diseases? Not sure?) 'to help you continue your game'. But it works as something much more deliberate.

In real life when do you get money for a dead horse? Sorry to say it, but only way I can see is by selling the meat. Realistically, I'm not against horses being eaten, as long as they are well kept. It's not really practical to bury them. But I've heard many times over the years of horses from here in the UK being shipped long distances, packed into trailers, without food and water. Laws are meant to be tighter now, but a few years ago there was a big media case (helicopter coverage included) where the RSPCA raided a farm where large numbers of horses were basically starving in sheds. That was someone who was stockpiling them to ship to Europe for meat.

I have had the experience on Howrse of buying a pass horse, only to find it was seriously underweight. I can't help feeling there's quite likely people who deliberately skimp on care to speed up getting pass horses ready to pass.

Sure they are only pixels... but this is a game about caring for those pixels.

I personally see getting a pass from a horse that passes after 30 as a kind of a nice gesture for taking good care of the horse so that it lives its full life, an encouragement as such to take good care of your little four legged friends. Life and death is a massive part of the world as a whole and I appreciate that Howrse has this feature (for now), as it shows us that while one may fall, another grows as a result. This is why I am against removing them as I feel that it has a very important message to it.

Hmmm, just thought, one way I'd feel happier about pass horses is if there were some safeguards to make sure they were well kept. E.g. having been kept for the same person for a number of years before their death, and dying at a good weight.

But I guess welfare is not why Howrse is changing the system...

If they could replace pass horses with a system that allows the same level of flexibility and doesn't reduce the number of passes we can get a month, I probably wouldn't object to it. One of the best things about the pass horse system for me is that if I suddenly need 5 passes, I can get them near enough instantly. With the points system they gave the IT server, it would take 15 days minimum to get 5 passes, and that is dependant on getting 10 points every day which does not seem to be the norm with that system - if I wanted the passes for a rare RC in the sales, there is a good chance it would have sold by the time I have the passes for it.
It would also be a challenge to create something that could be traded the same way pass horses are. For some players, they are a huge source of equus income.

As pass horses have been a feature for as long as I've been on Howrse, I highly doubt that they have much, if anything to do with the falling numbers. If that were so, the rankings introduced alongside the pass change would not have been introduced, nor would the Yggdrasil divine that became the new 'use' for horses that die 25+ years old. One of the rankings was "number of old horses sent to heaven", another simply "number of horses sent to heaven" - the latter is a ranking you can climb by killing off foals. At least pass horses require getting the horse to 30; the heaven ranking actively rewards bad gameplay!

An objectives-based system could be an interesting alternative, depending on how it was done. Unfortunately, it sounds like Owlient has mucked this one up too by making some objectives pass based (using BM items) and others impossible for many of their players to achieve (no objective should have anything to do with divines).
A better system would be something along the lines of having 10 objectives to complete over the course of a month, with the objectives being things along the lines of "breed X horses", "reach 100 BLUP X times", "win X competitions", "feed X mashes to horses", "reach a reserve of X equus", "buy/sell X horses" - things that require gameplay and are achievable by those who put the effort in, without requiring BM items, to reward hard work. There could then be another 20 objectives that are either harder, such as producing X unicorns or winning X rosettes, and/or have a chance of giving a BM/bonus item instead of a pass upon completion. While it wouldn't be a system that kept everyone happy, it would at least feel less like we were just having a huge chunk of the passes we work for taken away.