What is the next contest after the Insect World and what is/are the divine(s)?

I think they should stick to "pet" companions - more common companions such as dogs, cats, etc. People invested a lot of money into collecting some of the other companions: bees, ladybugs, dragons/ghosts, camel, giraffe, butterfly... and paid 2000-2500 passes for them.

Tanking the value of their collectables is only going to deter them from spending any more money to complete collections.

But of course that's only player-player transactions so as long as Howrse is the one making money I suppose that's worth destroying yet another part of the community.

So far there are no bees, ladybugs, dragons, or ghosts. The others you mentioned are there, but the companion chest has different levels and they all seem to be more rare to earn. That being said, I got an owl on my first try, which is in the precious level with frogs, dogs, grizzlys, and wetas.

I also just noticed those last two are even on the list - I'm sure people will be unhappy that companions that are divine perks will now be available to everyone in these chests. Oh well, you can't please everybody!

To be honest, I'm less displeased about the divine perk companions being available than I am about the old companions that people have invested a lot of time and money into collecting. Enough people own Sequoia and Punga (or will own Punga by the end of the promo) that there is always going to be a slow trickle of new grizzlies and wetas into the game, so even though they are unlikely to ever be common, they also aren't going to remain so rare they are extremely expensive to get hold of and they are highly unlikely to get any rarer than they are now. It is already easier to get a grizzly in the sales than it is a camel, for example. The old companions are valuable because there is no other way to get them other than buying horses that already have them, much like DA horses are so valuable to collectors because there are a very limited number of them - suddenly making them available for purchase (even if it is through a luck item) greatly reduces that value. If people had known they could just wait a few years and the companions would be made available again, they wouldn't have spent 2,000+ passes on the rarer ones.

This reminds me of the whole Historic/Vintage Pack thing we had a few years ago when they were going to introduce the 'Retired Golden Apple' that would allow people to give their horse an already-retired coat. There was a massive outcry from collectors (and creators) at the time and the idea was scrapped but it looks like the "hey, people spend a lot of passes on this, I bet we can get them to spend even more!" attitude has not gone away, even though they know doing something like this will upset collectors who have poured thousands of passes into their collections (not that that is surprising as the 'more money' attitude has been pervasive for years now).

All good points bezo, I definitely agree. However, when testing started we were told that there would be a new BM item (the companion chest) later in testing but they were still working on it. I think we all just got access early because we haven’t heard anything in an official post about welcoming a new item and what it does. I’m still hopeful that it won’t completely devalue ALL of the companions, because we don’t really know just yet how it’ll fit into actual gameplay. I’m hoping for the best for the sake of all of the collectors out there.

When the companions were removed there was never any promise that they would not be coming back to the game. People who decided to invest thousands worth of passes in collecting them from other players took that risk, myself included. I did this knowing that some day howrse might well decide they should be re-introduced and was fine with it. They always made it clear imo that it was a chance that they might come back. Honestly as someone who collected all but the Bee & Ladybug under the old pass system I still welcome this change. Over time the total number of these companions has only decreased in game as occasionally someone's account will be deleted and that horse sent to heaven. Some of the most costly ones are not even in this BMI, and they are even introducing a new one for us to collect!

Honestly I've waited many years to see them come back, and I'm so happy! I'm hopeful the HoG will make a return too, I loved trying to match my GA/RC to just the right HoG pet, and we could see a whole new batch of HoG pets from our very talented artist players submitted.

I find them to be different, in my opinion.
What makes it different is the presence of a Trophy that tells you exactly what you have to collect to complete it.
With retired coats, you're merely asked to collect X number of those, with another trophy asking you to collect X under 100. New retired coats are introduced EVERY MONTH, so players can add to their trophy continuously without having to touch the old coats. That was one thing.

In this case, pets are required by NAME for the pets trophy and Howrse has never removed it for players who cannot complete it, leaving an all-around taunt to the players who simply were not there.

Agreed about the companions - I don't think it's unfair to reintroduce the rare ones, since it was never stated they would be gone forever. Players chose to spend many passes and equus to collect them, as was their choice. If anything I think it's more fair to newer players/old returning players to reintroduce them as it gives a chance to achieve the trophy or just collect ones they like. I know I'm excited to have that chance

Please let the HOG come back. Please let the HOG come back.Please let the HOG come back.

Current HOGs definitely stay as RCC!!! (Retired Companion Coat

I think with at least some items submitted by users there would be copyright issues if they brought them back. That might be why they changed their mind when they considered bringing back retired coats. If they had an agreement that a certain number would be sold then it would infringe copyright if they sold more without negotiation with the creator. Same if people had the ability to retire their coats themselves (as I believe was true in the past)

Wondering if HOGs would have similar restrictions?

This would not stop them bringing back the original companions, unless there were limits on their use agreed with the artist.

With regard to companions, we've now been told

"The error is just a result of the invisible limitation on how many you can purchase during the test.

Nothing to worry about.

As for why we are imposing a limit... a little mystery is a good thing. "

and

"Also, do not rely on the price being 1 pass, I haven't confirmed it but I think that's just for testing too. "
(Via ZOwey on prepod)

I'm pretty sure that it's not going to be just one pass. These *are* companions we're talking about, after all. However, I've been testing the chests and honestly?? the companion images are rather cute. I've gotten an owl, a bear, a kangaroo, a dog, and a butterfly so far.

I am honestly excited about the return of the companions. But I can see why others are not. I bought lots in sales and got some from quitting players. They are expensive and I still have not gotten the camel, ladybug or bee. Some players will never get the chance to even own a companion and complete the trophies. I get it. It would be unfair for some, but completely fair for others.

What I think should be done about the companions is instead of releasing old images of the same companions, they make new images instead.

For example, make a new look for the owl companion, but it would still count for the trophy the same way as the older version. Same owl, different look. Kinda like the DA or RC for horses. You can't get the same ones anymore. They are retired. Gone. Limited amounts available.

That way, older companions would still hold a unique value in sales or for overall collectors. Similar to the HOG, or DA.

Hope that makes sense.

I really like that Howrse is allowing us to get more companion pets for our horses. I think they are so cute and I like giving a pet to my horses. Plus they give you a boost in the competitions which I thought was wasted on the older horses. Hope they even add more companions like maybe a dove, a seahorse or even Roby the robot which we used in a previous event. I have a Hippogriff and would like to give him a Griffin companion. Think it would be fun to match the pet to the horse's coat.

I remember playing the game when companions were first introduced and I loved them! I'm super excited they are coming back especially since the prices on most of them are pretty high. I've only ever wanted them for specific horses and not just to collect them so I just haven't bothered to get them again up until this point,

There haven't been any signs of the 'divine' companions on testing, at least so far. No griffins, phoenixes, ghosts, dragons, and also no bees or ladybugs.

Also, where was I for roby the robot I have never heard of that one before! Seahorses used to be on the game as a bonus (I think) back before companions, I would love to see them come back someday too. I think that was back in the day of zebras in boxes before showers and troughs?