[UPDATED] Devs' Corner: April 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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To add to Minnow's suggestions
* Fix the lagging - this is a priority.
* a VIP perk is multiple boarding - add reserved boxes to the choice, including reserved boxes in our own EC.
* add an "edit selected Workshop" (like the greenhouses).
* add an option to fix all boxes in the EC all together and not in limited lots
* Remove the Special Horses section from the collections page, they already have a designated page that's easier to navigate

Other things I've thought of
* Add a section in Collections for the Golden Apples Coats and Helios Rays we have applied
* Alphabetize the Classic coats section on the Collections page
* Alphabetize the display of breeds in the Horse breeds section
* Set the Collections page out like the old trophy page with the drop down boxes to take out all those unnecessary clicks
*Add a section for -100 RC's or at least make them distinguishable somehow with the way they are now

- More emojis please the current ones don't have a vomit one so I can emoji react to this update, maybe a crying face one too so I can mourn the loss of my classy trophies

It'd be nice if they just put everything back the way it was and made this new "trophies" page an Achievements page instead. They can swear black and blue that they've brought all our info over but they haven't, we all know that. They've turfed trophies we had and they're nowhere to be found,
*trophies that we've gotten through special events
*our birthday trophy
*the horse bred each month for the past 2 years
*the -100 Retired Coats trophy ( The only way to figure it out is to go to the directories which is way more time consuming than just clicking on a trophy)
These are ones I can think of from the top of my head but if I had I think 202 trophies before this "update" and I now have 105, all those missing trophies can't just be coats and special coats.

I don't see the point in removing the Golden Horseshoes, they were good progress markers for events for me and proof that I'd participated in quite the number of events. If I hit the third one I knew I was getting close to finishing an event and to not slack off. Sure you had to collect 2 to enter the draw for the divine but isn't that fair, the players that put the work in go into the draw. If its not attainable for newer accounts it could've just been dropped to one GH to enter the draw.

This whole update smells like flaming garbage, particularly since it was done after the Xmas packs when Howrse would have ended up with quite the substantial amount of money, probably enough to tide them over till us players have clamed down and began investing again or so they think. Every time I have to go to my player page I'm hit with a surge of annoyance, a lot more now since I know we've been mostly against this update since it hit the spoiler zone and the fact that some players who tested it are posting that they weren't exactly listened too with their feedback about this hot mess.
Knyphain
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@Knyphain

I quite like your suggestions except:

"- More emojis please the current ones don't have a vomit one so I can emoji react to this update, maybe a crying face one too so I can mourn the loss of my classy trophies"

I have to draw the line at the vomit one default smiley (lol). Personally I have already drastically reduced the amount of money I spend on this game, and lately the amount of time. If it wasn't for the time, effort, and expenditure I've already put in I'd quit.

Here's another suggestion to fix:

* Make the notification drop down menu scroll, if there's more than 9 you're forced to go to another page - which means another click and more time waiting.
Minnow
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Not to mention that a lot of these trophies are either
- incorrect
- not showing my full progress
- or unobtainable on smaller servers
default smiley (o)

'Win 50 rosettes' - I've definitely done this when I was a more competitive player, yet I do not have the trophy, same with the 20 rosettes with one horse, plenty of my old skillers and divines have done this... so why don't I have the trophy? I know the old one was time capped, so that's where the progress has come from, but this one is not time capped, with higher goals, therefore it is very unfair to ignore this progress. This basically forces me to wait a long time for my divines or spend more passes on more skillers to advance anywhere quickly.

Same for the EQC trophy for comps, both rosettes and normal comps. I get that some trophies that used to be time capped or didn't exist, are impossible to figure out each player's progress, but surely these high obtaining trophies if they demand so much from everyone. They are making it very hard to like the new system with all of its flaws.
Maddi
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Why are we continuing to bother venting our outrage & putting forward positive, constructive processes that would benefit us? when the truth of it is they don't care how far to hell they send this game, it's the monetary value. This is one business where the customer base is totally ignored.
Any business is about making money however I would think the majority of businesses care about their customer base, if not for the customer they wouldn't have a business nor the income to continue now would they!

Admin have turned a classy, entertaining game with enjoyable graphics into a visually abhorrent, difficult to understand & follow your achievements if you choose to (not only for new players but also, I believe, for the experienced as well) nightmare that a 3yo would find visually offensive!
Children's cartoon shows are visually presented better! Yet here they are, shoving their choices in our faces & expecting us to put up with their arrogant attitude, knowing full well that despite our objections there is NOTHING we can do about it. They have removed all the trophy's we were encouraged to achieve & replaced them with what? Unprofessional, poorly graph-iced icons, the emoji's are better quality.
There is no clarity on what we should be doing, no explanation or direction.

This latest update has affected so many levels of the game, General Ranking, Team % & so much more. As someone mentioned previously, trophy's we had completed are now incomplete, yet there is no clarity on any of it. There is NO information on where to find what we need to know! While the information would be helpful it's certainly NOT going to change how we, as a community of paying customers feel about what has been done to us, on a whim. Regardless of how admin view it's customer base, we are, at the end of the day, invested shareholders of this game. We pay to play.

The drop % on all luck items has also been drastically reduced -FIX THAT
Lag- FIX THAT
FIX all things mentioned previously by other players, that is what's important to us, the player base.
Most of all FIX the graphics & GIVE US back our original trophies & trophy page, the trophies many of us worked hard & paid for to achieve!
Kate Kelly
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I found this on international, very worrying indeed. Seems there has been mention on the French server by admin that they want to make the desktop version exactly the same as the mobile version. Now all these horrid (app) changes make sense.

Well, here's a heads up admin, l will stop playing altogether if we become 'mobile only'. I started playing this game on my desktop/laptop and have never played on mobile and never will, l've had a look at it, when camping l've used it to enter the grand prix and that's it, it's so boring and app like, exactly what l hate, plus it lacks much of the detail the laptop offers and slow, try blupping your team horses on your phone, what a nightmare.
No, this is not the sort of game for mobiles, there are plenty of games that are mobile friendly, this is not one of them, and instead of bringing the mobile game online with the laptop game, which l don't believe is possible, they are bringing down our laptop experience to suit the mobile game.

They've just convinced me to stop investing any more money into my game default smiley (y)

Sweet with me, my gardens gonna look awesome with all the new things l'll now spend my Howrse money on default smiley <:o)

By Jade Heart, 8th January 2023 07:27:35 12
Unfortunately, Howrse is unlikely to give us the old trophy system back. They didn't listen when we had a similar uproar over the removal of pass horses and introduction of Yggi and they also shut down the forums then as well as they are apparently starting to do now. They don't want our opinions on this.

The only hope we might have is that they eventually reintroduce some parts of the old trophy system. They did reintroduce pets/companions after all. I think the best we can hope for is that they listen enough to put back in things that are most important to us.

I don't want this game to be a strictly mobile game. There are many things that I can't do on mobile and have to do on the desktop computer. I only use mobile if I'm traveling or waiting around in doctor's offices. If they want to make the systems completely compatible, they have a lot of work they need to do to bring the mobile game up to par. They don't need to bring the PC game down to mobile.

I miss the interesting and descriptive graphics, the numbers instead of percentages, and the ease of access to information. I used those daily. Getting the occasional reward, even a divine, just doesn't make up for that.
Josey jojo
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I get it, with the brain dead society we are now living in, pretty much everybody can't live without their mobile, it's in their hand all the time, they'll even use it when driving, they cross roads while texting without even looking up, walk down the street texting, they'll even stop a live conversation with someone just to answer their phone or read a message and not realize just how rude and ignorant they're being, they just can't leave home without it, it's become the most important thing in their lives default smiley :$

I find it very sad actually, watching a group of people at a restaurant all got their heads in their mobile and not talking to each other, they may as well be there on their own, l'd get up and walk out if any of my friends or family started that nonsense.
I must be an exception to the rule. My mobile is for emergencies only, always has been, l'm lucky if l turn it on once a month, l take it to town but l don't turn it on unless l'm dropping someone off at say a doctors appt and need to text me when they're finished.

So with that being said, l'm guessing they're just catering to the masses of mobile addicts out theredefault smiley :-x
Josey jojo
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In which case, if the above information is correct & this is the intention of these ignorant game designers & administrators, I'll not be spending another $$ on this game. I'll let the game balance out whereby purchased passes = game won passes & call it quits.
Kate Kelly
  • Posted messages: 45
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@ Minnow that emoji suggestion was just me being a uh little shetland default smiley xd
* Make the notification drop down menu scroll, if there's more than 9 you're forced to go to another page - which means another click and more time waiting.
100% yes to this one!
I need a clapping emoji for some of these ideas that would make gameplay so much easier!

@Josey jojo I only play from my phone when I can't access my computer and I will just about always play the classic version now because the mobile/app type version is a train wreck, it has worse lag than the desktop I swear and you can't access your EC, it always wants to take you to a horse you haven't clicked on. It does auto comp you though, which I find funny because people pay to have that privilege on desktop/classic version. I get that its a mobile friendly set up but like default smiley (d)

Another suggestion/s default smiley (lol)
Can new graphics for any incoming horse breeds being added to the game be made because using the same graphic for multiple breeds just seems a little bit of a stretch for example the Canadian Horse (that for some reason aren't on this server) Lipizzan, Purebred Spanish Horse and the Mangalarga Marchador.

If selected intl breeds aren't going to make the Aus server I'd love to see some Australian Breeds be considered for the next breed release like the Australian Stock Horse and Australian Pony. I would be so psyched to see an ASH release default smiley <:o)
Knyphain
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Josey jojo wrote:

I found this on international, very worrying indeed. Seems there has been mention on the French server by admin that they want to make the desktop version exactly the same as the mobile version. Now all these horrid (app) changes make sense.


Ooof. Yeah, that's all the heads-up I need to convince myself to not buy any more passes. Whenever I play on my phone I immediately switch to classic, I've never had the patience to try and navigate it. It almost feels like the end of days is coming default smiley (lol).

Everything that can be said about this update probably already has. I've neglected to comment for now because it felt entirely pointless, but if that ^ is the future, then I'm done. Losing the trophies feels horrible because it was fun goals I was working towards to collect everything. How does Howrse think it's going to advertise new customisation items now? Without a trophy feels like not much incentive to bother spending passes collecting every coat. WHICH, feels like the biggest blow in the sense of all the passes I have spent trying to obtain those trophies particularly the divines and customisations but now it's worth nothing. If I had known that in hindsight, quite a few divines and items I wouldn't have bothered wasting money on to collect a trophy that would disappear in the future anyway default smiley (8)
modelhorsemad
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If there are any plans to make the desktop/mobile versions equivalent, I hope it’s by improving the mobile version, not stripping back the desktop version. I use a mix of both versions because I can only access things like ECs, full training duration options, and profile presentations from desktop (would love these added on mobile!), but competition entry is easier on mobile because the skills of horses in the comp are displayed alongside the option to enter, and you can also use a version of “auto-comp” that chucks your horse into the first comps that pop up (as opposed to the VIP perk). I find it useful for quick comp entry, even if it doesn’t result in as many wins. I’m also sad to see the old trophies go. Even if the old trophy interface differed confusingly between desktop/mobile, would have been so much better if the team just applied small quality of life and UI tweaks instead of an overhaul that got rid of very popular game content.
Werewoods
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If you have a real think about all the changes we've had to suffer over the past few years, which have not been popular on the most part, and many have caused an uproar such as pass horses changed over to yggrassi, who is starving in my barndefault smiley xd, the piggy bank tax, don't think l've been able to SAVE anything much from thatdefault smiley :p, there are others, just can't be bothered putting my brain into gear, lol, but this latest fiasco as well, it's not to make our game more enjoyable on our computers, be it laptop, tablet, desktop ect, they have all been made and will continue to be implemented to make the mobile game work better.

Look at the updated layouts and how our special coats are now applied, special tack, BMI's ect, next will be our workshops and meadows, you just watch and see, apparently they're trying to get EC's on the mobile game, so that means, they're gonna change our EC gear for sure, something else to look forward to default smiley :kdefault smiley (n)

All the new changes that now lack vital information and detail we needed to know, like how many wands l have left if l apply this one, or when l had more than one GA coat on my horses, l got the names of them, so l could put one aside and sell any doubles, it used to tell us that, all this is lost so the mobile game runs smoother default smiley (n).
I certainly hope the NEW players like it all, and l hope they've got rich parents default smiley ;)

Howrse have had a hidden agenda all along and we are the last to find out default smiley :@. Even when we ask them straight out, why this particular change/layout, they've kept their mouths clamped shut default smiley :-x

What an insult to a paying VIP player that auto comp entry is free if you play on a mobile phonedefault smiley :-x
Cough cough, Excuse Me, don't you think you owe your paying customers an extra perk equivalent in value? Cough it up default smiley (o)
Josey jojo
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Werewoods wrote:

If there are any plans to make the desktop/mobile versions equivalent, I hope it’s by improving the mobile version, not stripping back the desktop version. I use a mix of both versions because I can only access things like ECs, full training duration options, and profile presentations from desktop (would love these added on mobile!), but competition entry is easier on mobile because the skills of horses in the comp are displayed alongside the option to enter, and you can also use a version of “auto-comp” that chucks your horse into the first comps that pop up (as opposed to the VIP perk). I find it useful for quick comp entry, even if it doesn’t result in as many wins. I’m also sad to see the old trophies go. Even if the old trophy interface differed confusingly between desktop/mobile, would have been so much better if the team just applied small quality of life and UI tweaks instead of an overhaul that got rid of very popular game content.


The comp feature on the mobile version doesn’t even work well which as a VIP player, makes me kinda relieved that it’s free. You’re unable to enter breed-specific races which is particularly irritating for divines. I often have to go to the classic version.
Frozen In Time
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Thank you for sharing your feedback about the latest Dev's Corner. I'm sharing your messages with the team now!
EchOw
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I'm sorry, but that response no longer means anything to us, you copy and paste that answer into every thread. It's generic and insulting. We want you to actually address our specific concerns, at the very least we deserve an explanation of why these changes were made despite the overwhelming feedback provided which opposed them.

I want all my passes back, the thousands that I have spent to collect trophies which have now disappeared. In simple terms, I brought a product which I no longer have as the company I purchased it from repossessed it, even though I paid in full for the product.
luinlote
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Oh great, "sharing your messages with the team now!", yea right!
Just another copy and paste attempt at calming upset players... Its quite clear that either our comments aren't actually shared or they just blatantly do not care what we have to say!

I agree with luinlote, give me back the passes I spent collecting trophies I now don't have!
Outback
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I agree, l think it's a fair request that all the passes we were encourage to spend to complete trophies that no longer exist be returned to us default smiley (y)
Josey jojo
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Im actually missing a music wanderer horse, I know darn well I had that for completing the OLD trophy. SO! I want him back.. OR you replace with a coat.. This Game is a RIP OFF. Had enough of it all..
And I reckon with all this lagging, {which you will never fix} as players, are getting to quick for you to keep up.. So by LAGGING you're slowing us down to compete? Am I close by saying this..Might not be but that's my opinion and sticking with it..
And by the way where are you , Come out and play .. ANSWER our questions.. Come on!! we are waiting..

Im totalling behind luinlote and Outback. GIVE BACK what is rightfully ours in the first place.. All of them.. Not just a cheap BM item , passes we used. Hundreds of them ..
Tilley
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modelhorsemad wrote:

Yeah, that's all the heads-up I need to convince myself to not buy any more passes. Whenever I play on my phone I immediately switch to classic, I've never had the patience to try and navigate it. It almost feels like the end of days is coming



I am the same switch straight to classic.. Its not very appealing and isn't easy at all to navigate .
Tilley
  • Posted messages: 113
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I thought I was too old to 'get' the mobile version default smiley (lol). I have to say it's a relief to know it wasn't me at all!!

I spent a great deal of time (enough to blup a couple of horses) to try and figure out how to navigate the mobile version and half of that time looking for where they hid the EC. I mean, it had to be there, right? After all, the EC is a big part of the game, right? WRONG!! It astounded me to realise that it was no-where to be found.

The best part of the mobile version is the switch to classic part.
Minnow
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Another shocker of a divine prize, Skinfaxidefault smiley (n)

So what is that? 4th or 5th divine that pretty much does nothing for the player, unless your counting the trophy cabinet that you can't view like you used toodefault smiley (o)
Not a single divine that gives away a BMI, bet the shine is gonna wear off pretty fast for those players who were excited about getting a divine for 'free' default smiley :p
Josey jojo
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Big news again in this month's Devs Corner!

We're happy to report the Equestrian Centers are now available on Mobile!

Check out this month's brand-new features in the latest Dev’s Corner!

Best Regards,
The Howrse Team
EchOw
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Can you please clarify how the Rosette trophies work? Do Divine wins count?

If they do, surely it should be self explanatory that a Divine that has won over 30 rosettes and cannot be sold should have validated the “win 20 rosettes” and “win 5 rosettes with one horse” trophies…
Frozen In Time
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While I wait for my ticket on the rosette trophies to be answered I’ve explored the EC updates no one asked for. Still not compelled to use the mobile version:

1. Still can’t mass board horses and use the VIP perk we pay for
2. Can’t mass select boxes/meadows etc. (if you can, it’s not obvious enough). Too difficult to extend my horse’s boarding, let alone for multiple horses.
3. Graphics either take ages to load or don’t load at all (likely a lag issue default smiley (8))
4. Would have preferred a feature like EC forums which helps build up the community spirit and actually makes staying on the game worth it.
Frozen In Time
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Admin,

Why won't you answer our complaints.. It's clearly you won't listen to us. Why?
All your concerned about is to put these add this, add that, all because your wanting to go mobile version.. Why is it so important to go mobile version ?
What is wrong with the way things are now.. Why? Please explain.

And like this player here asking a simple question
Frozen In Time wrote:

Can you please clarify how the Rosette trophies work? Do Divine wins count?

If they do, surely it should be self explanatory that a Divine that has won over 30 rosettes and cannot be sold should have validated the “win 20 rosettes” and “win 5 rosettes with one horse” trophies…


Can you please let us ALL know if these Divines count for Rosettes for the trophy.. On the new system of trophies..Yes I too would like to know..

YOU will lose a lot of players soon if you won't let us know what we have all been asking..
Tilley
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So this is their explanation:

Hello Frozen In Time,


Thank you for reaching out to us.

This is because the value was taken from the old trophies, which only counted rosettes won during the last 30 days. Only rosettes won within the last 30 days before the change have been migrated to the new trophies.

I hope this sheds some light on the situation.

If you need any further assistance please don't hesitate to let me know.

Have a pleasant day.


Kind regards,
Ow
Frozen In Time
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