New(ish) Players Steward Auctions

[Dylan Christensen]

That's the exact worry here, New Players get exploited overpaying for horses and there is a worry that they will be exploited again having a veteran give them money and say, "Go get this horse for me." And that Newbie will be screwed over.

This is one of the reasons that players get dispersed into auctions now. Players were all here’s a few hundred thousand and a bunch of allowance routers! Can you pick up this horse from AJ under the new player umbrella for me?

Let me throw in a different story. When I was a new player there was a dispersal. A very seasoned top 5 player sent me a message with the names of a couple horses telling me to buy them and they would advance my barn by 3 or 4 seasons. Suited to Power and Defend were the best 20k I ever spent. S2P has progeny earnings of 3.6 million and most of that was mine. Defend is still producing for me today. She’s dropped 4 stakes and a freak from her 7 foals.
If I was a new player today I would never get the chance to own them. They would have been snatched up by veteran players in the dispersal auction. So I can’t say the old system was bad.

the old system was great, it was just some players who were bad

[Bertie Bassett]

I do understand your concerns, but as a new player I still think it should be my choice if I sell a horse or not. As has been stated on the forum many times, not all Steward breds will make money. I have no idea how much the Steward breds in the new-ish player auction will go for (probably for more than I can afford) but if I did manage to get one and, it turned out to be not as good as I had hoped for. Why should I be forced to keep it for a few years. I would be okay with having to race the horse maybe three or four times or so and then if it hasn't broke his/her maiden and is running at a loss then be able to offer it for sale.

Because I'm pretty certain that the purpose for having an auction restricted to newish players is so that the newish players can own Steward-breds, not so that players like me can recruit new players to buy stewies for me. If someone wants to do whatever they want with a stewie, then there's the unrestricted auction they'd be welcome to bid in!

I think we will have to agree to disagree on this one.
The thing to remember is that this game is meant to be a simulation of real life horse racing. I have brought horses at auction (for showing not racing) and not once was I told that I had to keep said horse for a couple of years. If the Sim does want to copy real life then buying and selling horses for profit is part of that. Veteran players can buy a stew bred for millions and then if they wish sell them to whoever they want. Why shouldn't new players be able to sell their stew bred horse. I also wonder just how many veteran players would try to recruit new players to buy horses for them at this auction. I really think that most new players who are lucky enough to get a stew bred would actually want to hold onto it, but I do not believe that they should be forced to keep it.
Your quote on the unrestricted auction is a little hard to swallow, as you know most new players have no chance of getting a horse in the unrestricted auction. That is why the suggestion of the newer player auction came about.
And yes you are right I have only been playing for five weeks, but does that mean that I should have fewer rights than veteran players. I would hope not.

[Dave Trainer]

Because it has a loophole which can (and has been) abused. Newer players have picked up Steward breds in the unrestricted auctions, often as underbidders, and got them cheap. If you are talking about realism and why should you have fewer rights then why should newer players get a sale to themselves? I doubt I'd be stopped from bidding in a rl auction just because I'd been doing it for a long time.

[Bertie Bassett]

Because it has a loophole which can (and has been) abused. Newer players have picked up Steward breds in the unrestricted auctions, often as underbidders, and got them cheap. If you are talking about realism and why should you have fewer rights then why should newer players get a sale to themselves? I doubt I'd be stopped from bidding in a rl auction just because I'd been doing it for a long time.

I agree with you 100 %. Why should newer players get an auction to themselves. If there was a vote on this I would vote against a newer player auction. I believe all players should have the same rules (rights) in place for everyone. I am a very new player so I doubt if I would have enough funds in place to even bid in the newer player auction. I am a firm believer in starting at the bottom and working my way up to (hopefully) the top levels of the Sim.
That does not mean that if a veteran player wants to sell me a decent horse (nod nod wink wink) that I would turn it down, far from it I would snap it up. But at the same time if a veteran player wanted to buy a horse from me that I won in a new player auction, then I still believe that I should be able to sell them that horse.

[Jack Meyer]

Normally the Steward Bred, especially for new players, tends to be the best horse in their barn, and is so for quite some time since it takes a long time to establish a broodmare band to make your home breds good enough to compete at the highest level. So, with new players, why would you sell away such a horse that could turn out to be the foundation of your barn to try and get more money to buy something that is likely not going to be as good? You are right, it is most definitely your choice to choose to play the game the way you wish, but I've seen it so many times where a player gets burnt out because they can't grow their barn to certain heights, and a lot of the times I think to myself,"you shouldn't have sold that steward bred you were lucky enough to get in order to buy lesser horses". Those Steward breds are there to better your barn, and for newer player to just up and sell the thing right after they get it is beyond my comprehension, maybe it is because when I first started that's all I wanted were those because they made your barn better. It's even easier for newer players to get them now compared to when I started way back in Y35. I just don't understand the reasoning.

[Bertie Bassett]

Normally the Steward Bred, especially for new players, tends to be the best horse in their barn, and is so for quite some time since it takes a long time to establish a broodmare band to make your home breds good enough to compete at the highest level. So, with new players, why would you sell away such a horse that could turn out to be the foundation of your barn to try and get more money to buy something that is likely not going to be as good? You are right, it is most definitely your choice to choose to play the game the way you wish, but I've seen it so many times where a player gets burnt out because they can't grow their barn to certain heights, and a lot of the times I think to myself,"you shouldn't have sold that steward bred you were lucky enough to get in order to buy lesser horses". Those Steward breds are there to better your barn, and for newer player to just up and sell the thing right after they get it is beyond my comprehension, maybe it is because when I first started that's all I wanted were those because they made your barn better. It's even easier for newer players to get them now compared to when I started way back in Y35. I just don't understand the reasoning.

I did not say that I would sell a stew bred horse. In fact I said earlier that most new players would hold on to their stew bred horse. All I am saying is that new players shouldn't have the right to sell them taken away.

[Jack Meyer]

Normally the Steward Bred, especially for new players, tends to be the best horse in their barn, and is so for quite some time since it takes a long time to establish a broodmare band to make your home breds good enough to compete at the highest level. So, with new players, why would you sell away such a horse that could turn out to be the foundation of your barn to try and get more money to buy something that is likely not going to be as good? You are right, it is most definitely your choice to choose to play the game the way you wish, but I've seen it so many times where a player gets burnt out because they can't grow their barn to certain heights, and a lot of the times I think to myself,"you shouldn't have sold that steward bred you were lucky enough to get in order to buy lesser horses". Those Steward breds are there to better your barn, and for newer player to just up and sell the thing right after they get it is beyond my comprehension, maybe it is because when I first started that's all I wanted were those because they made your barn better. It's even easier for newer players to get them now compared to when I started way back in Y35. I just don't understand the reasoning.

I did not say that I would sell a stew bred horse. In fact I said earlier that most new players would hold on to their stew bred horse. All I am saying is that new players shouldn't have the right to sell them taken away.

And like I said, new players should have the right to do what they wish, but a lot of times when they first start they don't know what's going on so they need a little guidance and advice and this should be the advice that they get is not to sell a steward bred if you get one.

[Tamsin Pa Te Rangi]

As a really new player (only two weeks in) I agree with Bertie. I do not think there is a need for a newish steward bred auction. I think that there are enough veteran players out there helping new players with offers of horses for sale and sometimes even for free that they should be able to progress in the game at a steady rate. I have read many articles and forum posts which state that this game requires patience and time.The other thing this brings up is the haves and have not scenario again. I mean what exactly is a newish player ? Will not the new players feel a little aggrieved if they are left out of a newish player auction ?

[Bertie Bassett]

Normally the Steward Bred, especially for new players, tends to be the best horse in their barn, and is so for quite some time since it takes a long time to establish a broodmare band to make your home breds good enough to compete at the highest level. So, with new players, why would you sell away such a horse that could turn out to be the foundation of your barn to try and get more money to buy something that is likely not going to be as good? You are right, it is most definitely your choice to choose to play the game the way you wish, but I've seen it so many times where a player gets burnt out because they can't grow their barn to certain heights, and a lot of the times I think to myself,"you shouldn't have sold that steward bred you were lucky enough to get in order to buy lesser horses". Those Steward breds are there to better your barn, and for newer player to just up and sell the thing right after they get it is beyond my comprehension, maybe it is because when I first started that's all I wanted were those because they made your barn better. It's even easier for newer players to get them now compared to when I started way back in Y35. I just don't understand the reasoning.

I did not say that I would sell a stew bred horse. In fact I said earlier that most new players would hold on to their stew bred horse. All I am saying is that new players shouldn't have the right to sell them taken away.

And like I said, new players should have the right to do what they wish, but a lot of times when they first start they don't know what's going on so they need a little guidance and advice and this should be the advice that they get is not to sell a steward bred if you get one.

Thank you Jack. I 100% agree with you. They should be advised not to sell a steward bred if they get one. But not forced to keep it if they do not want to.

[Jack Meyer]

As a really new player (only two weeks in) I agree with Bertie. I do not think there is a need for a newish steward bred auction. I think that there are enough veteran players out there helping new players with offers of horses for sale and sometimes even for free that they should be able to progress in the game at a steady rate. I have read many articles and forum posts which state that this game requires patience and time.The other thing this brings up is the haves and have not scenario again. I mean what exactly is a newish player ? Will not the new players feel a little aggrieved if they are left out of a newish player auction ?

I agree, I don't think their should be a "newer" player steward auction either for different reasons, but Emily is trying to make it so new(er) players can get their hands on nicely bred horses without the threat of veteran players swooping in and getting them. She most certainly has her reasons for sure.

[Brandon Schultz]

I've been thinking about this a lot over the last couple of days and I really see both sides. (disclaimer, I side with Danny on this one)

Initially, my impression was that rules restricting a player's ability to make in-game choices generally kinda suck. I like the idea of letting players do whatever the heck they want to do with a horse. Sell it, lease it, race it, let it sit undefeated in your barn without ever racing - like I said, it's your stable and not mine so do what you want. By that same reason, I'm a big fan of players being able to pinhook horses just generally 1) it gives them a choice in how they want to run their stable and 2) a large influx of money would be great for a new player. Pinhooking horses has been great for me personally.

But... This isn't like other opportunities in the sim... It's a bit of a special case within the sim and so we need to think about what the purpose of the new player TBs auctions will be. My understanding is that these auctions are a way to let new players own good horses. So we should also be sure that the auctions are functioning as intended and keeping those horses in the hands of hte new players.

The more I think about it the more I'm convinced that if players can pinhook/sell/lease a horse from these auctions, the big-time barns with lots of money will find ways to take advantage of the situation and the horses intended for new players will end up with the same big barns that the auctions are trying to remove from the equation. And my understanding is that this defeats the point of these auctions. If we allow new players to sell the horses they win in the new player auctions, either the new players will 1) get used by the existing players as a way to get a piece of the pie from the new player auctions or 2) get taken advantage of by players when they think making a $75k profit on a pinhook is a good idea. One is neutral at best and two is BAD for the sim. Either way, both 1 and 2 defeat the point of the new player TBS sales.

My vote is that if we have restricted auctions (which I'm a huge fan of by the way, love the idea), then those auctions come with stipulations. One of which should be you have to race that horse for at least a certain amount of time (say through its 3 year old year).

[Danny Derby]

Grats all on their pinhooks!

[Rochelle Bos]

Grats all on their pinhooks!

Right?!

[Noel Collins]

I just went through all,of them. Out of the fifteen. Two have been sold and one more is for sale. Another three for sure are being said will NOT be sold.

[Brandon Schultz]

Grats all on their pinhooks!

I'll have you know that I'm keeping mine! At least until the right offer is made to convince me otherwise.