Steward-breds

[Erin Erskine]

I for one don't overly mind if they stay or go. But, if they stay I agree with tight limits and rules, and less than 250..
I never have been fortunate enough to being able to afford nicer TBs, let alone SBs, hence why I had gotten out of racing Thoroughbreds and focused on mixers - which I adore. But I am trying to get back into the thoroughbred game.

However - to out it out there, I think the game points actions are an unfair addition. It's basically an auction, which likely has the best of the bunch in it, that people who are very fortunate or have good incomes etc are able to afford. It's a completely unfair advantage. I think all stewardbreds should be in a mixed auction, all unnamed (as previously suggested) so it's in some sense a luck of the draw

[Andrew Chillin]

All your stewards now belong to me

[Rochelle Bos]

If Em isn’t able to pay to lease mares what is the incentive for players to lease to her?

What if the steward leased your mare for free, NO CASH. The player would get to race that resulting filly.
The the steward would get filly back at end of 3yo season and would breed 1st foal giving to the player who leased her the mare which would not count in the stewy limit.

No extra money is coming in the game. The reward for leasing a mare for no cash is you can race the foal and then she breeds you 1 foal from that resulting filly once retired.

I like that idea a lot actually! Except if that foal she breeds at the end of it turns out to be a super freak I can just imagine the screams of cheating/favouritism

[Andrew Chillin]

Folks chant that now

[Tammy Stawicki]

However - to out it out there, I think the game points actions are an unfair addition. It's basically an auction, which likely has the best of the bunch in it, that people who are very fortunate or have good incomes etc are able to afford. It's a completely unfair advantage. I think all stewardbreds should be in a mixed auction, all unnamed (as previously suggested) so it's in some sense a luck of the draw

I think the distinction between game points and sim cash is not what it used to be with the exchange existing. I know I spend game points with abandon these days but haven't used real money to buy them since year 44. Meanwhile given how cheap I can get game points on the exchange during steward auctions I'm guessing a noninsignificant amount of the sim cash being bid on during those auctions was obtained through exchanged game points. Now one could have a debate about the exchange and whether its ok for people to use real cash to get game cash and success but at the end of the day the game needs real money to run (can you imagine if we went back to the days of it taking hours for results to post, the horror) and certainly you can still succeed without using game points to get sim cash or without buying game points with real cash at all

[Kelly Haggerty]

I think it would be fun if she did some really nice CAM with additional bloodlines from outside the game. Stir up the pot a bit.

[David Faulkner]

I believe that the SB auction should continue and have the right amount so that all players can acquire at least one SB for their stable, what they do later with that acquisition is according to their need, and it would be better if it were a selection, a purchase , since this way the increases of the horses are avoided when you can choose 3 to buy 1


if you choose a colt you no longer have the opportunity to increase another selection, which leaves another player the opportunity to bid

Stewardbred forever

oh and I share the idea that the foals do not have a name, and that they are sold again with insurance included, as it was previously, and that all are of minimum quality

[Ronnie Dee]

If Em isn’t able to pay to lease mares what is the incentive for players to lease to her?

What if the steward leased your mare for free, NO CASH. The player would get to race that resulting filly.
The the steward would get filly back at end of 3yo season and would breed 1st foal giving to the player who leased her the mare which would not count in the stewy limit.

No extra money is coming in the game. The reward for leasing a mare for no cash is you can race the foal and then she breeds you 1 foal from that resulting filly once retired.

I wrote:

1b. lease a mare for free from a player; in return, the player would be given a lease on the foal which will be returned at age 5 (the latest time being at the end of that year). Note: players will still have the right to decline any offer made by The Steward.

My concern was the same as Pete's. I said 5YO instead of 3YO in my post because this would give the player more years than the current situation without any Sim$ going to the player. So the player could get up to 3 foals. But I am OK with Pete's 3YO (and first foal) suggestion or 4YO (up to 2 foals).

[Laura Smith]

I didn't vote because I was torn between the options, but here's mine:

50-100 SBs per year
One large auction, limit one per player
No names
Limit of 3 per player under the age of 4
Occasional auctions (once a year or more) of game created real life pedigreed horses to introduce new bloodlines and assuage everyone's desire to buy things
Em can either buy mares outright, lease for free and give the player the foal to race, or lease for cash and publicly auction the foal for a racing lease, after which it comes back to her for breeding

[Dylan Christensen]

Occasional auctions (once a year or more) of game created real life pedigreed horses to introduce new bloodlines and assuage everyone's desire to buy things

I see two issues with this, it first go against what many claim to be the function of Steward breds because New Players probably can't get a hold of them. Secondly, players will cry fowl if some of these turn out insanely good(looking at Lalor and mixer holiday studs). In a perfect world I like this idea but this isn't a perfect world.

[Andrew James]

I enjoyed the 3 per owner limit, with a couple of big auctions. I would also keep the new smaller game point auction since it directly benefits the game.

+1

[Te Akau Downs]

i agree with Dave on the no more than 3 limit added to the poll, gives others a chance at owning some

[Ronnie Dee]

Okay so I've been under the impression for years that Steward-breds are THE WORST THING EVER and it is NOT FAIR and DRAMA X INFINITY.

After reading all the comments in this thread, it seems to me that if you hold any future SB auctions that there will still be a considerable number of Simsters that will claim that these auctions are NOT FAIR and there will still be DRAMA X INFINITY.

If you decide to continue breeding horses, I suggest that you randomly give these horses to New and Junior players (with a maximum of 1 per player per crop). After this giveaway, if any SBs remain, you can give them away as prizes in your various contests that you hold (with a maximum of 1 per player per crop). Of course,a number of Simsters will complain that this is NOT FAIR but there will be considerably less DRAMA than with your auctions.

Aside: Eric Nalbone had giveaways somewhat like this when I joined. I think his giveaways definitely increased New and Junior player retention.

[Rebecca Rose Hepburn]

I enjoyed the 3 per owner limit, with a couple of big auctions. I would also keep the new smaller game point auction since it directly benefits the game.

This

[Rebecca Rose Hepburn]

Em can either buy mares outright, lease for free and give the player the foal to race, or lease for cash and publicly auction the foal for a racing lease, after which it comes back to her for breeding

I hate this part, I don't think you'd fine many that would take these options