Steward-breds

[Mr. Lord Rich]

We have too many stewardbreds. The game is horseracing, not 'everyday is Christmas'. We currently have 715 owners listed. I we get 250 stewbreds a year and they run an average of three years, there are an awful lot of stewbreds running around. I'm finding one in almost every stakes race I look at. They should be an occasional but important part of the game to help keep and improve bloodlines in the HOMEBRED sector. It should be an honor and not a right of being in this game to have one.

+1

[Willie Carson]

We have too many stewardbreds. The game is horseracing, not 'everyday is Christmas'. We currently have 715 owners listed. I we get 250 stewbreds a year and they run an average of three years, there are an awful lot of stewbreds running around. I'm finding one in almost every stakes race I look at. They should be an occasional but important part of the game to help keep and improve bloodlines in the HOMEBRED sector. It should be an honor and not a right of being in this game to have one.

I agree. It took me 10 seasons before I got A choice of evils on a 3 million underbid. That’s nearly 4 real life years of saving up. Trawling AJ for hidden gems other players had got rid of. Running dozens of horses a week at Alaska. Treating my Sim money like it was real so I didn’t waste it. Not sending rubbish broodmares to 100k stallions.

And not all steward breds are successful on the track. You can easily spend a few million on a SB and not earn it back on the track or through breeding. You don’t need a SB to be successful in the game. But if you want one quit wining about it, be patient put the hours in and save up.

When the auction comes round don’t just bid on anything. study the horses carefully go through the pedigrees and select a handful of horses who you think may be top level stakes or freak. Get your underbids in early and cross your fingers.

Rant over. Remember it’s only a game.

[Randall Allen]

So what would everyone's recommendation be about me leasing mares from other players. They don't get to race the foal, or they do? If I'm willing to pay $5 million for a Steward's Cup winner who has produced 2 freaks, but not willing to pay more than $1 million for a generic Grade 1 winner, how do I stop the "that's not fair" ness? If we rely on people leasing me mares for free, that would be what, 2 people a year? How will I replenish my own stock?

Just something to think about that maybe no one has mentioned. If the goal of the Stewardbreds is to pull money from the game, then paying 1-5 million per lease and reselling said offspring is kind of like putting a band-aid on an artery bleed. If the thought behind it is that you miss breeding the horses, then I say go for it.

BTW, I would lease or even possibly give you a blue hen mare or two for free. You might be surprised who would help you out!

[Laura Ferguson]

So what would everyone's recommendation be about me leasing mares from other players. They don't get to race the foal, or they do? If I'm willing to pay $5 million for a Steward's Cup winner who has produced 2 freaks, but not willing to pay more than $1 million for a generic Grade 1 winner, how do I stop the "that's not fair" ness? If we rely on people leasing me mares for free, that would be what, 2 people a year? How will I replenish my own stock?

Just something to think about that maybe no one has mentioned. If the goal of the Stewardbreds is to pull money from the game, then paying 1-5 million per lease and reselling said offspring is kind of like putting a band-aid on an artery bleed. If the thought behind it is that you miss breeding the horses, then I say go for it.

BTW, I would lease or even possibly give you a blue hen mare or two for free. You might be surprised who would help you out!

A few thoughts - the Steward's looking at your best mares, not simply a blue hen (for example, I leased Lightning to her, and Lightning was only a "good" mare, but she produced Survivor for the Steward, and Storm and Thunder for me), and so that's an awfully big ask for someone to give up a foal out of one of those. Money may help - the situation where that actually worked best, for me, was to lease her a foal out of a mare that was 12 or older, because she'd pay to save the mare, and then I'd have the mare for the next year. So, I could have bred the mare myself, and ended up having to pension her and not being able to breed the mare the following year, so it was less of a giving up of a foal.

The point is that replacement mares have to come from somewhere, whether that's the Steward selling fewer fillies, because she has to retain some (and offsetting some of that $$ by having a lease auction), or paying some $$$ to buy/lease from players. Obviously, if she's paying $1 million, it is because she's counting on selling several foals down the road for way more than the $1 million, and in the long run ultimately sucking more $$$ out of the game.

I think we, as players, need to understand, that the more work/time-consuming we ask of the Steward, the less likely we are to have Steward breds. You can't say, oh, you need to sell 150 foals a year, but then make it impossible/pulling teeth to build/maintain a 150 mare band.

[Xander Zone]

A perfect example of the steward paying “a lot for a mare “ is Graces I think it was 8 mill at the time and people were like *!
I am too lazy to look it all up the purchase price and how much in turn that mares foals sucked out of the game but needless to say if she does that over and over guess what her plan is working.

[Eric Gray]

I did the math for you Xander. Approximately 94 million. That is from the 11 steward breds of her 13 foals.

[The Steward]

So what would everyone's recommendation be about me leasing mares from other players. They don't get to race the foal, or they do? If I'm willing to pay $5 million for a Steward's Cup winner who has produced 2 freaks, but not willing to pay more than $1 million for a generic Grade 1 winner, how do I stop the "that's not fair" ness? If we rely on people leasing me mares for free, that would be what, 2 people a year? How will I replenish my own stock?

Just something to think about that maybe no one has mentioned. If the goal of the Stewardbreds is to pull money from the game, then paying 1-5 million per lease and reselling said offspring is kind of like putting a band-aid on an artery bleed. If the thought behind it is that you miss breeding the horses, then I say go for it.

BTW, I would lease or even possibly give you a blue hen mare or two for free. You might be surprised who would help you out!

I think we, as players, need to understand, that the more work/time-consuming we ask of the Steward, the less likely we are to have Steward breds. You can't say, oh, you need to sell 150 foals a year, but then make it impossible/pulling teeth to build/maintain a 150 mare band.

I was actually leaning strongly towards keeping Steward-breds, with restrictions, transparency, what have you. But the recent round of "She can only lease one mare per player per year, and that player can only race the foal if it counts towards their to per year, and she can only pay X amount" has made me backpedal HARD. I do NOT have the mental capacity to pay attention to whether I've leased one or two from each player in a year (especially since I tend to breed ALL of them Week 16 and then all of them AGAIN Week 1, things get confused for me), and why would a player lease me a mare if there is a menu limit (this mare may have produced 3 freaks, but she only won a single Grade 1 so I can't pay more than $1 million, whatever it is). It just seems really complicated once you get to the restricting me to maintain a broodmare band. Everything else I've liked (limits, no naming, etc). But I don't see how I can proceed since it's not in anyone's best interest to not let me go after mares like "normal."

[Randell Johnson]

Just something to think about that maybe no one has mentioned. If the goal of the Stewardbreds is to pull money from the game, then paying 1-5 million per lease and reselling said offspring is kind of like putting a band-aid on an artery bleed. If the thought behind it is that you miss breeding the horses, then I say go for it.

BTW, I would lease or even possibly give you a blue hen mare or two for free. You might be surprised who would help you out!

I think we, as players, need to understand, that the more work/time-consuming we ask of the Steward, the less likely we are to have Steward breds. You can't say, oh, you need to sell 150 foals a year, but then make it impossible/pulling teeth to build/maintain a 150 mare band.

I was actually leaning strongly towards keeping Steward-breds, with restrictions, transparency, what have you. But the recent round of "She can only lease one mare per player per year, and that player can only race the foal if it counts towards their to per year, and she can only pay X amount" has made me backpedal HARD. I do NOT have the mental capacity to pay attention to whether I've leased one or two from each player in a year (especially since I tend to breed ALL of them Week 16 and then all of them AGAIN Week 1, things get confused for me), and why would a player lease me a mare if there is a menu limit (this mare may have produced 3 freaks, but she only won a single Grade 1 so I can't pay more than $1 million, whatever it is). It just seems really complicated once you get to the restricting me to maintain a broodmare band. Everything else I've liked (limits, no naming, etc). But I don't see how I can proceed since it's not in anyone's best interest to not let me go after mares like "normal."

I have stuck with this game for many years, and the main reason being... to attain Steward breds. That is basically my biggest driving factor. That being said...

Just do what you want... the 15 or 20 people on either side that will be frustrated with your decision is going to happen no matter what you say or do. I know that some of the people complaining and threatening to leave are the ones who buy gamepoints (which is necessary to the survival of the game), but they more than likely will just complain, and go back to normal.

Manage the Steward breds as you choose, you can't please everyone, so don't pain yourself to try.
Others may disagree, but that what I can think of.

[Xander Zone]

I will start off by saying I will sell you DX and Velvet soft two of the best race and mares ever in the sim not a lease just flat out sell . If that will keep you breeding

[Garret Folsom]

Please keep doing what you've done in the past.

[Dave Trainer]

I don't see any problem with you leasing/buying as many as you like from a player as long as they don't get to race the foal. You're paying to buy/lease the mare and that should be enough.

If its decided they can race the foal then the foal would definitely have to count towards their limit or they would be getting an extra SB compared to others who don't have mares for you.

I said before, the price is down to you and how much you think the mare is worth to buy/lease and the seller to decide if they want to deal. Nobody should be telling you what you can pay as you're in the best position to judge the value to you.

[Ciano Colly]

if leasing mares is the issue why not just create mares,they can be coded anyway you want .they are all just code anyway,give them a rl name to give some context.
maybe this cant be done with the game mechanics but it seems an easy solution to me

[Sara Julin]

Before when the SB's was a normality, I rarely bought them (unless it was underbids), because simply, they were too expensive. But as soon as there was talk of them disappearing, I felt like I had to get some while they were still around. But I had no money. So I started to put money back into the game and bought game points which i then sold to other players to get sim money so I could buy SB's. Do I complain? No. Not really.

I believe that sometimes you need to put money back into the game.
And if it is to get a SB, then I am willing to do it. Somehow, it is a way to pay the steward a salary for spending so much time breeding the horses for our entertainment.

[Jack Meyer]

There should absolutely be NO limits on what you can pay to buy or lease a mare...that is no one's business but you and the seller, I'd stop HARD on that issue too and wouldn't do it, you have to build you stock up to take money from the game....the limits should be ones BOUGHT out of your auctions, if you lease/buy a mare then the racing/first foal deal would be done before all of that (maybe tell said player who to breed the mare to and what gender to make the foal so it goes under the players name as breeder instead of yours) ...one way to fix it since it won't show up as a Steward Bred.....I would agree to the no name idea and just put in the notes what you want the name of the foal to be to keep that fun part of the game for you...easy fixes in my opinion

Jack

[Richard Diemand]

Keep, with restrictions, be transparent and enjoy yourself; life is short and you won't please everyone anyway. I have enjoyed the game immensely. THANK YOU