Thoughts About A Hall of Fame/Midyear Break?

[Laura Ferguson]

So, it used to be that the SIM had a long break every third year or so - some people loved it, some people hated it, but regardless, we haven't had one of those since the end of 2017 (if I'm reading the calendar right), and I'm really in need of some sort of longer break. That's probably because I've spent the last several weeks either dealing with real life stuff or having to spend what little free time I've had on either entering horses or making sure I met today's deadline for foals instead of decompressing.

Anyway, in the middle of this slogfest, I thought, what if instead of a long break every third year or so, there was a one week break between Weeks 9 and 10? That's a good breaking point roughly midyear between the end of the Triple Crown/Triple Crown Contest, and the debut of 2yo thoroughbred routers. There would be no rest accruing, training, date rate/board charged that week.

People could take an actual break, or use the time to breed mares, cull horses (especially after the midyear adjustment at the end of Week 8, which is the main reason I'm not suggesting between Weeks 8 and 9; a lot of people gallop Week 9 Day 1), hold auctions, etc. Not sure if horses could be entered if training is turned off, but if entering horses is an option programming-wise, I'd be in favor of that being one of things you could do during the break.

You could also have voting on the Hall of Fame that week, like many sports that have a Hall of Fame ceremony mid-season, including thoroughbred racing in the USA.

Anyway, I'm curious to see what others think of the idea. Laura

[Andrew James]

I like this idea. As long as there's no long break between seasons.

[Nena Olson]

As a creature of habit, I would really not do well with this. I'd 100% break every single racehorse I had LOL I also know the reason so many wait until end of the year to breed is cus they can't afford to insure every single foal in hopes that it doesn't get hit by the random injury. So, unless people already hit their two random injuries, I'm not sure many would breed mid year. Thats just my thoughts though

[Carolyn Eaton]

As a creature of habit, I would really not do well with this. I'd 100% break every single racehorse I had LOL I also know the reason so many wait until end of the year to breed is cus they can't afford to insure every single foal in hopes that it doesn't get hit by the random injury. So, unless people already hit their two random injuries, I'm not sure many would breed mid year. Thats just my thoughts though

I breed gradually throughout the year; I only insure foals from amazing producing mares - so very few, so that would not be an issue. If training was off, then you would not be likely to "break" any of the horses.

I am in favor.

[Xander Zone]

Also could have a steward auction or a elite player bred auction where everyone gives a horse that wants to take part in it

[Danny Derby]

I’m a “hate it” vote. The Sim is already an extremely slow paced game, extending each year by another week would drive me crazy. Plus from a practical standpoint, it makes far more sense to breed at the end of the year. Random injuries won’t be a factor, and new stallions you’ve been waiting to use should be retired by then.

I’ve felt overwhelmed plenty of times and I run a comparatively small stable, so can’t imagine what it must be like having thousands of starters each year. If you need a breather I really would recommend hiring an assistant trainer to handle part of your stable until things calm down, or a lease auction of some kind. It’s not worth letting managing your barn impact your real life to the point where you feel like it’s all you have time to do.

[Carole Hanson]

I voted “Hate It”. Personally, the SIM provides a great escape for me from real life trouble and the break itself is already excruciating enough. The break you suggest would mean you still log onto the sim to cull horses, breed mares etc. That’s not really a break from the game then since you’d still be here, just doing the more mundane stuff.

Not to ruffle any feathers, but if you want/need a break from the game the best thing to do is hire an assistant trainer and not log in for a week or two. Or maybe even enter ahead and then just let it play itself for a couple of weeks, no harm done.

[Nena Olson]

As a creature of habit, I would really not do well with this. I'd 100% break every single racehorse I had LOL I also know the reason so many wait until end of the year to breed is cus they can't afford to insure every single foal in hopes that it doesn't get hit by the random injury. So, unless people already hit their two random injuries, I'm not sure many would breed mid year. Thats just my thoughts though

I breed gradually throughout the year; I only insure foals from amazing producing mares - so very few, so that would not be an issue. If training was off, then you would not be likely to "break" any of the horses.

I am in favor.

That part may be true but that won't prevent me from forgetting that a week of rest didn't count and breaking my barn LOL

[Sara Julin]

I have many times during week 6-9 felt like "Wow, I need a weeks break or two"... but if we actually got a break, it would drive me crazy for sure.
The game is slow pace, so to slow it down and force a break for everyone in mid season doesn't seem like a good idea.

Like others said above, if it becomes too much, plan your horses 2 weeks in advance and take a break for those two weeks. Or hire a assistant trainer to help you out or lease your horses to other players, if it becomes too much to handle during a dip in real life.

[Art K Stables]

Not in favor , game moves too slow , the long break is not missed at all, but part of that had to be game points were based on weeks so a long break just took game points for nothing.. I think maybe game points per season, say 20k points to sign on for the season simperior, then the incentive is to start the next season sooner than later

[Laura Ferguson]

Thanks for the feedback. As I said, it was a thought I had in the middle of an unusually, and unexpected, stressful few weeks in real life. I am cutting back, and will be continuing to cut back in Year 59. I reduced my number of starts by almost 1100 between Year 57 and Year 58 and cut my racing barn by almost 25%. I bred the smallest crop this year in a long time (I think it has been 7 or 8 SIM years), with last year's crop also being on the smaller end.

The timing of this didn't lend itself to an assistant trainer or planning ahead, because it (1) unexpectedly hit the middle of Week 14, and (ii) sometimes it's faster to do it yourself than to prepare handoff instructions or figure out some other temporary handoff. Things _should_ be calmer moving forward (finds wood to knock on); it's just unfortunate I didn't have my normal end of the year break between Tuesday morning and Saturday morning. Instead, I bred 105 mares between Tuesday and this am, and have adjusted my expectations for Festivus accordingly

My thought on the midyear break was you could use it either for a complete one week break or to catch up on things other than races, so that people could pick either option; but I respect that others don't want it at all.

I do find it interesting that most people thinks this game moves too slow. I played another game for a long time where the game year mirrored the real life racing year, and so the SIM has always felt fast in comparison.

Laura

[Rochelle Bos]

I’m sorry life has been chaotic for you

Though I’m definitely on the “breaks are too long already” team I play a very laid back SIM game compared to some, I’m sure if I had a bigger barn or spent more time playing I would need a longer break.

I’m one of those weirdos who breed throughout the year so this past week has been pretty boring for me already, and there is still another week and a bit of boring to go! but at least festivus is tonight!

I hope things settle down for you IRL and you’re able to find a balance between life and sim again Every bone in my body wants to offer to give you a hand, but my RL is also pretty packed ATM. I feel helping you out would just cause added anxiety and stress for me right now , so I’m sorry for that because I love helping out!

[Madelene Gilbert]

I actually voted for it. Life in general has gotten very chaotic for me and I find it hard to devote much time to the SIM. However, I've certainly noticed that my interest tends to wane around W9-10 and a week break then would mean I'm less likely to fall behind for the latter part of the year, or even dropping out completely.

[LA Pepper]

it would b nice to take a break once in a while because of RL or anything else. How about a game point paid break where your stable is put in suspended animation ie horses dont loose condition, fees arent paid or are lessened, but horses would still age tho, etc.

[Nathan Klein]

Seems like an alright idea i'm here for it either way. This also begs the question where has the Y58 hall of fame been like I was waiting for it all year but it never happend.