For Sale 'STAKES' etc - Unfair?

[Peter Quill]

Hi All,

I am only a newbie so please forgive me if this comes across incorrectly, I love the look of the SIM and having fun learning it. One thing is really peeing me off now though.

I see these sales 'adverts' go up and think of that's good I don't have an Allowance horse, not even sure how I would end up with one, I might try and get one.....All Gone.

If you could all just put your newbie hats on or back on for the more experienced.... being new, I spent quite a bit of time since I had a break, trying to learn how to purchase or claim a better horse, studying workout times and races etc (Only way I know how yet) and then trying my luck at that and ending up with a mixed bag of obviously not so great horses (I love them anyway ) but maybe I can make some money still.

Then I see one of these sales go up today and too late, someone (or multiple) have just bagged at least 5 'Allowance' horses, and for what? Just seeing it pop up on the forum and jumping on the sales page, no study, no 'just go for it' and see what I end up with. No risk, just guaranteed Allowance horses, now me and all the other newbies out there who miss out because they weren't glued to the forum and see the sale are up against this lot, just seems very unfair to me. Easy sales for the player posting and easy for the people buying, this doesn't 'Help' new players at all, it's creating a pretty ordinary experience actually. I did all that study and taking a chance over the weekend and then feel totally deflated when I see this happen. I got Simperior and Manual barns and all that and now just a little bit unsure how to feel.

It looked like it was going to be all about learning and patience etc and this type of thing is just turning it into being in the right place at the right time, or even probably get a notification as soon as something is posted on the New Players column and jump in and buy horses. Looking at the past posts this seems to happen a fair bit.

I saw somewhere the rules for a 'Steward' auction, I remember one point was only one horse per player. Can't we set up something like that for 'New Players'

Instead of a sales section it would be much fairer to have a limited auction, say 1, 2 or 3 (or more) horses each depending on how many horses, just so we can all get a fair go. Even if it was just for the better horses. We do this for the more experienced players why can't we do this for the New Players.

This posting on the forum and first in best dressed just doesn't work I don't think, you need to study a horse to try and work out it's potential, not just get told on a forum - All Allowance for sale!

Anyway please let me know your feelings, not trying to be harsh but as a newbie this is quite dis-heartening when you are trying to build up a bit of a stable. If someone could pass on to the curator would like to know how they feel, or even let me know how to and i will.

Thanks,
Pete

[Rochelle Bos]

Hey Pete, a lot of sales do tend to be “early bid gets the worm” but there are two things to help New Players with that! Everyone in the SIM is limited to buying 5 horses a day, the exceptions are picking up horses in auctions or when someone private offers you a horse for $0 (you can get as many of those as available in your inbox, unless you spend S$ on 5 horses, then you can buy anymore, even $0 ones). The other VERY helpful tool for new players is the “Recommended” filter on the Sales Page. Just select it from the FILTER drop down and it will limit the horses you see to Productive and better for racers, and Star/Blue Hen for broodmares. That works for horses being sold by other players, as well as the game (aka Alexandra Jaysman. You can filter game sold horses by selecting “game owned” from the TYPE drop down).

This is also a game of patience (or so I’ve been told 1973739193637x lol), you will be in the right place to get the spoils at some point. Chin up!

[Carole Hanson]

What Rochelle said is very good advice. I would also add that it’s down to individual players when it comes to setting up auctions and sales and I don’t think that this should be restricted personally but others might agree with your view point.

As for the patience thing, I’m afraid it really is luck in this game. It took me over 15 SIM years to get a champion horse and honestly I think it’s easier these days anyway, there’s so many tools to help you out. I got mine through sheer luck, a formidable mare who didn’t even earn $10k turned out to be a blue hen producer, and I almost sold her!

As frustrating as the whole patience thing is, I promise it will work out eventually, but yea I totally understand your frustration. I think we all went through it at some point as newbies.

[Peter Quill]

Thanks thanks for your feedback Rochelle & Carole,

I definitely didn't want to come across as a whinger or anything like that! Hopefully the owners can put up a few more auctions for us newbies instead of just a flash sale so to speak. The sale you have a look and don't even see what went up for sale, they are gone before you see them. I just thought an auction might make it a little exciting as well for the newbies, we don't seem to get much of a go from what I have seen at the usual auctions

Just a thought anyway and thanks again for the feedback, I'll keep my eye out!

[Regina Moore]

One thing is really peeing me off now though.

Use your pee as fuel for determination. I'm serious. That's my blanket advice for SIM and everything else in life. Annoyance and outright anger can be a great motivator, when used to fuel something you really, really want to accomplish.

[Laura Smith]

Echoing what others have said, particularly Rochelle re: the new player sales page.

One thing I'd like to add: don't get too hung up on the gallop level of horses that are advertised for sale. Being an "allowance" or even a "stakes" level galloper does not automatically mean that horse will be competitive or even profitable, depending on breed, division, age, or time since last gallop -- for all you know, the horse might have not been galloped since its yearling year, and if it's now eight, its ability might have changed drastically in the meantime.
On the other side of the coin, horses with lower gallop ratings can be excellent money earners if you set your expectations at the right level AND place them properly.
I bought this productive galloper for $5k. She's made fifty grand since.
Even better, here's a solid galloper who's only been off the board once in nine starts, has tripled my initial investment, and more to the point, is fun to race! Which is the whole point, right?

I think it's really important for new players to focus on and learn about race placement and be opportunistic early on. Use the hell out of that new player sales page while you can. And while it's true that many giveaways, sales and other opportunities are first-come-first-serve and presented in chat or on the forum, it's not like it's impossible to succeed without these opportunities. Lots of successful players aren't very active socially -- but that being said, this is a highly social game, and I've always found that the more I socialize, the more enjoyable it is.

Good luck!

[Brandon Schultz]

Hey there. Fellow Newbie just offering my two-cents. The advice you have already received is really good but and I wanted to just pass on my own experience. In my opinion, those advertisements for (often overpriced) allowance horses are not the best bang for your buck type horses for a new player anyways... Lots of times those allowance horses are underperforming or getting toward the end of their career. Here is where I have found the best deals on horses...

1. First, you need to know that you should ALWAYS use the recommended tab. As a new player, you have a huge advantage with that tab. It could be a free/gift horse, an auction horse, a game owned horse (AJ), a random sale page horse... whatever you buy or think about buying, check the quality with the recommend tab. With that being said, don't just assume that a gallop comment makes the horse good or bad. Use your best judgment and know that some cheap reliable solids can outperform an expensive but inconsistent allowance horse especially with good race placement.

2. Auctions. I have about 15 allowance yearlings in my barn and I paid a grand total of about $15,000 for all 15. That is about $1000 per allowance yearling. How? I used the recommended tab, bid on a ton of horses with low bids (less than $2000) and hoped for the best. Although auctions can be a bit of a mixed bag on what you are going to get, if you use the recommended tab you already know that you are at least getting a productive horse so you have a huge advantage over the rest of the players. The best strategy that has worked for me on getting cheap auction horses is to find large auctions where good horses might go unnoticed, bid early on a lot of animals, set a maximum price I feel comfortable with, and hope for the best.

3. Alexsandra Jaysman (AJ) horses on the New Players sales page. When players "leave" the game, their horses all hit the market at a flat rate of $5000 per horse. This can be a steal of a deal on a horse that is still in its prime. I make it a point of swinging by the new player sales page every day. I sort by owner, look for AJ owned horses, and check to see if any of the offerings have that green price tag that indicates they are newly for sale. If you see a horse you might like, look to see if it was "given" to AJ or if it was acquired by AJ because the player left. The horses given to AJ may or may not be what you are looking for but the ones acquired by AJ can be great deals from my experience. Using this method I've found a steward-bred foal (that sold at auction for $300k, I now own it for $5k, that's quite the deal), 2 stakes horses that are still in their prime, 10+ allowance horses, and 4 star mares that are the bulk of my breeding operation for this year. It's almost unfair how much of an advantage us new players have when it comes to AJ horses, so make sure you take advantage of that while you still can.

4. Gift Horses. If you are social on the chat, especially on bigger race nights, veteran players will give you gift horses. I have mixed feelings about these gift horses... especially because there are players at trial park that own 10+ stakes horses they got as gifts and therefore dominate stakes races which might be a bit unfair.... but I also have benefited from the generosity of others so I can't complain too much. Either way, if you are social on chat, you are pretty much guaranteed to get some good advice at the least and some good horses at best. Plus we have fun on chat so check it out!

5. My final piece of advice for quick profits is to find an underperforming maiden that can make a splash at Trial Park. I don't want to brag, but I can confidently say that I have been one of the best at this at trial park this year. I rank #4 on the new/junior player rankings page when sorted by the number of maiden wins and I have significantly less starts than any other leader. How have I done this? I look for promising maidens. Specifically, I like horses that have consistently run well (in the money) in multiple starts. Also, use the search feature and look for races that are unfilled. A maiden in a three horse field not only has a better chance of winning the race, but even if he/she runs poorly they will make a decent amount of money and help you build a bankroll early.

Best of luck!

[Gwayne's World]

One thing is really peeing me off now though.

Use your pee as fuel for determination. I'm serious. That's my blanket advice for SIM and everything else in life. Annoyance and outright anger can be a great motivator, when used to fuel something you really, really want to accomplish.

No participation trophies here!

[Dusty Glenn]

Hi Pete - It's a tough Sim! The one thing I can share with you is this: Read everything Regina Moore has written. I was about broke when I decided that I had to do something different, and my search lead to her writings. Here is a link to her articles -Wish I had read them, and digested the information in them, before I bought my 2nd horse. Good Luck - but it goes way past luck - there is a lot of skill involved also - and it takes a ton of patience. https://www.simhorseracing.com/featurer ... pleID=5100 Of course, one needs to read everything the Steward has written also!