The (Partly) Defeated Purpose of Trial Park

[Sy Razi]

I was going to post this as an article but I'd like to hear what others think about the matter so I'm posting here instead.

I think Trial Park is a fantastic and necessary idea. Without it, it would be really difficult for new players to get a foothold in the game and build a stable. But I think the way established players interact with new players has turned trial park into a flawed concept.

Here's an example. In recent weeks I noticed one new player doing extremely well in TP races they entered. With almost all of their horses on the board, and many winning. I did a search and saw they've been given almost 50 horses by two long-time players who help them as mentors. The two players are elite breeders (and lovely people from what I've heard), so even their leftover horses are expected to do really well in Trial Park. Now I'm certain this is done with the kindest of intentions. There's no doubt or argument about that. But what it essentially does is picking and helping one new player at the expense of seriously limiting the potential of others to earn money in their limited time of Trial Park eligibility.

This is not the only case of course, and I know there are absolutely no rules broken here. My point is whether the spirit of Trial Park is being fulfilled. I think we're halfway to a point where there are essentially two divisions of new players. Those with a large number of gift or leased horses of high quality and a lower division of players who go the traditional path of claiming and buying and who need to hope they can find races where the first group don't enter to earn some money.

This is not really a personal gripe. I have accepted my fair share of gift horses from the ones that have been offered on the forum, and I have a fairly large stable so I still earn enough money to get by. But I think turning Trial Park into a game of who's received the higher number of gifts defeats its purpose. It encourages new players to spend their time looking for handouts rather than learning the game, and it demoralizes those who are actually trying to learn by doing. Especially the ones with modestly sized stables. And I accept the fact that not everybody will agree and some might think I'm being salty about others winning.

Nonetheless, I'd love to hear what everybody else thinks.

[Mark Mclaughlin]

Not an issue to me, just another case in life of the haves and have nots. I just recently made it to Advanced Player with no hand holding or outside help although it was not my first attempt. I gave this site a swing and a miss many years ago. Interested to know any solution you have.

[The Steward]

This is a longstanding "tradition" of sorts - finding and befriending an experienced player. It goes way back to the Eric Nalbone of Year 12 days when he was handing out what would be stakes and freak level gallops like candy to New Players, who cleaned up at Trial Park. The rules were pretty simple - be communicative and not a jerk. I'm simplifying it, but as you said, it is something some people love (yay free nice horses!) and something some people hate (introverts don't prefer to reach out to players, I GET THIS VERY MUCH). But at this point it's just kind of the way things are for now.

[Sy Razi]

To be clear, I'm not asking for a rule change. And I'm sure veteran players who give out horses are genuinely doing it to help new players. What I'm asking is for people to consider the fact that gifting an entire stable of runners to a player means Trial Park is not the level playing field it was intended for new players. This has ripple effects. Most new players (who are actually interested in the game and are spending time on it) will have a difficult time building a money base, hence a hard time building a breeding operation and will be playing catch up for possibly years, and it may discourage people greatly.

I personally prefer to see new players helped by offering horses on the forum, which will also make them engaged in the forum, and by giving them tips and pointers. I have befriended a few veterans and they have offered valuable advice for which I'm very grateful.

Again, I know it's not something that can be "legislated". Just Giving people a friendly heads-up on the ramifications of the practice from the point of view of a new player.

[Durzo Blint]

I 100% agree with you Sy!

When I started there were new players who were gifted a lot of great horses while I was not. I inquired on forums about a mentor, etc., but was mostly met with crickets. Now there are definitely players that have helped me out immensely via advice, stud fees, stallions, etc. (and thank you very very much to those players!!), but by that time, I was pretty much out of Trial Park and battling against the best players in the sim and I was met with little, to no, success.

Here are my stats for the first 4 sim years I played:

54 353 : 42-53-59 Win-11.9% OTB-43.6% $1,242,805
53 232 : 21-26-30 Win-9.1% OTB-33.2% $558,545
52 162 : 22-25-15 Win-13.6% OTB-38.3% $403,150
51 77 : 14-8-7 Win-18.2% OTB-37.7% $318,650

If it was definitely discouraging and put me behind the proverbial 8-ball, or at least that is how I felt. To be honest, my numbers are not much better today, so perhaps I am just not great at the game, but I do find it incredibly enjoyable now and feel like I'm at least out of that hole that I thought I was put in as a result of the other new players taking all the Trial Park winnings.

With that said, new players ask me for horses via PMs and I usually try to provide a handful at most to the new players and try my best to help when and where I can, even though I know I can, and should, be better at that.

If we were trying to brainstorm ideas here though, there could be a "repository" where veteran players put up horses for lease or sale to new players (can be free or minimal cost) and new players can only lease/purchase so many from the "repository" to try and keep it from having one player get 100 stakes runners from a few established player. Or at the very least, some kind of limit new players have on accepting horses via PMs or Private Sales from one person? I do think it can damage a lot of new players' experience that a solution is worth exploring.

If it was not for my brother playing this game, I doubt I would have continued (he was not allowed to gift or sell me horses), so even though his advice was very valuable, it was still very much a struggle in and out of Trial Park.

[Anthony Zappulla]

The starting money new players start with could be raised maybe? Then they wouldn't need as much help either

[Cleo Patra]

The starting money new players start with could be raised maybe? Then they wouldn't need as much help either

I think maybe a 1 month bonus (maybe another 100k?) followed by a graduation bonus of 250k when you leave trial park and then another graduation bonus when you leave junior high.

I would also urge ANY player to ask politely for assistance on the forum for anything you’re having trouble with. There’s a lot of veteran players who will step up for money, horses or advice

[Ronnie Dee]

I regularly "give away" TBs and post links on the Forum. Here is a link to the one done in March --
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=56086&p=465528&hil ... ay#p465528

Usually, the fillies with the best pedigrees sell quite fast. As you might expect, the top 2 new players purchased the most horses from this sale. My records indicate that 24 Productive Peak colts went unsold after the sale completed (10 days). While Productive Peak colts that are totally fit may not be well suited for open non-claiming races, these horses frequently earn checks at Trial Park. Old Silhouette is the lone horse acquired in this "give away" by Sy Razi.

Here is a list of the unsold 24 Productive colts.
Name Type Gallop Fitness Improve Heart
60 Free Love (KY) b.c.4 Productive Fully Fit Peak Interested
60 Highlights (FL) dkb.c.4 Productive Fully Fit Peak Interested
60 How Many Nights (GBR) gr.c.4 Productive Fully Fit Peak Timid
60 Juniper Is Brown (GBR) b.c.4 Productive Fully Fit Peak Interested
60 Lea Magic (FL) dkb.c.4 Productive Fully Fit Peak Timid
60 Lovely Rita (TX) ch.c.4 Productive Fully Fit Peak Timid
60 Passage to Indiana (FL) dkb.c.4 Productive Fully Fit Peak Brave
60 Riders Approaching (IRE) ch.c.4 Productive Fully Fit Peak Interested
60 Shadow of Myself (FL) dkb.c.4 Productive Fully Fit Peak Brave
60 Tianu (AUS) b.c.4 Productive Fully Fit Peak Timid
60 Whip Salute (AR) ch.c.4 Productive Fully Fit Peak Brave
61 Halloween Horse (MD) bl.c.3 Productive Fully Fit Peak Brave
61 Once I Had a Love (NY) bl.c.3 Productive Fully Fit Peak Timid
62 Crazy On You (FL) dkb.c.2 Productive Fully Fit Peak Interested
62 Rain Dance Maggie (FL) ch.c.2 Productive Fully Fit Peak Brave
62 Sunny Skies (MO) ch.c.2 Productive Fully Fit Peak Timid
62 There's Only Me (KY) b.c.2 Productive Fully Fit Peak Brave
Horse 63926560432 (FL) gr.c.4 Productive Fully Fit Peak Brave
Horse 64073153484 (FL) bl.c.4 Productive Fully Fit Peak Brave
Horse 64073199826 (SC) gr.c.4 Productive Fully Fit Peak Brave
Horse 64073332664 (KY) gr.c.4 Productive Fully Fit Peak Brave
Horse 64073359175 (AZ) bl.c.4 Productive Fully Fit Peak Interested
Horse 64073444932 (KY) ro.c.4 Productive Fully Fit Peak Interested
Horse 64073643681 (LA) bl.c.4 Productive Fully Fit Peak Timid

[Sy Razi]

Old Silhouette [/url] is the lone horse acquired in this "give away" by Sy Razi.

Hey Ronnie,

I might have misunderstood the point you're making. But if it is what I think I will argue a few points:

- I need to reiterate that I'm not unhappy about my own earnings. I have a relatively sizable stable and that way I've made enough money to get off the ground for future seasons hopefully and that's enough for me. But for new players who don't spend as much time as me and will need to keep their racing stable below 100 horses, It's essential that Trial Park stays on a level playing field. Active players like Raul (who thought my post is about him, but it isn't) will still earn more because they're active and that's fine. It's nice that you offered your horses to everyone cheap, that's the ideal way to help new players. My point is about the instances I mentioned where a big number of very good horses are given to one or a few players, seriously restricting the chance for other new players to earn in TP. All I'm asking is for veterans to consider that fact when deciding how to help new players.

- The sale you mentioned was in the preseason I believe. I didn't really understand the game or start expanding my racing stable until the season started. Although, even if I had consciously avoided buying a lot of horses in that sale, I don't know what that would prove regarding my original point. If you disagree with my point I'm very happy to hear it but bringing up my purchase history isn't really an argument, it just signals unnecessary tension.

[Ronnie Dee]

...
- The sale you mentioned was in the preseason I believe. I didn't really understand the game or start expanding my racing stable until the season started...

After gallop changes (Week 9 Day 1), I will likely do another "give away". As always, only race age horses (no yearlings) that are Peak and Fully Fit will be offered and this will be opened to all players. Personally, I think the Productive 4Y0 colts are the best acquisitions for new players as they can be raced at Trial Park and then sent to Greener Pastures for free at any time after they become 5YOs.

After rereading your original post, I think that I have a better understanding of your point. When I was a new player, Eric Nalbone rewarded new players for their performances at Trial Park (I think the program was called "Dare to Dream"). Since the reward was limited to 2 horses per new player, pretty much every new player ended up with 2 good horses. I think I received 1 of my 2 reward horses because I finished 3rd in some designated rewards race as the owners of the top 2 horses had already received their 2 horse rewards. I think the point of this program was to distribute 2 good horses to each new player in a way that they felt that they earned their reward.

[John Smith]

I was an shameless beggar.

Now turned shameless promoter.

I agree it is about getting out there and mixing it up with SIMsters but also know this isn't for everyone. I am uncertain if the goal is/was to give a bunch of money to new players so they can be on par with SIMsters that have been on for years IRL but rather to provide time and space for the multitude of mistakes one may make, like me, with injuries or misplacements or just learning timing of entering horses and developing a flow.

If something looks "suspect" like someone loading up newbies in what may be a "fake," account, that is a legitimate gripe and I am sure the steward will look into it - I am not sure if you were here when the "Talavera Papers," came out - but that seemed to be a big operation and investigation for the steward.

Anyway, it can be frustrating... I remember being and still am frustrated by having too many horses that all started when I was at TP trying to fill unfilled races for checks!

I also liked the sponsored races by vets while I was there. So I put one up. I also put a stipulation of no leased horses for the siring at least - I can't really control the purse money awarded. I just figure leased horses go away from trial park. I don't really see the use of leasing horses that can only run competitively at trial park.

Anyway, my 2 cents - good luck making it through TP and Jr High -
Semi-Pro tip - go beg for stud fee rebates, lowers breeding costs a TON, like winning multiple races at TP in one ask!

[Jon Xett]

When I have a horse that I feel would benefit a new player, I really enjoy placing the animal on the New Player Page only for a minimal amount ($41, $141). It is fun for me because the horse is out there for anyone to select. I try to put older geldings with some ability (hint: they are not freaks but they are not claimers/solids as a general rule) on the New Player pages along with a rarer still useful filly/mare. It is fun for me to see a new player, finally recognize this option and begin to buy these horses BUT it is even more fun to see them jump up and earn checks for the new player after floundering in my barn from trainer neglect (not racing).

I always wondered why there was not an auction toggle for (NEW and TRIAL players only).

[Kelly Haggerty]

Longstanding problem. People give horses to the players that come into chat or post on the forum, or that are doing well enough that vets are confident that they won't just waste the horse.

[LA Pepper]

...


When I was a new player, Eric Nalbone rewarded new players for their performances at Trial Park (I think the program was called "Dare to Dream"). Since the reward was limited to 2 horses per new player, pretty much every new player ended up with 2 good horses. I think I received 1 of my 2 reward horses because I finished 3rd in some designated rewards race as the owners of the top 2 horses had already received their 2 horse rewards. I think the point of this program was to distribute 2 good horses to each new player in a way that they felt that they earned their reward.

The Dare To Dream program was extraordinarily charitable . However, the new player had to win a race in order to get one of those donated horses and the p layers that won were mostly running horses lent to them by successful players and sometimes only temporarily until a horse was won, so it also carried the cloud of unfairness that is being discussed here.

[LA Pepper]

somehow the quotes got mixed up in my post - my apologies to Ronnie Dee. that last was not his words.