Attn: Karl Babin

Friedrich Barbarossa · Post by **Friedrich Barbarossa** » 17 years ago

--"But as a game like this grows, it does make it very hard for new players to come in and get a toe hold when all the prices on horses have been driven up due to everyone having a lot more money and older players have a bigger better selection of horses to put even into the smaller allowance races where a newbie might be racing their horses."

I'm not sure that I agree with this Stormy, although it should be said that I probably wouldn't know because it's been some time since I paid more than 10k for a horse. The newb sales page has been pretty huge for me and if we didn't have one my stable would probably be 1/4 of what it is now. I feel like I have a pretty decent toe hold now but most of my stable is pretty young so if they all finish up the track consistently I might be singing a different tune by the end of this season. B) In any case, for me, price inflation hasn't been an issue at all.

Note, that hasn't really made it any easier to actually win races (so far this year I'm 13 : 2 - 0 - 2 and my CAH is responsible for 1 of the wins and 1 of the shows), but it has made it easier to build a small little stable of mostly young projects that I can spend some time experimenting with over the next couple seasons.

Eric Nalbone · Post by **Eric Nalbone** » 17 years ago

Stormy Peak wrote: As far as how 'easy' it is... I'm sure that when this game was new there were no huge stables that could afford to buy million dollar yearlings left and right and breed and race. It was a more even playing ground back then.

But as a game like this grows, it does make it very hard for new players to come in and get a toe hold when all the prices on horses have been driven up due to everyone having a lot more money and older players have a bigger better selection of horses to put even into the smaller allowance races where a newbie might be racing their horses.

Don't even get started. You have no idea how expansive and powerful Robin Tan's stable was, or Jess Paquette. Myself, Laura Ferguson, Daryl, and Dave don't BEGIN to measure up to what Robin Tan, Jon Xett (at his height) and Jess Paquette managed.

Bankrolls for top players were up above $100,000,000, and their stables were so expansive that it would be completely normal to see a horse that could be a G1 stakes winner cruising around in allownace races, simply because it was a little less talented than its stablemate. Trial Park didn't exist, and claiming races were much less prolific than they are now. As the game has progressed, it has become necessary to make it more accessible to new players in order to facilitate growth; it gets boring to race the same 10 people every single race and new players are necessary for the continued expansion of the game. By just about any standards, things are easier now than they used to be.

That said, the odd spot in the whole process was the SIM's several-year hiatus. When the SIM came back, we all were able to keep 10 horses from our old stables. The rest were distributed rather cheaply through the sales page. Players like Laura Ferguson, myself, Daryl, etc. benefitted from this, simply because once we picked our 10 best horses, there weren't a LOT of horses that we had to give up. Players like Jon and Robin, meanwhile, were hit HARD, since they were only able to keep 10 of their hundreds of unbelievably talented horses. Moving forward, we also had a very good idea of what we were looking to buy from this reallocation of horses through the sale page, so that gave us an edge. Pretty much all the effects of that seem to have played themselves out at this point; stud fees are back to where they should be, stakes winners are once again multi-million-dollar commodities, and sales page horses look like we're used to seeing sales page horses look.

S.C. Burns · Post by **S.C. Burns** » 17 years ago

Aha, and here we go with the SIM's favorite debate: who has it easiest?

C'mon...y'all may as well start saying that, "Back in OUR day, you had to WALK to Em's house to enter your horses...uphill BOTH WAYS...in the SNOW! We didn't have trailers in those days, so it took 3 weeks to ship to Dubai...and it was uphill both ways! IN THE SNOW!"

Here's some points:

1. Newbies don't need a barrage of in-game messages. We've all got nagging moms at home, we don't need another one on our stable page.

2. Only message a newbie once, and keep it nice since (as far as I can tell) all of us have an IQ above 80.

3. Older players are a great resource. By and large, we're all grateful that you're so helpful.

4. Getting grumpy because newbies don't always want your advice is just silly.

And finally...

5. Being a new player in this game sucks, whether you were new in year 13, or are new in year 18.

Post by **The Steward** » 17 years ago

S.C. Burns wrote: C'mon...y'all may as well start saying that, "Back in OUR day, you had to WALK to Em's house to enter your horses...uphill BOTH WAYS...in the SNOW! We didn't have trailers in those days, so it took 3 weeks to ship to Dubai...and it was uphill both ways! IN THE SNOW!"

5. Being a new player in this game sucks, whether you were new in year 13, or are new in year 18.

The first thing made me laugh like a looney thing, but then the 2nd thing made me sad.

Jolene Danner · Post by **Jolene Danner** » 17 years ago

I entered my horses at Em's HOUSE!! She told me that was a boring thing to do. LOL

I am now sad that i'm not there still...

S.C. Burns · Post by **S.C. Burns** » 17 years ago

Haha, awww.

Don't take it that way! I just meant that it's HARD. This isn't an easy game...and until you figure out how to do things, you hit a lot of walls.

If you're like me, you STILL hit giant, very visible walls (walls that could only be more visible if they were on fire, honestly), because you're too busy with school to remember to ship your horses.

Or, ha, to remember that colt X is a turf boy...and doesn't like dirt. Yeah, oops.

And, really, it should say something about the success of the older players that racing against them is so intimidating and hard. I'll be honest, if I see Nalbone, Singhi, and Ferguson in a race, I'll usually scratch my entry. That's a huge vote of respect, guys. Good work!

Ara Davies · Post by **Ara Davies** » 17 years ago

The Steward wrote:
S.C. Burns wrote: C'mon...y'all may as well start saying that, "Back in OUR day, you had to WALK to Em's house to enter your horses...uphill BOTH WAYS...in the SNOW! We didn't have trailers in those days, so it took 3 weeks to ship to Dubai...and it was uphill both ways! IN THE SNOW!"

5. Being a new player in this game sucks, whether you were new in year 13, or are new in year 18.
The first thing made me laugh like a looney thing, but then the 2nd thing made me sad.

I didn't think things sucked when I was a new player, Em!

Scott Eiland · Post by **Scott Eiland** » 17 years ago

S.C. Burns wrote:
5. Being a new player in this game sucks, whether you were new in year 13, or are new in year 18.

S.C. I know you don't mean that as boldy as you stated, but OMG i think you're missing a big point:

Sure, it's hard to start out, because $100,000 basically purchases you everyone's leftovers. You have to scratch around, take lumps, have weeks with little in the way of wins, and you get to watch the powerhouses get stronger.

But I think that's part of what makes the game great. It's difficult, it forces you to be vigilant to compete, and when you have your first big winner it's a massive rush.

The key is "WHEN". The smartest rookies (hehe am I one of those? ha!) are the ones who figure out ways to build income and learn from those who are successful. It takes time, but that's a GOOD thing, not a bad one.

So hang in there! It'll happen

Kelse Mccann · Post by **Kelse Mccann** » 17 years ago

S.C. Burns wrote: 5. Being a new player in this game sucks, whether you were new in year 13, or are new in year 18.

It only sucks when your ignorant, like me, and dont ask for help, i didnt even know about the new player bonuses, money and CAH, you get until somone told me on the TBC forum, my fault really, i went about randomly spending ran out of money basicly everything that could go wrong went wrong, but then i went on to the forum and got advice and it made it so much more easier, if it wasnt for you guys, i would be screwed, much love guys <3

Murray McNickle · Post by **Murray McNickle** » 17 years ago

It's obvious that the game will mean more or less to different people.
For those of us new players who are interested in how things work, we will take the time to ask questions, look through the forums, pm a veteran.
For others that might not share that same interest for one reason or another, there decisions will ultimately determine if they start reading there pm's, browsing the forums, study some of the other succesful trainers and see what it is that they are doing differently, if not, there failures will usher them out of the game.

With that said, I don't mind pm's, I don't take them personally.
If there were to be reminders like a software program with tool-tips that popped up for new players about rest between races and what-not, it would negate the effort I made to find out for myself.

I'm quite sure this game is meant to be as challenging as it can be.
Let them make there mistakes (I make plenty!) it's almost like another level of "crisis" for the game.

We put forth the effort now as new players so that when the time comes and we end up with our own Del Mar's we will hopefully have the aptitude to train a champion.

now with that out of the way, can someone make me a "running lines translator"?

S.C. Burns · Post by **S.C. Burns** » 17 years ago

randall_graves wrote:
S.C. Burns wrote:
5. Being a new player in this game sucks, whether you were new in year 13, or are new in year 18.
S.C. I know you don't mean that as boldy as you stated, but OMG i think you're missing a big point

Okey dokey. I'm going to try and assume that your post wasn't meant to be condescending and just say this...

I haven't missed your huge point. If I had, I would think that this game is no fun, and I wouldn't play it anymore, right? But I am still playing it, which means that I must think it is fun, and a challenge. So, the very fact that I still play must mean that on some level, I understood your point before you even stated it. Follow me?

Besides, the bolded statement was more my attempt at addressing the fact that some older players like to talk about how hard it was when they started, and some newer players like to ignore all of the relative luxuries they now have. If one wanted to rephrase my statement, you could say this: The SIM is hard, was hard, and will be hard for all new players. Everyone is challenged, everyone struggles.

Now, honestly, I'm not going to clarify that statement any more. Twice is enough.

Charles Bunbury · Post by **Charles Bunbury** » 17 years ago

Think of the game (yes it's a game) as a five year strategy rather than 5 minutes of crash, bang, wallop and WIN.

Michelle Calderoni · Post by **Michelle Calderoni** » 17 years ago

S.C. Burns wrote: 5. Being a new player in this game sucks, whether you were new in year 13, or are new in year 18.

I'll agree that it is a tough going being a new player, and even I pine over the horses in Eric's Daryl, Dave, Laura, Brianna, Jon, etc stables. But It took even longer when I joined to get it together. BUT I don't think it sucks..

I joined end of Y16, before Trail Park and I never got New Player Status. I took me until mid way through Y17 to get my first win. My 2yo crop was terrible, maybe one broke their maiden, and I mismanaged about four of them. The only thing that saved me was my CAH, Morning Cascade, and Status Symbol the forgotten auction horse I picked up for way cheap.

Y18 is the first year I'd say is a good year. The first three weeks of this year,however, wanna know how much I earned? $22,800, $28,300, and $18,000. For a mid seasoned player, thats not to good looking.

When I was tossing my 2yos all over the place, I would have loved for a veteran player to message me about what I was doing wrong. The Veteran players are awesome, and while you need to mismanage sometimes to learn a lesson, getting made aware of your mistakes can be just as good.

Sara Kendall · Post by **Sara Kendall** » 17 years ago

I will say this to the new players. There are a few veterans in the game that are STILL struggling with thier horses. And yes, I will be the first to say that I am one of them! To the newbies....keep your heads up and keep plugging away!!

Martin Pennington · Post by **Martin Pennington** » 17 years ago

Give advice but don't go OTT on it, none of this "I can't believe they're doing that" it's so patronising and at the end of the day it's only a game and if new players are going to keep playing a friendly word is what is needed and not reems and reems of why it should or shouldn't run.