Survey results part two

I asked each person that participated in the survey to add one thing that they would like to see changed or improved. Some stables didnt answer, some added comments on each of the individual questions which i couldnt even begin to coalate into this part so i have included only those that made a comment at the end of the survey. I have removed any reference to individual stables, not because i enjoy and support the direction that HRP have gone with the forums but because i didnt want this survey to be about any indivdual but the game as a whole. I have copied and pasted the comments so please understand that English isnt the first language of some of the players.
Finally i have added titles to try and make it easier to read. These are quite broad and you may not feel your comment is relevant to the heading but i tried to make it as accurate as possible without having too many titles.

Support

• Provide a better, more transparent method of communication and eliminate the necessity to be a forum troll to find out anything.
• Charges– on Private Sales and Scratched horses , just total greed on the sites part.
• The one thing I’d like to see is a notes section at the bottom of the stable page.
• The one thing that would enhance the game for me is for HRP to participate and communicate with the community about so many issues we have with the game,rather than sitting back and counting their money while we the paying customers become so frustrated that we fight amongst ourselves.Many of us spend plenty of money here so I feel HRP should at least pretend to care about the communities concerns.December is usually a slow month at HRP.I bet if all of us players decided that for the entire month of December we would only race at free tracks,not create or sell horses or do any form of spending and in doing so deny HRP any revenue for an entire month,then i’m sure we would get HRP’s attention!!! Of course that’s a pipe dream as there are too many different personalities in the HRP community  to convince.It would be like trying to herd cats
• annual sales for yearlings, in Nov December,
• They need to invest in a racing secretary that will actual write a race schedule that would best represent the horses in the game.
• Bring back the thing where we get 3 vouchers every month when our stable renews even if it increases the monthly renewal fee
• One thing I really feel could assist the game in growth and player retention is giving new players some credits ($25 or $50) to buy a few and enter them.  When I was a new player I lit the first $100 on fire buying garbage horses, farms and entering my horses way over their heads.  I think if they weren’t burning their own money right off the bat new players would be more inclined to stick with the game and figure some things out for free.  Also maybe I had poor luck but the Autogen horses I started with couldn’t have been worse, the game needs to give newbies a reason to get excited so they don’t flame out and leave within a few months.
• For the owners of the game to show the enthusiasm for the game that they once had.  Remember when you bought a new car, or similar? You love it, you’re excited about it, you show it off, etc etc.  Then it gets old.  Then it gets less exciting.  I believe the owners of the game lost the “new car” feeling, and that for them, now (and I began to notice this in 2014), it’s completely about running a business, and less enthusiasm about the sport.

Race dynamics

• More variety in the way races run.  You can always expect the outer post front runners that generally weaken.  Every race shouldn’t look so similar.
• Horses running to their instructions so that a horse set to below average does not lead a race because others are set to horse lead.
• To enhance my experience of the game, make it more about works/races/horses and not about the post/jockey/draw/over e tries and rabbit running.  Spreading the wealth around with breed enthusiasm, deposits and more players coming, staying and investing.
• Outside posts should be at a bit of a disadvantage at route distances,  but when the 4 or 5 horse in a 4 or 5 horse race is forced to the front every time, it’s ridiculous,  especially at Sprint distances.
• The jockey system needs revamped. Take a look at the LS 2017 meet results for the jocks. The leading rider won at a 46% clip over 322 races run. He was the only 10% rider there. 46% with 322 rides is VERY unrealistic in any country of horse racing.
• Tough to pick one thing but my biggest gripe is with the jockeys. Between the seemingll senseless decisions they make and the fact that if you do not get one of the top 3 an the mid and lower tracks you have no chance.
•  jockeys at each track should be more equal in ability. i am sure this would help the class structure as well as make racing more enjoyable.
• I’d love to see what instructions were used in the race results.
  Just another tool we could use in our constant struggle to keep up.
• Fix the issue with the PP, jockey, and instructions overriding horse ability in determining race outcomes to the degree it does now.
• My main gripe with the whole race set up is the jokes don’t follow instructions and the ‘push’ from a wide post cannot be negated..On the breeding side ‘blood’ should be dominant. A well bred horse that does well on track does so because of it’s breeding. A commonly bred horse if it does well on track does so in spite of it’s breeding. The first example should pass on it’s excellence. The second should not.
• Instructions that work  consistently better

Training

• More emphasis on preparation, including make travel count, keep lower class horses in one state, and have meet titles only count a win if horse was bred there
• A way to change track conditions when training to gauge a horses ability on those conditions. Also winning the TC, yea!!!
• FAIRNESS (based on REALISM), starting with removing meet titles. Followed up with making a 1000 horse pay higher stable fees than a 200 horse stable who pays more than a 50 horse stable
• Eliminating the coast to coast transit from race to race without some kind of penalty. In RL a 5k claimer would not run west coast one month, east coast the next and back to west coast again for a 3rd race.
• A more level playing field, with equal competition by many , especially in high level races
• Restrictions on stable size and breeding amounts will advance the game for all players to enjoy instead of just the mega stables who have over 500 hundred horses and breed 200+ a year.
• More skill!!!!
• More insight into how and why horses run well or struggle… When you only guess at interpretations of multiple random factors it is NOT a game of skill. When your horse gets beaten in a $50 allowance by half a length, and then gets beaten by half a length in a $12 climber , it makes no sense and there is nothing to indicate issues.
• Being able to read more into your horse (see answer to #8). it doesn’t have to be blatantly out there for all to see but if you are willing to put in a bit of effort …
• I do wish that there was a training manual for new players and ones that suck at training like me.

Purse and races

• I would like to see horses running 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in races be rewarded for doing so. Class structure suffers most because of purse structure in my opinion.
• I think international racing would be fantastic (2 day ship) and everyone would get a kick out of it…Certainly all the classics in the anglosphere, and the Arc…
• Make the game more enjoyable:  Lower entry fees in relation to payouts.  Used to be that you could enter a horse into a graded stake to test him, finish 3rd and get a good chunk of your money back.  So you would do it again.  Now if you don’t win or second, most of us don’t do it again.
• I would like quarter horse racing
• ROI is terrible, purses need to be enhanced.
• lower nomination fees but higher breeding costs
• A reversed nomination system. I would like to be able to pick a race and press a button to see which of my horses are eligible for that race. And then have a button next to each horse for nominating it.

Horse ability

• I believe every horse that is purchased should be good enough to race.
• First time blinkers or first time lasix should have a bigger impact than it does now. I’d like to see first time blinkers give the possibility of making a horse a huge runaway on the front, as sometimes it does in real life.Same for Lasix.
• A bit more predictability in what a horse can and may achieve
•  Lower entry fees. Answer this for me? Why are cheap claimers as fast as stakes horses? Why isn’t there any (little if any) deviation between the two?
• Every horse is made to look the same I am sick of morning glories that flood the game and the majority of my stable for the past 4 seasons I said it 1000 times I have yet to see a certain stables horses run close to their works. I am fed up how one player has cornered every aspect of this game limits to how many stallions can be put in the public shed at any one time maximum 2 would be a start or 3 stallions with a maximum of 10 spots per stallion same with mares for lease there should be some kind of restriction max 10 per quarter per trainer. I also think a limit to what a stable can buy and sell in a season I did think a limit to money but trainers would sell horses for 10 bucks then do the deal through pay pal. Perhaps a stable can only buy a maximum of 25 horses in any given quarter and on the same hand a stable can only sell 25 per quarter. Now the trainers that say they are leaving well they can if that’s their intention but there entire stable can go into a separate auction there and then for 21 days every horse starting at a buck what is not sold gets shot and the trainer cannot play then for 6 months after the auction as finished.
• For me a better defined class system

Consistency.

•  more gradual performance curve…and a totally revamped, realistic breeding program. too many newbies are getting fleeced by the big stables in regards to bloodlines.
• Make development and spread of ability realistic. The similarity of horses kills the game. Makes people believe it’s all luck because they can lose based on a random draw or not being in the right position.
• I’d like to see things like a claiming series that could get everyone involved . For example … A 3 race sprint series  5 , 5 1/2 , 6 f.   Claiming 5$ that are non winners of 20$ lifetime. Your horse earns points depending on their performance in the 3 events. Top 10 point earners earn a spot in the finals.
• 50% of the purses from the 3 events goes into the finals purse creating a nice final race purse. Everyone has 5 claimers so anyone can get involved

Many many thanks to the wonderful HRP community for their time in taking part in this survey. I have been blown away by the responses and sensible and intelligent comments. The one thing that was really obvious to me in hearing from everyone is that every player loves this game. HRP are very lucky to have such loyal players and i hope they take the time to read and assimilate the points you have made and the results of the survey.

Categories: FEATURED STORIES