VIP Account - who is it really for?

Owlient have been testing an addition to the standard Howrse game, amongst some selected players. This new 'VIP Account' is intended aimed at players who have either been playing on Howrse for a long time and/or bought a lot of passes.

The VIP Account is, effectively, an extension of the Pegasus Account. It's designed as a new alternative to the existing version of the game. But it's not cheap.

Here are some of the things you get:

• Create 'official' breeding teams with up to 20 players
• Allow players to make coverings of each other's horses
• Buy horses automatically
• Buy several horses with a single click
• An increased probability of breeding a Unicorn
• The ability to BLUP horses before they are 10 years old
• Preselect the quantity of food to be given to your horses
• Greater customisation of your Profile page
• All the existing perks from the Pegasus Account

Testing of this new facility took place in early October and in mid October, testers where sent a survey to complete, with their feedback on the VIP Account.

So, how much does this 'in-depth' addition to Howrse cost? Well it's priced at a pretty hefty 10 passes per month. That's a considerable investment and effectively increases the sense that playing the game this way is really just a subscription service. 

In recent years, Owlient have greatly simplified and changed the playing experience of Howrse. Three to five years ago, the game was much more about the subtle complexities of breeding horses. 

Now it is a continuous cycle of competitions, challenges and games where players can win shiny prizes, including an ever-expanding range of 'special', wild or divine horses. The subtle parts of the game, have been hugely simplified in order to keep players focused on the 'fun' part - winning things, as opposed to the game-playing part of breeding horses and developing equestrian centres.

This is fine for those players who want instant results and rewards for, well, anything at all! Then there are those players who enjoy the complex and subtle world of BLUP, skilling, training and managing EC finances. And so Owlient have spotted an opportunity - give these players something to get their teeth into .... at a price.

So the choice is yours. If you prefer an 'arcade' style game - pretty, shiny and instant, stick with the existing, free version of the game. However, if you crave a little more depth and challenge to your Howrse experience, then choose the VIP Account. And start saving for your 120 passes a year.

Patsy

Piñatas for starters

Well it's piñata crazy at the moment on Howrse. It seems like hardly a day goes by without a new competition arriving. So, we were wondering what you thought about all these competitions? Do you enjoy them? Or do you think there are just a few too many?

LucyLou and I remember back three or four years ago when Howrse only had about four competitions or promotions each year. Now they seem to happen pretty much constantly.

So another question would be - do you think you would still play the game if there were hardly any competitions?

We'd love to know what you think.

In the meantime, enjoy those piñatas...

Patsy

The Vegetable Garden

The latest contest on Howrse is the Vegetable Garden.

Until 4th July you can plant seeds, grow vegetables and harvest gifts from them in your vegetable patch. The gifts range from aging points, tack and turnips to Nyx Packs, 5th Elements and even the new wind Divine - Skeiron.

You earn seeds by logging on each day and completing various missions around the game. There are currently 7 vegetable patches available for you to grow your seeds in (this will increase later on in the contest).

How do you grow your vegetables?

• Sow your seeds
• Your vegetables grow at your first connection of the day
• You can water your vegetables to increase their growth (at first, once every 8 hours)
• You can earn fertilisers by opening Horns of Plenty to boost your plants' growth
• Once your plant is fully grown, harvest your vegetables and you will earn a random gift from the ones available for that plant

There are 5 types of seeds available:

Tomato seeds

Gifts: Eolus' Wind, Croesus' Fortune, Daphne's Laurels, 1000e, 5000e, Made-to-Measure Saddle, Made-to-Measure Bridle, 10 x Energy Mash, 10 x Caloric Mash, 20 x Turnips

Growth: + 5% at first connection of day, +10% at each watering (uses 12 gallons from your water tank), +30% with fertiliser

Corn seeds

Gifts: Achilles' Heel, Boreas' Lunge, Philotes' Stroke, Golden Spurs, Black Orchid, Pandora's Box, Artemis' Arrow, Plutos' Parchment, 10,000e, 10 x aging points

Growth: + 4% at first connection of day, +8% at each watering (uses 24 gallons from your water tank), +24% with fertiliser

Eggplant seeds

Gifts: Aphrodite's Tears, Fertiliser, Horn of Plenty, Philosopher's Stone, Harmony Pack, Chronos' Timer, Zeus' Lightning Bolt, Fertility Wand, Water of Youth, Helios' Ray

Growth: + 3% at first connection of day, +6% at each watering (uses 36 gallons from your water tank), +18% with fertiliser

Cauliflower seeds

Gifts: 5th Element, Themis' Scales, Titan's Challenge, Hestia's Gift, Nyx Pack, Morpheus' Arms, Hera Pack

Growth: + 2% at first connection of day, +4% at each watering (uses 48 gallons from your water tank), +12% with fertiliser

Pumpkin seed

You get this seed for completing the contest tutorial. Plant it straight away. If you manage to grow this seed and harvest your pumpkin you will win Skeiron, the new Divine horse.

It grows by 1% for every other vegetable you harvest. You can also give it fertiliser to gain 1% growth.

So, this contest is a choice dependent on which gifts you want to earn. If you want to go for the Divine it's best to plant the tomato seeds as they grow more quickly and will earn more points for your pumpkin seed. If you don't, it's best to go for the higher value seeds and see what Black Market items you will earn.

Good luck and let us know what you decide to go for!

Lucy

The Sweet Treat Workshop

Until 13th June bake cakes on Howrse and earn gifts with the Sweet Treat Workshop contest!

This latest contest allows you to gather ingredients from around the game, follow recipes to bake cakes and earn gifts. The gifts range from turnips, aging points and tack to Hestia's Gifts, Nyx Packs and 5th Elements.

Once you've baked 30 cakes you have the chance to unlock the recipe for the new Gemstone Divine - Quartz.

Ingredients can be found in the following ways:

• when you connect to the game for the first time each day
• when your horses wake up on their birthdays (max 4 per day)
• by entering competitions (max 4 per day)
• by finding tubs of grease with your horses (max 3 per day)
• removing pegasus' wings
• removing unicorn's horns
• in UFOs
• in the Flash Sales
• in Horns of Plenty (2 ingredients per horn)

Once you have enough ingredients for a recipe, choose the gift you wish to make, add the ingredients and put your mixture in the oven. Gifts take various amounts of time to bake - the higher value the gift, the longer they take. You can use boosters (found like ingredients) to reduce the baking time by 2 hours.

Remember that if you're trying to get the Divine, you need to leave enough time for the final recipe to bake before the contest is over.

Good luck and let us know how you get on!

Lucy

The Grand Prix

On Howrse, The Grand Prix is a week-long championship consisting of five different competitions - one taking place each day. The Grand Prix is run every week and has two versions - Classical and Western.

The Classical Grand Prix consists of the following competitions:

• Monday - Cross Country
• Tuesday - Trot
• Wednesday - Showjumping
• Thursday - Dressage
• Friday - Gallop

And the Western Grand Prix consists of the following competitions:

• Monday - Cutting
• Tuesday - Western Pleasure
• Wednesday - Reining
• Thursday - Trail Class
• Friday - Barrel Racing

Each event lasts 10 hours and uses 99% energy. You can enter two horses into the Grand Prix each day.

To earn entry to the Grand Prix you need to find a ticket by opening Horns of Plenty. Once you have found a ticket you have access to both Grand Prixs every week for life.

In each event you can win the following gifts:

• Winner: 40 diamonds
• Second: 20 diamonds
• Third: 10 diamonds
• Fourth: 5 diamonds
• Fifth: 2 diamonds
• First 100 horses: 2000 Equus
• All participants: 1000 Equus

Every Saturday a weekly ranking is complied, taking into account a players best performance in each event. To appear in the weekly ranking you must have entered all five events. The top 10 players in the weekly ranking earn an award on their profile page and the top 100 gain access to the Fountain. The Fountain replaces the normal water trough for a week and triples the gains given to +6 energy and +3 morale.

There are several special bonuses for the Grand Prix which can be found by opening Horns of Plenty:

• Tranquillity of the Breeze - reduces the length of Grand Prix events from 10 to 3 hours
• Energy of the Thunderstorm - reduces the amount of energy required from 99% to 55%
• Strength of the Typhoon - doubles the gains from each event
• Effect of the Tornado - the ability to register 4 horses in each event instead of 2
• Appearance of the Hurricane - +9 bonus in gallop, jumping and trot
• Power of the Storm - +9 bonus in stamina, speed and dressage
• Bonus Monsoon - doubles the bonuses of the Hurricane and Storm

You need to have some very good horses to win the Grand Prix. However, since you earn a minimum of 1000 equus per horse entered you should give it a go every day just so you can earn some easy equus!

Lucy

Training Method - Western Horses

This is the training method that I find works best for Western Horses. There are lots of other methods and approaches out there - some people like to vary the method depending on the breed. However, this is a good place to start if you're looking for something simple to follow that works on all horses.

Once a horse has finished foal games follows this schedule to get your Western Horses blupped and bolded.

Remember to always do a lesson every day as well.

Training schedule:

• Short Trot rides
• Speed training
• Dressage training
• Cutting competitions
• Once you're not gaining anything from the Cutting comps complete the Stamina training
• Western Pleasure competitions
• Reining competitions
• Once you're not gaining anything from the Western Pleasure / Reining comps complete the Gallop and Trot training
• Jump training
• Trail competitions
• Long Steep Slope rides and Long Gallop rides to finish bolding

Following this I usually get my horses bolded and blupped by the age of 10 years. The horse should pick up their 20 wins quite easily along the way. I then do Beach Rides if required.

Lucy

Looking to train a Classical Horse? See our post on Training Methods for Classical Horses.

Gift Machines contest

The Gift Machine Contest

Until the 7th March there is a new contest on Howrse - the Gift Machines!

Every day you can complete 5 objectives which allow you to gather parts to build your machines. The objectives include things like stroking a horse in the Safe Haven or finishing last in a competition. You can also use Horns of Plenty to skip an objective and get the next machine part straight away.

Once you've built a machine you need to earn fuel in order to power your machine.

For example, to build the first machine - the Manure Machine - you need to complete 10 objectives. Then you can collect energy to power it (manure) in the following ways:

• You may find manure instead of droppings when your horses wake up (limited to 300 awakened horses per day): +2
• Turn your horse droppings into manure (at most once every 6 hours): +10
• Recover Ploutos' Parchment from a horse: +10
• Open Horns of Plenty: +60

There are 4 machines to build in total. If you manage to build all 4 and then power up the final machine you will win the new wind Divine horse Caicias.

So get building and let us know what you think of this contest!

Lucy

Wandering Horses contest returns

The first new contest of 2013 has arrived although it isn't actually a new idea. The Wandering Horses contest returns and this time the theme is decidedly aquatic. In fact this version is called 'The 7 Seas Wanderers'.

As previously, you need to complete various actions and tasks during the lifetime of the contest. As you achieve each of these, you are rewarded with a 'visit' form one of seven wandering horses. These horses only visit you for 5 days before, literally, wandering off again. However, they do bring you gifts such as Diamonds, HoP's and even Nyx Packs.

Now once you have completed every task and been visited by all seven of the wandering horses (including the mystery 7th one) you win Zephyr, which is another, new Wild horse in the game.

Now the tasks and actions you are required to complete vary in difficulty. The easiest ones are things like logging on each day or entering competitions. Now, each of the seven sets of tasks require you to gain 100 points.  With some tasks, how many points you gain for each task varies from player to player.

For example, for the Competitions task, (Caraibiana horse) when I hover my mouse over the mission information, it tells be that I gain 0.32 points per race I enter a horse into. I have 100 horses. Now someone else, who owns 10,000 horses will only gain 0.1 points for each race her horses enter. So to get 100 points in the Competitions task, I have to enter 312 races but the person with 10,000 horses has to enter a staggering 1000 races! You have been warned...

Now one thing players complain about every time with the Wandering Horses contest, is that you need to open HoP's in order to complete one of the tasks (Atlantico horse this time). And you only gain 4 points for every Horn of Plenty you open. So you will need to open 25 HoP's to complete this task and get Atlantico, which is a lot of HoP's, especially if you need to use Passes to buy them.

So for many players, this contest is just too expensive, in terms of time and HoP's. However, you can still play along and win some nice free items even if you won't be able to go for that elusive Zephyr.

So enjoy yourselves and good luck!

Patsy