Diamond Apple to disappear

This article relates to Howrse.com. Well, you've probably seen the news item about this, but if you haven't - read on. As from 1st February 2011, the Diamond Apple coats (DA's) will be removed from Howrse. So you will not be able to create new DA coats from then on. So what about the DA coats you already have on your horses? No need to worry as these will remain. Your horses will not lose their Diamond Apple coats. But if you have any unused DA's - they will disappear from your stock if you do not use them by 1st February.

Howrse say that the reason they are removing them from the game is because people were having "technical" problems when trying to create the coats, saying that yhe feature isn't supported by most internet browsers. Strange, as LucyLou and I have created DA's using Firefox, Internet Explorer (older and newer versions) and Safari. Hmmm. Anyway, that's the reason they give, so it must be true!

Now some players are upset by the removal of the DA's. Others are not. Personally, I never thought they were that great. A lot of the time - the DA's either looked exactly the same as standard coats, or like the result of a fight in a wallpaper shop. On the bright side - once they disappear from the game, they may become a little more valuable. We shall see.

Will you miss Diamond Apple coats ... or not? Let us know what you think.

Patsy

Flash sales & snowball fight

This article is about Howrse.com. As always with flash sales, there are some bargains to be had. Mind you, there are some players who are willing to spend a lot of equus to get those Posiedon's Packs, Passes and Mist's. Our tip for getting a good price is to hit the sales when there are fewer players online. it's a good idea to have a look at the Howrse login page as it tells you how many players are online. Of course it depends where in the world you are, as to when is the quietest time on Howrse.

The prices in the auctions vary hugely. I've seen Passes sell for 50,000e and also 19,000e so it really is worth hanging around to see what sort of deal you can get. Mind you, the instant sales are great for buying things at reasonable prices but the sales are amazingly fast. If a really popular item like a HoP or Laurels comes up, the item is gone before you even have a chance to click on. Or maybe I'm just useless!

As for the snowball fight, I think it's a really nice idea to have this sort of thing again. It's great to be able to gift your friends, especially when you have nice friends who gift you a Piece of Cloud - like I did today. Oooh there are some lovely people on Howrse.

Good luck in the sales and let us know if you manage to get anything exciting.

Patsy

New Howrse versions opening now

As I write the new UK version of Howrse is open. Around the world players are eagerly waiting to try out the US, Canadian and Australian versions. It's strange being on a website on it's first day. It feels very empty and a little bit strange. However, they are sure to be popular. We shall see. One big new feature in these new versions, are the Quests. Essentially they are a walk-through, step-by-step guide to using the game. It's a good idea because Howrse lose so many players within the first few days, as people find the game difficult to get to grips with. This new feature is bound to ensure that they stick around long enough to learn the game and enjoy it. Oh, and buy passes too!

You can see the Quest bar at the top of the page. Once you start, it walks you through the process of looking after your first horse. There are rewards (apples, turnips etc) for achieving things such as ageing (spelt the English way now!) him and answering simple questions. It is all designed to teach new players how to look after their first foal and also about how to play the game. As I write, I'm still going through this process, so will let you know more, soon.

How are you finding the new versions? I know that many people are still waiting for the sites to open (especially the poor Australians who have been waiting the longest) but soon enough you'll all have a chance to get registered. So let us know what you think. What you like or don't like.

Good luck!

Patsy

Ocean update

Well, the skills keep on gaining. My Ocean has just 'grown up' and is now 1 year and 6 months old. His skills have increased again and are now 1707.60. However, things are still a little bit weird. I spoke to another player today who told me that their Ocean who is still only 4 months old also has 1707.60 skills! I had to check to see if it were true. And indeed it was.

So just a few days ago, there were no Oceans as young as 4 months with 1707.60 skills. We've even checked the parents' BLUP and age and Oceans with identical parental skills, BLUP and age produced Oceans with different inborn skills.

Very strange. So if you have any ideas about the weird world of Oceans' skills - leave a comment. and maybe we'll work out what's going on!

Patsy

UPDATE: As of 12 Jan - skills are now 1711.60 .....

Ocean Divine Horse

Well most of you will have seen these wonderful new Divine horses by now. They are unique in that they are the first Divine foals on Howrse. They could only be born by breeding a Snow horse with a Mist. And having looked through the Directory (on Howrse) it seems as if hundreds have been born so far.

At the time of writing, we are still a few hours away from seeing the first adult Oceans, although there have been images of them floating around the site. But as foals, there have been some interesting discussions taking place in the forums about their skills. Some people reported that their Ocean foal had 1693.20 skills when born but others had 1695 and 1696 skills. However, it was soon clear that Oceans' don't gain any skills from foal games but they do gain skills as time goes by - every two days. Some players were saying that they were gaining skills at different rates to other players. So, for example I spoke to someone who's Ocean had 1702.80 skills aged 8 months, but my Ocean only acheived 1702.80 skills when aged 1 year!

Very interesting. A huge debate took place about this and people were suggesting that the BLUP of the mare (Mist horse) was affecting the Ocean's inborn skills or that matching the Snow's top skills with those of the Mist (Mist's top skills change each day) was affecting the inborn skills of the Oceans'. But no-one could explain why some Ocean's gained skills faster than others.

Well one thing seems a little clearer now - all Ocean foals aged up to 1 year and 4 months have reached the same skills - 1702.80. Right now, we don't know if they will keep increasing but we shall definitely let you know.

I think that's enough figures for now. My head hurts!

Patsy

New versions of Howrse

Well, the big surprise that Howrse have been promising has arrived. And the surprise is ..... four new 'versions' of Howrse. According to the posting from Ow - Owlient have decided to offer more "more culture specific animations" (whatever that means!) and allow players to have a better, more localised gaming experience.

Now there are a number of other language versions of the game already in existence such as the original French version as well German, Russian, Spanish ones, amongst others. However, these new versions will be English language sites but, we are told, will be more tailored to the country's specific culture. Hmmm.

So, USA, UK, Canada and Australia will be first up with their own version. The current 'international' site (www.howrse.com) will continue. You can choose whether to just keep playing the current version, switch to one of the new ones or do both. In fact, you can register with as many as you like. Actually, this is already the case with all the non-English language sites. I used to play the Spanish and Russian versions as well as the 'international' version.

So, the big questions are: Why have Owlient done this? And: What will you be doing?

As far as we're concerned, it seems that Owlient, as a business, have realised that there's a whole new market out there. Thousands of players who want a chance to play a new, shiny version of the game (in their own language) that they will have a chance of being successful at. It will be a (fairly) level playing field to start with and so many people will want to be there at the beginning with a chance to be top of the rankings. And how will they do this quickly? By purchasing passes of course! Cynical, but true. And, in fairness, making money is what business's do. Owlient are no different. So it's actually a clever idea. Especially if large numbers of players decide to play two or more verions of the game. That's a lot of extra passes needed isn't it?

Aside from the money-making side, how successful will these new versions be? Initially, they're sure to be popular for the reasons stated above. But will they last? We shall have to wait and see. Maybe the novelty will wear off. Maybe the clutter-free new versions will attract players who have become disillusioned with all the breeding groups and 'elite' players found on Howrse.com.

So, let us know what you think. Talk to your friends and other players. We'd all love to know what our fellow players feel about this. Excited? Unhappy? Not bothered?

Get posting!

Patsy

UPDATE: I just had a look at the statistics for Ultimate Howrse. Most interesting. Guess which countries rank as the top 4 (out of 61 countries) for visitors to this site?

USA 57.3%
UK 20.7%
Canada 15.5%
Australia 6.5%

Poseidon's Pack

Well as it's now 2011, we thought we'd kick off the New Year with a look at the new Poseidon's Pack. Now, essentially, this new tack pack is designed to replace the Centaur's Pack (for Western competitions) and the Atalante's Pack (for English competitions). Here's how Howrse describe it:

During each storm, Poseidon sheds some scales that are preciously kept to make magical saddlery items.These saddlery items offer a great amount of Poseidon's power to the horses bearing them. You horse owns tack that offers the same performances in Classical or in Western competitions.

To be able to use this Pack you horse must be over 3 years old.

So, the Poseidon's Pack is the new tack pack for every competition. So exactly what benefits does it bring to your horse? Some pretty good ones actually. Here's the list:

• Poseidon's Horseshoes - Speed +12
• Poseidon's Bridle - Stamina +12, Dressage +12
• Poseidon's Saddle - Gallop +12, Trot +12, Jumping +12
• Poseidon's Scale - Stamina , Speed, Dressage, Jumping, Trot and Gallop - ALL +5

Now we've heard that if you add Poseidon elements to a horse with Atalante's tack, the Poseidon elements replace the Atalante ones. So you don't get an Atalante's Saddle AND a Poseidon's Saddle. Pity though.

So, whether you're training or entering your horses into competitions, the new Poseidon's Pack looks like a must-have item. And we're pretty certain it will soon be available to buy in the Black Market, rather than having to dispatch reindeer to the North Pole to get one!

Patsy

EDIT May 2011 - The Poseiden's Pack is still not available to buy from the Black Market for passes. You have to win them in HoPs or other promotions.