Competitions

[Tisha]

Well, yeah, but it might still go to the wrong person anyway. But the team is working hard on HWO and helping to improve it, so I appreciate them for working so hard on this game.

Yeah I agree. The game has been really engaging, and I love the fact that it allows people to go down many avenues. I'm learning something new everyday.

That's good, well, good luck with reaching your goal in this game!

[regz46]

Hi guys,

Just have some questions about the competitions. So I read somewhere that the competitions usually have a min of 4 entries before they can begin right? So if a competition does not have 4 entries, it does not begin right? So if a competition has 3 entries and the time stated for it to start was "yesterday", what happens then?

Reason I'm asking, is that I entered as a 4th entry for a race that had only 3 entries which started "yesterday" The race entry amount was deducted from me but I don't seem to have that race. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

I think 5 horses needed to start a competition.

I was just wondering, so we pay to enter a race before a race begins. What happens if we do not get 5 horses to start the competition? We just let our horses sit there in limbo till 5 people join? Also, I've seen "retired" horses in these competitions. I'm assuming people enter them and they retire while still entered. Do they still count and compete? Thanks!

[BlackOak2]

I think 5 horses needed to start a competition.

I was just wondering, so we pay to enter a race before a race begins. What happens if we do not get 5 horses to start the competition? We just let our horses sit there in limbo till 5 people join? Also, I've seen "retired" horses in these competitions. I'm assuming people enter them and they retire while still entered. Do they still count and compete? Thanks!

At the present moment, the competitions will just sit there and do nothing. Some of us (including me) will occasionally go through and force-run the comps we can, just so they stop sitting. In the future, there may be an auto-delete or an auto-run or something else that our admins program to help in these comps that do just sit.
As for the retired horses in the comps... Some are born, aged and die before the comps run... some are born, entered and for whatever reason gotten rid of... and I don't know if it's still a bug, but some for whatever reason don't link properly to the horse that originally entered, but if I remember correctly, they're still credited right even if the link to the horse didn't set up right. I think this bug was corrected.
At entering, the horse is evaluated by the system so they are still counted and they still compete. (I do not know if a horse is gotten rid of, I believed that if a horse is deleted, all they entered are also deleted. But I really never thought to figure it out. So I worked under the assumption that the horse was born, entered and aged out.)

Hope this helps.

[regz46]

At the present moment, the competitions will just sit there and do nothing. Some of us (including me) will occasionally go through and force-run the comps we can, just so they stop sitting. In the future, there may be an auto-delete or an auto-run or something else that our admins program to help in these comps that do just sit.
As for the retired horses in the comps... Some are born, aged and die before the comps run... some are born, entered and for whatever reason gotten rid of... and I don't know if it's still a bug, but some for whatever reason don't link properly to the horse that originally entered, but if I remember correctly, they're still credited right even if the link to the horse didn't set up right. I think this bug was corrected.
At entering, the horse is evaluated by the system so they are still counted and they still compete. (I do not know if a horse is gotten rid of, I believed that if a horse is deleted, all they entered are also deleted. But I really never thought to figure it out. So I worked under the assumption that the horse was born, entered and aged out.)

Hope this helps.

Right. Interesting. What about the events you have already signed up for? Right now, we can only see the results of the events. What about the events that we have pending for our horses?

[BlackOak2]

At the present moment, ... aged out.)

Hope this helps.

Right. Interesting. What about the events you have already signed up for? Right now, we can only see the results of the events. What about the events that we have pending for our horses?

You can try to force run them, if you have the money and the system allows multiple entries per one farm. You can also use your allowed second account to enter if you can only enter one horse per farm and you need only two entries. I can also say that I will force-run comps needing only one entry over ones that may need more (especially for those that allow only one horse per farm).
You will not be able to see any results until the competition runs. Even though the horses are judged by the system the moment they're entered, the system really can't say who's first and so on, because there isn't yet enough for the comp to run.
For an example... Horse A is judged with a score of 64... Horse B is judged with a score of 55... Horse C is judged with a score of 70 and Horse D is judged with a score of 32.
But until Horse E is entered, even though (assuming highest score is leading horse) Horse C is in 'first place', the system doesn't know if Horse E will come in first or not.
We do not get to see what those scores are until the competition runs, however the system keeps track of them until it does.
In the future, it would be nice if we could scratch our horses for accidentally entered competitions or whatever, or the comp auto-deletes, or auto-runs...
The game isn't complete. Things will change in the future, I'm sure.
If you need to know more info directly related to your horse's competition scores, you can always search the comps that are already late and enter them into those delayed competitions, forcing them to run at a minimum of five entries. Once a comp has five entries, it'll run within ten minutes (the system seems to batch run the comps every five minutes or so).
The good news is that if you accustom yourself to reading and understanding the completed competition scores of your horses, you can learn a lot about him or her. You can learn how strong of a competitor your horse is, how well he or she does in certain events and which bloodline carries potential for certain types of competitions.

I have a simplified (though lengthy) write-up for help in understanding scores on my farm page. Find the info on the first page (right now it's only on the first page).

[regz46]

You can try to force run them, if you have the money and the system allows multiple entries per one farm. You can also use your allowed second account to enter if you can only enter one horse per farm and you need only two entries. I can also say that I will force-run comps needing only one entry over ones that may need more (especially for those that allow only one horse per farm).
You will not be able to see any results until the competition runs. Even though the horses are judged by the system the moment they're entered, the system really can't say who's first and so on, because there isn't yet enough for the comp to run.
For an example... Horse A is judged with a score of 64... Horse B is judged with a score of 55... Horse C is judged with a score of 70 and Horse D is judged with a score of 32.
But until Horse E is entered, even though (assuming highest score is leading horse) Horse C is in 'first place', the system doesn't know if Horse E will come in first or not.
We do not get to see what those scores are until the competition runs, however the system keeps track of them until it does.
In the future, it would be nice if we could scratch our horses for accidentally entered competitions or whatever, or the comp auto-deletes, or auto-runs...
The game isn't complete. Things will change in the future, I'm sure.
If you need to know more info directly related to your horse's competition scores, you can always search the comps that are already late and enter them into those delayed competitions, forcing them to run at a minimum of five entries. Once a comp has five entries, it'll run within ten minutes (the system seems to batch run the comps every five minutes or so).
The good news is that if you accustom yourself to reading and understanding the completed competition scores of your horses, you can learn a lot about him or her. You can learn how strong of a competitor your horse is, how well he or she does in certain events and which bloodline carries potential for certain types of competitions.

I have a simplified (though lengthy) write-up for help in understanding scores on my farm page. Find the info on the first page (right now it's only on the first page).

Thanks BlackOak! I'm starting to read through it and it sure looks helpful. I just hope I can do it justice.
There is an allowed second account? I didn't know that. So I can sign up for another account with the same email address?

[BlackOak2]

Thanks BlackOak! I'm starting to read through it and it sure looks helpful. I just hope I can do it justice.
There is an allowed second account? I didn't know that. So I can sign up for another account with the same email address?

Game rules allow us no more than two accounts (although I suspect some of the players of having more. I'm sure that will eventually get taken care of), only catch is that you'll need a separate email to sign up.

Use the info if you can. If you come across something different or contradicting what I've typed up, please drop me a note in the other post saying so. I don't spend too much time investigating because it is, after all, just a game. I can add it or change it accordingly. Besides, I use the info myself on occasion, so it also benefits me.

[regz46]

Thanks BlackOak! I'm starting to read through it and it sure looks helpful. I just hope I can do it justice.
There is an allowed second account? I didn't know that. So I can sign up for another account with the same email address?

Game rules allow us no more than two accounts (although I suspect some of the players of having more. I'm sure that will eventually get taken care of), only catch is that you'll need a separate email to sign up.

Use the info if you can. If you come across something different or contradicting what I've typed up, please drop me a note in the other post saying so. I don't spend too much time investigating because it is, after all, just a game. I can add it or change it accordingly. Besides, I use the info myself on occasion, so it also benefits me.

Thanks BlackOak!
Oh when reading your thread about competition and the competition data that you posted. Were the data you after you trained a horse or just for an untrained horse?

Like for example Racing. You placed the average fast timing as 02:13 and slow at 02:30. Will these timing change as a horse gets trained up? Just wondering because when I place my horse in local shows their timing don't seem to be as good as what you posted, yet they are still placing first.

[BlackOak2]

Thanks BlackOak!
Oh when reading your thread about competition and the competition data that you posted. Were the data you after you trained a horse or just for an untrained horse?

Like for example Racing. You placed the average fast timing as 02:13 and slow at 02:30. Will these timing change as a horse gets trained up? Just wondering because when I place my horse in local shows their timing don't seem to be as good as what you posted, yet they are still placing first.

All of the comps I pulled were from the Competitions and not from the local shows. It was a random accumulation of about 30 separately run, all at level 1 and I took competitions that were won by separate participants (so the same horse wasn't given me the best times all the time, although those same horses did run in some of those comps). There was also a few comps I started and filled with just my completely untrained stock, so that also throws in wholly untried horse times and scores as well.

The one thing I do know regarding local shows and player made competitions is that if your horse does poorly in the local shows, it WILL do poorly in the player made competitions. However, even if your horse does well in the local shows, it does not mean it will do well in the player made comps. But... if you happen to have a horse without training, winning the level ten local shows... it'll probably perform well enough in the player made, especially as you train it up.

So to answer your questions: No, it was not just untrained horses, although at level one, most of those horses are generally untrained or with minimal training (if available, I also chose the random comps that had age limits, 5 and under or even better, my own Black Oak Baby Trials, which is very strictly limiting at and under 3 years). Yes, times and scores will get better as you train your horse in the designated disciplines for each comp.

Really the only way to tell if your horse will definitely do well in player made comps is to enter a few cheap level ones and look at your horse's placings and times. The times come from the best average and the worst average scores and times from those level one player made comps. So your untrained horse needs to perform in level one player made comps at the average or better than the average best. If they perform a couple times in the level one player made comps and offer scores near, at or below the poor times or scores, then even with training, chances are very slim that your horse will be able to compete at any level in that particular competition.

Keep in mind that body conformation plays a part in what the horse can do well in. Uphill horses (where the withers are decidedly higher than the butt) often perform better in competitions that require strength like log pull and driven competitions. Alternately, downhill horses (their butt is decidedly higher than the withers, or shoulder) often perform better in competitions that require speed like racing and steeplechasing. Body conformation can help determine what side of the skill set your horse leans toward. Even if you have a downhill horse with inspiring strength comments in its breeding report, it shouldn't out-perform other horses with uphill body conformation, even if those breeding reports for the other horses are average at best.

But there is even more to this than what I've already touched on. Yes, this game can and does get very involved, even as I say that it's not even a finished game yet.
So if you want to keep it simple, use the body conformation guide (found in the help guide section, Seina's Extensive User Guide, under competitions), they're links for visual reference and your breeder's report. These two will offer insights to what your horse MAY have a talent toward and then enter in a few of each level one player made competitions that you suspect a talent toward and take a look at the outcomes. That's when my list can help determine if your horse may have a talent in something.

If your breeding toward a specific competition, like the thoroughbred and racing, then you should only keep and breed those that specifically perform consistently and well in those comps (especially doing very well even when untrained). For those of us who breed for color or disregard comps in general (like me), If I have a local show horse winning level ten local shows (most often horses will do well completely untrained in local shows of log-pulling, in-hand jumping and hunter), I may decide to enter said horse into player made shows to see if indeed that horse has a talent for it. Then I determine if I want to spend the time to train and enter for the sole purpose of gaining additional and possibly much more money in those player made competitions.

Wow... I think I rambled on a bit.

[regz46]

All of the comps I pulled were from the Competitions and not from the local shows. It was a random accumulation of about 30 separately run, all at level 1 and I took competitions that were won by separate participants (so the same horse wasn't given me the best times all the time, although those same horses did run in some of those comps). There was also a few comps I started and filled with just my completely untrained stock, so that also throws in wholly untried horse times and scores as well.

The one thing I do know regarding local shows and player made competitions is that if your horse does poorly in the local shows, it WILL do poorly in the player made competitions. However, even if your horse does well in the local shows, it does not mean it will do well in the player made comps. But... if you happen to have a horse without training, winning the level ten local shows... it'll probably perform well enough in the player made, especially as you train it up.

So to answer your questions: No, it was not just untrained horses, although at level one, most of those horses are generally untrained or with minimal training (if available, I also chose the random comps that had age limits, 5 and under or even better, my own Black Oak Baby Trials, which is very strictly limiting at and under 3 years). Yes, times and scores will get better as you train your horse in the designated disciplines for each comp.

Really the only way to tell if your horse will definitely do well in player made comps is to enter a few cheap level ones and look at your horse's placings and times. The times come from the best average and the worst average scores and times from those level one player made comps. So your untrained horse needs to perform in level one player made comps at the average or better than the average best. If they perform a couple times in the level one player made comps and offer scores near, at or below the poor times or scores, then even with training, chances are very slim that your horse will be able to compete at any level in that particular competition.

Keep in mind that body conformation plays a part in what the horse can do well in. Uphill horses (where the withers are decidedly higher than the butt) often perform better in competitions that require strength like log pull and driven competitions. Alternately, downhill horses (their butt is decidedly higher than the withers, or shoulder) often perform better in competitions that require speed like racing and steeplechasing. Body conformation can help determine what side of the skill set your horse leans toward. Even if you have a downhill horse with inspiring strength comments in its breeding report, it shouldn't out-perform other horses with uphill body conformation, even if those breeding reports for the other horses are average at best.

But there is even more to this than what I've already touched on. Yes, this game can and does get very involved, even as I say that it's not even a finished game yet.
So if you want to keep it simple, use the body conformation guide (found in the help guide section, Seina's Extensive User Guide, under competitions), they're links for visual reference and your breeder's report. These two will offer insights to what your horse MAY have a talent toward and then enter in a few of each level one player made competitions that you suspect a talent toward and take a look at the outcomes. That's when my list can help determine if your horse may have a talent in something.

If your breeding toward a specific competition, like the thoroughbred and racing, then you should only keep and breed those that specifically perform consistently and well in those comps (especially doing very well even when untrained). For those of us who breed for color or disregard comps in general (like me), If I have a local show horse winning level ten local shows (most often horses will do well completely untrained in local shows of log-pulling, in-hand jumping and hunter), I may decide to enter said horse into player made shows to see if indeed that horse has a talent for it. Then I determine if I want to spend the time to train and enter for the sole purpose of gaining additional and possibly much more money in those player made competitions.

Wow... I think I rambled on a bit.

Haha! No, please ramble on. Whatever you have said has been really insightful. Thank you so much! I'm learning so much more about the game from you and the other older players. I'm really impressed with the game even though it is still unfinished. It is so engaging and so involved. It is so well thought out. I've enjoyed playing this game so much, I gave up playing Pokemon Go as this is way more engaging!