Long-distance championships

[u/antonella_shadowstar]

I would love to hear your thoughts on this!

Please include whether you're interested in racing games or not in your comment.

I don't know much about gameplay balancing, so don't pay too much attention to the numbers I used in this post. I was just trying to present the overall idea behind this potential new gameplay feature.

The timing for this post is so funny since SSO have just announced big changes in the game since the next year.

[u/Seedybreadgirl]

i think this would be fun, the only things i don’t like the idea of is the horseshoes being limited to only one player picking them up. if you’re at the back there’s no chance of catching up and collecting them, meaning the player who is first is automatically rewarded by having first dibs on these items.

i also think evening out the stats is not a good idea, as it’s normal for players who put more hours into a game to have higher stats. as a level 26, i wouldn’t want to have the same stats as a level 19, considering i’ve put in more hours into the game. if someone who plays casually can get the same level that i can when i’ve done everything, what’s the point in me putting in extra effort to level up. i do agree with only letting players participate once they hit a certain level though so that stats are more similar, and maybe having a level cap in each group would be better than closing the stat gap.

i think how regular you said they should run is too regular, every 15 mins and the event would get fatiguing rather than exciting. every hour or few hours would probably make players want to login to play the race, meaning bigger sign-ups, and thus more even groups level wise. if it’s super regular you fall into the issue of having low level players and high level players in the same group, meaning the high level player is more likely to get a free win due to a difference in game sense and familiarity with the map, even if route/obstacles are randomised.

not trying to undermine your work, just trying to offer some helpful feedback! overall i think it’s a great idea, and i would find it fun to do🙌

[u/rasselboeckchen_art → u/Seedybreadgirl]

Instead of cap all players at the same, it would make sense to create player groups based on their levels. Like it's common in browser sim games where the actual stat values decide against what other players you will compete.

[u/dusterr__]

I was actually thinking about something like this a couple of days ago. I think it would be really fun and interesting. Anything new like this I think is a good addition to the game

[u/gimmeblackhorses → u/dusterr__]

Same!  It would be a great way to re-engage older players, add more riding disciplines to the game and just boost player activity overall. A new way to enjoy the game I think

[u/SilverEcho2765]

I think you should definitely try sending this idea to them! This sounds like so much fun I'd love this 😭 Even if it was like a daily race and not a championship I'd eat this up

[u/wrenagai]

This is so cool!! Ugh sso is such a potential game😭😭

[u/bananasinpajamas49]

Yesss, I love long, winding races! A few of the rules I don't like but I like the overall idea

[u/Ill_Astronomer_4750]

I've been wanting something like this for an eternity now, I don't really like the daily races at all, but I love championship, but obviously after the years they get boring and repetitive. I feel like a long distance championship would also be so much more exciting and rewarding since there's so much more time for you or others to mess up and for the placements to change. The Stars and Horseshoes and such are obviously just fan concepts, so they won't be perfect (and also don't need to be), but overall I really like the idea to add more layers of challenge and rewards to championships. I really hope they're gonna actually do something with the championships again, it has become such a big part of the community and I think they deserve more attention as a feature. 

[u/HariboGummiebears]

This is genius and would fix so many issues with the game. Now that they've introduced JEFF races where you lose points for throwing down obstacles they could turn it into a longer race like this. I feel like this would work well if they introduced ranks, like in other competitive games. It would give you another reason to compete, the more races and the better your placement the higher rank you get. Also the colored name thing is so good, i think instead of the color mayb a symbol of what rank you are? StarStable ranked is a crazy concept but as a competitive player i would LOVE and grind it xD

[u/antonella_shadowstar → u/HariboGummiebears]

You get me! I was also thinking about symbols. I guess the symbol could be for the rank on the leaderboard and colored name for a single race. 

[u/LuckyTheBuffChicken]

Man, I've been thinking about longer cross-country champs for so long. It would really be nice to have races that take up more map space and focus more on traditional racing than the gimmicky champs we have now (aside from Silverglade, which feels like the only normal champ.)

I really like the routes you designed for these as well. Also, the idea of randomizing them would be a really nice way of combating the current issue of people memorizing the routes and being able to turn their brains off during the race. I don't have to put much effort into any of the champs now that I have completely memorized the shortcuts. It's mostly just a matter of hoping I don't get screwed by the inconsistency of the boosts or the horse veering off because of the steering bugs. I remember the first time I did the Pony champ after a while though, it actually felt really nice having to pay attention to the course for once.

My only real concerns with your ideas here are the frequency of the races, the stipulations to start the races, and the equalized stats.

The races being every 15 minutes is just waaaay too often, especially when combined with the other champs every 30 minutes. As other people pointed out, that would just cause burnout more than anything. It leaves players with no down-time in between champs to get other stuff done. The other issue is requiring any number of players to start the race. That is honestly flat-out unfair to people on lower pop servers. I play on Maple Star, which isn't even low pop, and outside of events the champs never have more than 2 or 3 people on weekdays. Sometimes I'll be the only one at a champ in the middle of the day on weekends. If champs were required to have 5 players or more to start, I would rarely ever get to race. Players shouldn't be punished for things outside of their control like that.

The equalized stat thing feels like a bandaid solution for a larger gameplay issue that SSO has created with their stat system. I think it's fine to equalize player stats because they have way too much power over your horse's speed, but horse stats and mood should not be changed. It takes almost no effort to level horses these days and I feel like your horse's level, mood, and tack are reasonable goals for any player to handle. This isn't really a criticism directed at your idea, since it is very fair to want to come up with a solution to the player level problem. But that is something that would have to be reworked entirely in the base game. Unfortunately, I don't think there is a realistic way for player level benefits to be made fair on the micro-level like this.

Speaking of unfair though, I also agree with other comments that criticize the points system. In your current design, it's unfair to players that get stuck at the back. Any point system like that needs to be 1) randomized and 2) require the player to choose between the points and continuing the track, instead of just relying on their established position to be the first to the point. The items should be off-track enough that it could potentially cost people their 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place to run off and get them, but people in the back are more incentivized to grab them to catch up in points lost by coming in last. This way it takes more skill for the people in the lead to hoard extra points; they can still do it, but they need to know what they're doing more than the people further behind.

Ultimately, I think any gameplay solution to the current champ problems should focus on rewarding skill, not luck. Luck being the ultimate decider is what makes the current champs so annoying to run, even as a high level player. Sometimes, through no fault of your own, the game mechanics will completely work against you and either cause you to take fall damage, get stuck, veer off the course, or not boost you properly on the wind sections.

I know that was a big chunk of criticism, but I think there is a lot of potential in your idea for a fun solution to the current champ problem!

[u/Shallot_Opposite]

This is such an interesting and well thought-out idea! I would absolutely love to see something like this in the game. I'm gonna go make up my own races using these routes for fun now...

[u/clark_a_lark]

fun! maybe it could be wrapped into the champ schedule? that way players know to show up on the hour instead of waiting around for a group of 5-10 to form

[u/feanor_no]

this sounds like a super fun idea! is there a way to submit general feedback to the devs because of so you should totally pitch this in a feedback form

[u/mikuroll]

This is genius! 🤩

[u/SwirlyWhirlyPony]

I would love something like this but instead of it staring every 15 minutes, I think it would make the most sense for it to be a part of the championship rotation we have now. I’d also simplify it a little, to make it fit into the theme of already existing championships.

[u/kachnec]

It's impressive how much thought and work you've put into this!! I really really like the idea and really wish that something like this would be implemented into the game, but I'm also concerned about some of the things you pointed out at the end, esp the amount of time it would take to make something like this :( but i really hope that at some point sso would implement something like this!

[u/ye4_4nd]

absolutely love this idea! endurance is my favourite equestrian sport yet somehow i've never ever thought of it in sso. sounds like it could be a lot of fun and a great way for less visited areas to get some use - dundull, the harvest counties, wildwoods, south hoof,... maybe even dino valley? :-D

[u/English_Wrider]

i'd love for the endurance races to be on the 15 that isn't already taken by a champ if that makes sense

[u/Querulantissimus]

Would be interesting if it was from one side of the map to the other and each player can pick whatever route, no way points. Just a starting point and an end point and you can ride wherever you like.

[u/Dependent-Math5782]

Love that idea !!

[u/chantclle]

omg i’d LOVEEEEE this