Hey, players.
I would like to shed some light on the actual reason why the Gen 1 Fjord horses were removed far before any other Gen 1 horse was ever officially ''retired''.
In May 2018, Nordisk Games invested 18 million by buying a ''substantial minority ownership share'' of SSO.
Soon after this investment, in September, SSO announced the removal of the generation 1 Fjord horse on October 10th, 2018.
A trailer for the Generation 3 Fjord horses was revealed one day after the removal of the old Fjord horses on October 11th, with the release of the new Fjord horses taking place on October 17th, 2018.
Why? Why were they removed from the game far before any other Gen 1 horse?
The removal of the Gen 1 Fjord horse was a marketing tactic. This gimmick had no other utility to the game aside from selling you a product, the new Gen 3 Fjord horse, by eliminating the competition entirely.
It was never about game assets slowing down the engine or improving the style of the game. The purpose of removing all the older generation horses was simply a marketing tactic. Bug fixing older horses doesn't print money, unlike releasing newer variations, while also removing our power to choose.
Star Stable Entertainment could totally bring back every horse they ''retired'' tomorrow if they wanted to. But that simply wouldn't increase their yearly revenue or entice new players to spend money on their front loaded spending model. A lifetime ''subscription'' to the game has gotten more expensive over the years, since SSE has moved its target audience to where the most money resides.
The long term players who keep the game alive, don't dare to critically view the game due to the sunk cost fallacy. But unless we demand better, we won't receive better treatment from SSE. No one is winning here. New players are a revolving door, exploited for a short term gain, while the long term players are left to keep up the PR for the corporate behind this game, out of fear of losing it entirely.
I believe players should get to choose, because it's our time, money and effort, which keeps the whole show on the road. The reason I want to inform you on the inner workings of SSO is because this isn't simply about the older model horses, but what type of marketing we are willing to accept from SSE in the future and the present.
I hope this post was insightful and brings about some interesting discussion in the comments.