Why ER Sucks: A Novel

Okay, I'm a nerd. I'll admit it. I like video games, thick rimmed glasses, corporate coffee shops, and rock n' roll. I also think horsies are cute. Maybe it is a throwback to my childhood years where I wanted to have my very own horse, but was denied that because horses are pretty expensive. What I really mean by that is: horses are a rich person's hobby. If you're rich, you can have horses. If you're not... you're better off just taking lessons, a one-hour trail ride, or perhaps renting/ leasing.

Anyway, if I combine horses and the internet, I get horse sims. There are roughly a quarter of a million of these games available. Some are free, some cost money. All of them are made somewhat unprofessionally. There are a couple larger scale horse sims, but they're not online nor are they the subject of my discussion.

I'm a busy person, but I like to be lazy sometimes. Horse sims can be "fun" to fiddle around with occasionally. Its a game. Games are supposed to be fun. Genetics companies have already made not-fun genetics games. We use them in class. They're not fun.

However, being a nerd I am also interested in science. That means that I like somewhat accurate/ realistic horse sims. I searched for awhile and thought I found one. It was called SomeHorseGame.

There were a lot of things I liked about the game. There was genetic testing for horses, many breeds, accurate color inheritance, and it was easy. It pretty much required no thought and the colors were pleasant to look at.

After awhile, the game became less and less fun. Initially, I thought the game owner's boldness was a bit refreshing. It was nice that she wasn't taking crap from people, but it soon got to the point where I didn't see where she was coming from. It started to appear that she'd single people out, harass them until they lost their composure, and throw them to the dogs. It was sickening. It was horribly unprofessional.

She had a forum where people could talk. People who disagreed with her were disgraced. People who agreed with her appeared to be doing it to save their own skins. It was a hostile environment, and people have really cut back even posting there. Why? Its dangerous. If something gets your goat and the admin doesn't think its a valid opinion you would have to be prepared for someone telling you how stupid you were, how wrong you were, how uneducated and idiotic you were. You were a bitch, a cunt, a brat, useless to the world, and not deserving of being in "her majesty's presence." Proving her wrong was useless. She can erase posts, lie, and swear. ALL of her points were magically the best, not matter how many times they've been proven wrong. There is no use arguing.

Arguing in itself was a horrible idea. You had to debate, but she could attack. Her forums are the best example of a double standard I could see. If I was a game admin, I wouldn't have brought this stuff up in the first place. It would be my job to act professionally. I'm supposed to be an example, not an exception. In the end, it is still sickening.

Besides the game owner being a horrible human being, other things started to rear their ugly heads. Unlike many other horse sims I've played, you easily lose your information. You can lose all of your work. The game owner will make a change that completely nullifies everything you've done. This denies you the chance of any satisfaction related to hard work, careful planning, and lots of clicking. It makes all the time you've spend, all of the money you've spend, entirely wasted. Is that a fun game? No.

Don't get me wrong, updates are nice. Just not at the expense of the last few months of work. That is enough to turn many people away from a game.

In relation to changes and updates: If you're against numbers, and you eliminate them causing players to have to relearn how to play, don't go back around and ADD NEW ONES IN. My actual issue deals with eliminating the physical characteristic numbers and then adding in the COI. The COI is NOT something the normal person can just see. This is something that needs calculated. It is useless only going back three generations anyway. If the COI is still something that is definitely wanted then hide it and let people calculate it themselves. When I buy a horse, I don't see the COI of that animal tattooed on it's butt.

One of my biggest pet peeves is the colors. The colors are somewhat accurate with a few issues here and there, but the basic colors are fine. I have a problem with changing the names. People have gotten together and decided on names for champagne and pearl and changing the names to rather cheesy things like platinum and sesame is just silly.

So in summary:

Pros:
Game generated pictures - you can't upload your own (which is great!)
Somewhat realistic COLOR genetics
Simple and easy to play
Lots of hidden stats to be discovered

Cons:
Game Owner is the biggest bitch in the whole wide world
Color terminology is subject to the whims of the game owner
Frequent updates nullify work done by players
Frequent updates that provide useless information
NO free trial, you have to pay to see what the full game is like (even WoW doesn't do that)
Game is always "under construction"
Hostile forum environment

There is so much more to talk about and I'm sure I'll bring it up in due time.