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pjrhodes1970 wrote:

I think for those who have never had a combined game we have sadly missed the boat
seems little point starting from scratch I'd rather keep plugging away with what I have

Will we even have another season I see Gray and Leon pretty impossible to replace
The amount of time Gray puts into this is mammoth all the volunteers who put time
into this are diamonds we seem to be struggling to keep those people motivated to stay
involved and life changes and some just dont have the time they had. Some peoples
circumstances also change so with just 30 to 40 people involved in the league its tough
to get 8 - 10 of those to run it. Its always been a struggle TBH but Gray & Leon pulled it
all together for years now and both have been amazing.

Author:	jalupen [ Tue Jan 26, 2021 3:18 pm ]
Post subject:	farcical!
some of these race sizes in the last few weeks have become a joke on courses that barely hold 12 let alone 20 odd tbh i really dont feel like entering anymore horses, at least that will make it slightly easier for everyone else,add to that the combined game bias towards breeding(which apparently doesnt exist though you only have to look at the top horses) i think its time to find a new game, have fun all and good luck jalupen (steve)

Author:	Githyanki [ Tue Jan 26, 2021 5:14 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: farcical!
Not sure what you can do about field sizes, since more trainers and thus more horses is broadly a good and healthy thing for the league, and the schedule is already bursting. Stable size reduction is one thing too consider, but that would require coding that we can no longer rely on, and agreement which on that subject we have not had for a while. I certainly agree with the combined game bias, least on the flat, not sure there is any advantage on the NH. 70 seasons in my Australian flat game, nothing that goes past 95% potential and I am constantly battling a decline, the average is 90%. But I just started an Irish combined game and it took me 4 seasons to hit a full potential at 6yo colt, which seems to line up with what we see in the league, he is a hurdler, but that can be worked into flat lines I am sure. It is a faff for me doing both styles in one game, but don't let anyone kid you, if you want consistent flat sucess that is the game variant you have to play in my humble opinion. Take a step away from it, wait till you get the bug again, it would be sad to see you go. Josh

Author:	simpleminds [ Tue Jan 26, 2021 5:44 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: farcical!
Hi Steve i hope you change your mind you have been a trainer that some trainers look up to you have been one of the top trainers in the league and i think you might be going through a stage that you love the flat game and feel the time and effort you put in is not working out has it did in past series. Please stay until the end of the season and maybe switch to a combined game although i suspect you would hate the thought of having jumpers lol. Gray

Author:	HurricaneRun [ Tue Jan 26, 2021 5:52 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: farcical!
I think my own league results in first season suggest the combined game is certainly the way to go but I definitely have sacrificed finding good 3yos and juveniles - can't seem to get anything going on that side of things! You could play it just to find some better older flat horses and avoid the jumps side of things if you have no interest in that code. Totally agree on field sizes but what we need to do is look at something that will work more effectively next season to bring the schedule and the racekit and handicapping together and make it more aligned. At the moment there are too many 0-70 races with tiny field sizes which I assume means there aren't enough horses rated that low. The racekit also doesn't appear to drop the ratings of NH horses at all, whereas the flat does seem to reduce the rating for poor performance in a handicap. It also seems to hugely punish wins on certain tracks, particularly those outside the UK. I have seen horses going up a few lbs for wins or close runs in UK handicaps and others go up 15 lbs+ for winning an Irish or French handicap. What I'd personally recommend, is getting 2 trainers from each 'tier' to get together post-season (with Gray as the president) and discuss the best way to adapt the league schedule, handicapping, stable size/window, and general running of the league to make it even better for the future. They could then make sure we have a balanced view that creates something enjoyable for all types of trainer. We have a great league that is mostly super enjoyable and it would be a massive shame to lose it.

Author:	Lordedaw [ Tue Jan 26, 2021 6:07 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: farcical!
Not getting involved in a big discussion but a lot of it is to do with the make up of the stables and the handicapping. Everyone saw older horses winning everything last season so more older horses being uploaded that can't run in the 3yo races. Also don't seem to be as many 2yo. Then on the hcap side horses are not moving up and down as much as they used to hence the bottom end is not being replenished. Some of the horses that would have been rated in the 60s and 70s are 10lb higher than they used to be. I should think Leon will fix this easily for next season simply by amending some of the bandings. Now we know what the auto handicapping does we can allow for its inadequacies. This was always going to be a season of learning. Just because I always like to make a curve ball statement how about this … Instead of lowering stable size put it in quotas for age groups.

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Author:	jalupen [ Wed Jan 27, 2021 5:54 am ]
Post subject:	Re: farcical!
Gray the problem is with the game why should i have to play a combined schedule to be competetive the league mode was set up to be fair to ALL which it is not if there is a bias towards combined. the AI is awful when u get 20 runners round a bend and they run 15 deep even over longer distances.this game has really lost its shine it seems to have gone backwards not forwards and mark really needs to look at league mode if he can find the time as its a bad game even the normal play is the same which is something i thought i'd never say the worse thing is no one can argue the point its plain for all to see and i've invested more than enough time in the SO series throughout the years to know when it ain't really worth it anymore until something is sorted out.to make it fair for ALL

Author:	NPG319 [ Wed Jan 27, 2021 6:24 am ]
Post subject:	Re: farcical!
I think Mark needs to take over the league. Make his own version of TOM that he can update from time to time with someone within the league (Gray) to keep an eye on it leading up to and through out the league season. Mark also needs to make something up (within his version of TOM) that completely stream lines manual handicapping. The racekit is obviously too ridged in the way it handicaps and it is showing with low rated races not attracting many horses OR the schedule needs to be rewritten to reflect the racekit ratings and it's lack of scope. The game itself needs to be ironed out - personally I don't want to play an English combined game to get good horses - I want to play an Australian game. I or anyone else shouldn't be disadvantaged because of that.

Author:	NeedGlue? [ Wed Jan 27, 2021 9:25 am ]
Post subject:	Re: farcical!
The combined thing isn't ideal, I think a lot of the pain would be taken away if they allowed Flat Only trainers to transfer their stable into a new combined game as a one off. They shouldn't be punished for not knowing that combined is easier in this version. The field sizes are a real problem, if your horse isn't a front runner and are drawn over 10 then the race is a non-starter. I know Mark reduced some of the draw bias previously, is there a way to completely irradicate it altogether? Even with the above issues i'm enjoying this season, although I sense that's mainly because it's my first season in a long while. I know it will never be perfect but i'm sure it can improve from where it is.

Author:	basilthedog89 [ Wed Jan 27, 2021 2:28 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: farcical!
I'm enjoying the league even though I'm struggling badly as a first year trainer. I will say that, if it's true, it is really unfair if the combined game provides an advantage. Are we sure this is true? Im Australian and a jumps game doesn't interest me in the slightest.

Author:	David1uk [ Wed Jan 27, 2021 2:52 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: farcical!
Like Ryan says the Combined game is the way to go if you want better older horses mostly best at 6/7yo flat and 6/8yo Jumps always trial both but he's also right about your not likely to get many good 2/3yo horses so best to keep your flat only games for them I will be starting a flat only game to try and get better 2/3yo for next season i suggest people start a new combined game to get better older horses yes it is annoying starting another game but with this SO you can so get great league horses by season 20

Author:	jalupen [ Wed Jan 27, 2021 3:43 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: farcical!
3 h/capp wins on day 3 only to see 2 of them raised 20lb the other 16lb it just gets better and better!if they win 1 more they'll be rated in the 130's

Author:	pjrhodes1970 [ Wed Jan 27, 2021 5:55 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: farcical!
I think for those who have never had a combined game we have sadly missed the boat seems little point starting from scratch I'd rather keep plugging away with what I have Will we even have another season I see Gray and Leon pretty impossible to replace The amount of time Gray puts into this is mammoth all the volunteers who put time into this are diamonds we seem to be struggling to keep those people motivated to stay involved and life changes and some just dont have the time they had. Some peoples circumstances also change so with just 30 to 40 people involved in the league its tough to get 8 - 10 of those to run it. Its always been a struggle TBH but Gray & Leon pulled it all together for years now and both have been amazing.

Author:	jockeyryan321 [ Wed Jan 27, 2021 6:13 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: farcical!
pjrhodes1970 wrote: I think for those who have never had a combined game we have sadly missed the boat seems little point starting from scratch I'd rather keep plugging away with what I have Will we even have another season I see Gray and Leon pretty impossible to replace The amount of time Gray puts into this is mammoth all the volunteers who put time into this are diamonds we seem to be struggling to keep those people motivated to stay involved and life changes and some just dont have the time they had. Some peoples circumstances also change so with just 30 to 40 people involved in the league its tough to get 8 - 10 of those to run it. Its always been a struggle TBH but Gray & Leon pulled it all together for years now and both have been amazing. Agree Gray and Leon have been amazing the amount of effort that goes into the league, really hope we can have another enjoyful league.

Author:	SiriusChill [ Wed Jan 27, 2021 7:50 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: farcical!
jalupen wrote: 3 h/capp wins on day 3 only to see 2 of them raised 20lb the other 16lb it just gets better and better!if they win 1 more they'll be rated in the 130's Stay out of the foreign races and if you must race in them don't win by a lot. I had a 2yo beat the worst field ever at 0-70 level and her rating went from 62 to 103. or... Mark could address immediately the obvious issue with ratings achieved in foreign races. This problem happens with the race kit and in-game.

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Author:	jalupen [ Wed Jan 27, 2021 8:45 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: farcical!
or we could all go down the winchester have a nice cold pint and wait for all this to blow over hows that for a slice of fried gold.....can't even do that cos of lockdown