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Don't want to play anymore? Deactivate your account

Official announcements about the new game.
larissar
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Don't want to play anymore? Deactivate your account

Post by larissar »

Sadly the single most frequent request we get is a user asking to have their account deactivated. Its always been a manual process and as the user base grows, so too do the number of support requests we get. So the irony is that we end up spending the majority of our time helping users who don't actually want to play anymore.

So, today's newest feature is that we've given users the ability to deactivate their own accounts now. This can be found in the Navigation panel under Settings -> Forum Settings -> Deactivate My Account.
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Re: Don't want to play anymore? Deactivate your account

Post by Poseikip »

Why would someone stop playing this game though?
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Re: Don't want to play anymore? Deactivate your account

Post by Baranduin Brewster »

Poseikip wrote:Why would someone stop playing this game though?
Anyone of a number reasons

Lack of time
Personal reasons
Maybe they are uncomfortable with certain individuals

thats just a few
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Re: Don't want to play anymore? Deactivate your account

Post by Poseikip »

Baranduin Brewster wrote:
Poseikip wrote:Why would someone stop playing this game though?
Anyone of a number reasons

Lack of time
Personal reasons
Maybe they are uncomfortable with certain individuals

thats just a few
Fair enough.
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Re: Don't want to play anymore? Deactivate your account Request for further details.

Post by Scythian »

larissar wrote:Sadly the single most frequent request we get is a user asking to have their account deactivated. Its always been a manual process and as the user base grows, so too do the number of support requests we get. So the irony is that we end up spending the majority of our time helping users who don't actually want to play anymore.

So, today's newest feature is that we've given users the ability to deactivate their own accounts now. This can be found in the Navigation panel under Settings -> Forum Settings -> Deactivate My Account.

For anyone who's afraid to hit the "Deactivate My Account" button, don't be. You get the following information:

* * *
Deactivate My Account

You can use this form to deactivate your own account. Once completed you will no longer be able to logon unless you reactivate your account. Deactivated accounts may be deleted after 30 days.

[checkbox] I really wish to deactivate my account.

I understand that after 30 days my account may be deleted. Deleted accounts cannot be recovered.

Enter your password: __________________

* * *
So nothing happens until you check the box and enter your password. You then have a thirty day grace period.

:?: During the grace period, how does a player reactivate the account?

Reminder to anyone thinking about this: simply allowing your account to sit idle is permitted, and the only "bad" result is that your Premium status goes away once it's no longer being paid for.

:?: Is Admin considering any change to this aspect of the game, like deactivating idle accounts after a set period?

Deactivate and you lose EVERYTHING -- all the classes you took, all the Player Bonuses you paid for, all the experience you gained, and ALL THE HORSES ...

:?: Amirite, Larissa? Any horse left in an inactivated account would be "retired" regardless of age?

:arrow: While it's sad to think of anyone leaving the game, sometimes it can't be prevented, and this seems like a good feature to add. Thanks again, as always, for your work for us and HWO. :) (and pony slobbers) :)
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Re: Don't want to play anymore? Deactivate your account Request for further details.

Post by larissar »

Scythian wrote: :?: During the grace period, how does a player reactivate the account?
From the 'Forgot Password?' page there is a link to Resend the activation link. If you do this you can click on the link emailed to you and reactivate your account again.
Scythian wrote: :?: Is Admin considering any change to this aspect of the game, like deactivating idle accounts after a set period?
At the moment no, we are not considering deactivating idle accounts. An account can sit idle for as long as the player likes.
Scythian wrote: Deactivate and you lose EVERYTHING -- all the classes you took, all the Player Bonuses you paid for, all the experience you gained, and ALL THE HORSES ...
Not quite. Deactivating just means you can't access the account until its reactivated. Nothing is deleted right away. After the 30 day period the account COULD be deleted (we don't actually do this yet), and once an account is deleted THEN nothing can be recovered.
Scythian wrote: :?: Amirite, Larissa? Any horse left in an inactivated account would be "retired" regardless of age?
Since we don't actually delete the deactivated accounts yet I can't say for sure what will happen with the horses, but mostly likely we will retire/delete whatever horses we can without breaking pedigrees. Then perhaps have some kind of "rescue centre" setup for any horses which can't be retired/deleted yet.
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Re: Don't want to play anymore? Deactivate your account

Post by Rosewood Equine »

There's a reason why this is a thing, I left the game for awhile because you simply take to much time to release updates you've been saying you're going to do for a while. Paint markings for example, is a huge expectation and yet still we only have appaloosas. Who's gonna breed a paint horse or a pinto breed that cant have paint markings. I love this website and everything its about but I simply cannot wait on updates to go through and take as long as they do to go through. It got boring for over a year because everything you said would come never did. Every other sim I've participated in had a monthly goal and came out with at least one new breed or new color or new feature each month to keep its game population from declining not only that but the population grew even. So, next time you give people an expectation you should follow through with it. Yes, bugs and what not are a thing but there are people who would die to be hired to help the production of a game so wonderful. I hope you can find some Alpha and Beta players because without them you're game will dwindle like it has been. I came back to only see that the last update was Christmas and this. Which is very sad. There should be much, much more by now. :( I hope things start to look up. I'd hate to see the game drop from the internet.
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Re: Don't want to play anymore? Deactivate your account

Post by Raikit »

Rosewood Equine wrote:
While I agree that a lack of updates can be frustrating, I think you need to realize exactly how small the group of people working on this game are. As far as I am aware the only people actually working on the features are Larissa and Tom. (I could be wrong on that, but that's all I know of.) Most of the big-name sim games have a much larger staff and are therefore able to get things done more quickly.

However, I also believe that HWO is dedicated to a much higher level of quality than those other games. While the updates do not come as often, when we do get a big update (like the Lp genes) it changes the entire face of the game, and does so without breaking it. Take the Lp genes, for example. The horses that already existed in the game before the genes were implemented had to be adjusted to work with the horses that had the new genes. It was also more than just an on/off switch of a horse being Lp or not Lp. Players still haven't figured out all of the mechanisms that control the game's Lp expressions. Any markings that will later be added to the game - Kit expressions, splash, etc - will have to do more than simply express themselves. They will have to interact with the genes already in the game. There are so many ways that paint markings can potentially interact with appaloosa markings that programming it is truly a tremendous undertaking. One person, working on it on their own, can not be expected to complete it - especially to the high quality level we've come to expect from HWO - in a small amount of time.

To the point of people being ready to jump in to help - HWO is very small and I'm going to take a guess that it's not a big money-maker (most sims aren't). People usually want to be paid for their work, especially when intellectual property rights are involved. I doubt that HWO makes enough money to be able to pay people to work on it. I suspect if it did that Larissa and Tom would be able to devote a lot more time to it. As it is I'm going to guess that they both have other jobs that they use to sustain themselves (not to mention lives off of the internet) and therefore have only limited time with which to work on updates to HWO.

You are not the only person frustrated by the glacial pace of updates. At the same time it is unreasonable to expect two very busy people to devote a majority of their time to an unprofitable project. Honestly I personally am glad that the game remains up - I've seen many fall by the wayside over the years - and will continue to support it by purchasing my upgrade in the hopes that it will remain so, even if it stays exactly as it is.
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Re: Don't want to play anymore? Deactivate your account

Post by Rosewood Equine »

Raikit wrote:
Rosewood Equine wrote:
While I agree that a lack of updates can be frustrating, I think you need to realize exactly how small the group of people working on this game are. As far as I am aware the only people actually working on the features are Larissa and Tom. (I could be wrong on that, but that's all I know of.) Most of the big-name sim games have a much larger staff and are therefore able to get things done more quickly.

However, I also believe that HWO is dedicated to a much higher level of quality than those other games. While the updates do not come as often, when we do get a big update (like the Lp genes) it changes the entire face of the game, and does so without breaking it. Take the Lp genes, for example. The horses that already existed in the game before the genes were implemented had to be adjusted to work with the horses that had the new genes. It was also more than just an on/off switch of a horse being Lp or not Lp. Players still haven't figured out all of the mechanisms that control the game's Lp expressions. Any markings that will later be added to the game - Kit expressions, splash, etc - will have to do more than simply express themselves. They will have to interact with the genes already in the game. There are so many ways that paint markings can potentially interact with appaloosa markings that programming it is truly a tremendous undertaking. One person, working on it on their own, can not be expected to complete it - especially to the high quality level we've come to expect from HWO - in a small amount of time.

To the point of people being ready to jump in to help - HWO is very small and I'm going to take a guess that it's not a big money-maker (most sims aren't). People usually want to be paid for their work, especially when intellectual property rights are involved. I doubt that HWO makes enough money to be able to pay people to work on it. I suspect if it did that Larissa and Tom would be able to devote a lot more time to it. As it is I'm going to guess that they both have other jobs that they use to sustain themselves (not to mention lives off of the internet) and therefore have only limited time with which to work on updates to HWO.

You are not the only person frustrated by the glacial pace of updates. At the same time it is unreasonable to expect two very busy people to devote a majority of their time to an unprofitable project. Honestly I personally am glad that the game remains up - I've seen many fall by the wayside over the years - and will continue to support it by purchasing my upgrade in the hopes that it will remain so, even if it stays exactly as it is.

you make a really valid point and it did help open my eyes on the situation but the point i was initially trying to make was the lack of updates could be a very logical reason as to why people are choosing to leave. I stayed in hopes it would move along eventually but to come back after years an literally see hardly any progress is disheartening because i love this game and you're right the quality is a lot better then most sims!
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Re: Don't want to play anymore? Deactivate your account

Post by Raikit »

Rosewood Equine wrote: you make a really valid point and it did help open my eyes on the situation but the point i was initially trying to make was the lack of updates could be a very logical reason as to why people are choosing to leave. I stayed in hopes it would move along eventually but to come back after years an literally see hardly any progress is disheartening because i love this game and you're right the quality is a lot better then most sims!
I don't disagree with you. I understand some players wanting to leave due to a lack of nothing new. I just thought it was worth pointing out (to the community at large, not just yourself :)) how unrealistic it is to expect so much from people who probably have very little time to spend here. But I'm glad you still love the game. It truly is a work of art. :)
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