Community Reminder - Summer 2021 (Northern Hemisphere)

[BlackOak2]

Included in this topic:
General Thoughts & Considerations
Summer Offline Reminders
New Developments

General Thoughts & Considerations

AKA, What's been on my mind.

Here it is, July, 2021. It's been more than a year that we, the world, has been dealing with Covid. The northern hemisphere is in the smack middle of summer, the southern, the smack middle of winter.

Online, here on HWO, it's been quiet. Almost still, as the summer began and has progressed. The vaccinations for Covid have been spreading. People that have been feeling a bit cooped up have been getting out. Cabin fever has been getting the better of a lot of us. Travel has begun and in earnest.
The HWO community has regular 'quiet times' throughout the year, where players tend to take hiatuses from the game. Of these, the summer months (northern hemisphere) and the holiday season in December are the largest times. School lets out and people go visiting and vacationing. December, again, school lets out and people go holiday visiting to family and friends.

People are out and about in the summer, going places, visiting, interacting... touching all sorts of surfaces... If you've got your vaccination shot, this means that you have much less likely of a chance of contracting our (arguably) most transmittable illness right now. For those that have not yet received their vaccination, your risk is much higher. Please remember, that even if you received your vaccination, you're still liable to contract Covid and indeed liable to pass it on. Even if you don't get it, by touching a surface that is contaminated with it, you can spread it around. So, when our HWO players go out and about during these hot, summer months, keep in mind that this virus is still active, everywhere and potentially lethal to many, many people.

As for those of you that are, right now, chilly and perhaps watching the snows fall. This is the time of the year that more people stay inside. Maybe you and those you know still travel a bit. Visiting friends and family. And arguably, by staying inside, your risks for contracting Covid increase. Indeed, by being inside buildings, coming into contact with more surfaces that may be contaminated by Covid is much more regular. However, by leaving one building, perhaps you're more aware of your surroundings and you know the risks in that particular spot. By taking precautions before entrance and after exit of each place you visit, you can minimize not only your risks, but of those around you.

And, of course, this doesn't just concern Covid. This is broad spectrum. This can be for the flu, the common cold, Whooping Cough (potentially the most contagious illness worldwide), Tuberculosis (arguably the most feared illness worldwide). Tuberculosis was once known as Consumption, although the illness 'Consumption' was at first, a general catch-all.

With all this said, we shouldn't fear getting sick. But we should be aware that it exists and can happen. So, take the precautions you feel are necessary in your area and region and don't delude yourself into the notion that 'It'll NEVER happen to me!' And, if you do happen to come down sick, do the responsible thing and try not to spread it around. The simplest way of accomplishing this, is by washing your hands and wearing a mask. If possible, stay at home until your fever breaks. These are general practices however, any questions should always be asked of a doctor.

Good Luck!

Summer Offline Reminders (and winter, for those of you in the deep south)

Heat is dangerous. Remember to keep hydrated. And it's not just water that's important. Don't forget those electrolytes! A little bit of salt goes a long way. Salt allows the body to retain that water. When our body sweats, we shed both water and salt, so our water retention also decreases. This isn't to say that we need to increase our salt intake, because much of what we eat and drink has plenty of salt already included. What this means is that if you're sweating a lot, don't forget that alongside your water, you should eat a small snack. Personally, I like those little, single-serve bags of chips. Makes a world of difference for me during a break. Or, stick to drinking a bottle of electrolyte drink.
And, of course, if you're suddenly not right, understand that it's your body telling you something is wrong. Take steps to get it fixed. Being ill enhances these effects and makes things progress at an exponential rate. Be aware of your body and what it's trying to tell you.

As for our deep south HWO members. Even though it's cold, doesn't mean you sweat less. In fact, during the winter months, the body sheds more water through regulating body temperature than during the summer months. Astounding, isn't it. So, it's just as important to keep up the hydration. Although heat exhaustion is rare in winter, this doesn't mean you're safe from any temperature-related accidents. Be aware of numbness, pain and skin color. These will be your primary indications that something is already going wrong.

And, of course, enjoy your time away from HWO! The community and the game will be waiting for your eventual return.


New Developments

Now, the fun heading for HWO!

Recently, I participated in a Futurity contest here on the game.

Really? BlackOak2? You that don't do contests, actually joined one? Amazing! Wait... what is a Futurity?
A Futurity is a future event. For horses, it's a gamble-style competition. Mostly designed for breeders, a Futurity Event is the gamble that the unborn foal of a mare, or the unborn foal of a stud will do well in that competition. In real life, most Futurity entries happen when the mare is confirmed to be carrying. On HWO, since we don't yet need to worry about a mare that won't conceive, these events can be entered before the actual covering of the mare. Depending, of course, on how the competition host decides to handle it.
One thing I must note, is that the entries, both in real life and for this HWO type of contest, is firm on the foal that drops. One can decide that the foal that appears from that breeding isn't worth it and won't continue in that event, but one cannot decide that they'll be replacing said foal with another breeding. Each unborn for this type of contest will require a separate entry fee paid.

Okay, that made... some sort of sense. What was the one you entered?
I entered this one. It was an Eventing Competition. It was held for horse performance in three categories total and not in any one of the three. These three total were Show Jumping, Dressage and Cross Country.

I did see that one. How did it go?
It went fairly smoothly. Although this wasn't the first Futurity Event here on HWO, that I can recall, this one did peak my interest this time around.

Why? Or How?
Well... To begin with, I was the 'Bouncing Board' for the host, Tenacious Equine. They used me to help beat out their thoughts and issues that might arise with holding an event like this. So I was curious how it would run and what we might've missed with the initial chatter.
Besides that, my personal competition/grinder line is designed to be generalists and this Futurity Event would be a fun test to see where they were. Although the filly I produced wasn't perhaps the best dropped for this event (she is, in retrospect, quite a poor outcome for the pairing to produce), she is, overall, a quality enough production of my line and a decent body form for the eventual outcome that I have planned. Hopefully, though she failed in this Eventing Futurity contest, she'll prove better in other competition types.

So the contest went smoothly?
Relatively smoothly. Real life events got in the way at times, but since the overall schedule allowed for a bit of movement (2-month long contest), it all buttoned up within the allotted timeframe.

So, perhaps I'm interested in hosting one of these myself... what will I need to keep in mind?
Alright.
There are a few things that will affect the Futurity.
Namely, ensuring the entries don't cheat by replacing the foal and the running of the necessary competitions.

What I and Tenacious Equine would suggest, is that the account you're hosting from, IS an upgraded account. This way, you have the ability to host the necessary competitions on a weekly or monthly basis. Once the Futurity is finished, these events can be cancelled. However, you'll want to ensure that the competition doesn't 'immediate-run' on you. You will want the competition to run ONLY on the day it's scheduled to, regardless of the entries (observing 5-entry minimum, of course).

The way Tenacious Equine handled the unborn foal question, is that the parents were registered first, at their age, then once checked, were allowed to be bred. Thus the age of the mare would tell the tale, if the foal were to be replaced. Those at 4 years were easiest to check.

Some of the other things that would need to be dealt with, is training, overall timeframe and the decision of how many minimum competitions (and what level) the Futurity foals would be required to have. Tenacious Equine decided to stick with 25 competitions per discipline, in a total of 75 entries. Overage would result in a potential disqualification of said foal. Too few will result in a cap in the highest placement that foal could earn (for example, not first place, or not first and second, etc). And also, each foal would need to participate in ONE of each of the disciplines necessary competition. Tenacious Equine held the necessary competitions a couple times, so that every player entered, participated in those couple necessary competitions. One competition in Show Jumping, labeled Futurity Event (or something to that effect), one competition in Dressage and one competition in Cross Country. The foal will need to participate in each one.
For this contest, this is the way Tenacious Equine decided to set it up.

The host can decide how to handle it, but by requiring a necessary competition(s), it can help to keep the contest moving forward in a reasonable way.

Training is another issue. Futurity foals are usually restricted by age. But training is also important. It is recommended that before the contest is official, the host either offers emergency training themselves or finds a trainer or some backup trainers that are willing to cover training for the players that can't get their foals trained in time. Also, ensure that the emergency training fee is up front, so that all who enter, will know exactly how much they might need to pay forward, IF they cannot get their foal to an appropriate trainer in time.

Overall timeframe is another important factor. If too quick or short a timeframe, the host will limit the players that can get it all done in time: breeding the mare, popping the mare, training the foal, entering the foal in ALL required competitions. But if you make it too long, people might loose interest or not want to participate at all.

And finally, the competitions themselves. Futurity foals aren't the 'cream of the crop'. Necessarily. You, the host, may want to consider not forcing these unborn, unknown horses to go up against competitors that are already proven and hardcore. So choosing a line of competitions, all at level 10, will greatly decrease potential WPS, earnings, scores, etc. But also, by the same thought, making them all level 1 competitions, and requiring too many (35 entries, for example), will level-out some of the foals so they'll simply be disqualified for having too few entries in the required level. A horse can level out in as few as 4 entries, in some cases. I've had a horse that's earned their first champion title in just 4 entries and competing against valid competitors (not force-pointed competitions). In this little amount of entries, a foal can jump from level 1 to level 6, overnight. Of course, I enter my competition-trial horses in level 10's right off the bat. So that did play a big factor in what happened.
Also, be prepared to make a lot of fill-in competitions. If you, the host, decides to require a minimum of 25 of each competition, you, the host, may find that you need to MAKE all 25 of each competition, not just the necessary-entry competition.

Take a look at the contest Tenacious Equine has set up. It covers pretty much every aspect that might be a problem. Including a time-restriction on collecting the prizes and an easy way to pay for the entry fees. And don't forget to make the entry fees NON-Refundable! Regardless of if the foal participates in the events, that entry fee still goes to the pot. Besides, you, the host, can always choose to make exceptions.

Feel free to inquire about further questions.

- Enjoy the summer/winter!