SSO: Defenders versus Detractors + why are we so angry?

[@X2XImTheNewCancerX2X]

Honestly, I don't think it should actually be THAT HARD to appeal to multiple types of players. Updating the story and quests for adventurous players won't impact players who just want to chill, because they weren't paying much attention to the story anyway. Releasing fewer horses so more focus can go on the story would still give the horse-focused players plenty of Pokemon to collect, and improving animations and interactions with horses would make those collectible ponies feel more personal and relevant to make up for there being fewer of them. Of course, all this isn't taking into account that the game itself is janky as hell and out of date.

[@yvonnehawkstone980]

The thing is that they haven't listened to many for a long time for example the western and dressage (which I am part of) Community: We've got a new riding hall but regarding horses sso focused on western riders for 3/4/5 breeds in a row, as well as they got tack. Now we've got lippizans (which I really like btw, i don't get why rattle doesn't lol) but if the next horse is a dressage horse another community will feel left out. So I guess it's about to find the balance

[@deinstaliranje]

honestly this is the first time i see that the developers are struggling this badly to appeal to the audience they themselves created. it wasn't always like this, and that's the issue. i played so many different games over the years, but never were dissatisfied players this loud. or this angry. and if there was dissatisfaction it's something majority of the community gets together to try and beg developers to fix, it's something benefiting everyone (for example overwatch2 and the stupid new coins not being included in the bp).

[@novastarburst3939]

​@@yvonnehawkstone980 Tbh I don't think we have something better in show jumping and cross, most races are an ugly mess of lot of concepts and totally unreal stuff. SSO is more about running and spamming the keyboard instead of having to actually put efforts into tack choice, training and strategy.

[@yvonnehawkstone980]

@@novastarburst3939 haven't said anything against that, I'm just so used to it that it didn't come to my mind. For some races yiu have to learn it and aren't allowed to maje mistakes, butbthe only limiting factor there is Time which feels kinda odd one I think about it '^^

[@novastarburst3939]

@@yvonnehawkstone980 That was just something I noticed seeing lot of players ranting that western is forgotten. I don't really recall anything requiring to think, it's always straightforward. The only challenging part comes from the bugs.

[@anapplepie306]

Honestly, I think it’s too late for SSO. I don’t consider myself a pessimist, but SSO has gone downhill in the gameplay, the way sso treats its players, and what I’ve heard about how sso is run so much so that I don’t think it will ever make a recovery. They’ve had years to change, they’ve been given warnings and advice, and they didn’t listen. There’s no going back now.

[@unwelcomejohnny8933]

I agree As somebody who's been playing the game since 2014, and who sadly recently stopped playing it because of just how *bad* it's gotten, I've lost hope completely We've been begging for change for years now, and still nothing is being done Like come on Even the *starter horses* are *broken* and have been broken for at least a couple years now as far as I'm away, it's just depressing I couldn't even think of sso without thinking about how I missed the old sso, so I just quit playing it But honestly, I would come back if they gave us an option to revert to how sso looked before, or like if there was an "sso classic" version, like it was said in the video

[@twilightwolfpiano]

​@@unwelcomejohnny8933 wait what did they do to our beloved starter horses?

[@Noybiee]

I completely agree. They've had a million chances, and they ignored it and only thought of themselves...

[@C6BaizhuHaver]

I must Agree, I’ve been playing since the Games Release in 2011, And it’s changed And it’s become..Well it surely isn’t what they promised it would be, I’d say The Time the Game started going rapidly Downhill Was around 2018-2019 I quit Playing completely around 2022 So I can’t comment much further, But It’s fallen downhill To the point of new Return, it had its chance to change in 2018-2020 But They Didn’t change.

[@RimFaxxe]

@@twilightwolfpiano turned them into barbie horses

[@penncil6374]

A big problem as I view it is “if you treat your consumers/fans with respect they’ll treat you with respect back” and sso does not treat us with respect

[@SalemIarna]

I think the biggest problem is that when SSO decided it's target audience was going to be 8 year olds, they decided 8 year olds won't understand or enjoy anything mature. This is a change throughout children's media in general that I personally find to be insulting to children. We don't give kids enough credit, and I always use Avatar the Last Airbender as an example. It's a kids show that all ages and walks of life can enjoy. Why? Because they aren't afraid to have dark and mature themes, and they don't assume kids will be too young to handle them. A little bit of SSO's newer story content seems like it's trying to get back to a place like that, but for a long while it felt like they were dumbing down their game way too much. If they end up making Devil's Gap another dumbed down plot, I'll pretty miffed about it. As you said, updating the graphics isn't fundamentally bad, in fact I would even argue that *some* sound upgrades have been a good thing too. I was actually excited when they began to update the graphics, but then that was all they seemed to focus on, and they stopped caring about making their writing deep. If you don't have good writing backing up your story, you're basically dead in the water. Take Final Fantasy 14 for example. By today's standards, their graphics are middle tier, but it doesn't matter because they have amazing writing and make fun content. Even a game like Stardew Valley that has minimal graphics can be completely carried by good writing and fun gameplay. That's all you need, and that's what SSO needs to focus on.

[@SuicidalH]

I love this comment

[@GayToBeHere]

I agree. Recently I've watched Oliver & Company with my gf (a movie I haven't watch since I was 5). There's a terrifying, sadistic loan shark in that movie. I didn't understand all his dialogues when I was a kid but I got the big picture : scary, evil man. As an adult, I could watch it and still be scared of him because they wrote him to be a realistic criminal. Kids don't need to understand everything. And even if that guy was so terrifying I was still scared of him AS AN ADULT, I could still handle the movie as a child.

[@banca7576]

100%

[@sav2823]

And the thing is SSO wasn't always meant to be a little kid game, it was aimed at young teens-preteens and I believe older players have said there used to be some swearing back in the day. In 2017 they still put words like damn and just lighter cuss words like that in their dialogues. 12 year old me was kinda shook when someone called Anastasia's Chihuahua a "damn dog" 💀💀💀

[@WobblesandBean]

I absolutely agree. I was an 80s child, and so I was there for Secret of Nimh. It TERRIFIED me. But you know, I needed it. Kids need to be challenged, it's an important part of growing up, and I'm kind of worried about what's going to happen to kids now who have every single rough edge in every aspect of their lives sanded down and sanitized.

[@Bloodshewolf]

Random thoughts: I love the girl who happily tells her riding instructor what she does in SSO and then does similar in real life. That's a riding instructor right there! My heart!

[@YTRattle]

I could not resist adding that comment! It was hella wholesome ^^

[@Sleipnir800]

SSO should rather have created a new game, like SSO 2 instead of trying to change the old engine. It's like building a house on sand, it's no safe and stable foundation. Handling the game would be much easier with a proper, modern and new base to build upon to. So yeah, I think all this will blow up into their faces eventually.

[@shizo8339]

its sad that they refuse to build a new game. They dragged the story on for way too long and now they dont want to create a new game with an unfinished story and with a risk of not getting their money's worth

[@Noybiee]

I completely agree. Eventually, their methods won't work anymore, and the players will have enough of their bs

[@RimFaxxe]

Kinda why a lot of people are making their own games now

[@VeinInthings]

I disagree. I have spent a lot of money of this game it would be awful to lose all of it.

[@shizo8339]

@@VeinInthings making a sequel doesnt mean the old game gets deleted btw. They can still have this one running and work on a better one, considering they'd still get money from people buying sc and star rider if their old game is running

[@Lilac_Dreams]

As someone who joined in late 2020 and has been playing through all the storyquests more recently i can see a clear line between 'old quests' and 'new quests.' old quests had shorter blurbs of dialogue, are easier to follow, and overall more engaging. Whereas new quests have overly long streams of dialogue most of which is useless information, and not much else. New quest also recap way way too much You can tell when a quest ended and another was added in a later update. They also retell you what to do and who to talk to over and over and over to the point where it feels like you're being 'babied along' It's not just 'older players' that think the style is inconsistent...

[@najiahorack6505]

Another big problem with the story is not just the fact they completly changed the story, its also boring, and often doesn't continue with previous storylines. Like, our character being able to control all the powers of the star riders, whats with that? Whats with the previous enemies? Garnok, mr sands etc, where are they? and what about the kallter? that strange glowing thing in dino valley etc etc... idk if this made any sense lmao

[@montanamountaingarden476]

Our characters have always been able to control all the powers of the Soul Riders, that was stated in one of the very first quest lines we did with Elizabeth when we visited the Secret Stone Circle

[@najiahorack6505]

@@montanamountaingarden476 yes i know. What nothing had happened with that. How often do they even mention and talk about the fact we control all the elements

[@canislunaticus]

I think SSO's actions would be forgiven and understood by the community if it wasn't for the fact that this is a $70 game + the in game premium currency is OVERPRICED TO HELL AND BACK and when they price their game like that it's only natural that we expect more from them.

[@Snekysnitch]

Fr, it feels like a 20$ game.

[@kristianakolesnikova6389]

@@Snekysnitchmore like f2p game….

[@RimFaxxe]

It is an MMORPG, but even then, they would earn even more money if their prices were more affordable

[@SuperJJx]

If they even tried to pretend they cared about the franchise or the players or the game or their previous work or... but no, nothing.

[@SuperJJx]

@@kristianakolesnikova6389 More like beta testing...

[@ItsNatashaFFS]

I am really driven crazy by the fact that the new horse tack does not fit ALL gen 3 horses. Fine, I'll let the older gens slide. BUT the fact that horses from a year ago cannot wear the tack is insane. I don't want to have the latest horse to use the latest tack. Another issue is lack of information on the tack. If you can't fit it on all gen 3 horses, WRITE ON THE INFORMATION BOX ON THE TACK which ones CAN. No? not even that. Pure laziness and lack of quality control at the upper management level.

[@Rafedreams]

for me, the final straw personally was completely redesigning dark riders and soul riders. They could've just added new characters. But they didn't. And if SSO never plans on bringing back the original story (which is where it's looking) then my motivation for completing the game is gone

[@banca7576]

this^^ I loved the old story sm

[@v3n0msp4rk]

same, if it's not the same story/characters, what's the point? i don't care for the newer plot points and i don't like the way characters are written anymore

[@surfinaway15]

​@v3n0msp4rk I agree... they could've just updated their old designs and kept their old personalities instead of completely changing them. Alex used to be a tough, hard-headed tomboy and now she's just... derpy and impulsive? Lisa was always shy but brave... and now she's just a 2 dimensional nice girl.

[@v3n0msp4rk]

@@surfinaway15 it's like they looked at the "main trait" and made it the only trait of the characters Alex is tomboy Linda likes books Anne... uh... rich? Lisa is there, that's about it

[@surfinaway15]

@v3n0msp4rk And Lisa was supposed to have a "punk" aesthetic and now she's like a cowgirl???

[@Wolfen__]

Remember times when the Dev team said they will never add breeding? I do, and that aged as good as milk left out in the sun for a week...

[@RimFaxxe]

Well, the original devs abandoned us. The new team doesn't care

[@surfinaway15]

I think it's because of their competitors designing and implementing complex breeding engines

[@RimFaxxe]

@@surfinaway15 no, the new team just wants to follow a trend. The original team abandoned us when we needed them, and this new team doesn't care about us.

[@surfinaway15]

@Emily_Bondevik_Official that's what I'm saying though. StarStable's competitors are implementing these breeding engines so in order to keep up they have to follow the trend.

[@Nyans]

I completely agree with the games atmosphere changing. When i was just a kid playing the game, sso felt calm and comfortable yet the mystery and dark side creeped me out. But that wasnt bad at all, it made the game more alive and feel more real. Sso was literally my second life at that phase Nowdays with all the realistic elements going away and the game becomeing overwhelmingly "bright" its just a game where i can ride digital horses now

[@vedondun7872]

I'm at a point where I've lost all hope for this game and the people behind it. Whatever happens, happens ig.

[@aerkame]

Sometimes I feel like the very tiny part of the community that joined SSO because of the comics only. I remember when I was little I had gotten a hold of these Star Shine comics and I looked them up online finding the game. Yes the horses are nice, but SSO is NOT the same at all and has gotten rid of what it started as, what it was advertised as. It used to have this unique mystery/Lovecraftian vibe to it with horses involved. I bet a good chunk of the community don't even remember that we're supposed to be concerned about Garnok being summoned or the fact that people can get possessed into scary fish demons. I'm sorry if it seems like I'm attacking SSO, I'm just so sad that the game was completely changed into something else I did not pay for.

[@ShinySonic]

IKR? Like even the soup riders themselves are forgetting we’re supposed to be scared about how garnok can rise any day since they got the book and have 4 dark riders! Like my kid self thought by 2023 the main story of sso would be completed and we would’ve defeated garnok!

[@aerkame]

@@ShinySonic Soup Riders- 😭

[@ShinySonic]

@@aerkame IM CRYING I DIDNT NOTICE IT GOT CHANGED TO SOUP 😭

[@DogDogGodFog]

Which is funny considering most of those comics seem to be lost media now.

[@bilbybloom]

One of my biggest issues with the game is how once your horse is level 15.. theres really nothing else to do with them. Sure you can continue playing quests with them, but theres no point to doing the daily races, or special events.. cause all the horse XP feels like its wasted :( What if you don't want to buy all the new horses ? Its just like one of your past videos. Star Stable, the game where you buy horses and nothing else. I hate the horse buying aspect because its created a game where your horse no longer feels special, they're just something you collect until you get bored of them then buy the next one. I miss when my horse was special to me and I took care of it everyday and rode it everywhere

[@selvavoid]

If it's anything to support your comment and your thoughts and feelings on it, I renamed my starter horse to "Leather". I wanted to name my starter "Glue" or "Futureglue", but the name Leather worked just fine too.

[@KalDoesStuff]

I am a part of the minority of players who have all of their horses maxed out, and am also lvl 22. I can confirm that I really have nothing to do, and mostly just log in weekly to get my star coins.

[@bitapetrone1220]

New(er) SSO player here. I started it up during the pandemic 'cause I was looking for more horsey games to get into. SSO hadn't appealed to me because it seemed to be aimed towards a younger demographic, but I happened upon a video of someone pushing times on a race. I enjoy competitive aspects of games so this appealed to me right away, and I found some more videos to watch. It got me to try the game and I ended up being rather surprised that the quests really weren't bad at all, and I enjoyed the story and leveling up. Once the quests are gone, the rune-runner is acquired, the spiders found, etc etc all there is left to do that is structured by the game is --racing--. I'm not interested in being social, I'm not interested in RP or Dressage clubs. But that is fine! Racing is what I wanted. I put in the effort to 'git gud' and continued to practice. But then I realized that... I can't level anymore. Once I hit a certain point I started to really be able to notice when I was losing to stats, people higher level who can just run faster. Normally in MMOs leveling and acquiring gear is part of the process, but SSO has disabled that process for newer players. If you started the game after a certain point (barring exploits) you can never level. I've been level 21 for as long as I can realistically recall. I've been waiting for SSO to address this, but they aren't. They have taken the ONLY structured content and locked new players out of it at any sort of competitive level. Yes, I'll beat a bad player who is higher level than me. It happens all the time. But someone solid? No lol. I think it's a massive issue when the only structured end-game locks out newer players. How are they supposed to maintain growth if they tell new players they will never be able to get those stats. IMAGINE if WoW locked all new players at at a max DPS/HPS output. It shatters motivation to continue to improve because certain people will always have a significant advantage. It's a ridiculous decision that makes no sense. I don't want these levels taken from the people who earned them, I just want the CHANCE to get there myself. Let us level, SSO!

[@carole5933]

Same. Hit the 21 ceiling, so champs were frustrating and that was pretty much all I had, so finally walked away for a while. Now I'm very casual about playing. One fun thing is coming back to a stack SC, and having shopping sprees, but that's about it.

[@bitapetrone1220]

@@carole5933 I feel that. I've stepped away from it a bit as well and have been just doin the daily arch route + a few races I enjoy. I imagine I'll just keep this up and do the events until they sort out progression lol. Agreed coming back to a big stack of SC is always great, but yeah once that new horse is leveled it's just more of the same :')

[@n-underwhelming]

personally my biggest grievance is the lore & story quests... i loved starshine legacy and the older story quests in sso, it all had this mysterious and intriguing feel and i was so invested in the lore. i used to watch so many theory videos about things like garnok, the alien stuff, the fridge doors etc a few years ago. going back through all that old lore and older quests recently really reminded me how well written and interconnected the story was. but that's just not the case with the newer quests. they're constantly retconning stuff and changing their own lore instead of sticking with the amazing concept they started out with, and the new quests are just kinda lackluster and poorly written, no matter how good they may look visually. i bought the game because of the quests, because it was a cool story-based mystery horse game (which is still one of the main advertising points), but it has since turned into an overpriced horse buing game with ocasional poorly written story quests. and i know that sounds kinda mean but i wouldn't be so invested in this if i didn't still love the game. i just don't know how to phrase this point as constructive criticism because the quests are out there and the lore is changed, so obviously they can't go back on that. i guess i feel sad seeing the potential of the story go to waste.

[@smilesxo06]

ikr the story wouldve been so cool to see unfold, it makes me mad that i spent my childhood playing these quests only to never know the ending. I dont care much for horses so i cant even play for that sole reason. I only log on occastionally for sentimental reasons

[@sophiaschommer7337]

I started playing in 2015 when I was a young kid. Throughout that time, SSO has meant a lot to me. I used to spend hours on the game with my friends. Now I am an adult, and the biggest thing I have learned about this game is that if you're unhappy with it, just stop taking the game seriously. When i was a kid, I took the game so seriously that I was mad when they broke their promises, or an update was trashy. Now I don't take the game seriously. I simply log on at the end of a long day to destress. I have found the game far more enjoyable that way. If I don't like an update, that's fine. I just won't play it. If I don't like a new horse, that's fine. I won't buy it. I don't buy star coins anymore as I am lifetime and just buy clothes and stuff with jorvik shillings. I like to play to collect new clothes and tack from limited events. It may sound shallow, but I simply just don't care anymore. I have real things to worry about, and SSO just helps me destress. That's why I continue playing. Sometimes I won't play for like 6 months then pop on and be active for a month. I will probably always play the game just because I enjoy it for what it is, but I don't expect anything out of the game anymore.

[@freya-the-wolf]

I have an almost identical story, down to the time I started playing, etc. I gave up on grinding forever ago. Today, I got 1st place in a champ for the very first time, after nearly 9 years of playing - and I didn't really even care that much. Although as someone who really likes a lot of the horses it does make me sad I cannot afford to buy them, since I will not buy star coins.

[@skybluepainter]

27:24 OMG, I just realized SSO is legit an abusive lover. They started out wonderful and slowly but surely became horrible with barely giving anything we wanted while taking so much. Woah. And I am so freaking ecstatic! I've never been called out on a video before! *squee*

[@silverheart5630]

"You run like a sponge horse!!" 😭 I died

[@seryth7580]

I agree with the "too little, too late" sentiment. This is not to say that I hate the game, but for me, I feel like I've gone through this cycle of really enjoying the game and looking forward to playing, to becoming frustrated once I realized it's just Pokemon with horses and that they only cater to the players who constantly spend money. Now I'm at the point of being completely indifferent to SSO - If they make positives changes that get me to play regularly again, great! If the servers were to shut down tomorrow, oh well - I have other games to play. I don't think we would mind the frequency of new horses if there was a good balance of horse releases versus actual content. Because as it stands, it feels like they're constantly asking us for money (and a lot of money at that) without giving us anything substantial in return. One big step I think they could take is to STOP DOING WEEKLY UPDATES!!! They're generally trivial and always break the game in some way. The crafting station was a big missed opportunity. Why can't we use it to dye clothes/tack or to add stats to items we'd love to wear but don't due to low/no stats? I mean, why go through the trouble of creating items most people aren't going to wear because of that? Let us save clothing/tack sets. Make rare, wild horses randomly spawn in the world that we can tame. Introduce clothes/tack/horses/areas that can only be obtained by having a certain amount of horses maxed out - giving us a reason to do the only content in game. Random thoughts - Why do I have to redo my creative settings every time I log in? Why can't we change keybinds? Why does the UI say "B" for backpack but it's actually "I"? Why do we have to jump through so many hoops to simply change an email address? My biggest question though - You played WoW without me?!?!?! Despite the treachery, you did a phenomenal job with the series ♥

[@spoon1245]

Nailed it... Started playing SSO over 11 years ago now and only log on still because of nostalgia. There's a lot to love about the game, but there's a lot to dread about it, too. The game used to be so much more gritty and adventurous, now it just feels like a fluffy soft cloud with no edge to lean on.

[@imdrunkmk427]

Sometimes nostalgia gets the best of me, for example when WoW was going down the drain I kept saying "its fine, cuz the game used to be good" It's the memory of good times that hurt , but now, 90% of SSO is just like peter with his violin from family guy, in your face going "GIVE ME MONEY GIVE ME MONEY GIVE ME MONEY" I really want more story, less side quests, less "half asked" events, less sound errors randomly showing up like in the route to valedale (near the windmill) in the forest u hear random noises for example lightning sparks or boulders, less bugs of ppl turning invisible and only clothes showing, less expensive SSO coins for the lack of content in-game (that isnt mainly recoloured gear or clothes) and less bull from the staff.... It hurts knowing a game i loved as a kid, and still love to date tho less, is slowly dying like a burnt out candle... I remember how active everyone used to be, going to every event and holiday, how hyped everyone was when even 1 new horse got added, or the "wild" horses were actually limited and not a content re-cycle buying option each month, when the promise of new player models was made, when the game broke less. I'm not saying the graphics back then were good, but I will say when me and my sister played SSO, and got to their 2nd birthday together (we have played since release, i still have 1st bday stuff but she didn't join till late) we were so hyped, almost as hyped as when fresions were released. This has been going on for years, I first got angry at SSO when i grinded so hard for the fjord, just for it to be made easily able to buy, so i sold it out of spite, and now it's basically deleted from the game anyway. Since then, theres been buggy updates, terrible "magical wilds" release, horrible gate patterns, no promises kept for content, and the staff are probably very mistreated constantly at headquarters if they're lower on priority for SSO updates that don't include horses, such as quest writers.(tho im just guessing that last part from rumours) Ok rant over , sorry about that xx I just wanted to say, it hurts my heart knowing some games can grow back like World of warcraft, but SSO is a bottomless cup. We were taught something in school, a golden lion statue was fabled once to a village , this village had 2 brothers. One was filled with pride ,the other was humble. Both brothers ventured to this golden lion statue, spoke once they approached. "you may take only what you need, and no more. Take a bucket, and fill it to what you need not desire." Then the lion opened its mouth, and spilled gold, the purest kind. One brother, took a bucket and filled it half way, careful not to let any spill, he knew this was enough to save his village from its suffering and bring it riches. The other brother, wanted his village to be so proud of him, and his victorious spoils. So he filled the bucket up to its brim, even after it was full, he continued to stuff each golden piece into the bucket, when it began to overflow, the gold he was carrying turned to mud. Outraged, the brother attacked the golden lion, saying he needed the gold so his village could be proud of him for being the richest of them all! The mud contaminated the lion, swallowing it whole, and began to drown the brother who attacked the lion. Soon, in the heat of the sun, the mud began to harden into gold. And the prideful son, now a lion once again, took it's place, to trick the next eager brother who wished to the the richest of their village. I have no idea if this story was religious or not btw, it was taughta very long time ago. But my rant kinda reminded me of this story with SSO and their greed with shoving out new horses and gear sets for money.

[@WobblesandBean]

I'm right there with you when it comes to WoW. I used to work for Blizzard, I was there when Burning Crusade launched. It was fun. But, the game has just gotten worse and worse. Everything is automated, everything is a microtransaction. It's not even a game anymore, it's an idle RPG!

[@daginganinja6916]

“It’s relaxing and calming” *me raging at fishing and the soul rider quests for the 5th time*

[@AmeliaDreambell]

Thank you for having us, Rattle! This was so fun, such a great experience, & the series turned out beautiful! Thank you for always being our voice! Can't wait to see what you do next.

[@vrubin]

I don’t play this game, but I want to make a game one day and your content has really helpful criticism. It would be nice if this game’s developers watched your videos!

[@Hannahs_Mustangs]

As someone who started playing sso in 2016, I dont HATE the game. I started playing it when i wasnt sure if I was going to get a real life horse, and the game helped me through the uncertainty. I got my first horse in 2018, and thats when my long on and off story of stable began. 2016-2018 was actually a really great time in sso in my opinion. It had an older game feel but they were giving new horses and working on cool new things. I ADORED that back then. It reminded me of when I was super super little and would play different super old games with my brothers. Then I got busy with a real horse and didn't really play sso again for about a year. I came back and it wasnt to different, I hopped back in and played for about a month. And then I got busy again and no longer even thought about it. Then my irl horse passed away from something I couldn't control, and I lost it. I tried to go back to every game I could think of to try to gain that tiny sense of peace and joy i got from playing. Star stable did give me that joy, but it had changed. 2020 star stable wasnt the same as 2016 star stable. But that was ok. Then I got a couple new horses and started to learn and grow as a horse trainer irl, and got way too busy to play any sort of video games. When i came back to sso 2 months ago I was shocked. They were pumping out new horses like nothing and giving us new tack that doesnt fit, and everything was remodeled. I COULDNT FIND MY WAY AROUND STEVES AND THE SILVERGLADE VILLAGE. 😂😂 My biggest issue right now is the tack. A few of the new bridles are legit trash. Like they are extremely abusive irl, so why put it in a child's game to teach them that it's ok for real horses? Real horses are different than fake ones, but if you teach a big enough group of people that something is ok to do to fake horses, then real horses must not mind too. I teach little kids lessons, and I hate when they ask me if they can do something that theyve seen in a horse game to my horses. (Like adjust the tack, feed them who knows what, and try making them do tricks, ect) is say no, but still. Little kids are gullible. They believe what they see or hear if it happens mulitple times. But besides all that. I dont really have a problem with sso. I usually go on their to race a few races while listening to music. For me its a good way to unwind after a hard day. Tldr: I hate some of the new bridles but I still like the game for relaxing.

[@ThatLoudCockatoo]

Just wanna say, I don't play this game. I never never played this game. I have no idea how I found yiur channel. But having this window into the drama of a community I didn't even know existed a year ago is FASCINATING.

[@charcoalangel7536]

Basically same thing here. Learning about how game devs are screwing over customers in other game ecosystems is my hobby.

[@LadyEllesmere]

I don't have friends really in sso, so eh not attached. I'm a lone wolf in game and came for game play and story.

[@youmustbekira]

As someone who started playing in 2017 and doesn't even bother to log in anymore for 2 years, I don't really have any hope left for this game. First of all because of all the points you already mentioned and second of all because SSO decided to make little kids their target audience in 2019 with the Silvergate update. The story became less and less dark, the writing lost quality and the story updates in general are not enough to keep me interested. The community changed so much that I don't even want to roleplay with other players or go into clubs anymore. Back in the day, I never felt like someone could be too old for the game because I saw a lot of older players but over the years I only see 7 to 13-year-olds in the chat. At this point, I only watch SSO critic videos because it feels good when the things we players have complained about get validated and are talked about, not because I believe SSO sees the videos and tries to be better. Thank you for making these videos, especially with all the work and background research you put into them.

[@bonehead2641]

I decided to start playing because I would get one week of free star rider and a pet, I got the pet. I did some quests, unlocked a few new areas and participated in some races. The races was fun and my starter horse was silly looking and alright. I had fun for the first two days but on the third day i was just checking to see if i received the coins. I didn't, i stopped playing and lost interest. I am excited for astride though.

[@ShinySonic]

You only get 100 free star coins each Saturday if you have membership

[@bonehead2641]

@@ShinySonic ohhhh, I wish it told me when I started.

[@SuperJJx]

Yes, people love the game for hanging out with friends, owning a horse or chilling and making your own fun, but none of those are SSO specific. There are plenty of other places you can hang with friends online, SSO isn't nearly sandboxy enough to really do anything outside of quests and races. As for owning a horse, we need more options. The nostalgia is being stripped as we speak. Same with role-playing and making up characters, I've never decided anything about my character because the game doesn't give me enough, especially anything solid, to work with. When people say "My character is a 20 something ranger who catches their own horses." I think, what's the point of connecting it to SSO? Even if you stared in SSO it makes more sense to separate it at some point, make it it's own thing. No, a game can't be stagnant, but there's progressing the game, keeping it in line with the original, and then there's slowly turning it into a completely different game. And they're not up to date on anything. Hey, I'm in the video! :D They need to commit, they need to make some choices and get. it. done. Yes, not everyone will like it no matter what they do, but it will be better once it's clear what they're doing, once things get finished, once there actually is a cohesive story to play, or you know, not. Those who don't like it will leave and those who like it will be happy, instead of this indecisive BS making everyone unhappy. Is it a generic magical horse game for small children with very basic and shallow story and lore, that's cosy and fun? Is it a continuation of Starshine Legacy with edge and adventure, with intriguing story and lore, compelling characters to bond with, that you can speculate about for years to come? While not actively dying yet, it's definitely heading that way. Yes, I love this game, I love this franchise, if I didn't then I wouldn't be here, I wouldn't be saying these things, I wouldn't be demanding better. They don't listen, or at least extremely selectively, and only when we're screaming, which causes more screaming. Do they have a test server yet? The game is for children yet completely un-moderated, they don't have customer service to speak of, they don't have in game bugreports because it would create "toO mUch woRk". Can't do X and Y because "the EngINe can't HaNdlE it" Are you working on updating the engine? "No, it's too much work." Maybe you're just not fit to run a game? Yes, they have done better but they're still doing most of the bad things! It's not enough, it's often half-assed and seems completely untested or unreviewed, it takes too damn long to the point that it is itself a slap in the face.

[@kirstenicevalley]

For me, the reason I still love Star stable is my disability. When I got diagnosed, I was mentally destroyed, because I realized that no matter how hard I might try, I will never be 'normal'. I stopped going to riding lessons, the only thing that made me happy at the time, and I stopped going to school because I thought it wouldn't matter anyway. Then I started playing, and I could get the feeling of having a horse without the fear of being judged by others. I found friends for the first time in my life, friends who wouldn't judge me. For many months, SSO was the only social interaction I had with other children my age. It made me happy, and it helped me be less scared and feel less left out. I still play today, but mostly for the repetitive task of leveling because it calms me down. I don't want to know what child me might have done if I had not had this game where I felt included, that gave me the strength of going back to school.

[@kallyywallyy]

i hope you're doing better 💗

[@sandydarkfall]

Thank you so much for having us Rattle. It was such a nice experience a honor and a true pleasure chatting with ya! ♥ Let's just say I died at some parts because I remember nothing that I said :'D ♥Great work on this video series ♥

[@kermit246]

[long ass rant here] I haven't finished the video; I'm at the end of the nostalgia section. However, my main issue with SSO is that it doesn't feel... mysterious anymore. It doesn't feel like startable in the slightest. I remember unlocking the castle as a kid and feeling not quite scared but uneasy because it was this spooky place with tree-filled ditches, the music was dark and whimsical, and the massive paintings looked down at you. And when Justin got whisked away with Sabine on that boat, the whole dark core thing, it felt important! I've recently had to grind a new account so I could play with my partner who lives overseas, and let me tell you, they've redone almost the entire main quest line. It's *terrible*. This game took up so much of my life when I was a kid and it's saddening to see that these newer players wont get to experience such a interesting atmosphere. What I loved about SSO is that it always kept me on my feet, I was always excited to wake up the next day, speedrun school and get home to see what happened to Justin and what was hiding in Dino Valley. I feel like they've kind of just... baby-fied the game. And that's... fine, I guess. But if it was perfectly fine for us growing up, I don't understand the need to make all the quests so soulless and painfully goofy. That and I feel like the main soul riders have completely lost who they once were. Lisa doesn't feel like Lisa and I feel like Alex is kinda just... rude? Idk, just my two cents about the quests. I also hate the new graphics they're god awful. It feels like a bad Minecraft texture pack and I miss the old graphics so badly. The only thing I can say its good as is letting far apart people play together and I think, as an animation student, the animations aren't that bad sometimes. I can respect the modelling [sometimes] and the animations [sometimes]. But that's really the only good things I have to say about the game in its unfortunate current state. edit: oh and the gender specific thing is fucking foul. "it's mainly a game for girls ❤". That is not the spice, sis

[@thyladymirage]

I feel exactly as you do! I loved how mysterious the game was and how serious it go at times. Lisa was my favorite character since I first played Starshine Legacy. Now, I don't even know that girl and it really saddens me to think about. They really want to market to 8 year olds and yet I was playing their games since I was 8, yet now they think kids can't handle dark mystery?

[@xresidentmedic]

I think something a lot of people forget, is that updates are scheduled weeks, even months ahead. So when something releases and it's not to the players taste, the devs might be fixing it, but it might not be released until the other scheduled updates are finished. It takes a bit of effort to add something that wasn't originally in the update, put it in the update, and release it as scheduled. Some of these updates might need to be delayed. Another thing I think could benefit the devs by a mile, is ditching the weekly update schedule and going for a monthly one instead. It would give them more time to listen to community feedback, make changes and so on and so forth. Monthly updates would mean more content and most importantly; better quality content. Weekly updates puts a lot of pressure on the company. They've stayed true to this for 11 years. The only time I remember them not updating for a week, was during the holidays. It was a single wednesday they skipped, and as far as I know, they have not skipped a single update since then. Like I said, I think monthly updates would benefit both the devs, and the community greatly. 70 bucks is a lot for a game that's not very well polished, but updating once a month could give them time to truly make the game worth the 70 bucks we pay.

[@vendaval8431]

MY COMMENT OMG RATTLE I LOVE YOU Edit: I also want to thank you for sharing not just mine but so many of our comments. It's so nice coming to this channel and having so many people to relate to and share common opinions with, especially during a time when we don't feel heard.

[@helIokitti]

Just finished the whole video!! Wanted to say thank you Rattle again for making this series, it has already caused a great impact in the community for the better. ♡ Thank you for introducing me to some new, talented content creators to subscribe to as well! ♡ It's insane to see how jurrassic the climate has changed in Star Stable, throughout this entire video I was thinking to myself .. back in the 2012-2016 era there were little to no complaints about anything for the most part, and then one day in 2017 something just changed. There was an insane amount of backlash from the community (sometimes justifiably and unjustifiably) and it's been on a down trend ever since. Although the backlash isn't as bad as it was in 2017-2019, I think part of it has to do that most of us who made an uproar in 2017 have now left or have pretty much just lost all hope in the game. Lost all hope to provide our constructive feedback knowing damn well SSO won't listen. In my honest opinion, the game has reached a point of no return. I don't think we will ever get the old elements and the old charm the game used to provide back, they have pretty much dug themselves a very very deep hole by the constant push for new horses and overpriced tack. They have made millions off of their exhausting demand for those two products, why would they go back to a routine that didn't make them nearly as much money? I don't think the game can improve much more, mostly just because of how broken their software is! They have pushed their engine to its limit apparently and the players are paying the price. They can continue to do miniscule weekly updates with little to no content involved, but we know the real reason as to why they can't produce something better. In order to "revive" the game and get everyone to be optimistic of the games future, they need to do something BIG. Like, start doing updates every other week or release a vanilla version of SSO. Unfortunately, both of these acts would create a stunt in their revenue so I'm not very hopeful that they would go through with this. Looong rant haha all my opinion though, thank you so much again for the series and thank you to all of the content creators who took the time to be involved. ♡

[@MelloriNoMori]

Sso has been very hit every few nails in a line, but the board still connects, not as good, but every year or so, they take apart the structure and hammer in the nails that stick out. It isn't a good method for a game like this.

[@ItsMe-pz9yh]

I believe it truly comes back to quality over quantity. If SSO wants to keep people playing and keep money rolling in, it’s in their best interest to listen to the community, which I truly believe they will do once money becomes a threat to them. I also think it’s important to realize that many SSO players started their SSO journey when they were young. When you’re younger, you seem to see the world in more vibrant colors and that’s normal. Maybe missing the “old Star Stable”, is just longing for memories and feelings that SSO cannot supply.

[@408mads]

I’m so early! Love you rattle! My opinion is that I started playing sso so early in my life! The quests helped me learn to read! It was very beneficial in my life when I was little, but they are WAY money driven and they make way to many horses it’s so annoying! That is only my opinion though, love you rattle!

[@WobblesandBean]

Why is everything you say an exclamation point?

[@408mads]

@@WobblesandBean idk it’s exciting?

[@AnziaSouthlord]

I want to be able to like these videos more than once, haha! I loved this series and you did such a great job with the videos! Thank you for being our voice! 💜

[@longatti]

Toxic positivity is also part of the story in the game now, which is hard to swallow too, why doI have to make friends with the villains? really star stable?

[@spoon1245]

Seriously, this!

[@ilsejustme303]

there is a bug that's almost 3 years old and 4 out 5 people have it and sso does know about the problem

[@nameless6749]

For me its more like, I log in because I want to feel nostalgic but when I do, I dont get that feeling and log off again

[@smilesxo06]

literally me, they keep changing everything even just super slightly, like how npcs talk the UI etc that theres nothing that reminds me of the sso i used to play. this wouldnt be bad thing if the game was still good but its not

[@suka2502]

​@@smilesxo06The new UI is so basic , modern , boring and colourless 😭 Idk its 'minimalistic'

[@leahspringspoon]

Just like the previous two videos this one is so well put together! Such an interesting watch, thank you for making these! 💕

[@amikuq8018]

But to really make SSO listen, you always have to hit them in their pocketbook. I was not pleased with the Lippi and the broken dressage event. I gave SSO feedback and have decided to NOT buy starcoins until one of these big updates they keep talking about is actually released. If I get bored it's break time until they release something interesting. Playing a game you dislike will only make you more unhappy. Uninstalling the game and not buying starcoins sends the clearest message that you are unhappy with the state of the game since SSO will always try to interpret daily log ins as a sign that "players must be happy enough to come by every day!"

[@ErisFrance0]

I think that in order for SSO to stand the test of time, the people working at the company need to go back to their roots. Forget about pleasing anyone, specially the share holders that scream for more new horses, and just have most of their members play the game for a month with new brand accounts, no star coins, just brand new accounts like a normal player would experience the game, just experience the game it all over again, with all the bugs and the story and side quests they seem to have forgotten and maybe even play a few of the old games and feel what being part of the community is like. It's so easy to stay in a bubble in a gaming company, seeing the list of things going up up up and focusing on everything else that screams money, money, money when in reality, games do well when they are being done by people who want to play the game, that want to implement things they would like to experience, fix things they ran across, to know where side quests lead and where the main story goes. The SSO team seems out of touch to us because I truly believe they are, they have no idea what the game feels like anymore, I mean most of the things they deliver aren't even play tested like the new champs, so clearly they aren't even sitting down and spending time to play a few hours to try those out. They are not spending time in their own creation and it shows. If they felt the bugs, the glitches, the hackers, the broken chat, the weird horse animations, al, of it first hand, if they stopped seeing dollar signs and pretty colors and actually played the game as a normal player would, they would see where their focus should be on, and it's not on pretty new horses or visual updates in my opinion. They can give SSO as many pretty paint coats as they want to appeal to the players, they can use new horses as a pretty soft shield all they want but as long as the core of the game isnt fixed for players, glitches, unfinishing stories and unfinished projects, all that, then the players will continue to leave because graphics and horses can only hold their attention for so long. SSO is a game, gameplay is its the bread, the story is the butter, fix those and the game will survive. Continue focusing on sprinkles and fancy bottle water instead and the game will fall from grace, as it as been doing for 5 years now

[@equestrianmadness969]

Amazing series guys. I have been playing this game for 9 years i think , i do have a live hate relationship with it . For example i hate the prices on clothing and tack for the latest Equestrian Festival but i do really enjoy the new dressage race . I do want to see the game grow even if it won’t give me the same feelings it did back when i was a child . I think the best thing sso can do is change their engine . And then put players on the first place not the investors. And after that i think there will for sure be a way to please both categories of players (the ones that want adventure and the ones that want a relaxing game) They just need to show that they care ( actually show not just saying it with a toxic positivity attitude)

[@equestrianmadness969]

I remember back when it was halloween I commented on their ig page about the portals it was a constructive comment but I checked the next day and it was deleted.. that doesn’t show that they listen to us

[@nyapkin]

The SSO community is definitely dipping. In a discord server for "realistic roleplay competitions", I remember that more than a year ago, there were so many people actively signing up for them. More often than not, competitions would get filled up, and people would rush to get themselves in the competition! Over time, this changed. Less and less people signed up, and cancellations of competitions became more common. The server hasn't recovered from it, and now simply do a lot less competitions. To add upon that, Star Stable Dressage (a server with about 14k members), if I remember correctly, removed the lesson system partly due to the low activity from players. Overall, players aren't participating

[@TCGrey]

With clubs as well, at least on my server. 3 or 4 years ago you simply could not run around without a club. You would get every 5 to 10 minutes a request. Nowadays I can stand at places like Steve for half an hour or an hour without a single request. The community really died down in this aspect.

[@Noybiee]

I really love your way of making these videos, rattle! You and the content creators make us feel heard 😊 And to reply to you thinking your content fan-bubble is tiny; sometimes some people would rather look for anything else but true quality = this channel and your voice.

[@Wingles_Crows]

Rattle THANK YOU SO MUCH THAT YOU PUT ME IN A VIDEO! this means alot!!!! And thanks for understanding me

[@EsmeraldaTurtlestar]

For me, Star Stable is just a part of me that I can't let go. I started playing in 2014 when I was 14. So I've been able to be there for the total redesign of the game. While I've been mostly positive about a lot of the changes, especially the graphical ones as I think they are very beautiful, I can't help but sometimes miss how the game used to be. I have seen several videos on how they have basically completely revamped the story quests and other parts, like removing the Suns Circle, the Pandoric rifts, the cold tolerance of horses in Dinovalley and so on. The latest being the teased new UI which I think is absolutely horrible. There was a period I'd say between 2019-2021 where it feels like nothing happened in the game except things no one asked for nor liked. So of course people started criticizing them a lot. Myself included, because I had such a passion for the game and hated that they did updates that felt like ruined the game. But I've been very patient with them and overall understanding too. If promised updates got cancelled, I would be understanding and then move on. What I missed back then which I think they have been better at recently is the transparency. Why are things taking so long? Why are these promises delayed again and again or even scrapped? An explanation from SSO about why it never worked is far better than pretending like nothing happened and then when asked about it, totally ignoring the question. From the end of 2021 and still to this day they have changed a lot. I would say they listen more. Much more about what the players want. In this case I think a lot of the criticism is players not knowing or agreeing on what they actually want. I saw tons of comments In January about people wanting the snow to last for the entire winter season. Then they added the snow in February and suddenly no one wanted it anymore and wanted the snow to be special for the Christmas update. So I understand it's not always easy for the developers, but I can see they are trying to listen much more than previously. One perfect example for this is that they have taken their time to finally update the games engine which, according to them, has been the main reason for their broken promises allowing us in the future to finally get the revamped closet, decorating our home stable and so much more and it makes me excited. I'm open minded and optimistic that they will finally implement these features players have been asking for ages. I can see that they are trying. Last year we got story quests three times! I was in heaven, cause I love the story quests. I know they have changed the story a lot, but I'm still invested. For me, seeing that they are finally giving areas in the game that previously had no function their well deserved attention, like Fort Maria and now the Devils Gap is to me perfect. It's all I have wanted, for these areas to finally have a purpose. I would rather have this for a while than getting new areas and leaving the already existing areas for dead. I am waiting for the day Dinovalley get's its well deserved update and attention, as well as the abandoned stable in The Forgotten Field. Although I'm not as active as I used to be back in 204-2016, Star Stable is a part of me I just can't let go. I may have my periods of two-three weeks where I don't log on at all, but I'm still there paying attention. If we get new exciting things, I'm the first one to be online after the update to check it out. Seeing how 2022 was a good year for Star Stable, and how well it has been so far in 2023 and the updates we have been promised (and so far they have been kept) I might become a regular player again. It get's me motivated and I love it. End of Bible

[@getolde7966]

Tbh, SSO was such a big part of my childhood. I watched lets plays of it since the beginning of the game, but couldn’t play until 2019. And I absolutely loved it. The memories made back then are one of my best and I absolutely love the lore behind it. It just hurts to see it all go downhill so much and them just butchering their own lore over and over again.

[@charmingbell]

I feel like SSO will unfortunately never be the same again. It had its peak and it's time for the next big horse game to take over the throne. Which game will that be? Who knows. Possibly a game that isn't infested with mictronsactions and a scummy dev team that can't take constructive criticism. One can only hope. One thing that I for the life of me cannot comprehend is the lack of moderation. Yes, I'm aware the Moderator project was put to a halt. Sure, we have a chat filter. But it is rather poor and easy to bypass. The game needs HUMAN moderation. Besides, moderators aren't necessarily only there to keep the chat clean. They can also help players, hold little events ingame and simply keep a nice and fun atmosphere for everyone in the chat. Although this time around I'd prefer adult moderators and not literal kids. Yikes. Thanks for the fantastic video as always. I'm very grateful you make this side of the community heard too. ❤

[@charmingbell]

I'd also like to add that the speed cheating situation is getting completely out of hand. I personally love beating highscores in races, finding new shortcuts and competing in championships. But lately I can't even enjoy the one thing I still play the game for. Due to this issue, I have stopped playing. I reached out to support with evidence. I have videos and screenshots of these players (who are in the same club) cheating in certain races and championships. I have legitimate proof. Was anything done about it? No. I was told they'd look into it but they couldn't tell me what would end up happening to these players. Well, judging by the fact that they're still roaming around the server and cheating, I can safely assume they did absolutely nothing. Overwatch is a good example where you get a confirmation if someone you reported was punished. It doesn't tell you who it was, it's just a little message that thanks you and lets you know they've been punished. That tiny confirmation feels nice. It's reassuring. You feel like you've been heard. I don't see why SSO can't do something similar. I'm genuinely so tired of their lack of communication.

[@RimFaxxe]

I'm really hoping the dev community can take over the market. My game is already in development, and I'm really hoping to deliver the next best horse MMO. I'm excited for all these other games though, we need more diversion in horse games

[@itzme3869]

I’ve waited for part 3 for so long!

[@Flairfoxy]

I never played the old sso. I started playing in 2018 but I play starshine legacy A LOT and I get a different feeIng. It isn’t just nostalgia Thanks for being amazing! Also with people not watching videos about star stable it’s not new anymore they have seen a million times or more!

[@Pinja04]

personallu as a player who has been playing since 2014, sso feels like its dying. there are so many bugs that ruin the last fun i used to have in this game. like when they updated the riding animations and added bunny hops, it came w a bug where your horse just randomly stops after jumping and hits obstackles even tho the actual horse is so far above it. it just makes the game not fun when u are at the first place in championship and the whole thing gets ruined because your horse just randomly stops. then there is the guests. i remember how 2014-2018 i loved this game so much and the story was so interesting. i took a brake for couple years and came back in 2020 and so many things had been just changed. guests are mostly just run from A to B and then talk to npc. also because the star riders are not the same anymore and just completely different character from what they used to be, i just get a annoyed when i have to talk to them. theyr personalities arent good and i just get a feeling of "slave" when doing guests because even if npc says, lets do this together, its always just me picking up after the star riders. i would instantly change to dark riders side if i could because from the guest i get more friendly feeling from them than the star riders. i do understand sso has to change craphics and stuff like that because the old ones are not in the same standart anymore, but i hate how sso just doesnt update craphics, but completely removes the old area and puts something new there. For example steve and silverglade used to be my favorite places and now they are completely gone. all the things that could give nostalgia to come back are removed slowly and dino is currently my favorite because its the last place where i can get the feeling of playing old sso. and the last thing thats keeping me in the game atm is just that i know my character is gonna be gone when the player update comes. i want to enjoy the character i have been playing with for almost 10 years and try to make last memories w it before its gone. I dont like how the new models look and i cant even recreate my character w the new models because there is no same body type and hairstyle in the updated version. Gonna miss my character so much and i personally will probably have funeral for it before the update comes because it has been very important part of my childhood and my time of growing up.

[@starshinesunfield3026]

I know this is a really late comment, but I am just watching this now. I personally think they overdid the snow last winter. My computer could not show the snow except in the winter village, the whole time. I was told I needed to upgrade my graphics, but I can't do that as my graphics card is an embedded one that cannot be changed. Yes, it is an old desktop by today's standards for sure, but it runs the game just fine ordinarily, and my monitor has the most beautiful, crisp color even now. Far prettier than any laptop I have seen, which usually have a bluish or purplish hue. But the snow didn't have to be hip deep on the horses, I mean, I thought it would be more like it was in the past, just a nice dusting of snow everywhere, with frosty trees and such. It was just so beautiful back then, and what I thought most of us wanted back. But instead we got absolutely dumped on, with quests of blizzards where you couldn't even see what you were doing. So, that was my opinion of the snow returning. It was like, ok, you want snow you are gonna get SNOW!

[@eleanordiamondforest3589]

When these new horse games come out, you’re absolutely right, SSO will have no choice but to make drastic changes that the players have been asking for. They’ll have to make the game match the price tag because these newer games already are! SSO will have genuine competition and i’m honestly happy it’s happening. But it’s sad it takes something like this to make genuine change occur. I guess we’ll just have to see in the end!!

[@miss_crowfoot]

**This is REALLY long one, since I never talked about this with anyone. And I just want to share my opinion.** I am really upset it ended up like this. I was original SS: Riders player (around 2011) and when my family got laptop and my cousin found out about SSO, we both started to play it (it was around 2016). We didn't need any SR, SC, jumping, ... We were just screwing around, trying to grind our only horse to flex the speed and stuff. We even used up some redeem codes for SC, so we could buy original Jorvik Ponies (because new ones weren't available at that time). But that is all gone since my cousin is now more of a GTA player and in SSO I don't see many players actually willing to screw around like I did when I was a child. I only see clubs everywhere nowadays (and I never actually joined a true dressage/racing club since it would feel like another responsibility for me to keep track of) When I log in around 2020+, I only saw cover-up by graphics. Realistic looking horses, humans, nature, better animations, ... I don't mind new graphics and I am sort of glad, they are trying to keep with with modern-looking games. But where's gameplay and story? Yeah it just seems like a cover of a thick book that has only 1 big letter on each page. I think they made the gameplay more for lazy-players. Waiting for a bus removed, buying anything anywhere, ... I can see the try for saving time for players, but I honestly liked those features since I loved travelling for those clothes and gears and mainly waiting for that bus (it just felt like the place is really alive). We have fast travel, if you already visited that place, so if you are really lazy, just hop into it. Also magic horses can now turn anytime. I thought it was supposed to be rewarding when your horse finally turns in the mysterious forest without anybody around. Nope... Not anymore. And for the contrast, we have grinding. Too much gringing. Level, acheology (still not unlocked for me), flower gathering, and much more. And story...? When I saw new characters I felt like they were different girls I grew up with. Lisa was one of the biggest disappointments I've ever seen. I really liked that tomboy look and now she's "just a country girl". Not only that but when I played any of the new/remade quests, I felt it was way too boring or just way too long for me (and I avoid big chunks in games for a good reason - I just cannot focus xD I come to games to relax, not to think way too much about that lore). I literally bought SR to witness myself that it actually got remaked to worse. I watched some SR story videos as a child so I really saw that difference sometimes. The quests feel too long and grindy. Even when it's only about dialogue. It is really grindy even when you are trying to speedrun opening new areas. Also I feel SSO lost the magic it had. I meant in lore. Yeah sure, it still has magical horses and places... But anytime I see a magic horse, I feel like it's not belonging there. It always looks out of place. The original magic horses (the old gen models + maybe the circus ones) still have that magical feeling for me, so why not those new ones...? I have honestly only one experience with Star Stable losing my trust in not adding something I wanted: Not making Czech translation for a game (I was a little child, still learning basics of english at that time). The original SS already had Czech translation, so why didn't they add it in SSO too? And I know they didn't not add it because of lack of czech speaking people in game. When I was playing around 2017-2019 I almost never saw anybody not-czech/slovak writting in chat. It was usually pure cz talk. And most of the words were censured too. Even normal casual words like verb "to be". But rn it's useless. Even when I see somebody from Czechia or Slovakia, they just accepted english as their main language in chatrooms (mainly because of clubs I guess). I still think the game can fix itself if tried enough. And when SSO crew notices the riot or similar stuff, they sure will do something about it, because they care about their money (since they have to live from it, I cannot blame them for wanting money). But this probably won't happen in next 1-4 years. As I saw in ads, SSO is targeting younger players (idk around 12 years average?? I am bad at this). Are they actually willing to go through it? I bet most of they will skip the dialogue anyway because they just want to play game with horses. They want to own horses, they want to ride horses they saw in the ad. They want to ride Shire for example. And they basically can't. Maybe SSO should make one??? horse available for normal coins. The horses could be just normal horses. Just new models, no special move, no magic, the same stats as the starter. Just. Different model and that's it. They could make it that the player can pick from 3 horses. Just like in Pokemon idk. It could be like a "Travelling Horse Market" (as it was in old times), so when they pick a horse, they cannot buy the other 2. It would make the horse more special for the player, plus they would have horse they actually liked = playing the game more even when they don't care for the story for example. But even with this all, I still somewhat enjoy SSO sometimes because as mentioned in the video, it brings: Nostalgia, Horses and Relax. I honestly don't know any other game where I can turn off the brain and just... Walk around... This is maybe the only plus I have for lack of good gameplay. That I actually don't need to do anything to relax. But I usually just have mood for it, once-twice per year, when I have time and I am after some stressful school projects. For the justification: I played SSO like a half year ago, so I missed way too many updates (mainly the bonding and dressage ones??) I do not take myself as the best SSO nerd or no-lifer, since I did reach Goldenhills just last year with lifetime SR (I am not wasting more money for those limited ones like I did as a child) And I playes SS: The Autumn Rider just today and had more fun while talking to NPCs, doing quests and messing around in races. Races might feel a bit longer sometimes (mainly when doing all 3 medals) but I just loved to slow down a bit and watch the trees around. SS lacks that depth in graphics I am used to at this time, but at least graphics do not cover the magic of SS games magic. Not like in SSO. I hope I am clear in this. SSO is a game worth playing when trying to relax, but it is still not worth enough to trust. Not yet. I know I repeated myself many times. And I am sorry if I cross-talked with my own opinions. I think many stuff here aren't just white or black. Some things have both sides. And if you read it all, you are golden little peep and deserve a nap after this xD 🙏

[@miss_crowfoot]

Oh and just another note. I understand when somebody doesn't agree with me. And also I do not look that much into social media because: - It's either not interesting enough for me - Way too much drama I do not see into comments SSO crew recieves everyday so I cannot say what was wanted more and added and how many people didn't want it added.

[@thyladymirage]

I feel this in so many ways! I honestly think the game used to be more realistic, like needing to wait for the bus or physically running to all the shops. I remember a time when SSO said they would never release magic horses because our starter horse WAS the magic horse. Now we have unicorns and fish horses running around. The things that were once made special, like the way the story once was, just no longer is the case. Most people don't see the importance of their starter horse. Why would they when the game wants you to buy all the horses on the market? I could keep going, but you've really put to words a lot of what I have been feeling as someone who has played since 2012 (including Starshine Legacy and the Star Stable Season Riders). Thank you

[@RowanWolf22]

Personally as my own little point on top of all of this; I left the SSO community because it’s insanely negative and toxic. I was part of a few super large Facebook groups and all I ever saw is people complaining- not having fun, or helping eachother; just downright complaining and not listening to anyone. I’ve felt a LOT better leaving the community behind and playing the game without looking at the community because at some point it just got so overwhelming and made me really not enjoy interacting with anyone. There are valid criticisms and definitively SSO messed up a lot, but lords forbid no one wants to see 10k+ people complain every time ANY update comes out, big or small. It’s just too much!

[@JohanNyberg77]

I must say that Abigail Pinehaven is the one who say the most thought thru, wise and true comments in all these videos. She criticizes but also explain why she criticizes and analyze the reason for the problem and what she thinks is a solution. She also tries to see the whole picture and not only from a personal point of view. I think she will go far and be successful in this world! Running a company with a MMO game targeting younger people but at the same time trying to make "older" players happy is not easy. Especially in this era when you can offend people by just mention a holyday or a special day that a majority of the players celebrate but a minority might (and I say might because most do not care) get offended. When things like this gets removed from the game just because no reason except that someone think it might be offending for some persons and we should all come together and be happy we get a very grey and boring unrelating game instead of a colorful and fun game with days and things we can relate to or for some players learn about. And then at the same time making the stockowners happy by making money and saving on the expenses but at the same time trying to expand and fix things that isn't going to make more money for the stockowners instead of putting out more horses (that make more money to the stockowners) is not easy. It's all down to the management to accept a little less income to fix the game and then make more money when the game is fixed and people are more willing to pay for the game and content in the game due to it being worth it.

[@Deja_Yu]

Ayyyyyyyy made it in :p. Great video Rattle, hope you all can save this game.

[@angustheterrible3149]

I wouldn't say SSO is dying, but something is up. We're in the middle of a festival right? Yet I barely see anyone around. Even at Champs. I guess it could be explained by the fact that people need to go to school during the day...yet these are the most active hours on my server. It's DEAD after 5:00pm, and during late nights and the mornings, I pretty much own the server and might as well be playing a solo game, there's just no one. Yet in the past, it used to be all night global chat gabbing and crowded Champs. Feels weird. Like you know that creepy but kind of fun feeling you get walking through an abandoned mall where your brain wonders for a few minutes if the zombie apocalypse finally happened...? That's basically my server.

[@RimFaxxe]

Same in poland

[@amikuq8018]

It isn't that we don't know what we want but we all want different things developed in different ways. You are correct it's hard to give clear answers to SSO when human beings do be like that. My unpopular opinion is that quests aren't the greatest content the game needs. Quests in SSO are one time play content that gives you 20 mins of content that takes hundreds of hours to produce. SSO I think needs something to add to the daily enrichment of the game- something new to do in between quests and events. Thank you for all of your insights! Loved this series Rattle!

[@stormatstormyy]

Thank you Rattle, only a few minutes into this and I know I'm going to learn so much information. Can't wait for your upcoming videos, and final points of this. The way you put together these videos and find people and information is so amazing, I love your work and am so grateful for you bringing light to this with other big creators and teaching (Me) and others about Star Stable, and the comunity.

[@kaypreston819]

I still stand by my previous comments. Star stable has become less of an adventure and more of a pretty pony dress up game. The lore and story that got me playing the game to begin with has been pretty much removed so I now no longer care about the very few story quests which come out. It’s gutting because I loved all the starshine legacy games and I played SSO religiously back in the day around work and real horses. There’s only so many ‘buying the new horse’ videos you can watch on KZbin. I miss the old sso theroy videos and discussing the story. While I respect the devs for the graphical upgrades, it’s costing the older players the lore and story they started playing for. I bought lifetime back in the day but now days just the cost of 5k star coins? Not worth the money when I can buy a AAA console title for a fraction more.

[@RimFaxxe]

I wonder how many people are there who just like me, lost their best friend. In 2017 my best friend passed away. She introduced me to the old star stable games, then springdale, then the 2010 sso beta testing... looking back at the old times, I turn back to the present day with a broken heart. We hoped for sso to improve, but in 2020 I learned of her passing. It's completely gut wrenching to see this game taking such a huge dip, I grew up with this game

[@fiizkenfiizk7645]

One of the most annoying things that made me stop playing as a racer is my horse randomly stopping because the ground isnt flat 🥲 Jumping in a slope has resulted in my horse just stopping from nowhere so many times, and sometimes you run into “pot holes” that makes you stop. Ive mailed them about it and they asked me to record where it happens… like do they even play their game

[@TuberoseKisser]

I played the game for like 2 days but I sorta echo what the teacher said when it comes to riding a horse more than a lesson can offer you. I'm poor and live in a city, I will probably never be able to ride a horse let alone see one irl. Horse games (and Skyrim) was pretty much the only way for me to ride horses.

[@CowgirlMermaid]

I'm just about 5 minitues into the video. ...You're gonna end up buying all Lippigoner coats, thoughout this video, aren't you? 😂

[@Layla-bm2oq]

I just finished watching all the parts to this and I have to say it’s very well explained! I’ve been playing SSO for few years now(since about 2017/2018). I think for me, theres just so much of an emotional connection/value, that it’s hard to actually quit playing it. Even with all those problems. Theres always many sides to changes, like explained in this series, and I do feel like it’s important to look at all that. In conclusion people are quick to judge. Which is what might make it hard to create a conclusion (or answer,in this case)to all the other factors regarding how the community has changed. I mean I guess people also grow, which might also make a factor as of how you see the world. As a child or young person you might not look at it with knowing much other background factors that are important to consider, right? (I hope it’s a bit understandable) I think it would be interesting to look at it as a diagram, which might help to get an even more accurate picture of the situation. It’s already good to know what some people see as the peak era of sso. Idk if it’s just me but knowing how long people have been playing and when they started playing is very important, not to forget other kinda more personal aspects. Why I thought of including personal aspects, in this comment, is because of myself. I haven’t been doing very well since last few years, that changed a lot of aspects, like not being able to enjoying things I used to love, as well as many, many more things. But after all looking at things with numbers makes it clear that many people struggled more during covid season. Which is even more of a reason why it should have been planned and executed better. If you know that there aren’t many employees but many people at home why not keeping them entertained. This is just one point to prove that precise planning and executing plans would have made it seem much better handled. Yes I am well aware that corona was not planned, but you could see and hear from other companies that they were firing people. If they compare their game to match the other games standards and trends, surely other info is gonna get compared as well. Not only to the game itself but to sales in general, I am sure that things related to employment are surely also heard. It’s not hard to find estimated numbers on those things if not then how would they try to keep up with trends? I see this all with a sweet but bitter aftertaste. I’ve come to terms with it, most certainly I can see an effort being made. Unarguably they could do maybe more or better. But lets not forget at the end of the day(I should be asleep but I’m not 💀)we are all humans and that kinda makes it hard to really make a one sided opinion on this specific question. I hope it’s somewhat understandable, I might edit this text when Im fully awake and focused. If you got this far please take care! Thanks for reading this! Goodnight or good day!

[@Layla-bm2oq]

I just think about what gave me such a bitter feeling. And I guess its that they changed some of the most remarkable things,that made it stand out and stay engraved in your memory. The music and sound just trigger an instant memory. And to remove that, is to remove something holding you back from getting away from that game. It just removes what made it so special, to be as special as to stay in mind even after years. Im glad they added new things,but few things are fundamental. Changing that ruins it all. Its not the same anymore, it could hold you back, but being gone? Whats gonna hold you back from wanting to feel like playing it for the first time again? And maybe have a laugh about memories made in that game? Nonetheless I still love to play this game on occasion and it will forever be the game that saved me during the time I started playing it.

[@melikesmuffins6676]

40:59 Bruh I commented about the music before but I recognize this one! I dedicated Best of You to me and my starter horse horse when the game was still full of wonder and I felt like I was in an amazing dream

[@warcatfurever101writeroffanfic]

I know nothing about SSO. I have never played it. But I have watched so many of ure vids cuz I love internet documentaries.

[@sofiapatrao2796]

Here is my thing you can like or even love a game but ignoring all of the negatives to a game just because it give you those happy feelings and comfort doesn’t seem realistic either. I loved star stable and have soooo many great memories and still play it to this day BUT I definitely see the negatives as well. It doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive imo!!

[@monthly7846]

I feel like SSO's older players, even those who started playing in that 2017-2019 phase, are aging out of the game; they've gotten older, their favourite features have been removed or changed, their clubs have disbanded, their friends have stopped playing, they finally have an income to spend on the game and they've realized how little they get out of their money. There are other games in the market now, rdr2 / botw / swem / alicia online / equestrian the game / ranch of rivershine / and so on so forth. Sure they aren't the same as sso, but if 2 or 3 games combined scratch the same itches as sso, possibly even for less money, then what is there to draw them back to sso? Rather than trying to draw these older players who've been around for years back in, SSO is trying to cater to different target group and hook in a newer, younger player base that will hopefully pay and play for a few years. They're not trying to improve the old sso and renew it for past players, they're trying to turn something shiny and new for future players. Most of the time this means older players don't leave the game on good terms too, they're annoyed and disenfranchised with a game and company they used to love AND spend money on.

[@RimFaxxe]

It's not aging that's the problem, it's how we noticed the problems. You can't brush the issues under a rug and shit on us veterans. What we once loved is now gone. World Of Warcraft still feels like world of warcraft despite having been updated, and sso is completely erasing the game's history. It's fine that they're trying to improve, but they're just not trying at all. I loved the old sharp graphics combined with the bloom effect, it felt like such a fantasy world, everything was so soft looking and magical, now the graphics make the game feel like barbie, everything looks so plastic. When I learned of my best friend's passing during the 2020 quarantine, having been unable to even say goodbye when she passed away in 2017, playing sso has become even harder to play or enjoy as I used to, knowing that she's gone, I was left with nobody to have fun with and started seeing all the issues with this game. They can't cater to only young kids, this is an MMO, they need to listen to the whole community or else they'll just die out

[@monthly7846]

I completely agree with that

[@KorraHDAMV]

Cant wait to watch the whole video, ready, set, WATCH

[@Jessie_438]

Loving the SSO videos

[@Heirgloom]

It’s also the fact that SSO has pretty much been leading the way with no competition…until now. There were no other games like this, yeah there were other horse games, but there weren’t dark cults, eldritch beings, magic, and the mysterious feel to the storyline and not just the “oh your grandpa died and left you this run down farm…gotta train and rebuild your farm” like pretty much every other horse game. So we kinda HAD to stay with SSO and go along with everything they have and haven’t done because there was no other game like this. So I think that now that there are games in the making that are doing a lot of BtS posts and blogs and people talking about how they will switch from SSO to the new game once it comes out, SSO now realizes that they now have to TRY to keep their player base. Which they have not had to do before.

[@yvonnehawkstone980]

10:07 "take a listen" - ad cx

[@Platta24]

SSO just gives my the boy who cried wolf vibe. SSO called wolf many times but there wasn’t. So when the wolf comes, no one will be interested. However, i feel like they are trying to put their cards in check, but there is a build up of cards, so they cant hold them all at once, so they either try shove and layer the cards ontop of each other, or take some at a time, sort of like bite size. Idk, its hard to pinpoint what they need to work on, but i just think that they are trying to get organised and everything; because they have competition now, so its kinda of like ok we need to get our stuff together but because there is so much that has been left or forgotten, its, its like leaving all your homework, study and assessments at the last moment. Overall i get where old players come from, but i also believe that if SSO left it as it was, compared to whats out now, it would fall. As they are trying to keep up with their weekly updates, its hard to leave certain things, as it would look out of place. However then again, some things now, such as the Connemara gen 3 looking older and out of place compared to the newer horses like the Belgium warmblood, and how some horses now have the exact same gaits but different breeds (so changed the shape and colour, but kept the gaits). Overall i just see is a the little boy who cried wolf but also, their target market it younger audience, so as we grow up we slowly fall out of that target market, which I feel the game feeds off the younger audiences optimism. But as it that sense of comfort, i have a little bit of faith that they are starting to realise this.

[@vanu2985]

This was a super nice series!! Still, right now I am just waiting for a new horse game to join the market and do its job well. While SSO is improving with their communication and updates, the game is still crumbling to pieces with bad management and broken engine - there's no excuse for those. Something I have to critique on here (and the last video) though is the voice quality - sounds great, however the volume, especially in creator commentary, isn't consistent (for example, Max Kingmoon's voice is a lot quieter than others'). It's a small nitpick, but would make listening to the video a bit more enjoyable. Thank you

[@ElloFantasy]

At this point, I'm wondering if they should just release an entirely new version of the game altogether. They could announce the creation of a brand new SSO, put their resources into creating an entirely new game that people can switch over to. If they put enough effort into creating a new server and starting from the ground up with a new engine, one that can be connected with a combined SSO account. They could bring in a new story mode, new horse models, have glitched worked out and just work on creating a different horse game that carries some of the same elements of SSO but is fresher with a more stable (no pun intended) focus. They could keep SSO's server up but allow for a transition into the new game. With a connected account, they could offer a decent amount of rewards for those who transfer. Whether it's currency that could be put towards new horses or even free horses, tack, gear, etc. Either way, I feel that SSO could find some ground to stand on if they create an entirely new game and actually use feedback from the fans to put it together. (Within reason). Yes, it most definitely would take a while to create an entirely new game. But they could have another team specific to working on it and keep the normal SSO server open all the same.

[@MAIRCA]

this is really rude to say but i do wanna see how badly sso will flop when all the horse games that are in development are released. These games are in development but are still more engaging than +70€ game

[@lajlach.5646]

I'm really old veteran player, I remember bad and good things they did + see when they listen or don't but now when we all older I just minimized my expectations + I'm deaf to promises they make, for now the only thing what I'm asking is to make all 3g horses wear new gear 'couse its like: that dressage horse cant wear new dressage gear but older dressage horse can? what on hoof than mean?

[@JohanNyberg77]

The thing with the best era of SSO being 2015-2017 and then dropping 2018-2020 is because that's when SSO put a lot of time and money on advertising in magazines, tv commercials, starcoins and starrider giveaway codes and so on. Unfortunately SSO were not prepared for the attention and for the amount of players joining the game and their servers got full and the game started lagging and crashing and also very unfortunately the grooming scumbags found a game mostly full with female teenagers, and they started to destroy the chat by forcing SSO to take action and blocking the chat more and more (for a good reason but making every nice player hate the chat as it got useless). Also Roblox got bigger and bigger during the time and many players just switched game. Being a father that have been playing SSO together with my two daughters since 2016 (and still playing) I have seen my daughters loving the game, getting new internet best friends, loosing some internet friends, loosing interest in the game due to growing up, checking in every now and then enjoying new things, hating some changes SSO made and so on. I still play the game, mostly as a relaxing online game and trying to help other players and I enjoy it. I (and I know many other players) miss the group competitions like the friendship competition in Jarlaheim on valentines day that got players together. Now during the riding festival with the group competitions I see many players being nice and saying thank you to each other and some making new friends again in the game.

[@summerdarkgoat]

I just came back to star stables after I stop playing it right after last year Christmas event. I did buy the new Lippy. Any way this video has been great and has proven a lot of point. I mostly stop playing because I wanted to take a step back from it. When I did come back, I have seen some nice improvements, but like your video said they really have not fix what needs to be fix. I can't really find a way to play a lot like I used to. when I started in 2016 it was fun. there was a lot to do, but now it's just boarding. you can't ever catch up to the people who are almost to level 24 players, and it can take years to even level up. Doing the races to level your horse's day by day feel like chores. And they won't take off the star coins caps is even more frustrating! and the bugs makes me feel motion sickness and it makes the horses bounce all over the place. they even have parts where everything goes black. The people who made Star Stables feel more like kids then kids who did play it. The one name Stacey really seems to want the game to fall and the people behind her seem to be on that same page. I just wish they would sell or give it away to someone who really wants to see it be more than what it is. If this game does fall, I am going to miss my horses, but really that's the only thing I am going to miss. Oh, and the one thing that really made me happy was that in 2016 when I started the game the starter horse was to way cartoony for me, and I hate riding it but then in 2019 or 2020 I was happy for the first update to fix the starter horse, but the 2nd update was the best for it and I really could not stop riding it.

[@emilysnail4795]

this is nothing to do with the video, i havnt started watching it yet but i just happen to be bored AND HERE YOU ARE POSTING A VIDEO rattle you are saving my life right now in my time of need

[@Zoncharo]

I mean i played for 7-8 years, i started playing wit my older sister and we somtimes still go online to train horses together but it's not the same. I don't have any quests left and i dont want to run across Jorvik to make photos of a plushie. I dont want to rp anymore cuz i grew up from it. But still sometimes i play this game makes me chill and forget about all my problems. They still make me mad, for examle this festival that i didn't even touch last year and idk if these quests were there but they made me talk to Sabine and wait ONE WEEK for a package? I never got that mad lately. I even created second account but when i saw how many thing they have deleted from the main story...

[@mistyy160]

This talk about aspects in-game are great and all, but it troubles me that people just seem to shrug off the overpricing problem? I'm not sure why, but for a game geared towards children this is literally a huge concern?? The criticism against SSO would not so intense if the game wasn't $70 just to start it. The whole "free up to level 5!" is a whole joke. You get a horse that looks real shitty compared to everything else, a bare-bones tutorial and introduction to the story and... that's it. Unless SSO has changed the beginning quests, you literally have to pay to jump. The thing about all of this is that it wouldn't be such a big deal if the game was $20-25. Maybe even $30, considering the map and quests are actually kinda big. I've played the game for about 10 years. I started the game in late 2014 and started buying 2015, so my stuff was a little cheaper back then. I paid for 1-month SR at $7.49 for 4 months before I bought Lifetime in 2015 for 69.95 (nice). I also bought 5 500 SC packs slowly over 2015, which were $14. All of this in 2015 alone was $169.91 to unlock the game.... and for just purely cosmetic mounts. Yes, we play SSO for the horses. Yes, the horses are literally what the game is based around. But guess what? The horses have not for years and STILL DON'T have actual value in the game. You just spend about $20 for a complete cosmetic mount to look pretty while you sit around at Steve's farm or Valedale. Mounts that most of the time have clearly rushed animations and gaits. In 2016, I paid $200. In 2017, $137. I stopped that year because I finally started to play other games and realized I was being horribly ripped off. But it was still too late because I'd spent $506.91 at that point. Over 400 of that was just for pixel horses. Do you know what you could do with that money? How many games you could buy? How much food? I could have paid off over half of my current PC with that. I could buy whole ass furniture with that. Instead, because I was so young and didn't understand monetary value, I begged my parents who already knew I was heartbroken at the fact we couldn't afford me any type of horse lessons until they were so sympathetic for me to fork it over. I'd do anything to get that money back. Instead I have to watch this game turn into a worse and worse capitalist money machine that has terrible bugs that affect the ability to even interact with it, yet the company refuse to fix. I hate so much to be apart of the cynical people of the community after it's been a core component of my childhood, but it's impossible to trust or be satisfied to with anything they do after realizing the company could not give less of a shit these past few years. edit: I hate how I worded this, but idk how else to say it lol. people who read this, be gentle pls

[@chloekhamxox]

I started playing also in 2014-15 and one of my friends irl who id ride with played with me. I also stopped in 2017-18 because i stopped riding irl and ive never been a super hard grinder on quests but, the feel of the quests i used to do was so good. I remember building the bridge between moorland and epona (even tho that area didnt exist yet) and being excited for that area. Or going to the mall and hanging with friends, the game feels so dead now and i have no clue how to interact with the players… also there is SO MUCH to do, when in the past it was focused on quests, training if you wanted to do champs or getting your reputation up. Now it feels so overwhelming i only want to spend the starcoins i saved up over months of not playing on horses and going back to not playing, i have nothing to do. The community is also dead, sso put no efforts in harvesting their community like they did in the past. We used to have youtube news and it was so fun to watch, big unexpected events, etc.

[@yvonnehawkstone980]

I love how you use the Instrumantal of "worst day of my life at realtalk points again and again cx (24:50,30:35)

[@NightshadeGoddess]

I really hope that SSO watches this and uses this compiled feedback to improve

[@RushikuTwT]

I really dont care about broken promises... what I really care about are bugs that have been in the game for YEARS and no one is fixing them. Like Gen 2 cat pets are bugged, pets generally jump out and in saddle bags randomly and so on.. dont bring new when the old isnt good and working!!

[@Frimbertrips]

I suppose overall after 10 years with this game I'm just apprehensive. The breeding system seems like a trap. They do state they want to remove the gambling aspect so maybe they'll do something like Horse Isle's Super Token system where you just press refresh until you find what you want through the RNG. You still can't make the horse yourself, but we secretly love that. What I do expect is for the 'Breeding' to cost money, or for the player to be required to own both the parent horses before they can breed them (resulting in 45 USD horses). I do NOT expect there to be crossbreeding. I Do NOT expect there to be variants, grades, or halfbreeds that look like crosses. But I do like the idea that they might be able to make unique horses with a list of ID's covering what their coats link to so each person can have something unique. The bonding system just strikes me as arbitrary and superfluous. This likely stems from the fact that I have been here before it was even a concept and putting in Gates and Level Blocks now just feels like putting a hedge maze in front of your door. Same destination. Same results. Just takes longer for no reason. That said, unless they add something new to go with it? That's all it'll really be. Padding. If we learned special moves, more steering options, how to sprint or something, yeah, sure. That would be neat, but right now SSO's horses are limited by their uniqueness. Which leads me into explaining how SSO's horses are limited by their uniqueness. They don't all use the same animations, they don't all have the same body shape, they don't all do the same stuff and because of that it is really, really time consuming and difficult to add one thing across the board for all of them. Retrofitting tack is a perfect example of this. Because all the horses are not similar *enough* new items don't work on old horses and it makes a mess! I really want gen 4 horses to be more uniform so the Development team can do more cool things for all of them, not just breed by breed. Then maybe they can make the bonding system worth it, make the special moves something to be learned by multiple breeds, have tack that fits every horse. It does seem like that's what they might be trying to do in order to take some weight off their backs and I like that they've been taking time to streamline the background of the game so they can make interesting changes. I think most of this last year has been technical updates and foundation work because the engine is old, broken and locked in. Last but not least some random quibbles, I want more things to do with level 15 horses. The dev team also needs to add ways to get player exp and put in a level cap for players properly so we all have a way to be on the same playing field. I have *no idea* why this has not been done already when the horses have had that for almost a decade. AND putting in a fashion system would be nice. Remove clothing and tack stats. We don't need them. Let us wear what we want, not what looks best. I spent 5 years in the same outfit because it was top of the line and I recently sold 30k schillings worth of random crap with low stats because it just takes up space. The difference in speed and performance is noticeable in bad clothes, why would I bother?

[@narukoxfox]

I really liked the series Rattle! thank you for the much bigger insight on the game!

[@helIokitti]

EXCITED!!! ♡

[@estetiikkaa]

I'm still playing for nostalgia and 'cause it has been a routine for me for the past 10 years and it's hard to get out of it; I have invested too much time into this game. For the nostalgia part, whenever I play, I seek for that nostalgia, and if I let it get too much into my head, that I can't find it anymore, I log out and usually take a break for a couple of days. I think some of it is still there but the old feeling the game brought is totally gone for me.

[@Lucielles.katelyn]

33:05 sorry bro but you are wrong. No one was complaining about old schedule and then they change it to so much worst. People get angry and they change it again but it’s still not the same schedule that we had before and so many hours got cut off. I loved doing championships in the morning because a little small group of people were there. And now I just can’t do it