HPB Trade-In Sale!

From now until Friday, June 16th at 8:30am HP time, you can trade in your HP Bucks (HPB) for HPD! 

For every 1 HPB you send to Account #1, you will be sent back $10 mill HPD!

The exchange rate is a bit different this year due to the continuous main game currency (HPD) inflation on HP, much like what we're dealing with in the offline world. With many already complaining that upgrade prices in particular are ridiculously high, flooding the market with more HPD at the previous years' rate is not a good idea, however I didn't want to scrap this yearly opportunity entirely, so I chose to adjust the currency rate return instead.

Other things to note with this sale:

- Please send all of your HPB you wish to trade in in one go...DO NOT send in 5 HPB from one of your accounts, 2 from a spare, etc. It will cut down on the millions of messages I have to process. Please consolidate all of your HPB you wish to trade onto one account and THEN send it in through a single transaction.

- Please note that it could take a little while for me to send your HPD because this is all done manually by me, blitz, and it is also currently the busiest month of the school year for me at work...so please be patient with me, I will get all of the HPD sent out as soon as I can!

Happy trading!

-Blitz

I think Panthera's analogy about PTO is actually a really good take, although I think that relies on solid communication between staff and players which I don't think has occured on this occasion. If it had been known by staff that players would purchase HPB, would the same decision have been made not to declare in advance what the new exchange rate would be? I can see why that would feel like a "gotcha" to those players. 

I am the absolute last person that should be checking anyone's math but I just want to check something on that point because I'm ending up way different. 280 mill HPD / 17.5 RLD would mean each RLD would equal 16 mill HPD, right? If that were the case and we carried over the logic, 1 HPB would equal 16 mill. I have no idea if that math is correct though and obviously it all hinges on that haha.

Regarding upgrades, I would gently suggest that the idea that players are greedy, selfish, etc for asking the going rate for an upgrade is directly contributing to a shortage of people selling them. I realise that it's not directly relevant to this thread, but it is something that has been on my mind.

My math could be very, very off and make my whole 3rd viewpoint/thoughts absolutely moot. Which is ok. I thought I had an epiphany whilst driving to my interview, but it could've been just a crooked road in my brain where I thought it was right for a moment. I'm still looking at it and still not sure how to convert everything properly in my head xD I'm a nurse, not a mathematician for a reason lol. 

Edit: I did do some editing on my hpb/hpd/usd mentioned that I may have had wrong. Still staring at it. xD

People should literally never ask me to do any sort of math that's more complicated than something I can easily do on a calculator lol, but I think Pants' math makes sense? Thank you for that analogy...hating math, it never occurred to me to use it to make that demonstration. Pants, your PTO analogy was also a very helpful perspective, so thank you!

With regards to putting a cap on the amount people could trade in instead of changing the ratio...that was also suggested back in the fall. Had we have gone that route instead of this one, I honestly don't think it would have made people lose it any less than they are right now on this thread in anger. 

Pants was on fire in her first post (haha pants on fire...) when she also had a paragraph about the origins of this flash sale. She's completely correct. The origins of the idea for this flash sale was to give people the opportunity to trade in extra HPB they had on their account(s) from having them upgraded (ie. the 1, 6, or 12 HPB you get depending on what amount of upgrade time you buy). It was never the idea for people to buy lump sums of HPB to be able to trade in during the flash sale, and if I'm not mistaken that's a newer trend this year than in years past when we've had this flash sale.

Regarding the "letting people know ahead of time" issue that people are upset about. While I can understand from a player-hat perspective that knowing things ahead of time is helpful, per our TOS (which hasn't changed since before Sam left!), something everyone has to agree to in order to create an account:

"We reserve the right to alter, modify, add to, or change any part of the game at any time without notice. Any fee, price, and/or privilege may be changed anytime without notice; this includes, but is not limited to, updates to any part of the game, the point system, number of animals a player may have, amount of game money a player receives from the bank or contests, the cost of upgrades or Horse Phenomena Bucks, and the number of accounts one player may have at one time. We are in no way obligated to compensate and/or refund players after such changes are made if the players are not happy or satisfied with the updated game."

Since I took over HP, I can't think of any drastic change we have made to the site under any of the above-mentioned things, with or without notice, nor do I really have any plans for major site changes of this nature in the forseeable future, however it is within our right to do so. HP is a company. Even if I had made the choice not to have this sale at all, I don't need to declare that it's not happening to the site, unless I had said it was happening then had to cancel it for some reason. Companies and stores online and/or offline, if they decide to not have a promotion they've done in years previous, don't sent out a media release or post on their socials to let everyone know they're not doing something. They just...don't do it. Unless I'm missing something obvious, I don't think this is any different?

I have a favourite discount book store warehouse that I like to go to every summer, that is roughly 8 hours away from my house (thankfully, otherwise I'd never have any money LOL). It's the only physical location of a company that mostly does discount books online in Canada, but I don't think is massively popular like a Chapters or Barnes and Noble. They're not a mom-and-pop, but they're not a massive multi-million-dollar corporate chain. Prior to the pandemic, they used to have a yearly box sale, where you could put as many books as you could fit into a specific-sized box for a flat-rate cost. They would do it once a year, and it was very popular, with people lined up outside their store at dawn hours before they opened waiting to be the first in line to take advantage. Obviously during the pandemic, they couldn't run it with social distancing, lockdowns, etc. A few months ago I called the store to find out when they would be having the sale again and was told not for the forseeable future. I was very sad about it (who wouldn't be...), but I told them I understood. Did they announce it on the socials that it was indefinitely cancelled? No, because that's not what companies generally do, again unless it's to cancel an event already announced.

I came back last year from a 2 year hiatus and my first event back was the HPB exchange and when I saw the exchange rate I was SHOOK. I couldn't believe how much HPD they were giving out for an HPB. So for me, I'm not surprised that it was lowered. Am I sad about it? Sure, but I don't know it just doesn't make me feel as, let say "passionate", as some of these combative replies. Will I be participating in the exchange this year? No, it's not worth it to me but that's okay, its really not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of this game. I myself spent $20 RLD on HPB the day before the exchange to use in the cash shop and have the leftovers for the exchange so sure I was bummed, but I'm not MAD about it because I know I will use them. 

Inflation is a HUGE issue. I mean I cling on to every dollar and I spend my RL money on this game as wisely as I can. I feel there is NO correct answer to deal with inflation. Will I accept a 300mil bid on my 6 mo upgrade? Heck yeah. Because I'm poor, and selling upgrades is pretty much my ONLY form of income. I do agree that being told I'm greedy for accepting inflated bids hurts my feelings a bit and does keep me from selling more. But what should I do? Let my own game suffer to allow others to buy something for cheaper than the going rate? No thank you. Inflation sucks, but it's nobodies fault. And lets admit, inflation is the issue here. They didn't change things for fun or so that we could get upset with them. Everything will suffer because of real life inflation: upgrade prices, ticket prices, exchange rates, people not being able to afford to play at the same scale. It's just the way the cookie crumbles.

How about instead of getting upset, we use that energy to try and come up with solutions to help with the current state of in-game inflation instead of pointing fingers at those who are. I see no end in sight, but I also live in America so call me jaded. xD 

Knew I was forgetting something in my previous reply...

Not once have I ever said people who accept inflated bids are greedy, nor have I intended to imply that. If something I've said at some point in the past has made you think that's what I'm saying, then I apologize, because that has never EVER been my intent.

What I have tried to ask of people is that they don't massively overbid on something super in demand, basically throwing money at it to guaranee they get it over someone who isn't as fortunate to have that kind of money they can freely throw around. For example, two players are in a bidding war for my 200k pointed backup Appaloosa filly with normal, non-special lines. The going rate for one of my backups is $5 mill. Enter Bob and Joe. Bob is sitting on several billion in his HP savings. Joe is a newer but still dedicated player who has $500 mill to their name. Bob bids $5 mill, then Joe bids $7 mill, Bob bumps it to $10 mill, Joe goes $12 mill, then Bob jumps it to $50 mill because he can, he has the money. He knows the foal isn't nearly worth that, but he throws far too much money at it anyways, knowing it'll make him win. It's that type of bidding I've been talking about.

Arzu, as for your "living in America" comment, try living in Canada, where a 6 month upgrade on here is now costing me $24-25 CAD...pre-pandemic, it cost me like $18-19 with the exchange rate...

*popping in*
Just noting that I'm acknowledging this thread and will put my little 2cents in later on Friday. Today was a rough at work day and I only have a smal amount of energy and sanity left over to enter shows before crashing. So I'm not ingnoring while online!

Yes, people would be upset no matter what because they have adjusted to the benefits this sale's existence has created for them. Limiting the amount of HPB each player could trade in without earlier notice would have created a similar response, but it would appear fair and make more sense for the changes you are trying to make. The main issue is primarily the notice which may have prevented players from using it as an HPD equivalent currency in exchange for goods/services or purchasing HPB on its own.

You cannot hide behind the "we didn't realize people would buy HPB for this sale." As a staff member, you should know the products your website sells. It was your responsibility to have the foresight to recognize that your players could utilize, or even abuse, this. Like a few of the other players on this thread, I was shocked when the sale was announced in 2021 because it was clear there was potential for an enormous amount of currency. The trade-in value was too high and instantly outperformed every other avenue for earning funds; this included selling upgrades, as long as you were okay waiting the entire year to cash out. The staff team failed to recognize the long-term consequences, and now that you've seen the results, you want to change it. That is understandable, but you fail to realize that you changed how several players interacted with your game for years and are trying to claim no responsibility despite profiting from it.

Since the fall of last year, you've known inflation was an issue. You must've understood that this sale contributed heavily to that inflation because it came up in the conversation between staff. You knew you would adjust it to be less profitable or cancel it entirely. Still, you continued to let people purchase goods from your website and use it as a method of in-game payment between players in anticipation. You needed to publish a news post back in late fall or early winter stating that the HPB sale that ran the previous two years would potentially cease to exist, or if it did occur, it would be for a much lower rate than before. You addressed inflation several times, and including this sale in your posts would've been on point and expected. But you didn't do this. You never even mentioned it, so people continued to purchase HPB and use it for currency at the predicted rate it would be valued at once this summer arrived.

Terms of service are intended to protect the company. As a result, it offers minimal protection for the consumer aside from what is legally required. Your TOS has many examples of things you are not "obligated" to do, but you do them in most cases. So, of course, it is written as "we can change things whenever we want to without any notice given" to protect you in uncommon situations where weird circumstances are at play. However, consumers expect honesty, fairness, integrity, and understanding from the businesses they invest in. Good business ethics include being forthright about changes as soon as possible to not unfairly profit from being consciously ambiguous or withholding pertinent information that may alter how they engage with or desire to invest in your product. It is considered polite and considerate and fosters a fantastic relationship between you and your consumers where they can trust that you are looking out for them as much as you're looking out for yourselves.

People make mistakes. Looking back, introducing this sale was one. I know it was. Sure, people would be upset with any change, but you handle it as best as possible so all parties feel respected and ensure you have the consumer's best interests in mind. This decision and the replies you have made do not give this impression. Your words lack empathy, compassion, and an understanding of how misleading your choices up to this point and your post the day before the sale was. Your failure to acknowledge this as an issue speaks volumes. As you previously stated in an earlier post, you are human. The entire staff team is. If you made a mistake, own up to it. No one is actively asking you to change your decision; I feel fooled and don't want to feel this way again. Doubling down that you are not required to inform us ahead of time of any changes underlines that this can and will happen again. Is better transparency where real-life money transactions are involved too much to ask for?

P.S. I hope we are all adult enough to read with an understanding of the situation and not internalize my posts as attacks on individuals. I've spoken with many staff members at length over the years and was once on staff myself. I care immensely about this game, and my posts point out what I fear are dangerous situations or conditions that impede the game's ability to do well or affect the well-being of the player base. If staff would prefer I took these concerns to them directly instead of publicly, I would happily do so. I am not out to create a hostile environment. However, I am direct and to the point, and I do not enjoy sugarcoating to make it easier to swallow. I apologize if I offend or upset anyone by taking this approach. I have no ill feelings towards any individuals, only some of the decisions that have been made.

I have no hope of explaining my feelings regarding this any more eloquently than Jade has above, and as she has done such a beautiful job of it, I don't believe that I have any necessity to. So thank you, Jade, for always being capable of approaching things in a calm, frank, and incredibly diplomatic manner. 

I live in canada too and I am literally paying the same amount that Blitz is for the upgrades of my accounts. I also don't see anywhere in the post where it says "if you accept inflated bids, you are a greedy person." I am not sure where that came from because not ONCE was that ever said. 

When I read some of these comments, I am just sitting here shaking my head. It's also getting to the point where I don't even want to be on HP anymore because when I "stick up" for myself or someone else I'm the one that gets hurt in the end. 

We are all entitled to have our thoughts and opinions on things, theres absolutly nothing wrong with that, but when it comes to lashing out at others that is something that I cannot and won't put up with. We are supposed to be a community, but recently it feels as if we are all on a rampage to have it out with one another, and I don't want anything to do with it. This is my final comment, I've got nothing more to say...

A message from Blitz while she tries to get herself back online

“I am not ignoring this. I have things to say that I’m hoping will help resolve this whole situation. Unfortunately the school I’m at today, which is the same school I was at yesterday, still has no internet or cell service. I’m currently standing outside in the rain to get enough data to send this to City for her to post (lol). Please hold tight and be calm until I am able to catch up on this thread and post what I want to post. Thank you!”

Rosa is awesome, Rosa is fine, Rosa didn't write this...

Thank you City and blitz! :)

Blitz here. Wifi issue at work is with the provider, not something to do with the school's network. Aka it's the connection coming into the school not the one within the building. So we're all at the mercy of the company coming to fix it, which could be an hour, could be next Friday.

I'm at Starbucks on my lunch to check my email. I've taken screenshots on my phone of the new posts since I was on last night. I will try to read them this afternoon and work on drafting a reply in my phone notes to post when I get home. I also of course have an end of year staff party tonight and will only have like an hour to be online between work and party. 

Just to keep you all updated!

I will say that my words or even phrasing isn't as eloquently typed out as others, or if they'll make any sense due to the possible amount of hurt people are feeling as emotions do tend to overshadow in the moment clarity. I'm going to try though, so please bear with me...

*admin hat*
First off I do want to apologize for all this huff-and trouble this is causing anyone!
The tone of this whole situation does come off as negative and slightly disrespectful to our fellow players/admin alike. Direct and straightforward is good so everyone can try to be on the same page of understanding, but everyone will interpret as they themselves can understand, and are responsible for their own actions and emotions behind their text. Myself included, none of us are an exception.

It does sting on the other hand to be directed at publicly that our decisions on things were wrong and not the way to go. Reading back, some of those words do hurt on a personal level because HP is a job that is one of the few that I truly love to have and be able work on! Does it pay the bills, honestly not really, but do I keep doing what I do, absolutely! It's because of the community involved and seeing others happy playing makes me feel like I have a small part in making someone else's day a little better. I take my jobs seriously, but I am always fluid in my ability to adapt and learn. Never just straight forward this it how it is and that's how it's going to be forever and ever, no. I don't think any of us currently are professional businesswomen out in the real world, so yes we are learning as we go. We always welcome constructive criticism/concerns/thoughts/opinions/ideas/etc. via direct HP messages, Anon Feedback Forms, and so on, but until just recently not really anyone has spoken up about much of anything! So from receiving a direct public lash out over a sale kinda does feel like a smack to the face for even continuing on the opportunity in the first place.

It is never-ever-ever our intentions to cause trouble for or on HP!
We take quite a few discussions across the admin board for any potential changes and even go to big boss Sam if it is serious enough. Which in this case we did, that's why it took so long to even consider still running the sale this year with how the HP economy has been. Would the reaction of the markdown been different if we said "15mill HPD per 1 HPB" ? Probably not, someone would of still gotten hurt or upset over it because that's how life is. There's always going to be someone upset about something someone else decided or because so and so is in charge and not running things the way they think they should be run. Prices aren't grandfathered in and are subject to change across HP as a whole and because some things have stayed the same for x amount of years doesn't mean that they'll continue to stay that way, now don't take that as a threat by any means, just as a point out that anything is subject to change.

Prices on every day items in the real world change very frequently and often without little notice, if any notice at all. HPB is available for purchase year round, so for HP standards lets say, it'd be considered in my mind an every day item. We don't offer the HPB to buy only for the purpose of this trade-in sale, as you get HPB per every time and account has upgrade time added to it, or if it's offered as an event prize or raffle item. Ultimately it is up to the individual player to decide how they're going to then use what they purchased as they want. We do not force anyone to participate in anything that they don't like or want to be a part of. HP is awesome in the fact that you have the flexibility to play your own game instead of following along with the popular crowd or what have you.


*player hat*
I'm one of those players who scrimp and save every HPD to play. I may help manage a large amount of other accounts but those funds stay to manage those accounts. I do not possess the artistic ability to create images or the understanding of providing coding for services to gain an income. I'm also not financially well enough in the real world to offer upgrades in exchange via the auctions or through private sales for services. I just can't, so I don't. What I do do when time allows is participate in club run activities, any EC activities that offer HPD prizes, and enter raffles in the hopes my name gets drawn.

I can't and don't participate in any of the bigger events that offer HPD as prizes (if HPD is considered for a prize that go around) since with my admin badge and title of community manager I'm overseeing and hosting the event. With the exception of Christmas in July/24 DoC since each day is hosted by other members of staff, so I can have a little bit of fun while funding my own game play. I choose to have a smaller amount of animals in training along with being tight on purchasing anything from auctions, or buying more breeds, just to keep my funds available to afford upgrades via auctions or for anything I really-really want on HP. Yes, it has taken me several years to save up for this hopefully giant project that is now quickly coming up in a month and a half, but that's just me planning ahead for forever ago, and knowing that time adds up and participating in things do as well. xD

Personally I chose not to participate in this trade-in sale this go around because of my project coming up right around the corner. De-agings, Perm energy, Breeding boosts, and hopefully not Gender changings add up haha! So at the current moment I need all my HPB I've been able to stash away over the past year. If I was still in the however long many months/years out from my project I would of traded my HPB to continue building my HPD piggy bank even if the exchange rate was lowered. In my hoard of savings with this project it's all going to be going back out into the HP world from purchasing tickets and buying show spots. Not saying that my own HPD funds will help boost anyone else's vastly by any means, or even if at all. Something is better than nothing, and knowing that I have the availability to choose to participate in something is okay even if it's something that didn't go the way I was hoping it would go.

*Edited: Wednesdays & Thursdays are my super stupid busy days so I do apologize for the delayed response.*

(As an aside, all day today it's been like living in the early 1990s at work lol. No wifi since yesterday in a school that you have to sit in your car in the parking lot to get cell service even with functioning wifi. In order to be able to read and reply to the posts since my last one yesterday, I had to drive to Starbucks on my lunch break, take screenshots on my phone of the new posts, and I'm now typing all of this reply into a notepad doc on my work computer to take photos of the screen when I'm done, to then re-type it when I get home from work back to the 21st century. AND I thought the staff party was at 5:30 but it's actually at 4, so I'm now going to be super late to it to type this up, because I didn't feel like it could wait until after, after I've already made you all wait all day for me. Just to give you an idea of what effort went into this post lmao)

In the below post, I am going to first address and reply to comments made since my last post yesterday, and then the second half of this will be what I would like to say and would have said earlier today if I had wifi.

Addressing comments (in order of when they were made, not in order of priority, in point form):

- I am not hiding behind the "we didn't realize people would buy HPB for this sale". It's a statement of fact. I have not noticed in previous HPB trade-in flash sales that people have done this. I do know that people buy our "products" with RLD but I'm not monitoring Paypal that closely, nor watching everyone's in-game transactions to see what people are spending and how. I can see what's advertised in chat and on the forums, sure, but I'm not watching as closely as you're alluding to. I don't think "OK, Fred just spent $30 on HPB, now I"m going to watch what he spends it on. Oh hey, he spent it on a retirement breeding and is now trying to trade the rest to Bill for HPD." For all I know, if Fred is advertising looking to trade HPD for HPB, it's to do a bunch of retirement breedings and he knows BIll needs money for a project, not that Fred is creating a stockpile of HPB waiting for the flash sale. It honestly didn't occur to me that players would buy HPB ahead of time to specificaly use for this. I can't read minds, I don't see into the future, and honestly it's none of my business what people choose to do with what products they buy on this game, providing they're not buying stuff to cheat, hack, etc., which is why I don't closely monitor what I believe you're suggesting. If I go to the grocery store to buy an apple, so long as I pay for it and don't steal it or use it to break a window, the cashier nor the store manager nor the CEO cares that I'm going to go home and use it to bake a pie.

- Jade, I'm not sure if you actually mean the 2021 sale two years ago vs the one last year in 2022? The flash sale actually dates back to Sam's era in 2019, not 2021 like players in this thread have said. Sale wasn't my invention, it was Sam's. Either way. I will fully admin that, last year during the 2022 sale, I was half-way through sending the HPD to people who had traded in, realized exactly how much money I was sending people, and thought "shit, this is a LOT of money to be putting into the game". I do not remember the 2021 sale having as much HPB traded in as the 2022 sale. (And those that were sending in massive amounts of HPB were players with a lot of upgrades to their name, so as far as I could tell the HPB was from the upgrades, not from buying it directly from the cash shop.) When I saw how much I was sending, however, I couldn't exactly message people and say "hey, here's your HPB back, it turns out it's too much so you're not getting it after all". The sale had to be finished, and I had the first thought in my head that I should probably look at the sale for next year. Fast forward to this past fall when the discussion about upgrade prices happend in October/November, when we really started to see the results of that big dump of money. There was just too much in the game, which is when I started talking to Sam about it asking for tips about decreasing the rampant inflation that was happening, because economist/mathematician I am very much not, plus Sam had ran HP for 10 years and had seen the ups and downs of the HP economy, so I needed her wisdom. We spitballed some ideas for how to pull some currency back out of circulation, how to not flood it with more in the future, etc., which is where the idea to adjust this sale came in. Like I said before, I put a pin in it to revisit in the spring once I saw where the market was at. We also saw some inflation issues above and beyond the typical during mascot this year. Mascot always causes a spike in ticket prices, as there are a finite number of upgrades/tickets, and people always end up having to pay more because tickets are more in depamnd, and then the prices go down again after the contest is over and there's less demand. This year was a bit different, as people were doing that bidding thing I mentioned in an earlier post that I hate...throwing way more money than the going rate of up-bid. Like jumping the bigs by $100k as opposed to the $10k like earlier bids between the same two players for someone's tickets. Luckily that didn't last post-contest and prices have gone back down.

- I didn't purposely not mention ahead of time that the HPB sale was going to change, that the rate would change to X. I literally made the decision last Saturday what the new rate was going to be. I messaged the other admins, said something to the gist of "ok. HPB sale. Change the rate? What should it be?" and went from there. It hasn't been me/us watching for months as people buy HPB from each other and from the site itself, knowing they're stockpiling it but that the rate will be $10 mill not $25 mill, and having a chuckle that people will be blindsighted. It was literally me sending that message to the admin chat Saturday knowing that this week would be one I could have the time to process the trades Wedn-Fri with how the week was going to be at work, us spitballing some numbers, coming to an agreement, and me adding the sale to the calendar. I couldn't have posted back in the fall that it was going to be a big change when I didn't even know if or what the change woul dbe. People would ask questions, would ask for details so they could plan, and I literally didn't have them, because again I can't see into the future to know what the economy would be in 8 months to make the decsion as to what the sale needed to look like. This is how I felt when all of it was happening. Would it have been helpful if I had said something, said "I don't know what it will look like, but it will change"? Or said something similar but with "more details" like "could be a cap on the amount, could be a lower exchange rate" and run the risk of it ending up being a third unknown-at-the-time option? (Actual questions I'm asking, not hypothetical....just to make that clear!).

- TOS. I included references to it to demonstrate that I/we are within rights to make changes to the game with no notice. I was not trying to hid behind that page. I felt that people were teling me "you can't do that!" and I was trying to show that I actually can per that agreement. I am allowed to, but that doesn't mean I should, and I am realizing that more and more with every reply to this thread. I understand that it is not a popular thing with everyone, and violates personal relationships and trust. In the future, when possible, I will try my best to communicate with the game as a whole when and if something is going to change, to the best of my abilities. I apologize.

- Regarding your paragraph, Jade, that calls me out for using "words [that] lack empathy, compassion, and an understanding of how misleading [my] choices up to this point and [my] post the day before the sale was"...I have and always will have the best of intentions with every decision I make with regards to HP. I am not trying to aienate be a brick wall unwielding authority, or anything similar with other staff or non-staff players. I am trying my best to do what I think is best, and apparently that seems to be increasingly blowing up in my face (lol). Players were expressing frustration about inflation in the game, the cost of things, the unavailablity of others, and I was trying to do something that I and other admins thought would help fix the issue in a way I had the ability to do. This is the first game I have every been in charge of. The first game I have ever been on staff as a mod or admin on. Other than instructions on how to run each big event (double points month, mascot, etc), it did not come with a "how to be director of HP" manual. With any changes I make to the game as a whole, be it rates, changed features, whatever, I try my best and hope for the best. I also make a point of not letting how a new proposed thing might affect Blitz the player sway my decision or input on whether or not something should happen. Player hat Blitz and admin Blitz are separate decision makers.

Now for what I would like to say:

First, I would like to thank everyone who held off on replying after I asked through City this morning, waiting for me to say what I have to say. I was concerned that this post would (continue to) run away before I had a chance to say something and maybe (hopefully!) ease some of the tension surrounding all of the issues that have been brought up here in the last 48 hours. There's nothing more frustrating than being completey cut off when you you know you REALY need/want to say something. So thank you, I appreciate it!

As I reiterated multiple times in weeks and months past, I do value input from all players on the game. I want players to be able to say what they feel, again providing it doesn't break a HP rule, attack someone, etc. I feel that constructive comments, suggestions, and criticism are really valuable, help the game improve, and help me be a better director. Jade's last post specifically about communication needing to better? Very helpful. I'm taking that in, with plans to continue to work on that. I feel that I have made a bit of improvement in that area prior to this thread with the anonymous suggestions/feedback form, and addressing publically my responses to the suggestions on a monthly basis. I think that's a good thing? I do recognize that I still clearly have a long way to go. There will obviously be things I can't share with the whole site, but I will work and continue to work to better communicate any changes as I can.

I believe this thread started out well. I posted a copy of the news. A few players commented with thanks, yay I sent some, etc. Typical replies to most of my news post copies lol. Mako questioned the reason behind it, which again, totally fine, wanting clarification, etc. I encourage questions when you're unsure. Comments. Suggestions. They're great. I think where things took a dip was when the thread got a bit antagonistic in the middle area, somewhere between my first and second comment, where emotions got away from all of us, names were called, people felt attacked, etc. That type of discussion is fuelled with passion. Passion is important, until it gets to the point where it's more destructive than constructive, which is helpful to no one. Feelings get hurt, people get more angry, etc. I think with some breathing time last night into this morning, however, from my view anyways, things seem to have cooled off a bit and we are back into constructive territory, working towards a solution and how we can all move forward from this, which is really really good. At no point in this thread have I meant to tell people that I don't want their opinions, don't want them to say anything, etc (minus when I asked for people to hold off today). I apologize to anyone involved who may feel that I say I want opinions then try to quash them when they're given. Not intended at all. I just wanted it known that people were actively not wanting to reply for fear of being attacked for having an opinion different to the one heavily being represented in here. I heard from multiple people that this was the case. I hope you all understand that, regardless of how you felt about the initial issue at play here.

Like I said, I want to hear opinions, suggestions, etc., especially if they're constructive. I'm hoping that it's realized, however, that I can't automatically accept every suggestion and make it happen, especially if it involves RLD. That is above my ability, and not something I can control. 

I'm hoping my thoughts will be taken well. Apologies if anything doesn't make sense...I'm really rushing to get this all typed before I go to the party I'm now going to be an hour late to... -insert oops face here-

All of the above being said. I would really like feedback on how we all can move forward from this thread and the whole experience with this dumpster fire of a sale. How can I work to rebuild trust with those who have lost their trust in me? Is a commitment to better communication with the game what is required? Something more? Re-do this sale with the old rate this year with the knowledge/announcement that next year will not be the same and say it now? Buy everyone a RL pony? I'd really like to know.

I would really really like feedback on this, please, even if it differs from whoever replies above you. I want to know what would restore YOUR trust in me specifically. 

(apologies for any typing/spelling/grammer errors or rambling...and how long this post is. Literally took so long to type it just now that HP logged me out.)

Blitz, thank you for taking the time to read our comments and reflect on them! Let me apologize if any comments I made felt like an attack on you or your management of HP; it is not how it was intended, but I understand that impact often overshadows intent. As you stated, emotion can often get in the way of rational thinking, and I think having the time to breathe and consider all of the talking points has had a positive improvement on everyone's mental health (I hope!).

The biggest sticking point for me in this discussion, the one stuck in my craw that won't quite go away, is where you responded that you "honestly [weren't] even obligated to give [us] that warning". I see your apology and appreciate it, but at the same time, it feels terrible to read that. It feels as though we players are treated or seen as passengers aboard the train and not the ones who feel the pinch when decisions are made that rapidly and without appropriate warning. I'll reiterate that many of us here are adults and mature enough to understand that hard decisions have to be made for the betterment of the game, and in the same breath understand that not everyone is going to be happy with those decisions. Just...don't forget about who is affected most when those decisions need to be made, because that's what it feels like when we rightfully speak up and are essentially told "we don't need to explain our reasons to you".

As well, it hurts me to hear my comments have been taken as a personal attack, when I want to reassure you as much as possible that that isn't the case at all. I hope reflecting helped you to see that. I simply wanted to understand the reasoning behind the decision, and then I found myself agreeing with others who criticized the timing of it. It's in no way meant as a criticism of you as a person or event as a member of staff or our Head Honcho. I hope that going forward, when players make suggestions off of anonymous or ask questions looking for clarification on why certain decisions were made, they're no longer seen as attacks and merely as us just wanting to understand.  

We all love this game and the sense of togetherness the community provides. And when conflict like this arises, I think it's easy to forget that there's a person on the other side of the screen and that our words and actions have just as much of an impact as they would if they were said face to face. I hope as a community we're able to move past this cluster of an event. 

Thank you. You have clearly heard and deeply considered what people have been saying, and I at least am grateful for the amount of thought that has very evidently gone into this response. I personally never intended any antagonism toward the staff in my response - I sought not to argue with anyone in particular, but to state my views and to endorse the similarly-held views of others. Yes, I'm straightforward and to the point when I do that, because adding excess layers can sometimes just muddy waters and make issues more confusing - and because, speaking personally, I far rather that people be blunt and honest with me than skirt around issues. Players wished for their concerns and grievances to be heard, and initially there was clearly an certain degree of miscommunication and yes, also emotion, which has resulted in it becoming more of a 'players a vs players b' scenario - which, as far as myself and everyone I have spoken to about this goes, it was never meant to be. I am sorry if my response came off in this manner, but social nuances are a little lost online and text can sound cold, which evidently resulted in a certain amount of misinterpretation. 

So, thank you, again, for recognising that there might have been other ways in which to handle this. Speaking personally, good communication that is able to objectively acknowledge and accept disagreements without becoming defensive or assuming that personal criticism is intended (Blitz's above post being an excellent example of said good communication!) is a pretty good foundation for a good relationship in pretty much all walks of life - personal and professional. And yeah, it's something that all of us need to work on from time to time, but at least if we're all working toward a common goal then we're on the same page. (:

I want to admit I was wrong about when the sale first occurred; it was indeed at the end of December 2019. I was figuring out how often it had happened and my searches didn't locate the thread from 2019 because it had HPD instead of HPB in the title. I was able to find the thread this evening. You are correct; this began in 2019 with Sam, with 2021 being the second occurrence under your watch. Sam established the initial value.

To clarify, I was not implying that you monitor or even should monitor every purchase, only that the responsibility to discuss and identify all potential issues regarding changes or sales fall on the staff, both before implementation and over time as problems develop. When a failure to promptly and efficiently do so has been identified, it should be analyzed and understood to avoid it again. This approach is a fundamental business procedure for any industry.

It pains me to see you stressing so hard over responding as soon as possible to these replies. Take a breath. You have a regular day job and real-life obligations that take priority. I can only speak for myself, but I am not going to be upset if it takes you a couple of days to have the time to respond to our concerns thoroughly. I know you're paying attention to our troubles, and sometimes you must confer with others to answer the presented questions. You're in a very high-pressure and high-visibility position. Your post is not one of comfort or ease; every change made will feel like you are the only one banging the gavel because you are the highest authority active on the site. I am not out to demonize you or make you or others feel like you're doing a lousy job. You are doing your best, and I am not trying to paint the picture that your actions are malicious. I only wish to point out what I feel are severe mistakes and explain them as clearly as possible in the hopes that I can help you and other staff members be aware of how things can be perceived, whether or not it is the actual intent. I hope you, the staff, and other players can understand that.

This post is more of what I initially hoped to receive as a response. Thank you for taking the time to write it up and helping us feel heard and understood. We do not want you to quit, step down, or feel disheartened by our feedback. We don't hate you. On the contrary, we want to see you do well. HP has undergone many changes and adjustments in the past few years due to many factors, and a lot of these factors occurred post-pandemic where you were solely responsible for the day-to-day management of the game. Again, we know you are trying your best, but you are human and have been learning this role from scratch. Keep up these kinds of responses and you're sure to do great.

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To answer the question at the end of your post, you don't need to make any adjustments like the ones you have mentioned. What's done is done and I agree that the change needed to occur for the betterment of the game. As I stated before, I did not intend to alter the sale, only to make it known that there should have been more warning and transparency. The trade-in value you have established here is what it should've been if this sale was initially intended to give players with a surplus the option of trading some in for extra funds. You could still impose a limit next year if you feel it is necessary after seeing this year's conversion rate, but at the current rate, I don't imagine it will be abused nearly as much as it used to be.

So that everyone understands why this sale was negative, needed to change, and why it contributed to people buying HPB instead of selling upgrades:

One 6 month upgrade costs $17.50
Two 6 month upgrades = $35 = 560mil HPD (280mil per upgrade)
Keep in mind that the price of upgrades back when this sale was introduced initially was much lower, around 230mil, which means when this was established, HPB was even more profitable than it is in this current math.

35 pack of HPB in the Cash Shop costs $30 = 875mil HPD total value at 25mil per 1 HPB

Now, remember that HPB also goes on sale sometimes. For example, back on 8/20/2022, not too long after the third HPB trade-in sale, there was a back-to-school sale, with Monday being 50 HPB for $25. This means that for only $7.50 dollars more, you could make 1.25bil HPD instead of 280mil from selling one six-month upgrade.

The final value of HPD per dollar spent with 1 HPB = 25mil (under the old sale conversion rate):
Selling one six month upgrade ($17.50) = 16mil total value
Trading in one 35 pack of HPB ($30.00)  = 29.1mil total value (81.25% increase)
Trading in one 50 sale pack of HPB ($25.00)  = 50mil total value (215.5% increase)

The final value of HPD per dollar spent with 1 HPB = 10mil (under the new sale conversion rate):
Selling one six month upgrade ($17.50) = 16mil total value
Trading in one 35 pack of HPB ($30.00)  = 11.6mil total value (27.5% decrease)
Trading in one 50 sale pack of HPB ($25.00)  = 12.5mil total value (21.88% decrease)

I purchased large quantities of HPB during that back-to-school sale, and I mean a lot when I say large amounts. This was the first time I invested heavily into HPB despite participating in the previous year's trade-ins without doing so. I traded most of these in exchange for dog tickets for my project in the fall and early winter, but I feel terrible about it now because they are only making back less than half of what they were worth then. I felt reassured that this sale would be a yearly event due to how many years it had occurred simultaneously for the same amount. By then, I assumed the team understood how people utilized HPB and the trade-in sale and were okay with it because I had identified very early on that it was unbelievable how good it was. Offering such a great discount on HPB so soon to the previous trade-in read to me as an "early bird special" where I could make a lot of HPD if I were willing to wait to cash in. I shouldn't have assumed, but in a game where you spend years planning for projects, I had to plan based on what was the best way to earn HPD. The HPB trade-in sale was the way to go, and other people were aware of and utilizing HPB in this manner. I regret not sharing my thoughts on how dangerous the sale was sooner, hence why now I'm apt to speak up very quickly. I want to see mistakes avoided.

Sorry for another lengthy reply. I didn't originally intend to include the math part, but I felt it was important for everyone, player and staff alike, to fully understand why this sale was so bad for the economy on many levels and why people invested in HPB the way they did in anticipation of it. I hope that it gives some more clarity.

*Moorf responding as a player and not staff*

Being a player who for the previous two years has benefitted greatly from the HPB trade in, the rate for this year was very heartbreaking. In anticipation of the sale, months ago, I did buy the 50 HPB pack from the cash shop, as well as I believe sometime last winter I was buying HPB from other players at what I could afford at the time (12 mill per 1 HPB) for those who needed/wanted some extra funds and was an easy way for them if they didn't want to use the trade in, or needed money now instead of waiting for the trade. This means I am out 2 mill per 1 that I bought. 

I also made a couple of trades for upgrades for HPB, 18 HPB for an upgrade, so now trading them in, I only get $180 mill, instead of even the low end of $230 for an upgrade, a $50 mill loss, or $100mill at current rates.  And for someone who can't sell upgrades hardly ever, this is a huge blow. 

Is it my fault for become dependent on these trade ins? Yes. 

However, being a player that cannot make graphics, cannot code to save my life, cannot sell upgrades, it's down to selling tickets, training for the public (if I have time), and doing club events (again if I have time) for funds.

I have 29 upgrades currently at $280 mill per upgrade, that is over $8 billion to keep them upgraded. 

Ticket sales right now are low, as it has been for the past year. Horse tickets are lucky to go for 180k each, dog tickets 110k. This earns me a total of $391 mill for my 29 sets of horse tickets (at 180k, which I currently am selling for less than this) each month, and $240 total for dog tickets (if sold at 110k, which I can't even get right now). This is a grand total of $630 a month, if I am lucky. So this allows me to afford 2 upgrades a month, IF I can find any. $630mill times 6 months is only $3.75 bill. So upgrades right now with tickets can no longer afford to maintain themselves. 

So again, yes I became dependent on these trade-ins. 

However, I do see and understand the change this year as the admins are trying to find a way to help with the crazy inflation, do I wish I would have had the personal mindset to not "cash everything in" on hopes of this trade in? Of course. I knew the trade in was not guaranteed, but I assumed it would happen again at the same previous years rates. But at the end of the day, it was my choice to buy from other people and use the HPB as a form of currency. 

*Moorf posting as staff*

I'm glad to see this thread has settled down and emotions seem to not be as high as they were at the start. 

Being extremely new to the staff, I can tell you that I had zero idea of what was going on with the trade, if it was going to happen, or what the changes might look like. I only became privy to that information due to blitz's news post as the general public. 

I appreciate and truly took the time to read everyone's opinions and concerns and stopped myself many times from posting as I thought; "if I post anything, I am throwing myself to the wolves right now" and I thought that official responses and answers needed to come from blitz. 

I don't feel I have much input from the staff side of this as I don't have any pull on the decisions made. But every single person who plays is affected by these decisions and changes. None of us as staff or admins are getting any special treatment compared to the "public".

I LOVE seeing how everyone was comfortable enough to voice their true concerns and opinions on the matter, did it get out of hand a little? Sure. But that is to be expected. 

Reading everyone's"new" responses has let me take a big sigh of relief, because THIS is the HP community I wanted to be a part of, and am excited to be serving. 

-big dramatic sigh of relief-

I just wanted to say with so much transparency I might as well be naked, that I am REALLY relieved that my last post was taken so well. Between work and home I spent roughly 3 hours writing it, re-reading, changing, adding more, etc. Last night when I got home at the respectable hour of 9pm from the staff party (where I was sober btw), I literally faceplanted into my bed and slept for 13 hours. The stress of this week between the end of year at work, the wifi issues, and this thread...it's been EXHAUSTING. Even now I'm still super tired and I think I need another night of at least 9 hours of sleep to feel more back to normal and not as brain-fuzzy as I'm feeling now.

I have read everyone's replies since (both on here and those that were sent privately), taken in any and all comments, and will hold on to them for the future.

To those who sent me something privately, I'm working still on reading and replying...we're celebrating my brother's birthday and father's day this afternoon and people could show up at any second, so my replies are coming, but probably not until tonight after everyone leaves. Luckily my niece is 2, so people don't tend to linger for that long after dinner :D