hurricaneviolet

@Kesstryl Specifically that I put links to all of our publics pages that I wanted them to crawl in the header/navigation bar :). You can see what I mean on horsephenomena.com, I linked all of our help pages in the drop down tab.

Just noting that I got approved this morning! So, for anyone else needing help, this is what I did: 1. I made sure my SSL stuff was in order. I don't know if this actually helped, but I heard from a few people that it does, so I figured I needed to get it done anyway. 2. I made all of HP's help pages available to the public, as well as our information pages about horse and dog breeds, and I made sure they were linked in the header. Our forum was already public. 3. I made sure that there was nowhere for the crawler to get lost. So we had a couple of headers going and I had a sneaking suspicion that the crawler was landing on the index page which was on it's own header, and then trying to find other pages with the same header and when it couldn't it said we didn't have enough content. 4. I got rid of our guest login because it was kind of weirdly coded and wouldn't automatically log you in (it would refresh the page and autofill the guest login) so I thought maybe that was causing it to get lost too. I think the biggest help was the header, and the secondary one was linking information rich, text-heavy tutorials from the header. So I hope that helps someone else!

Bumping this! Some items have sold, but everything else is still available.

Finishing up a few odds and ends so I can re-apply for Adsense, and also to tie up some loose ends before I go on vacation (re-write the TOS, send some marketing emails, send the newsletter). Nothing super exciting!

I will PM you!

I am selling some older art that I bought or had commissioned and never got the chance to use! Details and asking prices for each are listed below. I will consider reasonable offers, especially if you buy more than one of the pieces. All prices are in USD and payment will be through PayPal :). Please reply below or PM me if you are interested! I will remove anything that has been sold. Characters - $25 USD each, or $60 USD for all three. Each one comes with the original 600 x 600 px .psd file, and the corresponding concept art (can be seen below). These were done by @Pepper-Head Also comes with original concept art at different life stages for the kraken and sphynx: And the original concept art and recolors for the capricorn: Pets - $25 USD per pet, or $100 USD for all. Each pet comes with everything shown (some have extra recolors, and some do not). All have the base 8 colors included and come with the full size 1000 x 1000 .PSDs. These were done by https://ilenora.deviantart.com Items - $3 USD each or $60 for the entire lot, done by https://mrxylax.deviantart.com

Second addition to this, Dream Host. I currently (newly) have just my blog hosted there and so far, so good. Super affordable. I didn't have room on my Liquid Web server anymore for it, and it was cheaper to host just the blog somewhere else than expand my Liquid Web server.

I've heard good things about Bluehost and their shared hosting is super affordable (I think prices range from $5 to $15 per month). I can't personally give a testimonial for them though because I've never used them, but again, I've heard lots of good things! Stay away from HostGator. Their customer service is bad and their shared hosting is not game friendly. For when you're ready for something bigger keep LiquidWeb in mind! They've been great to me over the years, and I would seriously recommend them to anyone :).

I can't tell you exactly how different it would be, but even going from one game to another is very different and the logic sometimes flows differently, so I imagine yes, it will be a bit of a jump! I'm an owner who hires out for all of my major programming, and my games are not built on a framework. If I were to hire you, I would absolutely expect you to know how it works out of the box. Every programmer does things differently, and even within the same languages they don't always follow the same syntax and logical organization, so taking an hour to two to familiarize yourself with the game's code is completely reasonable, but anything beyond that would make me question your ability to work with the code. Think of it like co-writing a book: you should be able to read what the other person wrote, and then jump in and continue the story, but if you have to look up every few words in the dictionary and pull out writing manuals and stylebooks to understand their story, then you're not ready to write in it. Also, to add on to what @Anoua said, you will largely be responsible for knowing where things are, because that's why you've been hired by the owners. Personally, I've been working with my games for a long time, and I have a basic~intermediate skill level in the languages my game is written in, but I don't do my own programming. So I can generally tell a programmer what script things are in/where they belong, and explain how things work, and usually also point out the spot thats causing issues in the case of a bug. However, that's not the case with every owner, and some of them will only be able to tell you what's wrong/what needs to be done from a frontend perspective, and you'll be expected to handle all of the backend components. I hope that helps!

I would also second that a lawyer should look over it, but I understand that it may not currently be in the budget. My TOS has evolved and changed over the years, and is currently in need of a re-write, but I would just make sure that you understand everything that is in it and WHY behind all of it. You need to make sure you are protected. In the past, I have offered my TOS as a template with explanations for why I have each section, but I no longer do that. However, you can still see HP's TOS on other sites every once and awhile, haha. I'm not a lawyer, so I still think you should consult one before taking any of my advice. But: My biggest advice is you need to lay out what is allowed and not allowed from your users, you need to lay out a refund policy, a disclaimer about any bugs or interruption of service and whether or not you will compensate people for this, you should probably have information about grounds for removal from the site, you need to specify that users must be responsible for their own posts/content. Basically you need to lay out what YOU are responsible for, and what your PLAYERS are responsible for. I also like to include a disclaimer about not being responsible gaming addiction in mine. Also, don't forget about the separate Privacy Policy!

I have no advice on which payment platform to use. I will note though that trying to get around restrictions is risky and could result in your account being closed, and they may even hold your funds, which would obviously be bad. If I were you, I'd do some research on how similar websites get paid, including those selling physical products, and how people in similar industries get paid. Some payment platforms will let you go through them, but charge you bigger fees and up-front fees on those types of sites because of the high rate of chargebacks and fraud in the industry. So you might not be totally out of luck, it'll just kind of suck. On a small site I would NOT recommend processing payments yourself for several reasons, namely security, but I know that's what some people do. As for chargebacks, it's pretty much a risk you're taking by having an online business with virtual goods that some people will try, and a lot of payment platforms will side with the buyer and not the merchant. PayPal is pretty good about siding with the seller, but that doesn't help you since they're not an option for you. I would have a no chargeback policy in my TOS, and if someone does it, ban their accounts. Also, I would make sure that you have a clear no refunds policy and that people are 100% sure what they're getting into before they pay. I think that's really all you can do. It's impossible to eliminate all risk involved with a site. But I wish you the best of luck!

I don't know if you have a Costco, or a membership (although, separate topic, but I always recommend one if you don't, haha), but they have them for a little less than you could get it at a regular electronics store. Basically you get the typecover and pen for free at Costco, whereas you must buy them separately at other stores. I got my Surface Pro 4 bundle for $750 on Black Friday last year!

COPPA requires that you don't knowingly collect any personally identifying information from children under 13 (like email addresses), and that they must have parental permission to play. Admittedly it's been a long time since I read the rules, but you can see them here: https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/rules/rulemaking-regulatory-reform-proceedings/childrens-online-privacy-protection-rule I'm not sure how Jade does it on her games, but on HP we ask for your birthdate at sign up and if you're underage, it asks for your parent's email address instead of yours. Then your parent gets an email and must give permission for you to play before the game lets you log in. Additionally, your parent can set their own password to your account, and then they can use it to log in and turn off your access to the forums, chat rooms, and messaging system. If a parent revokes their permission, then your account is closed.

I'm not able to give you exactly numbers and percentages, but on HP the average player is from the ages of 18-30, female. Over the years, the age has trended upward to older players, but only by a couple of years on average. In 2009 when HP launched I'd say our average age range was from 16-24. As far as seasonally, I don't notice much change in the demographics. But I can tell you that historically our busiest times are fall, and late winter-early spring, and our slowest times are the winter holidays (Nov. and Dec.) and May. The summer is average, and slowly picks up steam from a drop in May until a surge in Sept. I think this is pretty in-line with our age group being mostly adults who are busy during the summer and the holidays, especially May and Dec. which are college finals season, and then finding more time during the school year/rest of the year when there are fewer events happening. I can't say for sure about younger players. While we need them to stay alive long term, HP is generally a pretty mature game, and young players (13 and younger) don't tend to stick around/get bored with the community.

I know this topic is a little old, so I don't know if you already bought something, but: I have a Wacom Bamboo tablet which I like! They're super affordable! But I also have a Surface Pro 4 now which is way better. I like being able to see where I'm drawing (they do have Wacoms with this option, but if you're going to spend that much, then you may as well get a fully functioning computer with it and go the Surface route), and I also like the pen itself and pressure sensitivity. You can use full Photoshop on the Surface because it runs Windows 10. Either way, on my Surface Pro 4, or with my Bamboo on my MacBook I use Photoshop for painting. I own CS5, but these days I just have the CC subscription.

This is actually something that I've thought about, and dealt with, a lot over the years. Largely due to the fact that a lot of my players started their SIM gaming experience on Horseland. For those who aren't familiar with the situation, the tl;dr version is that Horseland said "Hey! We're bringing you all a bunch of cool new updates, so stay tuned!", and then they basically changed everything people loved about the game with no warning or telling people ahead of time what was changing or anything. Including reducing their game money across the board, with no regard for how much they had previously had, and removing paid upgrade perks from the game completely, leaving people who had paid for them with nothing, then when people complained they were like "Sucks to suck!" and if anyone asked for a refund for their now missing upgrade, they gave it to them on the condition that their account would be closed forever. A lot of their older players left, and a lot of them still have what I can only think to refer to as PTSD over the situation. So, flash forward to now, and despite the fact that HP has been open for over 8 years and that I've never done anything to break their trust, my players can still be a little weary of anything new. Basically, though, I'm just extremely open with them about everything, and I think most people trust me not to do anything that isn't in HP's best interest. If we are contemplating a new feature, or a major change to an existing feature, I poll the community about it, I get (and USE!) input from players, I listen to comments and concerns, I explain exactly what is going to be happening so there are no bad surprises, etc. If we're having an issue getting something done, or fixing a bug, or we are going to have downtime, I explain why. I don't just leave players in the dark. If someone suggests something that we aren't going to do, I tell them honestly why and not just "no". Like people frequently suggest a second breed specialty, which just came up again this week, and I basically wrote a novel explaining why I wasn't in favor, including the financial ramifications, and the effect it would have on the game itself. Which everyone understood and was okay with not having it added because of the reasons I gave. If I have to suggest something I know they won't like (such as putting up ads), I explain my exact reasoning and how I will go about doing it so that it will have a minimal effect on gameplay. And if I want to do something that a majority of people are STRONGLY against, then I don't do it. So that's how I run my game. I'm honest with my players, I keep them updated as much as I can, and I take them into consideration. I also am frequently in chat and on forums and most of the super active players know me, so they're comfortable talking to me about something. I'm not a mysterious person, I don't bite, and I'm easy to get ahold of should they need me. Which also helps build trust because I'm not just "the game's owner", I'm actually present on the game. All of that being said, I'm not so open that I give my players financial reports or anything. Basically, I always do what's in the best interest of HP. Obviously if we needed a new server and the majority of our players were like "NO!!!1!111" we'd be getting a new server anyway. That's not the sort of thing I'm talking about here. EDIT: Also, I would never dream of not paying our bills (server, domain, programming, art, etc.). I'm always astounded when this happens with any business. ESPECIALLY when it's actively affecting players, and especially when it's not rectified right away. Not to mention, it takes a lot to have the game brought down due to non-payment. Once, I got a replacement credit card and forgot to update the expiration date for my automatic billing, which caused my payment to get declined. Normally I would have noticed this the next month when I did the accounting, but it was a particularly crazy time and I didn't notice until the following month. So I had 2 unpaid months, plus the current month that I owed, and not only was my server still up, but Liquid Web hadn't notified me that I was late. But AS SOON as I noticed, I fixed the billing info, and contacted them to pay what I owed. Like, that exact second. I would have been mortified if the game had gone down because of my mistake/oversight. Also also, there have been times when I haven't updated as frequently as I should, or when I make a mistake, but when I do, I publicly apologize for it and explain what happened. People are understanding when they're kept them in the loop and don't feel like anything is being hidden from them. Way back, I accidentally wiped everyone's upgrade expiration dates off the game which meant everyone's upgrade was gone, AND my most recent backup was corrupted (of course). And at the time I was young and stupid (ha) so I didn't have automatic backups set up. So me and the admins spent DAYS manually checking payment records and re-upgrading people's accounts, but it was okay with everyone because we updated them during the entire process, and we gave them all free upgrade time to make up for it.

I've got a nifty new feature for you tonight! -drum roll- HP now has our own layout generator! Click here to check it out! You can find it linked above the description boxes on your home pages and club pages, where it will be most convenient :). Right now you can do a simple single scroll layout! There are instructions on the page for filling in the form. We will eventually add more types of layouts in, but we will start here. Let me know what you think. Happy Wednesday! -Sam P.S. We are still working on ironing out the bugs in the award system. Generations are having some issues as well as some rankings awards. I will keep you updated as bugs get fixed! View full news

I'm a big fan of planning every single detail ahead of time. From how it will look, to how it will function. But things change during development, so my initial plan almost never looks exactly like the end result. I just think going in totally blind is a mistake because you can't just drop a feature in and hope for the best, games are more like an ecosystem, and there is a lot to consider when developing anything.

Well, I don't think games ever really stop developing, but it's a whole different beast once they are launched. Right now with HP, we just put in a new major feature and now the bugs are getting worked out. So I'm excited! I'm happy to have some major development done after a long lull in being able to put out anything big, and I've got plans for the future as far as that goes, so that is exciting as well! We've also been growing recently so that's also exciting! But being self employed is always terrifying. Which I think is more a launched-game fear than an in-development game fear. There's constant concern because there isn't an automatically built-in safety net if things go wrong. If you're an employee, you can qualify for unemployment if you lose your job because your employer has been paying into it on your behalf while you've been working. If you're self employed, you only have your own savings account if something goes wrong. At least that's how it works where I live, maybe it's different in other places. So I think that's a constant undercurrent of worry with these games that no one talks about, haha. As for my games which are truly in development, they are currently stalled. I've moved beyond frustration/annoyance with them, and now I'm just a little complacent. HP takes priority, and eventually the other games will move forward. Or they won't. But hopefully they will.

@Hare, out of curiosity, what changes did you make that finally got you approved?

Just wanted to add here that @PaulSonny just completed some work for me on HP, which I'm extremely happy with! He was super prompt, friendly, and communicated well. He finished the job completely without leaving loose ends or bugs, and kept me updated as he was finishing things, as well as checked in with me at the end to make sure nothing was missed. He was able to read through my plans and easily/quickly pick up where another programmer had left off even though he was not familiar with the game and had never seen HP's code before (which has given a lot of programmers a run for their money over the years, so the fact that he was able to fall right into place speaks volumes to me about his skill level and professionalism). I wouldn't hesitate to work with him again!

Omaha, NE!

Just updating this to say I found someone :). Thanks for your interest!

I've been with Liquid Web for 6 years now, and I couldn't be happier with them. I've had a dedicated server and a VPS with them and have been exceptionally happy with both. Their customer service is always helpful and prompt, and once when I was thinking of downgrading they gave me the price of a smaller server without actually switching me. Honestly, the only issue I've ever had is with their automatic billing system doing some weirdness, but it was worked out. I've also been with The Planet, which I think is SoftLayer now, and I was extremely unhappy with them. Their customer service was terrible. And when I was first starting out, I used Host Gator, but I think we all know to steer clear of them at this point :P.

You can't until you've been approved :(.