***Official Zed Run Thread***

[WillieMcFML]

Yeah Rick Ankiel looks like a winner.

Probably related to the father being good (though only 1 race sample size), and the mom being okayish.

My biggest excitement in ZED has been breeding horses and discovering the ones that were good.

yeah without odds to guide you and with him being a point away from classing up, i decided to put him in a mid-stakes race to see how he fared

so far so good but who the f knows

i've had so many horses that had good odds and results in their first couple races and then turn out to be mediocre

if i put him on the shelf, he'd probably sell out his covers given how cheap it is for exclusive bute studs, but maybe he really is a legitimate +EV racer and i can still do that and print money racing him

[WillieMcFML]

Yeah Rick Ankiel looks like a winner.

Probably related to the father being good (though only 1 race sample size), and the mom being okayish.

My biggest excitement in ZED has been breeding horses and discovering the ones that were good.

both parents had great griffy odds

Lost Without You had flames and 7 odds in her griffy so the father could have similar stats over a larger sample size

but hopefully between the two i have a Flying Stupidity or BETTER

[WillieMcFML]

in his 3rd race, his first in class IV, Rick Ankiel comes from way back (like he always does) to get 3rd in a $5 race

he did not get a flame in that race

his total: 3 races, 2 flames, 3 cashes - 1st, 2nd, & 3rd

[Walter Sobchak]

Yeah Rick Ankiel looks like a winner.

Probably related to the father being good (though only 1 race sample size), and the mom being okayish.

My biggest excitement in ZED has been breeding horses and discovering the ones that were good.

Horse fucking!

[Dan Druff]

Yeah Rick Ankiel looks like a winner.

Probably related to the father being good (though only 1 race sample size), and the mom being okayish.

My biggest excitement in ZED has been breeding horses and discovering the ones that were good.

Horse fucking!

My horses are all Jewish and refuse to fuck at these new prices.

[WillieMcFML]

i couldn't help myself - i must really hate money

i had to name yEBSITE's daughter How Could You and throw her in her first race

if i hang onto HCY and she has an offspring it's my duty to name it

[Dan Druff]

I hadn't bred any new horses in awhile, because the new prices frustrated me. I broke down and bred 5 yesterday. Three were bred in-house so I got them for a decent price. The final two were more expensive because I bred with a good Z5 genesis in another stable.

The new horses:

Projekt SEP Z18 Finney Exclusive Colt
Ice Cold AC Z23 Buterin Exclusive Colt
Gas Fees Z21 Buterin Exclusive Colt
Rotary Phone Z12 Finney Legendary Filly
Touch Tone Z17 Finney Exclusive Colt

Flying Stupidity is the dad of the first three above. For those wondering, Exclusive means 3rd generation, Legendary means second.

In their griffins:

Projekt SEP got a flame and owned the field by 2 seconds. Jasep would be proud.

Gas Fees got no flame but somehow finished 2nd, barely ahead of third.

Ice Cold AC got a flame and finished 2nd.

Rotary Phone got a flame but did not cash.

Touch Tone did not get a flame and didn't cash.


The two more expensive ones were Rotary Phone and Touch Tone, as their dad (Captain Tiger) is a Z5 genesis with 76% flame, all the way up to class II.

Flying Stupidity only had one kid in my stable prior to this (Ptarmigan), who was pretty good, and is presently my 3rd best horse. It will be interesting to see how these 3 kids do. I will have 3 more covers from him tomorrow, so I can take more shots if I want. I have a good feeling about Projekt SEP.

Rotary Phone is nice to have because she's a Z12 legendary filly, so she can churn out more offspring for me starting next month.

My stable is up to 25 horses, and since it's growing, I can start creating more horses and perhaps selling some.

[Dan Druff]

Projekt SEP is legit good.

Currently carrying a 251% ROI.

https://www.hawku.com/horse/107454

Anyway, there's been a lot of (rightful) bitching about the rating system, which is a disaster. But I thought about it, and realized that a solution has been obvious and right there all along.

Like many things in life, thinking like a poker player is the solution. (I know, I sound like Annie Duke!)

ZED should stop restricting races based upon horse rating or class, and leave every match open to everyone. However, they should maintain the class system, and make the races escalate in buyins as you move up class. For example..

Class V will have $2.50 and $5 races
Class IV will have $10 and $15 races
Class III wil have $20 and $30 races
Class II will have $50 and $100 races
Class I will have $200 and up races

They can redo the rating system to where most horses are in Class V or IV, and only base it upon win/place/show rate in the horse's two best lenghts, and strength of competition.

The class system will only be a guideline of where you should be, but you don't have to adhere to it.

The existing fatigue system will stop people from entering a bunch of races just to accumulate small wins nanonoko-style, and will basically force everyone to go race in the highest class they can consistently win. You know... just like poker. It's the same force which keeps me out of the $3/$6 limit holdem games, even though they're easier.

Also, they can have a separate Donkey class, which IS restricted, and only allows horses to enter which are down money overall, AND are Class V. These would be the free entry races, and would replace the existing free races which are just being exploited by people with auto-clickers. People could enter these via queue, so there's no clicking involved.

This would bring utility to every horse on the site (even the donks), and create a free market system where people are naturally encouraged to move up to the class where they can make the most money, and where those with some gamble can take shots at expensive races if they want.


QED, SFO.

[gut]

Incoming BAP for Projekt SEP

[Dan Druff]

ZED is mismanaging things badly, yet they still seem to have investment $ coming in, so I don't know what to say.

They've managed to ruin breeding, sales, and racing, all within a short time, which is a pretty big accomplishment.

It started with the raise in breeding prices for all but Buterin horses. They defended it by saying these were the intended prices all along, and the previous prices were a mistake. I actually believe that, but the previous prices were a happy accident, as they allowed more of a free market approach, which made a wider variety of horses viable for breeding. Now nobody wants to breed with anything but the top horses they can sort via third-party sites like hawku. Fail.

They introduced an exciting "tournament" where you have to win a certain % of races at your horse's most-raced lenght to qualify. Okay, cool. However, in order to do this, they removed free races with real $ prizepools (bad) and added a ton more free races (also bad). Why is the addition of more free races bad? Because now it's super-easy to tank your horses down to a lower class rating, by simply entering over and over into free races at lengths where your horses aren't good. They also DECREASED the number of pay races. Also bad. So guess what? Now every class -- even class 5 -- has only crushers in the pay races, and racing is no fun unless you have a top horse. Fail.

Sales have also cratered (as have the prices) because of the aforementioned issues above. Most won't buy a horse for breeding anymore (too expensive to breed), and most won't pay for a potentially good racer because racing is too tough. Fail.

What a mess.

[nightmarefish]

ZED is mismanaging things badly, yet they still seem to have investment $ coming in, so I don't know what to say.

They've managed to ruin breeding, sales, and racing, all within a short time, which is a pretty big accomplishment.

It started with the raise in breeding prices for all but Buterin horses. They defended it by saying these were the intended prices all along, and the previous prices were a mistake. I actually believe that, but the previous prices were a happy accident, as they allowed more of a free market approach, which made a wider variety of horses viable for breeding. Now nobody wants to breed with anything but the top horses they can sort via third-party sites like hawku. Fail.

They introduced an exciting "tournament" where you have to win a certain % of races at your horse's most-raced lenght to qualify. Okay, cool. However, in order to do this, they removed free races with real $ prizepools (bad) and added a ton more free races (also bad). Why is the addition of more free races bad? Because now it's super-easy to tank your horses down to a lower class rating, by simply entering over and over into free races at lengths where your horses aren't good. They also DECREASED the number of pay races. Also bad. So guess what? Now every class -- even class 5 -- has only crushers in the pay races, and racing is no fun unless you have a top horse. Fail.

Sales have also cratered (as have the prices) because of the aforementioned issues above. Most won't buy a horse for breeding anymore (too expensive to breed), and most won't pay for a potentially good racer because racing is too tough. Fail.

What a mess.

Same thing happened with TopShot. Smallish company gets too big too fast and creates all sorts of issues.

[Dan Druff]

ZED is mismanaging things badly, yet they still seem to have investment $ coming in, so I don't know what to say.

They've managed to ruin breeding, sales, and racing, all within a short time, which is a pretty big accomplishment.

It started with the raise in breeding prices for all but Buterin horses. They defended it by saying these were the intended prices all along, and the previous prices were a mistake. I actually believe that, but the previous prices were a happy accident, as they allowed more of a free market approach, which made a wider variety of horses viable for breeding. Now nobody wants to breed with anything but the top horses they can sort via third-party sites like hawku. Fail.

They introduced an exciting "tournament" where you have to win a certain % of races at your horse's most-raced lenght to qualify. Okay, cool. However, in order to do this, they removed free races with real $ prizepools (bad) and added a ton more free races (also bad). Why is the addition of more free races bad? Because now it's super-easy to tank your horses down to a lower class rating, by simply entering over and over into free races at lengths where your horses aren't good. They also DECREASED the number of pay races. Also bad. So guess what? Now every class -- even class 5 -- has only crushers in the pay races, and racing is no fun unless you have a top horse. Fail.

Sales have also cratered (as have the prices) because of the aforementioned issues above. Most won't buy a horse for breeding anymore (too expensive to breed), and most won't pay for a potentially good racer because racing is too tough. Fail.

What a mess.

Same thing happened with TopShot. Smallish company gets too big too fast and creates all sorts of issues.

Here's the strange thing which none of us can figure out...

What do the employees/managers/owners at ZED even do all day?

Many of these problems have simple fixes which could be implemented within a day or so, yet we're waiting months. Even more baffling, they roll out new features or changes which just worsen the problems, such as the increase in free races.

There are a lot of really dedicated people in the ZED community who point out exactly how to fix these, and communicate what the players as a whole are looking for. It gets ignored. Or when it doesn't get ignored, they promise "fixes" which either never come or don't solve the problem at all.

At least with Top Shot, it's pretty clear what happened. They exploded in popularity, weren't ready for it, and refused for whatever reason to invest the proper time/money into fixing the issues properly.

The ZED thing is just weird. Millions of dollars keep rolling in, but they keep making things worse, despite the feedback from the community telling them exactly what people don't like and exactly how it can be fixed.

It's not even like this is a subjective thing. Everyone agrees the class system is broken (even ZED itself). Most people agree breeding prices are too damn high. Most people agree that these two factors together are causing people to be less enthusiastic about purchasing horses on the secondary market (which is the only way to get them), thus causing demand to fall and prices to crater.

Reminds me a bit of Galfond's Run It Once Poker site, where they also ignored community feedback and kept failing, but at least I can say that the fixes required took a lot of time and effort to accomplish. Here ZED can do some simple things to vastly improve the experience, and they simply won't.

[Walter Sobchak]

ZED is mismanaging things badly, yet they still seem to have investment $ coming in, so I don't know what to say.

They've managed to ruin breeding, sales, and racing, all within a short time, which is a pretty big accomplishment.

It started with the raise in breeding prices for all but Buterin horses. They defended it by saying these were the intended prices all along, and the previous prices were a mistake. I actually believe that, but the previous prices were a happy accident, as they allowed more of a free market approach, which made a wider variety of horses viable for breeding. Now nobody wants to breed with anything but the top horses they can sort via third-party sites like hawku. Fail.

They introduced an exciting "tournament" where you have to win a certain % of races at your horse's most-raced lenght to qualify. Okay, cool. However, in order to do this, they removed free races with real $ prizepools (bad) and added a ton more free races (also bad). Why is the addition of more free races bad? Because now it's super-easy to tank your horses down to a lower class rating, by simply entering over and over into free races at lengths where your horses aren't good. They also DECREASED the number of pay races. Also bad. So guess what? Now every class -- even class 5 -- has only crushers in the pay races, and racing is no fun unless you have a top horse. Fail.

Sales have also cratered (as have the prices) because of the aforementioned issues above. Most won't buy a horse for breeding anymore (too expensive to breed), and most won't pay for a potentially good racer because racing is too tough. Fail.

What a mess.

In other words it’s a lot like real horse racing, except without the drugs.

[shoeshine box]

whew...tbh, I was sad I missed it...
now not so much....way to complicated...
NBA top shot was enuf and glad I re-couped mostly...

yea Walt like horse racing w/no drugs hahah

[garrett]

I think people should know right now and currently Digital Race horses on Zed.run are going affordably atm

That includes Genesis ones, which say back 6 months ago, some people thought bc Zed needed them and created them they had some LOL super human baby making abilities, and i don't see it myself. Do this with a proper long-run mindset, and not a day trader one, and this is doable now and so much fun, it really is. I sold mine, because I think I properly realized that they were needed to start the game and Zed, ecosystem. Not sustain it, that is where breeding comes in for that, so i sold my Genesis and also, you can buy them they are out there if you wanted a Genesis. And really what you get with a Genesis, is higher up in the Breeding Tree ability, but since its a Digital Horse Racing game and i plan to race my horses, I didnt feel the need for it so I parted ways with that one now. And for reasons, I bought a Nakamoto z4 now, with the value i got from that Genesis horse. And I realized too, that they are for sale if one day i wanted another Genesis, and the area I may not want to be parted with forever is Events, Zed will probably run for the OGs, or Genesis horse owners, but they also know who they are too, so idk, i see both sides of having sold my Genesis, for now and also see how some think they have super human abilities lol, when they were just needed to be the 1st and build the Ecosystem in Zed imo, so they are for sale too.

My point was all Markets and even Zed cycle, some peaks are higher, some Valleys are lower and today or about now, to get in Zed and get yourself a Digital Race horse, and get racing. Now is a great time to be doing it, so go buy a horse, do a little research ask questions and get a Digital Race horse imo. And now is a very affordable, bc oversupply is why, time to be doing it too. So if you ever wanted to Digital Horse Race, now is a great time to start youre Stable, even Genesis horses are selling for a low price. Do it though, wisely, because long=run from that purchase you can and do build right, a stable, maybe an Empire right lol...

Digital horse racing is soo much fun and now is a great time to get in and get a horse, start a Stable glgl

[WillieMcFML]

No need to read any of Garrett’s post besides the last sentence because the previous paragraph is just saying the same thing 8 different times, but he is right. It’s a great time to buy.

What used to cost $700-800, you can now get for $200-300.

I also sold a genesis that I had padded the odds in free races for .29 eth, and then turned around and bought an unraced z4 naka exclusive filly for just .15. She got flames and 1st in her griffy.

Just buy a floor horse, they are now as cheap as $50, and race it a few times. Almost guarantee you will be shouting at your racer at 2am as its lead start to evaporate. It might not seem like a lot of fun looking from the outside but for me it’s still far and away the NFT with the most utility - even with some of their fail

[WillieMcFML]

FREE HORSE

I bred Misty Reign and she’s pretty much glue but might make a good starter horse for someone new to the game

She can breed on December 4th and is a z25 exclusive (also yebsite’s daughter)

https://knowyourhorses.com/horses/143497

she’s 100% free for anyone who wants her - if more than one person is interested I’ll find some way to pick a winner (probably whoever I like most)

[BetCheckBet]

FREE HORSE

I bred Misty Reign and she’s pretty much glue but might make a good starter horse for someone new to the game

She can breed on December 4th and is a z25 exclusive (also yebsite’s daughter)

https://knowyourhorses.com/horses/143497

she’s 100% free for anyone who wants her - if more than one person is interested I’ll find some way to pick a winner (probably whoever I like most)

I'd be interested and very grateful (but if someone more serious to the game wants her go ahead please).

[Dan Druff]

They have changed the class point earning scheme, supposedly to stop the sandbagging/tanking problem.

It looks like they did this on the spur of the moment, with no real research.

Before, you would get 4 class points for 1st, 3 for 2nd, 2 for 3rd, 1 for 4th, 0 for 5th through 8th, then -1 for 9th, -2 for 10th, -3 for 11th, and -4 for 12th.

This benefitted "U-Shaped" horses -- ones who most often finish either near the front or back of the pack. Here is a perfectly U-shaped horse: https://knowyourhorses.com/horses/18904 (scroll down to "Final Positions")

Unfortunately, he's not mine.

Here's my U-Shaped horse, Ptarmigan: https://knowyourhorses.com/horses/69570

Anyway, they changed the point scheme:

1st: 6 points, 2nd: 4 points, 3rd: 2 points, 4th-6th: 0 points, 7th-12th: -2 points

The problem comes from the 6 points from 1st and 4 from second. This just classes your horse up way too fast, and it becomes difficult to class back down. The result? Too many horses will get trapped at classes they can't beat.


Some people have said, "Fuck the U-Shaped horses. They had an unfair advantage all this time."

The problem is that this screws more than just the U-Shapers.

Observe one of my better horses, Projekt SEP: https://knowyourhorses.com/horses/107454/drilldown

Notice he's more W-shaped than U-shaped.

He crushes the Class IV $5 races, but can't beat $5 races at Class III. This change forced him to Class III. I attempted to tank him back down to IV by racing at $2.50 races where he doesn't typically perform well (lengths 1000m-1400m). In the five races I tried, he got 1st, 3rd, 5th, 11th, and 12th -- for a gain of 4 points! Sad! Under the old system, he would have lost 1 point.

So it's getting tiresome, and I'm getting demotivated from racing.

Willie told me that they're going to change breeding prices, which is also sorely needed.

[Dan Druff]

Also, I've bred over 20 horses on ZED by this point.

Of those horses, here the only good ones, listed in order of ability:

1) Flying Stupidity
2) Ptarmigan
3) Projekt SEP
4) Catfish

Ptarmigan and Projekt SEP are both sons of Flying Stupidity.

That means I have exactly one horse which is good and isn't related to Flying -- Catfish, who isn't even all that great.

Also, Ptarmigan/SEP have several full brothers and sisters, and those horses range between donks to mediocre. So it's not even like producing siblings will keep giving me winners.

Anyway, I'd love to take more shots with breeding, but the higher prices are just not worth it, especially given the low secondary market prices.