StarStables

[Scullisto]

I dont know if anyone here plays...but this is my new addiction.

http://www.starstable.com/en/

If you do...my name is Sally Wolfgirl  say "hi"

[springacres]

Boo... no Mac version is available

[Bunraku]

This game is really amazing, it reminds me of Barbie Riding Club, which I LOVED as a kid, except 900 times better. Thank you for posting this link! The only qualms I have with it is the inability to play a male character (I'm a girl, of course, but I love making my male OC's in a game! XD) and the camera angle is a bit fish-eye and gets me motion sick after a while, but really I can't complain because the movement of the horses is gorgeous! The most realistic ive seen yet in an MMO of this type.

[WillowDragon]

Yeah, its a bit surprising that there is no option for a male character.

But hey, i'm trying it out. Willow Skyborn (Its the closest I could make to WillowDragon lol) is my name on there.

[Scullisto]

Honestly the reason the developers made exclusive female characters was a protest to other games that are exclusively male characters or limited female characters. 

A gender protest I can get behind...(though IMHO they should at least have a male option).

[Sunchaser]

I am installing now, i think i made the name Sara Lightningstorm but cant remeber even though i just made it lol

[Bunraku]

Which games in particular are they protesting against? I've never played any that are exclusively male/limited female options.

Another point in favor of this game is its refreshingly non-violent content and focus on quests and training rather than anything to do with fighting like most MMO's. I've never seen anything like this honestly.

[Scullisto]

Most games are gender-centric male...everything that is not an MMoRPG is designed to to be primarily for a male audience as statistics have shown the primary users of video games are male...but not exclusively male. As I am a female video game player as are many others out there.

The video game industry is a male dominated arena...not that I'm saying that females are absent, There are plenty like Lara Croft, ALL the women from Soul Calibur series, Resident Evil women etc....just limited or in a hyper sexualized context...example...I love the Halo series...No female characters...LOVE Soul Calibur...Hyper sexualized.


As for Starstable, horses and girls tend to go hand in hand (generalized) so they made it female-centric.  Non sexualized female avatars.

[Bunraku]

Ahh, yes those games I would consider to be geared towards a male audience as well, and I do agree its a male dominated industry. I just thought there were some MMO's out there I didn't know about that were male exclusive that they were specifically protesting against, I hadn't thought of platform based games. Though now that I think of it there are a few platform based war MMO's that are very much male only.

Its hard to find games with the kind of content I actually enjoy as a female gamer between hyper sexualized content and males being depicted far too macho for my tastes. I never really thought of them as limited or male only though, until now. (I have played and enjooyed all of the games you mentioned though! ^^) Plus I am constantly looking for games with an engaging storyline and elaborate character personalities, and thats very hard to find in my opinion.

Being unable to play a male OC aside, Star Stable has really impressed me. I've been looking for a game like this for a VERY long time, and its just incredible to see what they've done with it. I can't gush enough about the horses and the movement of them.

I wonder if you or someone else can answer a problem I've been having though? I can't seem to see or find other people that are playing with me, as if I've been dumped on a seprate "Server" from them, or add friends because it says they are logged out. Why is that?

[Scullisto]

Hrrm...excellent question Bun...I was under the impression that it was a single server there, however there may be a multi-layer system inplay that we are not aware of.

[Bunraku]

I was under the same impression, but it seems like the server may be partitioned into different channles, I just hope we arent "fixed" to a layer/channle/server. My mother wanted to play with me after I told her about it (My mom loves games as much as I do XD) and she was surrounded by completely different players from me and everything.

[Scullisto]

That would be horrible if the game were a fixed channel. Time to start rummaging through boards and see what we can find

[Sunchaser]

is it suposed to install everytime >.> i did the big install and now that i have left and go to play again it is installing agian..

[Bunraku]

Its checking for patches and updates ^^ It says "install" but its just a check the game runs every time it starts up to make sure everything is there and functions correctly. Its just a little slower than a client-sided MMO because its mostly browser based.

[Sunchaser]

it was the same amount of MB as last time. 298 or something like that. Im installing chrome on this comp to see if it helps >.>

[Bunraku]

Try playing on firefox sunny, it works really well for me on this browser

[Sunchaser]

I will try google chrome then go to firefox if it doesn't work. *snuggles* i just wanna play! the barbie horse riding games where my FAVORITE when i was younger.

[Bunraku]

*snugs* Weren't they AWESOME? This game is like that but so so so much better in so many ways. I feel like a kid again, yet it feeds my inner gamer because I can fully appreciate all the hard work that went into the gaming engine XD I admire the developers of this, I really do.

[Sunchaser]

its stuck.... *bangs head into wall* it shows its complete but the play button wont light up...

[Bunraku]

Did you try firefox yet hon? I wonder why it insists upon giving you so much trouble x_x

[Sunchaser]

lol i got it just got stuck for a moment but it worked and i made sure to check if it would work when i loged out then got back, in and it did so we are are all good!

[Scullisto]

Yay!

[Scullisto]

prices are...

7.49 monthly
6.50 tri monthly
5.33 6-months
69.95 lifetime

[Pinkshadow]

Am playing it too, but i cant figure out how i care for the horse -.-'

I think my char is named Arabella Snowhaven.

Something i couldnt figure out by reading; How do we get a different horse? The starting brown one is seriously borring xD

[Scullisto]

To care for your horse you open your inventory and click and drag the "hay" water bucket , hoof pick and brush onto your horse when you are at a stable location.

When you created your character you get to choose the color of your horse along with the color of its mane and tail.  However the ability to get another horse will be made available to us (rumor has it) by the end of the month.

[Bunraku]

Has anyone figured out the server thing? O.O I still cant seem to get on the same "server" as my mother no matter what I do, or add any friends from Secundi because it always says they're offline D:

Also...had a few amusing "trolling" experiences in game XD I don't know if anyone else has, but apparently saying no thank you to people asking if you'll join their clubs causes some serious over reaction and creative avoidance of the filtering system in game. I never expected so much rudeness on such a cute game, when I'm not even attempting to be social...just having people run up to me, ask me things to which I say no thank you, and I get replies befitting a trucker O_o

[Scullisto]

Oh yes the tween angst and brat spats are abundant... as for the server thing I know there are several out there just cannot get an answer as to "How to switch" servers....too much drama this morning to get an answer.

[Bunraku]

I was noticing the global chat was alight with dramatics today, its no wonder you can't get a decent answer to any question on the game x.x Its a shame the kids have to act like that, but then again its like that on any MMO.

[Ravvana]

I just joined -- Charlotte Underwood

[Scullisto]

I know I am easily amused but they just added the new horse content and now I have two horses...Thunderheart: my first buckskin tobiano and now Nightwalker: my black thoroughbred....I am so excited about training him up!!!!


Me & Thunderheart during the easter fun

[Pinkshadow]

oow can you get new horses now?

[Scullisto]

yes you can...at a price.

Danish Warmblood
English Thoroughbred
Dutch Warmblood
Morgan

[Kadana Sorano]

I want to try this so bad, but I never could get it to load *pokes it*

[Bunraku]

I can't wait until they come out with the unique mesh horses! I'm looking forwards to having an Andalusian and Lipizzaner ^^

[Scullisto]

Pokes Kadana's puter *poke*poke*

I am waiting for the American Paints: Tobiano and Overo....I amd saving saving saving...

[Pinkshadow]

OMG DANISH WARMBLOOD !!
- So proud of my country xD Lol

[Bunraku]

I just wish there were more available coat and mane colors for the new horses, unless I'm missing something O.o

[Scullisto]

each breed has the three colors choices...there is an item in Valedale that is a mystery and has some hint of us being able to use that to change something on our horses appearance.

[Kadana Sorano]

well got it loaded and character created (Astrid Skywatcher) but now it won;t let me play.  It goes through the initial loading phase, and I made it as far as it telling me the story of the girl and her horse, and then asking if the "new" girl hero is me, and I saw my character standing there, but then it dc'd, and ever since it keeps dc'ing, before it even fully loads.

I am using FF, and I believe it;s the newest version.  *pokes at game*

[Bunraku]

Wow that's weird, I'm genuinely surprised you're getting DC'd on FF because that's what I've been using and Star Stable has seemed really stable. Actually, on a whole I'm very surprised by its general stability and laglessness for a browser MMO, I've never seen one hold up the way this dose.

But in any case, do you play any other online games and have you experienced a similar DC with them, or is this the only one? (I'm also including anything that connects via console like PS3 because it would be connecting to the same internet) I'm trying to rule out weather its you're connection/cabels or weather its the browser/server causing the problem.

[Kadana Sorano]

atm, I am sitting in utter boredom and playing nothing but secundi heh  (And by atm I don't mean right this minute, but for the past some while.. weeks, months, lost track).  I decided to give this another try, and got all excited, then it can;t connect properly lol

I used to play wow on this pc, and it went fine, but I can;t afford time on it, and haven;t played in .. over a year now I think.  I dunno any other games like this to even test if they work.

[Bunraku]

I could recommend a few browser and downloaded MMO's if you're looking for something to play and star stable doesn't work for you (Or if you just want variety!) What kind of themes do you like? I'm not exactly active on them any more, but I'm constantly playing and looking at MMO's of different types and their mechanics, and a large quantity of them are free to play, with cash shop purchases optional.

But for now I'll try to troubleshoot star stable for you. What version of windows are you running on? We have a computer in the house that's still on Vista and it refuses to run star stable because DirectX 9 wont work properly with the OS, because it refuses to update (At least we are assuming that's the problem with that computer) But since you are getting it to launch, I'm not sure if that's the problem. Do you know what version of DirectX you have?  Disconnects can also occur because of graphical instability as well as internet connection. If you don't mind, can you tell me how old the computer is and what its specs are? (Also I apologize if I'm kind of babbling at you, I don't mean to, I'm just presenting possible problems ><)

[Kadana Sorano]

I know "of" a lot of games I could play, but most (or maybe all) involve some sort of 1. fighting 2. pvp, or 3 grouping.  I don;t feel like doing any of that heh  I wanted to try Starstable for the horse aspect.  I do like "questing" and also "collecting/gathering" and "creating/skilling" games.  ie wow's herb gathering, ore gathering etc and using those items to create food, potions, armor etc and leveling skills thusly.  But I'm not after interaction with other "real" people atm.

I have Windows XP, DirectX.. I dunno, Computer is old, but not the oldest I own (not sure exactly how old) and dunno about specs lol  It was a home build type of thing I paid someone to make, and has been in for repairs/part replacements since.

No nmeed to applogize for trying to help! *hugs* thank you for trying.

[Bunraku]

You play MMO's the way I do XD And here I was thinking I was the only solo MMO player out there, lol. I do play with others, but only if they invite me or if I know them and I enjoy playing with them then. I loath PVP to the bottom of my soul, hate it for reasons I can't even explain. I enjoy skill building MMO's as well, especially when I can plant and harvest my own herbs to make potions, it gives me a feeling of independence and a little more peace after battling monsters.

Windows XP might be the problem. I know its a browser MMO but I've noticed some weird compatibility issues with them when launching with older OS's. Darn shame its not a downloadable one because I'd know how to make it run in compatibility mode. I'll do some more research for you and see what I can come up with. I like troubleshooting MMO's XD

[Kadana Sorano]

lol yea, if I'm playing with my bf, or a really good friend I am comfortable with, I can group play, but mostly I like to play "alone".  Sadly MMO's tend to have atleast a few, if not a lot, of times where you HAVE to be sociable in order to progress a quest or such.  It infuriates me.  Grouping should be 100% an option, and never a requirement.

[Bunraku]

Agreed. It irks me that there are major quests that are impossible to finish without grouping with the "Pro" players on the game. Not that all "Pro" players are bad, mind you, but I class the good ones in the catagory of being vetran players, that treat the game and new players with respect. I'm talking about the run of the mill "Pro's" who'se attitude towards anyone who can't "handle it themselves" is to call them a n00b :/ There are some games out there where you just can't get any help unless you're on the in crowd, and I don't like playing a game for reasons of popularity, I want to play it because I like the game.

That being said there is also an incredible satisfaction that comes with grouping with a small party of people I do know and succeeding at an extremely difficult mission that a party of 8 wasn't able to complete because they were too busy arguing over who'se leader and weather XXhotgurloneoneeleven!!!XX is still dating XXhotguyoneoneeleven!!!xx and who's cheating on who. I just wish bosses that requier large parties like that could be defeated with more tactical means, where one person COULD take them down, if they played their cards right and think on their feet. 

I'm just glad Star Stable is able to be played, for the most part, without having to interact with the others I've met there! I of course want to play with secundi people (If I can ever figure out how the server thing works! Still having trouble adding you guys, It always says you're logged out) But some of the kids outside of secundi that play on star stable...yikes! XD I've never seen people get so upset over someone saying they don't want to join a group.

In any case, sorry for the gigantic rant. Once you get me started on the topic of MMO's I could rant forever. XD

[Scullisto]

I love you Bun

sunchaser & I are on the European server (British flag)....if there is another way to distinguish the servers...I havent found it.

[Pinkshadow]

I cant figure out how i get a new horse so i dropped the game -.-'

[Scullisto]

Marley's Farm, Valedale, Fort Pinta and Firgrove all have stabels that contain the different breeds.  Just click the horse you want and pay the star coins (some are very expensive)

[Pinkshadow]

i know the places but i dont know how to get to any of them sadly.