Stat uniformity is blah

Mmkee, so I know that this is a relatively substantial suggestion but I feel the need for it. Please stick around for the pre-suggestion rant if you like the topic.<br><br><span style="font-weight:bold">Background:</span><br><br>Back in 04 and maybe early 05, around the time I joined VP, dogs could only be maxed to 100 in most stats. Then either they could be conditioned to old age to maximize breeding potential or improved with tons of fame points to make really great eventing "superdogs."<br><br>This is the VP I miss. I don't want to go back to 100 in each stat, but I mean, every dog was totally unique not just because of its color and breed, but they had real differentiation in stats. Some dogs were VERY clearly superior (or not.)<br><br>I just noticed that loyalty got capped at 600? So now there are basically no limitless stats (and I know we don't want another 20k aggro situation although that was admittedly quite the achievement, anyone remember the tervs?) which is fine by me, but the point is that most dogs can easily be trained to 250 aggro, 600 loyalty and the resulting friendly, hyper, adapt. and courage will all be somewhere around 214-220. Adaptability and courage then, through boarding kennels, become the ONLY stats that can make a certain dog better than another (training-wise, not birth-wise.)<br><br>I've already taken note that just as loyalty used to be the event-winning super stat, now that the game has been around for so long, boarded dogs from real-time years ago are becoming the only super dogs. These guys have 600-900 adaptability and courage. And they are in absolutely limited supply because they depend on real time. People with the money to afford them will amass them and new, young eventing dogs will be virtually unheard of in any events that judge on adapt/courage at all.<br><br>On a similar note, back when loyalty was capless, a dog's lifespan basically determined its worth as an eventer. So we saw spotted hyenas, then the longest-living dogs, become supereventers in any event that judged on loyalty. That has since been fixed.<br><br>My point is, looking at pure stats, every dog looks the SAME. 10x4's vary in worth only by the rarity of their breed and the birth value of their primary stat (speed for greyhounds, etc.) To pick a winner for an event that doesn't judge on adapt/courage/loyalty, you may as well flip a flippin' coin. Strategy in eventing is all but nonexistent.<br><br>Plus, it makes no sense for chihuahuas to be trained to be as fast as a racing hound even if their birth stats were much lower to begin with.<br><br><span style="font-weight:bold">Suggestion:</span><br><br>I think that we should be able to marginally improve stats (except aggro and loyalty) through fame over 200 (because fame is now limited to the 100-200 range, an archaic remnant from old VP.) It would have to be very slight, like 0.1 for each 200 fame points or something. It would make fame valuable again and allow for dogs to be different again. Trouble stats could also be targeted rather than forcing breeders to import dozens of new dogs to add a single generation in the hopes of hyper, for example, going up a bit more. Or forcing them to inbreed lest they remain at 9x4 forever (because some breeds do need a good 5 generations of 9x4 to improve a certain stat to get 4 stars.) But it doesn't make it too much easier, either, so it's still a challenge and accomplishment. <br><br>I also think that condition training either needs to be able to improve stats over their maxes again, or removed entirely from the game. Because it's been obsolete for ages.<br><br>Thoughts? Feel free to add on if you have more ideas.