[Ty Cobb]

I wasn’t trying to rebuke you, Pastor Joe. I was just trying to remind people at large that there are clear cut mechanisms for dealing with many of these issues. I imagine 90% of the players of PT have never even given a thought to the TOS. I also imagine that 90-95% are honest players just trying their best to win.

The rule about tanking is to prevent abuse at the lower levels by unscrupulous players. Who is hurt by tanking?

1. New players…ie future long term paying customers. That takes money right out of the company’s pocket. Let’s not forget that PT is a business, and like all other honestly run businesses, the goal is to make a profit.

2. Honest players, who are victimized by not getting the points they should. That would be folks like you…and me…and Lathum. Report cheaters. They’re eating from your plate. Punish them.

3. Most of the economic manipulation occurring is not inflicted by whales. They don’t give a rat’s patoot about prices—they break out the wallet. The folks screwing up the prices are greedy FTP players trying to flip cards for quick, easy profit by hoarding and reselling. I won’t even sell below L10 anymore unless it’s so close to the L10 that a profit can’t be turned. Those offers for 1,001 for a Gold Card…those are most likely card flippers, not whales.

4. Is buying points a form of manipulating game economy? In a vacuum, yes. PT isn’t played in a vacuum. There are rules, and when you play you agree to those rules. Buying points is part of the rules, just as getting a free pack for logging in each day is. That sentence strikes me as grammatically infirm, but c’est la vie.

The rules in PT exist for a reason. Maybe that reason is as simple as, “Markus made it that way.” There are PT rules I don’t particularly like, and I quietly lobby for change behind the scenes. Sometimes it works, others not. I wasn’t always that way, and I regret that.

Personal note: I sincerely hope you draw a historical perfect soon. The first one is magical!