Just throwing this out for comments...

[HRBaker]

I complained all last year (v24) that talent was being released too quickly. I honestly feel the game becomes less interesting once the talent pool becomes saturated with "supermen". I was hoping (against hope) that would be addressed in v25.

Here we are on April 28th and any team that has spent even a reasonable amount of time on their team has a roster of Diamonds and Perfects, a three-rating-line of blues and greens, and a Card Shop that has already priced its way out of most players budgets. I can't even imagine what things will look like by the All-Star break.

Unless something changes gears soon, I don't see myself playing much after July. It just doesn't seem there will be anything left for F2P players to aim at.

[johndoe8865]

It's definitely tough for those of us who play without spending money on PT, trying to follow "metas", etc.

Hate seeing the same cards in every tourney/league but I guess it's the nature of the beast.

[LeeD]

I'm more upset that there hasn't been anything like Build a Lineup so far. The number of missionless cards is getting out of hand, as those Iron, Bronze, and Silver historicals are the fodder for BaL. The focus has shifted to live cards and so-called Future Legends, which frankly bore me and always end up being worthless for league play. Live players and prospects are for the base game, not Perfect Team. PT is for the all-time greats and not for the might-someday-but-probably-won't-be greats.

[RunninYakAngler]

I took some time off from OOTP and bought 23 on a big discount but never got into it much. Decided to get 25 but told myself not to do PT. I don't listen well.

I've got my main team headed to Diamond and that's usually where things die for me. Besides spending way too much time on this game, it just becomes pointless as a F2P when I need hundreds of thousands of points just to be somewhat competitve. I'll soon go back to my career save and occasionally check in.

And these FL cards just kinda made me go "Meh".

[bailey]

It's not about the color on the card, it's the ratings. I think that most of the cards in packs now are very poor quality diamonds and perfects compared to what is coming. So, it looks to me like they have a good foundation for a more gradual power creep.

[HRBaker]

Originally Posted by bailey

It's not about the color on the card, it's the ratings. I think that most of the cards in packs now are very poor quality diamonds and perfects compared to what is coming. So, it looks to me like they have a good foundation for a more gradual power creep.

My problem is the "power creep" is already in Perfects and Diamonds 6 weeks into the year. Golds and below mean nothing at this point forward. I understand that the Perfects and Diamonds that will come later will be even more powerful, but why do we have to rush to the two top card levels withing the first 6 weeks? Why can't the lower cards be the "best cards" for a while making more and more Diamonds and Perfects available as the season progresses? Why should all the ratings at 6 weeks be blue and greens? By the time we get to the end of the season, all the ratings will be blue and well over 100.

In my "perfect world" the climb from Iron cards to Perfects would actually take 6 months to get there.

[mikezone13]

What has been descibed here is a great thing (and I agree with it), hearing that every time there's a new card release there's a new 'meta' to work towards, does take the gloss off things, but I'm resigned to being in Gold level and maybe jumping into Diamond every so often only to get smashed . But

But it doesn't satisfy the less than 10% of players who are 'pay to win' and want things fast, and will pay for things even faster, meaning OOTP can put more money into developing.

Thankfully there are curerntly other things we free to play guys can do, PT Live, Tournaments (until the all combinator rosters kill this part), Drafts etc. that can add to the fun and get you packs to rip open, which is a big chunk of the fun aspect.

I'm completely free to play, have a prettyd ecent roster (none fo expensive FL cards though), am yet to buy a card for my roster from the auction house and have 190k PP In the bank for that special thing I want to buy at some point, might be packs, might be a player i really want based on who I liked as a kid.

[stevem810]

PT 25 has evolved on a number of levels including ease of play around regular seasons, tournaments, and PT draft. The enhanced look of some of the historical cards has been very well done. So, lots to enjoy.

I agree with the comment(s) that the quality of player needed to compete accelerates far too quickly. Only in the month of April and Gold cards are essentially meaningless in your lineup. The same can be said about the lower Diamonds. This sets up the dynamic of losing interest (for me).

The combinator option is a detraction from my overall enjoyment. It seems geared less to baseball savvy and more to luck and spending, aka buying, PP's. Having to compete against spenders in Tournaments like silver and gold and below will soon be impossible. If I could 'wish away' one element of PT 25 this would be the one.

In summary there is more to like than not but a fresh perspective on the direction of the game might yield positive results.

[Kushiel]

Originally Posted by HRBaker

Why can't the lower cards be the "best cards" for a while making more and more Diamonds and Perfects available as the season progresses? Why should all the ratings at 6 weeks be blue and greens?

It's all about the Benjamins.

The game used to be about the game when most of us started playing. Now, it is about the bottom line marching ever upwards.

Most of us do want the game to make a profit. We just don't think that we should be paying for college for people not even born yet, or for lavish trips to the Riviera and/or Dubai.

[Tinkerman]

Honestly, in my few weeks playing, I've been very impressed by how well thought out most things seem in this version. Which makes it more shocking that they took the calculated choice to make it P2W all the way down to iron tourneys. A huge decision.

[Hwilensky]

What they needed to do, was to find a way to make the game grow amongst baseball enthusiasts. They have failed miserably at that!! They had a chance a couple of years ago when the peak amount of teams was at or over 50K. This is the 3rd week in a row where the number of teams has grown by under 150. They have taken a huge risk, in making this a game for the top 100 players who spend tons of money, instead of a game for the "masses". I started playing in 22, and at the time I got 6 of my friends into it, they in turn got 4 more people to play. They all played another year, currently I am down to 2 friends that play. Like everyone else, they got turned off when it felt like they were forcing you to spend money to compete. We will see where we are in 3 to 5 years.

[PunishedF2P]

I'm just doing my usual for the first couple months: Ignoring everything except live cards.

To that end, the live cards seem to be a bit higher in price than they were this time last year. The first month is always the most difficult since everyone is completing the live card missions and thus all the prices are inflated. However, if you maximized the value out of the inflated live cards you pull (that you're not wanting to hold for update), it balances out a bit.

I noticed on the packs it now says 55/45 Live v Historical ratio - This is a new change, right? It feels like it used to be 75/25 or 80/20. If this has been changed, it would explain the higher prices for live cards.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with my start - I'll really know next Monday. About 350K in quicksell value worth of live cards at the moment.

I'll make a post for a Live Update guide after the first update.

[PunishedF2P]

Originally Posted by Tinkerman

Which makes it more shocking that they took the calculated choice to make it P2W all the way down to iron tourneys.

What do you mean by this? How did they make iron tourneys P2W? I don't do tourneys until a couple months into the season after a few updates and I can build up some good rosters - so I'm not really in the loop of what is happening with tourneys.

[bailey]

Originally Posted by PunishedF2P

What do you mean by this? How did they make iron tourneys P2W? I don't do tourneys until a couple months into the season after a few updates and I can build up some good rosters - so I'm not really in the loop of what is happening with tourneys.

Combinator cards. In iron these are 5001 to buy plain, then you can boost them 6 times for 10's of thousands for each boost. So, if you have the meta iron team and each card is a fully boosted combinator card then each important rating on your card will be ~TEN points better than the standard "meta" card.

EDIT: The only kinds of tourneys not affected by this are live card tourneys.

[DotDash]

I shared similar sentiments 2 or more years ago, reminiscing about the times when you could run a Bronze LaValliere and gold Stirnweiss in Perfect (current day Diamond league) while still being reasonably competitive. Gold Larry Dierker, too.

I am now in Silver with one of my teams, and from the early standings it seems like you have to have all of the live mission rewards (for the chemistry boost) or a decent selection of Perfects/meta Diamonds to be making it to even Gold league.
I also agree that the current mission structure doesn't offer the gradual build-up (and therefore long-term interest) that the BaL missions once did.
I gave up on completing these multi-100K pp missions very quickly last year, and I am about to again now.

[PunishedF2P]

Originally Posted by bailey

Combinator cards. In iron these are 5001 to buy plain, then you can boost them 6 times for 10's of thousands for each boost. So, if you have the meta iron team and each card is a fully boosted combinator card then each important rating on your card will be ~TEN points better than the standard "meta" card.

EDIT: The only kinds of tourneys not affected by this are live card tourneys.

Is anybody actually using or buying these? I can't sell one for the life of me.

They're just stacking up in my sell orders. I wish we could quicksell them.

[bailey]

Originally Posted by PunishedF2P

Is anybody actually using or buying these? I can't sell one for the life of me.

They're just stacking up in my sell orders. I wish we could quicksell them.

Of course, the good ones are selling. OVR 40's sell pretty easily since they are "free" cards in cap tournaments. Last week's PeL champion was loaded with them (not 40's, but perfects).

[LeeD]

Originally Posted by PunishedF2P

Is anybody actually using or buying these? I can't sell one for the life of me.

They're just stacking up in my sell orders. I wish we could quicksell them.

Trouble is that you need the right ones. Most inferior cards will not be superior after the boosts, and no one who is boosting these cards will pay massive amounts of points for the ones that don't end up better than the non-boosted tournament metas. So you need, for instance, the Combinator Jeff Blauser SS card and not any old Bronze SS. Basically, you can dismiss anybody who isn't selling for more than the card shop minimum. OTOH, if you obtain and boost a roster full of the right cards then you'll have a tournament juggernaut.

I have no idea where this is going once newer and better cards are released at each level, other than that pay to win has now hit tournaments in addition to league play. Time to collect some more live Logan Gilberts and hope he hits 100, as that FTP back door has not been closed.

[PunishedF2P]

Originally Posted by bailey

Of course, the good ones are selling. OVR 40's sell pretty easily since they are "free" cards in cap tournaments. Last week's PeL champion was loaded with them (not 40's, but perfects).

That makes sense.

I sold a 40 OVR for 5,001 - it's the only one I've sold!

I don't think this is as big of a deal for F2P as some people are making it. It's always been impossible to compete with a top team in the first few months - whatever your strategy as a F2P, you need a few months to see sizeable enough returns to field competitive teams. Even Iron tourneys were dominated by the top P2W players simply due to LE cards in past.

The point is - a few months from now, I'll be putting together bronze and iron teams full of combinator cards just like the P2W players, just like I'll be fielding a competitive team that makes the playoffs every year in Diamond League and might occasionally see Perfect League.

[PunishedF2P]

Originally Posted by LeeD

Time to collect some more live Logan Gilberts and hope he hits 100, as that FTP back door has not been closed.

Indeed. Don't forget the bronzes and silvers. A couple sleepers that I feel are definitely going gold and plenty available for cheap - Mackenzie Gore (L10 144), Hunter Harvey (L10 156).