Playing PT21 as an FTP team is facing a Juggernaut...

HRBaker · 05-15-2020, 10:38 AM

Being mostly an FTP player (Put $200 into PT19, about $300 into PT20, and $0 into PT21) one thing is clear in PT21.

Life is difficult as an FTP owner if your playing the game as a casual player. PT21, and its major support toward a pyramid format, is tough if your not going to either (1) spend a huge amount of time using tournaments, collections, and the auction house, or (2) finally deciding to spend real money.

Not that I'm complaining. My biggest issue with PT19 and PT20 was that too many teams got to Perfect Level too soon, and got their butts kicked once they got there. That's not likely to happen in PT21.

I suspected, and so far it looks to be right, that F2P teams could target Gold Level competition as a casual player, and Diamond Level with some extra effort. At the moment, my three teams are in Bronze, Stone, and Silver, and it's still early enough that Gold will eventually be reached.

The purpose of this post is simply an observation - AND a congratulations to the OOTP team for (1) listening to us during the past 2 versions, and (2) continuing to stay invested in making OOTP better on all fronts.

Charlatan · 05-16-2020, 07:08 AM

I didn't spend too much cash on any of my teams last year.

My FTP teams ended up bouncing between Perfect and Diamond, doing well in Diamond but in the bottom 1/3 in Perfect. The one that happened to have a key collection card (and who sold it for a small windfall) has stuck in Perfect and is a middle of the pack team there. I think with a little perseverance and a little pack-oriented luck I could have made them permanent residents of Perfect.

I had a team that ripped packs and they ended up being similar (though less satisfying). And I had a theme team that was also around the same. Maybe I should start blaming the manager!!

Given the setup of PT21, I expect my current FTP teams will perform similarly, except they will be bouncing between Gold and Diamond.

DonMattingly · 05-16-2020, 10:47 AM

I'm only in the entry level, just started this week in PT 21. So it's too early to say yet where I see my teams ending up.

What I can say based on my experiences as a F2P owner in 19 and 20 is that this time around, I will not be trying to rush up levels. I'm not going to be looking to make small roster upgrades across the board. Instead I am going to save PP and only buy cards I think I will end up keeping long term when I can find them at the right price. Slowly I will add great cards and eventually they will help the team rise up. There's no rush IMO.

In 19 all of my 3 teams reached and stayed in Perfect and were roughly a little better than .500 clubs, maybe reaching the play-offs every third season or so. None of them ever won a title in PT though. Won lots of titles at the other levels.

In 20 all of my 3 teams have been in Perfect for a while now, and can range between 80-100 wins a year. They never will have a whale type 120+ win season but every now and then one will win over 100 games. I would say they make the play-offs maybe 2 out of every 3 seasons on average. Each of my 3 teams has won 1 Perfect championship, and I feel like they all got lucky to do so.

SaltyChips · 05-16-2020, 01:56 PM

FTP here, I didn't get much into PT in the last game but for this one, all I've done is grind through the live card collection missions and I've got a squad that's almost entirely diamond level as a reward and I've been selling off the other cards that don't fit my active roster anymore. Bumped me all the way up to diamond and all I've been doing is reinvesting anything I get and selling the extras. I completed all the live missions a week and a half ago and have been struggling to find ways to earn extra points and I'm experimenting with card flipping at this point. It's really easy to get a competitive team if you do the live collections though.

bailey · 05-16-2020, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SaltyChips

FTP here, I didn't get much into PT in the last game but for this one, all I've done is grind through the live card collection missions and I've got a squad that's almost entirely diamond level as a reward ….. It's really easy to get a competitive team if you do the live collections though.

Exactly. No money and minimal time, especially if you started weeks ago. I think it's harder now, as many of the key cards have gone way up in price compared to the first two weeks. I started on these missions 2 days ago with my 2nd team just to see how long it takes without spending money or more than 15 minutes a day.

Stacopanks · 05-17-2020, 02:38 AM

Just for those free to play and wondering if you can have success in this game. I have 3 teams and 2 of them have been in Diamond for a couple weeks now and my third team has finally been promoted from Gold to Diamond finally this week so the long journey to Diamond has finally come to and end. What I would suggest free to play players do is make the best iron and Bronze teams you can do and then just spam those teams in the 2 and 4 pk reward tournaments as much as you can. You will lose the majority of the time but on average I get anywhere from 4- 8 packs total a day over my 3 accounts.. Also do the historical simulation every 72 hours for each team so you can get a pack reward from that. Most people just use the 1927 yankees since that is the most overpowered team for it.

Another thing I suggest to do is to the MLB Live collection missions. This is the key to the whole thing. You get such great players from this as reward that you can just use a team full of these reward players and you will be able to get to Diamond. You probably won't ever win a diamond championship with that team but at least you can get to Diamond and it's a great starting foundation team with which to add some players to. I still use the SE Ichiro, SE Billy Williams, SE Piazza, SE Yaz, SE Bagwell, SE Berra, SE Cano, SE Maddux and also the SE Blyleven. I did this for two of my teams right off the bat but my third team I wanted to see if I could have success without doing the mlb live collection missions but the team was lagging too far behind and I couldn't get any pack luck from it so I finally finished this collection for my third team last week and that was enough to propel it to the top of gold and now into Diamond.

Just have to change your expectations. Winning a perfect league or even getting to one is probably never going to happen so as long you can come to that realization then you should be good to go. Diamond is attainable though.

One last tip when doing the mlb live team collections. What I did for each collection was check the reward on the auction house and see what the price it's going for. Minus the 10% tax from that and that is the amount that you are shooting for when trying to finish the collection. The cheaper you can get it done the more profit of course. I overpaid for so many cards because I would get to the point where I was sick of waiting for certain cards but if you are patient you can get some good deals and make some really good pp from doing these sets and selling the rewards.
Also you get lot's of packs from completing the divisions and leagues so a good chance to hopefully get some good pulls from those as well.

You also don't need a ton of pp to get the live collections done. What I did was finished off the team and then I sold the reward from the team and then once that sold I used the money to do the next team and on and on and on. You will find that the PP adds up especially as you get further into the set and get the division and league rewards. I sold off many of those rewards and then once I was done the whole collection I bought back some of the SE rewards that I had sold before since once you finish the collection you should have a pretty nice amount of pp.

Enjoy the journey

mayday10 · 05-17-2020, 07:10 AM

You get a pack for an historical simulation?

Stacopanks · 05-17-2020, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mayday10

You get a pack for an historical simulation?

Yes you get a new pack every 72 hours. Best way to do it is go New Historical Game and then choose the 1927 Yankees. Change your manager settings so you don't stop the simulation for injuries and the other things that stop the sim. You just have to uncheck a few of those boxes so the sim just keeps going week by week and doesn't stop for injuries and stuff. Then it's random what achievement will earn the pack but you just keep simming week to week and the pack will come. Sometimes it's during the first season sometimes it's second season the odd time I do have to wait into a third season but it doesn't usually go longer then that. You win a regular pack each time but every once in a while you can also get a gold pack as well. I have got a gold pack a few times. Good luck

PocketsAintFull · 05-17-2020, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HRBaker

(1) spend a huge amount of time using tournaments, collections, and the auction house

These are huge parts of the game mode, it stands to reason it’d be difficult without putting attention into them.

My 2nd team has done neither live missions (entirely down to choice after spending 3 weeks from launch doing them on my main team) or much AH flipping (due to being in ‘BFF’ league), and they’re considerably behind because of it

(which is fine, of course, many ways to play and enjoy)

This is easily the best PT for F2P opportunities

JKap · 05-18-2020, 09:28 PM

Hey Staco - any relation to Stacocakes whom I used to watch his Madden streams?

When going with the historical game I am assuming that you need to select the Challenge Mode option to receive the free packs?

Stacopanks · 05-20-2020, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JKap

Hey Staco - any relation to Stacocakes whom I used to watch his Madden streams?

When going with the historical game I am assuming that you need to select the Challenge Mode option to receive the free packs?

Haha yes that is me

obseen · 05-20-2020, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stacopanks

Haha yes that is me

I used to watch those videos as well! I quit Madden a few years ago it got to be too much of a grind + cash grab.

Stacopanks · 05-20-2020, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by obseen

I used to watch those videos as well! I quit Madden a few years ago it got to be too much of a grind + cash grab.

That's cool that some people from Madden are playing this game as well. Would be great if OOTP had a football simulation that would be great.

Madden just got worse every year. The community is great but the game just gets worse every year. They deserve a better game from EA. I hope those that stayed with the game are having some fun at least

MrPibb · 05-21-2020, 11:51 PM

Not trying to start a flame war or anything... but I keep seeing FTP getting thrown around. Are we referring to the $40 version or am I missing something.

Second, the heck does L7 mean? Can't find that one anywere.

ignats75 · 05-22-2020, 12:36 AM

obseen--Did you go to Bucknell?

diamond3017 · 05-22-2020, 02:51 AM

As a FTP player, I'm taking a much different approach to 21 than I did to 20 (my first year playing Perfect Team). My primary goal this year is earning as many Perfect Points as possible as I move up the ladder. Having a year of PT under my belt is a boon, IMO.

Last year, I went about building my team the exact wrong way, in retrospect. I figured that if I couldn't get the best cards, I could "level the playing field" by going all in on pitcher movement and defense, and having extremely pitcher-friendly ballpark dimensions. I also relied heavily on my bullpen, using two stoppers for 120+ IP each because I wanted to take advantage of the stuff boost that comes from moving a good SP to the 'pen. The problem with using this strategy is that the best teams are just too good for you to compete with, and you'll never rack up the PP you need to compete at the top level.

As far as I can tell, the only pitchers that really earn any significant PP are total aces who are given a long leash as starters. So, I've gone with a stars and scrubs approach to my pitching staff in PT 21, investing in the top "stuff" SPs I can afford, and punting on the bullpen. I've also cranked my SP hook settings all the way to the right to maximize the chances of getting "Painting the Corners" and "Rocket Game" accomplishments.

When it comes to position players, offense is the only thing that matters (with an emphasis on power – I think every player in my starting lineup has 95+ power). I love defense, but it doesn't get you PP. I'm pretty sure my SE Billy Williams racked up more PP in his triple crown season than Lou Boudreau or Joe Cronin earned for me in 30+ seasons in PT 20. I want my team to lead the league in every non-baserunning offensive category every year, even if it means punting on defense.

Orcin · 05-22-2020, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrPibb

Not trying to start a flame war or anything... but I keep seeing FTP getting thrown around. Are we referring to the $40 version or am I missing something.

Second, the heck does L7 mean? Can't find that one anywere.

FTP = free to play, i.e. no money spent for points
L7 = last 7 days average in the auction house

obseen · 05-22-2020, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ignats75

obseen--Did you go to Bucknell?

Yes, I did

05-15-2020, 10:38 AM	#1
HRBaker Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 2,380	Playing PT21 as an FTP team is facing a Juggernaut... Being mostly an FTP player (Put $200 into PT19, about $300 into PT20, and $0 into PT21) one thing is clear in PT21. Life is difficult as an FTP owner if your playing the game as a casual player. PT21, and its major support toward a pyramid format, is tough if your not going to either (1) spend a huge amount of time using tournaments, collections, and the auction house, or (2) finally deciding to spend real money. Not that I'm complaining. My biggest issue with PT19 and PT20 was that too many teams got to Perfect Level too soon, and got their butts kicked once they got there. That's not likely to happen in PT21. I suspected, and so far it looks to be right, that F2P teams could target Gold Level competition as a casual player, and Diamond Level with some extra effort. At the moment, my three teams are in Bronze, Stone, and Silver, and it's still early enough that Gold will eventually be reached. The purpose of this post is simply an observation - AND a congratulations to the OOTP team for (1) listening to us during the past 2 versions, and (2) continuing to stay invested in making OOTP better on all fronts. __________________ *HRB*

05-17-2020, 02:38 AM	#6
Stacopanks Minors (Single A) Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 63	Just for those free to play and wondering if you can have success in this game. I have 3 teams and 2 of them have been in Diamond for a couple weeks now and my third team has finally been promoted from Gold to Diamond finally this week so the long journey to Diamond has finally come to and end. What I would suggest free to play players do is make the best iron and Bronze teams you can do and then just spam those teams in the 2 and 4 pk reward tournaments as much as you can. You will lose the majority of the time but on average I get anywhere from 4- 8 packs total a day over my 3 accounts.. Also do the historical simulation every 72 hours for each team so you can get a pack reward from that. Most people just use the 1927 yankees since that is the most overpowered team for it. Another thing I suggest to do is to the MLB Live collection missions. This is the key to the whole thing. You get such great players from this as reward that you can just use a team full of these reward players and you will be able to get to Diamond. You probably won't ever win a diamond championship with that team but at least you can get to Diamond and it's a great starting foundation team with which to add some players to. I still use the SE Ichiro, SE Billy Williams, SE Piazza, SE Yaz, SE Bagwell, SE Berra, SE Cano, SE Maddux and also the SE Blyleven. I did this for two of my teams right off the bat but my third team I wanted to see if I could have success without doing the mlb live collection missions but the team was lagging too far behind and I couldn't get any pack luck from it so I finally finished this collection for my third team last week and that was enough to propel it to the top of gold and now into Diamond. Just have to change your expectations. Winning a perfect league or even getting to one is probably never going to happen so as long you can come to that realization then you should be good to go. Diamond is attainable though. One last tip when doing the mlb live team collections. What I did for each collection was check the reward on the auction house and see what the price it's going for. Minus the 10% tax from that and that is the amount that you are shooting for when trying to finish the collection. The cheaper you can get it done the more profit of course. I overpaid for so many cards because I would get to the point where I was sick of waiting for certain cards but if you are patient you can get some good deals and make some really good pp from doing these sets and selling the rewards. Also you get lot's of packs from completing the divisions and leagues so a good chance to hopefully get some good pulls from those as well. You also don't need a ton of pp to get the live collections done. What I did was finished off the team and then I sold the reward from the team and then once that sold I used the money to do the next team and on and on and on. You will find that the PP adds up especially as you get further into the set and get the division and league rewards. I sold off many of those rewards and then once I was done the whole collection I bought back some of the SE rewards that I had sold before since once you finish the collection you should have a pretty nice amount of pp. Enjoy the journey Last edited by Stacopanks; 05-17-2020 at 03:26 AM.

05-17-2020, 07:10 AM	#7
mayday10 Minors (Double A) Join Date: Jan 2020 Posts: 175	You get a pack for an historical simulation? __________________

05-22-2020, 12:36 AM	#15
ignats75 Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Feb 2017 Location: Lakewood, OH Posts: 286	obseen--Did you go to Bucknell? __________________

05-22-2020, 02:51 AM	#16
diamond3017 Minors (Single A) Join Date: Sep 2017 Posts: 88	As a FTP player, I'm taking a much different approach to 21 than I did to 20 (my first year playing Perfect Team). My primary goal this year is earning as many Perfect Points as possible as I move up the ladder. Having a year of PT under my belt is a boon, IMO. Last year, I went about building my team the exact wrong way, in retrospect. I figured that if I couldn't get the best cards, I could "level the playing field" by going all in on pitcher movement and defense, and having extremely pitcher-friendly ballpark dimensions. I also relied heavily on my bullpen, using two stoppers for 120+ IP each because I wanted to take advantage of the stuff boost that comes from moving a good SP to the 'pen. The problem with using this strategy is that the best teams are just too good for you to compete with, and you'll never rack up the PP you need to compete at the top level. As far as I can tell, the only pitchers that really earn any significant PP are total aces who are given a long leash as starters. So, I've gone with a stars and scrubs approach to my pitching staff in PT 21, investing in the top "stuff" SPs I can afford, and punting on the bullpen. I've also cranked my SP hook settings all the way to the right to maximize the chances of getting "Painting the Corners" and "Rocket Game" accomplishments. When it comes to position players, offense is the only thing that matters (with an emphasis on power – I think every player in my starting lineup has 95+ power). I love defense, but it doesn't get you PP. I'm pretty sure my SE Billy Williams racked up more PP in his triple crown season than Lou Boudreau or Joe Cronin earned for me in 30+ seasons in PT 20. I want my team to lead the league in every non-baserunning offensive category every year, even if it means punting on defense. __________________

05-16-2020, 07:08 AM	#2
Charlatan All Star Starter Join Date: May 2006 Location: Leesburg, VA Posts: 1,492	I didn't spend too much cash on any of my teams last year. My FTP teams ended up bouncing between Perfect and Diamond, doing well in Diamond but in the bottom 1/3 in Perfect. The one that happened to have a key collection card (and who sold it for a small windfall) has stuck in Perfect and is a middle of the pack team there. I think with a little perseverance and a little pack-oriented luck I could have made them permanent residents of Perfect. I had a team that ripped packs and they ended up being similar (though less satisfying). And I had a theme team that was also around the same. Maybe I should start blaming the manager!! Given the setup of PT21, I expect my current FTP teams will perform similarly, except they will be bouncing between Gold and Diamond.

05-16-2020, 10:47 AM	#3
DonMattingly Major Leagues Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 310	I'm only in the entry level, just started this week in PT 21. So it's too early to say yet where I see my teams ending up. What I can say based on my experiences as a F2P owner in 19 and 20 is that this time around, I will not be trying to rush up levels. I'm not going to be looking to make small roster upgrades across the board. Instead I am going to save PP and only buy cards I think I will end up keeping long term when I can find them at the right price. Slowly I will add great cards and eventually they will help the team rise up. There's no rush IMO. In 19 all of my 3 teams reached and stayed in Perfect and were roughly a little better than .500 clubs, maybe reaching the play-offs every third season or so. None of them ever won a title in PT though. Won lots of titles at the other levels. In 20 all of my 3 teams have been in Perfect for a while now, and can range between 80-100 wins a year. They never will have a whale type 120+ win season but every now and then one will win over 100 games. I would say they make the play-offs maybe 2 out of every 3 seasons on average. Each of my 3 teams has won 1 Perfect championship, and I feel like they all got lucky to do so.

05-16-2020, 01:56 PM	#4
SaltyChips Bat Boy Join Date: Apr 2020 Posts: 6	FTP here, I didn't get much into PT in the last game but for this one, all I've done is grind through the live card collection missions and I've got a squad that's almost entirely diamond level as a reward and I've been selling off the other cards that don't fit my active roster anymore. Bumped me all the way up to diamond and all I've been doing is reinvesting anything I get and selling the extras. I completed all the live missions a week and a half ago and have been struggling to find ways to earn extra points and I'm experimenting with card flipping at this point. It's really easy to get a competitive team if you do the live collections though.

05-18-2020, 09:28 PM	#10
JKap Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Colorado Posts: 32	Hey Staco - any relation to Stacocakes whom I used to watch his Madden streams? When going with the historical game I am assuming that you need to select the Challenge Mode option to receive the free packs?

05-21-2020, 11:51 PM	#14
MrPibb Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Mar 2020 Posts: 28	Not trying to start a flame war or anything... but I keep seeing FTP getting thrown around. Are we referring to the $40 version or am I missing something. Second, the heck does L7 mean? Can't find that one anywere.