Your Perfect Team news, stories and tidbits...

[dboeyr12007]

I must be the luckiest unlucky person ever. Opened 34 packs and some how got 5 diamonds and a perfect. However they were all live again.

[Tinkerman]

Damn it, deja vouz... Packs team KB survive a couple of seasons in Diamond, then get the most stacked division in a stacked league. 3 teams with 10 DL titles and a PL title between them. So, I'll make some predictions for a bit of fun. KB will win 63 games with a run diff of -177.

I'll make another bold prediction. Despite no sign of them for several days, the Grackles will get the 3 cards they need to finish both the TotD and FotF missions BEFORE KB's demotion is confirmed. Hurrah!!

[bailey]

In my conference there are 2 other teams with 1 diamond championship each. The other conference has 6 teams with 21 diamond championships.

[daves]

Originally Posted by bailey

In my conference there are 2 other teams with 1 diamond championship each. The other conference has 6 teams with 21 diamond championships.

Diamond is getting tougher.

[Tinkerman]

Originally Posted by daves

Diamond is getting tougher.

Sure, it's getting tougher. But it's particularly tough when you're drawn with 3 of the top teams in your division. That's been the case each time KB have been relegated to Gold, and this season will almost certainly go the same way. Not the end of the world .

However, I think Kris said the Devs were working on introducing ranking of teams. I presume that's so they can seed the teams that go into each league, and hopefully end up with more balanced divisions. That would be very good.

[bailey]

Originally Posted by Tinkerman

However, I think Kris said the Devs were working on introducing ranking of teams. I presume that's so they can seed the teams that go into each league, and hopefully end up with more balanced divisions. That would be very good.

That would be terrible! The only way I can ever win Perfect League is to be assigned to a weak division, that I have a chance to win, then after sneaking into the playoffs get really lucky there. The off chance you get in a stacked division every so often is just too bad, so sad.

[Tinkerman]

Why should weaker teams ever be given an advantage over stronger teams? You just end up getting more teams shuffled into the wrong order that way. I'd say that playoff RNG probably does enough of that already!

I don't want to be gifted an advantage, I want to not be given a disadvantage.

[tbonetim]

Originally Posted by daves

Diamond is getting tougher.

Yeah, I'm in last place in what would look like a "weak" division this year. That is to say, no one in it has won a Diamond championship and there Diamond records are around 80 to 90 wins a season. Tournament wins have been hard to come by now. No more 40 plus packs in a week in winnings. I had the second best pitching staff last season but the near the worst offense. This season is just frustrating.

[abangs]

My Gold teams continue to be Gold teams.

The Cluckers continue to be a pretty good Gold team that haven't ever been that great. They'll occasionally dip into Silver, but more often will win their division but not so dominantly that they get promoted to Diamond. This year is following the same pattern, with the team leading a weak division in Gold. They're a few thousand PP away from completing the Washington FOTF diamond mission and adding Andre Dawson, which will help a bit with the team's mediocre outfield defense, perhaps enough to finally get them to Diamond.

The Irregulars are more of a .500 Gold team, combining an above-average offense with a below average pitching staff. All of my teams are almost entirely built on pack pulls and special edition rewards, but the pack pulls have yielded only Dennis Eckersley and a bunch of mid-90s diamonds for the pitching staff, and the team hasn't completed enough of the FOTF diamond missions yet to get any of the FOTF pitcher rewards. The diamond missions have been a real slog for this team, as they're still waiting for their first FOTF reward card, who (given the ease in which some missions have been completed) will probably be Roy Campanella. Great player, but considering I already have Yogi, not really what is needed right now. The next easiest mission to complete will be the Pirates diamond mission, which will get me Roberto Clemente, who will be a slight upgrade over my current rightfielder, Roberto Clemente 99 (sigh).

Los Perros have had more success with the FOTF missions, having completed four to net Al Kaline, Roberto Clemente, Mike Schmidt, and Todd Helton, which has in turn made the team more successful in Gold. Next up is the Washington FOTF mission, where they're one diamond card away from Andre Dawson, which, along with the Cluckers getting him soon, would give me the Dawson trifecta (the Irregulars pulled him from a pack). The team is proving their Goldness by stinking it up in the Diamond league this season, though they are currently on the cusp of avoiding relegation. While I don't tank, I do train up players when I am out of contention (Mike Schmidt is my 2B!), so they'll most likely end up back in Gold next season.

[daves]

Just played a team in Diamond with a 1-71 record. Won 99 games in Gold last season.

If only he was in my division?

[tbonetim]

Originally Posted by daves

Just played a team in Diamond with a 1-71 record. Won 99 games in Gold last season.

If only he was in my division?

Yeah, I had a team like that in my league a month or two ago. They either are part of the lost fleet of disgruntled owners who had their auction rights taken away at some point for manipulating the points system or by the looks of that record in Gold last year, they are actively manipulating it. They probably have their team settings arranged to have players play out of position (e.g. catcher) and pitchers come in to play in the field in the batting lineup. The lineups may look legit at first glance but check out the stats for the team. They use the underlying strategic settings so that certain players start over those in the actual batting lineup whenever the simulations take place.

When someone had a team like that in my league, I missed out on a playoff appearance because a weaker team in the other division that he was in racked up a undefeated record against him in divisional play. The only bonus for me was that when I did play that horrible team I got about 12K in points from wacky almost unheard of achievements during one game that was a massive blowout. The developers I think are really going to be making more serious adjustments to the strategy settings next year because they can be taken advantage of so easily.

[bailey]

I have a team like that in my division also! However, this team is using the same players he won Gold with last week, so completely fair. Already got the pounding achievement 4 times with 10 to play. Unfortunately, no games today with this team, so unlikely to keep up the 10K per day pace. The team is on pace to win 120+ games, with a Division Series loss in 3 games for good measure.

[Tinkerman]

Originally Posted by Tinkerman

I'll make some predictions for a bit of fun. KB will win 63 games with a run diff of -177.

68-94, relegated by 3 and a -221 run difference!! No 'bonus points' for being that far out .

They need a better SS so badly.

[daves]

Last week was a dismal playoff performance for all 4 active teams in PT21 and PT20 as they had a combined 2-8 record in the playoffs.

PT21 Diamond leagues are getting tougher. I am taking PP donations to purchase FOTF Pedro and Walter Johnson just to compete.

[dboeyr12007]

I have a league with 20 off days while my other two have 23 off days. Should be interesting.

[abangs]

All 3 of my Gold teams continue to play like Gold teams.

The Cluckers had their best year in Gold so far, going 109-53 during the regular season. They were quickly bounced in the playoffs, however, and remain in Gold for 2055. New addition Andre Dawson definitely helped last season, amassing 5.1 WAR in 76 games, while FOTF Chuck Finley helped improve the team's bullpen, posting a 135 ERA+ in limited innings. The next addition to the outfield will be FOTF Roberto Clemente, likely followed by some pitching help. Bob Feller is the easiest FOTF get, but it will still take awhile. While the team didn't add any new players with last Thursday's mission packs windfall, they did earn enough PP to complete a diamond mission that yielded two historical 99 cards--Brad Lidge and Fernando Valenzuela, so the team is poised to demolish the Gold league this year.

The Irregulars won a wildcard spot in Gold last year, then made a quick playoff exit. The team is still pretty weak in pitching but got a boost to their offense and infield defense with FOTF Roy Campanella and a Thursday mission pack pull of a 99 Roger Peckinpaugh. Next up in personnel moves will be that slight Clemente upgrade from the 99 to the FOTF 100.

Los Perros had their best season in Diamond so far (71-91) but still got relegated. The team filled out their outfield with Andre Dawson, who is much better as a Gold player than a Diamond player, and Todd Helton, who was added in the offseason, actually won the platinum stick award for best 1B bat. The Thursday mission packs bonanza added some pitching depth in the form of 100 Amos Rusie, 95 Eddie Plank, and 98 Jim McCormick. While they didn't do much in their limited time in Diamond, they should be assets in Gold. The current personnel target is FOTF Ernie Banks, though I'm not sure where he'll start. Right now, I have Helton at 1B, Schmidt at 2B, Pop Lloyd at SS, and John McGraw at 3B. I'm leaning toward training Banks at 2B, shifting Schmidt back to 3B, and turning McGraw into a utility infielder/pinch runner.

[Argonaut]

Some random thoughts on PT21 after I've spent some time with it recently. Spent more time with PT20, and have 1 team in PT21 that's been packs-only except for completing the LIVE missions.

1. The new pyramid is much improved. Really like it a lot, as it helps create better competition at the different levels.

2. Tournaments are better. I don't know if it's just getting used to the interface and what's available, or if it's been some positive changes to thank. But as it is now I can find my niche and sign up for them easy. The meta is a bit puzzling though as it seems low MOV pitchers aren't punished as much as they should/could be.

3. Packs are worse value than last year. After spending all of my PP (aside from LIVE missions) on packs, I only count 11 of my 26 roster spots on packed players. And some of these are backup catchers/infielders or mediocre relievers. Which brings me to...

4. The set of cards available and general power creep is borked. The first culprit is the LIVE missions, which give an excellent team right away at little cost. That leads to cookie cutter teams. And now packs become basically a bunk of junk unless you pull a historical perfect card, which is very rare. Last year for example, LIVE Anthony Rendon was a perfectly usable card even at Perfect Level. Now it's obsolete in what, Iron Level?

I get that you need at least some power creep to keep whales interested. But next year they've got to figure out a way to design it so that it doesn't mess up the card universe. There should be some gold and even silver cards you can use to good effect in lower tiers. And have more variety in team composition.

[Tinkerman]

Originally Posted by Argonaut

1. The new pyramid is much improved. Really like it a lot, as it helps create better competition at the different levels.

Although the pyramid IS much improved, it's far from perfect. There's a BIG gulf between Gold and Diamond, and both Gold and Diamond leagues are top heavy each week with teams that should be in the league above.

I don't think that the approach of applying downward pressure on the leagues has worked very well. 4 promotions from Gold creates the potential for the strongest team to not be promoted due to playoff RNG. 10 demotions from Diamond guarantees that dozens of teams will be relegated that are too good for Gold. Then there aren't enough strong teams in Gold to give them really good competition.

That's just not how pro/rel works IRL.

For me, there are simply too many top teams for so few to play at the Perfect level, and it unbalances the other levels.

[bailey]

Originally Posted by Tinkerman

Although the pyramid IS much improved, it's far from perfect. There's a BIG gulf between Gold and Diamond, and both Gold and Diamond leagues are top heavy each week with teams that should be in the league above.

I don't think that the approach of applying downward pressure on the leagues has worked very well. 4 promotions from Gold creates the potential for the strongest team to not be promoted due to playoff RNG. 10 demotions from Diamond guarantees that dozens of teams will be relegated that are too good for Gold. Then there aren't enough strong teams in Gold to give them really good competition.

That's just not how pro/rel works IRL.

For me, there are simply too many top teams for so few to play at the Perfect level, and it unbalances the other levels.

They should probably expand Perfect League to 60 teams , an idea that was floated in the preview of PT21. Last week, there were 17 teams out of 30 in my league that either won or lost 100+ games. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Other than that, I like the pyramid structure the way it is. How pro-rel works in real life is kind of irrelevant in a game with eternal, injury-free lifespans for players.

[Tinkerman]

Originally Posted by bailey

How pro-rel works in real life is kind of irrelevant in a game with eternal, injury-free lifespans for players.

Granted, PT is very much VR, and it doesn't really resemble any sporting leagues with pro/rel systems that I know of . But that doesn't mean that it shouldn't have a slightly more refined process of determining league structure. RNG is great for gameplay, but it has way too much influence on promotions. If Gold leagues promoted the winner and the the 3 other teams with the best league record, you'd end up with less 100 game losers in Diamond, and the pyramid would shuffle more into order.