Perfect Team and Diminishing Returns - Page 2

alanohio · 01-08-2026, 12:36 PM

Thanks to everyone who weighed in - I genuinely appreciate the thoughtful responses and the reality checks. I think what’s come through pretty clearly is that there are real constraints here: team size, dev bandwidth, unintended economic side effects, tanking concerns, and the fact that Perfect Team will always have a natural seasonal drop-off after the All-Star break. All fair points.

My goal wasn’t to argue that any one proposal is the solution, or that the devs are “doing it wrong.” It was simply to explore whether there’s room for something - anything - that gives mid-cycle players a reason to stay engaged once upward mobility effectively stalls. For some people that’s missions, for others it’s league placement, and for many it’s probably neither. If the answer ends up being “the juice isn’t worth the squeeze,” so be it - but I welcome the ideas because, in my opinion, long-term retention matters just as much as top-end competition.

Appreciate the discussion, even (especially) where we disagree.

ChessSafari · 01-17-2026, 01:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fabtron7

To support the above statement… I have 10 teams in PT26, all of which are connected to past years licenses and pretty much all Ghost ships. There’s probably even a few more I could activate but I honestly can’t remember all the usernames at this point.

Exactly what he said ^^^. My rosters are now all labeled as ghost ships. I love this game, but at some point each cycle, it is no longer worth the time effort or money to try to compete any longer (for me at least).

Can't wait for OOTPB-27!

rburgh · 01-17-2026, 01:21 PM

"What you're missing here is that a lot of the best players in the game are actually guys that specialize in mid-level tournaments over league play. So they're going to opt into those path-b leagues and clean everyone's clocks every week... which will just lead to more complaints as the same people getting curb stomped now get curb stomped again."

Yeah, try entering a gold tournament with stock cards sometime. If you're truly FTP you should do perfect drafts or live only tourneys.

daves · 01-17-2026, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fabtron7

To support the above statement… I have 10 teams in PT26, all of which are connected to past years licenses and pretty much all Ghost ships. There’s probably even a few more I could activate but I honestly can’t remember all the usernames at this point.

Ten? How many times did you buy Out of the Park? Did you purchase the sale to get more licenses?

LeeD · 01-17-2026, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daves

Ten? How many times did you buy Out of the Park? Did you purchase the sale to get more licenses?

Been there done that. Also have multiples from GO! Other than that time the company changed servers, a PT/OOTP license never dies.

alanohio · 01-17-2026, 08:22 PM

I've got six, but I think I have 3 more I don't know the emails for any more...

Fabtron7 · 01-17-2026, 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daves

Ten? How many times did you buy Out of the Park? Did you purchase the sale to get more licenses?

Nope, you get three teams per license per year for buying th game and then one (or more) from OOTP Go when it was free for years. You only need to have been playing since PT23 to have10+ teams.

cwhitman · 01-18-2026, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rburgh

"What you're missing here is that a lot of the best players in the game are actually guys that specialize in mid-level tournaments over league play. So they're going to opt into those path-b leagues and clean everyone's clocks every week... which will just lead to more complaints as the same people getting curb stomped now get curb stomped again."

Yeah, try entering a gold tournament with stock cards sometime. If you're truly FTP you should do perfect drafts or live only tourneys.

one of the best gold players all cycle has opted out of using variants this year. more often than not, it's less the card quality and more the team building skill

atomzero · 01-19-2026, 10:11 AM

I have no shortage of complaints I could make about perfect team, but you do not need to pay extra to have success. I made 4 PTCS tournaments in the last cycle on one account, all tournament, no draft. I have made it to low diamond and I'm back there this week. I have never used another account and I've never paid anything beyond buying the game...and I've only been playing since June.
Do I spend plenty of hours building rosters and maintaining a spreadsheet? Sure.
Do I have fun doing it? Yeah.
Will I make Perfect League this way? Maybe not
Do I care? No

I never like siding with the whales and the streamers who have a vested interest. I give no value to their opinions, but you are just as likely losing in tournaments to people who put in lots of time as you are people with money. I actually think OOTP goes out of their way to limit the effectiveness of spending extra, and I appreciate it. The only concrete change I'd wish for is that the power creep would slow down.

Fabtron7 · 01-19-2026, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atomzero

I have no shortage of complaints I could make about perfect team, but you do not need to pay extra to have success. I made 4 PTCS tournaments in the last cycle on one account, all tournament, no draft. I have made it to low diamond and I'm back there this week. I have never used another account and I've never paid anything beyond buying the game...and I've only been playing since June.
Do I spend plenty of hours building rosters and maintaining a spreadsheet? Sure.
Do I have fun doing it? Yeah.
Will I make Perfect League this way? Maybe not
Do I care? No

I never like siding with the whales and the streamers who have a vested interest. I give no value to their opinions, but you are just as likely losing in tournaments to people who put in lots of time as you are people with money. I actually think OOTP goes out of their way to limit the effectiveness of spending extra, and I appreciate it. The only concrete change I'd wish for is that the power creep would slow down.

Hate to break it to you man… you are a whale. Your chosen currency is just time not money.

cwhitman · 01-19-2026, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atomzero

I have no shortage of complaints I could make about perfect team, but you do not need to pay extra to have success. I made 4 PTCS tournaments in the last cycle on one account, all tournament, no draft. I have made it to low diamond and I'm back there this week. I have never used another account and I've never paid anything beyond buying the game...and I've only been playing since June.
Do I spend plenty of hours building rosters and maintaining a spreadsheet? Sure.
Do I have fun doing it? Yeah.
Will I make Perfect League this way? Maybe not
Do I care? No

I never like siding with the whales and the streamers who have a vested interest. I give no value to their opinions, but you are just as likely losing in tournaments to people who put in lots of time as you are people with money. I actually think OOTP goes out of their way to limit the effectiveness of spending extra, and I appreciate it. The only concrete change I'd wish for is that the power creep would slow down.

actually think creep was really slow this year, hence the higher observed variance because the new cards weren't really pushing it that much

martye8 · 01-19-2026, 08:06 PM

I'm a long-time player of this game, going back to PC for almost 20 years. I remember a long hospital stay 15 years ago where I played on my iPhone 4 to pass the time. I haven't played much in the intervening years, but got very interested for some reason this year and got caught up in Perfect Team.

I've had a lot of fun since I started late summer. I didn't get serious until the excitement of the World Series this year, but experiencing the game anew through figuring out the tournaments and perfect drafts, the collection mission system, the league play, and all of the other little nuances has rekindled an interest in simulation gaming, especially as it now interfaces with AI, data, and statistical science. I hadn't been serious about advanced baseball analytics, and the game opened my eyes up to what's happened in the last few years and inspired me to rejoin Sabr.

Yes, unless I spend $$$$ or 40+ hours/week, I don't think at this point I can seriously compete in the Perfect League, but I'm quite happy with what I've achieved. I look forward to playing the game more in the next few months as I move into the new version that will be issued in March.

usa_hank · Today, 12:52 PM

Somewhat adjacent to this discussion (and because someone brought it up), I personally think there should be a limit on number of teams you have. It should be tied to your license of the newest game. It irks me knowing people can field 10 teams, entering 30 tournaments at a time, and we've seen people enter the same tourneys with different teams without even hiding it. Or worse yet, claiming 10 entries on a high yield weekly tourney. That seems like total BS to me that someone could do that, whether or not they actually do.

01-08-2026, 12:36 PM	#21
alanohio Minors (Single A) Join Date: Dec 2024 Posts: 80	Thanks to everyone who weighed in - I genuinely appreciate the thoughtful responses and the reality checks. I think what’s come through pretty clearly is that there are real constraints here: team size, dev bandwidth, unintended economic side effects, tanking concerns, and the fact that Perfect Team will always have a natural seasonal drop-off after the All-Star break. All fair points. My goal wasn’t to argue that any one proposal is the solution, or that the devs are “doing it wrong.” It was simply to explore whether there’s room for something - anything - that gives mid-cycle players a reason to stay engaged once upward mobility effectively stalls. For some people that’s missions, for others it’s league placement, and for many it’s probably neither. If the answer ends up being “the juice isn’t worth the squeeze,” so be it - but I welcome the ideas because, in my opinion, long-term retention matters just as much as top-end competition. Appreciate the discussion, even (especially) where we disagree.

01-17-2026, 01:21 PM	#23
rburgh All Star Reserve Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Pittsburgh Posts: 998	"What you're missing here is that a lot of the best players in the game are actually guys that specialize in mid-level tournaments over league play. So they're going to opt into those path-b leagues and clean everyone's clocks every week... which will just lead to more complaints as the same people getting curb stomped now get curb stomped again." Yeah, try entering a gold tournament with stock cards sometime. If you're truly FTP you should do perfect drafts or live only tourneys.

01-17-2026, 08:22 PM	#26
alanohio Minors (Single A) Join Date: Dec 2024 Posts: 80	I've got six, but I think I have 3 more I don't know the emails for any more...

01-19-2026, 10:11 AM	#29
atomzero Minors (Double A) Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 185	I have no shortage of complaints I could make about perfect team, but you do not need to pay extra to have success. I made 4 PTCS tournaments in the last cycle on one account, all tournament, no draft. I have made it to low diamond and I'm back there this week. I have never used another account and I've never paid anything beyond buying the game...and I've only been playing since June. Do I spend plenty of hours building rosters and maintaining a spreadsheet? Sure. Do I have fun doing it? Yeah. Will I make Perfect League this way? Maybe not Do I care? No I never like siding with the whales and the streamers who have a vested interest. I give no value to their opinions, but you are just as likely losing in tournaments to people who put in lots of time as you are people with money. I actually think OOTP goes out of their way to limit the effectiveness of spending extra, and I appreciate it. The only concrete change I'd wish for is that the power creep would slow down.

01-19-2026, 08:06 PM	#32
martye8 Bat Boy Join Date: Feb 2021 Posts: 2	I'm a long-time player of this game, going back to PC for almost 20 years. I remember a long hospital stay 15 years ago where I played on my iPhone 4 to pass the time. I haven't played much in the intervening years, but got very interested for some reason this year and got caught up in Perfect Team. I've had a lot of fun since I started late summer. I didn't get serious until the excitement of the World Series this year, but experiencing the game anew through figuring out the tournaments and perfect drafts, the collection mission system, the league play, and all of the other little nuances has rekindled an interest in simulation gaming, especially as it now interfaces with AI, data, and statistical science. I hadn't been serious about advanced baseball analytics, and the game opened my eyes up to what's happened in the last few years and inspired me to rejoin Sabr. Yes, unless I spend $$$$ or 40+ hours/week, I don't think at this point I can seriously compete in the Perfect League, but I'm quite happy with what I've achieved. I look forward to playing the game more in the next few months as I move into the new version that will be issued in March.

Today, 12:52 PM	#33
usa_hank Minors (Single A) Join Date: Jun 2025 Posts: 72	Somewhat adjacent to this discussion (and because someone brought it up), I personally think there should be a limit on number of teams you have. It should be tied to your license of the newest game. It irks me knowing people can field 10 teams, entering 30 tournaments at a time, and we've seen people enter the same tourneys with different teams without even hiding it. Or worse yet, claiming 10 entries on a high yield weekly tourney. That seems like total BS to me that someone could do that, whether or not they actually do.