Competitive balance discussion

[Dogberry99]

The market on the AH for silver players will continue to collapse as more owners get the specific cards they want. Golds will eventually collapse in a similar manner.

I personally believe the more effective use of limited points early on is to target specific players at auction. Packs are too much of a lottery early on... Sure, I may get that Perfect Jackie Robinson :drools: from one of my 10 packs, but 10k points at this stage can fill a lot of holes on my team with a precision focus and patience to target the cards that best fit my strategy.


EDIT: So to better respond to your original post, effective use of points REALLY matters, whether one purchases points or not, and using points effectively will make any and all teams competitive, to varying degrees, even without purchasing more.

[Kushiel]

If you are patient building your team, you can not spend money. My pure FTP second team the "Happy Plankton" will never have bought PP and I do not care. We have a second gold already this week and a couple more silvers from the achievements any team can get

[waylander]

Originally Posted by Dogberry99

The market on the AH for silver players will continue to collapse as more owners get the specific cards they want. Golds will eventually collapse in a similar manner.

I personally believe the more effective use of limited points early on is to target specific players at auction. Packs are too much of a lottery early on... Sure, I may get that Perfect Jackie Robinson :drools: from one of my 10 packs, but 10k points at this stage can fill a lot of holes on my team with a precision focus and patience to target the cards that best fit my strategy.


EDIT: So to better respond to your original post, effective use of points REALLY matters.

You absolutely can, and you can be competitive. It will just take longer to get the team you desire. In my beta league, a dominant whale lost in the playoffs to a well built free to play team. Over the course of a season, the dominant team would all ahead... But in baseball - anything can happen.

[stl jason]

my 2 cents... spending $$ can absolutely be avoided.

If someone's ultimate goal is to rush as fast as they can to get a team of 25 perfect players, then obviously they will need to spend money to get there quickly.

but what's the rush? For me it's going to be all about the journey and building my teams up from what they earn in-game and selling cards (logging that journey in the dynasty section if anyone wants to follow along).... for my team that is upgrading strictly through players obtained from packs (no auction purchases), they already have 4 gold players (1 from the starter packs; 3 from subsequent pack purchases), and it's still the 'spring training/entry league' season...

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by daves

I know there was a debate on spending cash, but I am not sure after time it can be avoided? I have not played for long, but when you start it is easy to fill your roster full of bronze players. Many bronze players can be bought for under 100 PP. But as your team gets better it cost more to get those silver players. And as you upgrade the silver players you will need gold players with more coins etc etc. Yes you get rewards for pummeling weak teams and you can sell off some players, but after a while the rewards may not be enough and buying coins maybe necessary?

Markus wants your money, and even he says it is not necessary. It all boils down to your personal level of patience. If you want everything now, break out your wallet. If you believe that the journey is more important than the destination, enjoy the free ride for a few weeks and then see how you feel about it. Treat yourself to a few points for Christmas.

[daves]

Originally Posted by Dogberry99

The market on the AH for silver players will continue to collapse as more owners get the specific cards they want. Golds will eventually collapse in a similar manner.

I personally believe the more effective use of limited points early on is to target specific players at auction. Packs are too much of a lottery early on... Sure, I may get that Perfect Jackie Robinson :drools: from one of my 10 packs, but 10k points at this stage can fill a lot of holes on my team with a precision focus and patience to target the cards that best fit my strategy.


EDIT: So to better respond to your original post, effective use of points REALLY matters, whether one purchases points or not, and using points effectively will make any and all teams competitive, to varying degrees, even without purchasing more.

I see. the market is high right now, but in time the prices will drop. Good market advice.

[wolfslice]

Uhh yeah, you can avoid it. Just don't do it?

I have no intention of spending any money on packs (defeats the whole purpose of the fun of upgrading for me), and I suspect I'll still have a strong team after a few seasons.

Play some challenge mode too, and get some occasional packs there.

[One Post Wonder]

Originally Posted by Fyrestorm3

The thread is still up, you can take a look at it - no one particularly cared that he was leaving until Airdrop showed up and blasted everyone for no good reason. Without Airdrop's post, that thread probably dies a quiet death.

I was referring to Airdrop's post. And you see how correct my statement is? I agree with you and we're still about to go nuclear for some reason.

Look at this lynch mob. I'm not interested. Put your guns away, people.

[zrog2000]

I’m debating writing another Game of Thrones series based on my experiences playing PT.

[zrog2000]

Why wouldn’t you be able to avoid it? I can think of lots of ways. You could quit playing or just accept that you’re not going to have the first team to win the World Series in the highest possible league. That’s two easy ways to not buy points.

Or hell, just walk away for three months and then come back and see the tens of thousands of PP that you racked up for doing nothing.

[Fyrestorm3]

Originally Posted by One Post Wonder

I was referring to Airdrop's post. And you see how correct my statement is? I agree with you and we're still about to go nuclear for some reason.

Look at this lynch mob. I'm not interested. Put your guns away, people.

I'm not the one about to go nuclear here. If that's how you interpret my post, that's on you. And I don't see a lynch mob (in this thread, at least). Again, if you do, that's on you.

It's funny how easy it is to read someone's comments as confrontational just because you expect them to disagree with you.

[One Post Wonder]

Originally Posted by Fyrestorm3

I'm not the one about to go nuclear here. If that's how you interpret my post, that's on you. And I don't see a lynch mob (in this thread, at least).

Have you read the posts following yours? I'm not directing this specifically at you but it's the same crew of regulars, every time. This isn't anyone's 'turf'. It's just a gaming forum and anyone is welcome to speak here.

I'm really not interested in this crap. This isn't what this thread is about. I posted to show some empathy to the OP because I understand why he did what he did, and to let him know that the vitriol wasn't his fault. That's it.

[Ashbury]

Interpersonal dynamics here on the OOTP forum threads wasn't really the intended thrust of either of my recent posts here.

[One Post Wonder]

Originally Posted by Ashbury

Interpersonal dynamics here on the OOTP forum threads wasn't really the intended thrust of either of my recent posts here.

It must be all that vitriol you're spewing

Anyway, I hope the intended purpose wasn't lost. I think people get where you were coming from.

[One Post Wonder]

Originally Posted by daves

I know there was a debate on spending cash, but I am not sure after time it can be avoided? I have not played for long, but when you start it is easy to fill your roster full of bronze players. Many bronze players can be bought for under 100 PP. But as your team gets better it cost more to get those silver players. And as you upgrade the silver players you will need gold players with more coins etc etc. Yes you get rewards for pummeling weak teams and you can sell off some players, but after a while the rewards may not be enough and buying coins maybe necessary?


Thoughts?

Like people are saying, prices will keep declining and eventually everything but the best diamonds and perfects will be available at slightly more than the minimum price.

More importantly, if you really look at these players you'll see that most diamonds are really not better than golds. The best players are nearly all gold IMO. Below that, there are some silvers and even a couple of bronzes that are as good as any card out there other than maybe a really rare perfect. That's why whales underperform. They're not taking the time to see what some of these lower rated cards are capable of.

So you can go a long way without spending anything. You just need patience and thought.

[One Post Wonder]

Originally Posted by sentry85

i must be making a lot teams really happy- the regularly pummeled

You're the oil that makes this engine run. We're all thankful for your sacrifice.

[Whoofe]

I haven't spent a penny on my team, but have grinded enough PPs to build a team I am fairly happy with. one gold, but plenty of solid silvers and some great bronzes

theres tons of decent high bronze players you can get for 25-200 PPs that will get you going

take a good look at just about any player 68-69 rating.

[Fyrestorm3]

Originally Posted by One Post Wonder

Have you read the posts following yours? I'm not directing this specifically at you but it's the same crew of regulars, every time. This isn't anyone's 'turf'. It's just a gaming forum and anyone is welcome to speak here.

I'm really not interested in this crap. This isn't what this thread is about. I posted to show some empathy to the OP because I understand why he did what he did, and to let him know that the vitriol wasn't his fault. That's it.

Rain King agreed with me that the collusion scripts were working. RchW called out the people burning their own strawmen - which was not in reference to anything in this thread. And Orcin was a bit confrontational, as usual, but on point. If you have a problem with Orcin, fine.

But I see no lynch mob. I don't know why you do. And you'll have to excuse me for misinterpreting this...

Originally Posted by One Post Wonder

I agree with you and we're still about to go nuclear for some reason.

...as being directed at me. Because I don't know how else I was supposed to interpret that.


Ashbury, sorry for hijacking your post again.

[jda]

Hey Ashbury, thanks for taking the time to clarify everything. I admit that I don't really have a horse in this race, and I don't feel particularly strongly about any of the camps littered about the forum these days, but it was still good to get a better perspective of what had happened.

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by Fyrestorm3

Rain King agreed with me that the collusion scripts were working. RchW called out the people burning their own strawmen - which was not in reference to anything in this thread. And Orcin was a bit confrontational, as usual, but on point. If you have a problem with Orcin, fine.

Haha, sure... throw me under the bus. All I did was point out that throwing gasoline on the fire usually makes it worse.