Mission Disappointment This Year - Page 4

Fabtron7 · 06-30-2022, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kushiel

We should all be pleased. After all they are going to release the next Build group tonight. Oh my, I am thrilled! Not! None of the Build cards play successfully at any level so far. They are only a very weak string-a-long this year so far. I feel like they are a "give the dog a bone" after thought that took little planning.

Gold Kevin Brown is a banger in both tournament and league play. Gold Boggs is one of the best hitting 3B in the game, and a lot of the other ones are very capable tournament cards (and what else should you expect from cards in the bronze to gold range?)

Terrible take there.

HondoLane · 06-30-2022, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fabtron7

Gold Kevin Brown is a banger in both tournament and league play. Gold Boggs is one of the best hitting 3B in the game, and a lot of the other ones are very capable tournament cards (and what else should you expect from cards in the bronze to gold range?)

Terrible take there.

You beat me to it. Horrible take. That Kev Brown is better than most 90s pitchers, best Gold pitcher in the game BY FAR. Goes on every cap tourney that's gold or higher for me.

The BAL cards are infinitely better than last year. Larry Walker, Joe Morgan and Joe Mauer are also top tier gold tourney cards, and several others are usable in gold tourneys or caps

Based off that I'm expecting the diamonds to have some bangers, too. Looking forward to finding out.

TwanLX2000 · 06-30-2022, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fabtron7

Gold Kevin Brown is a banger in both tournament and league play. Gold Boggs is one of the best hitting 3B in the game, and a lot of the other ones are very capable tournament cards (and what else should you expect from cards in the bronze to gold range?)

Terrible take there.

I just threw gold Boggs into my lineup as a DH against RHP this week and it’s playing decently in diamond since I turned up the gap hitting in my home park. I’m genuinely excited about the diamond Boggs, particularly if the fielding sees some improvement.

DotDash · 07-01-2022, 05:42 AM

So, what do we think about the Diamond BAL cards? Can't say that I'm impressed t.b.h. I expected maybe 4 of this wave's cards to be clear upgrades for my (Gold) team, but I think only the Topper presents a pure improvement.

My take:
Brown 99 - The difference between 87 Brown and 99 Brown is 1 (one) point of STU, 1 (one) point of MOV and 8 points of CON. I've added him to my bullpen, but this is disappointing compared to how good the Gold card was, relative to its OVR rating.
Ripken Jr. 99 - Decent hitter for a SS, but I will never play someone with 81 DEF at this position.
Papelbon 98 - I'm not playing an RP with 84 MOV.
Mauer 97 - See Ripken. He'll outhit someone like Severeid by a lot, but is that enough to offset mediocre DEF at C? Expected more from this card.
Morgan 97 - Another offensive upgrade compared to my current starter (Pfeffer), but I'd rather not downgrade 2B DEF.
McGraw 96 - Meh. I think most of my converted starters are better relievers...
Boggs 94 - Both 96 Arenado and 95 Robinson seem like better options to me at 3B, and there are much better options at DH.
Ashburn 93 - Yet another offensive upgrade (compared to 90 Kiermaier), but I don't want to go from 107 DEF to 86 in CF.
Minoso 93 - An upgrade over my current utility OF. Yay.
Walker 93 - Bad defender, mediocre hitter.
Blue 91 - Many better options available.
Martinez 99 (Topper) - Looks like a very good card to me. Question: most players able to obtain this card at this point in time probably have stacked teams - is this card an improvement for teams in Diamond? My dilemma: I have 99 Ruth DH'ing, and although Martinez seems like an overall better card, it is also a Topper which will normally not be a part of any future missions. Should I cash in on the Martinez card, or improve my team for a while?

At some level I respect the slow but steady upgrade path this year, but most of these cards do not represent upgrades to the kind of player that is able to obtain them (close to) day-1. I hope the eventual Perfect versions of these cards will not be rendered unplayable by the overall lacking Defense these cards have in common so far...

professor ape · 07-01-2022, 08:03 AM

I generally agree with your review of the cards. I like getting Morgan in for a 2B platoon with Pfeffer and Pappelbon snuck into the back end of my bullpen. None of the other cards are inspiring me to chase them, including the Edgar topper. His batting stats are top notch at the moment but that defense is limiting.

Drivehud.com · 07-01-2022, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DotDash

My take:
Brown 99 - The difference between 87 Brown and 99 Brown is 1 (one) point of STU, 1 (one) point of MOV and 8 points of CON. I've added him to my bullpen, but this is disappointing compared to how good the Gold card was, relative to its OVR rating.

+100

Couldn't believe this was almost no upgrade over the 87 Brown.

Kushiel · 07-01-2022, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fabtron7

Gold Kevin Brown is a banger in both tournament and league play. Gold Boggs is one of the best hitting 3B in the game, and a lot of the other ones are very capable tournament cards (and what else should you expect from cards in the bronze to gold range?)

Terrible take there.

Terrible take in your opinion. I am sure glad God made us different. Remember, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder before you start insulting another person's opinion.

The Gold Boggs had no chance to play on my team when I was Gold. The Diamond Boggs has no chance to play on my team now I am in Diamond. Other than collecting for the future, they are worthless to me.

I like the Kevin Brown and he is in my rotation. I like the Martinez. He is my DH and backup first bagger. No other card made me look twice. Many were hardly an upgrade at all.

Thank you for your opinion on the cards. I try to respect everybody's opinion. I disagree with over half of the comments on this forum. I may say I disagree but I do not denigrate theirs.

HondoLane · 07-01-2022, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kushiel

Terrible take in your opinion. I am sure glad God made us different. Remember, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder before you start insulting another person's opinion.

The Gold Boggs had no chance to play on my team when I was Gold. The Diamond Boggs has no chance to play on my team now I am in Diamond. Other than collecting for the future, they are worthless to me.

I like the Kevin Brown and he is in my rotation. I like the Martinez. He is my DH and backup first bagger. No other card made me look twice. Many were hardly an upgrade at all.

Thank you for your opinion on the cards. I try to respect everybody's opinion. I disagree with over half of the comments on this forum. I may say I disagree but I do not denigrate theirs.

You're objectively wrong, sorry, bud.

You can have the "opinion" that there is a better gold pitcher than Kevin Brown, the same way you can have an "opinion" that 2+2=5, I guess. Same with the "opinion" that there are not good, usable cards in the BAL collections (most of us play tourneys).

Kushiel · 07-02-2022, 11:03 AM

I am a retired engineer and I do not have mathematic opinions that are foolish. There are as many people with opinions like me. Do we like a BAT card here and there? Of course we do. I play Bronze Tournaments and like some cards. But a Card that is only good for a niche is not a great card. It is a good card or decent. It is like a DH. He is usually not much good on defense but fits that little niche. If a card will not play in leagues at the level of the card. then the Card can't be great.

I like the Kevin Brown Diamond Card. I already acknowledged that. It is still very disappointing when I look at the missions and mission rewards so far this year. Going so long between missions and then getting not one card that is an actual difference maker does not make happy customers. I understand some people would be thrilled with a set of missions with rewards that can't rise above the Mendoza Line. I am just not one of them.

68pirate · 07-02-2022, 02:45 PM

I stand behind my comment about weak rewards, but to clarify, I'm not talking about the reward cards themselves for the most part. I'm talking about the lack of packs. We're at 60 days in this game cycle. At 62 days in PT22, via completing missions you could have earned 191 Standard, 120 Gold, and 60 Silver packs. Those numbers in PT23 have dropped to 39 Standard, 40 Gold, and 37 Silver. That's a huge difference.

HondoLane · 07-02-2022, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 68pirate

At 62 days in PT22, via completing missions you could have earned 191 Standard, 120 Gold, and 60 Silver packs. Those numbers in PT23 have dropped to 39 Standard, 40 Gold, and 37 Silver. That's a huge difference.

Well, when you put it that way... not a good look for Perfect Team!

HomerD · 07-02-2022, 03:42 PM

This iteration of the game has been very frustrating. I may not be back next year, or if I do come back, it will be via buying the game around this time next year and investing some cash to catch up on all the missions.

rburgh · 07-03-2022, 08:33 AM

Quote:

At 62 days in PT22, via completing missions you could have earned 191 Standard, 120 Gold, and 60 Silver packs. Those numbers in PT23 have dropped to 39 Standard, 40 Gold, and 37 Silver. That's a huge difference.

They could fix this retroactively if they wanted. Just drop a Standard pack for every completed Live 20 and Live team mission (60 packs), a Silver pack for every L20 topper you still own (37 counting the division rewards and Prior), and a Gold pack for every Team Mission topper (team level, division level, and overall level) you still own (37 again) . Then drop a Standard pack for each of the Pack Rewards Missions you have completed (13), and you're up to, potentially, 112 standard packs, 74 Silver, and 77 Gold. And for those who haven't completed those missions yet, add the pack to the completion bonus.

But I think the entire focus on this iteration of PT is simply to encourage people to drop cash into their coffers. Looking at the mission completions by manager, less than 17 of the 553 pages of manager names have completed at least 200 of the 212 missions. My guess is that 1/3 of those are FTP guys, leaving about 2% of the managers here dropping enough cash to compete with the tourney guys. Assuming that most of those guys only have one "pay" team, that means that 94% of the individuals playing PT are excluded from competing at the diamond level. If they lose half of those guys next year, what will that do to the game, with NO liquidity in the card markets and no casual players for the whales to trample on their way up the ladder.

24 Diamond leagues are currently running, adding in the Perfect league that means that 25 of the 286 running leagues (about 8.8% of leagues) contain most of the whales. Cut the number of leagues in half and the top 25 leagues would be almost exclusively for whale teams, Meanwhile, there are only 286 operating leagues right now. PT22 currently has 1776 leagues operating, about 6 times as many individuals. Most of them (like me) are only sporadic participants now, but we were all more or less kept amused by the relative ease with which we could earn packs via easily attainable missions. If they lose even 25% of the current players for PT24, it won't be worth playing.

Kushiel · 07-03-2022, 10:33 AM

The new ownership has exactly no regard for the customer. Their early actions over the past year or so have shown that this is unequivocally true. This season's server catastrophe showed that the snowball was rolling downhill at a rapid pace.Top it off with the last sale that came exactly with a large release of "packable cards," That action screamed, "Give me your money."

professor ape · 07-03-2022, 02:10 PM

To be fair, one of the complaints that we as players had last year was that the rewards made it too easy for many people to complete the missions. That was a key contributor to everyone having more or less the same roster at the higher levels. Could it be that they heard those complaints?
I’m a F2P guy and I have still been able to complete every mission except for the Pitcher and Infield Negro League missions. I kind of like that it has taken work to get to that point and I also like that the mission toppers are not over powered. I have cards that I have gotten in packs which are very playable right now.

Bunktown Ballers · 07-03-2022, 03:37 PM

What's mind-numbing is players pricing cards 2-10 times higher than if you just bought a Regular/Silver/GOLD/Diamond Pack outright. I know it's all part of mission but spending so many points on missions cards when all you need to do is what for someone to sell it. There has to be a way to get more people involved in missions so a MISSION card don't flood marketplace so soon. I try as much as I can to get more involved in missions but so many time THE COST out weighs the reason. But who wants WHALES to be prevalent than they already are

BB

rburgh · 07-03-2022, 04:04 PM

The more people chasing missions, the higher the price for the cards to complete them. If you pull one specific historical silver every 500 packs, then the card SHOULD be expensive. The more I think about it, the less likely I am to come back next year.

But I've spent some money and have completed all the missions except the Robinson missions (I wasn't able to complete last year's mission) and the Negro League IF and OF. I have some good pack cards, but haven't spent the time to optimize my lineup.

Torgonius · 07-03-2022, 05:07 PM

There aren't enough players to rip packs to get those historic silvers and golds to increase supply enough to drive down prices.

I'm at the point where it's just not worth it. Sure, I can buy packs and get 50 more Cole Tuckers and no historicals that would actually help complete a mission. What's the point?

professor ape · 07-03-2022, 05:30 PM

It is a two way street. The higher prices make it harder to complete missions but it also means that duplicates from packs can be sold for more. Just by keeping my Bronze tournament team active, ripping packs, selling duplicates, and using those funds to buy more packs; I have been able to complete all but two Negro League missions and am happy with the state of my team. I did it last year and I have been able to do it again this season.

HRBaker · 07-03-2022, 05:56 PM

Balancing effort versus rewards is difficult as it is. Adding the variable of "increased profit" which I'm sure appeared with the sale to COM2US, and the correct formula becomes almost impossible.

Some of the comments predicting (or at least mentioning) the reduced numbers of participants looking at v22 > v23 > v24 is a valid question. If they don't improve the balance of these three variables, a drop in customers will significantly affect the game's success.

I'm already spending more time back in the Classic game than I have since before PT19, and I suspect next year I'll only have one team in PT24 that I check a couple times a week. That kind of participation across large chunks of players isn't going to sustain the game where it needs to be.

07-01-2022, 05:42 AM	#64
DotDash Minors (Double A) Join Date: Sep 2019 Posts: 135	So, what do we think about the Diamond BAL cards? Can't say that I'm impressed t.b.h. I expected maybe 4 of this wave's cards to be clear upgrades for my (Gold) team, but I think only the Topper presents a pure improvement. My take: Brown 99 - The difference between 87 Brown and 99 Brown is 1 (one) point of STU, 1 (one) point of MOV and 8 points of CON. I've added him to my bullpen, but this is disappointing compared to how good the Gold card was, relative to its OVR rating. Ripken Jr. 99 - Decent hitter for a SS, but I will never play someone with 81 DEF at this position. Papelbon 98 - I'm not playing an RP with 84 MOV. Mauer 97 - See Ripken. He'll outhit someone like Severeid by a lot, but is that enough to offset mediocre DEF at C? Expected more from this card. Morgan 97 - Another offensive upgrade compared to my current starter (Pfeffer), but I'd rather not downgrade 2B DEF. McGraw 96 - Meh. I think most of my converted starters are better relievers... Boggs 94 - Both 96 Arenado and 95 Robinson seem like better options to me at 3B, and there are much better options at DH. Ashburn 93 - Yet another offensive upgrade (compared to 90 Kiermaier), but I don't want to go from 107 DEF to 86 in CF. Minoso 93 - An upgrade over my current utility OF. Yay. Walker 93 - Bad defender, mediocre hitter. Blue 91 - Many better options available. Martinez 99 (Topper) - Looks like a very good card to me. Question: most players able to obtain this card at this point in time probably have stacked teams - is this card an improvement for teams in Diamond? My dilemma: I have 99 Ruth DH'ing, and although Martinez seems like an overall better card, it is also a Topper which will normally not be a part of any future missions. Should I cash in on the Martinez card, or improve my team for a while? At some level I respect the slow but steady upgrade path this year, but most of these cards do not represent upgrades to the kind of player that is able to obtain them (close to) day-1. I hope the eventual Perfect versions of these cards will not be rendered unplayable by the overall lacking Defense these cards have in common so far... __________________

07-01-2022, 08:03 AM	#65
professor ape All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: The belly of the beast Posts: 1,498	I generally agree with your review of the cards. I like getting Morgan in for a 2B platoon with Pfeffer and Pappelbon snuck into the back end of my bullpen. None of the other cards are inspiring me to chase them, including the Edgar topper. His batting stats are top notch at the moment but that defense is limiting. __________________

07-02-2022, 11:03 AM	#69
Kushiel All Star Starter Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Deep in the Heart of Texas Posts: 1,810	I am a retired engineer and I do not have mathematic opinions that are foolish. There are as many people with opinions like me. Do we like a BAT card here and there? Of course we do. I play Bronze Tournaments and like some cards. But a Card that is only good for a niche is not a great card. It is a good card or decent. It is like a DH. He is usually not much good on defense but fits that little niche. If a card will not play in leagues at the level of the card. then the Card can't be great. I like the Kevin Brown Diamond Card. I already acknowledged that. It is still very disappointing when I look at the missions and mission rewards so far this year. Going so long between missions and then getting not one card that is an actual difference maker does not make happy customers. I understand some people would be thrilled with a set of missions with rewards that can't rise above the Mendoza Line. I am just not one of them. __________________ *Favente Deo supero*

07-02-2022, 03:42 PM	#72
HomerD Minors (Double A) Join Date: Dec 2021 Posts: 125	Agreed This iteration of the game has been very frustrating. I may not be back next year, or if I do come back, it will be via buying the game around this time next year and investing some cash to catch up on all the missions.

07-03-2022, 10:33 AM	#74
Kushiel All Star Starter Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Deep in the Heart of Texas Posts: 1,810	The new ownership has exactly no regard for the customer. Their early actions over the past year or so have shown that this is unequivocally true. This season's server catastrophe showed that the snowball was rolling downhill at a rapid pace.Top it off with the last sale that came exactly with a large release of "packable cards," That action screamed, "Give me your money." __________________ *Favente Deo supero*

07-02-2022, 02:45 PM	#70
68pirate Minors (Single A) Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 84	I stand behind my comment about weak rewards, but to clarify, I'm not talking about the reward cards themselves for the most part. I'm talking about the lack of packs. We're at 60 days in this game cycle. At 62 days in PT22, via completing missions you could have earned 191 Standard, 120 Gold, and 60 Silver packs. Those numbers in PT23 have dropped to 39 Standard, 40 Gold, and 37 Silver. That's a huge difference.

07-03-2022, 02:10 PM	#75
professor ape All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: The belly of the beast Posts: 1,498	To be fair, one of the complaints that we as players had last year was that the rewards made it too easy for many people to complete the missions. That was a key contributor to everyone having more or less the same roster at the higher levels. Could it be that they heard those complaints? I’m a F2P guy and I have still been able to complete every mission except for the Pitcher and Infield Negro League missions. I kind of like that it has taken work to get to that point and I also like that the mission toppers are not over powered. I have cards that I have gotten in packs which are very playable right now. __________________

07-03-2022, 03:37 PM	#76
Bunktown Ballers All Star Starter Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Louisiana Posts: 1,597 Infractions: 0/2 (3)	MIssions What's mind-numbing is players pricing cards 2-10 times higher than if you just bought a Regular/Silver/GOLD/Diamond Pack outright. I know it's all part of mission but spending so many points on missions cards when all you need to do is what for someone to sell it. There has to be a way to get more people involved in missions so a MISSION card don't flood marketplace so soon. I try as much as I can to get more involved in missions but so many time THE COST out weighs the reason. But who wants WHALES to be prevalent than they already are BB Last edited by Bunktown Ballers; 07-03-2022 at 03:39 PM.

07-03-2022, 04:04 PM	#77
rburgh All Star Reserve Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Pittsburgh Posts: 932	Bunktown The more people chasing missions, the higher the price for the cards to complete them. If you pull one specific historical silver every 500 packs, then the card SHOULD be expensive. The more I think about it, the less likely I am to come back next year. But I've spent some money and have completed all the missions except the Robinson missions (I wasn't able to complete last year's mission) and the Negro League IF and OF. I have some good pack cards, but haven't spent the time to optimize my lineup.

07-03-2022, 05:07 PM	#78
Torgonius All Star Reserve Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 852	There aren't enough players to rip packs to get those historic silvers and golds to increase supply enough to drive down prices. I'm at the point where it's just not worth it. Sure, I can buy packs and get 50 more Cole Tuckers and no historicals that would actually help complete a mission. What's the point? __________________ When you let your 10 year old name the team

07-03-2022, 05:30 PM	#79
professor ape All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: The belly of the beast Posts: 1,498	It is a two way street. The higher prices make it harder to complete missions but it also means that duplicates from packs can be sold for more. Just by keeping my Bronze tournament team active, ripping packs, selling duplicates, and using those funds to buy more packs; I have been able to complete all but two Negro League missions and am happy with the state of my team. I did it last year and I have been able to do it again this season. __________________

07-03-2022, 05:56 PM	#80
HRBaker Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 2,364	Balancing effort versus rewards is difficult as it is. Adding the variable of "increased profit" which I'm sure appeared with the sale to COM2US, and the correct formula becomes almost impossible. Some of the comments predicting (or at least mentioning) the reduced numbers of participants looking at v22 > v23 > v24 is a valid question. If they don't improve the balance of these three variables, a drop in customers will significantly affect the game's success. I'm already spending more time back in the Classic game than I have since before PT19, and I suspect next year I'll only have one team in PT24 that I check a couple times a week. That kind of participation across large chunks of players isn't going to sustain the game where it needs to be.