Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in

[Ashbury]

LOL, the poor get richer. I didn't want to use that as my title, though, or some diligent mod would deem this a Competitive Balance thread and bury it. It's not. (Nobody please make it be one.) So I'll use the Godfather reference.

A few of you may recall previous posts, concerning my resolve to not take part in the highly addictive (and fun!) activities of Perfect Team, after enjoying the Beta too much. As a recap: when the released version went live, I decided to destroy the temptation to play, and opened all my packs, sold off all the players, and squandered the resulting PP in various ways. I have two teams, so one of the shortcuts I thought would speed the process ran me afoul of the site's rules. That has been hashed to death by now. Ancient history.

I've been reading the forum here, this week. Good stuff. Would be fun.

To my surprise, my two zombie teams got entered into leagues anyway. Despite my resolve, I have kept tabs on their progress. Both teams show Game Logs recording the accomplishments of players all named Jim Unknown. At this writing, one team has a 36-82 record and has accrued 5325 PP. The other stands at 25-94 - must be a tougher league, though I didn't analyze. To my amusement, that team has 6135 PP.

Apparently greater failure is more well rewarded than lesser failure. LOL.

You know what I could do with 6000 points? Buy 6 new card packs and start all over.

Alternatively, I could have bought those points with, what, about $6? So, so far, OOTP has given me the equivalent of $6 of House Money, twice with my two teams, to play around with. I think we all can come up with entertaining ways to while away the hours constructing efficient teams on a tight budget like that.

Apparently I'm going to have to rely on my own strength of will after all, LOL.

I chalk it up to an unintended consequence of the game's design. The designers want to reward game play, even when it's inept. You have to keep the losers emotionally invested, so tossing them the equivalent of a dollar a day is a good investment by the designers.

But, looking at it from the POV of an addicted person... it's like cigarette companies leaving one cigarette at the door of a smoker trying to quit, each morning without fail. Or one scratchoff lottery ticket, for a gambling addict. Or an ounce of beer, for a drinker trying to quit.

Just when I thought I was out.

I'm not saying. I'm... just saying.

[eldur00]

Makes me wish I would have gotten rid of all my players too.

I only got 2600 PP playing by the rules.

[Ashbury]

Originally Posted by eldur00

Makes me wish I would have gotten rid of all my players too.

I only got 2600 PP playing by the rules.

Ugh, Competitive Balance. Mods, please ignore his response.

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by Ashbury

I chalk it up to an unintended consequence of the game's design. The designers want to reward game play, even when it's inept. You have to keep the losers emotionally invested, so tossing them the equivalent of a dollar a day is a good investment by the designers.

This was not the original design. The rewards for losers were added in an attempt to give poor teams an opportunity to catch up. I think it is fair to say that this has gone way too far and rewards for losing should be scaled back dramatically. No one should earn 6 packs per week (essentially one per day) with a team of Jim Unknowns.

[waylander]

Originally Posted by Orcin

This was not the original design. The rewards for losers were added in an attempt to give poor teams an opportunity to catch up. I think it is fair to say that this has gone way too far and rewards for losing should be scaled back dramatically. No one should earn 6 packs per week (essentially one per day) with a team of Jim Unknowns.

Perfect Team is pretty addictive....Maybe there should be be a warning label on it lol.

[Kushiel]

Originally Posted by Orcin

This was not the original design. The rewards for losers were added in an attempt to give poor teams an opportunity to catch up. I think it is fair to say that this has gone way too far and rewards for losing should be scaled back dramatically. No one should earn 6 packs per week (essentially one per day) with a team of Jim Unknowns.

Now it is even being posted here that it is more lucrative to play with this team of nothing than to be working hard with poor luck. This will just bring more of this kind of team into the game. I hate the "everybody gets a trophy mentality." That is what these rewards are.