Death of the Theme Team?

[Mizzery]

Started playing PT with the 3 teams off of one license in 19, then for 20 bought two licenses (Steam and web store) and played with six teams. Even as a FTP, it was generally so easy to reach the Perfect level over time, that I made most of those teams theme teams simply to build internal restrictions to raise the challenge and make PT more interesting.

My pack only team made Perfect in 20, as did my Cardinals-Reds historical all-stars, as did my team made up of only post expansion players from 1961-2000, as did my all-defense team. In some cases where the player pool was more limited or my theme was more restrictive, such as my Florida team composed of only Marlins and Rays players, or my all power team constructed of players selected only for their power ratings, they generally got to Gold or Diamond before stagnating.

In 20, the Missions were a tremendous boost to team theme teams- it was relatively easy top finish all of the Reds missions and get the 100 Eric Davis, the Cardinals missions to get the 100 Ozzie Smith was much harder, but achievable, with several excellent SE cards gained along the way.

None of these teams were Perfect League champions, but they were frequently in the Perfect level playoffs, which for a FTP team with theme restrictions I was fine with.

I again bought two licenses for 21 with six theme teams with various restrictions. It has been virtually impossible to remain competitive at the same levels as 19 and 20. My six teams are scattered from Gold at the high end to Stone at the low end.

The original land rush to complete the Live missions put any theme team at a significant advantage, and the introduction of the FOTF missions has for now, so distorted the price of cards that it has completely destroyed normal theme team building strategies.

I feel like we've progressed from PT being too easy that adding theme restrictions was a way to make the game more challenging and fun, to a new meta in which the only way to win at higher levels as FTP is to maximize auction and mission strategies without restricting the player universe to any particular theme or team.

If someone else who enjoys theme team building is having a different experience with PT 21, I'd love to hear about it and how you've adapted to the evolution of PT into a mission speculation game.

[HRBaker]

Originally Posted by Mizzery

Started playing PT with the 3 teams off of one license in 19, then for 20 bought two licenses (Steam and web store) and played with six teams. Even as a FTP, it was generally so easy to reach the Perfect level over time, that I made most of those teams theme teams simply to build internal restrictions to raise the challenge and make PT more interesting.

My pack only team made Perfect in 20, as did my Cardinals-Reds historical all-stars, as did my team made up of only post expansion players from 1961-2000, as did my all-defense team. In some cases where the player pool was more limited or my theme was more restrictive, such as my Florida team composed of only Marlins and Rays players, or my all power team constructed of players selected only for their power ratings, they generally got to Gold or Diamond before stagnating.

In 20, the Missions were a tremendous boost to team theme teams- it was relatively easy top finish all of the Reds missions and get the 100 Eric Davis, the Cardinals missions to get the 100 Ozzie Smith was much harder, but achievable, with several excellent SE cards gained along the way.

None of these teams were Perfect League champions, but they were frequently in the Perfect level playoffs, which for a FTP team with theme restrictions I was fine with.

I again bought two licenses for 21 with six theme teams with various restrictions. It has been virtually impossible to remain competitive at the same levels as 19 and 20. My six teams are scattered from Gold at the high end to Stone at the low end.

The original land rush to complete the Live missions put any theme team at a significant advantage, and the introduction of the FOTF missions has for now, so distorted the price of cards that it has completely destroyed normal theme team building strategies.

I feel like we've progressed from PT being too easy that adding theme restrictions was a way to make the game more challenging and fun, to a new meta in which the only way to win at higher levels as FTP is to maximize auction and mission strategies without restricting the player universe to any particular theme or team.

If someone else who enjoys theme team building is having a different experience with PT 21, I'd love to hear about it and how you've adapted to the evolution of PT into a mission speculation game.

Same experience here. I'm down to scrapping a single player improvement every couple weeks, or throwing in the towel and buying packs. I guess I could just open up the theme to any player, but this late in the process, I still doubt I could get out of the Bronze/Iron cycle.

[Westheim]

It's dead, Jim.

[Marleigh]

I scrapped my 70s theme team that i've had running for most of the year, improvements were already becoming costly but replacing golds with diamonds became impossible with this change. On the plus side i had enough with Staub, Perfect Morgan, Matlack, Messersmith and some golds to get enough PP to do the Jackie Robinson mission, whilst keeping some of the 70s diamonds in reserve for upcoming FOTF. I used a few more Negro League Diamonds than necessary because I'd rather pay 30-35k for a diamond i can use than 20--25 for a gold i won't. I guess my theme is now some Negro League players, some SEs and some 70s players, which isn't very coherent

My 70s team managed to stick in gold for 8 seasons getting to the playoffs three times, but never getting promoted thankfully, last season they just collapsed and went back to silver. Silver seems quite a good level, a lot more diverse than gold

In 20 packing Brouthers enabled me to complete all of the Reds missions which catapulted me to Perfect, I was never in danger of winning a title with my Reds team due to their pitching, but i had fun trying, its a very different landscape this year

[stl jason]

my main team (Waffletown Syrups) have been and always will be an old time theme team (one exception right now this season is Yogi Berra from 1954, but I guess he's old time enough for most)....

I figure they aren't going to ever make it to the single Perfect league, and they struggled mightily last year even at Gold, but even if they just bounce between Silver and Gold, it's still fun to try and nab as many super old time cards for the roster as I can afford (average year for the 26 man roster at the moment is 1903).

[chazzycat]

I feel like this is the one type of team (other than card hoarders) that FOTF should actually help. Hopefully you would have the majority of historical cards for 1 team by now...you could cash in the mission and get to play with some really nice reward card, depending on the team.

The important thing with theme teams IMO is setting realistic expectations for yourself (i.e. being fine with staying in lower leagues).

[Westheim]

Yeah. One (1) reward card. And the price for any missing card has tripled.

My Mets would be helped more if I had a profusely bleeding head wound.

[chazzycat]

1 free card is better than none. And some are awesome. I'd be super happy if I had built a Padres theme team for instance. Collecting the historical cards for one franchise is a much more realistic goal if you had been collecting that team from the beginning.

[HRBaker]

Originally Posted by Westheim

It's dead, Jim.

LOL, "I'm a doctor, not a brick layer!"

[Spieler]

Depends what your goal is. I am running some theme teams that bounce between Stone and Bronze, others between Iron and Silver. I have no visions of grandeur for those teams, it is just fun finding cards of players I like and figuring out how to play them in the best combination.

I have a couple of other teams that I put a little $$$ into, that have or will profit some day from collections. I figure these are capable of reaching and/or staying in Diamond. Perfect, never, not without the stars aligning.

[getalife1798]

Last season...I had a team of all Florida and Pennsylvania teams. Team was pretty solid until I reached diamond and then I had to save up to collect the better the players.

This year, I was going to build a theme team with the 3 gold players I packed. The three teams I got gold players from were the Reds, Blue Jays, and Indians.

When that first or second stream where Bench got the 100 overall card and I saw how inflated the prices got...I found out quickly that I had to ditch the idea of a theme team or play the game very very slowly.

I ditch the team and now I just save my PP, collect a top player, and horde specific live cards in the hopes we have a season. It was the only logical thing to do.

[Marleigh]

Originally Posted by chazzycat

I feel like this is the one type of team (other than card hoarders) that FOTF should actually help. Hopefully you would have the majority of historical cards for 1 team by now...you could cash in the mission and get to play with some really nice reward card, depending on the team.

The important thing with theme teams IMO is setting realistic expectations for yourself (i.e. being fine with staying in lower leagues).

Not every theme team is collect all players from one team. I abandoned my idea for a Reds team when Bench was put into a super expensive collection early on

[Lemandria]

I resisted the impulse for a long time: it still makes zero sense to me for a historical team to be carrying hundreds of Live (but locked) players, but ootp is determined about making collections The Only Game In Town (tm).

Profitable for the Auction magnates, but if forces the One True Way to play.

So my theme teams are burning through collections they neither wanted or needed, just for cash.

[The Game]

I tried doing just a White sox themed team but I wasnt winning enough so I then scrapped that and went after the missions for Negro league players, tallest, knuckleballers etc. i finally just finished the White sox missions (I'm still on 20) 2 weeks ago unlocking Luke Appling, Ted Lyons & Ed Walsh. I had to sell Al Hrbosky to afford Lyons. Since then i have won my league and lost the WS in 7. I didnt realize their was a roster limit. My goal was to finish every mission. I have a 2nd team but i upgrade one player each week and finally got a 100 Jacob DeGrom. I want to make a 3rd team and have it be just White Sox again. Can i have 3 teams on 20? I use 2 emails as it is.

[Morug]

My Expos are not completed, missing 2-3 costly players. My teams is locked in Iron League. No expos missions this year, so I think this team will never go higher, they do not produce PP at a high rate.

[Matt Arnold]

Originally Posted by Morug

My Expos are not completed, missing 2-3 costly players. My teams is locked in Iron League. No expos missions this year, so I think this team will never go higher, they do not produce PP at a high rate.

Kris has stated that franchises will be together, so the "face of the franchise" for the Nationals will include Expos players. Whether the reward is an Expo or a National hasn't been announced, but Kris and I are both Expos fans, so there's a good chance of that being an Expo

[Morug]

Originally Posted by Matt Arnold

Kris has stated that franchises will be together, so the "face of the franchise" for the Nationals will include Expos players. Whether the reward is an Expo or a National hasn't been announced, but Kris and I are both Expos fans, so there's a good chance of that being an Expo

Where is Pedro?

But if it take Vlad, Staub and some Nationals cards..its will be hard for me to complete it..I hope to hit a great card soon via packs to accumulate some some PP.

[Ty Cobb]

PL doesn't have to be the destination...even for a theme team.

I'm happy as heck with mine...a 1970's squad (when I was growing up, duh). I'd rather hit 500 homers in the minors and be the answer to a trivia question than go broke in the ratrace and be a .190 hitter, OK? They've won an Iron and a Bronze series, and are in 1st in Silver right now. I'm having fun—that's what matters.

Set goals, strive to improve...but if they aren't realistic goals, you're just designing failure for yourself, and the game stops being fun.

[Marleigh]

Originally Posted by Ty Cobb

PL doesn't have to be the destination...even for a theme team.

I'm happy as heck with mine...a 1970's squad (when I was growing up, duh). I'd rather hit 500 homers in the minors and be the answer to a trivia question than go broke in the ratrace and be a .190 hitter, OK? They've won an Iron and a Bronze series, and are in 1st in Silver right now. I'm having fun—that's what matters.

Set goals, strive to improve...but if they aren't realistic goals, you're just designing failure for yourself, and the game stops being fun.

I was happy bouncing between silver/gold with my 70s theme team, the FOTF raised the prices of marginal improvements too much for me to care about it any more, as my 3rd string F2P team they relied on passive generation of PP, and the low/mid tier diamonds are way more expensive now.

[mayday10]

is it the death of the theme team, or does it make a theme team more necessary?