Competitive balance discussion

[km352]

Originally Posted by Echo127

I was promoted after the first season, but I wouldnt be surprised if my league (Ny Eta) is the weakest promoted league out there. Last I checked there were only 3 diamonds in the entire league

Unless they're reusing names, Ny Eta isn't a "promoted" league, still Rookie level. I'm there this season and I was nowhere near "promotable" last season. It is playing much more at a rookie level this season.

[Echo127]

Originally Posted by km352

Unless they're reusing names, Ny Eta isn't a "promoted" league, still Rookie level. I'm there this season and I was nowhere near "promotable" last season. It is playing much more at a rookie level this season.

Oh, that's interesting. I'm in that league with all of the playoff teams from my first league so I just assumed we were promoted.

[<Pion>]

Originally Posted by pher431

My team is 49-60 and I got 860 PP for the whole month of July where I was 11-16 for the month. 400 to 500 PP a day is unheard of for my team.

My understanding of what was meant by "a day" is quite different and possibly wrong. When I saw 400 to 500 PP a day, I thought per game and that it would be impossible. But then came to the conclusion they meant a physical days worth of games simmed. With a season finishing in a week, we are nearly doing a month of games per day. So if you got 860 PP for the month of July, I would conservatively estimate you to anywhere from 500 to 800 PP in a day. That would be better than the suggested 400 to 500 and it was done by a team with a losing record.

[Maddox]

From July 1st to Aug 6th (where the game is now) my team has earned 440 points.

Take away my All-star achievement and I earned 340 points in 31 games or averaging just under 11 points per game. That pace would earn me 1,776 for the season.

I did much better in June though so it ebbs and flows a bit. I am currently in a 16 game stretch without an achievement so it is beginning to sting.

My biggest achievement in the game thus far is a silver one for a 7 run comeback - 400 points. I earned that once each season.

[pstrickert]

Unless I'm mistaken, if your team hits a grand slam, you earn 500 points. Since IRL most teams hit four or five per season, that's some easy coinage. Or am I wrong about that?

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by pstrickert

Unless I'm mistaken, if your team hits a grand slam, you earn 500 points. Since IRL most teams hit four or five per season, that's some easy coinage. Or am I wrong about that?

I think it is a walk-off grand slam (Grand Salami) for 500.

[One Post Wonder]

Originally Posted by Orcin

I think it is a walk-off grand slam (Grand Salami) for 500.

Whenever I've gotten it, the batter in question has always hit 2 HR in that game, to muddy the waters further. I think yours is the right explanation though.

For the full release, they should add a small descriptor to each achievement specifying what it is IMO. I've gotten "Pitching a Maddux" a few times. Knowing Maddux I'm assuming that is a complete game shutout while using very few pitches. But that's just a guess, and a younger fan would probably have no idea what that might mean.

[Janks]

Originally Posted by One Post Wonder

Whenever I've gotten it, the batter in question has always hit 2 HR in that game, to muddy the waters further. I think yours is the right explanation though.

For the full release, they should add a small descriptor to each achievement specifying what it is IMO. I've gotten "Pitching a Maddux" a few times. Knowing Maddux I'm assuming that is a complete game shutout while using very few pitches. But that's just a guess, and a younger fan would probably have no idea what that might mean.

You have it, just substitute under 100 pitches for "very few".

[Bagpipes5]

I agree with this. I cannot win an auction to save my life. I can't sit around all day and outbid everyone. I have a job/life. I have been setting my prices high and I get outbid at every pass. The whales will dominate this game mode and that is what's happening in my league. We have a team the right now is 83-32, a full 50 games over .500 and playing at a .722 clip. The lowest player on their roster is an 80 overall. It really saps the fun out of playing.

[Maddox]

Originally Posted by Bagpipes5

I agree with this. I cannot win an auction to save my life. I can't sit around all day and outbid everyone. I have a job/life. I have been setting my prices high and I get outbid at every pass. The whales will dominate this game mode and that is what's happening in my league. We have a team the right now is 83-32, a full 50 games over .500 and playing at a .722 clip. The lowest player on their roster is an 80 overall. It really saps the fun out of playing.

Eh, eventually when they buy everyone then we will have better chances.

And the best team in my "A" league is 93-22

[Bagpipes5]

Originally Posted by Maddox

Eh, eventually when they buy everyone then we will have better chances.

And the best team in my "A" league is 93-22

I hope so. He has a 20 game lead in the division. The next best team in the subleague has 75 wins and a 21 game lead in their division.There are only 2 divisions in the whole league that are close (2.5/3.5 game leads). The other division leaders have at least a 12.5 game lead.

[<Pion>]

Originally Posted by Bagpipes5

I agree with this. I cannot win an auction to save my life. I can't sit around all day and outbid everyone. I have a job/life. I have been setting my prices high and I get outbid at every pass. The whales will dominate this game mode and that is what's happening in my league. We have a team the right now is 83-32, a full 50 games over .500 and playing at a .722 clip. The lowest player on their roster is an 80 overall. It really saps the fun out of playing.

Best in my league is 101-13 for a .886 win %. He has five perfect players, three diamonds, and an 88 in his daily starting lineup plus his rotation is three perfect and two diamonds. I just concern myself with my team knowing he'll be far above me some day in another league, so no skin off my nose. It's still easy to have fun. I don't begrudge anyone for having fun in the way they see fit.

[stl jason]

Originally Posted by Bagpipes5

I agree with this. I cannot win an auction to save my life. I can't sit around all day and outbid everyone. I have a job/life. I have been setting my prices high and I get outbid at every pass. The whales will dominate this game mode and that is what's happening in my league. We have a team the right now is 83-32, a full 50 games over .500 and playing at a .722 clip. The lowest player on their roster is an 80 overall. It really saps the fun out of playing.

try a different route on the auctions... when you have time to play, sort them by ending time (ascending) and check off 'players i can afford' (pick a position if you need something specific)....

if there are any that catch your eye ending soon, just wait until the last 10 seconds of the auction and then submit your max bid you're willing to pay... if it's enough, 99.9% chance you'll win... if not, it was more than you wanted to spend anyway, so no real loss...

that's worked for me so far to pick up a bunch of good silver level players

[pstrickert]

Originally Posted by Orcin

I think it is a walk-off grand slam (Grand Salami) for 500.

That makes more sense, yes.

[el_gringo]

Originally Posted by Maddox

Eh, eventually when they buy everyone then we will have better chances.

And the best team in my "A" league is 93-22

True - once a team is saturated with Diamond players, they're no longer bidding on Gold/lower (except the really rare/interesting ones, which will always be hotly contested in the AH by whales and F2P players saving up alike). I expect all but the rarest, highest-tier cards will be increasingly winnable over time.

That said, there's definitely not enough sorting yet with only two league levels, and it'll be important that the win % imbalances we're consistently seeing drop as the leagues expand to AA, AAA, and ML. I expect they will, but I can understand the present feeling like a slog with stacked teams winning at a clip of .700, .750, or more.

[One Post Wonder]

Originally Posted by <Pion>

Best in my league is 101-13 for a .886 win %. He has five perfect players, three diamonds, and an 88 in his daily starting lineup plus his rotation is three perfect and two diamonds.

These posts are making me wonder just how much some people are spending on Perfect Team. Perfect players are not cheap. You're never going to 'market' yourself a perfect player. Trust me, I check every time I log on.

As I write this, the cheapest perfect player is priced 33,333 just to bid, not necessarily win. If you spend $40 on pp you get 75000 points. Even spending $100 and getting 175,000 pp you're still not going to buy yourself a team like that.

Of course they could be getting lucky with cards, but that's a lot of luck and you're still not going to get a team that is configured the way you want, or the diamonds and golds that are the best examples of said color. It just feels like someone has picked the cards they wanted out of the auction to me.

I'm not criticizing. It just makes me think. I hope no-one is blowing juniors college fund on these cards!

[Thalion]

Originally Posted by One Post Wonder

These posts are making me wonder just how much some people are spending on Perfect Team. Perfect players are not cheap. You're never going to 'market' yourself a perfect player. Trust me, I check every time I log on.

As I write this, the cheapest perfect player is priced 33,333 just to bid, not necessarily win. If you spend $40 on pp you get 75000 points. Even spending $100 and getting 175,000 pp you're still not going to buy yourself a team like that.

Of course they could be getting lucky with cards, but that's a lot of luck and you're still not going to get a team that is configured the way you want, or the diamonds and golds that are the best examples of said color. It just feels like someone has picked the cards they wanted out of the auction to me.

I'm not criticizing. It just makes me think. I hope no-one is blowing juniors college fund on these cards!

Junior is not going to college with the grades he has.

[Kushiel]

First I was 19-5 in the pool before the leagues started anyway. Lucky pull the first 6 packs. Now, I am 85-33 and do not know if it is my team in question above, However, I will explain how my team is built. Last week one of my adult grandsons came over to take me to breakfast and seen I was doing this. We talked about it and I showed him the way it all works. He put $25.00 in my Steam account and I spent it on regular packs. I got a couple diamonds and sold one and a few golds and all the others cards I got except 25. I worked all week on the AH selling and then buying packs or a player here and there. Two days ago a second grandson came by because his cousin had told him about it and he put $25.00 more dollars in my Steam account and I bought 5 gold packs and got 8 gold cards, I think it was. I sold most of them on the AH and have been buying single packs with the profits. I now have over 11k PP again mostly from working the AH because I am retired but from achievements also. So, if you think that is a whale, good for you. I took advantage of what I had from the beginning winning immediately. I was in first place in the first league before the shop opened because I planned and did not use just OVR and still don't. Three quarters of the diamonds are not as good as many golds if you pay attention.My team has been been built by using what I had and selling every card not in my active roster so I could buy more packs increasing my odds of getting a good one. Have a nice day


P.S. I have 7 diamonds and 18 golds now and bought most of my diamonds on the AH from selling cards including selling diamonds I pulled on the AH.

[Maddox]

Originally Posted by Bagpipes5

I hope so. He has a 20 game lead in the division. The next best team in the subleague has 75 wins and a 21 game lead in their division.There are only 2 divisions in the whole league that are close (2.5/3.5 game leads). The other division leaders have at least a 12.5 game lead.

It will be interesting to see how it pans out with another round of relegation and promotion because like your league there is nothing even remotely competitive about the divisions in my league. Here are the division leaders

AC WEST: 85-42 with a 17.5 game lead
AC CENTRAL: 81- 47 with a 17 game lead (I am 23 back)
AC EAST: 79-48 with a 14.5 game lead
NC WEST: 88-40 with a 20 game lead
NC CENTRAL: 81-47 with a 13 game lead (closest race)
NC EAST: 102-28 with a 29 game lead

The NC East team has a magic number of 5 already with more a full month to go. All these leaders are not completely stacked but probably the closest thing in common that they have is highly rated starting pitching.

Needless to say the only drama in my league will be for a wildcard. It is a shame that no 2nd place team really even has a chance with approximately 34 games still left to play

[Orcin]

My second team has a 12-game lead in its rookie league division. I have no diamonds, 4 golds, rest silver, bronze, and common. I haven't spent any money on this team. How is that possible?