What A Free To Play Player Can Do To Get To Diamond

[Stacopanks]

I made a post about this in someone else's thread but incase you haven't seen it I figured I would make a seperate post about this.

Just for those free to play and wondering if you can have success in this game. I have 3 teams and 2 of them have been in Diamond for a couple weeks now and my third team has finally been promoted from Gold to Diamond finally this week so the long journey to Diamond has finally come to and end. What I would suggest free to play players do is make the best iron and Bronze teams you can do and then just spam those teams in the 2 and 4 pk reward tournaments as much as you can. You will lose the majority of the time but on average I get anywhere from 4- 8 packs total a day over my 3 accounts.. Also do the historical simulation every 72 hours for each team so you can get a pack reward from that. Most people just use the 1927 yankees since that is the most overpowered team for it.

Another thing I suggest to do is to the MLB Live collection missions. This is the key to the whole thing. You get such great players from this as reward that you can just use a team full of these reward players and you will be able to get to Diamond. You probably won't ever win a diamond championship with that team but at least you can get to Diamond and it's a great starting foundation team with which to add some players to. I still use the SE Ichiro, SE Billy Williams, SE Piazza, SE Yaz, SE Bagwell, SE Berra, SE Cano, SE Maddux and also the SE Blyleven. I did this for two of my teams right off the bat but my third team I wanted to see if I could have success without doing the mlb live collection missions but the team was lagging too far behind and I couldn't get any pack luck from it so I finally finished this collection for my third team last week and that was enough to propel it to the top of gold and now into Diamond.

Just have to change your expectations. Winning a perfect league or even getting to one is probably never going to happen so as long you can come to that realization then you should be good to go. Diamond is attainable though.

One last tip when doing the mlb live team collections. What I did for each collection was check the reward on the auction house and see what the price it's going for. Minus the 10% tax from that and that is the amount that you are shooting for when trying to finish the collection. The cheaper you can get it done the more profit of course. I overpaid for so many cards because I would get to the point where I was sick of waiting for certain cards but if you are patient you can get some good deals and make some really good pp from doing these sets and selling the rewards.
Also you get lot's of packs from completing the divisions and leagues so a good chance to hopefully get some good pulls from those as well.

You also don't need a ton of pp to get the live collections done. What I did was finished off the team and then I sold the reward from the team and then once that sold I used the money to do the next team and on and on and on. You will find that the PP adds up especially as you get further into the set and get the division and league rewards. I sold off many of those rewards and then once I was done the whole collection I bought back some of the SE rewards that I had sold before since once you finish the collection you should have a pretty nice amount of pp.

Another thing I want to mention is that once you get to Diamond there are a couple paths you can take with your PP. There are some people that just like to save up the pp from achievements and then save up the pp from the cards they sell from the tournament pack rewards and then use that pp to buy players. That is one thing you can do. What I chose to do was to use all of the PP that I got from achievements and tournament reward packs to buy packs and hope for a homerun pull. I did have a few perfect pulls last week in two of my accounts so that helped make the team better. I would then sell the player that it replaced and then use that pp to buy more packs. Rinse and repeat. It is way harder to earn pp in diamond from achievements though so it's a much longer grind to get the players you would want. Also my mindset for opening packs was that my team was at a severe disadvantage because I have not spent money so what would help my team more. Grinding for a couple weeks and using that money for a marginal upgrade for my team or just throwing the pp I get at packs for a couple weeks and hope I hit a homerun and get a great player I can add to my team or that I can sell and then buy a hand full of players with that pp.

For me the journey has pretty much come to an end. My goal was to get all 3 of my teams into Diamond without spending money and once I did that I felt that I had accomplished what I wanted to do and I was fine with that. I made the playoffs in Diamond with one of my teams but I never thought I would have a chance of winning a title at that level because the teams I would go against in the playoffs have a better player at every position then I do so it makes it pretty difficult to pull off the upset.

This was to show you though that if you don't spend money you still have a chance to get to the highest levels. Good luck with your journey

[stan-theman]

How do you do the historical simulation..thanks

[DonMattingly]

I'm not sure how different PT 21 will be vs PT 19 and 20, but in both of those versions it was very possible to get to Perfect with F2P teams.

I never won a PT title in 19, but each of my 3 teams in PT 20 has won one. It feels like I am running a dirt poor version of the Cubs that might win once every 100 years or so, but they do have a small chance. In both versions, after first having a rocky go in Perfect and getting relegated back to Diamond, my teams eventually regrouped and got back to Perfect to stay.

Right now they almost always win more games than they lose, they make the play-offs about 1/2 of the time, and I've even had a bunch of 100+ win seasons in Perfect.

I think it's just a matter of building teams with the cheapest cards you can find that will hold up fairly well at that level. I try to have at least very good defenses but not at the complete expense of offense. I want guys with high contact ratings and avoid K ratings at that level. I want pitchers with a high movement rating. And while I gave up on it months ago, for a while I was fortifying the teams with free packs I'd get from Challenge Mode.

But I never pulled any golden tickets, never got all that lucky. Pulled some Diamonds and a couple of Live 100s, but never anything worth hundreds of thousands.

Just keep looking for affordable upgrades and keep strengthening the roster when you can. I think the most I ever spent on any one card was about 70K for a Cobb. I'm usually spending more like 15-40k or so for the cards I have on my teams that have had decent success in Perfect. I do not collect at all either, when I buy an upgrade I will then auction off whichever card is getting cut. I probably have less than 10 extra cards on my teams. Need that PP for the next upgrade.

[Marleigh]

Originally Posted by DonMattingly

I'm not sure how different PT 21 will be vs PT 19 and 20, but in both of those versions it was very possible to get to Perfect with F2P teams.

I think it's just a matter of building teams with the cheapest cards you can find that will hold up fairly well at that level. I try to have at least very good defenses but not at the complete expense of offense. I want guys with high contact ratings and avoid K ratings at that level. I want pitchers with a high movement rating. And while I gave up on it months ago, for a while I was fortifying the teams with free packs I'd get from Challenge Mode.

You won't win a Perfect title in 21, its very different

Your advice about building a team is nonsense. the best way for a free to play player to build a competitive team is via live collections. supplemented by tournaments.

[DonMattingly]

Originally Posted by Marleigh

You won't win a Perfect title in 21, its very different

Your advice about building a team is nonsense. the best way for a free to play player to build a competitive team is via live collections. supplemented by tournaments.

Look Skipper, did you notice where I said I wasn't sure about PT 21 and was describing my experiences in 19 and 20? Do you like "winning" strawman arguments? Make you feel good?

I won 3 Perfect titles already in PT 20, with all F2P teams and no pack luck to speak of, so I did something right. I think I entered less than 10 tournaments and did less than 5 collections. Don't care for either feature.

We shall see what happens in PT 21. Not sure how you can predict anything yet when the game is still so young. I've been playing it for less than 2 weeks now and my bet is I'll end up pretty much the same as I was before, and I won't do a single collection. Not sure about tournaments.

[Tinkerman]

It's looking like it's gonna be a LOT more competitive in the top tiers this year. Getting a team to stick in diamond is not going to be easy.

[bailey]

Originally Posted by DonMattingly

Look Skipper, did you notice where I said I wasn't sure about PT 21 and was describing my experiences in 19 and 20? Do you like "winning" strawman arguments? Make you feel good?

I won 3 Perfect titles already in PT 20, with all F2P teams and no pack luck to speak of, so I did something right. I think I entered less than 10 tournaments and did less than 5 collections. Don't care for either feature.

We shall see what happens in PT 21. Not sure how you can predict anything yet when the game is still so young. I've been playing it for less than 2 weeks now and my bet is I'll end up pretty much the same as I was before, and I won't do a single collection. Not sure about tournaments.

Perhaps, you haven't heard, but there will be only ONE perfect league in PT21 (at most 3 was hinted at). Not at all like PT20 where there were like 80 perfect leagues each week. Even diamond will be difficult because they are supposed to be limited to 48.

[dkgo]

Originally Posted by DonMattingly

Just keep looking for affordable upgrades and keep strengthening the roster when you can. I think the most I ever spent on any one card was about 70K for a Cobb. I'm usually spending more like 15-40k or so for the cards I have on my teams that have had decent success in Perfect. I do not collect at all either, when I buy an upgrade I will then auction off whichever card is getting cut. I probably have less than 10 extra cards on my teams. Need that PP for the next upgrade.

This is the worst advice I've ever read here.

Anyone could win a perfect title eventually in 19/20 because there were nearly 100 perfect leagues but you won't actually build a strong team this way. You cost yourself millions of PP.

[Stacopanks]

Originally Posted by stan-theman

How do you do the historical simulation..thanks

For this you go to the Start menu for Perfect Team and you click on "new historical game". Then you click on "yes enable challenge mode". From here the best team to use for this is the 1927 New York Yankees since they are probably the best team ever so select the season of "baseball's Rebirth 1921-1945) then select the year 1927 and go next step. Then I just leave the next screen with transactions blank and just hit Next step, then the next screen just hit next step again until you get to the screen where you pick your team. Pick the Yankees and then start the game. To make the sim faster go to your manager name at the top of the screen and click on it and go to "manager Options". At the bottom of the screen should be a part that says EXIT AUTO PLAY and then it has 5 check marks under it. Uncheck all of those. Those just stop the simulation you are doing for things such as personal messages, injuries,etc. You don't have to uncheck these but that is the fastest way to sim if you can just get rid of all of those. Then you just sim week by week and wait until you get a pack reward pop up. We never know beforehand what will cause the pack to be rewarded but it's usually some type of accomplishment. I get many of mine after the first season is over. Sometimes it comes halfway through the first seasons. The odd time I have to wait till the second season.

Keep note of what time you earn this pack. You will get to earn another pack every 72 hours.

Hope this helps

[smales72]

"Look Skipper". Followed by a list of accomplishments. Maybe it's the real Mattingly.

[RunninYakAngler]

I may be in the minority, but I wish I would have never did the Live missions and I'm glad I only did one team. Yeah you get some great cards that everyone else has, and you'll skyrocket to Diamond to like everyone else, and hit a brick wall unless you're planning on spending a lot of $$. The upgrades you need to compete in Diamond are simply not attainable for most FTP players that don't have the will or time to grind tournaments or the AH. Right now Diamond level appears to be determined by whether your team is on the right or wrong side of the RNG gods. If Bagwell, Cano, Maddux, Yaz,Yogi, and Snider are having good years, your probably competing for a playoff spot. If not, well... Honestly, it has become incredibly boring. Might as well have made the Live missions the default rosters for everyone.

I'm having so much more fun with my other two teams in the lower levels, and even they have couple of the lesser used Live mission cards.

[Caedus]

Originally Posted by RunninYakAngler

I may be in the minority, but I wish I would have never did the Live missions and I'm glad I only did one team. Yeah you get some great cards that everyone else has, and you'll skyrocket to Diamond to like everyone else, and hit a brick wall unless you're planning on spending a lot of $$. The upgrades you need to compete in Diamond are simply not attainable for most FTP players that don't have the will or time to grind tournaments or the AH. Right now Diamond level appears to be determined by whether your team is on the right or wrong side of the RNG gods. If Bagwell, Cano, Maddux, Yaz,Yogi, and Snider are having good years, your probably competing for a playoff spot. If not, well... Honestly, it has become incredibly boring. Might as well have made the Live missions the default rosters for everyone.

I'm having so much more fun with my other two teams in the lower levels, and even they have couple of the lesser used Live mission cards.

You don't have to use them, you can sell them and do something else.

It's smart to work towards Live Collections on every team, even if you don't plan on using a single player. They're worth far more completed than the cost it took to get there.

[Grizzlegom]

My team is still F2P and I'm currently in what feels to be an infinite loop of easily winning my division in Gold with 100 wins, but failing to win the league as there's always that one whale. Then I get promoted to Diamond, where I get smashed and finish with the worst record in the league, get demoted. Rinse and repeat. Been in this cycle for a good month now. I've previously been using the PP I generate on either improving tourney teams or getting that incremental upgrade, which has led to decent tourney success (5-10 packs per day). This is my diamond week and my tourney teams have also stopped performing (like 1 pack per day...). This is the first time I've had a week that has legitimately made me feel like I either need to spend money or quit, as the game ceased being fun.

[tykond]

Originally Posted by Stacopanks

For this you go to the Start menu for Perfect Team and you click on "new historical game". Then you click on "yes enable challenge mode". From here the best team to use for this is the 1927 New York Yankees since they are probably the best team ever so select the season of "baseball's Rebirth 1921-1945) then select the year 1927 and go next step. Then I just leave the next screen with transactions blank and just hit Next step, then the next screen just hit next step again until you get to the screen where you pick your team. Pick the Yankees and then start the game. To make the sim faster go to your manager name at the top of the screen and click on it and go to "manager Options". At the bottom of the screen should be a part that says EXIT AUTO PLAY and then it has 5 check marks under it. Uncheck all of those. Those just stop the simulation you are doing for things such as personal messages, injuries,etc. You don't have to uncheck these but that is the fastest way to sim if you can just get rid of all of those. Then you just sim week by week and wait until you get a pack reward pop up. We never know beforehand what will cause the pack to be rewarded but it's usually some type of accomplishment. I get many of mine after the first season is over. Sometimes it comes halfway through the first seasons. The odd time I have to wait till the second season.

Keep note of what time you earn this pack. You will get to earn another pack every 72 hours.

Hope this helps

I did this, and sure enough, after my second season, I got a pack! Do you start a new sim every 72 hours, or you can just forget this sim for 3 days, then jump back in and sim until you get a pack?

[terryb981]

Hi All, very new to OOTP and PT and enjoying the learning experience! Have picked up some great tips by reading this forum which is much appreciated.

I have a follow on question from the post above about playing "historical games". I have now started 4 games as the 1927 Yankees, winning the World Series 3 times. the last time with a score of 1038 (out of 1000) yet I have still not won any player packs.

Is this just random bad luck or am I missing something? I followed the "rules" exactly as stated.

Also, when mention is made of first/second season does this mean that the 1927 Yankee season then becomes 1928 season or does it mean start again with the 1927 Yankees?

Apologies for newbie questions but hoping someone can give me a heads up.

Thanks
TerryB

[tykond]

Originally Posted by terryb981

Hi All, very new to OOTP and PT and enjoying the learning experience! Have picked up some great tips by reading this forum which is much appreciated.

I have a follow on question from the post above about playing "historical games". I have now started 4 games as the 1927 Yankees, winning the World Series 3 times. the last time with a score of 1038 (out of 1000) yet I have still not won any player packs.

Is this just random bad luck or am I missing something? I followed the "rules" exactly as stated.

Also, when mention is made of first/second season does this mean that the 1927 Yankee season then becomes 1928 season or does it mean start again with the 1927 Yankees?

Apologies for newbie questions but hoping someone can give me a heads up.

Thanks
TerryB

I had to finish the 1928 season on 1 sim to get the pack. The other 2 I did in my other 2 accounts did come in the first season, so I think its just bad luck.

[terryb981]

@ tykond - Thanks, will keep plugging away and hope my luck turns!

[mayday10]

Originally Posted by terryb981

Hi All, very new to OOTP and PT and enjoying the learning experience! Have picked up some great tips by reading this forum which is much appreciated.

I have a follow on question from the post above about playing "historical games". I have now started 4 games as the 1927 Yankees, winning the World Series 3 times. the last time with a score of 1038 (out of 1000) yet I have still not won any player packs.

Is this just random bad luck or am I missing something? I followed the "rules" exactly as stated.

Also, when mention is made of first/second season does this mean that the 1927 Yankee season then becomes 1928 season or does it mean start again with the 1927 Yankees?

Apologies for newbie questions but hoping someone can give me a heads up.

Thanks
TerryB

Challenge mode on?

[neugey]

Pro tip - don't always be a slave to the big ratings and the card colors. My Bagwell card was clearly not himself this week, only managing to reach 0.8 WAR by Saturday and scuffling with a .754 OPS. I decided I had nothing to lose yesterday and benched him for 91 Don Baylor. All Baylor did was hit 2 dingers in his 'September callup' and I stuck with him for the playoffs. He led the team with 24 postseason RBI's and helped my team win the whole thing at Gold level. Now granted it won't always work out like this, and you have to be a bit lucky to find the hot hand, but sometimes you've got to risk it for the biscuit.

[mayday10]

Edit: wrong thread