Rosters packed with Perfects and Diamonds have now reached Silver.

[HRBaker]

After 3 seasons in Gold and 2 trips to the playoffs, this week I'm in Silver - with the exact same lineup/roster I used to get into Gold 3 weeks ago.


As the year progresses, more and more teams fill their rosters with Perfects and Diamonds since they are so available. As it stands currently, the top 50% of levels (Perfect through Silver) are stocked with the top 33% of the best cards.


With about 4 months to go, the current trend will result with teams at the Bronze level being made up of Perfects and Diamonds as well.


Brought this up to add to my opinion that there are simply too many Perfects, Diamonds, and "supermen" cards in the game. 12 months gives almost everyone the ability to have the top level cards and that configuration is partly what causes all teams on top to look alike.


2 cents.

[Thundercrack]

Let’s be honest, the game mechanic is broken. It more and more resembles an arcade game.

[Thundercrack]

Originally Posted by Thundercrack

Let’s be honest, the game mechanic is broken. It more and more resembles an arcade game.

Just for the record, the core game remains nearly impeccable. Felt I should throw that in. Yes I quoted myself.

[Ty Cobb]

It was a good quote. Problem where?

[Thundercrack]

Originally Posted by Ty Cobb

It was a good quote. Problem where?

Are you talking to me or him

[bailey]

Originally Posted by HRBaker

....

Brought this up to add to my opinion that there are simply too many Perfects, Diamonds, and "supermen" cards in the game. 12 months gives almost everyone the ability to have the top level cards and that configuration is partly what causes all teams on top to look alike.


2 cents.

I agree with this observation, but is it a subtly worded suggestion that there is something wrong with this?

A patient player can little by little build a very strong team depending on how hard one 1) grinds the AH 2) grinds the tournaments 3) logs on to streams for twitch drops.

[Dogberry99]

This seems like its more an issue with how easy it is to earn the points required to obtain the best active roster. Having fewer "Supermen" released would not solve the base issue.

[Tinkerman]

Wouldn't it be great if we could play in leagues (not tournaments) that put limits on what cards can be used?

I know that custom leagues wouldn't exactly be simple to add. But once added, players would have a simple way to get the gameplay they want from a mode they could concentrate on. They'd just need to pick a league with the rules that they prefer.

Something like SLOTS seems such a good idea, but not with the chaotic friends list/league structure in normal PT...imho.

[HRBaker]

Originally Posted by bailey

I agree with this observation, but is it a subtly worded suggestion that there is something wrong with this?

A patient player can little by little build a very strong team depending on how hard one 1) grinds the AH 2) grinds the tournaments 3) logs on to streams for twitch drops.

What I'm taking issue with is the fact that the abundance of high-value cards eventually saturates the top 5 of 8 levels of the game. As you move toward the second half of the year, there's been enough Diamonds, Perfects, and "Special" cards to make anything under Diamond useless in the top 5 levels.


I'm not suggesting any details here, but I think the game would be better balanced if the game's best cards were more rare. That would move most of the Diamonds, Perfects, and "supermen" cards onto teams that populated the top 2-3 levels. Someone who was playing an All-Gold team, or a theme team, for example could actually compete maybe as high as Silver or Gold.


As we move into the last four months of the OOTP year, those kinds of teams will be pushed down into Bronze.

[HRBaker]

Originally Posted by Tinkerman

Wouldn't it be great if we could play in leagues (not tournaments) that put limits on what cards can be used?

I know that custom leagues wouldn't exactly be simple to add. But once added, players would have a simple way to get the gameplay they want from a mode they could concentrate on. They'd just need to pick a league with the rules that they prefer.

Something like SLOTS seems such a good idea, but not with the chaotic friends list/league structure in normal PT...imho.

Decent idea, but I do agree that it would probably be hard to implement.

[dkgo]

Would anyone pay more for a feature like that though? Maybe, that's why I'm asking.

The whole existence of the game is to encourage people to buy points to catch up or stay at the top. If anyone can tailor their experience for free so that no one has to spend money that is not the best business strategy.

[Bunktown Ballers]

Originally Posted by HRBaker

What I'm taking issue with is the fact that the abundance of high-value cards eventually saturates the top 5 of 8 levels of the game. As you move toward the second half of the year, there's been enough Diamonds, Perfects, and "Special" cards to make anything under Diamond useless in the top 5 levels.


I'm not suggesting any details here, but I think the game would be better balanced if the game's best cards were more rare. That would move most of the Diamonds, Perfects, and "supermen" cards onto teams that populated the top 2-3 levels. Someone who was playing an All-Gold team, or a theme team, for example could actually compete maybe as high as Silver or Gold. it seems spending money to spend your wheels yoyoing all year is crazy too...next year different for me..will save loads of money


As we move into the last four months of the OOTP year, those kinds of teams will be pushed down into Bronze.

Yeah, I just think the game is in the critical mode now. Bronze & Silver leagues looking much like every other league now. I move from silver to bronze to silver to bronze with one team. MY other 2 does the same between gold and diamond. March of 2021 can't come fast enough....so bored yoyoing around seeing same teams every season bc we all in same boat. Tried tournaments...same thing...same teams over and over and over

[dkgo]

That will never change because it is a simulation. It's not FIFA where you actually play games and certain players are better fits for your preferred formation and play style, people will always figure out which cards give you the most bang for your buck and use them.

There needs to be a pro-active way of getting people to use different cards.

[Ty Cobb]

Originally Posted by Thundercrack

Are you talking to me or him

I think it's great if you can quote yourself.

[stan-theman]

How about a Cap League each player value wpuld be same as on card 100=100,88=88 .Leagues could be like 2000 total value or less would cut teams with all 100's.Plus if during the week you want to make a move you would have to adjust lineup to be within Cap. I agree way too many 100's out there not so much fun anymoore..Thanks

[QuantaCondor]

Originally Posted by HRBaker

As the year progresses, more and more teams fill their rosters with Perfects and Diamonds since they are so available. As it stands currently, the top 50% of levels (Perfect through Silver) are stocked with the top 33% of the best cards.

I don't know how many times this has to be said: the overall rating of your card doesn't matter. There are many bad diamonds, bad perfects, that are cheap and will get dominated by the good diamonds and perfects. There are well-known cards in the gold and below OVR range that outperform many diamonds and perfects. This is like the first lesson any new player is told.

There could be a valid criticism about the availability of FOTF, the power creep cycle, whether it was done properly, etc. It's been said before, there wasn't really a lot of care taken to balance the power of the various releases relative to the meta. And you could talk about the impact of having so many perfect releases, their effects on tourney balancing, and so on. But complaining about team having some live diamonds and live SE diamonds in your bronze league, 8 months after the game's release? Honestly I'm surprised Iron teams don't have the live SE outfit at this stage. I suspect most of them are idle (likely true for many of the teams in Bronze as well).

Also, "The top 50% of levels" = Perfect through silver? Rookie alone has about 25% of the game's leagues, and Rookie + Stone gets you to about 50%. Silver up has something like 15-20% of the game's leagues. If only the top33% of the game's best cards are in those leagues, it seems like it's pretty diluted.

[chazzycat]

2 thoughts:

1) this is the natural result of a more pyramid-shaped league structure. what did y'all expect to happen? This was a big change from last year and this phenomenon was always 100% inevitable.

2) of course everyone above is correct about OVR being a horrible way to judge how "good" a card is. Tons of 100s are trash cards once you understand how the ratings work (usually it's poor ratings in AVOID K, CONTROL or RANGE). Their presence on a roster is nothing to be scared of.

[HRBaker]

Originally Posted by QuantaCondor

I don't know how many times this has to be said: the overall rating of your card doesn't matter. There are many bad diamonds, bad perfects, that are cheap and will get dominated by the good diamonds and perfects. There are well-known cards in the gold and below OVR range that outperform many diamonds and perfects. This is like the first lesson any new player is told.

My description(s) of high level cards is meant to be a generalization. I'm not disagreeing with your statement, but the "group" of "best cards" is saturating the top half of the pyramid, and makes any kind of "theme" teams not playable beyond the first half of the year.


Again, it's my 2 cents. No one has to agree, but that doesn't invalidate my opinion.

[ColbyVargas]

Yes to theme leagues. Would it be impossible to set up a separate league "tree" (rookie up to perfect) for teams that only use one franchise, and another by era?
For me, playing these teams is all that is worth following most weeks.

[Tinkerman]

Originally Posted by dkgo

Would anyone pay more for a feature like that though? Maybe, that's why I'm asking.

The whole existence of the game is to encourage people to buy points to catch up or stay at the top. If anyone can tailor their experience for free so that no one has to spend money that is not the best business strategy.

I'm never going to buy points. That's a hard and fast rule for me. But I'd be quite happy to pay around $40 for an improved version. I just have zero interest in doing a rinse and repeat with PT22. My packs team has given me the taste for using a wider selection of cards, and I'm a bit desperate to use more of the game's database in a league setting. Rules that force the use of cards all the way down to iron would be great, as it could expand the choices virtually infinitely. Currently, playing in such a way would break the ToS!