Is PT a money grab?

Westjl2 · 10-22-2022, 09:59 AM

I have been playing OOTP for about 6 years and really enjoy the season mode.

Recently I got hooked on PT and enjoyed building my teams up to Diamond level. But it took a lot of perfect point purchases to get to that level.

The part that I am finding really strange is that my diamond team continues to play sub 500 ball against teams that are clearly no better. I have continued to add highly rated 100 class players with not a lot of increased results.

So I have become quite cynical about it.

Is anyone else feeling like something is not right with who wins and who doesn't? I feel that PT is one of the biggest money grabs going. I do not have the patience to wait for weeks on end to accumulate enough PP's to purchase one superstar. It is insane how much OOTP is charging for their points. But I guess there must be enough people like me who get addicted to PT only to realize it is a carrot on a stick that you can never quite get your teeth into.

So unless OOTP lowers their point costs by about 90% I am out....especially when I pay an additional 40% exchange on the CAD!

LeeD · 10-22-2022, 11:18 AM

Yes, it is carrot on a stick by design. The only way to beat it is to acquire lots of packs from tournaments (free PP from sales of duplicates and the occasional WOW I got a Historical Diamond or Perfect) and...

to be proactive in acquiring and then keeping cards BEFORE they turn into mission-critical pieces. Since there's a lot of guesswork in this, the best policy is to only sell duplicates. Even then, keeping duplicates which turn up in a mission later is also a prime PP-maker (as the selling price for these will double or triple instantly). This leads you back to GET OUT THE WALLET since selling duplicates is the primary method of acquiring enough PP to stay competitive.

Then there's the consistent ratings creep, as newer cards will tend to have better ratings than older ones. This means that your team can be a world-beater in May and last-place losers by July if you don't keep up with mission and card drops (i.e., acquire the latest meta replacement cards).

On the bright side, it's a lot easier to complete the older missions (less PP intensive) as the PT "season" moves along, and acquiring a huge roster from frequent pack ripping often leads to auto-completion or near-completion when new missions drop. As an example, I had a lot of the Cooperstown Collection Three done at start because it was heavily dependent on previous completions of Build a Lineup. I also had nearly all of the Live Pack Missions completed at drop, which was worth 11 packs of varying quality.

Is this all worthwhile? I think yes early on, if you can break through and build a solid Diamond team. As the season progresses, it becomes harder and harder to keep up or catch up; and those of us who aren't willing to spend hundreds of dollars at a time will never compete with the whales who do (unless we dedicate our lives to PT and are able to keep three tournaments running all day for the potential pack rewards).

As with most things, your mileage may vary. I think the development team does a good job overall in keeping the game fresh.

Westjl2 · 10-23-2022, 09:35 AM

Thanks for the advice! Maybe I have not played long enough and thought I could spend my way to glory...we see how that is going in real life with the Dodgers and Yankees..(I love it!)...

Another big mistake I made was forming 3 teams early on and spending too much trying to make them all competitive. One of them was an all black team which did very well early on but soon ran out of steam because you basically cut your talent pool in half.

I will keep playing...but with different goals...not to be the PT winner but to win championships at lower levels. At Least I have a chance there without breaking the bank.

Lots to learn.

Cheers

daves · 10-23-2022, 10:24 AM

It would be nice if they increased the relegation significantly. Only 4 or 6 takes away the enjoyment of winning at lower levels.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

LeeD · 10-25-2022, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daves

It would be nice if they increased the relegation significantly. Only 4 or 6 takes away the enjoyment of winning at lower levels.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, I mentioned this earlier. It seems that the PEL-Diamond-Gold structure is too top-heavy based on the number of players this year, so teams can get trapped one level above where they're competitive (lots of 80-82, 75-87 seasons). Frustrating to log in and see your team 12th in all the relevant stats, knowing that they'd be competing for the title one level lower.

LeeD · 10-25-2022, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Westjl2

Thanks for the advice! Maybe I have not played long enough and thought I could spend my way to glory...we see how that is going in real life with the Dodgers and Yankees..(I love it!)...

Another big mistake I made was forming 3 teams early on and spending too much trying to make them all competitive. One of them was an all black team which did very well early on but soon ran out of steam because you basically cut your talent pool in half.

I will keep playing...but with different goals...not to be the PT winner but to win championships at lower levels. At Least I have a chance there without breaking the bank.

Lots to learn.

Cheers

I found myself totally losing focus last year because I had 13 (!) teams and eventually turned a lot of them into theme teams which were competitive at Silver level (bombers, rabbits, east coast, west coast, etc.).

bailey · 10-29-2022, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeeD

Yes, I mentioned this earlier. It seems that the PEL-Diamond-Gold structure is too top-heavy based on the number of players this year, so teams can get trapped one level above where they're competitive (lots of 80-82, 75-87 seasons). Frustrating to log in and see your team 12th in all the relevant stats, knowing that they'd be competing for the title one level lower.

So, sell off just enough cards to drop one level lower and then buy the cards back, or maybe, similar ones. Just don't tank so hard that it destroys the competitive balance of the league. Make it a challenge to relegate with the best record among relegated teams!

Machoman · 11-07-2022, 11:45 AM

I don't get all of these money grab posts. I've never spent a penny on points and my prime team is a consistent .500 in diamond league. I made it to the divisional round of the playoffs once. So, if a few things break right, I might make it into the perfect league.

That said, I know I'm competing against people spending oodles of money, so I temper my expectations accordingly. I spend far more time on tournament teams like perfect draft, bronze and silver, where you don't need money to dominate. Honestly, by the time I'm up to diamond league, I don't find it that interesting anyway. All the players are 100s. Most managers are playing roughly the same guys. There isn't a whole lot of strategy in building or running a roster, since almost all the players have no glaring weaknesses. To me, perfect draft is way more interesting.

HondoLane · 11-07-2022, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Machoman

I don't get all of these money grab posts. I've never spent a penny on points and my prime team is a consistent .500 in diamond league. I made it to the divisional round of the playoffs once. So, if a few things break right, I might make it into the perfect league.

That said, I know I'm competing against people spending oodles of money, so I temper my expectations accordingly. I spend far more time on tournament teams like perfect draft, bronze and silver, where you don't need money to dominate. Honestly, by the time I'm up to diamond league, I don't find it that interesting anyway. All the players are 100s. Most managers are playing roughly the same guys. There isn't a whole lot of strategy in building or running a roster, since almost all the players have no glaring weaknesses. To me, perfect draft is way more interesting.

If you can play .500 in DL, you can make it to PL.

I've lost in the first round to very average diamond teams 3 of the last 4 years (wild card teams barely above .500), and I have a team that is top tier even in PL. It's pretty random once you hit the playoffs.

Wishing you luck on making it to PL!

Machoman · 11-08-2022, 12:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HondoLane

If you can play .500 in DL, you can make it to PL.

I've lost in the first round to very average diamond teams 3 of the last 4 years (wild card teams barely above .500), and I have a team that is top tier even in PL. It's pretty random once you hit the playoffs.

Wishing you luck on making it to PL!

Thanks Hondo!

HomerD · 11-10-2022, 12:05 PM

Is the pope Catholic?

smales72 · 11-10-2022, 12:24 PM

10-22-2022, 09:59 AM	#1
Westjl2 Bat Boy Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Calgary, Canada Posts: 13	Is PT a money grab? I have been playing OOTP for about 6 years and really enjoy the season mode. Recently I got hooked on PT and enjoyed building my teams up to Diamond level. But it took a lot of perfect point purchases to get to that level. The part that I am finding really strange is that my diamond team continues to play sub 500 ball against teams that are clearly no better. I have continued to add highly rated 100 class players with not a lot of increased results. So I have become quite cynical about it. Is anyone else feeling like something is not right with who wins and who doesn't? I feel that PT is one of the biggest money grabs going. I do not have the patience to wait for weeks on end to accumulate enough PP's to purchase one superstar. It is insane how much OOTP is charging for their points. But I guess there must be enough people like me who get addicted to PT only to realize it is a carrot on a stick that you can never quite get your teeth into. So unless OOTP lowers their point costs by about 90% I am out....especially when I pay an additional 40% exchange on the CAD!

10-22-2022, 11:18 AM	#2
LeeD All Star Reserve Join Date: Jan 2022 Posts: 682	Yes, it is carrot on a stick by design. The only way to beat it is to acquire lots of packs from tournaments (free PP from sales of duplicates and the occasional WOW I got a Historical Diamond or Perfect) and... to be proactive in acquiring and then keeping cards BEFORE they turn into mission-critical pieces. Since there's a lot of guesswork in this, the best policy is to only sell duplicates. Even then, keeping duplicates which turn up in a mission later is also a prime PP-maker (as the selling price for these will double or triple instantly). This leads you back to GET OUT THE WALLET since selling duplicates is the primary method of acquiring enough PP to stay competitive. Then there's the consistent ratings creep, as newer cards will tend to have better ratings than older ones. This means that your team can be a world-beater in May and last-place losers by July if you don't keep up with mission and card drops (i.e., acquire the latest meta replacement cards). On the bright side, it's a lot easier to complete the older missions (less PP intensive) as the PT "season" moves along, and acquiring a huge roster from frequent pack ripping often leads to auto-completion or near-completion when new missions drop. As an example, I had a lot of the Cooperstown Collection Three done at start because it was heavily dependent on previous completions of Build a Lineup. I also had nearly all of the Live Pack Missions completed at drop, which was worth 11 packs of varying quality. Is this all worthwhile? I think yes early on, if you can break through and build a solid Diamond team. As the season progresses, it becomes harder and harder to keep up or catch up; and those of us who aren't willing to spend hundreds of dollars at a time will never compete with the whales who do (unless we dedicate our lives to PT and are able to keep three tournaments running all day for the potential pack rewards). As with most things, your mileage may vary. I think the development team does a good job overall in keeping the game fresh. Last edited by LeeD; 10-22-2022 at 11:20 AM.

10-23-2022, 10:24 AM	#4
daves Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 3,824	It would be nice if they increased the relegation significantly. Only 4 or 6 takes away the enjoyment of winning at lower levels. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk __________________

10-23-2022, 09:35 AM	#3
Westjl2 Bat Boy Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Calgary, Canada Posts: 13	Thanks for the advice! Maybe I have not played long enough and thought I could spend my way to glory...we see how that is going in real life with the Dodgers and Yankees..(I love it!)... Another big mistake I made was forming 3 teams early on and spending too much trying to make them all competitive. One of them was an all black team which did very well early on but soon ran out of steam because you basically cut your talent pool in half. I will keep playing...but with different goals...not to be the PT winner but to win championships at lower levels. At Least I have a chance there without breaking the bank. Lots to learn. Cheers

11-07-2022, 11:45 AM	#8
Machoman Bat Boy Join Date: Sep 2022 Posts: 5	I don't get all of these money grab posts. I've never spent a penny on points and my prime team is a consistent .500 in diamond league. I made it to the divisional round of the playoffs once. So, if a few things break right, I might make it into the perfect league. That said, I know I'm competing against people spending oodles of money, so I temper my expectations accordingly. I spend far more time on tournament teams like perfect draft, bronze and silver, where you don't need money to dominate. Honestly, by the time I'm up to diamond league, I don't find it that interesting anyway. All the players are 100s. Most managers are playing roughly the same guys. There isn't a whole lot of strategy in building or running a roster, since almost all the players have no glaring weaknesses. To me, perfect draft is way more interesting.

11-10-2022, 12:05 PM	#11
HomerD Minors (Double A) Join Date: Dec 2021 Posts: 125	Is the pope Catholic?

11-10-2022, 12:24 PM	#12
smales72 Minors (Double A) Join Date: Mar 2020 Posts: 107