sweetmiffy:No, and here's why. Where did both the founders of WGT work prior to starting WGT?
Yes Miffy it was in online-gaming, and they saw an opportunity to cash in on an untapped market. I have no grudge for this, in fact the opposite.
http://www.techhive.com/article/186005/5_questions_world_golf_tour.html
This is an old interview with YuChiang Cheng back in 2010. For me the telling point is how much they have given away in prizes and awards. This is based on the fact that most of the awards actually have a non-monetary value. It is part of their overhead, or in the gaming terms, the rate of return.
It is easy to be a creative accountant, but that interview for me smacked of someone who was treating his users like idiots. Take the punter who wins a $1000 bucks on the ponies and brags about it, suddenly the thousand of dollars of losses are a long distant memory. These are the players they want, and was one reason why I never choose to gambol my credits - the company earns plenty via advertising and ball/equipment sales as it is IMHO.
To link that back to the topic, as players buy passes this is pure profit, offset by the items given away (which incidentally only cost the programmers time etc not the WGT perceived Pro Shop value).
As Jim said, this was set up for the large CC's who had members with credits to burn. Many of these players who did spend a lot will be using accrued credits, and apart from gift cards or possible apparel, they have little value to either the player or to WGT. WGT want the new money of which a lot of players would have used for this clash.
Again IMO, the loopholes was no accident - it was the desired plan, and this is why Chad and Co have not said a word. What they probably did underestimate was the level of anger shown.
What is therefore amazing to me is the total lack of contempt by the company to still have said virtually nothing apart from there were a few kinks! A few?????
And still no word from the top - a total show of contempt, amazingly poor management and PR skills, but such is life having a virtual monopoly. Chad mate, you should run for president, as you seem to have no knowledge of anything that goes on, and just blame someone else (remember that last Chat with Chad - like a deer in headlights).lets call you Teflon Chad.
In most corporations a fiasco like this would have caused heads to roll, at WGT Headquarters they were probably high-fiving and laughing at how stupid the users were.