This is my first time posting and I guess it is just an opportunity to vent, but I was wanting to understand if anyone else is noticing some frustrating issues creeping in with the PC Desktop version. I have read some other posts about concerns and wanted to understand if I was seeing the same or similar issues.
I've been playing for 2 1/2 years and don't use any on screen tools/calculators, just by looking the screen details, so I am prepared to accept that my gameplay is as a result of vagaries with that style (also happy to admit that my "ding" proficiency could be better but I generally get pretty close). However, the past 2-4 weeks I have noticed some changes to the way the game responds that makes it more difficult to play.
- Not sure if this is true but the wind now seems to be gusting. I see shots sweep from one side of the green to the other in relatively light winds, I see shots fall short when the wind has been taken into consideration and an extra club has been taken and vice versa. I know that in the real world, wind is never constant but unlike the virtual world, in the real world you can also "feel" what is happening around you. I'm not sure how we are supposed to know when the wind is gusting in the virtual world, if that is what is happening here
- The break on the greens (certainly at Legend level) seems to have changed. I read in another post someone was experiencing more lipouts. I concur, for the past 2-4 weeks, I have had more lipouts or balls just "slide" past the whole than in the past 2 years. Also, there appears to be unobserved variations in the break - I look at the break from both sides of the hole, line up the putt, and then a couple of inches out, the ball takes a serious right/left hand turn that I couldn't see. Maybe there is a better technique but with a computer program, you can only play what you see on the screen, anything else is unrealistic.
- I have noticed that at least one time per round the auto-caddy doesn't recognise my change in club. My most recent example from todays round at Merion was on a 135m Par 3, into a 5-6mph headwind. I selected a 135m 9 iron which should have brought the ball up short of the hole - it landed 9m behind the hole in deep brush. This would have equated to a 150m 8-iron. As I said, this happens at least once per round, sometimes it is no issue but sometimes it affects the outcome.
- Overall, shot distances now seem more variable (I guess this could be a function of wind gusts). It just seems hard to rely on the distances, particularly when using percentages on the shot meter. I get that you have to take into consideration wind, slope, surface, etc but when you do all that and the end result could be anywhere within a 10-15m range, it makes it hard to be confident with your shot making. In the real world, this is the player effect but in the virtual world, the power and distances should be more consistent (and they were up until 2-4 weeks ago).
I hope it is not shoddy coding and poor UAT prior to releasing updates but whatever it is, it is making the game increasingly frustrating. I enjoy the weekly/monthly tournaments but have started to shy away from certain courses where I found the break unreadable (Erin Hills & Chambers Bay to name a couple) and am starting to avoid any tournaments in High wind as they are almost impossible to play with my style.
I'm not really looking for any solutions (although any suggestions to help my gameplay would be gratefully accepted), just confirmation that it is not me seeing these and other problems. If it is just me, then I guess I just have to suck it up and keep persevering.
Thanks for everyone's responses in the forums - I've learnt a lot from those who post and respond regularly.