First off, my thanks to all in the community that took the time to reply, whether they agreed with my theory , or not. There are those who would say threads of this nature are simply WGT "bashing" or looking to place the blame anywhere else but on a players' own shortcomings. Let me assure you this is not the case, as I am the first to admit I am not that good a player. My intentions in starting this thread were to see if there was enough agreement within the community that overall gameplay and enjoyment has been negatively affected by increased VEM deviations. And if so, how , through meaningful discourse, we might offer some suggestions as to how WGT might solve it's current dilemma which I define as being, "Now that we've sold equipment that allows players to shoot ridiculously low scores, how do we prevent those scores from happening in order to maintain the games integrity ( realism ) without upsetting our client base?" And therein lies the problem. Turn down VEM influence, people shoot low scores and complain, "Unrealistic !" Turn up VEM influence ( more lost balls, wildshots etc.) people complain "Unfair !" This coupled with the fact that top players can still shoot amazing scores does not bode well for us mere mortals who may just have to accept the fact that this is how the game will play from now on. From this , one can further postulate that any new offerings of better equpment in the future will be followed by an increase in VEM influence to keep the scores realistic, and , inevitably, another round of people complaining how their equipment no longer functions as it should. In my attempt to understand why the game appears to be functioning as it does,this is the conclusion logic has led me to. Again, this is only a theory , and I welcome any and all other possible explanations from the community, including "Monsters From the ID"( Lol, good one Opy ! And, a very generous offer on the prize.)
Doc :)