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Wherefore art thou WGT ?

• chris5214 1,937 Posts

  Tue, Jul 9 2013 9:20 AM

   

  So here I am, 1yr & 3mnths after I joined this site .. this will be the 1st week in 5mths that I've played almost daily .. before that I considered myself a regular player carding ranked rounds (1 or 2 a day) & enjoying  a/s  with some of the fine blokes I've come across in my time here .. a lot of them I noticed have become pretty inactive or altogether stopped playing .

   

  so what drove me away ? I had to think on that a bit, but it was mainly 2 things:

   

   - lack of choice/variety

   

   - lack of communication/feedback

   

  I managed to reach Legend after 188 ranked rounds at lvl 78. This was before the new averaging  system that causes people to be bumped up to Legend as a result of match play wins. Since then the pro shop have added more variety to cater to the needs of those lower lvl players finding themselves unprepared & under clubbed. Nothing much has been done for those at higher levels in terms of equipment.

   

  I guess I'm kinda touching on the "done to death" equipment/tier issue, but I began to feel pretty peeved at the fact that I couldn't access top clubs even though I was teeing off from the tips. Anyway, lvl 90 came, I got the R11 irons & realised to my dismay that I had to basically double my XP before I could lay my hands on another driver .. really ?

   

  See, I like choice .. alternatives. Now I found myself in no-man's land as far as choice is concerned. Why do top level players have so little choice ? Why put everything so far out of reach ? I don't spend hours on end playing this game every day. How long will it take me to reach lvl94 .. another year ? Good grief, that's just dumb.

   

  I don't mind paying a premium on things I want .. demand & supply .. after all, I've paid my dues & spend enough green on balls & clubs advancing through levels & tiers. And I won't mind spending some more on a game I like, a hobby if you will, provided it is made available to me.

   

  Not enough courses ? Honestly, I'm fine with what we have (although 2 courses a year wouldn't hurt). VEM? .. pfft .. whatever. Lost balls ? .. ditto .. pfft. Bugs ? .. use pesticide .. moving on. Gift cards ? .. ok, there's a legit gripe IMO. Meter stutter ? .. harharhar .. alrighty then.

   

  Gimme choice .. alternatives .. I am legend .. gimme clubs .. open the pro shop .. keep the R1 .. gimme a R11s special edition .. you've done it with the R1 WGT .. create some more incentives .. service your customers .. that means ME.

   

  Lack of communication & feedback. Well yeah, not much more can be said about that. What happened to the MrWGT chats ? What happened to engaging with your customers in the forums. Afraid of a little heat ? C'mon now, balls of steel, yeah? And I'm not talking about the bullchit posts that claim conspiracy theories .. ignore those by all means. You have my blessing. But engage legitimate requests & concerns. Why is that so damn hard ? Don't stick your head into the sand, cause I can see ur A$$ sticking up in the air with a bulls eye painted all over it. Hold that position & expect some pot shots.

   

  WGT .. wherefore art thou ??

   

  Do I hear an echo ?

   

   

   

  Edit:  Feel free to criticize, comment, commend, troll, postulate & hypothesize.. whatever blows ur hair back.

   

   

   

• Timnator 272 Posts

  Tue, Jul 9 2013 9:41 AM

  Not much to criticize, well stated.

  I'm only a TM, but I'm already feeling the pain of how long it takes to level up.

  Still a fun game though

• russellfahey 4,286 Posts

  Tue, Jul 9 2013 10:22 AM

  I have to agree with Chris on the Equiptment issue.I preferred back in the day where all the clubs were Tier related.It gave me more of a reason to Tier up.Now i know WGT will never revert back to this,as who would then want to buy the xp boosts when they are no good to the player? All this new system has done in my opinion has encouraged Sandbaggers as there is now no need to worry about Tiering up in order to get the best Equiptment,they just need to buy xp boosts and play.

    I don't understand the logic why when a player reaches Legend Tier and playing from the tips that he or she is not allowed to buy the top end drivers for example to compensate for the extra yardage that they face,yet a level 93 Master or Tour Master can buy the R1 where they have no real need for it.

   Yes we all know WGT is a Buisness and need to make money,but by the same token they need to reward players that have put the time and effort into this game and reached the Tier of Legend.I also include Tour Legends in this as i personally feel there is no real reward for them either,other than a big pat on the back for reaching the highest Tier.

   

  Russell

• WGTicon 12,511 Posts

  Tue, Jul 9 2013 11:10 AM

  Chris

  I am here for you if you want to chat. Please feel free to contact me privately. Besides opening up all equipment to legends, without level restrictions, what else can we do with current equipment to make it more interesting?

  -wgticon

• Ducati916 1,116 Posts

  Tue, Jul 9 2013 11:19 AM

  Chris.....a couple of things.......it would be nice to see you back again...enjoyed  the few times we did play....second....I agree 100%. I am a few levels higher and was able to get the "right clubs", but, we all know what the current club situaton is.....in regards to diminshed play, it's just kind of lost it's shiny paint job....it's all become a re-hash of what everyone has been asking for and saying for a couple of years now. Would seem that a few tweaks would shine it up again...alt shot for credits...different pins/course, tiered clubs...but, most importantly, responses with actions from WGT. Who nows what/when PP will do/become, but, WGT still has a great game and opportunity, but, something as simple as a road map with dates would even help.  Other ideas that have all come up...to no avail: selling clubs to other members via an eBay type process......best ball 4somes, alt shot for credits, choose your holes rounds, fade/draw physics, "extra" power zone at the end of the swing which reduces the ding area but allows you to try for those few extra yards...etc, etc...So, WGT, as the man said...listen and answer....your customers are talking to you.

• Jimbog1964 8,378 Posts

  Tue, Jul 9 2013 11:28 AM

  WGTicon:

  Chris

  I am here for you if you want to chat. Please feel free to contact me privately. Besides opening up all equipment to legends, without level restrictions, what else can we do with current equipment to make it more interesting?

  -wgticon

  Everything to TL. The L93 limited edition is a good start at variation and these promo's should be regular.  After this promo move the R11S driver to L92 and the 3 wood to L93, and the R1 L95. Also dump the L88 R11 in favour of something a little more forgiving whilst keeping same length to keep differentiation and sales................

  Well done on Chris for this one, and to WGT for chiming in.  COMMUNICATION COUNT'S IMO!

• chris5214 1,937 Posts

  Tue, Jul 9 2013 11:43 AM

  Ducati916:

  Chris.....a couple of things.......it would be nice to see you back again...enjoyed  the few times we did play....second....I agree 100%. I am a few levels higher and was able to get the "right clubs", but, we all know what the current club situaton is.....in regards to diminshed play, it's just kind of lost it's shiny paint job....it's all become a re-hash of what everyone has been asking for and saying for a couple of years now. Would seem that a few tweaks would shine it up again...alt shot for credits...different pins/course, tiered clubs...but, most importantly, responses with actions from WGT. Who nows what/when PP will do/become, but, WGT still has a great game and opportunity, but, something as simple as a road map with dates would even help.  Other ideas that have all come up...to no avail: selling clubs to other members via an eBay type process......best ball 4somes, alt shot for credits, choose your holes rounds, fade/draw physics, "extra" power zone at the end of the swing which reduces the ding area but allows you to try for those few extra yards...etc, etc...So, WGT, as the man said...listen and answer....your customers are talking to you.

  Hit the nail on the head my friend !!

  I like some of your ideas .. i agree, WGT is a great game, but i fear that the lack of innovation & incentives will result in some stunning exit polls once a viable competitor comes along .. the arrival of such a competitor is inevitable .. just a question of when

  personally i'd hate to see that happen.

  I'll keep a look out forya buddy .. on side note, i cleared out half of the people on my friends list tnite .. mostly L's & TM's .. they not around anymore .. what does that tellya ? sad

  @ Icon .. thx, i will take you up on that invite and send you that PM within 24hrs .. friend request send .. hoping for a response

• sweetspott 26,443 Posts

  Tue, Jul 9 2013 11:43 AM

  Great post, well said indeed...

• BogeyMan310 865 Posts

  Tue, Jul 9 2013 12:36 PM

  Chris I would have agreed with your post last year, right up until late september when  they started turning out cheap legends by the dozens every day through the match play fiasco to try to satisfy the gamblers, worried about losing credits to sandbaggers, so now we are stuck with this madness, I hit legend at level 89 and have played with the ping driver up till they opened up the black r1 to me, I am level 96 and had no problem waiting till 98 as I do not play for credits, I play strictly for the fun of it.  What they have done in my opinion is to take what was the hardest and most rewarding and that was going from 61.50 down to 61 as a tourmaster to get to legend, I learned more during that stretch probably then anytime else, it made you want to get better.  I have watched too many moving to legend by playing very few stroke rounds and just looking for those same ones that just got legend to beat in matchplay to jump up a tier, sorry, put the time in and learn the game right, you should not be rewarded by beating up on others that should not be there either.  I watched a tourmaster move his average 4 strokes in 7 days and make legend by beating legends that had gotten there the same way.  Glad to see you came back, I have had a few times where I have felt like throwing it all out the window and finding something else to do with my time and money. Just my opinion and the good thing is we are all allowed to agree or disagree, only thing that matters is what WGT does when they listen or don't listen to the long time players, but they might not be in the listening mood too much since this legend fiasco that was brought about to soothe some wounded egos of long term players.

• alanti 10,564 Posts

  Tue, Jul 9 2013 1:51 PM

  Great post Chris and I agree that variety and more importantly accessibility to more clubs is needed.

  When a player hits level 90, it is a hard slog to the next level and subsequently each level gets harder. So there should be a reward, after all how many sleeves of balls are used just to increase one level? (hint - perhaps WGT should throw in a sleeve of the balls the player uses when the player levels up)

  So perhaps WGT could increase the range of clubs available at a new level - and I do not want to see longer/more precise/more forgiving clubs but clubs that have a range of attributes that at least give players a choice.

  One thing by opening up the R1 at level 93 (albeit limited time) has shown that legends want a better alternative to the G20 or R11 and waiting for the R11S at level 94 is just too long - and in the OP's case would appear to have cost WGT in revenue (lost ball sales and upgrades) and probably countless others. Some of these players it will have nothing to do with equipment and has more to do with getting tiered up quickly and they simplt have not acquired the skills.

  However I do agree with Jim, that all clubs should be available to TL and that clubs should only be available to a certain tier (or that the attributes of that club are lower until they tier up).

  Finally I will touch on the communication. This is one area that I have been critical of WGT, but I have seen improvements and I do believe that our suggestions and complaints are heard - whether they are implemented or rectified is another matter. I would like to see the company more open, especially on the course development. Overall I think Icon and DB do a great job under difficult circumstances, but I do think Chad needs to be more open on the roadmap for the future.

  I added the last point as IMO goes back to what Chris said, variety/choice. and one course a year is not enough. British Open courses would appear to be off the menu (sorry British Cuisine has never set the world on fire lol) and Par 3 courses are glorified pitch and putt. But we hear of some golf courses knocking on WGT door WANTING inclusion (based on the Forbes Article thread) so where is the Vision Statement? Yes we do have a good portfolio of 8 stroke play courses ( I will ignore TruGolf and Best Ofs) but for the diehard player  who plays daily it is not a lot af variety in that context. However if you are lucky like me, and have not mastered any of them it isn't so bad!