Well, I suppose will add my two pennies to this.
First off, I don't play for credits, only for my own amusement, so I feel I am looking at this objectively.
I very much agree that this change could only increase sandbagging. I know sandbagging doesn't affect me personally, but, it seems to me that on a site with gambling disclaimers and certain countries and states being restricted by wagering, that blatant sandbagging borders on criminal behavior. Sandbagging will only truly be removed if WGT becomes vigilant and removes the players doing it as they are reported, by freezing their accounts immediately on proof (ie, like that guy mentioned the other day shooting well in tournaments, and then 90s or 180s every other game). Ban the offending player, block the IP address, and freeze the credits.
I also agree with the point of legends with legend equipment vs a pro with legend equipment not really being a level playing field, if playing for credits. Since I don't play the RTGs, I can only use the following analogy. I would love to be able to play with say an R9 driver from short tees and have a short iron or wedge for an approach...especially against someone playing from extremely long tees, same equipment, and maybe not even being able to reach green in two.
All that said, I do applaud WGT for addressing this, and hope i have given an objective opinion.
My last comment is in regard to quitting. I could careless if someone quits, since they are only fooling themselves. Since it truly seems to be hot button issue, there is a very easy fix for it. I have stated it before, but perhaps this is a good place to repeat it. Simply make every ranked round have to be finished, and quitting becomes pointless. Every single player ranked round, every multiplayer ranked round, every single play tournament round, every unlimited play tournament round. By doing this, quitting becomes irrelevant. Furthermore, it makes the ranking system a lot more like a handicap. In real life, you can't play say 16 holes, just quit and say I'm not gonna count this one. Also, it addresses the entire idea of different reasons for quitting (some are quitters to protect average, some get disconnected, power outage, internet problem, whatever). A ranked game started gets finished. You quit, get disconnected, whatever, when you comeback, you finish. If nothing else, this would certainly fix the quitting problem AND get averages in line with ability for those who choose to quit rather than post.
A great example is the Virtual Open Qualifier that just happened. Many people would tee off on 1, don't get a birdie of better, restart. On what planet in real life would a tournament qualifier give you unpenalized do-overs. Seems to me, you start a game, you finish it. That is how real life works, and this game tries to be a real life as possible.
Sorry for the book, but to summarize:
- excellent idea on more tiers
- poorly thought out on the sandbagging issue
- great idea on levels (not just tiers) based on participation
- addressing the quitting issue as I've offered above would tie in wonderfully with this new roll out
Hope I made sense, and thanks for your time.