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New update, a fair assessment after careful thought.

• bartjones 72 Posts

  Fri, Sep 3 2010 6:27 PM

  Pangaea:

  I suppose you're right about that (or people wouldn't be so mad about it), but I'll worry about that when/if I get there. I suppose Raptures could be manageable at Master level (same tees as before, isn't it?) and I seriously doubt I will ever make it to Legend.

   

  I don't know what the new masters tees look like or if they're the same ones I was playing last week, but I can tell you this. I made it to Master using the Raptures but found, once there, that it was pretty much impossible to score well at the masters level with that Rapture driver.

• ThreeSpot 476 Posts

  Fri, Sep 3 2010 10:05 PM

  hbthree:

  Sure would not want to be a new Master after the September 10th deadline....WGT needs to make the same offer to upgrade equipment to any one whose tier changes following the 10th...otherwise many will leave the game because they will not be able to adequately compete in their new tier...harve

   

  Agreed. WGT has addressed the immediate issue of Pros who never had a chance to purchase Master equipment being recast as Masters, but what next? The equipment gets locked again on September 10th. Pros who make Master after that will likely need to play 100+ rounds to get equipment adequate for their tees.

  And what about new players? It appears that advancement opportunities to higher tier levels will be severely limited given the disparity between the time required to achieve the lower tiers and the time required to unlock the equipment needed to advance further. Would I have stuck around if I had made Pro in a few weeks and then still needed to play dozens of rounds to get to level 57 and unlock the Rapture V2 9.5 degree driver? And would I have still stuck around if I then made Master and spent dozens of more rounds not reaching fairways until I was able to unlock adequate equipment?

  WGT, I believe you're going to need to drastically reduce the levels required to unlock equipment. The levels you have selected make it harder to purchase advanced equipment than the tier based unlocking you previously had. This frustrates players and delays equipment purchases - and these are both bad for business.

• GGLG2010 22 Posts

  Sat, Sep 4 2010 7:20 AM

  Excellent observations, hbthree. 

• torch2k 18 Posts

  Sat, Sep 4 2010 11:51 AM

  I can attest to the difficulty presented by the new tiers, mostly because it more or less passed me by.  And honestly, I've never been happier to miss a cut in my life.

  Your observation about current locks is most insightful.  At my current level, I'd be MILES away from purchasing the clubs I have in my bag -- my driver/FW wood are locked until L57, my irons until L58, and my putter until L71!  (What's up with that?).  Only my wedges are 'close' at L49/50.  Frankly, I'd be pretty hosed if I was in the Pro tier without such good stuff.  That's why I waited until I made Pro, then immediately bought it.  (BTW, I'd also be upset if I had to purchase it RIGHT NOW, before it gets locked up again on the 10th!!)

  Add to that the fact that the levels aren't evenly spaced.  From L20 to L21 took 415 EXP, from L25 to L26 is 750, and I understand that in the 30's, more than 1500 EXP is required to advance.  In other words, what took me 2-1/2 rounds to achieve before will take me 10 rounds before too long.  I cringe when I imagine what the level spacing will be like in the 70's and 80's.  I think your 100+ round estimate is more than a little low.

  I plan to hang around Pro for some time to come -- certainly until I have access to the clubs I want to have for Master.  Since I was leaning toward i15s across the board, that means well into the 80's, level-wise.  I certainly don't intend to compromise and just buy whatever becomes available at each tier, hoping for some incremental benefit.

  I'd have preferred to make the move up when *I* thought I was ready, but this new system has made up my mind for me.  For now, I'm keeping a really close eye on my average.  No unlimited plays on KIA or STA, and lots of ranked rounds on BPB and especially OAK, which is challenging enough as is, without longer tees and inadequate tools.