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Ball Durability

• PRStevenson 842 Posts

  Fri, Jan 3 2014 12:08 PM

  Could you change the ball durability so that when players get use up the ball it lasts until the end of the game.

  It's a bit annoying and inconvenient when your ball gets taken out of play at the beginning or middle of a game and in most golf tournaments you can't change your ball during play. So it seems the easiest option would be to let players use that ball till the end of a game.

  It doesn't have any impact on ball sales as players don't just stop playing when their ball is taken out of play, go to the pro shop and buy a set of balls which can't be equipped anyway while their game is in progress.

  Alternatively it could be based on number of games instead of lasting a number of hits.

  Obviously there's less hits in a C-T-T-H/Blitz game, so in these games the durability could be measured perhaps at a ratio of 3:1 or 4:1 of stroke games.

  The little ball hit meter could be scrapped in favour of a counter that tells you how many 18 hole games you have left (double for 9) for example:

  3:1 - 15-5 games left

  4:1 - 20-5 games left

  WGT could work out the figures in their way so they don't lose sales revenue.

• lonniescott711 4,208 Posts

  Fri, Jan 3 2014 12:55 PM

  It would be easier , to  make sure that you have enough balls in your bag to begin with . The game not only tells you that you are on your last ball , but also gives you the option to purchase more balls , before you start play . So if you run out of balls , its no ones fault but your own ,as you are without excuse.

• PRStevenson 842 Posts

  Sat, Jan 4 2014 3:58 AM

  lonniescott711:

  It would be easier , to  make sure that you have enough balls in your bag to begin with . The game not only tells you that you are on your last ball , but also gives you the option to purchase more balls , before you start play . So if you run out of balls , its no ones fault but your own ,as you are without excuse.

  I think your missing the point. Excuses have nothing to do with it, this is about trying to improve the game. The whole idea of taking balls out of play and putting other balls into play during a game seems a bit pointless. I know this is only a virtual game but it should at least try to to follow the practices of real golf. It doesn't benefit WGT or players to have it like this.

  I thought by default if you run out of a ball halfway through a game and the ball is 'taken out of play' it switches you back to the WGT starter ball whether you have other balls available of not, which puts you at a disadvantage....or have they changed that now?

   

• mbcarp99 1,078 Posts

  Sat, Jan 4 2014 4:13 AM

  PRStevenson:

  I think your missing the point. Excuses have nothing to do with it, this is about trying to improve the game. The whole idea of taking balls out of play and putting other balls into play during a game seems a bit pointless. I know this is only a virtual game but it should at least try to to follow the practices of real golf. It doesn't benefit WGT or players to have it like this.

  I thought by default if you run out of a ball halfway through a game and the ball is 'taken out of play' it switches you back to the WGT starter ball whether you have other balls available of not, which puts you at a disadvantage....or have they changed that now?

  I don't think they have changed that no, i agree, if i am playing real golf and i lose the 3 brand new Nike's or Callaways i have just bought, i reach in my bag for the next best ball, not the worst ball i have in my bag, although some may say if i have lost the 3 brand new ones i have just bought i am probably better off using the crap balls

• srellim234 2,077 Posts

  Sat, Jan 4 2014 8:10 AM

  mbcarp - I agree with you if you legitimately lose the 3 Nike's or Callaway's. I think what WGT is doing is adding just another bit of protection to legitimate lower tiered players from getting ripped off from scammers in credit games. The player who would take advantage of others by starting a game with a WGT low-level ball with a few remaining hits on it and switch to a Nike on the second hole, throwing darts the rest of the way.

  I'd love to see the ability to select a different ball in practice mode multiplayer games as it would mimic real-life golf games. I'd even like to see the ability to switch balls at will in single player practice as we could use the mulligan feature to see how different balls react in the same situation and then make our decisions on what ball to play in future games on certain courses. As well as make it a little easier to use up the odds and ends in the bag.

  As for tournaments and contests involving credits/prizes? The current system is actually a reasonable merge of the "one ball" directive,letting the player at least finish the round instead of disqualifying him.

• mbcarp99 1,078 Posts

  Sat, Jan 4 2014 9:58 AM

  srellim234:

  mbcarp - I agree with you if you legitimately lose the 3 Nike's or Callaway's. I think what WGT is doing is adding just another bit of protection to legitimate lower tiered players from getting ripped off from scammers in credit games. The player who would take advantage of others by starting a game with a WGT low-level ball with a few remaining hits on it and switch to a Nike on the second hole, throwing darts the rest of the way.

  While i appreciate the point you are making i am not convinced that is the reason WGT do ths, not sure if this was how the game was set up at the beginning because i wasn't here then but i don't believe they would have considered your 'scammers' theory back then. I think the reason they do it is so you buy a new sleeve instead of being able to use up the odds and sods in your inventory

  i Can't say that it unduly bothers me but if WGT are trying to make the game as realistic as possible imo this would mean being able to choose whichever ball from your bag you wished   

• srellim234 2,077 Posts

  Sat, Jan 4 2014 11:10 AM

  I don't think that was the reasoning back then either but I believe it factors into their thinking now. I've been here since those early days; I think a lot of what happened then was more "fly by the seat of your pants" development. The current rule was probably put in to drive ball sales to increase revenue. Either that or someone at WGT saw the "one ball" directive being implemented in PGA tournaments and thought it would be proper or "cool" in this game.

  We'll never know since WGT is unwilling to have any meaningful dialogues with its customers.

• alanti 10,564 Posts

  Sat, Jan 4 2014 1:35 PM

  Basically WGT has adpoted the one ball rule that is used in virtually every professional tournament and even the  majority  of amateur tournaments. Even the Courses are set up as per the Major Championships.

  Love  it or hate it, it  will  not change and this has been stated by WGT in the past.

  This has been the same  rules  since I joined and we know the rules, run out of the balls you started with and it reverts to the starters (and after all, we are given the  choice  to buy more). 

  But then people start  whining  if this happens, well IMO perhaps WGT should truly adopt the "one ball rule" and instantly disqualify the player.

  The OP's  valid  point is we should see how many hits are left, not just a meter showing the approximate life left.

  At the very least we should ably to have the ability to change the ball BEFORE we tee off (as we do see the ball life meter before we actually hit the first tee). How many times have we arrived on the first tee in an A/S game to see the ball you are using is on red - and it may not be a ball you want to buy more of - or you forgot to change from the starters ball you used practicing), umm oops sorry p lol

  IMO the current system is fair, and the same for everyone. Yes the meter could be tweaked and I would like to see ball life before we tee off (and have the ability to change before we  initially  tee off) but if we then screw up, we are accountable and should consider  ourselves  lucky to be able to continue.

• CerinoDevoti 3,232 Posts

  Sat, Jan 4 2014 4:59 PM

  WGT views all ranked rounds including Tournaments as official games. If you were playing at your local club and was in the middle of a game where you were intending to submit your card for official handicap, you'd have to use the exact same type ball throughout the game or not turn in your card. WGT has a similar rule because the stats  from these games are recorded as official and count toward our averages.  The correct thing for them to do is DQ a player from a Tourney who runs out of the same ball they started with or just end any ranked stroke play game when we run out of balls. Instead and to make the game more fun, they allow us to finish and still make it official by finishing with the starter ball.

  So if you really would like WGT to " follow the practices of real golf", you'd be DQ'd from any Tourney and would have a ranked round end on the spot without the chance to finish.

  Now, I totally agree with the idea of using whatever ball we want at any time during practice rounds.They're not official games so it's like playing with some buddies at the local where the Rules of Golf are only enforced as we see fit if at all.

• mbcarp99 1,078 Posts

  Sat, Jan 4 2014 6:32 PM

  hey guys i stand corrected, i did a bit of googling and what you are saying is correct, you have to use the same make of ball for the whole round, i didn't know that. i always thought you could change balls between holes. I'm not sure they enforced it at most of the clubs ive played at otherwise i'd have been DQ'd from most games i played