The VEM model works across the entire game, it's running all the time, it runs equally on whichever assets it's assigned to 'deal with' in the game. The way it was developed allows it to assign profiles to assets, run harder against balls vs clubs. Can it run against ball makes? That I think would be a nightmare.
Can it be targeted to affect just your clubs or balls? I doubt that. I wondered about it creating 'player profiles', which would make sense to me; that it could do that, but I would think the logistics of implementing it on a day to day basis would be huge. Assigning each player their own profile.
It does not however, affect each player the same, it couldn't and certainly shouldn't. That's not what it was designed for, if you read the tech data sheets on it. It reacts and adjusts your game environment based on how you play, things you do. If you've been shooting at a 64 average for 4 months and then all of a sudden start firing off rounds of 28/29 consistently you'd better believe, and be ready for a change once it adjusts - And it will.
Do the top players play within the same 'profile' as you? I would think not, I think that's pretty evident. Do they possess 'super golf playing skills?' No, not likely. This game does have it's level of accuracy, it is not however a golf simulator, it's a video game and like all video games once you figure it out you'll play at a higher level. God, if you play other video games on-line in competitive clan systems you'll know all this. Players get better, learn how to do things within a game and then kick your ass.
Not sure if anyone here plays Urban Terror, but you see it all time, players becoming better, more skilled and there are players who are just plain crazy at it.
This is all discounting cheats of course - they exist and there are players using them, that's pretty evident as well. Just not addressing that here, really I don't care.
I do think that there are issues with the deviation models they run and how that affects VEM, I think, and it seems perfectly logical that at times they'll fight against each other. Increasing the level of forgiveness on a certain set of clubs is going to affect how VEM works with that set. It's software and as anyone who's ever programmed anything knows, sometimes you input too high a value to adjust sensitivity a bit on a touch screen and it goes way over the top. I'm sure that happens with these systems here.
Something is off with the game, well it sure seems that way, as far as deviation on shots. I've been playing pretty steady over the past month, shooting much lower than I had before, putting in much lower scores to work average down. For no apparent reason over the weekend my drives started flying into rough and water if I was even the slightest amount off the ding. Is it the club? Is it VEM adjusting to 'my new level' of playing? Did they drop the forgiveness of the 85 Nike driver? I don't know. I do know it's happening and I'll see if it evens out. Certainly hope it does.
It happened last time I started lower my average as well, when it got close to 60, perhaps that's a threshold which is set now.
I will say one thing, and it's pretty logical as well. The 'older' TL's, players who are L110+ who've been around for 4 years or more don't really have a sense of what it's like to come in and advance now. This game isn't the same as it was back then, and there certainly wasn't the adjusting and interfered with player environments that are run now. That is very evident if you talk with players of that level and again, it makes sense. WGT have evolved and changed the way the game plays. It's not a complaint or whining about anything, it's just a simple fact - those players attained Tour Legend status under much different playing conditions and if, as someone theorized - There are skill based levels that can become 'maxed out' then it would stand to reason these players are certainly not playing with the same interference as a new TL is today who's skill levels aren't as high. I mean I think that's a good thing, as long as it's allowed to progress fairly.
In saying that, it's up to each player to become good enough to hit those 'max' levels and get on the same playing field as the top 2%. If you can... :)
Whatever...... I can shoot 28's again and that makes me happy, don't care how or why. :-)