fourdude:
In an effort to continue to make WGT a realistic golf experience, we’ve made some changes to how balls perform when they’re hit from different lies in the rough.
I my experience with WGT, when they say more realistic, they really mean more inconsistent, which means more strokes so the balls sell faster! Tinker with stuff that doesn't need tinkering and forget about the bugs that need to be fixed!
Amen to this... inconsistency = realistic to the good folks at WGT.
I am a 5 handicap in the real game, and I believe that most who actually play golf will agree: My game is nowhere near as erratic or inconsistent as it is in this land of pixels and money here. Hell, just use the "WTF" meter and consider your last round.
As WGT players, the only feedback we get from a shot is the actual result of the dialed up swing -- wind, power, spin and ding. In the real game, I a stand on a tee, feel the wind, align my self accordingly, take a couple practice swings and receive feedback from the club as I swing. Sure we all hit bad shots -- but I usually know they are going to be bad, my own individual swing mechanics provide that feedback as I hit my shot. In WGT swing mechanics = wind, power, spin, and ding. Set those right and you should have a good shot.
Draw... fade? What's that in WGT? These are routine shots in the real game.
If the wind is at 10 mph, it should be 10 mph, not some random variable *possibly* affecting ball flight by x or y, long, short or sideways. A dinged shot (which I compare realistically to a properly aligned shot with excellent ball contact) should not ignore that alignment (aim) and leave the club headed for the flagstick to be murdered by said wind, it should actually leave the club towards where it has been aligned (aimed). A properly aligned and well struck ball, with the correct club, will rarely produce a WTF shot in the real game, at least it hasn't very often for me in the 30 years I've been playing.
Whoever is designing bunker mechanics here at WGT clearly has never played out of one -- either fairway or greenside.
Whoever decided that some (Cleves) wedges should sometimes backspin across a green 15 - 20 yards has clearly never hit one. ALL wedges spin, none of them that ridiculously, and none grab and bite on a dime from rough.
If the new rough plays consistently, then kudos, but if it is just more randomly inconsistent crap that flicks on and off at will, well then shame on WGT.
And VEM... really -- this is someone's idea of realism? IRL my clubs do not suddenly decide "hey Oopsie, you've been playing well lately, I'm gonna ratchet down that sweet spot and screw with your game buddy. Game on!" or "hey Oopsie, wow you suck! think you can hit the ball if I make the entire club a sweet spot?" My equipment is reliable and performs consistently. I play mizuno mp-69 blades at the moment, but have played blades for years -- despite them being a little beyond my handicap -- because I like the feedback and consistency I get from them. They let me know when my swing is off or something is wrong, and reward me accordingly when it is all good.
I don't have to swing them harder or faster than any other club to get a good shot out of them. I swing them just the same as I would a Callaway cavity back "please make my game better" iron. Why do the TM irons in WGT require a laser sight and ninja finger to even get close to dinging? Thats stupid.
In WGT land -- adding random inconsistency (beyond one's ability to ding) does NOT make the game more realistic, it makes it more frustrating because as players we have only 4 variables to consider: wind, power, spin, and ding. If those are set and the shot dinged, the game should behave accordingly. Golf is not some magical wonderland of miracles and wild inconsistencies, for even average players, and WGT should not be either.
Theres not very much realism in WGT at all to be really honest -- while the courses look great -- the wind doesn't blow anything (but the flag if i turn that on), the ocean doesn't move, and hey when was the last time ya saw a squirrel? Or a bird? And why do the same 4 disinterested people clap for my birdie at every single hole? Have ya ever seen someone birdie 16 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in the bird's nest in person. Holy crap!
/rant off