mkg335:
Saturation at only 200 ranked rounds has already made the whole thing pretty silly.
Havin read this thread in search of players comments that may have already expressed my own growing sentiments, my apologies in advance if I have missed anyone's that make my own duplicative.
I am at the stage of playing this game--- likely that many of you have been there/here, in which the more that I play, the less that I feel like what I hit is what I get. I feel like what I hit, and the result that I get are what the VEM has calculated that will challenge me, So I stopped patting myself on the back for birdies and eagles a long time ago when I stopped beating myself up for failing to achieve desired results. From my perspective, ever since I reached level 100, and more so noticed after level 103, VEM most often puts my ball in the place that will be most challenging for me to hit from, more times than it puts my ball where I expected to land.
Although it is not my point that my perspective is correct, but to point out how tedius the game has become for me when every shot that I have to make requires high level decision making. I keep logs of my shots and the results, so that I can support some level of objective observation. It is not just my imagination. And yes, I have read the patent. The alleged goal of the game is entertainment.
So part of my point is that observation reveals that VEM has the ability and apparently puts our ball in places of increasing difficulty and challenge (for entertainment sake). VEM apperently knows our weak shots and puts our ball in those places where our weakest skills have to be exercised. It appears to me that after we demonstrated repetitive ability to surmount and master a skills challenge from the VEM, we seldom have much effort at that particular shot, and sometimes never see that particular shot again.
The more obvious display of this is in putting. I missed a few short banana putts and subsequently had a run of the same putts for several weeks until the VEM was convinced that the putt is not longer a challenge for me, and now I seldom get that shot setup anymore! lol... and so it has been a long time since I have gotten one of those putts.
Whether any of what I have expressed is reality or merely my subjective experience, is also not my point. My point is that this kind of programming in the VEM is tiring and moreover becoming annoying, as well as almost predictable, and growing unfun. Instead of enjoying the game more, the number if times that I think about giving it up grows exponentially, weekly.
What all this has to do with this thread has to do with timeing, the installation of new tiers, the programms we call Chambers Bay and Pebble Beach; the newest clubs, putters and drivers; and latest balls. These newer programs were developed upon criteria that did not exist earlier than last year, as well as upon newer technology, and the growing imaginations of the programmers, and lets not forget the changing financial needs of the WGT.
The conclusion for me has been that there is a lot to be desired from an absence of imagination in the player satisfaction and enjoyment department of the WGT think tank. "Impoverished" is probably a suitable adjective for the WGT imagination that controls the player=-satisfaction department, while "abundant (though lacking creativity)" is probably a suitable adjective describing the WGT imagination that controls the profit .department. For example, I am unable to "Gift" another player the green fees to join me in a round on Cabo or Whistler. Comping/gifting green fees for immediate or future use should not be any more difficult to program than CC Passes.
As for tiering up, there may have been some benefits for players if the had created new qualification criteria along with the newer tiers. I have no incentive to move up the tiers, and never have had. To me there is no benefit, and only negative consequences on my time and wallet. Moreover, I am demotivated to play with anyone in a tier who plays greens slower than Tournament Speed, unless of course they assure me they are ok with faster greens,
When I reach Tour Legend, the only people who stand a chance to prevail in a game against me are people who can play champion speed greens, which will eliminate more than half of my friends list.
The criteria for "champion" could have included a demonstrated ability to play on any green speed. That way players would grow to respect the champion tier when they loose a game at their own green speed. It could have been a requirement for prospective champion candidates to demonstrate a couple of hundred games of competence at each green speed, AND demonstrated competence from a variety of Tee distances. But too bad, instead we get the same old-same-old criteria that only appeals to status seekers and tier climbers. Worse is how unfun those players are... always cursing wgt for their bad shots while only finishing games they score well at. Of the 10 million registered users, very few enjoy playing with the tier-climbing personalities, as they generally spread their unpleasant egos a bit wide,
Ideally the reward for increased skills is promotion, but unfortunately there are a lot of characters who are unable to increase skills while still desiring promotion, and so we have the kind of tier-struggles the game offers, which do not seem to have any consequences for wgt other than people getting irritated and quitting faster than they can raise money to advertise for new players.
Few players know the funny secret that a player does not have to work and struggle to tier up to Tour Legend. I haven't. The VEM tiered me up, demonstrating that it benefits more by promoting me than I did. Currently in the Legend Tier, I will be promoted to Tour Legend absent of any effort on my part to be promoted, AND, against all my efforts to remain Legend and avoid tiering up until my skills increase. The fact is that my "average" is in the high 60's, maybe 69 or 70. But because I am "saturated", every 20 or thirty games I get a very low score and my average goes down. This is very embarrassing when playing against or with people who expect good performance because they see my 60.nn average. Combine that with the fact the lately the VEM seems to give me the hardest shots, well there you have what demotivates me more every day.
It would have been very easy for WGT to program the Champion Tier to only accept players who qualify by scores derived from single-play tournaments, or perhaps demonstrate their skills by completing a series of skills challenges, including a demonstration of ability to putt on any green speed. But absent of imagination and focus on player "entertainment" understandably such thoughts failed to be considered. Consequently, for me, such thoughts of Tiering up from legend fail to entice or motivate, as I see nothing but consequences, and little in benefits.