Wutpa:"a gimmick golf platform"
This was primarily aimed at the mobile platform, which I downloaded and promptly deleted. It looks and plays like cartoon golf......coins, rooms and shortened versions.
And since the launch of this platform, the PC version has stagnated and lets face it, this is probably the platform of the future, especially for the younger generation who seem to like the twee features.
Do not get me wrong, all in all, this is still an excellent game, and WGT has always focused on gimmicks (perhaps an indication most of the team are gamers rather than golfers hence the valentines, champagne balls etc).
But every update the game grows from being realistic....meowing cat balls, shot data, putt previews, slow meter boosts, golden putters and passes, commentary sounds (again wtf is a garden spot), ambient and environmental sounds etc.
Yes, many of these have been around before TG took over, but there has been no clear direction, nor anyone from TG or WGT step in stating the vision for the game.
The junior marketing and programming team seem to have no reins, and have poetic licence to release junk and continue to become Super Mario on a golf course (I am still amazed buggy's have not been introduced after the useless golf bags)
Clubs continue to get better.....so much so the VUSO qualifying score will be 55 or less....there were only 3 or 4 players under par in the first VUSO......
These days a top driver is nearly a guarantee you will find a fairway, even if it was 20 feet wide, an approach with a wedge is a poor shot if you are 5 feet away......
Mostly it is revenue driven....or greed (depends on the perspective) but there is a fine line between being realistic and being gimmicky.
The mobile platform is useful for short games but is like golf of a Game Boy - cartoon like in everything bar the photorealism.......on PC, they are continuing down that path.