The Problem w/Strat

[Simon31]

[quote:b17b5af6fa]but also remember that it is still a dice game. [/quote:b17b5af6fa]
And those of us that remember playing the board game also know you can get on runs where you just plain roll lousy die! Thus the "underperforming" angle. My buddies and I once played an entire SOM Football League, 12 teams, 16 games. It ended up my Miami Dolphins '72 against his Pittsburgh '75 team in our Superbowl. (For the big jar of quarters we put in for every game played!) I led the entire game. On the last play of the game we looked to see what he needed to roll to pull off a win. Up 4 points and him on his own 19 yard line, he needed to hit "reciever" on the defenders card, then a "long gain" on his recievers card, and finally a "2" or "12" (automatic TD) on the die to win. Three separate rolls! Which I'm sorry to say he did in fact pull off!! That game started my trademark rant "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!" for years of SOM play to come. Actually.....I still say that here! :lol: Boy I miss the board game sometimes!

[nevdully's]

David,

Strat Football Head-to-Head with the cards and board and dice......My*favorite* thing I've ever done.

[geekor]

Simple, I said I don't know the "exact" number. The way it was said (once in email, once a long time ago on the boards by ESB himself) was, " a little more than $5." Now we know he probably fudge a little, so I'm assuming 6-7 per person per league, it could be 5.50 for all I know. Now if they drop that $5, they will have a very very very small profit off the game, and business is there to make $$ not lose it. It has been said many many many many times that strat barely breaks even overall (counting server, usuage, development, etc). If it gets lowered, why would they do something that loses them $$. Go play other games similar to this online, they are usually 40-50 dollars. And you complain about this price?? And technically (though it's not cash), they give away $75 worth of prizes in EVERY league.

You forget that the fantasygames side of TSN isn't that big. They have more than just strat to work on as well. Strat is a fun diversion they enjoy and don't want to lose, but it is not a big $$ gainer for them (ala football).

btw, even in it's bug filled form, I really miss strat football on here. Me and a few guys were playing it till the end, RIP.

[PJ Axelsson]

Palanion makes a good point.

While this may make Penn pause to quiver and convulse, there is more to winning than knowing the numbers by park. I cannot make an argument that there is more to this game than numbers, the game is all about numbers, but I have yet to see anyone put up the formula that guarantees a winner (even though Munich Man and OT have come close, and Nev has it even though he doesn't know what it is :wink: ). You can maximize your team to win given all the available variables, but you still have your HAL, the other guy's HAL, and the other guys team and strategy. You cannot react to that, you just have to point your guys in the right direction and push...then wake up the next day and see how your troops did in battle.

Having gotten off topic, I think Strat might be well served to offer introductory packages. Have a deal where a beginner could get three teams for a low price and be assured that they would be put into a league with other beginners. Once those three teams have been played out, they would graduate to the bigger pool of managers. The only potential problem I see here is filling the leagues. My solution would be to auto-fill any league by a set time with artificial managers. TSN has an engine that auto picks teams based on strategy, just use that and let HAL manage those teams in order to keep leagues filling. Beginners could get a taste of the game in a timely fashion. They would miss out on some banter from the message boards, but they could be directed to a special thread for beginners on the boards, a thread that TSN guys and perhaps gracious vets could monitor and help out the "newbies".



Regarding the cost, few things in life offer as much fun and entertainment value as a full season of strat for $25. I can't even see the Red Sox play one game for that.

[nevdully's]

I think those ideas are right on the money and should be offered to Bernie and Larry. :D

[JohnnyBlazers]

I think that setting up a league of all new guys is fools gold. Are you really getting better at the game by winning against similar competition?
IMHO, the only way to get better at anything is to go up against tougher competition. (Like in HS, the only way the JV guys will ever get better is by practicing against the varsity guys) I'm on my second ATG team and I'm in first so far. My first team was a last place team and I couldn;t understand why-after all I win fantasy baseball leagues with regularity :lol: Why lower standards? So I decided to learn more about the game (and there is a lot to learn) so I check the boards, read the cards, analyze matchups, etc. I think I'm getting better and the only reason that I did some homework is because I don;t like getting my ass kicked for $25 dollars. Point being if I were in a "newbie" league, I might have fared better and not really bothered to learn the intricacies of the game.

[PJ Axelsson]

The reason is that enough players complain about being swamped by sharks, vets, and weasels during their introduction to web-STRAT. This would simply be an option, and would be a hook to get people introduced and addicted at a reasonable rate, sort of like giving you HBO for three free months.

Anyone who feels above a novice league can surely hop in to the normal leagues.

What I don't understand is why no PR and why no advertising anywhere? Is strat simply a word of mouth thing that you miss unless your buddy plays or you stumble upon it in some obscure fantasy baseball site or through the maze that Sporting News provides to navigate to it or when you finally want to find out what Doug Glanville is talking about in his once a year interviews?

[Valen]

[quote:e398ee491f]Are you really getting better at the game by winning against similar competition?[/quote:e398ee491f]
The point of a beginners league anywhere is not for you to become an expert but to keep from getting killed right off the bat destroying the interest of most. Get your feet wet with others of relatively equal skill/experience level. Most have suggested a max number of leagues experience before you have to go up against the heavy hitters and then you begin learning from competing against the best.

Reminds me of my favorite game to play which is Pente. I have only found 1 person in my life interested in playing. And we both learned the game at the same time. But ever since then I show people the game and the rules. Then I proceed to either beat them 20 straight times. Sometimes I will try to lose some to keep them from being disouraged but they realize I am no longer trying and get insulted.

I am betting there are a lot of people who drop in, get slaughtered with a couple 100+ loss seasons at the hands of people how have played hundreds of teams and they give up. They need a place to get just enough experience that they can see how much fun it can be and learn enough to at least hold a candle to some of the nevs and penns.

[MICHAELEVANS]

Nice arguments, Valen, and I agree with you for the most part, but really,

[quote:1f265427bd]They need a place to get just enough experience that they can see how much fun it can be and learn enough to at least hold a candle to some of the nevs and penns[/quote:1f265427bd]

Most of the greats in here still can't hold a candle to the nevs and penns! :lol: :wink:

[RONALDDOBBS]

Then you have guys like Goldwater that play for the "Love of the Game. I don`t think it should be watered down. Hell, MLB has done that. Get some more PR. We need more Goldwaters and Geezers. We have a bunch in here that play for the "Love of the Game." Don`t think they chat too much. I like it just the way it is. I have never asked for help. No reason. Kinda like to play this like I played life. Personal responsibility. If I win, great. If I lose, I lost but am not a loser. Love this game.