Pondering ATGIII - I need a shrink.

[FletchGriswold]

Ok, this has been bugging me for the last couple of nights. I'm having a hard time refraining from dropping some dough towards a new ATG III team. MY pro's and con's are as follows:

PRO'S:

1. Ability to play 1961-1990 players. That sounds nice. No ancient old timers who I've never heard of, leading the league in stats.

2. Fresh new teams from the 70's & 80's. :D

3. It's something new.


CON'S:

1. It's another $24.99 out of my pocket (like I haven't spent enough already on this site!)

2. No Mystery Card. :( Single season strat, even though the new ATG III includes some awesome 70's and 80's players, is SO BORING. Sure, the draft will be somewhat excited, and shuffling your roster for the first couple of days will be fun. And yeah, checking the results for the first week will be sort of cool......but after that, it just bores me to death. That's when the "Buyers Remorse" will kick in. I'll say, "Why did I blow another $25 bucks on that stupid thing - I should have just bought another BTT80's team! :cry:

3. Too many Single Season Strat sharks out there. The Mystery Card brings everyone closer to the same level.

I think I'm just craving a revamped BTT80's game. I feel much better, now that I figured out my problem. :D


I think I'll save my $25.

[Jimmy_C]

Well said Fletch...I went to join Hak's ATGIII league a a handful of times and then I went through the same thought cycle each time.

[durantjerry]

I have played every game that has been put out except Fantasim. They all have their pluses and minuses. Sometimes trying to get a player to perform the way you think is mystery enough even without the mystery card. You might want to try building a team in an extreme park that requires more managing throughout the season. It can give you a small edge and keeps you into it. There are some real sharks over there though, with their excel spreadsheets, diamond dope, etc. Now would be the best time to jump in though, with the new players The non-mystery card can be a breath of fresh air in itself when you see guys drop Burleson after three games, which just happened in 2nd round of my March Madness Tourney. BTW, I picked him up and he had a good season.

[Jablowmi]

I think all 80s players should play ATG or one of the 200x at least one or two times b/c I think it provides valuable information. For one, there is no mystery and yet you see, sometimes, large fluctuations in player performance. Some is tied to the parks, but most is tied to the dice. I think it teaches patience.

I have 2 ATG II teams and will have 3 ATG III teams running shortly. Love the old guys.

[honestiago1]

The element of the unknown makes drafting, playing, trading and shuffling much more interesting. ID'ed players are gold (or lead, depending on what ya got). You have to pay attention to your teams more, and you rarely have the feeling you're out of and just can't turn it around (that's the big thing for me, that I can drop players and snag better ones, albeit it's always a gamble). The 80s game is simply better all around, and certain elements of it should be adopted by the other leagues (an all-time league with mystery cards would be nice -- imagine gambling on the Babe and getting a later, dud year).

[Free Radicals]

I play bbt80's one team at a time and its the 1st game I played here at TSN . Then I moved over to ATG BECAUSE you knew what you were getting from the cards ....no mystery . I play '69 and 2006 also but ATG is my home territory . The new game has so many plauers , you can't miss for putting together a decent team . Of course that doesn't mean your going to win either

My advice ? Plunk the money down for one team . Do as I do by having my main game and still dabbling in the others . Variety is the spice of life , or so I'm told . :D

[BC Manager]

I used to be an avid 200x player and I was the brains behind many theme leagues in that format. About a year and a half ago I started playing BTT80s. Now I can't be bothered playing anything else. I played one game of 1969 and became bored before the middle of the season (though my team was in contention). I've played one 2006 game to keep a long standing keeper league going, and I don't even bother checking the scores most days.

I likely won't play 2007 at all when it comes out and I have no interest in ATG III.

From my experience, once you've had the mystery card experience, there's no turning back. But not everyone feels that way.

[ArrylT]

That is why it is nice that TSN has kept so many options ... some people like ATG, some 200x and some BTT80s ... and many of them cannot comprehend why anyone would like the other products. ;)

[jsam9801]

I am going to give it a shot because there are a few players that I want to try out (Maris should be fun!).

I tried the 2005 and ATG II versions, only to be turned away due to boredom (plus, I had my rear-end kicked in the 2005 version). I like the mystery card variable. Lately, more than ever, certain cards have played like dog cards, only to rebound in the 2nd half (really be good years). Go figure!

Great group of players in BTT80's, too. This group is a dedicated bunch who plays competitvely, yet with class. I did not share such an experience in the other leagues.

I will let everyone know how it goes.

js :D

[hechojazz]

I was tempted into playing one of the 200x games about a year and a half ago I think it was - a one week free teaser offer. I'd never played the board game, though I had been curious about it over the years. I enjoyed it, and bought my first full season. I think I played three or four consecutive 200x seasons (one at a time), making the playoffs each time except one (no championships). Then on a lark I thought I'd see what the mystery card was all about. I can't imagine going back. Hopefully TSN will develop other chronologically determined mystery card games based on BTT80s - I'd play those. But since I never have more than one team going at a time (I know, strange in these parts), I much prefer it that my urge to obsess and tinker is actually justified in this version of Strat. And I'm not an excell spreadsheet type, and don't want the game to be reduced to the numbers to such an extent. The randomness of this game is much more "realistic", not knowing going in how good a year your guys are really going to have until the year develops. This is fun!!