POLL: SHOULD STRAT PROVIDE A COMPREHENSIVE MANUAL?

Can we get this stickied, please? Seems to be quite a bit of support so far. Also, is there any way to get Strat's attention on this?

Send an email to 365support.
Info/Help tab then Contact Us menu item.

This is a good example of where we can go off the rails with assumptions based on perceptions and confirmation biases.
"Seems like quite a bit of support"
How? 28 of 41 players responded in the affirmative to this thread. How many total players are there? Heck there are nearly 200 regular players just in the Barnstormers alone. How many looked at the thread? How many just rolled their eyes? You can be sure if someone wants this badly they would respond in the affirmative. But if not? They are just as likely to avoid answering at all as they are to saying "No".

How is that communicating anything to Strat? Heck there is a guy who constantly posts bright ideas in the ATG forum for things that "need to be changed" and he doesn't even play ATG! Geez. Send an email to 365support and make your case. Sticky note forum posts won't and shouldn't have such an effect.

Just a word to the wise--this squeaky wheel approach is how we got BPv3 and RP repricing.

I don't think MtheB has conflated the results to mean anything more than what he stated--it seemed like a genuine curiosity.
The next step would be a true look at the requirements--the facts, what the paying customers may want, etc.

I don't know if folks realize how small the company is. I used to pass by it as I didn't live far. We are talking a small business.
And honestly, yes the price seems high. But then again I have not paid for a credit since late 2020 even while playing regularly. And I even gave 4 away this year.
So I don't know, no disrespect. It seems like a leap to go from an informal poll on a forum that maybe 25% of players even pay attention to, in order to say "the community has spoken."

Clearly, I think there has been a significant amount of votes. Is it a huge amount? No, but I am honestly not seeing that many different people posting here and there is very little activity in this forum in general. Despite that, the point of sticking the thread is visibility. This thread will otherwise be buried and forgotten in a week or two, rendering its intent moot. You suggested emailing them, I have tried and they didn't respond. I've seen others claim the same. Are you suggesting I don't play ATG? I do play. You can come and join my league right now

As for the price, I think it is far too high for 2022. People mostly play games for free these days and companies succeed by using different business models, they also tend to actually have some kind of customer service, quite frankly. You say the company is small but I believe a large part of that is that they're not running a great operation. The game is great, but to constantly ignore customers is a recipe for failure. The prices are too high. There is way too much confusion and debate about what the rules are, what is turned on and off, etc. The obvious solution would be to take steps to dispel these concerns instead of just saying "No, it's not true." Making the rules 100% transparent is the logical first step. There is basically no good reason not to do this.

"Just a word to the wise--this squeaky wheel approach is how we got BPv3 and RP repricing." Please elaborate on this. Are you suggesting I stop making threads or stick to emails? I just want to see this game succeed. It's a GREAT game. Leagues should be filling up fast but let's face it, we're in a recession and the operational costs of the game are seemingly unchanged. The game is less affordable than before, has no real advertising, most people have never heard of it. I am very confident if Strat stepped their game up in a few key areas we would see a ton more activity. Leagues are taking forever to start. Just 12 team leagues. The price to play should realistically either be about $5 per team OR $0 with some kind of incentive to contribute, such as an active Patreon, premium membership, etc.

Are you suggesting I don't play ATG? I do play. You can come and join my league right now

"Just a word to the wise--this squeaky wheel approach is how we got BPv3 and RP repricing." Please elaborate on this. Are you suggesting I stop making threads or stick to emails?

On the first item, no it was no one on this thread. Just an occasional forager that many here probably know. I am almost on my second hiatus in almost 20 years here, so I will respectfully decline as I play a couple more credits--nothing against you.

On the second, there is much about this issue in other exasperatingly long threads that are not worth revisiting in greater detail. Suffice to say..."Super Relievers are a problem! They are Unfair!" Then we get BPv3 and new pricing that "fixed" one game feature and created another.

Any perceived inequities--whether it is so-called transparency, or rulesets, or whatever--apply to everyone equally.

I guess what gets tiring is the community is superb in trying to help each other. Yet in some cases that is never enough and there is a desire for a reading from a "secret" rulebook that always works...which of course is an oxymoron.

The Wiki is almost 100% accurate. Not quite, but close enough. It could be improved.

But the game mechanics are literally the game--lookup tables, cards, etc. Still, sometimes the complaints are from folks who cannot even read a card or understand the difference between a gbA and gbB even though it is all publicly available data. That is ok before understanding the game mechanics, and getting honest answers to questions. But when asking the same question repeatedly and ignoring the responses because they are not what was desired? That is different.

And we all ask questions. There are exceedingly successful managers here for decades who ask questions. I am not one of those, but If I ask why a result occurred, and someone has a plausible explanation that I cannot refute, I accept it and say thank you. I don't then refuse the answer, alter the question, and start down another path where there may not be answers. It is a bait and switch.

So sometimes it seems like it isn't about answering a question. Because the community answers in spades but if it is a questioner who doesn't like the answers they get so they ignore it, then it isn't really about answering a question in good faith. In some cases it is about pitching a rhetorical question for the purpose of advocating a position.

And we go round and round when there are people trying to honestly assist a person who doesn't want to be assisted. They ignore the response and argue the next canard. And don't ask if that is directed at you or anyone else. I can't know motivations. This is truly generic.

Several observations..

1) The sky is blue. sometimes.

2) if there is even the slimmest statistical chance of something happening, at some point it will. (see Dumb and Dumber for reference)

3) Making an assertion, without valid data to back it up, is a waste of time....

4) Run differential and pythagorean projections do not necessarily equate to wins.

5) When in doubt, play the board game.

6) The higher the league salary, the less that defense (e factors, range, arms), stealing, base-running, and injuries are factors in the result.

And why should we have to rely on WIKI for the rules? Again...why would Strat NOT post ALL the rules on their website? Unless they have something to hide.

Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies---

Oh. My. God.

You don't have to rely on the Wiki. The rules are here: https://365.strat-o-matic.com/help/rules

The Wiki was developed by a consortium of people to help share the CnD and PC game materials with people who didn't BUY them. Pretty sweet actually. It is not a substitute nor does anyone need to rely on it.

If Strat ignored the email, then thrashing on the boards accomplishes....
And maybe they ignored it because if you say to post rules, they may be asking themselves--What?

Makes sense. Of course a company that has been around 60 years after inventing this proprietary game engine--and so far unequaled for season recreation--would want to answer a question from someone who is accusing them of dishonest business practices based on a hunch.

I like the pricing. I think its a bargain for what we get. Try to hit the sales. I recently got 5 credits for $73.

@Frankie T, Damn, I can't find anyone to join the new league I'm getting started. In part because there are some No-DH leagues filling up first and I always play DH. Trying to stay focused on one thing and get strong at it rather than going into a bunch of different salary caps, etc.

I have received rules clarifications here and I am grateful. It is not that I ignored them but there is only so much to be said. As for your statement on people asking for/demanding game changes, I think that's honestly pretty normal. I've played tons of different games and they all have problems, and it's mostly all pretty subjective. Back when I used to play I figured out that I could get rings in bomber parks with cheap starters and expensive relievers. Quick hook the starters, slow hook the relievers. It worked amazingly well. So I'm not surprised that strategy was tone down as it was probably too good. That is the very nature of the game, finding ways to gain an edge. So I am a firm believer in rebalancing, especially since a lot of the cards are pretty terrible and need a second look IMO.

As for my intentions, I would simply love to know that the game is "legit", but I often feel that it isn't and some rules clarifications or mentions of the bell curve are not going to change that. From what I understand, on multiple occasions there were "black box" features that were said to be turned off, were actually turned on, proven with evidence, and then supposedly turned off. So it's not like these "conspiracy theories" stem from nothing. If the game was run with transparency from the beginning, we wouldn't be in this situation.

At Bballexec, I'm glad you like the pricing. I would say you're definitely in the minority in 2022 though. Times are tough and games are cheap, much cheaper than this. This game by comparison is EXPENSIVE. Some people have spent excess of $5000. Most games you can play forever for $30, and a lot of them for $0. This business model is simply not ideal and I am absolutely confident that with changes, we would have a much larger player pool and Strat would make MORE money.

And why should we have to rely on WIKI for the rules? Again...why would Strat NOT post ALL the rules on their website? Unless they have something to hide.

Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies---

The wiki is an official document provided by Strat. It is linked in the official rules. If you look at who created it and edited it, it was Bernie, a former Strat employee. There are no edits by random people.