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Lost Balls - Water / OB

• Bobbylanka 893 Posts

  Mon, Feb 12 2018 11:43 AM

  The current system of judging lost balls in both system is completely unfair and needs to be revised!

  Where a ball goes into the water, needs to be changed as many of the streams and ditches the balls would in a normal game be retrievable. Where balls fall into ponds or the sea = Lost Ball!

  Where the ball goes out of bound also needs to be reviewed as once again balls could be retrieved. Where balls go into marshy ground = lost ball.

  Unless the current system is changed the current policy can only be seen as profit making!

• SidersBest 873 Posts

  Tue, Feb 13 2018 11:50 AM

  And if you are using the starter ball you only lose a stroke, but if you are using a ball you paid for (Yes, WGT is a for-profit  business). Their policy is to make money

  They only offer you the ability to play for free because advertisers pay to keep it free for basics but all upgrades you have to pay for.

  Question- Would you change something that is making you money?

   

  Siders Best

• alosso 21,037 Posts

  Tue, Feb 13 2018 1:12 PM

  @Bobby:

  ... and if your proposals would be respected, the ball price might rise to ensure the same revenue - at least!

  In addition, we'd have to pay for the programming effort of this differentiated view :(

   

  IMHO, Sleeves are another way to introduce a kind of a green fee. They wear, and they get lost - credits go "drip, drip" towards our hosts.

  I consider this the main source of credit usage by the players - a solid and steady source of revenue, necessary to keep the game open and running.

  The best part of it is that we, each of us, individually, decide on the amount of this "green fee" - from zero (Starters) to around 0.70 $ per 9 hole round (10% of the sleeve's price).

  Yes, they make a profit, but they are supposed to do so in a capitalist world!
  But, this item I consider to be fair!

• BackdoorHippie 51 Posts

  Tue, Feb 13 2018 1:16 PM

  While I understand the for-profit nature of the game I don't expect WGT to allow you to whip out your ball retriever (though if they wanted to they could sell one in the pro shop, allowing you to retrieve either unlimited balls or X number of balls in the future.

  What I WOULD love to see is the ability to choose your drop spot on water hazards. Why shouldn't I be allow to back up 20 yards into the fairway rather than have to play a shot in 40-50% 2nd Rough where I'm effectively hitting for par.

• el3n1 4,494 Posts

  Tue, Feb 13 2018 2:29 PM

  there is a qualitative difference between being for profit and building in or allowing completely unrealistic outcomes...that is when it feels like theft...

  this was my recent rant in my cc forum...

  I started to play the SOTW ended up on the hole at Pebble Beach that in this event plays uphill 12Y.  I know you have to club down and lay off to avoid the cliff.  

  I dropped down and only hit 95% of a 225y club with full BS in a left to right cross wind.  I believe the edge of the fairway was around 220y.  I aim on the left edge of the fairway to allow the wind to move the ball.  The ball sails over 240 yards in the air without touching the fairway or rough.  It just isn't possible up hill.. the ball should have landed around 210 and released in the fairway may have caught the edge of the rough, but this kind of crap is what aggravates me!  

  The driver on the first hole barely went that long with a tail wind and it is rated at 252y.  

  It is an example of WGT taking back your golf balls to make you buy more golf balls even though it doesn't make sense.  If I had failed to change clubs or something stupid then it is my fault, but I knew to change clubs and knew to club down and reduce power.  Unless a flaky WGT caddy altered the club selection prior to me swinging, which again is forcing players into mistakes they would not make then WGT is effectively stealing back golf balls that you would not lose in realistic situations.  I have seen stuff like this happen more than a few times and have even seen other players show video replays of the same shot.  Unfortunately, I was too aggravated to think about saving a replay.  

  But, there is a qualitative difference between a company being a for profit enterprise and building in failures to ensure you come back and pay for more...we see examples of shady mechanics doing this to consumers and we can all recognize that as being bad business...Simply being a for profit enterprise doesn't give you a license or justify unrealistic outcomes to force the consumer to buy more of your product...

  I am not saying WGT is doing this intentionally, but it can feel like it when it happens and the outcome doesn't reflect the "input" you set when you hit your shot.

  Some of these things can be glitches in the software.  I have watched replays where balls were effectively hit OOB in a situation that is not particularly explainable. I have heard WGT has reimbursed a player for a known glitch, but they clearly are not doing so all of the time.  I am not claiming WGT intentionally sets out to do this to members, but it feels like it when it does happen...It could simply be a glitch but it is aggravating none the less.

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Tue, Feb 13 2018 2:39 PM

  el3n1:

  The ball sails over 240 yards in the air without touching the fairway or rough.

  LOL. Sorry for laughing, Ed, but I was imagining not only the look on your face but the wild exclamation that followed it when you saw the shot. Your basic WTF shot. ;-)

• el3n1 4,494 Posts

  Tue, Feb 13 2018 2:43 PM

  Glad I gave you a chuckle, maybe that is worth the lost ball...humor is still valuable and laughter is good medicine!  

  Thanks for the reminder! : )

• Luckystar5 1,636 Posts

  Tue, Feb 13 2018 3:04 PM

  BackdoorHippie:

  While I understand the for-profit nature of the game I don't expect WGT to allow you to whip out your ball retriever (though if they wanted to they could sell one in the pro shop, allowing you to retrieve either unlimited balls or X number of balls in the future.

  What I WOULD love to see is the ability to choose your drop spot on water hazards. Why shouldn't I be allow to back up 20 yards into the fairway rather than have to play a shot in 40-50% 2nd Rough where I'm effectively hitting for par.

  And in that rough, I've seen the next shot go in the drink.  I witnessed this many times. 

• el3n1 4,494 Posts

  Tue, Feb 13 2018 4:21 PM

  Luckystar5:

  BackdoorHippie:

  What I WOULD love to see is the ability to choose your drop spot on water hazards. Why shouldn't I be allow to back up 20 yards into the fairway rather than have to play a shot in 40-50% 2nd Rough where I'm effectively hitting for par.

  And in that rough, I've seen the next shot go in the drink.  I witnessed this many times. 

  you don't even have to have water on the hole, you miss the fairway on Merion 16 with a front Pin location and 40-50% rough, I have seen that ravine declare a ball as Lost Ball!  Had I known this before that, I never would have tried to carry it especially with the clubs I had at the time.  Have seen similar things happen on other courses as well, such as Olympic!  it seems if WGT deems it is time to take a ball from you they will even if the shot wasn't terribly executed.  

  Yes, other times it may be warranted, but when it isn't and WGT still takes a good credit ball then it seems a bit nefarious.

• sky0diver 119 Posts

  Wed, Feb 14 2018 12:06 AM

  I just thought I add to that to probably create a few enemies and people who simply want to disagree.

  I read so many times that WGT "takes" balls away. Now I am not a software expert but I certainly believe that anything in the game is a programmed algorithm and nobody monitors game sin the back and suddenly presses a red button to swallow someone's ball. 

  I too experienced shots that are a bit off from my expectations. but that is the exception, not the rule. most of the time you get what you clicked for ... gladly there are some deviations otherwise it's just another golf game that completely ignores real life. 

  Most of the time people (and this is not the case with the poster before who's shot seem to have ended up way longer than anticipated) complain about shots ending up short and in the water or hazard and at the same time mention they "took something off the shot". Once you do that your trajectory of the shot changes and your airtime is much shorter than if you hit a full shot. that's just physics and does simulate reality. So I recommend to understand your shot types first and expect the "unexpected" when you take something off your shot. I personally try to avoid this as much as possible and rather work with changing the spin on the ball ... but then, everyone has their own way of getting the ball in the hole!