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Golf Balls Are Too Expensive by Nordglanz

Tue, Mar 15 2022 4:14 PM (58 replies)
  • IRISHPUNK
    4,019 Posts
    Wed, Jul 17 2013 2:15 PM

    You don't have to buy golf balls.

  • Glossopade
    518 Posts
    Wed, Jul 17 2013 2:23 PM

    alosso:

    Any change in ball consumption conditions favourable to the players will automatically be compensated by higher ball prices. We will not gain a single credit!

    And the observation above, Ladies and Gentlemen is it..... end of chat !

  • SwenNader
    730 Posts
    Wed, Jul 17 2013 6:13 PM

    alanti:
     EDIT - Ya post vaporised Swen - oh hell or is that a lost ball?

     

    LOL alanti!  After the length of my rant I think it would be closer to a dozen lost balls - very funny. Truth is I went into edit to clarify my comments about the 7 million users, which you subsequently took care of very well (I only used that because it's one of WGT's main slogans, along with over 300 million rounds played).  The next thing I knew was zap and no more, so whether it was me or not, and highly possible as to mea culpa, I do not know - but just adding to the irony of the threads that I have participated in lately - getting my just desserts from the all powerful perhaps?  But, ever the masochist as to retribution here I go again ....

     

    You took it further and back to the cheaters.  We have both participated in those threads recently and the wtf thread that Creamer started actually about vemming is now gone as far as I can see.  It turned a little ugly and specifically towards the cheating, which Creamer did not set out to do initially.  For the rest of my thoughts on this I will move them to the Last of the hacking thread and I am sure that all readers of this thread will be waiting with bated breath for what I have to say in that one ....  LOL!  (Crap, just finished it and am exhausted).

     

    You nailed it as to price point and maximum profit with all the usual demographic and psychological research (never disregard an individual's perverse desire to continually spend in the expectation that things will improve if they do so) and they are doing it very well.  The real key is the durability and that has been extremely low even for the best available. If you can get away with that, you continue to do so.  As you said, we all have a choice and that is always going to be there, but most people will try to keep pushing the higher end because that better round will be doable if they have that extra something from the more expensive ball ... forgetting of course that it is just more expensive to replace when their newly replaced ball immediately goes into the water, OB, or the deep weeds - sometimes due to the swing meter, or vemming.  Unfortunately, no recourse but to load up another, or finish the game with standard balls (likely a great aid to the low score they were going to post).  The VEM I would not mind if it applied to all, it doesn't but that argument is in the other thread about hacking.  I would always want things to happen that are not 100% calculated, yes that is real life and just as in real life I have hit many shots I thought were "perfect", but alas were not and also hit a goodly number that I mentally went, "Crap!", well worse actually and they turned out fabulously well. Or, I messed one up badly and then hit an amazing recovery shot that should not have been possible and routine par!  I do want that, but that is very hard to program and the level of vemming really needs to be looked at.  If they are to allow people to cheat because of the revenue they generate for wgt, then they should have their own section of the game - cheaters here and non-cheaters here - 2 sections of reasonably fair play within each.

     

    As to the balls though, as Apex pointed out as to costs.  Yes, but .... If it were that simplistic, I'd buy in but on a comparative basis that does not necessarily hold.  When I used to play Links, I bought my PC game and the equipment it came with.  As they brought out more courses, I bought the expansion packs so that I could play them.  My choice to do so, if I wanted more courses I had to pay (once though, not like TruGolf), but all the equipment was mine as were the practice facilities with putting green, driving range, etc.  I could use those as often as I wanted to improve and without each shot reducing the life span of the ball I was using.  Did I have all the equipment choices wgt offers, no I did not, but I also did not have to pay to get equipment and balls that are necessary to achieve the higher levels.  You cannot be a legend in this game using starter clubs and balls.  If there is someone who has achieved that using the same game engine that I am using and has done so legitimately, I would suggest that you would be one of the greatest gamer's of all time.  Look forward to the long list of those that have ... and TL, well that would be indescribable as to ability!

     

    So, 2 rounds of 65 at a cost of 0.97 without green fees, to use your math, versus unlimited rounds on Links without any ball costs, unlimited practice in specific practice environments, for a one-time cost total cost of $69.99 (1999 money admittedly, but my dollar was worth more then too), plus course expansion packs at say 3 courses per $24.99. Now, redo the math and see what is the relative/equivalent cost.  And, since one of the biggest wgt user complaints is lack of courses - that cannot be considered to have been better than Links either as they had enough before gaming changed with technology that allowed internet speeds that rivaled PC gaming speeds.  So, gaming moved on, but so did the cost of playing - the sheer amount of revenue that wgt is generating from ball purchases alone is staggering.  I agree with Jimbog that we (read me) do not know what the earnings are, but to anyone with a minimum of business acumen it is huge.

     

    The one other thing about this to me is relative to real golf.  Depending upon where one lives, the cost and availability of playing golf obviously varies.  But, as a scenario from someone that lives within distance of a fair number of courses let's say it costs me $70 CDN for a so-so course and I have to drive 30-40 min's each way and it takes almost 5 hours to play, plus obligatory pints after the round on the 19th.  All told, about 6.5 - 7 hours, $90 excluding any "balls" (See what I did there? - sorry ....).  Anyway, I could play probably 12 full rounds on wgt during the same time and eat dinner as well, walk the cat (possum, platypus, land shark, etc ) have even more beers while doing so since I don't have to drive and only pay approx. $12 for ball usage.  Crap, that is a great deal!  But, still doesn't cut it really to me, only 2 rounds a ball is not a real person's game - well, it is now I suppose because that is how things have become as to marketing and the general public go with it because they want to be cool and with it even now, although it seems to phasing out a bit.  When I was a pretty good golfer and with my own ego flowing in my late teens to the point of playing Balata for about 3/4 years, I could still get several rounds, sometimes 4 or 5, out of one ball and that was shooting more than a 65 average (for 18 on a reasonable course) - it did not look pretty at the end with all the spiderweb cracks but if still basically round was quite usable, only I decided when it had run out of hits. 

     

    Happy golfing to all!

  • alanti
    10,563 Posts
    Thu, Jul 18 2013 2:25 AM

    LOL Swen, and another great post - and maybe, just maybe it may remain there unless.....nah the powers at be never strike in the same place twice!

    And yes 7 million users, over 300 million rounds. Well those figures dont add up to me either (sorry nit picking with their marketing). Thats 40 odd rounds each but many users have played thousands, so many have played none. But yes, they are or were a registered user, perhaps lying dormant until their wife or siblings would like to use the account on a rainy day.

    The costs of balls as per the OP. Yes from some in this thread, they are either expensive, a rip off or good value if used as per a green fee. We can take our pick! But wait - isn't this game promoted as free? Sorry just nit picking again, as yes it is free as we have a choice - be good at the game or suck at it, but in fairness both are fun.

    I generally play one real course these days, as I have membership there (and it is considered a very good club/course). No green fees but I do pay approx US$3000 a year and can play any time and as often as I like (outside of comp times and the occasional professional tournament where the course is closed for a week). So compared to WGT, yes it is expensive, and sadly the club president does not accept videos views or surveys as payment.

    And oh the balata balls lol. I too used these, I was friends with a caddy for a pro on the European Tour when I lived in the UK, I borrowed his car and he said help your self to the balls and gloves in the boot (translation = trunk) - so I did LOL a HUGE BOX of em, all used for a few hits (and yes WGT would LOVE customers like him!), but sadly had the pros name on them. So if you are searching for your ball when it comes up LOST BALL - if your find one with a pros name (Hint an Aussie Golfer from the 80s) it is actually mine. And Swen you say scuffed? These things would cut in half with your fingernail putting it on the tee without due care! OH and if you did find one, yes WGTBobby - it probably is warped after this amount of time).

    And finally I agree, Courses or lack thereof. Yep Links did have good choice of courses (even at the expansion pack price), not the wonderful HD that WGT has, but there was a lot of choice. Yes WGT has improved a lot, but what happens if you dislike a course (RSG in my case) and find Olympic or Merion too hard (especially if you are playing the game "free" then there is not a lot of choice. Just my thoughts and ramblings, and at the moment I have a choice, to type in the forums or to play. And to be honest, I don't really feel like playing and feeding the coffers when some issues are not addressed nor even discussed by WGT (and perhaps that is why some threads are just easier so close lol). But I am not bagging WGT because they have produced a brilliant golf game. but sometimes it is good to listen and act on what your customers are saying.

    But that is my choice and oh, I don't want to be responsible for over-inflating the amount of rounds played per "user".

    PS Does anyone ever play Links on PC now? Would it still work?

  • SwenNader
    730 Posts
    Thu, Jul 18 2013 7:15 PM

    alanti:
    PS Does anyone ever play Links on PC now? Would it still work?

     LOL, A,

     

    Nope, tried it last year (1999 version) but it wouldn't take with the new motherboard processors. Funnily enough some other old games I have did take, like Premier Football Manager.  Too bad, I do miss that game it was the head of the class in its day (in my view anyway)!  I still have a bunch of the old ones that are totally useless too like Jack Nicklaus (with Course Designer) on 3.5 disks, that was a blast too. Ah, the good old days with 5.25 drive and 40 MB hard drive - all I would ever need ... then the 3.5 and even more hard drive space of 80 MB - to the limits of imagination and beyond!

     

    I'll have to think about the Aussie golfer from the 80's though, it's not like there haven't been an awful lot of very good ones over the years - any hints as to from where in Oz, or something that could narrow it down?  Not a current announcer in the US was he, as in a British Open winner (well, The Open to be more accurate)? Or, did he get better later, like an Appleby starting out?  This is worthy of a sleuth of some skill methinks ....  Toss me a bone would you?  I have the feeling I am a little unlikely to find one with his name on it locally. 

     

    Nice score on the course (seriously), that sounds like a really good deal compared to what it is around my neck of the woods.  But as to the Balata, yeah I always held them and looked at them lovingly, but even that sometimes seemed to make them crack.  

     

  • alanti
    10,563 Posts
    Thu, Jul 18 2013 8:45 PM

    Ahh what a shame. not that I have the discs any more. As I have moved so many times, I tend to purge all the junk you accumulate. Plus moving back from Asia I had to consider that some things were probably not as genuine as the dodgy market seller claimed. Not that I ever saw or bought anything counterfeit....errrr moving right along Pinocchio. Never tried Jack Nicklaus - was never on the market sellers stand, but did and quite infamously played Premier Manager and took West Ham to the title - thats the closest they will ever get to that dream.

    And nope, you will not find one of the balls locally - on a good day I could drive fairly long. the bad news it was invariably in the wrong direction - but unless the balls also floated and caught a current across the Atlantic, it is very unlikely! He was not a top player but I did just google him, and he did win 7 times on the European Tour, and was once second in The Open (that latter I did know)

    For the record there are some great courses in Sydney, and can be pretty good value (from about $30.00) but I remember when I lived in Hong Kong, I flew to Adelaide and as usual, took my clubs. I rocked up at the local municpal course, the guy in front was going nuts - the price had been hiked up from $8.00 to $10.00 for 18 holes. I just laughed, the cheapest in HK was $80.00. I assume that chap does not play WGT, or if so, will be the one in the WGT Pro Shop with a very red face, blood pressure off the map, saying HOW MUCH FOR A PIXELATED #$%%^&* BALL?????

    And if he loses one in Swilken Burn first hole i think his pixelated R11s might end up in there too. Take cover if you are in the group behind.

  • SwenNader
    730 Posts
    Fri, Jul 19 2013 11:38 AM

    alanti:
    I assume that chap does not play WGT, or if so, will be the one in the WGT Pro Shop with a very red face, blood pressure off the map, saying HOW MUCH FOR A PIXELATED #$%%^&* BALL?????

     

    LOL, now that is funny.  $8.00, I haven't seen a cost like that in about 30 years! There are some around $30.00 nowadays as green fees have dropped in recent years due to all the courses and now less people it seems that are willing to spend 6 hours to play behind weekend golfers that became all the rage in the 90's. But, we still have loads in $75 - $150+ range all over.  That is where I can't complain overly about WGT, despite my recent efforts, especially since I can just get frustrated and blame it on them rather than my real life long gone "skills" ....

     

    Really nice going with The Hammers, that indeed is likely to be their only championship (have you let them know they won one?), but they had some great players and teams over the years, unfortunately mostly in the 60's. Still churning guys out of the academy though but unfortunately they all leave for greener pastures.  I'm a Celtic fan, so I usually always played them - I may have to give it a try again one of these days.  My younger brother would take teams from the very bottom like Rushden and Diamonds and manage them to the Premier, the lad has more tenacity than I but he really enjoyed the challenge of doing that. Another fun game, but I lost interest with the later additions as they were just too much work - the original was simple and easy to play.

     

    Okay, I put on my deerstalker, lit the meerschaum, played a little violin and did some opium.  Result I believe is Mr. Rodger Davis from Sydney. Very good player for quite a while, would have loved to have had his game - top ten for awhile is quite the achievement.  If I'm wrong, please let me know. 

    Regards,

    Swen

     

  • alanti
    10,563 Posts
    Fri, Jul 19 2013 3:08 PM

    Well in fairness that was probably 15 years ago in ADL but pretty decent courses.

    And most good courses in SYD are also in the range of $70 +

    And I am pleased to advise you I am not a Rangers fan, could get nasty if those two fans are in the same room after a few tipples of the local juice.

    Finally Winner Winner Chicken Dinner - yes Sponge was the caddy for Mr Davis. Just sold some old equipment so balls on their way.

    If they should come up "lost ball" or "Out of bounds" or the other message I get "WGT would like to thank you for your generosity" I am sure we will here all about it in this thread :) 

  • rjteeithi
    673 Posts
    Fri, Jul 19 2013 3:51 PM

    speaking of balls, where the free one Im suposed to get from the Korbel CTTH T?

     

  • MichaelStroke
    2,066 Posts
    Fri, Jul 19 2013 4:08 PM

    Wish I could give you mine.  The day I use a vapor ball is the day I trade in my girlfriend for a Cher CD and a balding trucker named Jimbo.

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