- I've seen several comments about free agents. The point of free agency is to try and reach this equilibrium as quickly as possible. Would prices go up with fewer free agents? Yes, but only artificially; it would mean a longer period of slower deflation to get to the same place.
I'm going to play devil's advocate here and say this: what if free agency actually prevents you from hitting equilibrium? I remember the last time free agency was removed - there was a massive economic boom. The price spike was so large you even had to bring players back from retirement in order to calm the market.
On the other hand, I assume that you are already thinking about what you want the equilibrium to be and have already planned a slow exit from free agency.
In any case, I would welcome a debate of whether or not an influx of new users would change the market conditions. I can't imagine how changes like that would not have an impact. But that's just the thing, I have trouble imagining this "equilibrium", I am sure there will always be unexpected market reactions that will make it impossible to ever fully reach it.
We plan BuzzerBeater for the long term; we're trying to create a game that will hold up over many, many seasons, and that means reaching equilibrium sooner and letting the game evolve from there. We have also tried our best to make sure we informed people about what was coming; we've been talking about a price bubble for around 8 seasons now in news posts and explaining that it was temporary.
I am also wondering - what is the hurry to hit this equilibrium? To me it feels like a lot of short term pain for a very limited long term gain. It seems to be creating a lot of negativity around the community in the present and the gains seem dubious. Or at the very least in a future that many users here may not stick around to see.
But really, my beef all boils down to this. What I really, really don't like about the current market conditions is they reward users who tank. I read your explanation before for not doing anything about "zero rostered" teams (or teams that are close to it). However, those reasons assume a constant market. In a deflationary market, selling all or almost all your players is the optimal strategy for long term success. In that context, the game becomes about teams that can figure out the best ways to lose. And timing the market becomes more important than actually playing the game.
Last edited by HeadPaperPusher at 10/26/2010 12:31:57 PM
Run of the Mill Canadian Manager