Leveling up and tanking

[Toxcatl]

I think both of you are making valid points. JCohen is spot on with his analysis -- getting promoted implies playing better teams, and thus your players capability must decrease initially when the quality of play is higher (i.e., I was a ringer in adult recreation leagues, but only an average college player). Toxcatl's frustrations are also valid -- getting promoted shouldn't be punitive to the value of your players. Promotion should not decrease the value of a player; only age / declining skill set should decrease it.

I'm not saying that players should't suffer from relative quality loss when the team is getting a promotion. They should. Absolute quality of players in Top Eleven never goes down, it doesn't decrease on promotion, only relative quality does. And this is not the problem, it's only a logical thing.
The problem is there is no single reason to get promoted. In real football there're reasons to go to the higher league, but in Top Eleven going higher gives us big fat nothing.
I'd better stay on my current level and be successful in Asso games than go higher for... hm, for what? Why should I go higher? Give me at least one reason.
Why do you do it? Satisfaction? Successful Asso, Cup and CL games gives more. The number next to your name? What else is there?

I feel kind of powerless to explain my point better than I did in so many words before v_v
*Toxcatl tries to summon currently tanking managers to the thread*

[jcohen42]

The problem is there is no single reason to get promoted. In real football there're reasons to go to the higher league, but in Top Eleven going higher gives us big fat nothing.

I'd better stay on my current level and be successful in Asso games than go higher for... hm, for what? Why should I go higher? Give me at least one reason.
Why do you do it? Satisfaction? Successful Asso, Cup and CL games gives more. The number next to your name? What else is there?

There are a few main reasons for me. First, I just think it's a more rewarding experience to the game. To me, the challenge of having to retool my squad and deal with the various competitions to succeed is more worth it. It's more important for me to always strive for excellence than to have a higher quality team. I almost always get promoted anyway, so the only competition tanking helps me in is Associations (more on that later).

Second, tanking prevents me from competing in CL, which is a big source of prize money. Sure, you still get into Cup, but Cup usually has less money, and you get matched up with teams of similar quality anyway. Same thing with League; you're really just falling back into a tougher league after tanking, most often.

Third, if I tank, it brings up my Association's average quality, which brings us harder teams. This is especially true if I have a significantly higher quality than my teammates; I'd be bringing our overall average up, making our Association play other teams with a higher quality, and indirectly hurting my teammates.

Fourth, it kinda messes up the players. One thing I've noticed is that momentum is a REAL thing in this game; if players are doing well and jelling, they are likely to keep rolling until they hit a wall. By tanking and forcing your players to play out of position, or tired, or just benched, the players can't really get into a rhythm of winning. This is especially true if you are tanking in one competition but then actually trying to win in another.

I do see some merits in a tanking system; however, I think there are many reasons why managers like me choose not to tank. Perhaps Nordeus should try to think about offering a way to please tankers, but I think there are some other things that are higher priorities for them at this point in time.

[Toxcatl]

There are a few main reasons for me.

Thanks for the great answer! I can't say you've changed my mind completely, but you definitely have got a point here. I'm gonna meditate on that for some time =]