So trying to think outside the box here. Firstly in real life I'm thinking why do teams set out to win;
It's rewarding - promotion brings financial rewards, kudos and happiness.
The fans wouldn't accept their team deliberately losing.
The fa wouldn't be happy if teams lost on purpose.
TV companies would not renew contracts if teams lost on purpose as viewer numbers would fall. The sport would be in disarray.
Linking this to TE the biggest standout for me is rewards. Currently promotion is a punishment. How do we change this? You give the top 8 the best resources in the game. Tokens and greens.
The additional problem at play here. Associations. It is too rewarding. We have the showboat advertising board of all the exploits in the top 100. Remove top 100. It's always been embarrassing to look at. Reduce asso token rewards substantially to help the league. The league is where the levelling up issue is. Make this the most rewarding competition. Increase rewards for consecutive promotions.
Maybe even give levelling up teams bonus asso points.
These are just random thoughts feel free to extend on them and improve them.
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