Not sure what's going on here...

Marching Band Rankings as of 9/24/12, ALL CLASSES:
89.770 Louisville Legion (D3)
88.620 Fanatics (D2)
87.450 Black and Blue Crew (D2)
87.360 Marching Knights (D1)
87.175 Marching Marchers (D1)


Louisville Legion (Division III Marching Band)
1st season - already level 26 with 9000+ influence
Most recent score: 89.770, already the highest score in D3 history (24.5 points ahead of S20 2nd place at this time), and would be 1st in D1 by 2.5 points.

Fanatics (Division II Marching Band)
2nd season (last season: 34th in D3) - level 28
Most recent score: 88.620, already the highest score in D2 history (13.0 points ahead of S20 3rd place at this time), would also be 1st in D1.

Black and Blue Crew (Division II Marching Band)
2nd season (last season: 7th in D3) - level 32
Most recent score: 87.450, already 6th highest score in D2 history (12.0 points ahead of S20 3rd place), would also be 1st in D1.

All three are members of the KMEA league, and with such similar and extreme outliers I have to think they're connected. Is this another case of FMA Store Exploit like the Dark Knights pulled in Season 18?

What in the wide, wide world of sports is-a goin' on here?

Currently there is no limit to FMA Store spending, which can cause score spikes. Honestly, I'm open to suggestions for limiting the amount of points being spent. Its really hectic for me right now - but around mid-October things should settle down a bit and I will be able to look at the Store system. There's going to be a fine line between what is "too much" or "too little", but I think we can agree that, while Store purchases are much appreciated, we don't want that to become bought-and-paid-for championships.

I was under the impression, the store helped with funding this site/game as well as possible donations to real drumcorps, bands, etc.

I'm new to the site, just found out about it a couple of months ago and only recently decided to give it a try. I was immediately hooked. Obviously I've participated in using the store, it was mainly at the beginning because I really didn't know what I was doing. :) Now that I'm getting the hang of it, I haven't participated in the store as much, but I am putting some serious hours on this site. As I mentioned, I'm hooked.

Also, a few of us have put a lot of time recruiting other people in and around our great state of Kentucky to join this site. As you left out of your stats, KMEA is now the largest marching band league and the 3rd largest league overall on FMA. We also have leagues for Drumcorps, Colorguard and Drumline. That says a lot about what we think of this site. We've even gone the extra mile and created logos and a website for our leagues.

I'm curious why you felt the need to call us out on the public message forum instead of asking Alex personally, but I can take an easy guess. Regardless, I play by the rules and will continue to play by the rules, even if they change. But I'm enjoying myself on here so far... I hope it stays that way.

Welcome to the site jaydub.. there is nothing wrong with using the store.. that's what it's there for and it does help keep the site running. I personally don't have any issue with it (unless someone brags about how great they did that season when they obviously paid their way to the top).

The thing that people don't realize when they first start is that yes, putting down money will probably help you win Div 2 or Div 3.. but the next season you will probably end up in the next higher division going up against guys who are breaking 90 every season without paying.. so really, by doing that well right off the bat is only setting yourself up for a very hard time down the road - or a very expensive one if they want to maintain their high scores.

I know it's probably not very realistic.. but just for fun assume that buying in the store is equivalent to paying off judges. You can do it, but if you get "caught" then you get a penalty. Maybe whenever you use the points that you had paid for, you have a x% chance of getting caught, and if you get caught whatever you would have gained from those points, you actually lose it (or lose half of it). That way the more you "cheat" the higher chance of getting caught.

I posted it here primarily because I'm curious HOW it's being done. $20 will get you 120 director credits, which can be turned into $2,400 game money (virtually no effect), 4,800 (very little effect), 6 skill points (very little effect), or 24 energy restores. I guess it's this last one that is being used to max advantage?

My point is simply that NO ONE should be able to start up an ensemble from scratch and immediately become the best ensemble in the game just by spending real dollars. Obviously the store needs revision (20 credits = 1 energy restore would be a start).

Certainly it's not cheating... but it is a bit exploitative. It's a little disheartening for the dozens and dozens of players who have been playing for 10+ seasons, logging on every day month after month, to have a brand new player (or SET of new players) immediately become invincible without ever having to really learn how to play the game.

I mean, between my wife and I we make well over six figures per year. I could easily just create a new account every season and just buy all the championship for every division. But... why? That's not terribly fun.

It's a flaw with a game, which is why I made it public, but I had to provide examples.

Alex, cire, and hostrauser...

If you can find a way to knock the three mentioned down a peg (or twelve) be my guest. :P

Signed,
User in the KMEA basement. lol

Thanks Cire.

Insanity. Seeing who has the most money to blow is not a challenge. How about a REAL challenge?

Create a new account. Do NOT buy your way into the a championship. Do NOT place lower than top 5 in your respective division. Oh, and do that for 20 seasons in a row.

I did it, with ALL of my groups, and ALL in Div 1. Show me you can do that and I will quit this game forever.

Keep in mind that the season is only half way through.. unless you guys plan on putting more money into "winning" your high placement is probably not going to last.

Wait a minute....
Why am *I* being yelled at? I'm scoring in the 60's and haven't bought ANYTHING from the store. lol

Guilty by association :)

I wish I had seen this before now. I want to go on record and say that thanks to the work of KMEAers this site saw about 30-40 new groups if not more last season because of our recruiting people from our marching forum. The argument about who has more money to spend vs who has had more time to site on this site since it started seems rather unproductive. If not for the store credits it would probably take years to be on the same level as the top groups. Any tweaks to the current store credit system could mean the same faces will continue to win year in and out forever simply because they have been here longer due to lack of advertising of this site in some areas. So why take away from one way to rise up the ranks and not the other. I say if you are going to lower store credits you need to reduce how much your staff helps you as well as people who don't use their own money can never catch the good ole boys of FMA because of the time issue. The saying Time = Money goes both ways for a reason.

It's possible to rise up the ranks without using the FMA store. I think the influence of staff is probably a little bit too much but I have won two Div I guard championships and my guard only started in season 14. Patience and diligence and you'll get there =)

FanintheStands. I have been here since Season 1 at the top of Div 1 in every group and I can strongly say that you are absolutely wrong. Yes, you are not going to score a 90 just by playing your first season.. but pretty much every "top" group you see here, has worked and earned their way in to get there over several seasons.. by playing, using good strategy, etc.. NOT from buying their way to the top. and yes, most of the top groups now started out in Div 3.

Your argument has no validity, especially among those here who have put in the time and effort to get where they are now. I'm sorry that you feel that it is unfair that it takes time, work and effort to be on the same level as the top groups.. however you are comparing apples and oranges. You are/were in Div 3. You could EASILY win Div 3 without spending a time.. in fact, most of the better Div 3 groups probably start half way through the season. Once again, all you need to do is put in a little bit of time and effort. If the store was taken away, besides the occasional Div 3 who scores a 90+ there won't be THAT much change in the game

How am I wrong and invalid? All of the top 12 in Div 1 last season have been here since at least Season 14, many near the top since Season 1. How can a person ever catch up with those people with the game set up as it currently is without the store? Myself I didn't want to settle and remain in Div 2 and 3. I finished 7th in Div 3 my first season after joining towards the end. I feel like I would have also finished near the top of Div 2 last season without the store. My goal however was not to be the best in Div 2. I wanted to be in Div 1 and personally I'm not sure I will still be playing this game 2 years from now, which is around the time it would take to be on the same level as the top groups in Div 1 currently are and not where they will be at that time.

From FMA's standpoint it would be better if people could find success right away playing this game because that would encourage more people to want to play. However, the game IS pretty realistic. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither are top groups. Buying energy restores from the FMA store isn't realistic at all because how do you buy more energy for your groups? And yet it can have that much impact on the game? But I think most everything else about the game is realistic.

To build something great up from scratch in this activity takes a lot of time! The top performers in DCI and WGI had to spend a lot of time working hard to get better. The best educators in this activity who built groups up from scratch had visions for their groups to get great and stuck with them through thick and thin.

It doesn't take two years to become a top group. I started my guard in January this year and won my first Div I championship in August despite going against groups that had 13 seasons to build themselves up prior to me starting. If you're dedicated, you can do it.

I *want* to play my tuba as well as Oystein Baadsvik, but that doesn't mean a thing. How can it be less rewarding to master the intricacies of the game than by winning through a fat wallet?

If you don't want to settle for DII or DIII... why not just figure out a better playing style and win that way? I'm not even claiming to be a master, that's just what I think.

Plenty of groups have done it without the store in the past and plenty of groups will do it without the store in the future. You'll be fine!

Just pointing out, Jaydub, your spending has earned you a spot in D1, but now you gotta contend with us. Been sticking through it with only a couple take off seasons (for drum corps) since FMA 1.0 S3.

Yup. once you get placed into a higher div, you are going to have to fork out more money to contend because everyone else has the stats to compete there.

Corndog is right.. just because you want to compete doesn't mean you can. You have to earn it.. and unfortunately doing ANYTHING in life takes time and effort. It is a game, but even in games people have to earn their places.

Yes, most of the top Div 1 groups have been around since at least Season 14. We are in season 21.. that means it ONLY took them 6 seasons to get to be a top contender in Div 1.


marimbaman89, you CAN have success in your first season in FMA.. you can do this quite easily in Div 3.

I agree that you can have immediate success in Div 3, and even in Div 2 your second season, without the store (provided no one uses it) but I was specifically talking about Div 1 success.

It's not really success if you pay for it. Success is putting in the time and effort and achieving your goal.