Okay, so I was a regular on FMA I and played there from the first season to the last. When the game went to FMA II I did 2 seasons and quit. It was frustrating to have spent all of that time building up my programs on the first game and then not having ANYTHING transfer into the new game. Anyway, I started playing again just a few seasons ago and now there are "leagues". Maybe things would make more sense if I had been playing when these were introduced but now as it is...I don't get it. I'm not in a league. I joined a couple to see if there was something to it and there didn't seem to be any benefit so I left each one. I've been solo for a while and I am able to go to the max number of shows every season.

What am I missing by not joining a league?

Just having shows you get entry in without waiting. Plus league mates tend to apply to your shows so you have a better chance to fill out your own shows.

There are advantages and disadvantages to the league system.

Advantages:
No waiting to fill your schedule.
Cross promo among membership.

Disadvantages:
Personal shows are now much harder to fill (my experience).
Earned league funds can't be distributed to membership.

I'd also like to see an option to automatically add member events to the league schedule. Searching around and adding them manually is a very cumbersome process.

Like any real league such as DCI, the league is there to organize a schedule of events and disperse a percentage of event profits to its membership. FMA leagues only offer the event aspect, while they are forced to sit on millions of dollars that could be used to attract and lift up its member ensembles. Until fund distribution happens, FMA leagues won't really have a point other than to be in the club of your choice.

There isn't a "benefit" to joining a league in terms of tangible game bonuses or the like. It's simply an organizational tool for people that want to form groups within the community.

Originally, the FMA community wanted a way to organize into groups like real circuits (think BOA, Mid-States, etc.). Players used to create separate user accounts for these, so a league system was added to allow them organize, join league shows, and view player activity within their league.

But why can't leagues use their profits to disperse to their members? I know there is the whole idea of unfair advantage but maybe there can be certain restrictions on the amount of money a league could give.

It wouldn't be fair

Life isn't fair. It would be an incentive for league membership.

The only people who it would be unfair to would be the smaller leagues that are just starting out (Like the one I am in). Recruiting members is hard enough due to the fact most of the big leagues allow you to fill up you entire schedule with their shows. I do see both sides however but being a member of a small league I feel more towards the unfair side.

What about if there was a cap to the amount of money that a league could give to it's members?

I don't like the idea of leagues giving money to members. It just seems like a good way to abuse the leagues. What happens if a large group like CAMA boots everyone out and just collects on their hundreds of millions? That just tilts the game too far. I'm not saying that they would do that. They are just an example.

If there is a chance to abuse it then it will be abused. That is just how it works.

One thing I thought of is maybe have competitions between two different leagues. For example CAMA hosts a event to compete against MAoMA the winners of the respective divisions then get the prize money no matter what league they are from. This method could promote friendly competition amongst the leagues and get rid of some of the money that the big leagues have built up.

Leagues shouldn't give money to members.. it's just like the discussion before about give prize money to winners of shows.. all it will do is make the rich/powerful more rich/powerful.

It might be interesting if league money was prorated on equitable basis to the newer/lower scoring groups in order to expedite the process of parity between all groups.

As for the low number of applicants to normal shows, how about we just limit the number of shows a league can make each season? Rather than more than 30 shows, they are limited to, for example, 5? One show each week! Sounds more realistic to me.

Hell, why don't we just start a well-fare system with league funds! LOL