it would be too bad if great guards with active players start folding...to me--thats not good for the activity...

I tend to agree. I really don't want to "take my ball and go home" or anything like that, but at this point there really isn't any reason to keep performing with that group if they aren't going to get the placements they deserve.

I don't even think I deserve all of the Championships I've "claimed" necessarily, but I decided to claim ones when:

1. I was in 1st before regressing (Season 31 and it happened in Season 33 but I wasn't going to win anyway so "all" I lost was a top three placement)

2. I was in 2nd, but the group that ended up winning jumped ahead because multiple groups ahead regressed (Season 34 and 35)

There are seasons when I would have been ok with finishing 2nd as long as the group that won was the group already ahead of me (usually the Knight Guard), like 34 and 35.

Basically, I just want the process to be fair. For example, if a group hits 100, lock them in. If a second group hits 99.995, lock them in. If a third group hits 99.990, lock them in. Sure the scores will look ridiculous (I still think that needs to be addressed), but at least the right groups will finish in the right order. As it is I just don't see any point in continuing to use the Ram Guard.

I agree with that option too. Man we have so many logical options but sadly not sure that anyone who can fix it cares lol donation from all previous screwed guard if this gets fixed? Lol I know I'd donate to get it fixed!

Oh My ... Did you just offer Alex a BRIBE ... LOL !!!

Yes one to benefit the activity. .. all day long. It's not like I haven't supported it financially for a long time.

I'll donate to the cause as soon as I start making my own money. I'd do it anyway, but especially if it will help make the game better.

My idea for if I retire my guard - I will continue hosting guard competitions every season, but they will accept low influence groups first. I'll continue fundraising just enough to make sure I can continue to have 25 group shows, but I think it would be cool to host a regional just for newer players with low influence.

Obviously this hinges on me pulling my guard out of competition, which I would rather not do. But if I do end up pulling that particular trigger, this is my idea.

Good to see that you are ready to give back to the FMA game corndogshuffle. I will be ready to win the Color Guard Gold medal(s) shortly ... I will also be ready to help new groups host very profitable shows in the near future as well !!!

The idea of a 4th division above d1 was actually brought up a long time ago by my friend in our first season of competition!

Huh. I never noticed this post.

The way I play guard is just to keep practicing like normal after I hit 100. In Seasons 33-35, I maintain a 100 over two days of competition. I usually don't even notice if I hit 100 or not until after finals. I dunno. It's worked for 3 straight seasons.

Here's my two cents. As long as there is no ceiling on bonuses (or the ceiling is too high) and money spent is a permanent bonus, we will continue struggle here. In FMA 1.0, which, while I was less successful at, this was never a problem because money was used and then that bonus ended that season.

Proposal: The benefit of being an older player should stop increasing after 10 seasons. This benefit only comes from hiring staff who increase the efficiency of rehearsals and difficulty of drill/music. After around 10 seasons of work, there should be no room for improvements to a staff. After this, money can only be spent on single season bonuses or degrading bonuses.

Ex. Spend $15000 on new horns. This gives your music score a 20% boost, which degrades each season by 5% back to a base of no boost.

This will allow for a more natural rise and fall of top groups as they get equipment at different times. This will allow newer players a chance to play and get integrated into the community while building up a staff and seeing a high level of competition at the top.

Note. This system is the reason ChrisRohn left.

Since there are no caps on most things, theoretically there should be no caps on the score...unlikely though. Is there a way of basing early scores and consequencially, the entire season, on a sliding scale based on actual scores. There has to be an average early season score and rate of increase to make it more realistic. Another thought. Penalize corps/groups for taking a season off to raise funds, etc. In real life, very few do this and come back a seriousn contender in their first year or two. This would also reward the groups who maintain stability.

I like the ideas put forth by Vinny and Kiwi. On family vacation so I will go more in depth later.

I do what Vinny does for color guard. Just keep pouring rehearsal points in as normal when I hit 100. In the past, it worked. Now it doesn't. I won't leave FMA because of this, but I will stop competing with my guard if another regression happens to me.

"Ex. Spend $15000 on new horns. This gives your music score a 20% boost, which degrades each season by 5% back to a base of no boost."

I think having seasonal bonuses like this is the only way that FMA will be competitive in the long run.

I have been a long time player off and on when it was FMB and even when players went to the forum during the time when FMB went offline. I have not donated to FMA before but I would gladly in order to have this fixed. I think it adds another dimension that would make the game more exciting while at the same time allowing directors to have more control with their ensembles.

here we go again...i benefited so far this season, but doesnt make it right

Nothing to look at ... move along !!!

Even without this happening to me, it still makes me wonder if the color guard circuit is worth participating in. This is crazy.

i guess i won my gold back that I lost when it happened to me lol however i still would love to see something updated--i mentioned before id even chip in for a fix if money was required.

I'm pretty sure Alex is an absentee host at this point. I emailed him a couple seasons ago and still haven't received a response. We're probably just lucky to have the site still running.

alex probably gets hundreds of emails a season i wouldn't respond to many either