OK... So last season I placed 14th for Drum Corp, 15th for Marching band, 8th for my guard, and 9th for my drum line. This season all my classes got bumper up to Division 1, and I'm taking 1st place in a bunch of my classes. Shouldn't I be placing somewhere around 30th? I'm nowhere near the highest director level in any of my classes so I'm just freaking out.

If anyone can answer some of my questions, that would be great!

-Blaski45

I don't know what's going on, but you can tell me what you're doing. =D

I'm just playing a lot... That's it. I'm in college so I have plenty of free time but that still shouldn't boost me from 50th place to 1st in 1 competition... LOL

wait... "I'm in college so I have plenty of free time"

does... not... compute...

So you're complaining that you're winning?

I think its because the guys who were way ahead during the summer went back to work or school and don't have the time anymore

Did you save a lot of money from previous seasons and spend it all on staff upgrades?

I noticed what you are saying too, with basically all of the top 10 groups in each area.. they were all placing really low last season in various divisions..

The only thing I can think of is that they have been mainly hosting huge shows to save up a TON of money, and then spent it all on staff... but you don't get THAT much points from staff upgrades, unless you have a LOT of money..

The other thing I can think of is maybe the technical aspect of the different parts of their shows are easier, so they score higher.. but they will eventually be passed by the more difficult shows, which take longer to "perfect"

-Apotheosis-

Yes, I have free time between my 6 classes because I actually do my homework on time and I go to EVERY class unless I'm dying. Some people just don't understand that school is easy if they understand everything that is going on in class and by doing that they need to get all the information by going to that class everyday (or whenever the class is) Missing school is the worst thing for me because then I don't learn the class content. The more you know before a test, the less you have to study, thus leading to more free time. (This is a ridiculously long answer for no reason ha ha)

-Cinman2-

No, if you read what I posted I said I was freaking out (A.K.A. excited) because I shouldn't be winning due to the fact that I'm ranked #40 for highest Director level.

-flamtap (nice name by the way)-

You have a really good point for some of the people, but that still doesn't mean that the 40 people that were beating me ALL went back to work. Good point though.

-Cire-

Yes! I had about $15,000 for each of my classes and I did spend it all on upgrading my staff, but I had no idea that the upgrades could effect me that much. and for the Technical aspect of each show... I have them all maxed out at the highest they can be. So does this mean that I'm starting out slow now (which I'm not) and going to get better towards the end of the season? That would skyrocket me to the top! I would like that lol. but I just had two (real life) marching band shows I needed to go to this weekend so I haven't been on since Friday. I'll have to work harder to try and catch up! 1st place here I come!

P.S. Thanks for the help everybody!

-Blaski45

You only have 6 classes?! I hate you. Ugh. I have 11.

Not really sure Blaski..

This season has been pretty interesting so far. The first two seasons I ended up winning/top 3 in div 1 for all of my groups... and had a set strategy I was going with.. I'm still doing it this season and so far I am still pretty much in the top 3 for each group, but almost everyone else i the top 10-15 are "new" from the past two seasons...

The only thing I can think of is that people were basically just stockpiling up on money the first two seasons and blew it all on staff for this season. Is it going to make a group win overall? Not sure.. but it can help. I'm not really sure how much the director level makes a difference, besides showing how many points you have. Staff upgrades help especially in the long run since those are points you keep every season... but I think the amount of points you get from staff upgrades is less than you would get from energy. I might be wrong, but that's how it seems.

It's going to be interesting to see how things turn out this season and next. If stockpiling money turns out to be a good strategy, then I think we are going to start seeing more of what has been going on this season in the future (compared to the first two)

-cire-

My friend tried saving up his money and he said that he lost all of it when the season restarted. He lost over $15,000 for each group, so I don't think you can save up money, but I'm not sure. Also you keep saying people are spending money on staff. I have already bought all my staff and am trying to upgrade them all. I might just be the way I'm interpreting your writing but it sounds like you are saying that there are other ways to spend money other than on staff and their upgrades... I don't know, the only thing I can think of why I'm doing so good is because I have been playing like five times a day because I'm stuck in a dorm.

Thanks for the feedback

-Blaski45

I don't see why he would lose money. Money is transferable from season to season.

@Blaski45
The losing money thing was a bug. There was a whole topic about it here:
http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/forums/viewtopic/393