Tiger Woods DIKU online

[shiznitz]

Excuse me if this is the wrong place, but it is a 100% online game.

Anyway, so I am doing work on Electronic Arts the stock for work and I read about the launch of Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online in the latest conference call transcript.  I figure I should at least take a look.  I haven't played a PC golf game since the Links 386 days, so...

I am impressed by the controls, the green grid, the overall feel of the game but am quickly told by those younger that those are old hat and nothing special. In fact, the graphics are probably quite a bit worse than a console or dedicated PC game.  But quality is not why I am posting.

It is free to play Tiger Woods DIKU online and that is how I started.  Your course offering is limited but the mechanics are all there to see if you like: XP and $ for golf performance. At this point, I haven't really figured out what XP is really good for.  You earn levels which I think define you as Amateur, Semi-Pro or Pro which gives you tournament access which is the best way to earn money.

Money is where you DIKU. Prize money and the little monetary awards you win while playing ($21 for a birdie, $50 for a drive over 250yds, etc.) is spent on improving your golfer's stats: swing strength, swing plane, tempo, touch, etc.  Each incremental improvement in each category costs incrementally more money.  Tournaments are where the real money is, though, and for those I think you have to be a subscriber.  I signed up for the $65 for a year plan.

You also start with 500 points which I quickly spent on clothes and a viking hat. After playing for a few weeks, I started to get frustrated with my rate of "improvement" playing a few tournaments a week. If you place in the middle of the pack, you can earn $10,000 a pop.  Skill improvements in the 3rd and 4th tier can run $1,500-2,000 a pop so the money goes fast.  So, I start perusing the equipment section.

Whatever you do, don't blow your complimentary 500 points on clothes. Buy the best irons you can get.  I bought 5500 points for $39.99 and spent about 1300 points on the best clubs.  My game changed dramatically.  It almost went to easy mode.  In fact, I think EA makes it too easy too soon - if you want to drop real money on more points.  You can buy gear with earned $ but good clubs cost $20,000 or more.  It is good you do not have to plunk down real $ to get better equipment, but the incentive is there.

So now I have the best clubs in the game. I promptly go from being in the 30s for most tournaments to being in the top 10 easily.  The balls just land closer to the pin more often with my new clubs. I am not doing anything differently in the the way I play.  It helps that I am driving the ball 300+ instead of 240+ for sure, but I don't even have to click the back spin setting to get backspin and I can fade and draw at will.

I expect I will be bored of this game in less than a month now, but it is nice to jump on after dinner for a 40 minute tournament round.  I have no idea what I am going to spend my remaining 4000+ points on.  That money is probably down the toilet.

[Kageru]

I expect I will be bored of this game in less than a month now, but it is nice to jump on after dinner for a 40 minute tournament round.  I have no idea what I am going to spend my remaining 4000+ points on.  That money is probably down the toilet.

It doesn't allow you to spend those points simulating the life of Tiger Woods off the course? What a missed opportunity.

[Threash]

I expect I will be bored of this game in less than a month now, but it is nice to jump on after dinner for a 40 minute tournament round.  I have no idea what I am going to spend my remaining 4000+ points on.  That money is probably down the toilet.

It doesn't allow you to spend those points simulating the life of Tiger Woods off the course? What a missed opportunity.

Yeah, you are basically playing the most boring part of Tiger Woods life.

[Goreschach]

I expect I will be bored of this game in less than a month now, but it is nice to jump on after dinner for a 40 minute tournament round.  I have no idea what I am going to spend my remaining 4000+ points on.  That money is probably down the toilet.

It doesn't allow you to spend those points simulating the life of Tiger Woods off the course? What a missed opportunity.

Yeah, you are basically playing the most boring part of Tiger Woods life.

What about Tiger Woods' Knee Rehab?

[Azazel]

I would only play the "After Dark" expansion pack for this game. 

[HaemishM]

For free, it's not a bad game. But I'd never spend money on it. Early on, I got into a tournament, started playing and did what I thought was reasonably well. I think I was somewhere around 1 or 2 over. I start looking at the tourney leaderboard and see people playing these pro courses with scores of 89 UNDER. And it wasn't just one guy, the entire leaderboard was lit up like that. Either it gets stupidly unrealistic in later games (at which point why the fuck play a realistic golf game? Just give people cybernetic golf clubs for arms or making transforming golf cart robots for avatars) or there is a shitload of exploiting and hacking. Either way, it is most certainly not something to spend real money on.

[WayAbvPar]

How does it compare with TWPAGT11 on the consoles (especially controls-wise)? I am currently addicted to that. Got my first ace over the weekend, in fact. Also had a 470 yard drive- had a 30 mph wind at my back and drove the green on a 477 yard par 4  

[Rasix]

Also had a 470 yard drive- had a 30 mph wind at my back and drove the green on a 477 yard par 4  

Yah...  I think the second I did that I'd stop playing the game.  

[Bandit]

How does it compare with TWPAGT11 on the consoles (especially controls-wise)? I am currently addicted to that. Got my first ace over the weekend, in fact. Also had a 470 yard drive- had a 30 mph wind at my back and drove the green on a 477 yard par 4  

I never knew you could watch highlights from other players - nice green "sweater-vest"

[WayAbvPar]

Also had a 470 yard drive- had a 30 mph wind at my back and drove the green on a 477 yard par 4  

Yah...  I think the second I did that I'd stop playing the game.  

Yeah- toward the end game I imagine there are all sorts of crazy numbers. My character is at about 80% in the power level, and I just bought a new shirt that added 10% swing speed, so that probably helped. I am pretty sure it was downhill though, so with that and the HUGE wind (10 mph is significant, 30 mph is like a fucking hurricane) it wasn't THAT outrageous. I missed the eagle putt too.

I never knew you could watch highlights from other players - nice green "sweater-vest"

Heh. I am always torn between power up wearables and making the most hideous outfit possible. It is going to take a long time to collect all the goodies, but eventually I should be able to get some really eye-searing combos together. As far as the highlights, most EA Sports games support uploaded highlights now (part of the online key rape they are foisting onto used game buyers, so they have to give some extra value). EA Sports World is actually kind of a fun site if you play a lot of their games- you can track your online stats, view uploaded videos, etc. Its functionality and layout are a bit wonky, but when you can actually find the content it is cool.

[Malakili]

Hmm just tried this out, its actually a pretty decent golf game.  Is it worth spending money on, The 40 bucks a year for a membership but you can play all the courses all you want sounds somewhat enticing, but I don't like the idea of spending money on virtual clubs and junk.

[HaemishM]

If you plan to play by yourself or with a few friends, it might be worth the sub money. If you plan to try and play competitively, except to spend more than $40.

[shiznitz]

For free, it's not a bad game. But I'd never spend money on it. Early on, I got into a tournament, started playing and did what I thought was reasonably well. I think I was somewhere around 1 or 2 over. I start looking at the tourney leaderboard and see people playing these pro courses with scores of 89 UNDER. And it wasn't just one guy, the entire leaderboard was lit up like that. Either it gets stupidly unrealistic in later games (at which point why the fuck play a realistic golf game? Just give people cybernetic golf clubs for arms or making transforming golf cart robots for avatars) or there is a shitload of exploiting and hacking. Either way, it is most certainly not something to spend real money on.

You hit the nail on the head. In the one round tournaments I play, the leader is usually at -17 to -22.  The only exception is the extreme wind condition tournaments where I can get in the top 10 with a -5 or so.  I have no idea why I am so much better (relatively) in extreme winds than other players.

 EA over-DIKUed a golf game, clearly. I think they should have focused more on the social part in some way.  When you play a normal round, other players shot can be whizzing around you, which I like, but it would be nice to see their avatars too.

They are clearly trying to maximize short term profits since the game gets ridiculously boring fast if you can shoot -20 regularly.

[Malakili]

The reason I'm somewhat tempted to get the 40 dollar subscription is just that a single course is going to get boring, and be able to choose any course is nice. 

Honestly, the real appeal here is that my father really loves computer golf games, and I used to go over to his house and play with him on the computer where we would literally just switch spots in the chair every shot and so forth.  Now that I live quite far away it would be nice to play a 30 minute round with him once a week or so, and it seems like this might be a decent game to pull that off.

[HaemishM]

The free play courses aren't always restricted to one course. They'll send you emails every now and then which tells you "these 3 courses open to everyone" or "2 courses for free play" or some such. It's not always the same course.

[shiznitz]

Well, I placed in the top 20 in two tournaments over the last week, earning over $300,000. I have a good chunk of my "stats" at level 4 or maxed.  All as a direct result - if you remember from my original post - of buying the best clubs in the game with real $.  I also figured out what I can spend my 4,000 extra points on.  The game has a nice limited use feature called Shot Preview. I holed out several chip shots as a result of it.  Still, prize money will quickly become useless to me and then this just becomes a golf game with an annual fee.

I am also annoyed that there is no option to load the courses on my harddrive. It takes a good 30 seconds to launch a round.