The Holy Regiment is always prepared....... But thanks for the luck lol

Saxo.. Are you prepared to go up against someone who blew a lot of money to beat everyone by 15+ points? lol

I'm betting that he probably spent $40+ to boost his scores that much. While that strategy might work now.. he wouldn't even make the top 3 in Div1 today if the groups were scored exactly the same.. and to top it off the groups that would be outscoring him didn't have to put any money down..



Aaron,

I will give you some friendly advice/warning your little tactics are going to get VERY expensive and VERY fast. You are pretty much guaranteed to move up to Div 2 or even Div 1 next year.. and while your group does have SOME influence (if you consider 7th from last place) it's not going to do much good for next season. You are still going to be starting out from ground zero since you didn't let your groups mature naturally and you didn't play with a good strategy.. you basically just boosted your scores for one season but it's not going to do anything for you in the future. The ONLY way you are going to see any kind of success in the next season or any season in the near future is if you keep blowing money to beat your competition.. and once you leave Div 3.. your competition is not going to go down so easily. You are going to have to put down a lot of money at the beginning of each season just to start at the same place as the bigger groups.. and those groups are still going to pull away from you later in the season because of their harder shows (which is something you can NOT buy)

You said there is nothing wrong with starting strong and growing each season. That is very true, but you didn't start strong. You started in 7th place in 1 competition and then paid your way to finish strong.

FMA2 has been around for 18 seasons.. all of the top Div 1 groups you see today have earned their way to get there. Almost all of the groups have started out in Div 2/3 and gradually grew to be the powerhouses they are today... A few of us started out in Div 1.. and I'm the only one that has never been out of the top 5 in Div 1. Don't think you can just pay your way into the elite because you are going to be in for a rude awakening.

But please don't think I'm saying you are cheating or doing anything wrong... People can buy points to use for their groups.. that's fine.. that's what its there for.. and it helps support the site.. but please don't spend a crap load of money to almost 15 point the competition and then make a post about it congratulating your group like it was some big miracle or that you actually had to work at. You just come off as a sore loser and butt hurt that you took 7th at your first competition and trying to fish for compliments to make your "efforts" seem worthwhile.

But to each his own.

Good luck in the future.. We look forward to destroying you.
- All of Div 1

Cire, what I think that you are saying is actually very cynical and rude, especially for a moderator. Your assumptions are quite childish. I did not buy credits to win by 15 points. I bought credits to help the site and gain more influence in my first season. A sore loser? Really? There is nothing wrong with buying credits and there is nothing wrong with congratulating my group and other groups for making it to semifinals. They do not call it Fantasy marching arts for nothing.

They all "earned it"? You cannot say that other people have not bought credits to help boost their corps. How many credits have you bought? Don't bother answering the question, because I already know that an egocentric, arrogant person, such as yourself, will not answer this question honestly. Now I regret helping this site if I have to deal with people like you who hate on people for doing it.

"...and I'm the only one that has never been out of the top 5 in Div 1." Wow, great accomplishment for a fake game. You take this fantasy very seriously. If I have 40 bucks to spend on a game, which I am sure that I am not the only who does, it should be no concern to you. I hope that you are not an adult acting like a little kid over a game. Just saying ;)

It seems that there are a few haters on this site. I refuse to waste another dime to support the haters. I'll continue to play the game in silence if I choose to continue to play, because I refuse to associate with arrogant, egocentric people. Nevertheless, play your game and don't worry about how I play mine.

I'm not a hater.. I think you just made the wrong impression giving others the wrong assumption.

For example..
If you were really just trying to support the site (which is awesome btw) why did you do that AFTER you first show which you lost so bad, then claim to do it only for influence (which it looks like you only used it on rehearsal points), then post that "I was planning on taking the gold medal this season....", and then write a thread congratulating your group.

I don't think my assumptions were childish, I was just going by what I have seen.

I also never said that there was anything wrong with buying credits, that feature was put there for a reason. It is not wrong, bad, or cheating. I just thought it was a little low make a post about how good the group did when the only reason it did so good was because you paid for it. but maybe that's just me.

You are right.. this is a fantasy marching game.. it is not real life, so sit back, don't take it too seriously, have fun and enjoy yourself.. and if someone calls you out for buying yourself into 1st.. prove them wrong the next season by doing it how everyone else does it. But like I said.. to each his own.

I was also serious when I said we look forward to seeing you in Div 1.

Hey everyone, let's not devolve into fisticuffs. If anyone is to be blamed, it is myself for failing to account for the potential impact of the FMA Store. We are fortunate to have very generous people on this site who keep the servers paid for. Because of these people, everyone can enjoy the game. I don't have any functionality to lock topics - but I'd like to move back to some healthy discussion if everyone has gotten in their current points. Thanks!

+1

I am new to the site, and after the first show, it was apparent that I had much to learn about leveling up, gaining influence, boosting my staff, boosting my stats, gaining skill points, etc. You gain influence by leveling up, correct? You level up by rehearsing your corps and gaining experience, am I right? Therefore, the credits were bought to gain influence. The only aspect which does not carry over into the next season is stat points.

Now I have made my final points.

Thanks, Alex.

Don't worry Aaron.. we are all just here to have fun. The game is definitely about strategy, and noone has found a perfect strategy to win.. so just try something, if it doesn't work.. try something else. The longer you play, your groups will naturally get better and score higher.

To answer your question, you gain influence by several methods:
You can get more influence from the following:
Gaining a Director Level
Learning the Prominence Director Skill
Starting a Promotional Campaign
Performing at a regular season event
Performing in a finals event

I suggest reading through the Game Guide here - http://www.fantasymarchingarts.com/guide it's a short read but has some very good information in it.

Basically what it comes down to is strategy. Some people focus on season to season and rehearsing as much as possible, some focus long term and wait several seasons by doing nothing but campaigns to raise money to buy better staff or influence to gain better performers. From what I have seen, those who take their time and spend a few seasons raising money and influence will have the bigger impact in the end. There is point where the groups will do better when you focus more on rehearsing vs building staff, but it really comes down to strategy and how the director wants to play. Some people don't care about winning or placement but only want to focus on 1 caption like Music and they will end up being #1 in music but almost dead last in everything else.

You are right though that all of those things will affect your influence either directly or indirectly.. however I wouldn't suggest focusing on 1 aspect of the game (especially influence) if you want to be and stay successful. You need to have a very well rounded group.. Your groups will gain influence regardless.. so focus too much on that.

The stat points do not carry over, but having a very stat heavy season with everything else being low is going to have negative effects in the future.. Use real world DCI for example.. if you have a brand new corps with new members, but those members are all "the best" members from several different corps.. so theoretically the corps will do very well and will beat everyone in its division. But what happens the next season when all of that talent leaves and goes back to their original corps? You are left right where you started from with a "low level" corps, with no good members (stat points) but you are thrown into Div 2 or even Div 1 because of the previous seasons amazing finish.. so you go from dominating Div 3 and ending up in a Division where you might get lucky and not finish dead last every show. Say that does happen, chances are you will be moved back down to Div 3 the next season.. but the season(s) where you are moved up is going to hurt you in the long run because of this:

- You are in a division you cant win. If you don't win, you don't get influence. no influence, you can't attract better performers.. which means lower scores.
- You will still be new so your challenge level is going to be a lot lower than your competition.. which means your shows will be easier than everyone elses and easier to perfect, but your group won't be able to hang later in the season once the harder shows get cleaned (think peaking too early)
- A lot of people running shows will not accept groups with 0 or very low influence, because your influence has an impact on the amount of sales their show can make. I personally accept everyone on a first come first serve basis, but I would say the majority are pretty picky about who they accept. Less shows being accepted to = less influence

There is more, but you get the idea..

If you want to make the biggest impact you can while winning.. I suggest you for a few seasons to focus on campaigning to raise money to build your staff and a little on influence. Slowly build your groups up and you will be able to compete in whatever division you are placed in.

BTW.. I'm not trying to be mean or whatever in this reply, I was just trying to offer some advice and tips. and I apologize for it being so long.

It really doesn't bother me at all. It's part of the game, and he used it to win. So be it.

I would have a lot of questions if the Dark Knights remained in D3 next season, however.

Agreed. Hope to see them in Div 2 or preferably Div 1 next season!

Man, the first season I decide to take seriously in like two years, someone buys gold out from under me.

I was with the FMB for years an always workedy way up.