And to think it was really just 18 months ago that the economy was a disaster because players were worthless and training was worthless and the only sensible thing to do was to tank and build up money, and that it was time to kill FA entirely.
(246993.1)Fun times indeed.
The thing here is that we're in a supply and demand environment where the demand can spike or plummet heavily based on the number of users, while the supply will take roughly a year or so to adjust. When the user base constricts by over 50%, and when the voices on the forum during that time keep hammering the message that training is worthless, especially if it's anything below the ultra-high-end potential players, it's no wonder that when the number of teams increases that all the lower to middle range guys that they'd really want to buy are very scarce. I'm not even sure FA would make a big dent in that, either, since it can only add players back to the pool that are actually being created or purchased, and as long as the market has been averse to making that type of player, it's not likely to help a lot.
The thing that I always am amused by is that no matter what the economic condition, it's always to the advantage of the big teams and the disadvantage of the little guys. Prices at rock bottom? Then it's only cup/arena revenue that matters, and only the top teams will have that, and therefore they can carry more wages and the little guy will never catch up. Prices too high? The little guy will never be able to upgrade their teams based on their lower income.
I suppose one could spend his or her time worrying about how they're getting screwed in the current economic climate, or instead take the view that no matter what the state of the market is, any player you train you should be able to use or transfer and replace with an equivalent talent.