OsRavan

tbh i think you miss the point.  If just being weak was enough to get to the top, there were plenty of other weak teams out there none of them got there.  I actually agree with you, we were far from the best fighting team.  SOmetimes the best fighting teams dont make it far either...  last year for instance I was on a team with an AMAZINGLY tight milcom running things (shout out to booniesheep) but they couldnt political outside a paper bag.  And we got eliminated somewhere in the middle.

A good team works with what you have and most teams have weaknesses and strong points. Gold Dust was somewhat sucky when it came to fighting compared to the lead teams.  A combo of who was on the team and lack of milcom experience organizing it.  I'd agree. That was our weakness.

Rocket scientists for instance you might argue had the reverse of our strengths and weaknesses.

If you think Gold Dust just stumbled into the number 2 place doing nothing by sorta Forest Gump luck you are pretty naive about how this game works.  They worked the backrooms and the politics ans maneuvered amazingly well.  

Heck... if you consider how weak the team was you could make an argument that how they played their proverbial poker hand was MORE impressive.

Also if you think Apex (or any other group) didnt make mistakes you are also naive.  Apex (to their credit) are a great team and their mistakes were not fatal and they 100% deserve their win.  But they were hardly 'perfect'.

Gold Dust also made mistakes.  And yes there were plays where maybe they could have gotten 1st place with some luck.  But their play was also good enough to beat out 10 other teams and get second place.

Gold Dusts talents were NOT good enough for first place. And they were NOT in the throw down fighting realm.  But their talents in maneuvering let them beat most teams out there.   And they didnt get second place by pity or luck lol.

hah for years my shoe size was the same as my age.  But im also 6'7 so its proportional.  im sure im not the tallest in torn but im probably up there.  Which tbh isnt always a good thing.  Im sure ive lost 20 IQ points to banging my head on doorways over the years, and try folding yourself into tiny seats? Blehc. And for the shoe size... random fact you probably dont care about.  I have HUGE issues getting into the back seats of sedan cars.  Not cause of the leg room, but my feet legit don't fit in the entry space between door and seat, so i need to bend over and like drag my feet into the car.

An ex of mine used to drive a fiat too...  which actually in the front seat is surprisingly roomy, but if you want to see a laughable sight look at the 6'7 guy (who isnt skinny tall either) folding himself in and out of that.

Tall people problems.

I wear size 17 shoes... to be honest I dont think i even WANT to be in a situation where you to listen to me... 'too much of a good thing' does exist.

I mean there are lots of ways to look at this.  TBH I actually have been impressed with Gold Dusts performance.  I mean would i have loved a number one finish? 100% yes.  And I think there was probably a window for it.  But if you had asked me at the start about being number 2? I'd be over the moon.  I genuinely think in terms of fighting ability we were one of the weaker teams... but through good plotting, leadership, manuevering, etc, we are likely to be number 2.  That isnt just luck.  Would a betrayal at the right moment have gotten us a win? Maybe yeah, might not have mattered either though.

Way I look at it every team is going to have weak points and strong points, and every leader will have mistakes and achievements.  Question is will the leader have more successes than failures.

Considering what we had to work with ive been beyond impressed with how gold dust performed.  In a game as cut throat as this, sure luck may matter but luck alone isnt getting you to the top 2.  You can lament not winning the whole thing fair, but I have a ton of respect for how far we did come.

I mean there's a lot of crimes i dont bother with once i get all the merits and max the skill?  Im sure a lot you dont too.  Thats fine.

I think its probably premature to talk about value with this one because the income is so dependent on the supplies.  Once a couple of hot new crimes come out the profit ratio will look radically different from this.  Plus.. well a few thoughts:

1. Remember theres going to be dozens of crimes once this is complete.  Most of them will be ones you work on as part of the 'ladder' so to speak not your go to eveyr day one.  They cant all be that of course
2. There is probably a good argument to make if at the end of the day 1-2 arsons, 1-2 disposals etc are good profit.. if you care about money that's actually a good thing.  If you think about it if thats probably actually the better way to design it if you want more crimes to stay somewhat relevant long term once skill is maxed out
3. As mentioned for something so reliant on market value the long term rate of return is going to be very hard to pin down until a few more crimes have come out
4. With dozens of crimes by definition not everyone will be the best return for money.  And money isnt the only reason to do these crimes (merits, ce for example)