chiaro:scuro wrote:
But if the OP's gathering data about the differences between GP and non-GP players, shouldn't he avoid selection bias by considering all non-GP players, rather than seeking out a specific group of non-GP players?
That assumes the OP isn't seeking out a specific answer to his query.
Threads like this are less often attempts at honest inquiry than an exercise in bias confirmation. When eternalpaw asks the following leading question:
"Would the fact that you were getting owned daily have any effect on your wanting to continue with the game? There are so many more reset ships with insane productions and such in today's GL than there were when you originally started." I think that expresses exactly where he is coming from and what he is trying to prove with his request for ship logs: that "GL is just
impossible for anybody starting out today who isn't a reset or huge GP spender!"
Frankly, even if this is an honest experiment, it's kinda like flogging a dead horse. Everybody already knows the answer. I mean, if two players of equal skill and luck start out the same day and only one of them spends GP, the GP spender is going to have a noticeable advantage (especially if we are talking Mission Dyson/Rift-type advantages). This isn't to say you can't have a strong ship spending zero or minimal GP if you play smart, of course -- you are a great example of somebody who's built a scary ship through intelligent planning and discipline -- but the advantage provided by Mission Dysons, Trinity Cores, etc. is real.
At the same time, if you are willing to actually read a little bit and avoid randomly clicking on everything you see, you don't have to be a GP spender or reset with 100 Dysons waiting for you to do well at low ranks, either. Again, you'll always do
better with better planets and ship modules -- common sense -- but you can still do quite well for yourself if you play intelligently and with patience, even if you spend nothing on the game.
tbh, my biggest concern for new players,
far more than feeling like they have to spend GP to "keep up" or running into scary resets/SSBs/Slow Rankers on the BT is that they land in a legion full of tumbleweeds and quit the game because they receive no advice or encouragement.