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Oceania and the now-defunct Australia football regions have faced a very unfortunate problem that is limiting growth and expansion of the leagues. Let's call this, 'The Oceania Problem'. This issue is compromised by multiple factors including promotional failures, the inability to hold onto new teams, and the dominance of the big teams.

PowerPlay Manager is a great game. Sure, it could use some vital improvements such as not having to wait years to get to the top of the leagues, but it is generally quite enjoyable and a good football manager simulation. However, in the Oceania region, there is no promotion whatsoever in any medium that I am aware of. This has an extremely negative effect on the current players because it means that we can't fill our top league. That's one league of 22 players! Meanwhile, players in Central Europe, who just by chance happen to live in the area that the game was established, have five or six tiers of leagues. That can be over 50 individual leagues! If the Oceania Problem is going to be fixed, then this is something that is going to have to be addressed immediately.

Oceania I.1 also just can't seem to keep new teams. To see why we must view this factor from the perspective of a new manager. They join, they enjoy all the features of the game for a couple of hours, and then suddenly they have run out of money or they see that there is very limited competition. The latter of these is what I believe to be the main problem. In Season 22 of Oceania I.1, there is a group of about 8 highly-experienced teams and then a handful of about 5 upcoming teams. A new player would see that these upcoming teams are their only viable competition in the near future, and leave as a result because five teams isn't a lot! This is a general problem that I don't see a plausible direct solution to.

A factor that is extremely prominent, and one that I nearly fell to myself not long ago, is the dominance of the big teams. Trueblue United, Colah Creek, Highland Terriers, Tylko LEGIA, FC Brisbane, FC Mission Bay, DrKGrgNZ, FC Kangaroo. These are some of the most powerful and successful Australian and New Zealand teams. In fact, it may well be impossible to topple any one of them for many seasons to come. I will relate this to my experience of this issue. I have played PowerPlay Manager for nearly 14 months, and about 2 months ago I considered quitting because I told myself that I would never make it to the top of the league, no matter how hard I tried, which made me generally dislike the game. In fact, the initial reason I decided not to re-run for Australia U20 general manager was because I wasn't sure that I would be around for another two seasons. Luckily, I'm still here, but for many players, knowing that it may well take 24 months to even simply match the teams at the top of the league results in a much less enjoyable experience. The solution to this is having a group of committed individuals, such as Fire Kickers and FC Walth, who are willing to push forward and expand our league.

All-in-all, what can practically be done to fix The Oceania Problem? To the PPM staff, if you want to ensure a greater gaming experience for your consumers (us, the players), then you must promote the game in some form, whether that be online or in mobile football games. Remember that the money spent on promotion could well have a financial return through the purchasing of credits by these new teams. To the managers of the Oceania I.1 league, what you can do is try to spread the word because not only will they be able to participate in a great game, but you and your fellow managers will benefit in the long-term from your better gaming experience. I sincerely hope that you have enjoyed reading this reflection and have learnt something from it, or at the very least generated some thought concerning the topic.

And if you didn't read all of that because, really, who can really be bothered to read 700+ words, then here's the main message: spread the PPM word because more players = a better game.

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