Exactly.
This "best fares" spiel we get trotted out applied just as much to Metcard. You got a better price per trip the more you prepaid. A weekly was cheaper than 7 x Daily which in turn was cheaper than 12 x 12-hours.
I might be able to save a few cents - sometimes even a few dollars - here and there but I also ask for the convenience of a walk-up system and pay-as-you-enter.
Of course the myki fares for metro zone 1/2 are the same as a multi trip metcard. I was talking about VLine. There's no way to make back the cost of your myki on metro zone 1/2, as there's no other option!
The time based automatic daily cap, and touching on after 6pm=rest of day travel rules are new to VLine.
And it's a lot more than a few cents. If you travel Bendigo - SCS return, and depart after 6pm:
VLine fare: 2x$18.90=$37.80 (off-peak)
myki fare: $18.90. Return trip is free as it's after 6pm.
Saving: $18.90
Not saying it's a popular journey (of course it's not, otherwise it wouldn't be free!). But I have done it in the past, and sure wish I had myki then. Possibly one of the few times I've ever thought that....
Another, more likely journey, is to queue up to buy a peak return ticket in Bendigo in the morning, but miss it coming home, and take a later off-peak train instead.
VLine fare: 2x$27.00 (peak)=$54
myki: $27+18.90 (peak+off peak)= $45.90
Saving: $8.10
My point is, you can save much much more than the $6 card cost, on the very day you get it. If you don't live in Bendigo, it might take a little longer to make the difference...maybe 2 or 3 days even.
If you aren't interested in that, you can
always walk up to the ticket office at the VLine station and buy your ticket there. And at this point it doesn't matter if they decide to keep paper tickets on for VLine or not: as a irregular 'I don't care give me a ticket' user, what does it matter if you have to pay an extra $6 above the 'discounted' fare other commuters pay?
(excluding unstaffed VLine stations - I'm unfamiliar with how those users currently get tickets. Is it just from the conductor on the train?)
And I already agree about short term tickets on trams.