i wasn't necessarily down on this feature. i think part of the negative response that it got is because most of us are math guys. So it's not enough to say Player X has a 76 popularity. We want to know how it fits in the overall equation. And why doesn't Player Y have the same popularity if his stats (or ratings or whatever) are the same?
It helped me imagine what type of person the player was. If he had high popularity but low stats. i would think that this guy must be the guy that hangs around and signs all the autographs. Or he's really cute and all the female fans love him. Or something like that.
Anyway, i hope it stays. Or if it goes it comes back. But here are some additions/improvements for this feature.
1) IRL the All Star game is part a popularity contest. Allow the option for national popularity to be factored into who makes the all star team. You could even consider local popularity and the team's fan interest. A player that has a high local pop rating for a team with high fan interest would garner more "votes" because the home fans would be willing to stuff the ballot box for him. Take
Michael Monet for instance. With his stats and high pop ratings, he should've made the all star team this season. But he was snubbed.
2) Add the attendance boost for the home team when that day's starting pitcher has a high local popularity rating. And once he's played an adequate number of games, his stats should play a role, too. Fans won't continue to come to games to see a player if he isn't playing well.
3) Also, add a boost if a visiting player when they come to town. In this instance, the player has to have a high national popularity rating. And again, once he's played an adequate number of games, his stats should play a role, too.
The attendance boost doesn't have to come from every popular player on the visiting team, just the one with the highest popularity and on the active roster. (Fans in Houston don't come to Giants games if Bonds is injured.) And i would recommend the boosts be something along these lines: 4 pop rating +10%, 5 PR +20%, 6 PR +30%.
This would give the daily attendance some spikes. Especially, since promotions are being taken away. It doesn't seem realistic that a team would have the same 21,357 (*random number selected) every game; unless that was their maximum stadium capacity and they sold out every game.
4) Finally, there should be some fluidity to the pop ratings. Of course, it may be this way in the current version. We've only played a few seasons with it so i haven't had a chance to see this movement. But the Nation PR should sometimes change gradually over the seasons. If his stats are consistently higher, a no name should be able to become extremely popular and vice versa. i don't think Sammy Sosa will pull the same attendance this year as he would have when he was hitting 60 HRs a year. And, if a player goes to a new team, his Local PR should start off equal to his NPR. i understand there was something hidden that sort of controlled this but it should gradually find that level as the new team gets to know him. And he shouldn't shouldn't have the same LPR on every team. Maybe New York didn't like him. But maybe St. Louis did. Or maybe Los Angelas thought the guy was great but Philly didn't.