[actionjackson]

Originally Posted by wwines

Glad to see I am not the only one confused. My main areas of confusion are the following:

What is the difference between Real Stats and Neutralized Stats, and what effect do they have on the game?

Is it best to use minors or reserve roster?

Will the current in game database have Negro and Japan players or is it necessary to use the Spritze database?

Financials on or off or do they not matter?

Reserve clause rules or current MLB Free Agency set up?

Thanks for the help guys!!!

Real Stats = The actual stats a player accumulated IRL, supposedly not adjusted for ballpark, era, run scoring environment etc, but there is some adjustment that goes on in Random Debut. I think this is to allow for players that had high relative pop in their era, but had a low HR total to hit HR appropriate to the era you transport them to. Same thing for pitchers that had a high strikeout rate relative to their era, to allow for them to strikeout an appropriate amount of hitters relative to the era that they are transported to.

Neutralized Stats = Player stats are neutralized to a 750-run (per team per 162 games) environment, adjusted for ballpark, era, run scoring environment etc. They are also used to fill in any gaps that may have existed in a player's career (e.g. injuries, wartime service, early retirement with a return to the game later) with a typical season for that player. Watch out though. With Neutralized Stats some position players who pitched extremely rarely (e.g. Ted Williams) will become pitchers in their gap years (i.e. Ted's wartime service years). There are pros and cons to both. You have to decide what's right for you. Of course, you can always replace players with players from the Spritze database if you don't like where their stats may lead them, but remember the Spritze database does not feature the neutralized to a 750-run environment feature that Neutralized Stats do. It's more a case of stats being based on MLEs (Major League Equivalents).

I myself use unlimited reserve rosters because I'm a bit of a simpleton and I like a simple setup. It also helps to avoid the sign/release/sign/release/sign/release bug that has plagued this game for a while now. It's also easier on the AI (and me). Anything that helps the AI helps improve the quality of your game in my eyes, even if it's not "real" baseball.

I use the Spritze database to import players who played outside of MLB, but they can also be imported from the MiLB database. Just remember to get the code right because it's a different code for each player from the MLB database code.

I use financials, but it's really up to you whether you want to use them or not. Turning them off will turn off the possibility of free agency of course, which is a valuable part of talent distribution in your league, but a game can still be played with them off.

With regard to reserve clause era rules or free agency, again it depends on what you're comfortable with. Maybe you want the reserve clause throughout baseball history. Maybe you want things to unfold as they actually did IRL, or maybe you want free agency throughout history. One of the strengths of OOTP is its customization. It can be customized to your heart's content or you can play it basically as is out of the proverbial box.

Enjoy the game.