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whaleheader · 05-04-2018, 07:22 PM

Actually the baseball universe I'm trying to build is entirely different to the way people play games like Strat, DMB, and Dynasty. It also seems to be different from the way people are playing OOTP. I will try to explain.

Essentially I'm trying to play in the present.

When you play Strat, DMB, Dynasty and the like, you look back at a single season. You have perfect hindsight. If a player hit 50 homers in 2017 MLB, he'll be rated to hit 50 homers in the 2017 game version. (Of course, with the way things work in those games, he might very well hit 70 in the replay, which is something I've never liked.)

This is somewhat similar to the way people play historical leagues in OOTP. You pick out a season, say 1945, and play into the future using the historical progression as a tether to real baseball. Things are the same but different. Nevertheless, people have an idea how players careers will turn out.

Now, OOTP has another option. You can start with a real season and progress forward untethered to MLB. You proceed with no idea how things will play out. I can see the allure of such play. At some point in the future I might play in such a league. I'm not ready now, though, because I know the guys in my league, like those playing in OOTP historical leagues tied to MLB with autocalc, aren't ready to make the leap into totally fictitious players because they like the fantasy of being GM of real MLB players.

So, I'd like to keep my league tethered to real players.

Getting back to using the Strat-like model, another problem with those games is, you play the game in the season after the rated season. In 2018 you play the 2017 rated season.

In Dynasty/keeper league this creates a problem. Teams who don't play well often trade what few good players they have in the middle of the season when they see them playing poorly in real life. They often trade those players for less than full value for players who are doing well in real life. This is particularly a problem with leagues who play late into the real MLB season.

I'd like to have my current league season take place as close to real time as possible to minimize the perfect hindsight issue while keeping the game tethered to real life. At the same time, I'd like to keep the history of my league available. (I don't think I need to explain the last part.)

OOTP's release of the current season rosters seem like a great way to accomplish what I'm trying to do. The ratings are tied to real life but have enough variance to make current play less predictable. When you tie in some in-season development and add the the ability to utilize minor leaguers you end up with a model that's a lot closer to the experience of real-life GMs (with players you actually can watch on TV). Additionally, again using the current game (2019 this year), you can have an amateur draft of real players in a similar timeline to real life. To top it all off, my league can use the excellent AI and tracking the game has to offer.

To me, this would make my league as close to the real thing as possible.

05-04-2018, 07:22 PM	#15
whaleheader Major Leagues Join Date: Mar 2018 Posts: 312	Actually the baseball universe I'm trying to build is entirely different to the way people play games like Strat, DMB, and Dynasty. It also seems to be different from the way people are playing OOTP. I will try to explain. Essentially I'm trying to play in the present. When you play Strat, DMB, Dynasty and the like, you look back at a single season. You have perfect hindsight. If a player hit 50 homers in 2017 MLB, he'll be rated to hit 50 homers in the 2017 game version. (Of course, with the way things work in those games, he might very well hit 70 in the replay, which is something I've never liked.) This is somewhat similar to the way people play historical leagues in OOTP. You pick out a season, say 1945, and play into the future using the historical progression as a tether to real baseball. Things are the same but different. Nevertheless, people have an idea how players careers will turn out. Now, OOTP has another option. You can start with a real season and progress forward untethered to MLB. You proceed with no idea how things will play out. I can see the allure of such play. At some point in the future I might play in such a league. I'm not ready now, though, because I know the guys in my league, like those playing in OOTP historical leagues tied to MLB with autocalc, aren't ready to make the leap into totally fictitious players because they like the fantasy of being GM of real MLB players. So, I'd like to keep my league tethered to real players. Getting back to using the Strat-like model, another problem with those games is, you play the game in the season after the rated season. In 2018 you play the 2017 rated season. In Dynasty/keeper league this creates a problem. Teams who don't play well often trade what few good players they have in the middle of the season when they see them playing poorly in real life. They often trade those players for less than full value for players who are doing well in real life. This is particularly a problem with leagues who play late into the real MLB season. I'd like to have my current league season take place as close to real time as possible to minimize the perfect hindsight issue while keeping the game tethered to real life. At the same time, I'd like to keep the history of my league available. (I don't think I need to explain the last part.) OOTP's release of the current season rosters seem like a great way to accomplish what I'm trying to do. The ratings are tied to real life but have enough variance to make current play less predictable. When you tie in some in-season development and add the the ability to utilize minor leaguers you end up with a model that's a lot closer to the experience of real-life GMs (with players you actually can watch on TV). Additionally, again using the current game (2019 this year), you can have an amateur draft of real players in a similar timeline to real life. To top it all off, my league can use the excellent AI and tracking the game has to offer. To me, this would make my league as close to the real thing as possible.