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As a frequent participant in the threads/ flame wars that this subject has inspired I think what drove people nuts was the notion that it made the game more challenging. And it does. In much the same way it is more challenging to walk around your house blindfolded. It does not make the game harder if you know what I mean by the distinction. Having played as many games one way as the other I'd say my winning percentage is only slightly less with stats only.
I adopted this play style a few years ago and I've never looked back. The biggest benefit to it is you will appreciate the stat line in real life baseball more playing OOTP this way. It forces you to actually THINK about what these number mean (if they mean anything). Players who play with ratings on are still looking at stats. It is just one data point of several. With stats only it is one data point of a smaller set of data points so it becomes more important. Plus you end up relying on written scouting evaluations more. I mean really reading them. I like that aspect as well.
The drawback with this is drafting. The auto generated stat lines of draft pool players are meaningless IMO. If you are going to play stats only you need feeder leagues to make your draft pool. Then each pool player has a stat history to evaluate. Otherwise every pick is a crap shoot.
Give it a try. you are not married to it. Those ratings are still there and you can turn them back on at any time.
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