Some of these reasons to suggest this is not or should not be replicated literally make me shake my head. From what I've read I think the biggest issue I;m seeing is the perspective one is choosing to look through.
1. Some people play the game and want an alternative reality that does not follow real life. That's cool but that does not make those who want real life to be replicated to be diminished. We should ave both options because they appeal to a wider set of users. Yes, if I want an exact replication, I can use recal and historic lineups and transactions. But it shouldn't be that or complete fantasy. I dont buy that the game is completely fictitious once you hit advance for one day. That would make league totals, historic transactions, lineups, financials, etc all moot. There has been a HUGE investment into allowing the game to re-create the past while giving the user an option to deviate from reality at their choosing. This particular area seems to be an oversight.
B. Eras. The argument was made that leaving a pitcher in to get a no-hitter is not realistic. Yet, it is. At least up until the past few years. Up until the 2010's and all of the advanced metrics became the norm, it was absolutely, 100% a no-brianer that you leave a SP in to try and finish a no-hitter (with rare exceptions). I think this is one of the areas the game does not handle well. Despite all of the resources put into replicating the rules of different eras, the game is essentially the played the same through all eras. You can play in 1900 and teams, it seems, use WAR and advanced scouting, etc to make decisions. Stuff that was not even conceived back then. I don't disagree that the Ripken streak will never be seen again because it just doesn't make sense based on the metrics of today. However, there was a time when those metrics didn't exist and players managed on "gut" and players played through injuries because it was the "right" thing to do.
Now, the hard part. How do you add that to the game? I'm not sure. I get the argument that you dont want a bunch of guys reaching that streak. But who is to say one of the guys with 1,000+ doesnt actually break the streak if we re-wound and played history over? Maybe they stay healthy and Ripken doesn't? We don't know. But what we do know is that the game will 100% never re-create that. Even the 1,000 game streak. It just won't do it. It will sit guys and give them rest. I'd like to see that change.
Is recognizing the streak enough? Maybe. Maybe you set a threshold of 1,000 games and if that's in tact the AI preserves it unless an injury that must make them sit occurs. Heck, maybe at 500 games it preserves it unless its a certain injury threshold. It seems reasonable that it can be done. The trick, maybe, is how does the game know someone coming in has that kind of streak in tact? Does the data signify that? Could it look at the games played and if they had 162 in every season just assume? Probably not ideal with rain outs and tie breaker games. Either way, its seems conceivable.
Maybe the game adds ratings like toughness or a play through inquiry rating? Maybe those guys fatigue a little less and dont need to sit and that helps extend it? As long as only players who played in 162 games (or whatever the total was for that year) get a very high number then it shouldn't get too out of control.
Lastly, I think we need a VAST overhaul of an era system. World of Mixed Martial Arts is interesting because it has rules sets and strategies that change during different eras. You can also set these yourself. It would be nice if stats were limited by era. I know that probably difficult with formatting on screen but would replicate the past better and make historicals much more fun. Maybe you just gray them out or dont show them like they do with Overall if you play potential only? It would be nice if teams didnt always use WAR and FIP and all of these advanced analytics. It would be cool if AVG and HRs were what mattered during the eras in which they really mattered. I get that the user can exploit that, especially if the game is showing it, but that's their choice. If a user's goal is use data he has in 2019 to exploit teams in 1919, let him. If they want to bring those stats back into that era and compete against A that uses them, cool, let them do that too.
I worry OOTP is going the way of most other sports games. I liken historicals to franchise modes in console games. Fictional games in OOTP are, to me, like play now or a straight season mode. Perfect team is obviously like Ultimate Team or Diamond Dynasty. I feel like historicals were a big part of this game for a LONG time and are now kind of an after thought and get more and more fictional every year. That's very unfortunate
