Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad K
I'm not certain I consider knowledge of historical players part of rules.
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ok, I appreciate that perspective. But there are clearly rules that constrain what we can know about players (scouting accuracy) and how they will progress (TCR, potentials, personality & coaching) and historical knowledge of players renders all of those rules irrelevant to you and I.
When the game offers you, at the hardest difficulty, a player who you know will be productive into his late 30s for a slightly better player who you know will fall off a cliff in 1-2 years, that's an unfair advantage for you.
When all of the teams pass on Steve Carlton or Phil Niekro in the amateur draft because they are classified as relievers, or Tommy John drops all of the way to round 3, you can't ignore that as something that maybe you should create rules for.
It's very challenging to develop a set of house rules for the historical game that feels fair to the AI while still giving yourself some flexibility in building a team.
I will never initiate trades at all with the AI or even shop players although I will in some games consider AI trades proposed to me as offered (i.e. no discussion). I always use my scout's recommendation for my first-round draft pick, good or bad. I won't draft relievers until round 3. I also shrink the reserve roster enough to create a reasonable FA pool (this helps the AI, too), but I only allow myself the initial offer to a free agent at his asking price. If he starts a bidding war between teams, I don't participate.
That's challenge mode for me.
edit: another thing I often do is not maintain a reserve roster. iow, my 24-man roster is all I have so when I make a trade that imbalances me positionally (i.e a 3B for an OF), then sometimes I need to rush to the FA pool to sign some replacement-level player to fill the missing spot. This means I have to put a premium on those backup players who can play IF and OF. And a positional player that can serve as an emergency 3rd catcher? Gold.