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Old 10-27-2018, 04:50 PM   #4
One Post Wonder
All Star Reserve
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 538
I did this a few years ago. Turned off trades, played stats only. It worked well; I actually struggled for a while and I was really happy with doing so. I remember having a league average starting pitcher as my number 3 guy, and I marveled that this guy who was going 11-14 and 12-10 every year was actually useful to my team. It was like real life!

In about 18 years of OOTP the only times the AI has forced me to play at my best was during that league, and during those times when I've created huge leagues, like 1 48 team division, where there are so many AI teams that one of them is bound to win 108 games and give me a run for my money. That's great fun, too... I once won 118 games and finished 7 games out.

Back on topic, I just kicked off another league with no trades. It's historical starting in 1871, with historical rookies showing up as free agents instead of a draft. This means that teams *should* only sign guys who meet their needs, and you won't have a team with 15 1b or something.

Also I've given each team a AAA squad, mainly to generate stats, and limited the roster to 35 which is the lowest recommended amount. This should mean people will get released and picked up by other teams over time.

I turned on 'cant be fired', since you can't put your stamp on a team for 2-3 years and you'd almost certainly be fired before you could accomplish anything.

Later on, I might create a small Indy league so free agents would be able to generate stats somewhere, and then give that league a $0 buyout so any player can be picked up by the majors. I'd like a higher buyout price but in my experience the AI will hardly buy anybody if I set the value above 0.

I've done so much experimentation over the years. I don't want to win the division by 20 games, but I also like the AI to be on the same playing field as me, so no house rules. Turning trades to 'very hard' breaks immersion IMO, since at that level the AI won't even make trades that will benefit its own team. 'Very Hard' doesn't mean a smarter AI. It just means more stubborn and I find it irritating.

tl;dr - It's a good way to play. You'll probably have to fool around with the settings a bit before the league works as you want it, but it can work.
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