Building and retaining a franchise question

Redbird · 01-30-2002, 09:49 AM

I played the demo ootp3 and had no problem building a powerhouse team by trading and signing FA's. Is this common? Is there any real challenge in building a franchise?

JWay · 01-30-2002, 10:11 AM

most people set house rules so you dont overrun everyone. i like to keep my market small.

DaCubFan · 01-30-2002, 10:12 AM

There is if you're up against other GM's that won't accept whatever trade you throw their way.

Scott Vibert · 01-30-2002, 10:17 AM

It all depends on your financial situation. If you are a bigger market team you can build powerhouse teams quite easily (as the New York Yankees do in real life).

As humans aren't governed by the same rules that computer AI must be governed, we can more accurately predict what the computer might accept and this can be used to exploit the AI during trades and in any game in general. If you decide to exploit the loopholes and make unrealistic trades, then yes you can build a team very, very easily.

Keep in mind the demo only goes for a part of the first season (if I remember right) so that if a team gets on a hot (or cold) streak early it can skew the results. Additionally all your big money free agent signings and trades may have seriously hamstrung your team for years down the road, but you won't see that in the demo. (Its very possible to buy a title in this game (as the Marlins did in 1997) however the consequences can hurt you down the road.

If you choose to play realistically you can find the game a decent challenge, try using a smaller market and weaker team (Tampa?) and build them up or try to only make realistic deals or not to exploit the contract offering dialogue. (Of course don't touch the editor either

) You could always try to play with financials and free agency off, this means you'll have to build from within and if you couple no free agency with only making "realistic" trades you can find it incredibly hard to build a winner from a perennial loser.

I often will start fictional leagues sim the league for five seasons and take over the team that has been the consistently worse and seems to be on a downward slide. Then I take them over and see if I can turn them around, if I do, I move on to the next team and repeat. Obviously if you always dominate each game the game loses its appeal quickly (IMO).

The other way this game becomes incredibly fun is if you join an online league... then you aren't competing against unthinking AI, you have to match wits with other real live, thinking humans, which of course is much more challenging.

If you play the game to exploit the weaknesses in the AI, yes it'll be easy (as with any game), but if you play somewhat realistically it can be more challenging and you can always set up a new scenario to see how well you can do (try taking that 1904 Washington Senators team that had a sub-.300 winning percentage to the World Series without any free agency and with realistic trades and rookies assigned to their original teams.

The beauty of the game is it is what you make of it. If you want to win constantly and always be dominant, you can do that. If you want a challenge you can do that, if you want to compete against humans, you can do that, if you want to relieve baseball history you can do that, and if you want to set up your own fictional baseball universe you can do that too. The game is your sandbox, do what you want with it.

Redbird · 01-30-2002, 10:41 AM

Thanks for your comments. I was hoping that I would not have to do much handcuffing in order for the AI to challenge me.

I was using St Louis with Rolen's latest roster set. I had no weaknesses. It was my first 1/2 season. I understand that the Cards are expected to be very good, that is why I was curious about the trade AI.

Will a small market grow by winning consistently?

What is a realistic trade? When I trade I want the better deal! I was able to get some good prospects fairly easy, but I am not sure if the trades were really as good as they looked. Are the ratings pretty much cut and dry? Could I have traded off a great thinking that he was a dud or vv?

Steve Kuffrey · 01-30-2002, 02:35 PM

Rating vary, especially if you are using scouts and coaches(the better these are the "closer" to the real ratings you will SEE). Hint, you won't ever see the actual ratings. If you're not careful you can get ripped off (especially if scouts, etc are used).

hellfrozeover · 01-30-2002, 05:15 PM

You beat me to it.

01-30-2002, 09:49 AM	#1
Redbird Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 38	Building and retaining a franchise question I played the demo ootp3 and had no problem building a powerhouse team by trading and signing FA's. Is this common? Is there any real challenge in building a franchise?

01-30-2002, 10:12 AM	#3
DaCubFan Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Illinois Posts: 232	There is if you're up against other GM's that won't accept whatever trade you throw their way. __________________ Baseball... It's the only game!!

01-30-2002, 02:35 PM	#6
Steve Kuffrey Administrator Join Date: Jul 1999 Location: S.E. TN - Georgia born and raised Posts: 17,023	Rating vary, especially if you are using scouts and coaches(the better these are the "closer" to the real ratings you will SEE). Hint, you won't ever see the actual ratings. If you're not careful you can get ripped off (especially if scouts, etc are used). __________________ Steve Kuffrey DABS Atlanta Braves - 2008 Eastern Division Champ *DBLC Atlanta Braves - 2011, 2014 East Division Champ, 2012, 2013 NL Wildcard Baseball Maelstrom-Montreal Expos-2013 Tourney winner, 2014 WC Team Sparky's League - Tampa Bay D'Rays Epicenter Baseball League - Astros 2014 The CBL Rewind - Phillies '95

01-30-2002, 05:15 PM	#7
hellfrozeover All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Chicago Posts: 1,130	You beat me to it. __________________ FBA Chicago Syndicate Former Owner: WBL Minnesota Twins 2004 - 2007 AL Central Division Champs OOL Chicago Whales 2006, 2009 UL East Champs; 2006, 2009 United League Champs IBA Lehigh Valley Diamonds 2006 Governor's Cup Champions VSLB New York Yankees 2001, 2002 AL East Division Champs ILBL Commissioner/Chicago Cubs 2002 NL Central Division Champs; 2002 National League Champs ASBL New York Yankees 2006 AL East Division Champs

01-30-2002, 10:11 AM	#2
JWay Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Sioux Falls, SD Posts: 5,021	most people set house rules so you dont overrun everyone. i like to keep my market small.

01-30-2002, 10:17 AM	#4
Scott Vibert Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: My Computer Posts: 8,209	It all depends on your financial situation. If you are a bigger market team you can build powerhouse teams quite easily (as the New York Yankees do in real life). As humans aren't governed by the same rules that computer AI must be governed, we can more accurately predict what the computer might accept and this can be used to exploit the AI during trades and in any game in general. If you decide to exploit the loopholes and make unrealistic trades, then yes you can build a team very, very easily. Keep in mind the demo only goes for a part of the first season (if I remember right) so that if a team gets on a hot (or cold) streak early it can skew the results. Additionally all your big money free agent signings and trades may have seriously hamstrung your team for years down the road, but you won't see that in the demo. (Its very possible to buy a title in this game (as the Marlins did in 1997) however the consequences can hurt you down the road. If you choose to play realistically you can find the game a decent challenge, try using a smaller market and weaker team (Tampa?) and build them up or try to only make realistic deals or not to exploit the contract offering dialogue. (Of course don't touch the editor either ) You could always try to play with financials and free agency off, this means you'll have to build from within and if you couple no free agency with only making "realistic" trades you can find it incredibly hard to build a winner from a perennial loser. I often will start fictional leagues sim the league for five seasons and take over the team that has been the consistently worse and seems to be on a downward slide. Then I take them over and see if I can turn them around, if I do, I move on to the next team and repeat. Obviously if you always dominate each game the game loses its appeal quickly (IMO). The other way this game becomes incredibly fun is if you join an online league... then you aren't competing against unthinking AI, you have to match wits with other real live, thinking humans, which of course is much more challenging. If you play the game to exploit the weaknesses in the AI, yes it'll be easy (as with any game), but if you play somewhat realistically it can be more challenging and you can always set up a new scenario to see how well you can do (try taking that 1904 Washington Senators team that had a sub-.300 winning percentage to the World Series without any free agency and with realistic trades and rookies assigned to their original teams. The beauty of the game is it is what you make of it. If you want to win constantly and always be dominant, you can do that. If you want a challenge you can do that, if you want to compete against humans, you can do that, if you want to relieve baseball history you can do that, and if you want to set up your own fictional baseball universe you can do that too. The game is your sandbox, do what you want with it.

01-30-2002, 10:41 AM	#5
Redbird Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 38	Thanks for your comments. I was hoping that I would not have to do much handcuffing in order for the AI to challenge me. I was using St Louis with Rolen's latest roster set. I had no weaknesses. It was my first 1/2 season. I understand that the Cards are expected to be very good, that is why I was curious about the trade AI. Will a small market grow by winning consistently? What is a realistic trade? When I trade I want the better deal! I was able to get some good prospects fairly easy, but I am not sure if the trades were really as good as they looked. Are the ratings pretty much cut and dry? Could I have traded off a great thinking that he was a dud or vv?