Budget Issue (Player Dev vs $$ available for FA's)

kylemmie · 07-21-2011, 09:43 PM

Fictional League - Took over the worst team and pumped up the Player Dev Budget over a couple years as I shed bad contracts and rebuilt. I had it at $12M for the last two seasons and also made the playoff's the past two seasons so I am practically floating in cash atm compared to 4-5 years ago.

I've signed all the FA's that I am interested in and have over $9M left in the FA Budget. On day one of the Preseason I decide heck, lets up the Player Dev Budget another $3M (to $15M) and save the other $6M for emergencies.

But nope. I go to change it to $15M (from the $12M it was at) and it reverts to $4M instead. Thru trial and error I figure out the highest it will now let me set it at is $9.1M. After research I deduce this is because the Owner's Budget is limiting it. But I still have $9M in funds avail for FA signing if I was so inclined.

Is this WAD? As an Acct, I am curious as to what reason there is pigeonhole that $9M for only FA 'purchases' and not allow me to instead use it to help develop players already in my system?

Also....if I hadn't tried to 'up' the Player Dev Budget, it would have remained at $12M.....but now I can't go back and I'm stuck at that $9M number. Gnnnnnnnn

And why is the default $4M and not the 'League Average' $8M when I am clearly not in the 'broke as heck' category that the $4M setting is for?

Anyone have a workaround for this? The Owner is just gonna snake the extra Cash at the end of the Season....I'd really like to use it....or at least get it back to the $12M it was at before.

hluraven · 07-22-2011, 03:32 AM

The $4mil is the default because when you don't have enough money for the amount you put in, it reverts to the minimum which is half the league average.

As for why you can't put in the same amount you were previously allowed, I'm fairly sure that the development is taken from your remaining budget, but the amount you can sign free agents is your budget+start of season cash, which is why the FA budget is higher. The main problem as I see it is that you were allowed 12mil before but only 9 now, it should probably have not allowed you the 12 in the first place, or if that was ok then it should still be ok now.

RonCo · 07-22-2011, 10:07 AM

OOTP accountants are wonky and obsfucate things at every corner possible. The budget, being what you're allowed to spend, should be inclusive of current cash on-hand. Also, cash-on-hand is unclear at any particular time. For example, media revenue ... when is it paid? When does the team have it to spend? It's not very clear, and in reality does not seem to be very realistically done.

Corsairs · 07-22-2011, 10:14 AM

kylemmie, I may be wrong here, but I'm going to offer a guess as to why you suddenly had less to allocate towards your player development budget after the pre-season began. I think what might have happened is that OOTP began factoring in potential major league minimum contracts. Do you have a number of players on your active roster who are currently signed to minor league contracts? If so, I believe OOTP is now assuming that each one of those players will stay on the roster once the season starts and thus be assigned a major league minimum contract. Each one of those league minimum contracts adds up, and pretty soon you have much less available than you'd expect.

RonCo · 07-22-2011, 10:52 AM

I understand the concept of constraints and why some like them, but until OOTP actually figures out how cash gets managed I think it should notify/warn when it calculates you're taking a risky financial action...it should not keep you from doing it, though. Spending checks your owner can't cash should result in greater risk of firing as a natural event. Online leagues, of course, need to develop their own penalties.

kylemmie · 07-22-2011, 04:01 PM

Apprec all the replies - I think RonCo is the closest to understanding my basic question.

Corsairs, I understand what you are saying and could understand that being the issue - if - it had also reduced my "$ avail for FA's" at the same time.

My issue is that I have $9M I can freely spend...but ONLY on FA signings. I can spend it right now if I wanted. Did a test w/a copy of the League and it let me use every penny on (unneeded) FA's. But I cannot spend it on my own Farm System.

Why? Why is Player Dev tied irrevocably to my "Owners Budget" but FA signings not? Or....why is that $9M sitting in my "FA Bucket" not also on my Budget bottom line?

By definition it (the $9M) is an Asset that doesn't seem to flow to the bottom line anywhere.

Regardless of the logic (or lack of) represented on the 'Financials' Page, there definitely seems to be an issue that could trap unwary players.

If I had spent another $5M on FA's and then gone to the Player Dev Budget (since I can't until Pre-season) - I'd now be stuck at the minimum $4M in that. Despite the Financials Screen telling me I had $4M for FA's left with the $12M already tagged on the Budget Part, as soon as I would have tried to change that $12M Player Dev number (either up or down) it would have locked me into the minimum $4M number.

Not good at all, imho.

luger · 07-22-2011, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kylemmie

If I had spent another $5M on FA's and then gone to the Player Dev Budget (since I can't until Pre-season) - I'd now be stuck at the minimum $4M in that. Despite the Financials Screen telling me I had $4M for FA's left with the $12M already tagged on the Budget Part, as soon as I would have tried to change that $12M Player Dev number (either up or down) it would have locked me into the minimum $4M number.

This is one in regards to the one part of your issue. Call it what you want but the game doesn't readjust the player development money you allocate after the max number has been established for the year, even if you are over it. It should just automatically adjust to the new max if you over it but it does not and lets you stay in that place if you don't touch it. Or it should just start at $0 in the preseason, tell you your max and let you set it as you want before the season starts.

It reminds me of my fantasy keeper league where Miguel Cabrera was a 3B one year then lost his eligibility the next year but the guy never took him out of the 3B spot so he was still allowed to stay there on the site... however if he moved him out of the 3B spot even for a second then he'd never be able to put him back. But, anyway, I digress... I know what you're talking about and see the problem too but have just played around it.

Operation Shutdown · 07-22-2011, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kylemmie

Thru trial and error I figure out the highest it will now let me set it at is $9.1M. After research I deduce this is because the Owner's Budget is limiting it. But I still have $9M in funds avail for FA signing if I was so inclined.

This is an issue I've been trying to argue for a while now. Before with version 11, the only budget you had was a scouting budget. So, if you were over the owner's budget at the end of the preseason, it would automatically make it half of the league average.

Now since, we have national scouting, international scouting and player development budgets things are a lot more screwy. Just be glad that you didn't proceed to spring training with your player development set at $12 million. It would have kept your player development budget the same but completely wiped out your scouting budget (and since it's no longer pre-season you can't change it)

So, there's two issues here. One is that your total cash on hand from the previous season is not used to calculate money you have available for your scouting and player development budgets. Secondly, some sort of algorithm needs to be developed to determine how much of which budget is reduced by in order for your expenses to be within the owners budget (or owner's budget + cash).

kylemmie · 07-23-2011, 03:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Operation Shutdown

Now since, we have national scouting, international scouting and player development budgets things are a lot more screwy. Just be glad that you didn't proceed to spring training with your player development set at $12 million. It would have kept your player development budget the same but completely wiped out your scouting budget (and since it's no longer pre-season you can't change it)

ouch - that would suck. Luckily I don't play with Coaches or Scouting or this prob would have hit me even sooner.

I guess I'm just stumped by how something so simple as a set of expenses and assets and anticipated income could be handled so poorly in a game that obviously handles a lot of math and formulas as it's basic core function.

I mean.....a simple Balance Sheet is the first thing a first year Acct student learns. That $9M is either a (liquid) asset avail to be spent or it isn't. OOTP12, Pick one please

07-21-2011, 09:43 PM	#1
kylemmie Minors (Single A) Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 99	Budget Issue (Player Dev vs $$ available for FA's) Fictional League - Took over the worst team and pumped up the Player Dev Budget over a couple years as I shed bad contracts and rebuilt. I had it at $12M for the last two seasons and also made the playoff's the past two seasons so I am practically floating in cash atm compared to 4-5 years ago. I've signed all the FA's that I am interested in and have over $9M left in the FA Budget. On day one of the Preseason I decide heck, lets up the Player Dev Budget another $3M (to $15M) and save the other $6M for emergencies. But nope. I go to change it to $15M (from the $12M it was at) and it reverts to $4M instead. Thru trial and error I figure out the highest it will now let me set it at is $9.1M. After research I deduce this is because the Owner's Budget is limiting it. But I still have $9M in funds avail for FA signing if I was so inclined. Is this WAD? As an Acct, I am curious as to what reason there is pigeonhole that $9M for only FA 'purchases' and not allow me to instead use it to help develop players already in my system? Also....if I hadn't tried to 'up' the Player Dev Budget, it would have remained at $12M.....but now I can't go back and I'm stuck at that $9M number. Gnnnnnnnn And why is the default $4M and not the 'League Average' $8M when I am clearly not in the 'broke as heck' category that the $4M setting is for? Anyone have a workaround for this? The Owner is just gonna snake the extra Cash at the end of the Season....I'd really like to use it....or at least get it back to the $12M it was at before.

07-22-2011, 10:14 AM	#4
Corsairs Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 2,360	kylemmie, I may be wrong here, but I'm going to offer a guess as to why you suddenly had less to allocate towards your player development budget after the pre-season began. I think what might have happened is that OOTP began factoring in potential major league minimum contracts. Do you have a number of players on your active roster who are currently signed to minor league contracts? If so, I believe OOTP is now assuming that each one of those players will stay on the roster once the season starts and thus be assigned a major league minimum contract. Each one of those league minimum contracts adds up, and pretty soon you have much less available than you'd expect. __________________ Founder of the Planetary Extreme Baseball Alliance (PEBA) Premiere OOTP fictional league where creativity counts and imagination is your only limitation Check for openings - contact us today! Join the PEBA

07-22-2011, 03:32 AM	#2
hluraven Major Leagues Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: London, England Posts: 357	The $4mil is the default because when you don't have enough money for the amount you put in, it reverts to the minimum which is half the league average. As for why you can't put in the same amount you were previously allowed, I'm fairly sure that the development is taken from your remaining budget, but the amount you can sign free agents is your budget+start of season cash, which is why the FA budget is higher. The main problem as I see it is that you were allowed 12mil before but only 9 now, it should probably have not allowed you the 12 in the first place, or if that was ok then it should still be ok now.

07-22-2011, 10:07 AM	#3
RonCo Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 10,508	OOTP accountants are wonky and obsfucate things at every corner possible. The budget, being what you're allowed to spend, should be inclusive of current cash on-hand. Also, cash-on-hand is unclear at any particular time. For example, media revenue ... when is it paid? When does the team have it to spend? It's not very clear, and in reality does not seem to be very realistically done.

07-22-2011, 10:52 AM	#5
RonCo Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 10,508	I understand the concept of constraints and why some like them, but until OOTP actually figures out how cash gets managed I think it should notify/warn when it calculates you're taking a risky financial action...it should not keep you from doing it, though. Spending checks your owner can't cash should result in greater risk of firing as a natural event. Online leagues, of course, need to develop their own penalties.

07-22-2011, 04:01 PM	#6
kylemmie Minors (Single A) Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 99	Apprec all the replies - I think RonCo is the closest to understanding my basic question. Corsairs, I understand what you are saying and could understand that being the issue - if - it had also reduced my "$ avail for FA's" at the same time. My issue is that I have $9M I can freely spend...but ONLY on FA signings. I can spend it right now if I wanted. Did a test w/a copy of the League and it let me use every penny on (unneeded) FA's. But I cannot spend it on my own Farm System. Why? Why is Player Dev tied irrevocably to my "Owners Budget" but FA signings not? Or....why is that $9M sitting in my "FA Bucket" not also on my Budget bottom line? By definition it (the $9M) is an Asset that doesn't seem to flow to the bottom line anywhere. Regardless of the logic (or lack of) represented on the 'Financials' Page, there definitely seems to be an issue that could trap unwary players. If I had spent another $5M on FA's and then gone to the Player Dev Budget (since I can't until Pre-season) - I'd now be stuck at the minimum $4M in that. Despite the Financials Screen telling me I had $4M for FA's left with the $12M already tagged on the Budget Part, as soon as I would have tried to change that $12M Player Dev number (either up or down) it would have locked me into the minimum $4M number. Not good at all, imho.