Talent Display After Age 30

Buane · 01-07-2026, 12:46 PM

I've made this suggestion for previous versions and hoping it can get some attention as a minor cosmetic fix that would really help leagues that run with actual talents hidden (potential-only leagues).

A few versions ago there was a change made to how OOTP displayed player batting/pitching talents. As soon as the player hits age 30 in-game, their displayed "potential" ratings drop to match their "actual" ratings.

I get the logic behind this - potential is only potential up to a certain point, right? Sure it's not the grandest solution to just use Age 30 as an arbitrary cutoff but whatever, it does what it's trying to do. The issue is it robs Potential Only leagues of a lot of the nuance around their interpretation of player talents. It's one thing to suspect a player doesn't really have an 8/10 EYE rating, and it's another thing to see it drop to 5/10 on their 30th birthday.

The biggest impact though is probably when it comes to aging players. Since the potential talent will drop as the actual talent does, there's no longer any mystery at all surrounding that 38-year-old former #1 starter and whether he's got it or not. There's no trying to interpret whether that 35-year-old's starting to get worn down by the march of time or if he's just having a down season - you can see it right there in his ratings.

In short, potential talents lockstep matching actual talents post-age-30 is robbing Potential Only leagues of some of the biggest reasons to play a Potential Only league. I'd really love it if some kind of checkbox could exist where we could toggle the option to have potential talents match actuals after a certain age, or whether potential should always display potential regardless.

I'm hopeful this is a pretty easy addition, and it would really pay dividends / give a reason for these kinds of leagues to continue to exist!

Jontler · 01-09-2026, 12:30 PM

I'll throw out there that this causes artificial behavioral changes in our league. There are a lot of GMs that will hold off on trading for a player as they approach 30 because they want to see what their real ratings are, or they'll hold off on extensions until they see that information. It's a bit silly, given the player performances are well-established by then, but it's one of those "this is how humans work" things that is easy to eliminate with a modest change.

01-07-2026, 12:46 PM	#1
Buane Minors (Double A) Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 164	Talent Display After Age 30 I've made this suggestion for previous versions and hoping it can get some attention as a minor cosmetic fix that would really help leagues that run with actual talents hidden (potential-only leagues). A few versions ago there was a change made to how OOTP displayed player batting/pitching talents. As soon as the player hits age 30 in-game, their displayed "potential" ratings drop to match their "actual" ratings. I get the logic behind this - potential is only potential up to a certain point, right? Sure it's not the grandest solution to just use Age 30 as an arbitrary cutoff but whatever, it does what it's trying to do. The issue is it robs Potential Only leagues of a lot of the nuance around their interpretation of player talents. It's one thing to suspect a player doesn't really have an 8/10 EYE rating, and it's another thing to see it drop to 5/10 on their 30th birthday. The biggest impact though is probably when it comes to aging players. Since the potential talent will drop as the actual talent does, there's no longer any mystery at all surrounding that 38-year-old former #1 starter and whether he's got it or not. There's no trying to interpret whether that 35-year-old's starting to get worn down by the march of time or if he's just having a down season - you can see it right there in his ratings. In short, potential talents lockstep matching actual talents post-age-30 is robbing Potential Only leagues of some of the biggest reasons to play a Potential Only league. I'd really love it if some kind of checkbox could exist where we could toggle the option to have potential talents match actuals after a certain age, or whether potential should always display potential regardless. I'm hopeful this is a pretty easy addition, and it would really pay dividends / give a reason for these kinds of leagues to continue to exist! __________________ Commissioner - Rising Star League Congratulations to the 2082 Champion Montreal Harfangs!

01-09-2026, 12:30 PM	#2
Jontler Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 37	I'll throw out there that this causes artificial behavioral changes in our league. There are a lot of GMs that will hold off on trading for a player as they approach 30 because they want to see what their real ratings are, or they'll hold off on extensions until they see that information. It's a bit silly, given the player performances are well-established by then, but it's one of those "this is how humans work" things that is easy to eliminate with a modest change.