Player Evaluation AI question

[Big Six]

I bought OOTP6 a week or so ago, and I have a few questions about the new Player Evaluation AI option.

I'm about a dozen seasons into a really cool career league that features a fictional player (Pat O'Farrell, for those of you who might be following the story). I've been having fun with this for over a year now, and while the new features of OOTP6 are attractive enough to make me really want to own and play it, I'm a little concerned about what effects the switch might have on my project over the long haul.

Specifically, my questions are:

1. Are the stats from previous years which the Player Evaluation AI will use the player's real stats, or the stats he accumulated in my career league up to that point? For example, right now I'm playing 1917; will the "real" Ty Cobb's 1915 and 1916 stats be used by the game engine, or will the stats Ty piled up in my alternate universe be used instead?

Since O'Farrell is fictional, he has no "real" stats for any year.

2. If the real stats are used, can I expect a decline from a player like Joe Wood, who hurt his arm in real life, but has stayed healthy, and dominant, for several more seasons in my league?

3. What about "surprise stars?" Roy Hitt, for example, is the best pitcher in the National League, and has emerged as a fairly major character in my story. Will he fade to oblivion unless I make past years' stats less important to the Player Evaluation AI?

4. I noticed that if a player has no stats for the given year, or saw limited playing time, the weight will be automatically adjusted. How will that be calculated?

I guess I'm asking what I should do to preserve the character of my league. Although I do like the fact that giving weight to the stats will make "real" stars play like stars, I also enjoy the surprise stars from time to time, too.

What do you out there think?

Thanks,
Chris

[DAL 9000]

Might be following it?! I've got it bookmarked.

As I understand it, your league will transfer over with ratings (mostly) intact and the game's full statistical record-- but a lot of pitchers will have major changes in their effectiveness as they go from the "avoid hits" model to the DIPS engine.

Also, I'm sure you've seen this reported several times, but you'll have to search out every pitcher who converts with a control rating of 1 (using the 1-100 scale, of course) and manually edit it up to 2, or else they'll never develop. Ever. So sad. =(

[Dan Theman]

Actually, the "convert to 1" control bug has been fixed in 6.03 for leagues that have not yet been switched - for those that have, you need to convert again (and lose whatever history you've built since the switch).