Making using coaches/scouts more challenging

gmo · 06-21-2004, 10:48 PM

Though it seems the OOTP veteran consensus is to not use coaches and scouts, I have not been able to break from that. I tried setting a house rule of having a personal salary cap for those 6 positions but did not really like that.

So I just tried something that seemed to work out pretty well on first glance. I set my team to computer controlled for the signing coaches. Well, not the whole time, I just did one day at a time until my open coach slots were filled rather than the do all days option. Then I switched back to human controlled. There were no transactions of any kind on my team by the computer manager as far as I could tell - nothing in the news, no roster movements. So I got the "benefit" of not getting just the best guys, and it seems there was no cost at all in turning over control of the team for a couple days to the AI.

Halidon · 08-20-2004, 04:58 AM

Howdy!

I know this is a bit older thread, but since I'm starting my new fictional league I was wondering how this worked out for you. Are you still using this Coach/Scout strategy or have you moved to something else?

See...newbies do use the "search" tool. Today's search is....Salary Cap. Today's search has been brought to you by the letter E.

Halidon

jmm8356 · 08-20-2004, 08:08 AM

I tried this strategy a while back, and I think there were moves made while under computer control...

...but my current plan (if I ever get to the point where I run my own team in my solo league) is to make a copy of my league, run the Coach/Scout Period under computer control, see who I end up with, and then go back to the original and make the same offers to the same guys.

cgh3rd · 08-20-2004, 11:35 AM

I use the coaches and scouts. I bid as much as I need to get the ones I want. Of course, I just started playing with all stars, talent and ability ratings off so I am paranoid.

jmm8356 · 08-20-2004, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cgh3rd

I use the coaches and scouts. I bid as much as I need to get the ones I want. Of course, I just started playing with all stars, talent and ability ratings off so I am paranoid.

Yeah, that might even out.

Cowboys3356 · 08-20-2004, 12:52 PM

The way most people are playing if they want a REAL challenge and not just to just win the World Series every season is to turn off Coaches/Scouts and all other ratings such as the Star Ratings, Talent Ratings, and Actual Ratings. I think most people do leave on "other ratings" so they know what fielding positions people can play and how fast they are. Try that and you will take your game to the next level!!!

Dan Theman · 08-20-2004, 01:39 PM

I like the talent-only leagues set with a 2-8 range and include scouts and coaches. I figure that's the way it is in real baseball, so why not? Not being able to see the actual ratings, having scouts that may be right and may be wrong, and then drafting based upon potential and high school/college stats is challenging enough for me.

It could be said that actual ratings are used in real life, as well, but I'd agree the challenge factor does drop. If the AI improves, I'd probably add those back into the mix.

gmo · 08-20-2004, 02:19 PM

Wow, I figured this thread was long dead.

I have continued doing this through several more offseasons in one of my leagues. I have been careful to check my team after each day in the signing coaches period and change it back to human-control immediately after I get my coach slots filled or even temporarily during the period if I want to do something like propose a trade. The only moves I have seen the CPU take while in control of my team and the thing I would note to look out for is to put waiver claims on a player, but I think that has happened only twice in those several seasons and I was able to cancel them. I have not seen any cases where the CPU moved around players on/off the 25-man & 40-man rosters or anything like that.

Overall I have been quite pleased with how the CPU has picked and signed the coaches/scouts for me. Currently I have about 4 of the 6 spots filled by high quality coaches with the other 2 being decent or average. But at a point just a little while back I had only one really good coach. So I am getting what I was looking for, having coaches on but being in the same boat as the CPU teams with some variety in coach quality rather than just spending a lot and getting all the best.

There is this bug (at least I assume it is a bug) I have noticed when using coaches/scouts that can be a bit of a minor annoyance. Not a big thing, but it can bite into your budget plans.

Ktulu · 08-20-2004, 02:26 PM

I think the main problem with coaches and scouts is that the gap between good and bad is too large. If you don't get a good one, you end up with a real crappy one.

cgh3rd · 08-20-2004, 06:08 PM

I found the game challenging even with all the ratings on. Maybe not "really" challenging but pretty tough. The way I look at is kind of like Dan said. Real baseball has coaches and scouts why shouldn't I? The beauty of the game is they can be wrong too. So I'm still the one who makes the decision based upon what the scout says and the player's performance. Also, I over spend to get the best scouts/coaches that I can. This can also be looked as part of my investment into development. The funny thing is how the shocking lack of info that is available without the ratings. :-) Especially when compared to my online leagues who all have everything on. That is probably the worse part about online leagues I find. Everyone is so focused on stars and ratings it seems like performance takes a back seat much of the time.

In this solo league I'm playing with the ratings off I just brought a pitcher up to the active roster who I know was a 1 gold star SP in the previous season with the ratings and stars on. I was looking for a spot starter and his numbers were pretty good in AAA. He came up and pitched a 5 hitter giving up 1 run in his initial start! He had good AAA numbers before but I couldn't get past the 1 star and the rest of his ratings enough to bring him up. He probably won't always pitch like that but he gave a me win when I needed one and earned more starts for himself. He is probably the first player that has made a difference that I normally wouldn't have considered. Also, I got off to a 31-9, 20-3 in the first month, start in the season I'm in which is the best start I think I have had in OOTP. So who needs ratings!?!

AZTarHeel · 08-21-2004, 03:02 AM

One thing I did was sim the first few months of a season and then pick up a really bad team right at the June draft. That team had really, really crappy scouts and coaches -- all picked by the computer of course...

Going into season two I looked forward to doing some major upgrades to my coaching staff, but alas, it was slim pickins. The top minors coach was Good in one category and OK in another... I'll have to build my staff over several years instead of just buying all the Legendary folks right off the bat... should make for a tougher challenge...

06-21-2004, 10:48 PM	#1
gmo Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2002 Location: Longmont, CO Posts: 3,405	Making using coaches/scouts more challenging Though it seems the OOTP veteran consensus is to not use coaches and scouts, I have not been able to break from that. I tried setting a house rule of having a personal salary cap for those 6 positions but did not really like that. So I just tried something that seemed to work out pretty well on first glance. I set my team to computer controlled for the signing coaches. Well, not the whole time, I just did one day at a time until my open coach slots were filled rather than the do all days option. Then I switched back to human controlled. There were no transactions of any kind on my team by the computer manager as far as I could tell - nothing in the news, no roster movements. So I got the "benefit" of not getting just the best guys, and it seems there was no cost at all in turning over control of the team for a couple days to the AI.

08-20-2004, 08:08 AM	#3
jmm8356 All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Lafayette IN (by way of Tonawanda NY) Posts: 1,673	I tried this strategy a while back, and I think there were moves made while under computer control... ...but my current plan (if I ever get to the point where I run my own team in my solo league) is to make a copy of my league, run the Coach/Scout Period under computer control, see who I end up with, and then go back to the original and make the same offers to the same guys. __________________ Jeremy from Tonawanda --- Go Cubbies! --- Unofficial Theta Tester(tm) "Oh, we got both kinds. We got country and western!" From OOTP 6: Designated for Assignment FAQ (Includes both problems and solutions! Ooooo! )

08-20-2004, 11:35 AM	#4
cgh3rd Minors (Single A) Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: St. Louis, MO Posts: 84	I use the coaches and scouts. I bid as much as I need to get the ones I want. Of course, I just started playing with all stars, talent and ability ratings off so I am paranoid. __________________ Thanks, Chuck Senior member on the board with the least amount of posts.

08-20-2004, 02:26 PM	#9
Ktulu Hall Of Famer Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: BC Posts: 4,709	I think the main problem with coaches and scouts is that the gap between good and bad is too large. If you don't get a good one, you end up with a real crappy one. __________________ "The ice is getting even more thinner, my friend!"

08-20-2004, 06:08 PM	#10
cgh3rd Minors (Single A) Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: St. Louis, MO Posts: 84	I found the game challenging even with all the ratings on. Maybe not "really" challenging but pretty tough. The way I look at is kind of like Dan said. Real baseball has coaches and scouts why shouldn't I? The beauty of the game is they can be wrong too. So I'm still the one who makes the decision based upon what the scout says and the player's performance. Also, I over spend to get the best scouts/coaches that I can. This can also be looked as part of my investment into development. The funny thing is how the shocking lack of info that is available without the ratings. :-) Especially when compared to my online leagues who all have everything on. That is probably the worse part about online leagues I find. Everyone is so focused on stars and ratings it seems like performance takes a back seat much of the time. In this solo league I'm playing with the ratings off I just brought a pitcher up to the active roster who I know was a 1 gold star SP in the previous season with the ratings and stars on. I was looking for a spot starter and his numbers were pretty good in AAA. He came up and pitched a 5 hitter giving up 1 run in his initial start! He had good AAA numbers before but I couldn't get past the 1 star and the rest of his ratings enough to bring him up. He probably won't always pitch like that but he gave a me win when I needed one and earned more starts for himself. He is probably the first player that has made a difference that I normally wouldn't have considered. Also, I got off to a 31-9, 20-3 in the first month, start in the season I'm in which is the best start I think I have had in OOTP. So who needs ratings!?! __________________ Thanks, Chuck Senior member on the board with the least amount of posts.

08-20-2004, 04:58 AM	#2
Halidon Bat Boy Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 14	Howdy! I know this is a bit older thread, but since I'm starting my new fictional league I was wondering how this worked out for you. Are you still using this Coach/Scout strategy or have you moved to something else? See...newbies do use the "search" tool. Today's search is....Salary Cap. Today's search has been brought to you by the letter E. Halidon

08-20-2004, 12:52 PM	#6
Cowboys3356 All Star Starter Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 1,571	The way most people are playing if they want a REAL challenge and not just to just win the World Series every season is to turn off Coaches/Scouts and all other ratings such as the Star Ratings, Talent Ratings, and Actual Ratings. I think most people do leave on "other ratings" so they know what fielding positions people can play and how fast they are. Try that and you will take your game to the next level!!!

08-20-2004, 02:19 PM	#8
gmo Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2002 Location: Longmont, CO Posts: 3,405	Wow, I figured this thread was long dead. I have continued doing this through several more offseasons in one of my leagues. I have been careful to check my team after each day in the signing coaches period and change it back to human-control immediately after I get my coach slots filled or even temporarily during the period if I want to do something like propose a trade. The only moves I have seen the CPU take while in control of my team and the thing I would note to look out for is to put waiver claims on a player, but I think that has happened only twice in those several seasons and I was able to cancel them. I have not seen any cases where the CPU moved around players on/off the 25-man & 40-man rosters or anything like that. Overall I have been quite pleased with how the CPU has picked and signed the coaches/scouts for me. Currently I have about 4 of the 6 spots filled by high quality coaches with the other 2 being decent or average. But at a point just a little while back I had only one really good coach. So I am getting what I was looking for, having coaches on but being in the same boat as the CPU teams with some variety in coach quality rather than just spending a lot and getting all the best. There is this bug (at least I assume it is a bug) I have noticed when using coaches/scouts that can be a bit of a minor annoyance. Not a big thing, but it can bite into your budget plans.

08-21-2004, 03:02 AM	#11
AZTarHeel All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 1,718	One thing I did was sim the first few months of a season and then pick up a really bad team right at the June draft. That team had really, really crappy scouts and coaches -- all picked by the computer of course... Going into season two I looked forward to doing some major upgrades to my coaching staff, but alas, it was slim pickins. The top minors coach was Good in one category and OK in another... I'll have to build my staff over several years instead of just buying all the Legendary folks right off the bat... should make for a tougher challenge...