Season Review and Off-Season Procedures

[endgame]

Guess it's Question Sunday. Maybe this could be a FAQ sticky because I'm fairly certain I've asked before in one form or another. Apologies if so.

Looking to model some of the more experienced player's routines out there in the following areas:

How or what do you do at season's end to review your season? If you use Catobase how do you go about determining what stats are most important and where is the thrust of your examination?

Is there a season-end routine, or is it coupled or shared with the off-season activities, i.e. after you press the Proceed to Next Season button?

I'm pretty sure I have the backup procedures implemented and in place. I'm looking now for ideas or systems in place to adequately review the season just passing and thoroughly prepare for the one upcoming.

Thanks in advance. Again.

[Bonedwarf]

I'm far from experienced, but at seasons end I:

Export all the HTML.
Then I exit the game. (Still don't know if I actually have to do this.) Then I run Catobase and generate the new pages.
Then I check the output and check out the players who were top in HR, runs, and who had the lowest ERA etc... I also often check out the teams winning stats, see how good the championship winning team was.

Then it's "proceed" and on with the next one

[endgame]

Originally Posted by Bonedwarf

I'm far from experienced, but at seasons end I:

Export all the HTML.
Then I exit the game. (Still don't know if I actually have to do this.) Then I run Catobase and generate the new pages.
Then I check the output and check out the players who were top in HR, runs, and who had the lowest ERA etc... I also often check out the teams winning stats, see how good the championship winning team was.

Then it's "proceed" and on with the next one

Well, guess it's more of the same on everyone else's part, it's actually a well guarded secret, or it's such an individual process that it doesn't merit sharing i.e. it's your game, do want you want.

I was just hoping to see where folks tend the emphasis when reviewing the season and what impact that has on off-season decisions. I'm sure it's more a matter of just practical assessments. What were the team's weaknesses, what were their strengths? Do I have any voids to fill and, if so, what will I do to fill them?

I recall one member, maybe jmm?, saying one of steps he takes is to look at the existing team and see what he would have to field if this were the roster in its entirety and see if any improvement could be made or was necessary.

I'm coming off a championship win, so obviously it went right. The good news is I have a team that won a championship, the bad news is I had a team that won a championship. How do you improve on that other than winning it again? It seems really a case of it can only get worse from here, but building the dynasty takes some measure of protecting and enhances what you have.

Just how to assess that in relation to the valuable data Catobase, for instance, offers is a relatively new process to me with ALL the information available. So I'm on the learning curve still, after all this time with OOTP. The next season will tell whether I've implemented any successful routines of my own rather than so consistently relying on the advice and suggestions of the forum. Guess that's what makes the individual game that, it's your thing, do what you wanna do. Wasn't that a song?

Thanks.

[albatross11]

it's your thing, do what you wanna do. Wasn't that a song?

Thanks.[/QUOTE]

The Isley Brothers "It's Your Thing".

[jmm8356]

I recall one member, maybe jmm?, saying one of steps he takes is to look at the existing team and see what he would have to field if this were the roster in its entirety and see if any improvement could be made or was necessary.

I'm fairly sure I never said that... ... but I do write up a Winter Organization-Wide Scouting Report early in each preseason, which kinda ends up being the same thing, as you end up at least looking at everybody on your rosters that could possibly play in the bigs... plus it's not long after my Final Report Card write-up that reviews the previous season's stats. Examples available in my dynasty thread... (though at the moment I'm playing NHL 2003 and Tiger Woods 2003, so OOTP is on the back burner)

[endgame]

Well. I don't know if I've finally been swept into the abyss that is the OOTPs virtual universe or I've just found the niche that scratches my itch. I'd been prodding a little to find out what kind of routines, etc.... were out there for season's end and getting the new season underway and had settled on the 'find-your-own-path' method. So I picked up Sports Weekly at a gas station yesterday along with my habitual Pepsi and Reese's Sticks thinking I'd go looking for a little inspiration late in the evening after all the fans in my RL stands emptied to their respective rooms for the night.

Started reading through Paul White's division by division recap on how teams were doing this winter along with some assessments, by team, on general outlooks based on roster movements and transactions they'd made.

Wishing, of course, that these kind of recaps - general as they are - were available through the game engine itself, for example:

NL CENTRAL

ST.LOUIS CARDINALS
Power ranking:3/30 NL Central Rank: 1
Winter Trend: Down

"Trading for Mulder could guarantee another division championship if he's OK. But Mulder's awful second half in Oakland is worrisome. The Cardinals will sorely miss Renteria at the shortstop, not to mention catcher Mike Matheny and the contributions of Kiko Calero and Kline in the bullpen."

Now maybe this is the way dynasty reports are born, or in my case, at least the step toward some earnest journaling ala ctorg's recent inspiring comment. I decided I was going to look at my league of 16 teams individually as the season gets started and I would secure, at least, this sort of basic and simple analysis of their current situation. I started with the Ibsen Towers in Maine, one of seven teams that changed managers this season, to examine just what might have changed to enable them to hope for any chance at bettering their last place finish in the Realist Division of the Critical League in 2008. The research begins after Spring Training and the new schedule is in place for 2009.

With Catobase open in the background, I began with Ibsen's Team News section and looked at retirees and who became free agents to assess losses along with the new contracts awarded by arbitration, and taking notice of any market changes. Looked at every player to evaluate the impact of these changes. From there to the the team's transaction news where I followed the trail of every pre-season trade, demotion, the changes in pitching rotations, release of players, and so on....

This is not a dynasty thread. I wouldn't have the time and talent to devote to making my history as rich as those already demonstrating that ability. Ibsen isn't my team. I'm in the second season of a fictional solo league, managing the Clive Staples Shadow of Carlisle, Iowa in the Poetic division of the Intuitive League. It's my second season with Clive Staples, but under new management - this year taking the helm more directly.

So the point of the post is simply this-- and I'm seldom good and simplifying, have you noticed? What damn fun!! It was nearly 3:00 AM before I knew it and still haven't completed Ibsen's brief summary modeling Baseball Weekly! But I know a heckavu lot more about that team. In fact, how in some way its history was interwoven with my own team and I didn't know it because I'd never taken the time to get that deeply involved in the process.

Find your own path worked. I like it. It's obsessive. It's a long, laborious, but strangely enjoyable process of immersing oneself in what becomes nearly a living alternate world of enlightenment and enigmas. While I've been so patiently awaiting the answers from others in the forum about what makes their world 'tick', I inadvertantly discovered my own. This is as good as it gets.

Thanks for letting me share.