Financial bug

bgheadjack · 01-03-2008, 01:55 PM

Hey there,

I'm having trouble making any sort of trade when cash is involved. For example, my team is currently 900k over budget and every time I try to make a trade that includes cash, I'm told my team "Can not afford the contracts of the players." This is ludicrous because the same thing happens if I'm trading a minor leaguer for another minor leaguer (each making zero dollars), or when I make a trade that reduce my payroll AND where I would receive money.

Again, these are all trades where my team would be the one to get money back. Very frustrating.

I also remain confused and concerned about scouting, specifically regarding talent levels in the minor leagues. For example, if I have a 24 year old in rookie ball who has all yellow current ratings (in the 50's), he's still listed as a 20/80 in Rookie Ball. Now, the guy doesn't have to be a good prospect, but if those are his ratings then he would be Ruthian in that league. This is very frustrating because I now don't know how to gauge when my players are in a league too high or too low for their abilities. Please help.

One other small glitch, now that I'm on a roll - I have TOP staff on all my minor league teams, but I've now had 17 reports in a row where one of my prospects' ratings goes down. I mean, it's decimating my farm system! And there are supposedly good prospects! And they go down so low that their scouting (in terms of MLB potential) takes them from, say, a 65/80 to a 20/80 piece of garbage.

Thank you!
Jack
Brooklyn, NY

Nutlaw · 01-03-2008, 06:19 PM

Which version of the game are you using, please? I know that some fixes had been implemented regarding trades and cash/budget restraints.

The overall rating of a player is relative to the league that you are managing in. So if you are managing a major league team, any players who aren't major league caliber will be ranked 20 OVR on the 20-80 scale. A quick glance at the ratings of your players at each minor league level ought to show you who is out of place (a bunch of yellow colored ratings when everyone else has red or orange is a good sign that the player needs a promotion), but the performance of a player is another good sign. I.e. does he have good or bad stats while playing at his level? Furthermore, there is a Minor League System Report that can be accessed from either the team Home Page or the Transactions screen. That report will advise you on the level that each player should be playing.

Talent/potential decreases happen somewhat randomly, but you will end up with more positive changes if your players are performing well at their level of play and likewise will see more negative changes if your players are performing poorly. If many of your players are losing potential, check their stats. It's likely that they haven't been performing well and should have been demoted to a lower level.

Does that answer your questions/concerns? Is there anything else that I can help you with?

bgheadjack · 01-07-2008, 04:28 PM

Hey, thanks for the response. My frustration level is right now through the roof!

I'm running the latest patched version, 8.0.13.

My frustration is at the player development in the game. I'm on July 3rd of my first season of the game and after having three more negative reports from my scout on my minor leaguers' development I'm ready to throw my computer through the wall.

Those 3 negatives gave me 86 since I started the game compared to 21 positive (more than 4 to 1). And these aren't just schlubs like Fernando Tatis or something. I'm talking about Homer Bailey, Phil Hughes, Joey Votto, Cameron Maybin and other prospects with (formerly) blue ratings. I have them in leagues where they're all performing modestly well (Votto just went down after hitting .330 with a .520 slugging). Most of them are doing ok - typical minor league type stats, especially for the batters, where they're hitting near .300, or even over, with not great slugging. And down, down, down they go. I've built my entire franchise around these young studs and they're all crapping out on me. Please help!

Thanks again.
Jack Helmuth

Nutlaw · 01-07-2008, 06:19 PM

How do other teams compare? Are they also seeing a lot of potential decreases compared to increases?

Are you playing with coaches on? Do your minor league teams have coaches in every available position?

bgheadjack · 01-08-2008, 05:15 AM

Not sure about what other teams' minor leaguers are doing. I'm having a hard enough time keeping track of all of mine.

Yes, coaches are on, and I have coaches at every position and at every level in my minor league system. And they are all blue level coaches to ensure my kids get the best treatment. I also give all my players lidocaine and B-12 shots. I hear that's good.

Any thoughts? It just kills me to see the best part of any baseball simulation game (developing players) going in the toilet.

Nutlaw · 01-08-2008, 05:44 PM

You can monitor how well other teams' players are doing by the Player Development Report link from a team's homepage. Were you not using that to judge your own talent increases and decreases? In case you were not aware, players can get talent increases and still remain 20 OVR players.

bgheadjack · 01-08-2008, 07:21 PM

Hadn't really been focusing on other teams. Yes, that is how I check my player development (my scout also emails me for increases/decreases). There are a lot of emails!

Just had another series of players drop - one of whom was TEARING up his league. He went from a good prospect to a 45 year old woman in the blink of an eye (in terms of overall potential, which I'm now checking in commissioner mode).

And one last thing - I still can't make trades involving cash. I'm 2m under budget and have 50m sitting in the bank. Every time I try to add $1 it says "Your Team can not afford this contract." And that's when I add the dollar to EITHER side!

Thank you for your consistent replies and assistance.

Jack

Nutlaw · 01-09-2008, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bgheadjack

Hadn't really been focusing on other teams. Yes, that is how I check my player development (my scout also emails me for increases/decreases). There are a lot of emails!

Can you look at some other teams now? Do they have similar decreases? It should only take a moment to access their Player Development Report lists (assuming that leagues with scouting regularly populate them - I don't tend to use scouts).

There are some odd known issues revolving around available money that are being worked on. Those likely include your problem with trades.

bgheadjack · 01-12-2008, 03:46 AM

Ok, I skimmed a bunch of teams and counted two random teams not in my division to compare their player development. The results seem to be generally the same, which is bad but not as bad as mine:

The A's had 20 INCREASES and 52 DECREASES
The Reds had 19 INCREASES and 49 DECREASES

Please let me know what you think. It seems as if everyone in my league is eating it pretty hard. It also looks to me as if the increases are relatively minor, where with the decreases I usally see prospects go from a 77 to a 20 in one scouting report. That seems like it should be the exception, not the norm. I mean, most of the time players who don't pan out (or who the scouts say are struggling) are Eric Duncan types. They come in with good pedigrees and slowly it appears that the player is not catching on. Not the fall off the cliff syndrome we seem to have here.

Look forward to the financials being cleaned up. Even with these issues, still love the game and, as always, appreciate the help. Thanks!

Jack

Nutlaw · 01-12-2008, 10:20 AM

Yeah, those numbers look fairly normal. Many prospects simply won't pan out, and in the current game, this is represented very abruptly. Again, I can assure you that it is a known concern and that discussions are taking place regarding ways to reveal the information a bit more naturally to the user. In part, it looks like you are personally getting somewhat unlucky this season.

I'm sorry that I can't offer you much more help than that, but I can state that these are widely known and expected results and that efforts are being made to improve upon them for the next version of the game.

Is there anything else that I can help you with?

bgheadjack · 01-12-2008, 04:48 PM

Thank you, good to know. Now, when you mean "next version of the game," do you mean the next big patch, or ootp 2009?

I think that'll do it. I obviously am jonesing to have the financial bug fixed so I can execute trades with cash. I can make no trades with cash, and then if I'm sending a team (that is over budget) a player who makes the league minimum, along with the entirety of his salary, it won't let me do that either. When that's fixed I'll be a happy boy.

One last thing on my wishlist - being able to turn on, at least in the off season, the ability to scout countries (the invisible player option). It kills me that I accidentally started this league with it turned off, and can't ever turn it back on.

Thanks again!
Jack

Nutlaw · 01-12-2008, 04:55 PM

I'm not really sure what the plan is regarding further patches for OOTP 8. If there is one, I might imagine that the financial bug could be fixed within it, but as we are nearing spring, I imagine that the focus will at this point revolve around coding for the new game. In regard to player development, that would almost certainly happen in OOTP 9 and not before.

pizzaddict · 01-12-2008, 05:17 PM

OOTP9? Didn't they just release OOTP8 a month ago? It seems a little early to stop updating 8 and only work on 9. Have they said when 9 is supposed to be realeased? I would hate to buy 8 now and then have to buy 9 a few months later.

bgheadjack · 01-12-2008, 08:48 PM

Totally agree with you!

I understand that bigger issues like the player development thing (the rapidness of dropoffs, etc.) may need to wait until the next addition. That's fine. But other bugs that may pop up (CERTAINLY the financial problems fall under this umbrella) should be able to be patched up. Like Pizzaddict said in his last post, the latest version of the game just came out. We should definitely still be working to clean that up, as that's what we'll be playing for the next half a year.

Nutlaw · 01-13-2008, 10:55 AM

OOTP8 is not a new version. It is OOTP 2007 with a few minor changes that was released as a result of the company's split with SI. That's why it cost a whole lot less than normal (and only several dollars if you already bought 2007).

Anyway, I have no idea what plans are for future patches or release dates and this is straying off topic. Since we seem to have covered your tech support questions, I'll close this thread up now.

01-03-2008, 01:55 PM	#1
bgheadjack Minors (Single A) Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 51	Financial bug Hey there, I'm having trouble making any sort of trade when cash is involved. For example, my team is currently 900k over budget and every time I try to make a trade that includes cash, I'm told my team "Can not afford the contracts of the players." This is ludicrous because the same thing happens if I'm trading a minor leaguer for another minor leaguer (each making zero dollars), or when I make a trade that reduce my payroll AND where I would receive money. Again, these are all trades where my team would be the one to get money back. Very frustrating. I also remain confused and concerned about scouting, specifically regarding talent levels in the minor leagues. For example, if I have a 24 year old in rookie ball who has all yellow current ratings (in the 50's), he's still listed as a 20/80 in Rookie Ball. Now, the guy doesn't have to be a good prospect, but if those are his ratings then he would be Ruthian in that league. This is very frustrating because I now don't know how to gauge when my players are in a league too high or too low for their abilities. Please help. One other small glitch, now that I'm on a roll - I have TOP staff on all my minor league teams, but I've now had 17 reports in a row where one of my prospects' ratings goes down. I mean, it's decimating my farm system! And there are supposedly good prospects! And they go down so low that their scouting (in terms of MLB potential) takes them from, say, a 65/80 to a 20/80 piece of garbage. Thank you! Jack Brooklyn, NY __________________ Syracuse University 2003 NCAA Men's Basketball National Champions!

01-07-2008, 04:28 PM	#3
bgheadjack Minors (Single A) Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 51	Development is not happening Hey, thanks for the response. My frustration level is right now through the roof! I'm running the latest patched version, 8.0.13. My frustration is at the player development in the game. I'm on July 3rd of my first season of the game and after having three more negative reports from my scout on my minor leaguers' development I'm ready to throw my computer through the wall. Those 3 negatives gave me 86 since I started the game compared to 21 positive (more than 4 to 1). And these aren't just schlubs like Fernando Tatis or something. I'm talking about Homer Bailey, Phil Hughes, Joey Votto, Cameron Maybin and other prospects with (formerly) blue ratings. I have them in leagues where they're all performing modestly well (Votto just went down after hitting .330 with a .520 slugging). Most of them are doing ok - typical minor league type stats, especially for the batters, where they're hitting near .300, or even over, with not great slugging. And down, down, down they go. I've built my entire franchise around these young studs and they're all crapping out on me. Please help! Thanks again. Jack Helmuth __________________ Syracuse University 2003 NCAA Men's Basketball National Champions!

01-08-2008, 05:15 AM	#5
bgheadjack Minors (Single A) Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 51	Don't have those answers... Not sure about what other teams' minor leaguers are doing. I'm having a hard enough time keeping track of all of mine. Yes, coaches are on, and I have coaches at every position and at every level in my minor league system. And they are all blue level coaches to ensure my kids get the best treatment. I also give all my players lidocaine and B-12 shots. I hear that's good. Any thoughts? It just kills me to see the best part of any baseball simulation game (developing players) going in the toilet. __________________ Syracuse University 2003 NCAA Men's Basketball National Champions!

01-08-2008, 07:21 PM	#7
bgheadjack Minors (Single A) Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 51	Hadn't been paying attention to other teams Hadn't really been focusing on other teams. Yes, that is how I check my player development (my scout also emails me for increases/decreases). There are a lot of emails! Just had another series of players drop - one of whom was TEARING up his league. He went from a good prospect to a 45 year old woman in the blink of an eye (in terms of overall potential, which I'm now checking in commissioner mode). And one last thing - I still can't make trades involving cash. I'm 2m under budget and have 50m sitting in the bank. Every time I try to add $1 it says "Your Team can not afford this contract." And that's when I add the dollar to EITHER side! Thank you for your consistent replies and assistance. Jack __________________ Syracuse University 2003 NCAA Men's Basketball National Champions!

01-12-2008, 03:46 AM	#9
bgheadjack Minors (Single A) Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 51	done Ok, I skimmed a bunch of teams and counted two random teams not in my division to compare their player development. The results seem to be generally the same, which is bad but not as bad as mine: The A's had 20 INCREASES and 52 DECREASES The Reds had 19 INCREASES and 49 DECREASES Please let me know what you think. It seems as if everyone in my league is eating it pretty hard. It also looks to me as if the increases are relatively minor, where with the decreases I usally see prospects go from a 77 to a 20 in one scouting report. That seems like it should be the exception, not the norm. I mean, most of the time players who don't pan out (or who the scouts say are struggling) are Eric Duncan types. They come in with good pedigrees and slowly it appears that the player is not catching on. Not the fall off the cliff syndrome we seem to have here. Look forward to the financials being cleaned up. Even with these issues, still love the game and, as always, appreciate the help. Thanks! Jack __________________ Syracuse University 2003 NCAA Men's Basketball National Champions!

01-03-2008, 06:19 PM	#2
Nutlaw Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 9,538	Which version of the game are you using, please? I know that some fixes had been implemented regarding trades and cash/budget restraints. The overall rating of a player is relative to the league that you are managing in. So if you are managing a major league team, any players who aren't major league caliber will be ranked 20 OVR on the 20-80 scale. A quick glance at the ratings of your players at each minor league level ought to show you who is out of place (a bunch of yellow colored ratings when everyone else has red or orange is a good sign that the player needs a promotion), but the performance of a player is another good sign. I.e. does he have good or bad stats while playing at his level? Furthermore, there is a Minor League System Report that can be accessed from either the team Home Page or the Transactions screen. That report will advise you on the level that each player should be playing. Talent/potential decreases happen somewhat randomly, but you will end up with more positive changes if your players are performing well at their level of play and likewise will see more negative changes if your players are performing poorly. If many of your players are losing potential, check their stats. It's likely that they haven't been performing well and should have been demoted to a lower level. Does that answer your questions/concerns? Is there anything else that I can help you with?

01-07-2008, 06:19 PM	#4
Nutlaw Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 9,538	How do other teams compare? Are they also seeing a lot of potential decreases compared to increases? Are you playing with coaches on? Do your minor league teams have coaches in every available position?

01-08-2008, 05:44 PM	#6
Nutlaw Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 9,538	You can monitor how well other teams' players are doing by the Player Development Report link from a team's homepage. Were you not using that to judge your own talent increases and decreases? In case you were not aware, players can get talent increases and still remain 20 OVR players.

01-12-2008, 10:20 AM	#10
Nutlaw Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 9,538	Yeah, those numbers look fairly normal. Many prospects simply won't pan out, and in the current game, this is represented very abruptly. Again, I can assure you that it is a known concern and that discussions are taking place regarding ways to reveal the information a bit more naturally to the user. In part, it looks like you are personally getting somewhat unlucky this season. I'm sorry that I can't offer you much more help than that, but I can state that these are widely known and expected results and that efforts are being made to improve upon them for the next version of the game. Is there anything else that I can help you with?

01-12-2008, 04:48 PM	#11
bgheadjack Minors (Single A) Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 51	Thank you Thank you, good to know. Now, when you mean "next version of the game," do you mean the next big patch, or ootp 2009? I think that'll do it. I obviously am jonesing to have the financial bug fixed so I can execute trades with cash. I can make no trades with cash, and then if I'm sending a team (that is over budget) a player who makes the league minimum, along with the entirety of his salary, it won't let me do that either. When that's fixed I'll be a happy boy. One last thing on my wishlist - being able to turn on, at least in the off season, the ability to scout countries (the invisible player option). It kills me that I accidentally started this league with it turned off, and can't ever turn it back on. Thanks again! Jack __________________ Syracuse University 2003 NCAA Men's Basketball National Champions!

01-12-2008, 04:55 PM	#12
Nutlaw Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 9,538	I'm not really sure what the plan is regarding further patches for OOTP 8. If there is one, I might imagine that the financial bug could be fixed within it, but as we are nearing spring, I imagine that the focus will at this point revolve around coding for the new game. In regard to player development, that would almost certainly happen in OOTP 9 and not before.

01-12-2008, 05:17 PM	#13
pizzaddict Minors (Double A) Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 136	OOTP9? Didn't they just release OOTP8 a month ago? It seems a little early to stop updating 8 and only work on 9. Have they said when 9 is supposed to be realeased? I would hate to buy 8 now and then have to buy 9 a few months later.

01-12-2008, 08:48 PM	#14
bgheadjack Minors (Single A) Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 51	Agreed! Totally agree with you! I understand that bigger issues like the player development thing (the rapidness of dropoffs, etc.) may need to wait until the next addition. That's fine. But other bugs that may pop up (CERTAINLY the financial problems fall under this umbrella) should be able to be patched up. Like Pizzaddict said in his last post, the latest version of the game just came out. We should definitely still be working to clean that up, as that's what we'll be playing for the next half a year. __________________ Syracuse University 2003 NCAA Men's Basketball National Champions!

01-13-2008, 10:55 AM	#15
Nutlaw Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 9,538	OOTP8 is not a new version. It is OOTP 2007 with a few minor changes that was released as a result of the company's split with SI. That's why it cost a whole lot less than normal (and only several dollars if you already bought 2007). Anyway, I have no idea what plans are for future patches or release dates and this is straying off topic. Since we seem to have covered your tech support questions, I'll close this thread up now.