My suggestions for the combine

[thenewchuckd]

The combine is a great idea and I like the sentiment. However, the implementation breaks the draft in my opinion. Here are my suggestions to fix this:

-Go back to how it was before - where it is possible to get "very high" without using the combine. Instead, stop allowing manual scouting of draft and international players. You set your budget for scouting and you get what you get. I like this from a perspective of: I don't have to go and manually click on the players and check if you have "very high" accuracy on all of them & monitor it. It also seems more realistic. Finally, it makes the budget more tangible.

-Increase the fog of war for the draft and international for injury proneness, personalities & development risk. This is where: maybe these things are not revealed for draftees / international players unless you scout them at the combine.

-Maybe the combine is only 4 days but it gets split into morning/afternoon/evening sections. Or you increase the effectiveness of the daily scouting. Right now, it seems you get the best results for 4 players at a time & it needs at least 2 days to get to "very high". Make this one session to full level (for 3-4 players) or maybe 6-8 players instead?

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by thenewchuckd

-Go back to how it was before - where it is possible to get "very high" without using the combine. Instead, stop allowing manual scouting of draft and international players. You set your budget for scouting and you get what you get. I like this from a perspective of: I don't have to go and manually click on the players and check if you have "very high" accuracy on all of them & monitor it. It also seems more realistic. Finally, it makes the budget more tangible.

If you want to go back to the way it was without the combine where it is way too easy to have everyone at very high. Sure, why not. FWIW when this model was first introduced it was not hard to get players to very high, but you had to re-scout them from time to time to keep them at VH. Users complained "that's too much work" and we got the "too easy" model where once they were very high they never regressed. I make draft shortlists where I scout players of interest and with the "how it was before" model players that went undrafted (underclassmen/HS) or unsigned would still be very high the next season when I scouted the draft.

If you want the new combine module to make it so at least some of the draft pool comes in at very high, I'm all for it. It was too easy in the old model and now it's too hard/impossible(?) with the new one.

If you want to suggest a new mode where budget determines the outcome of scouting without the user having to anything other than set the budget. Feel free, I wouldn't use it but I'm sure many would. Another option one has to select when playing their game. I have no problem with new options being added, but others complain there are too many settings now.

If you want to remove the manual scouting that many users enjoy? Absolutely not.

[thenewchuckd]

Originally Posted by Sweed

If you want to remove the manual scouting that many users enjoy? Absolutely not.

The way they've set it now, is that manual scouting for the draft and amateurs only brings you up to average. This makes drafting much harder and in my opinion basically breaks the draft. Is anyone enjoying this?

You also said that the previous system was too accurate and too tedious. I agree on both of those points. So let's think of something better.

Another problem with the combine is that most of the draft class is not there. So a big % (90%ish), you'll never get above average.

I'm not saying take out manual scouting completely. Just for the draft and international. They've already basically done this.

If you have another idea, feel free to suggest it.

[oldfatbaldguy]

I'm still in the first season of my save, but I'm way past the draft. What I'm seeing is that it's hard to get the scouting accuracy level up on players in the draft pool, and after you draft them their ratings usually decline at the first scouting report inside your organization.

What I'm not seeing is a problem. Does it work this way irl? I don't know. But drafting a high school or even a college player and not having a full appreciation of his flaws until you see him play low-level pro ball doesn't feel unrealistic. It feels more like "this is why you don't get married after one date."

My bias here is that it's easy for me to accept things in OOTP that don't work exactly like real-life MLB does, because I play in fictional leagues and it's not, in my mind, supposed to precisely mimic real-life MLB. So this is just my two cents. And for all I know, it might work kind of like this in real-life MLB.

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by thenewchuckd

The way they've set it now, is that manual scouting for the draft and amateurs only brings you up to average. This makes drafting much harder and in my opinion basically breaks the draft. Is anyone enjoying this?

You also said that the previous system was too accurate and too tedious. I agree on both of those points. So let's think of something better.

Another problem with the combine is that most of the draft class is not there. So a big % (90%ish), you'll never get above average.

I'm not saying take out manual scouting completely. Just for the draft and international. They've already basically done this.

If you have another idea, feel free to suggest it.

I never said the previous system was too tedious. I said users** complained that it was and so it became, pre v26, the "way to easy" model of "get a very high" result and it lasted forever. As I said already any player that I had at very high in the previous draft in last year's season are still in my draft board shortlist in the current season at very high. That is with me never manually re-scouting them.

** Maybe I wasn't clear in my post that I was not a part of the "users" group that complained.

I also said it is too hard to get that very high rating now and perhaps impossible. Which is why I put the (?) next to impossible. My game has been imported year to year from v4 all the way to v26. I manage every game and play 'em all out in one pitch, meaning I've only had one draft in v26. My pool was almost entirely "very high". So either all of those VH's were left over from my pool from last year (classes scouted in v23,24, and 25), or I attained at least some VH's while scouting new entries in v26. From what I read on the boards I think they were all leftovers, but with my style of play I can't say that with 100% certainty.

IMHO it is almost never a good thing to remove a feature that is in the game. Why remove a feature that is already in the game, that some players like to use? Yes I do enjoy making a draft pool and draft board shortlists that I manually scout. There is no reason to remove it. If users want an additional mode, like your budget idea, then ask for it as a new feature that stands on it's own. If the idea gets fleshed out and added I'm all for it, even if I don't think I'll ever use it. Never say never.

One "better idea' is to have the current combine feature loosen up and make very high results possible.

My understanding is players have to opt into the combine. I have no idea what those numbers look like IRL. The answer to this could also be a user setting, default (I think there were 200ish for my 600 player draft, so around 30%), with the user being able to assign whatever % they would like. You want 100% participation? Knock yourself out.

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by oldfatbaldguy

I'm still in the first season of my save, but I'm way past the draft. What I'm seeing is that it's hard to get the scouting accuracy level up on players in the draft pool, and after you draft them their ratings usually decline at the first scouting report inside your organization.

What I'm not seeing is a problem. Does it work this way irl? I don't know. But drafting a high school or even a college player and not having a full appreciation of his flaws until you see him play low-level pro ball doesn't feel unrealistic. It feels more like "this is why you don't get married after one date."

My bias here is that it's easy for me to accept things in OOTP that don't work exactly like real-life MLB does, because I play in fictional leagues and it's not, in my mind, supposed to precisely mimic real-life MLB. So this is just my two cents. And for all I know, it might work kind of like this in real-life MLB.

Good post. Ratings that suddenly dive? Totally agree with the bold, it's going to happen. No different than the 15th rounder you drafted as a filler, who's ratings skyrocket, that ends up with a 10+ year MLB career.

Like you no idea on real life numbers, combines etc. Having said that I get users wanting to be able to get at least some high, and very high results, especially if you've brought combine players in to work out and managed your time so you could give them a proper look.