Questions about Roster Functions

[thehef]

I am new to OOTP9 (played 6.51)... I am not clear on the various options under League Setup > Functions > Roster Functions. First, a bit about my setup and what I’d like to be able to do vs. what I want the AI to do:

A) I’ve started an MLB historical league with real players, and have three levels of affiliated minors. No fictional players, and I started in 1901, so I have very few minor-leaguers. That’s ok… In this league, I’d like the AI to decide lineups, rotations, depth charts, etc., to decide promotions & demotions, and to sign players out of the FA pool if/when necessary due to injuries or whatever. I do not want teams trading because I want to make trades that somewhat approximate real history – at least for some of the major players.

B) I also created an triple-A independent league with one level of minors (double-A). All fictional players. Trades with other major leagues is not allowed. (I see the manual says that “This setting has no effect on the ability of FA’s to move to between leagues.” Does that mean that I could be at risk of my MLB & associated minors signing players from my Indy/fictional league, and vice-versa?) I am happy to let this league function entirely under the complete control of AI. Trades, lineups, whatever… I don’t want to intervene at all, although I am not ruling out jumping in and controlling a team at some point (at least a few sim years later).

At some point when I first set the league up & imported players, etc., I was asked to create a manager, which I did. I set it up to where I do not manage a team, and I checked the Commissioner Mode box.

So, some specific questions on some of the functions, etc.:

1. Run Computer Mgr on All Teams – It says to use this "if you have modified AI team rosters and want to revert changes." That reads like an “undo” but I wouldn’t think that would be the actual effect, would it?

2. Set All Computer-Controlled Teams to Allow AI Roster Changes – Restores ability of AI to control non-human teams… What is the definition of a non-human team? Any team without a manager assigned to it?

3. Set All teams to NOT allow AI roster changes - This one says that it “prevents all AI controlled teams to modify their rosters.” What are the definitions of 'modify' and 'roster changes' here? Does that include moving players to & from minors? Changing rotations, lineups, depth charts? Or does it just mean signing, releasing & trading players?

4. Currently, the manager I created (me) when I setup the league is the only manager I’m aware of in the game. Again, I am not assigned to any team. Would I need to create additional managers if I wish to have more than one human-controlled team?

5. What is the relationship between Commissioner Mode, and the use & effect of the Roster Functions on AI & non-human teams? What is the difference between being in Commissioner Mode and going into League Setup > Functions > Roster Functions and selecting “Set All Teams to being controlled by me?”

6. Also, how does one tell what sort of AI- vs human-control a team is assigned?<O

7. How can you tell the human vs non-human control / status of a particular team at any given time? I recall that in 6.5 it was easy to see this. I have not found in v9 where you can easily see (or change, for that matter) whether a team is human vs computer controlled. Does such an indicator exist?

8. Also, under individual teams’ Option & Ballpark tab, there’s a “Prevent any AI roster changes” checkbox. Again, what exactly is the definition of a roster change here, and what is the relationship between the status of this checkbox and the some of the League Options mentioned above?

I realize these are a lot of questions, and that they are somewhat all over the place, but this stuff doesn’t seem all that clear (yet). Hopefully, some of y’all can clear it up for me…

Thanks in advance.

[Kelric]

You even set the font type. For every single paragraph. And smiley. Wow.

Originally Posted by thehef

A) I’ve started an MLB historical league with real players, and have three levels of affiliated minors. No fictional players, and I started in 1901, so I have very few minor-leaguers. That’s ok… In this league, I’d like the AI to decide lineups, rotations, depth charts, etc., to decide promotions & demotions, and to sign players out of the FA pool if/when necessary due to injuries or whatever. I do not want teams trading because I want to make trades that somewhat approximate real history – at least for some of the major players.

So you want the AI to do everything about running the franchises except for making trades? Game Setup > League Setup > Functions and then Set All Teams To Computer Controlled. Then go into Rules and Disable Trading. You can turn this on at any time to make your own trades, just remember to shut it off again to keep the AI from trading.

B) I also created an triple-A independent league with one level of minors (double-A). All fictional players. Trades with other major leagues is not allowed. (I see the manual says that “This setting has no effect on the ability of FA’s to move to between leagues.” Does that mean that I could be at risk of my MLB & associated minors signing players from my Indy/fictional league, and vice-versa?) I am happy to let this league function entirely under the complete control of AI. Trades, lineups, whatever… I don’t want to intervene at all, although I am not ruling out jumping in and controlling a team at some point (at least a few sim years later).

During your league creation, go into that Rules tab again and disable Allow Free Agents To Leave and Allow Free Agents From Other Leagues. If you do that, there will be no free agent movement from league to league.

1. Run Computer Mgr on All Teams – It says to use this "if you have modified AI team rosters and want to revert changes." That reads like an “undo” but I wouldn’t think that would be the actual effect, would it?

It's kind of an undo. If the AI set a rotation one way and you changed it, you can use this function to revert back to the AI's preference. If you made a trade and want to change it, this won't do that, you'll need to manually make the trade again to reverse it.

2. Set All Computer-Controlled Teams to Allow AI Roster Changes – Restores ability of AI to control non-human teams… What is the definition of a non-human team? Any team without a manager assigned to it?

Any team not specifically set to be run by the AI. If I create a league and assign my Manager to the Red Sox but also want to run the Braves, I can just tell the Braves not to be run by the AI. I don't need to assign a Manager to them.

3. Set All teams to NOT allow AI roster changes - This one says that it “prevents all AI controlled teams to modify their rosters.” What are the definitions of 'modify' and 'roster changes' here? Does that include moving players to & from minors? Changing rotations, lineups, depth charts? Or does it just mean signing, releasing & trading players?

All of the above.

4. Currently, the manager I created (me) when I setup the league is the only manager I’m aware of in the game. Again, I am not assigned to any team. Would I need to create additional managers if I wish to have more than one human-controlled team?

No.

5. What is the relationship between Commissioner Mode, and the use & effect of the Roster Functions on AI & non-human teams? What is the difference between being in Commissioner Mode and going into League Setup > Functions > Roster Functions and selecting “Set All Teams to being controlled by me?”

In Commish mode you can edit injuries and ratings and all of that at any time. You can't edit those things if you aren't in Commish mode. I always keep Commish mode turned on, just in case. Sometimes it's nice to adjust a player being imported into a draft if I think he should be better or worse or whatnot.

If you set all teams to be controlled by you, you will need to make every single lineup change, free agent signing, disabled list decision, etc. for every single team. Good luck with that.

6. Also, how does one tell what sort of AI- vs human-control a team is assigned?

Honestly, I couldn't tell ya. Just assume it's run by the AI if you aren't running it.

You could go to the team Home Page and then Options & Ballpark and see if the Prevent AI Roster Changes option is checked. If it is checked, the AI should not be able to make any changes. Of course, it is not always checked even when a human is running the team.

8. Also, under individual teams’ Option & Ballpark tab, there’s a “Prevent any AI roster changes” checkbox. Again, what exactly is the definition of a roster change here, and what is the relationship between the status of this checkbox and the some of the League Options mentioned above?

A roster change is any player movement AFAIK. Demotion/promotion, lineup changes, depth chart changes, disabled list movement, etc.

I realize these are a lot of questions, and that they are somewhat all over the place, but this stuff doesn’t seem all that clear (yet). Hopefully, some of y’all can clear it up for me…

Thanks in advance.

Would have been much easier to break up into questions without all of the smileys and font settings.

[thehef]

Thanks for the reply, this is very helpful... Some follow-ups:

Kelric wrote:
During your league creation, go into that Rules tab again and disable Allow Free Agents To Leave and Allow Free Agents From Other Leagues. If you do that, there will be no free agent movement from league to league.

Does this only restrict movement of players between leagues that are unaffiliated with one another? For example, if I have majors and 3 levels of affiliated minors, plus a triple A and double A independent league - affiliated with each other but NOT affiliated w the majors & 3 levels of minors, what are the ramifications of using this as it applies to the 3 levels of minors? For example, I'd still want the FA's moving around in the affiliated minors. And, by Free Agent, I mean the scrubs and drifters that are in the FA pool at any given time, NOT good major-leaguers who would be negotiating in the off-season.

Kelric wrote:
If I create a league and assign my Manager to the Red Sox but also want to run the Braves, I can just tell the Braves not to be run by the AI.

Where do you specifically 'tell' the Braves not be run by the AI? Is it by first setting the AI to run all teams, then going into the Braves' Options & Ballpark settings and selecting Prevent AI Roster Changes?

When selecting a team and viewing Options & Ballpark, and the Prevent AI Roster Changes box - and the other stuff below it - does not even appear on the page, what is this an indication of? And if you need access to that Prevent box, what do you do to make it appear?

Kelric wrote:
You even set the font type. For every single paragraph. And smiley. Wow... Would have been much easier to break up into questions without all of the smileys and font settings.

The fonts must've come over from Word, where I accumulated my questions & then just copied & pasted... As for smiley's, I didn't put any in there and don't see any except yours... ???

Thanks

[thehef]

bump

[Kelric]

I see several tongue sticking out smileys between and after every paragraph. Weird.

Anyways....

Does this only restrict movement of players between leagues that are unaffiliated with one another? For example, if I have majors and 3 levels of affiliated minors, plus a triple A and double A independent league - affiliated with each other but NOT affiliated w the majors & 3 levels of minors, what are the ramifications of using this as it applies to the 3 levels of minors? For example, I'd still want the FA's moving around in the affiliated minors. And, by Free Agent, I mean the scrubs and drifters that are in the FA pool at any given time, NOT good major-leaguers who would be negotiating in the off-season.

Unaffiliated leagues only, correct. The three levels of minor leagues and their major league will have uninterrupted flow of players, but none of their players can go to the independent leagues and none of the indie guys can go to the major/minor setup. This will apply to ALL free agents, not just scrubs.

Where do you specifically 'tell' the Braves not be run by the AI? Is it by first setting the AI to run all teams, then going into the Braves' Options & Ballpark settings and selecting Prevent AI Roster Changes?

When selecting a team and viewing Options & Ballpark, and the Prevent AI Roster Changes box - and the other stuff below it - does not even appear on the page, what is this an indication of? And if you need access to that Prevent box, what do you do to make it appear?

Your first paragraph here is correct. If it doesn't appear, I would assume it is because you are not in Commish mode. I can't check right now, as my computer with OOTP currently has a broken a monitor.

[thehef]

Thank you very much, Kelric, for the info... A few more questions:

1. In League Setup / Functions, what is the difference between what exactly happens when you hit one of these three?

Run Computer Mgr on All Teams
Set all Computer Teams to allow Roster Changes
Set all teams back to being computer-controlled

2. Is there a difference in performing these functions when you are in commissioner-mode vs. not in c-mode?

3. Each of these three functions assumes a prior action ("use if you have modified...," "restores ability of AI...," "sets all teams back..."). Do these functions have any uses other than to revert something? In other words & for example, can you Run Computer Manager on all Teams at any time in order to have the AI take a fresh look at lineups, rotations, etc.? Or is it only useful when "you have modified AI team rosters and want to revert the changes?"

4. Related to #3, if you want to Run Computer Manager on all Teams, it says that "if you have modified AI team rosters..." Does this mean that it will not touch rosters of non-AI teams? Teams to where the "Prevent any AI roster changes" box is checked?

5. If the AI/computer is allowed to make roster moves & trades for affilitated minors, but the majors are either human-controlled or no trades are allowed, then are minor-leagers that are on majors' 40-man rosters pretty much at no risk of being traded within the minors by the AI?

6. I've noticed that some minors teams hired bench coaches, whereas others didn't. The absence of a bench coach appears to make it impossible to ask for Strategy settings help. Am I missing someting, a work-around or something? Or are the only options to 1) set all the strategies myself, 2) leave them at the defaults, or 3) wait until the team hires a bench coach?

Thanks again in advance.

[Kelric]

Originally Posted by thehef

Thank you very much, Kelric, for the info... A few more questions:

1. In League Setup / Functions, what is the difference between what exactly happens when you hit one of these three?

Run Computer Mgr on All Teams
Set all Computer Teams to allow Roster Changes
Set all teams back to being computer-controlled

The first one lets the AI set lineups, promotions/demotions, etc., etc. for that one time only. If all teams are human controlled before you hit that button, they will be human controlled after you hit it, but their organizations will have been set to AI preferences. You can go in and change them around at will and the AI will never again interfere.

For the second one, it's just what it says. It will let the AI actually run the team (you can have AI teams that they can't change, so all the AI will do is lineups/pitching staffs and never sign FAs or deal with injuries, for example) like a person would.

The third also does what it says. All teams will be set to AI control (but you still need to turn AI roster changes on).

2. Is there a difference in performing these functions when you are in commissioner-mode vs. not in c-mode?

None that I know of.

3. Each of these three functions assumes a prior action ("use if you have modified...," "restores ability of AI...," "sets all teams back..."). Do these functions have any uses other than to revert something? In other words & for example, can you Run Computer Manager on all Teams at any time in order to have the AI take a fresh look at lineups, rotations, etc.? Or is it only useful when "you have modified AI team rosters and want to revert the changes?"

Your first example is spot on. The other two options don't have any other uses as far as I've bothered trying to find out.

4. Related to #3, if you want to Run Computer Manager on all Teams, it says that "if you have modified AI team rosters..." Does this mean that it will not touch rosters of non-AI teams? Teams to where the "Prevent any AI roster changes" box is checked?

It will touch non-AI teams if that box isn't checked. If that box is checked, it MIGHT still change the rosters that one time. I honestly don't know. My guess is that it would.

5. If the AI/computer is allowed to make roster moves & trades for affilitated minors, but the majors are either human-controlled or no trades are allowed, then are minor-leagers that are on majors' 40-man rosters pretty much at no risk of being traded within the minors by the AI?

I'm trying to think how to explain this one. The AI will never make trades if trading is off. If trading is on and you control the majors and just let the AI set pitching staffs/demotions/etc. in the minors, it will never make a trade. All trades in that case are always determined by you. There is no separate minor league trading system, it's all under the umbrella of the major league organization. The AI won't sign minor league FAs or anything like that either. You're in charging of finding and dismissing players, the AI just shuffles them around the minors.

6. I've noticed that some minors teams hired bench coaches, whereas others didn't. The absence of a bench coach appears to make it impossible to ask for Strategy settings help. Am I missing someting, a work-around or something? Or are the only options to 1) set all the strategies myself, 2) leave them at the defaults, or 3) wait until the team hires a bench coach?

I always play with coaches off, but I still see the 'ask bench coach' or 'ask manager' options. It's just letting the AI set whatever you're asking them to and nothing else.

As for if coaches are on, I can't help you there.