Getting the AI to play as shrewdly as a human?

[injury log]

Great point. So I'll add the following:

-the AI often makes bizarre waiver/DFA choices. I haven't looked at this extensively, but I have the impression the following happens:

--during the offseason, the AI always seems to try to maintain its best players on the 40-man roster, leading it to constantly tinker with the roster when there's simply no reason to do so; games aren't being played.

--further to this, AI teams often seem to add guys to the 40-man during the season when there's also no reason to do so. Just because a prospect has good enough ratings to make him the 40th best player in an organization doesn't mean he should be on the 40-man roster; that just starts his option clock ticking, and means the AI needs to waive someone to get him onto the 40-man. If he then becomes the 41st best player because of a signing, the prospect gets waived, which is obviously not helpful for the AI team;

--finally, while the AI will religiously maintain 25-man rosters at all levels in the minors except at the bottom level, the human player isn't under this restriction. I'm pretty sure this contributes to the lack of depth on AI teams -- they'll often need to play a AA-calibre guy if enough injuries strike -- and also leads to some of the odd roster decisions AI teams make.

--the AI doesn't seem to conduct a sufficiently thorough assessment of need when agreeing to trades. An AI team that already has a good catcher will often contemplate trading for another good catcher if a trade is offered, then if the deal is close, might request a third good catcher. If all are vets and are out of options, one can end up on irrevocable waivers. In general, I've often seen the AI request a player after you 'Make this work now', then immediately release or waive the player that it had requested;

-different issue: I've noticed a few contracts for $10m per season for two or three years that the AI has given to guys with 2 or 3 years of service time. Since the guy is already cost-controlled (arbitration eligible) for the entire duration of these contracts, and since the arbitration award is certain to be less than $10m, it makes absolutely no sense for the AI to offer such an extension. The AI should only extend contracts for arbitration-eligibles if it is buying out a year or two of free agency, or if it is getting a better deal than it would get via arbitration.

[endgame]

Originally Posted by injury log

-different issue: I've noticed a few contracts for $10m per season for two or three years that the AI has given to guys with 2 or 3 years of service time. Since the guy is already cost-controlled (arbitration eligible) for the entire duration of these contracts, and since the arbitration award is certain to be less than $10m, it makes absolutely no sense for the AI to offer such an extension. The AI should only extend contracts for arbitration-eligibles if it is buying out a year or two of free agency, or if it is getting a better deal than it would get via arbitration.

This issue caused me some concern very recently in my league and I agree with your point to a large degree, but I did stumble upon a rationale, right or wrong, that has some effective results for buying out these arbitration year or years: fan interest and/or economy, the first being the most obvious and immediate.

The extremely popular player locked in for the next two or three causes the fan interest to increase dramatically over his presence alone, and in a win now mode the attendance also increases proportionately. In addition, if in the third arbitration year you're able to add the cumulative investment and arbitrarily (pardon the pun) imagine the extra million and a half was worth the 40 points of fan increase, you might be able to make a case. It still needs tweaked, but I think there is room for 'some' to accept a marginal rationale for these early extensions.

[Isura]

Originally Posted by The Wolf

Trust me, go high stats.

Is this due to the scouting system? IIRC the AI now uses scout ratings, not actual ratings for decisions. How about scouts off and high rating weight (and obviously turn ratings off ourselves)?

[Here24]

I love the idea of stats only managing.
I don't currently have any minor leagues in order to speed up simulation.
I'll have to add minors so I can see some stats and judge how players are coming along.
I think I'll also have to play more games so I can get to know my players better.
I can already see what is meant by it being more immersive.
Long live OOTP.

[deadringer]

For the stat only crowd, do you guys allow yourself to use the text scouting reports or do you intentionally ignore them?

[The Wolf]

Originally Posted by Here24

I can already see what is meant by it being more immersive.

And it only gets better.

You set for high stats for the AI so that the AI values players for the same reasons you do. This is for consistency. And, no, I don't look at the text scouting reports. But that's just me. It's your game, play it your way. (Unfortunately OOTP doesn't let me play it my way, which would be for free.)

[PotatoPeeler]

I set up a league the other night that I plan on playing as stats only. Been tweaking it the last couple days and now I'm simming 60 years to get some history built up. I'm looking forward to giving this a go.

[satchel]

Originally Posted by injury log

Actually, no, perhaps surprisingly- or at least this was true in OOTP8 (doubt it's changed) -- even with ratings invisible, you can still sort any column you want.

I couldn't find this in the bug-reporting forum, but it needs to be there.

[JoseRijo]

Originally Posted by injury log

--during the offseason, the AI always seems to try to maintain its best players on the 40-man roster, leading it to constantly tinker with the roster when there's simply no reason to do so; games aren't being played.

IMO this is a HUGE handicap for the AI. Its a good idea for the AI to have a concept of what its current 40 man would look like, but not to actually make those moves until just before spring training.

[PSUColonel]

Originally Posted by PotatoPeeler

Where exactly is this setting? I'm having trouble finding it in the game.

Thanks.

what would some of you recommend for the talent change randomness setting as a way of reflecting modern baseball? I realize the default is 100, but from what I am reading, many seem to think this is still a bit much, even for a fictional league.

[PSUColonel]

An interesting article:

Scout.com: The Baseball GM & Scouting Series Part II

[The Wolf]

Originally Posted by PSUColonel

what would some of you recommend for the talent change randomness setting as a way of reflecting modern baseball? I realize the default is 100, but from what I am reading, many seem to think this is still a bit much, even for a fictional league.

I use something around 10.

[injury log]

Originally Posted by satchel

I couldn't find this in the bug-reporting forum, but it needs to be there.

It's not a bug. If you're not using feeders, the only way you can hold an amateur draft, ratings invisible, is by sorting columns.

[pressure]

Originally Posted by deadringer

For the stat only crowd, do you guys allow yourself to use the text scouting reports or do you intentionally ignore them?

I find it too easy to interperet their responses as ratings, so I don't look at them. Personally, I also keep the talent change randomness at it's default as I like my trades to be risky. It just makes it that much more satisfying when someone develops into a superstar.

There are a lot of ways to get "info" about players without having ratings. As someone pointed out earlier you can still list players in order by rating even if you can't see the actual rating, and the AI still publishes it's best prospect, best organization, and best players rankings. You can also get a good idea of a players value by shopping him around and seeing what you get offered.

[Reikazawa]

Originally Posted by The Wolf

You set for high stats for the AI so that the AI values players for the same reasons you do. This is for consistency.

Wolf, do you change the weights according to what month it is? For example, in March, there are no Current Year Stats to evaluate.

[Unoriginal Name]

Wolf,

Would you mind sharing your settings you use for the game? I'm curious how you have everything else set up. I've been trying to do something similar but haven't been able to get it quite right.

Thanks.

[StyxNCa]

Originally Posted by deadringer

For the stat only crowd, do you guys allow yourself to use the text scouting reports or do you intentionally ignore them?

I don't read the text scouting reports anymore since way too often what the text said made no sense when looking at the players stats or their ratings. I am clueless as to where it comes up with much of what it says.

[The Wolf]

Originally Posted by Reikazawa

Wolf, do you change the weights according to what month it is? For example, in March, there are no Current Year Stats to evaluate.

I don't, but you could. It might even be a good idea. I'm just not that diligent.

[The Wolf]

Originally Posted by Unoriginal Name

Wolf,

Would you mind sharing your settings you use for the game? I'm curious how you have everything else set up. I've been trying to do something similar but haven't been able to get it quite right.

Thanks.

I thought that I pretty much had shared them. What other settings do you want to know about?

[Unoriginal Name]

Originally Posted by The Wolf

I thought that I pretty much had shared them. What other settings do you want to know about?

A couple other settings I was wondering about were do you use the scouting system? What about things like the waiver wire and the Rule 5 draft? What do you find are the best settings for trading preferences?

Those are all I can think of right now.