How do you use the team strategy option?

Incognitobear · 06-09-2009, 10:09 AM

Do you leave the strategy to your manager or do you set it yourself? I tried to do it myself but was swept in 3 games by the Nationals

so now I'm going back to let my manager handle it. What is the best strategy anyway?

kcroyalgm · 06-09-2009, 10:26 AM

Well, the best strategy is in the mind of the strageteer (to coin a word).
You could get 1000 arguments about what is best.

I always set my team's strategy fully in all my on-line leagues figuring it gives me a slight advantage over teams that don't. That assumes, of course, that I know what I'm doing.

My only complaint with the game is that there is no vehicle for copying a complete strategy from one league to another. It's a pain going through and setting all those situations and run situations.

SteveP · 06-09-2009, 01:14 PM

Are you talking about the decision to let the AI call the plays during each game? Or are you taking about who sets the sliders in the team strategy page? Two very different questions.

If it's the first, I let the AI call the plays for me. It makes the game go faster and it removes any suspicion that I'm winning because I'm smarter than an AI (which is doubtful in my case

).

If it's the second, there is lots to learn about how those sliders work and what the effect is, so I won't get into it unless that really is the point.

Incognitobear · 06-09-2009, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveP

Are you talking about the decision to let the AI call the plays during each game? Or are you taking about who sets the sliders in the team strategy page? Two very different questions.

If it's the first, I let the AI call the plays for me. It makes the game go faster and it removes any suspicion that I'm winning because I'm smarter than an AI (which is doubtful in my case

).

If it's the second, there is lots to learn about how those sliders work and what the effect is, so I won't get into it unless that really is the point.

I mean the second, the sliders. I feel that it is difficult to know exactly how the manager will use the sliders if I change them. For example, I set my team to use very aggresive base running if trailing with 4+ runs in a late game. That resulted in me trailing in the top of the 9th with 4 runs. I had 2 runners on and the batter hit a liner to right for a hit. R2 headed home and was thrown out to end the game. Had he stayed on 3rd I would have had the bases loaded and the tying run at the plate. That made me thinking that maybe it was my aggresive base running slider that coused R2 to try for home. So what is a good slider for that situation? Is it stupid to have the base running slider set full to aggressive? Is it maybe better to set individual overriding sliders to those players that I have faith in?

What is your thoughts?

TribeFanInNC · 06-09-2009, 04:45 PM

It's all a matter of patience. If you have the patience, the individual sliders are nice, though they are not situational. But the ease of the copy and paste in the situational team strategies are good as well. The answer is really a mixture of both and if you have the time, go through and do both - set the team strategy sliders then augment it with some specific individual sliders.

In answer to your base running question, you should have low aggression on the basepaths when trailing by 4 runs. Your first goal is to have enough baserunners to get the tying run to the plate. Otherwise you will never win. Taking the extra base is unimportant until it is the tying run.

Good Luck!

tysok · 06-09-2009, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Incognitobear

I mean the second, the sliders. I feel that it is difficult to know exactly how the manager will use the sliders if I change them. For example, I set my team to use very aggresive base running if trailing with 4+ runs in a late game. That resulted in me trailing in the top of the 9th with 4 runs. I had 2 runners on and the batter hit a liner to right for a hit. R2 headed home and was thrown out to end the game. Had he stayed on 3rd I would have had the bases loaded and the tying run at the plate. That made me thinking that maybe it was my aggresive base running slider that coused R2 to try for home. So what is a good slider for that situation? Is it stupid to have the base running slider set full to aggressive? Is it maybe better to set individual overriding sliders to those players that I have faith in?

What is your thoughts?

That is something the sliders control. No guarantee he wouldn't have gone if you'd had the slider to completely conservative, but it could have influenced it.

I just play with them until I'm happy with what I see. One thing I will say, is I generally run really aggressive early, but like your down by 4+ late I go more conservative... just so I (hopefully) don't run myself out of an inning, or the game.

There is no way in god's green earth, at all, ever, wouldn't even cross my mind, leave those sliders to the AI manager. He's a complete imbecile. There is no consideration (or wasn't at least) to situations, he is (or was) the exact same across the board.

SteveP · 06-09-2009, 05:07 PM

When the AI manager sets the sliders (which is what happens when you start the game), they will be roughly in the middle or one notch to either side. In other words, the teams will play pretty much the same, except for small differences. In OOTP9, there was good reason to fiddle with these, not just for your team but for all the teams, because the AI had some bad tendencies that needed to be controlled (like too much PHing for position players) and that was the only way to do it. That is much less true in OOTP10.

The baserunning slider is important because it is always active, even when you are calling your own plays in-game. It is also important because small changes in the slider position can have a big impact on how aggressive your players are. OTOH, your players are going to be thrown out running the bases more often than was true in OOTP9, because that aspect of the game has been made more realistic, so take that into account.

Some other sliders that can be important because of impact and, to some extent, because small changes can cause large effects are: basestealing, IBBs, PH for position players, PH for pitchers, PRing, Hooking starters. There are some sliders that have little or no impact on anything (e.g., squeeze plays, bunt for hit, infield shift).

btw, I don't go to the trouble of making different settings for all the different situations. I just set it one way and make it effective for all the situations. IMO, the programming in the AI which controls situational decision-making tends to overwhelm the influence of these sliders. A good example: you would very rarely see any PHing for position players before the 7th inning no matter how you set that slider. So have fun testing out different approaches to the sliders, but if you find it's a bit too complicated for your test, don't worry about going back to a simpler approach.

Incognitobear · 06-09-2009, 05:25 PM

Thanks for all your answers. I will be trying to tweak the sliders a bit.

Another question that may be off topic. When I play out my games, I like to decide batting and pitching strategy but leave the defensive strategy to my manager. But when the games in playing the defensive strategy (infield/outfield) is still controlled by me. Is this a bug or am I just not getting it?

SteveP · 06-09-2009, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Incognitobear

But when the games in playing the defensive strategy (infield/outfield) is still controlled by me. Is this a bug or am I just not getting it?

Had to think about this one for a moment.

If you control pitches then the game requires you to control defenses as well, regardless of what options you picked. Don't really know why -- perhaps someone with a longer history with the game might know. It certainly can be confusing to a new player.

So your choices are control batting, control pitching/defense, and/or control substitutions.

The Outlaw · 06-09-2009, 06:05 PM

Although this is slightly unrelated, I've always wanted to see some sort of slider profile creator type function. I play out nearly all my games but I have a season with a friend of mine where we both control a team however the away team in any head to head is computer controlled due to distance. If there was some way to generate a profile from the style of play throughout x number of games, it would negate any AI flaws in strategery and mimic closely the style of play if I were playing the game out against him. I think one of the 2K football games had something similar to this called VIP Profile where it created a computer generated version of yourself and the favorite plays you ran and what you did in certain situations. Just a thought...

trapper · 06-09-2009, 06:42 PM

I usually don't do too much to the sliders because I find it too time consuming to go into each score and situation variable and modify each slider in each case. I wish there some "overall tendencies" sliders or something like that. Unless I have been missing something for a while I don't think this exists...

06-09-2009, 10:09 AM	#1
Incognitobear Bat Boy Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 16	How do you use the team strategy option? Do you leave the strategy to your manager or do you set it yourself? I tried to do it myself but was swept in 3 games by the Nationals so now I'm going back to let my manager handle it. What is the best strategy anyway?

06-09-2009, 10:26 AM	#2
kcroyalgm All Star Reserve Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 644	Well, the best strategy is in the mind of the strageteer (to coin a word). You could get 1000 arguments about what is best. I always set my team's strategy fully in all my on-line leagues figuring it gives me a slight advantage over teams that don't. That assumes, of course, that I know what I'm doing. My only complaint with the game is that there is no vehicle for copying a complete strategy from one league to another. It's a pain going through and setting all those situations and run situations.

06-09-2009, 01:14 PM	#3
SteveP Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 3,109	Are you talking about the decision to let the AI call the plays during each game? Or are you taking about who sets the sliders in the team strategy page? Two very different questions. If it's the first, I let the AI call the plays for me. It makes the game go faster and it removes any suspicion that I'm winning because I'm smarter than an AI (which is doubtful in my case ). If it's the second, there is lots to learn about how those sliders work and what the effect is, so I won't get into it unless that really is the point.

06-09-2009, 04:45 PM	#5
TribeFanInNC Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 4,019	It's all a matter of patience. If you have the patience, the individual sliders are nice, though they are not situational. But the ease of the copy and paste in the situational team strategies are good as well. The answer is really a mixture of both and if you have the time, go through and do both - set the team strategy sliders then augment it with some specific individual sliders. In answer to your base running question, you should have low aggression on the basepaths when trailing by 4 runs. Your first goal is to have enough baserunners to get the tying run to the plate. Otherwise you will never win. Taking the extra base is unimportant until it is the tying run. Good Luck!

06-09-2009, 05:07 PM	#7
SteveP Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 3,109	When the AI manager sets the sliders (which is what happens when you start the game), they will be roughly in the middle or one notch to either side. In other words, the teams will play pretty much the same, except for small differences. In OOTP9, there was good reason to fiddle with these, not just for your team but for all the teams, because the AI had some bad tendencies that needed to be controlled (like too much PHing for position players) and that was the only way to do it. That is much less true in OOTP10. The baserunning slider is important because it is always active, even when you are calling your own plays in-game. It is also important because small changes in the slider position can have a big impact on how aggressive your players are. OTOH, your players are going to be thrown out running the bases more often than was true in OOTP9, because that aspect of the game has been made more realistic, so take that into account. Some other sliders that can be important because of impact and, to some extent, because small changes can cause large effects are: basestealing, IBBs, PH for position players, PH for pitchers, PRing, Hooking starters. There are some sliders that have little or no impact on anything (e.g., squeeze plays, bunt for hit, infield shift). btw, I don't go to the trouble of making different settings for all the different situations. I just set it one way and make it effective for all the situations. IMO, the programming in the AI which controls situational decision-making tends to overwhelm the influence of these sliders. A good example: you would very rarely see any PHing for position players before the 7th inning no matter how you set that slider. So have fun testing out different approaches to the sliders, but if you find it's a bit too complicated for your test, don't worry about going back to a simpler approach.

06-09-2009, 05:25 PM	#8
Incognitobear Bat Boy Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 16	Thanks for all your answers. I will be trying to tweak the sliders a bit. Another question that may be off topic. When I play out my games, I like to decide batting and pitching strategy but leave the defensive strategy to my manager. But when the games in playing the defensive strategy (infield/outfield) is still controlled by me. Is this a bug or am I just not getting it?

06-09-2009, 06:05 PM	#10
The Outlaw Minors (Single A) Join Date: May 2004 Location: SC Posts: 62	Although this is slightly unrelated, I've always wanted to see some sort of slider profile creator type function. I play out nearly all my games but I have a season with a friend of mine where we both control a team however the away team in any head to head is computer controlled due to distance. If there was some way to generate a profile from the style of play throughout x number of games, it would negate any AI flaws in strategery and mimic closely the style of play if I were playing the game out against him. I think one of the 2K football games had something similar to this called VIP Profile where it created a computer generated version of yourself and the favorite plays you ran and what you did in certain situations. Just a thought...

06-09-2009, 06:42 PM	#11
trapper Minors (Double A) Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 114	I usually don't do too much to the sliders because I find it too time consuming to go into each score and situation variable and modify each slider in each case. I wish there some "overall tendencies" sliders or something like that. Unless I have been missing something for a while I don't think this exists...