Staff and Player Development expenses should not be projected in leagues without such costs

jmknpk2 · 01-19-2016, 12:21 AM

I participate in an online league which does not have staff or player development expenses. We are not charged for such things during each season. However, staff and development costs (under "Other Misc.") are projected as expenses for future seasons (as displayed on the "Accounting" tab of the "Front Office" screen). This obviously should never be.

This is a huge problem when it comes time to sign extensions with existing players. On my current team, with a budget of $75 M, nearly $9 M are set aside from next season's projected expenses for staff and player development costs. This error causes the owner to prevent me from signing $9 M worth of players (12% of truly available budget) to extensions.

When the next season comes around, that $9 M will be available player salaries. However, it helps my team very little regarding a player the owner forced me to let walk, because the accounting books he based his decision on included a large inappropriate projected expense that never actually is incurred in a league choosing the option of not having staff or player development costs.

This is clearly an error. This is not a bug which would need to be searched for. Removing this error might not take much effort or time. A simple "if" statement, in the code assigning staff expenses to projected finances, would eliminate the problem. It would seem to be such a trivial improvement, that it might even be rolled out in an update prior to OOTP 17.

I'd be happy to send league files if desired. I imagine this could easily be simulated with creation of any new league by selecting the options for no staff or player development, then reviewing projected finances.

jmknpk2 · 01-19-2016, 01:49 AM

I am submitting screen shots to illustrate this problem. Our regular season just came to a close with the latest sim. Prior to this sim (7 days remaining in the regular season), I attempted to sign Akinori Kobayashi to a two year $640,000 per year extension.

Despite having only a project $65,190,000 player expenses, projected revenue of $74,856,544, and budget of $75,000,000 in 2043, the owner refused to let me make the $640,000 per year extension offer. This $8,198,697 inappropriate projection for player development and staff expenses is negatively affecting owner decisions. The $640,000 certainly fits in the true and reasonable projections of $65,190,000 total expenses against $74,856,544 total revenue.

Fortunately, there was an arbitration eligible player projected to earn $800,000 which I was able to release, allowing me to sign Kobayashi. Today the Front Office shows $2,251,303 available for extensions. This apparently changed with the conclusion of the regular season, after final 2042 attendance revenue had been collected. The amount available for extensions should really be total projected revenue less total projected expenses = $74,856,544 - $65,190,000 = $9,666,544, or near that amount.

Hopefully the following screen prints will clearly illustrate the problem.

jmknpk2 · 01-19-2016, 04:29 AM

I tried to upload the screen shots as attachments to this comment.

jmknpk2 · 01-19-2016, 04:31 AM

One final screen shot showing the contract extension I signed, but which required releasing $800,000 from my projected player salaries in 2043.

Matt Arnold · 01-19-2016, 11:07 AM

It's not actually staff and player expenses, it's the "owner decides over budget" flag and how to deal with cash.

So the game treats you as about 9M in the hole, because it hasn't "recognized" your 10M profit from the season.

I'll try to make sure that issues like this get cleared up for next year, that it's clear what's going on, especially with how we deal with cash.

01-19-2016, 12:21 AM	#1
jmknpk2 All Star Reserve Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 982	Staff and Player Development expenses should not be projected in leagues without such costs I participate in an online league which does not have staff or player development expenses. We are not charged for such things during each season. However, staff and development costs (under "Other Misc.") are projected as expenses for future seasons (as displayed on the "Accounting" tab of the "Front Office" screen). This obviously should never be. This is a huge problem when it comes time to sign extensions with existing players. On my current team, with a budget of $75 M, nearly $9 M are set aside from next season's projected expenses for staff and player development costs. This error causes the owner to prevent me from signing $9 M worth of players (12% of truly available budget) to extensions. When the next season comes around, that $9 M will be available player salaries. However, it helps my team very little regarding a player the owner forced me to let walk, because the accounting books he based his decision on included a large inappropriate projected expense that never actually is incurred in a league choosing the option of not having staff or player development costs. This is clearly an error. This is not a bug which would need to be searched for. Removing this error might not take much effort or time. A simple "if" statement, in the code assigning staff expenses to projected finances, would eliminate the problem. It would seem to be such a trivial improvement, that it might even be rolled out in an update prior to OOTP 17. I'd be happy to send league files if desired. I imagine this could easily be simulated with creation of any new league by selecting the options for no staff or player development, then reviewing projected finances. Last edited by jmknpk2; 01-19-2016 at 12:24 AM.

01-19-2016, 04:29 AM	#3
jmknpk2 All Star Reserve Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 982	I tried to upload the screen shots as attachments to this comment. Attached Images

01-19-2016, 04:31 AM	#4
jmknpk2 All Star Reserve Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 982	One final screen shot showing the contract extension I signed, but which required releasing $800,000 from my projected player salaries in 2043. Attached Images

01-19-2016, 01:49 AM	#2
jmknpk2 All Star Reserve Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 982	I am submitting screen shots to illustrate this problem. Our regular season just came to a close with the latest sim. Prior to this sim (7 days remaining in the regular season), I attempted to sign Akinori Kobayashi to a two year $640,000 per year extension. Despite having only a project $65,190,000 player expenses, projected revenue of $74,856,544, and budget of $75,000,000 in 2043, the owner refused to let me make the $640,000 per year extension offer. This $8,198,697 inappropriate projection for player development and staff expenses is negatively affecting owner decisions. The $640,000 certainly fits in the true and reasonable projections of $65,190,000 total expenses against $74,856,544 total revenue. Fortunately, there was an arbitration eligible player projected to earn $800,000 which I was able to release, allowing me to sign Kobayashi. Today the Front Office shows $2,251,303 available for extensions. This apparently changed with the conclusion of the regular season, after final 2042 attendance revenue had been collected. The amount available for extensions should really be total projected revenue less total projected expenses = $74,856,544 - $65,190,000 = $9,666,544, or near that amount. Hopefully the following screen prints will clearly illustrate the problem.

01-19-2016, 11:07 AM	#5
Matt Arnold OOTP Developer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Here and there Posts: 16,111	It's not actually staff and player expenses, it's the "owner decides over budget" flag and how to deal with cash. So the game treats you as about 9M in the hole, because it hasn't "recognized" your 10M profit from the season. I'll try to make sure that issues like this get cleared up for next year, that it's clear what's going on, especially with how we deal with cash.