Historical Play - Real Transactions

DaBears · 05-10-2017, 09:00 PM

I primarily play the game in manager-only mode, and have grown curious this year about historical replay. It would seem that in manager-only mode, you get the most realistic game that way, avoiding some of the odd behavior by the AI acting as GM.

Several questions, as I have read just about everything on here and in the manual, and still don't quite get these:

1. From what I gather, the best approach seems to be to have at least one minor league team, up to three, to avoid the AI carrying 30-40 players on the MLB team during games. Is this a valid approach? Is there a benefit to having more than one minor league level?

2. Do you have an amateur draft? I would assume none is required (just use ghost players to fill out minor league teams), but want to confirm.

3. How does the league evolve when you transition to today's world and there is no history? It seems possible that the game just doesn't work that great at that point, but if so, it helps to know so you start far enough back (example - as manager-only, it might be fun to take over the '10 Giants as they were just getting good and see how you could do, but that might not be the case if you're going to run out of league after just six years).

4. Are the transactions truly 100% real? If you turn off injuries (which seems like a common suggestion), do players still go to the DL when they did in real life even though they are not injured, or do they stay active and uninsured?

5. If you use AI evaluation and scouting, does the game completely ignore what happened in real life in creating player ratings? In other words, nothing but what you actually see happening in the game affects those ratings?

6. How is expansion handled? If you start in 1990, how does the game handle the '92 and '98 expansions?

7. Is there anything you need to do in the setup to make the game really work? Put another way, any tips people have found that might not be your first thought?

thehef · 05-11-2017, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaBears

I primarily play the game in manager-only mode, and have grown curious this year about historical replay. It would seem that in manager-only mode, you get the most realistic game that way, avoiding some of the odd behavior by the AI acting as GM.

Several questions, as I have read just about everything on here and in the manual, and still don't quite get these:

1. From what I gather, the best approach seems to be to have at least one minor league team, up to three, to avoid the AI carrying 30-40 players on the MLB team during games. Is this a valid approach? Is there a benefit to having more than one minor league level? [hef] I don't see why you'd have 30-40 players on your roster unless you are either monkeying with active roster limits, or are playing with - in addition to historical transactions - historical lineups. Some others will have different opinions but I find historical lineups to be just about the most un-historical way to play because other than the lineups being historically correct, nothing else comes close (37 players on your active roster? C'mon, that's no way to play...)... If you're not playing with historical lineups, you can choose to have minors or not, and if not, you'll simply have a reserve roster.

2. Do you have an amateur draft? I would assume none is required (just use ghost players to fill out minor league teams), but want to confirm. [hef] If you're playing with historical transactions, there would be no need for an amateur draft. Rather, first-year players would import to their historically-correct organization.

3. How does the league evolve when you transition to today's world and there is no history? It seems possible that the game just doesn't work that great at that point, but if so, it helps to know so you start far enough back (example - as manager-only, it might be fun to take over the '10 Giants as they were just getting good and see how you could do, but that might not be the case if you're going to run out of league after just six years). [hef] I've no experience with this but I believe the game engine will take over if you enable League Evolution.

4. Are the transactions truly 100% real? [hef] They are truly real for the most part, to extent that they are known. By that, I mean that there are many, many player moves throughout history where the specifics are not known but the outcome is. So while we may not know exactly how and when Joe Schmoe went from the 1915 St Louis Browns to the 1916 Philadelphia A's, we know it happened sometime between seasons, so the historical txns file will generally make that happen on January 1st, 1916. If you turn off injuries (which seems like a common suggestion), do players still go to the DL when they did in real life [hef] No, injury/disabled list txns are not included in OOTP historical txns, although there is a request for this... even though they are not injured, or do they stay active and uninsured? [hef] Keep in mind that some injuries are accounted for in ratings. Think of a guy who had nagging injuries all year long and underperformed significantly (examples that always come to my mind are Bills Russell and Bucker of the 1975 Dodgers). You can smooth out the injury-filled, underperforming year by using, for example, 3-year re-calc.

5. If you use AI evaluation and scouting, does the game completely ignore what happened in real life in creating player ratings? [hef] I may not be understanding the question, but AI and scouting don't create player ratings, OOTP turns real-life stats into ratings, and then AI & scouting interpret them (to varying degrees of accuracy, depending upon settings). In other words, nothing but what you actually see happening in the game affects those ratings?

6. How is expansion handled? If you start in 1990, how does the game handle the '92 and '98 expansions? [hef] Not sure specifically what you are asking, but if you have real-life expansion enabled, then it happens as in real life.

7. Is there anything you need to do in the setup to make the game really work? Put another way, any tips people have found that might not be your first thought?

Not sure about the last one. I'd suggest having fun with some quick & dirty historical sims, trying out various settings and just having fun with them before you settle in to the game in which you plan to really immerse yourself.

(Look for any misstatements in my replies above to be quickly corrected by those who know more than me

)

Orcin · 05-11-2017, 01:13 PM

I think you answered this very well.

Re: #3, I think you may have to enable trading, drafting, etc. after the game runs out of real transactions, but I haven't actually done that either.

Re: #4, if you really want to enjoy this mode as a manager, I suggest turning off injuries. The game can't account for the fact that your starting third baseman just went out for the year and the GM traded your only qualified backup the next day. Of course, that would not have happened in real life. In fact, the GM might have gone out to acquire depth at a position to cover injuries, which won't happen with real transactions either.

DaBears · 05-12-2017, 12:15 PM

Thank you both for the replies. It does seem that turning off injuries is a good idea, given roster issues.

Historical transactions - I believe (from reading probably 100 topics on this) that if I turn on historical transactions but not real lineups, the other teams' AI will control their use of the 25-man roster each day, but who is available on that roster will be accurate to historical?

Minors - It seems like people tend to say you are better off having a level or two of minors than the reserve roster, but I don't really get why that would matter since you are not trying to evaluate the players (again, I'm manager-only). Is there some benefit I am missing here to having the minors? Finally, on this, if I set the active roster limit at 25, that will avoid the issue some have voiced of 28, 35, etc. players available for a game, right?

Ratings - If you select AI evaluation, I would assume the game starts its ratings by evaluating the last 3 years of real life, but then gradually integrates your game's stats into those to where eventually only what happened within OOTP is affecting those. Does anyone know if, say, 2 years in, one-third of a player's rating would be real life and two-thirds would be OOTP?

05-10-2017, 09:00 PM	#1
DaBears All Star Reserve Join Date: Jun 2013 Posts: 528	Historical Play - Real Transactions I primarily play the game in manager-only mode, and have grown curious this year about historical replay. It would seem that in manager-only mode, you get the most realistic game that way, avoiding some of the odd behavior by the AI acting as GM. Several questions, as I have read just about everything on here and in the manual, and still don't quite get these: 1. From what I gather, the best approach seems to be to have at least one minor league team, up to three, to avoid the AI carrying 30-40 players on the MLB team during games. Is this a valid approach? Is there a benefit to having more than one minor league level? 2. Do you have an amateur draft? I would assume none is required (just use ghost players to fill out minor league teams), but want to confirm. 3. How does the league evolve when you transition to today's world and there is no history? It seems possible that the game just doesn't work that great at that point, but if so, it helps to know so you start far enough back (example - as manager-only, it might be fun to take over the '10 Giants as they were just getting good and see how you could do, but that might not be the case if you're going to run out of league after just six years). 4. Are the transactions truly 100% real? If you turn off injuries (which seems like a common suggestion), do players still go to the DL when they did in real life even though they are not injured, or do they stay active and uninsured? 5. If you use AI evaluation and scouting, does the game completely ignore what happened in real life in creating player ratings? In other words, nothing but what you actually see happening in the game affects those ratings? 6. How is expansion handled? If you start in 1990, how does the game handle the '92 and '98 expansions? 7. Is there anything you need to do in the setup to make the game really work? Put another way, any tips people have found that might not be your first thought?

05-11-2017, 01:13 PM	#3
Orcin Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Indiana Posts: 9,884	I think you answered this very well. Re: #3, I think you may have to enable trading, drafting, etc. after the game runs out of real transactions, but I haven't actually done that either. Re: #4, if you really want to enjoy this mode as a manager, I suggest turning off injuries. The game can't account for the fact that your starting third baseman just went out for the year and the GM traded your only qualified backup the next day. Of course, that would not have happened in real life. In fact, the GM might have gone out to acquire depth at a position to cover injuries, which won't happen with real transactions either.

05-12-2017, 12:15 PM	#4
DaBears All Star Reserve Join Date: Jun 2013 Posts: 528	Thank you both for the replies. It does seem that turning off injuries is a good idea, given roster issues. Historical transactions - I believe (from reading probably 100 topics on this) that if I turn on historical transactions but not real lineups, the other teams' AI will control their use of the 25-man roster each day, but who is available on that roster will be accurate to historical? Minors - It seems like people tend to say you are better off having a level or two of minors than the reserve roster, but I don't really get why that would matter since you are not trying to evaluate the players (again, I'm manager-only). Is there some benefit I am missing here to having the minors? Finally, on this, if I set the active roster limit at 25, that will avoid the issue some have voiced of 28, 35, etc. players available for a game, right? Ratings - If you select AI evaluation, I would assume the game starts its ratings by evaluating the last 3 years of real life, but then gradually integrates your game's stats into those to where eventually only what happened within OOTP is affecting those. Does anyone know if, say, 2 years in, one-third of a player's rating would be real life and two-thirds would be OOTP?