Starting new game with foreign leagues - worth it?

[md5423]

Is it worth it to include a few international leagues (Japan, Korea, Cuba etc.) when starting a new MLB game? Is it worth the extra space and longer loading times to have real international FA's with real stats? How well implemented is this system? Or am I better off just having the game generate the international FA?

If anyone has any experience or knowledge about this I would greatly appreciate any tips. Thanks!

[PSUColonel]

I feel it is....it's a bit of work to get started, but I am really enjoying it...I also have all Indy leagues

[koohead]

I can't speak for OOTP18 but I took my Japan/Korea/Taiwan leagues out of my universe back in OOTP17 because I found too many players from there ended up in the MLB. I do have Independent Leagues going in my current universe because I wanted older players (and those disheartened by the MLB) to have somewhere to go play while waiting for another shot) but am finding the generated foreign free agents to be fine and enough.

[md5423]

Originally Posted by PSUColonel

I feel it is....it's a bit of work to get started, but I am really enjoying it...I also have all Indy leagues

For me all I did was check the boxes of the leagues to include... are there some other settings you would recommend changing for these leagues?

[PSUColonel]

I have roster limits to their minor leagues 35 players. Most of the players in these leagues don't have much talent, so it should work pretty well. If anything, you'll see washed up American players in foreign leagues

[koohead]

Originally Posted by PSUColonel

I have roster limits to their minor leagues 35 players. Most of the players in these leagues don't have much talent, so it should work pretty well. If anything, you'll see washed up American players in foreign leagues

OH. that just made me think of another frustration point for me in the past. I don't think foreign player limits applied to reserve rosters?? Do they now? or is that addressed by you by going the minor league route?

[Beechnut]

My first adventure was in a standard MLB game with all international leagues in OOTP 15. I started off unemployed and took a job in the DSL, was promptly fired. I saw that there was an opportunity with an expansion team in the Honkbal Hoofdklasse and brought them to a title three years later. From there, I considered jumping to the NBP but once I saw an opening for the LA Dodgers ($$$) I jumped on it. I'm a few years in with them and it's looking good.

It was a lot of fun managing a team in the HH, a league I knew nothing about. It inspired me to do some research and learn about how the real league worked, who their studs were, and hey wait, I recognize that name from OOTP! That's a real person? Wow, how cool is that?!

I was pining over guys who were minor league scrubs in the US but would be key pieces to my roster once they signed for the peanuts I had to offer. By the time I got a job in MLB, many young prospects had been called up and were establishing themselves as perennial all stars. Now in real life I start hearing about guys like Tyler Naquin, Brendan Rodgers, Carson Kelly, and think gee, there's 1/3 of my starting lineup in 2020! I even signed a former HH player of mine to a minor league contract with LA. He has an outside shot at being a role player with the big club. I might not have given him a second look if I didn't already have a connection with him.

So in my experience, yes, totally worthwhile to have the international leagues up and running. I learned a lot and was really immersed.

[NoOne]

might as well look into feeders too. test out various settings relative to international leagues while you implement those. i've never done it, but threads on forum recommend how many relative to size, i believe.

make sure to turn off generated versions of those players... i assume it averages something similar over time with them all on?

-excluding discoveries, imo that would make sense to leave on. independent leaguers if off etc... avoid any redundancy is the idea

[PSUColonel]

Originally Posted by md5423

For me all I did was check the boxes of the leagues to include... are there some other settings you would recommend changing for these leagues?

Some of the leagues PCMs need adjusting...otherwise you will find too many foreign players in the MLB.

Also...small things such as a few wrong ballparks and the weather not having been done in Independent leagues, requires a fine tooth comb approach when you start a new league.