A Discussion around Randomness and OOTP

[AJFO]

Evening folks,

So I was about to settle in for an afternoon nap when I popped this YouTube video on in the background.

Adam Millard is one of my favorites when it comes to most things gaming-related and has plenty of other brilliant takes scattered throughout his YouTube videos. However, like with many more vaguely-related things at the moment, I felt myself start to gravitate towards thinking: "How does this apply to OOTP, in principle?"

Yet, for what it's worth I'm no game design evaluator or developer, mostly a more passive witness to creation than a critique of it.

Nonetheless, I did end up wondering how the ever-changing Talent Change Randomness magician and the resultant difference in an OOTP world's landscape might lend itself itself to what I've seen people recommending on the forum in recent times: interactivity (aka, as Adam refers to it, "a chance to skilfully wield randomness to your advantage").

Example: You notice your disruptive SS - player personality shouldn't matter, but could in this instance - is on best-of-season hit spree nearing 30 games and the game presents you with three options:

a) Approach your color commentators about giving him more air-time pregame to boost notoriety - chance of decreasing work ethic, increasing player loyalty and local popularity, alongside a possible temporary uptick in fan loyalty.

b) Recommend your hitting coach provide more time for said player - chance of Hit/Avoid Ks OVR rating increasing for duration of streak; chance team chemistry may slightly decrease due to player resentment for special treatment (of a poor character player).

c) Create a fan section for player (unavailable if player has a disruptive personality type); permanently increases player morale when in the starting lineup and chance in increasing work ethic, player loyalty and fan loyalty.
Costs club $250,000 over the season and is a sunk cost (i.e. if player leaves during season money is not refunded).

So what do you think? I took a stab and would be curious to see what you think after you watch his video and/or what you make of the premise in the first place.

[Archelirion]

I have a vague idea of how this would probably be implemented - triggered flags marginally increasing numbers for [insert period here] - though I'm not exactly a programmer either so I'm probably chatting bull. As someone who resents the player interaction system in Football Manager I have a tendency to get a bit... wary when player interaction in OOTP is mentioned, but this actually seems like quite a good way of doing it. The chance of unleashing absolute bloody hell doesn't seem quite as high. I'd still probably turn it off though

[AJFO]

Originally Posted by Archelirion

I have a vague idea of how this would probably be implemented - triggered flags marginally increasing numbers for [insert period here] - though I'm not exactly a programmer either so I'm probably chatting bull. As someone who resents the player interaction system in Football Manager I have a tendency to get a bit... wary when player interaction in OOTP is mentioned, but this actually seems like quite a good way of doing it. The chance of unleashing absolute bloody hell doesn't seem quite as high. I'd still probably turn it off though

Well hello, a fellow OOTPer from the UK! What a sight!

You're likely in the right vicinity of the option existing to turn off such moments, though having never played football manager I'm struggling with the analogy.
My hope is that some sort of player interaction system, whether limited to isolated events, or more far-reaching could enhance immersion. That said, added complexity might not exactly be everyone's cup of tea.

[endgame]

I haven't watched the video. I'll plan to do so. I will say that at its core, this certainly sounds like the basis of storylines, with equal division about its use.