Baseball- and PT-Beginner needs help

Cloonix · 08-02-2021, 06:00 AM

Hello,

it's my first season in Baseball and in OOTP as well. I managed to get a team with completing missions and opening some packs. Now i got to first place in my rookie league but lost the final conference playoff matches against a team with a - on the first look - much worse team than mine. What am i missing?

https://imgur.com/a/l7LhcmR

How much can i influence my success with the team strategy?

Where should i begin to improve to finally advance to the next league?

Are my players "bad"?

Thanks.

Hertston · 08-02-2021, 07:47 AM

First up, you need to accept that the PT 'year' starts afresh with each MLB season. You are therefore way behind the curve starting when you have, and in all honesty you are best off just using the rest of this year to gain experience in the game and how it works so you can hit the ground running next spring.

Secondly, as in real life anybody can beat anybody, not least in the playoffs. The better the team, the more the odds are in your favor, but there are no guarantees. We've all been there, on both sides of a 'shock' result

.

So..

The only way you will advance is by getting better players, and the only ways to do that are buying them from the auction, drawing them from packs, or (rarely) winning them in tourneys. In practice, unless you have real money to waste/burn, that means winning packs in tourneys (watching the live streams throws you a few as well). Keep what you can use, sell what you can't, both in the team and for collections. Concentrate on building up iron and bronze tourney teams initially, learn from the teams that beat you and you'll soon start notching up player packs. Use PP to buy players, not packs. You can gain PP from events, such as hitting a grand slam, all-star selections, and so on but look on these as a nice bonus, not your prime source of 'income'.

You can do a lot tactically, but not work miracles. It's a loop really, early tactical choices are dictated by the players and skill-sets you have, but as you progress you will find yourself more and more buying players to fit your tactics. As a very broad guide, look for hitters with good contact and avoid 'k's (strike-outs), and pitchers with good movement. Other skills are important but not, generally, AS important. Look at player skills carefully, but use card 'value' as a general guide only. Not all cards with the same value are created equal.

And a final tip, don't neglect to customize your ballpark to how YOUR team plays. It can give a small, but significant, edge in your home games. The game tells you how the average number of HRs, doubles and triples changes with ballpark dimensions.

P.S. As to 'new to baseball', there's not a lot you can do other than watch and study the game. The MLB even puts one game out live most days for free on Youtube during the regular season and their subscription is good value - get one for the play-offs if nothing else. Read at least one good book on baseball statistics; there are several available.

Tinkerman · 08-02-2021, 08:25 AM

October has been a good time to do missions the past 2 years. If you can build an understanding AND a hoard of PP by then, you can have a good crack at the game.

professor ape · 08-02-2021, 09:37 AM

What Hertston said. As someone who is also new to baseball, this is a great way for you to get introduced to the history of the game. Just realize that PT is a card game. While the top cards are also top players, they are not a straight up historical record of who they were as players.

Cloonix · 08-02-2021, 10:06 AM

Thanks for your advices so far. I really like OOTP due to the fact, that i might improve my general understanding of baseball.

Please take a look at my attached screenshot in the first post. Isn't it strange that i can't beat a bronze team in a BO5 playoff? How terrible are my cards or my "non-understanding" of the game?

Cloonix · 08-02-2021, 10:06 AM

Thanks for your advices so far. I really like OOTP due to the fact, that i might improve my general understanding of baseball.

Please take a look at my attached screenshot in the first post. Isn't it strange that i can't beat a bronze team in a BO5 playoff? How terrible are my cards or my "non-understanding" of the game?

Torgonius · 08-02-2021, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cloonix

Thanks for your advices so far. I really like OOTP due to the fact, that i might improve my general understanding of baseball.

Please take a look at my attached screenshot in the first post. Isn't it strange that i can't beat a bronze team in a BO5 playoff? How terrible are my cards or my "non-understanding" of the game?

Don't rely on the Overall rating for any accurate information about a player's actual performance in game. Look at the actual game play ratings for those cards. Live cards are also generally not as good as historic cards.

People can write (and have written) massive tomes on the different ratings and how the PT engine uses them.

And get very used to variance. Even if you have a team that wins 75% of its games, you are still going to lose a lot of games, and losing 3 out of 5 isn't uncommon.

Cloonix · 08-03-2021, 10:23 AM

Thank you very much for this.

I will dive deep into the matter ;-)

Hertston · 08-07-2021, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cloonix

Please take a look at my attached screenshot in the first post. Isn't it strange that i can't beat a bronze team in a BO5 playoff? How terrible are my cards or my "non-understanding" of the game?

As has been said, not strange at all. The mistake I suspect you are making (?) is associating the level of the leagues with the level of cards needed and found in them. This was never close even in April, and is almost totally disassociated now. For example, in gold, most teams will have mostly perfect and good 90s cards. In diamond, exclusively perfect cards, at least if they wish to avoid bouncing up and down into gold like I do

.

I have no idea what's happening below gold these days, but I'm guessing a good bronze team will be mostly gold and diamond with maybe even the odd perfect thrown in (?) Unless you are insanely lucky, it takes time to build those teams up.

ubernoob · 08-07-2021, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hertston

In diamond, exclusively perfect cards, at least if they wish to avoid bouncing up and down into gold like I do

.

This part is not true at all. I have a gold and at least 6 or 7 Diamonds on my roster, and I've been in diamond since diamond was a thing.

08-02-2021, 06:00 AM	#1
Cloonix Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Aug 2021 Location: Germany, Munich Posts: 33	Baseball- and PT-Beginner needs help Hello, it's my first season in Baseball and in OOTP as well. I managed to get a team with completing missions and opening some packs. Now i got to first place in my rookie league but lost the final conference playoff matches against a team with a - on the first look - much worse team than mine. What am i missing? https://imgur.com/a/l7LhcmR How much can i influence my success with the team strategy? Where should i begin to improve to finally advance to the next league? Are my players "bad"? Thanks. Last edited by Cloonix; 08-03-2021 at 10:28 AM.

08-02-2021, 07:47 AM	#2
Hertston Major Leagues Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 327	First up, you need to accept that the PT 'year' starts afresh with each MLB season. You are therefore way behind the curve starting when you have, and in all honesty you are best off just using the rest of this year to gain experience in the game and how it works so you can hit the ground running next spring. Secondly, as in real life anybody can beat anybody, not least in the playoffs. The better the team, the more the odds are in your favor, but there are no guarantees. We've all been there, on both sides of a 'shock' result . So.. The only way you will advance is by getting better players, and the only ways to do that are buying them from the auction, drawing them from packs, or (rarely) winning them in tourneys. In practice, unless you have real money to waste/burn, that means winning packs in tourneys (watching the live streams throws you a few as well). Keep what you can use, sell what you can't, both in the team and for collections. Concentrate on building up iron and bronze tourney teams initially, learn from the teams that beat you and you'll soon start notching up player packs. Use PP to buy players, not packs. You can gain PP from events, such as hitting a grand slam, all-star selections, and so on but look on these as a nice bonus, not your prime source of 'income'. You can do a lot tactically, but not work miracles. It's a loop really, early tactical choices are dictated by the players and skill-sets you have, but as you progress you will find yourself more and more buying players to fit your tactics. As a very broad guide, look for hitters with good contact and avoid 'k's (strike-outs), and pitchers with good movement. Other skills are important but not, generally, AS important. Look at player skills carefully, but use card 'value' as a general guide only. Not all cards with the same value are created equal. And a final tip, don't neglect to customize your ballpark to how YOUR team plays. It can give a small, but significant, edge in your home games. The game tells you how the average number of HRs, doubles and triples changes with ballpark dimensions. P.S. As to 'new to baseball', there's not a lot you can do other than watch and study the game. The MLB even puts one game out live most days for free on Youtube during the regular season and their subscription is good value - get one for the play-offs if nothing else. Read at least one good book on baseball statistics; there are several available. __________________ Ballymahon Bassets (FTP) Last edited by Hertston; 08-02-2021 at 07:56 AM.

08-02-2021, 09:37 AM	#4
professor ape All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: The belly of the beast Posts: 1,498	What Hertston said. As someone who is also new to baseball, this is a great way for you to get introduced to the history of the game. Just realize that PT is a card game. While the top cards are also top players, they are not a straight up historical record of who they were as players. __________________

08-03-2021, 10:23 AM	#8
Cloonix Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Aug 2021 Location: Germany, Munich Posts: 33	Thank you very much for this. I will dive deep into the matter ;-) Last edited by Cloonix; 08-03-2021 at 10:28 AM.

08-02-2021, 08:25 AM	#3
Tinkerman All Star Starter Join Date: Nov 2019 Posts: 1,942	October has been a good time to do missions the past 2 years. If you can build an understanding AND a hoard of PP by then, you can have a good crack at the game.

08-02-2021, 10:06 AM	#5
Cloonix Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Aug 2021 Location: Germany, Munich Posts: 33	Thanks for your advices so far. I really like OOTP due to the fact, that i might improve my general understanding of baseball. Please take a look at my attached screenshot in the first post. Isn't it strange that i can't beat a bronze team in a BO5 playoff? How terrible are my cards or my "non-understanding" of the game?