Suggestions for 23

[Syd Thrift]

One thing I notice when playing out games... I'd really like to see more off-the-ball movement. I'm sure this is something the graphics guys were working on adding in anyway but just wanted to make it noted somewhere. Some examples:

- Players racing to back up bases on groundouts and base hits. Even if, for instance, the pitcher can't get all the way behind first base on a 4-3 putout, you should see him moving in that direction (or, baseball coaches can correct me if I'm wrong... should the right fielder be backing up first on that play? Anyway, whoever is supposed to do that, should do that).

- When holding a runner, show the fielder holding the runner running back to position. I think I still see a lot of "jump"s.

- Runners going to first should run through the bag, not disappear upon being called out or magically stop after running full speed to get there.

- The PBP doesn't necessarily match what's on the screen but I'd love to see actual animations of runners taking out the pivot man on double play attempts, especially considering that that is an in-game situation where injuries happen. Also, maybe the low bridge every now and then? I can understand not wanting them because they're borderline dirty plays but they do happen in the game, if only occasionally.

- Fielders charging in on bunts and otherwise moving a little bit before a pitch, even, like, those little hops guys take sometimes in order to be able to move in an instant.

- Even stuff like the pitcher turning around to stare at a ball leaving the yard or an infielder looking up as a line drive goes over them instead of just sitting there would be awesome.

Some other animations that'd be cool:

- Foul outs to the outfield!

- This is probably hard as craaap to implement with customizeable stadia, but leaping catches at the OF wall. Honestly as a guy who plays almost entirely (actually I think entirely ATM) with user-created stadia, I'd be A-OK with a fielder clipping through the fences to make that catch. As long as you get it to look right with the defaults I think it'd be fine.

- The catcher going out to the mound on his own to talk to the pitcher.

- I'd love better animations for balks. Which, again, I'm sure y'all are working on this but at least IME a significant portion of balk calls come on a throw to first (or an illegally faked throw to first!) and not on an actual throw home. But stuff like dropping the ball after a pitcher gets into the set position or moving in and out of set position also result in balk calls.

- Still see the Bugs Bunny ball, although mostly now on broken-up double plays. Still find it more amusing than bad but, I don't know, those probably shouldn't be there.

- I'd love to see more indicators that an error is about to occur than a guy falling down. I see this at third especially: guy falls down, makes the throw, and the throw is almost always off the mark. Throwing errors probably come off of rushed throws more than non-rushed ones but this feels like a case of artificially rushing...

- Speaking of, sometimes, too, a guy bobbles a ball and still manages to throw a batter out. Any time this animation happens in the game, it ends in an IF hit or an error.

- HIDDEN BALL TRICKS WHY ISN'T THIS IN THE GAME OMG WHY DO I EVEN OOTP

[oldfatbaldguy]

Originally Posted by Syd Thrift

- Still see the Bugs Bunny ball

I'm managing a fictional team called the Albuquerque Trains and I've taken several wrong turns, so this seems appropriate in my save game.

[RB1968]

1. Being able to have a 3-4 team trade.
2. Show Bullpen Coach
3. Live start can update rosters after the season is done.

[Cryomaniac]

Originally Posted by Syd Thrift

One thing I notice when playing out games... I'd really like to see more off-the-ball movement. I'm sure this is something the graphics guys were working on adding in anyway but just wanted to make it noted somewhere. Some examples:

- Players racing to back up bases on groundouts and base hits. Even if, for instance, the pitcher can't get all the way behind first base on a 4-3 putout, you should see him moving in that direction (or, baseball coaches can correct me if I'm wrong... should the right fielder be backing up first on that play? Anyway, whoever is supposed to do that, should do that).

- When holding a runner, show the fielder holding the runner running back to position. I think I still see a lot of "jump"s.

- Runners going to first should run through the bag, not disappear upon being called out or magically stop after running full speed to get there.

- The PBP doesn't necessarily match what's on the screen but I'd love to see actual animations of runners taking out the pivot man on double play attempts, especially considering that that is an in-game situation where injuries happen. Also, maybe the low bridge every now and then? I can understand not wanting them because they're borderline dirty plays but they do happen in the game, if only occasionally.

- Fielders charging in on bunts and otherwise moving a little bit before a pitch, even, like, those little hops guys take sometimes in order to be able to move in an instant.

- Even stuff like the pitcher turning around to stare at a ball leaving the yard or an infielder looking up as a line drive goes over them instead of just sitting there would be awesome.

Some other animations that'd be cool:

- Foul outs to the outfield!

- This is probably hard as craaap to implement with customizeable stadia, but leaping catches at the OF wall. Honestly as a guy who plays almost entirely (actually I think entirely ATM) with user-created stadia, I'd be A-OK with a fielder clipping through the fences to make that catch. As long as you get it to look right with the defaults I think it'd be fine.

- The catcher going out to the mound on his own to talk to the pitcher.

- I'd love better animations for balks. Which, again, I'm sure y'all are working on this but at least IME a significant portion of balk calls come on a throw to first (or an illegally faked throw to first!) and not on an actual throw home. But stuff like dropping the ball after a pitcher gets into the set position or moving in and out of set position also result in balk calls.

- Still see the Bugs Bunny ball, although mostly now on broken-up double plays. Still find it more amusing than bad but, I don't know, those probably shouldn't be there.

- I'd love to see more indicators that an error is about to occur than a guy falling down. I see this at third especially: guy falls down, makes the throw, and the throw is almost always off the mark. Throwing errors probably come off of rushed throws more than non-rushed ones but this feels like a case of artificially rushing...

- Speaking of, sometimes, too, a guy bobbles a ball and still manages to throw a batter out. Any time this animation happens in the game, it ends in an IF hit or an error.

- HIDDEN BALL TRICKS WHY ISN'T THIS IN THE GAME OMG WHY DO I EVEN OOTP

The hidden ball trick is in the game.

And also bear in mind that everything will have to go past the MLBPA, so nothing that suggests injuries or dirty play is ever likely to be added.

[smythejd]

Originally Posted by diddygamer

I think we should be able to export our fictional teams to play exhibition games(or custom playoffs) against real historical teams. Imagine if we can play our 2054 HOF first baseman against prime Pujols Cardinals

This would be great.

[smythejd]

Originally Posted by Deft

Pitcher Development Training
Specific training for areas of development for pitchers or hitter. It would great to work on teaching new pitches or stamina. Work on strike outs for hitters. Obviously, these focused activities cut come at the cost of developing other skills but 2 pitch pitcher that has a ton of talent and a high potential 3rd pitch slider that never develops is frustrating.

This is much needed and really help in roster development

[kcstengelsr]

Is there any way to improve the morale of an unmotivated, selfish, or disruptive player or is one just either stuck with the fellow or use him as trade bait?
I have played historical seasons with some strange things happening like Hank Aaron unmotivated. Ha.
I fired the manager to get somebody or anybody who has a "good" relationship with Hank Aaron and it seemed to make no difference. I kept firing managers looking for somebody to light a fire under Hank, so I tried easy going, personable, controlling, neutral, and temperamental managers (all with at least neutral relationships with Aaron) and still it appeared that Hank Aaron was going to stay lazy forever.

The whole morale/team chemistry system is fun but it can give strange ratings to some players and there seems to be no method of improving a player's morale. Does anybody know how?

In my historical replays I turn morale/team chemistry off. A hall of fame player with poor morale will affect his stats and his team. The other cheat I use if I want to use morale/team chemistry is in commissioner mode editing the morale of star players to be at least neutral.

[Jeffy25]

Has there been any word on 23 yet?

I know I'm a little early asking, I think it's typically announced around this time and available for purchase in March

They announced it last year 2/22 and I was able to download it 3/23

[Jeffy25]

The thing I've been wanting for a few years remains the same.

I really want a more intelligent AI and that is harder to take advantage of in trades and free agency.

Teams too often seem to make moves that are in conflict with their other moves, which makes it too easy to win.

I've long just created self imposed rules and reverse moves I see teams do, like trading for prospects in a win now mode, or a team that is rebuilding getting one of the top free agents.

And I, as a GM can pretty much sign any free agent I want without there really being any competition.

I created a dice game for myself so that it was impossible for me to sign some free agents (like if a player was from the West Coast and I had an East Coast team, I would put a rank on proximity for the player with the dice. If I rolled a 1, he didn't care about proximity and that would be a factor that said I could negotiate with him. If I rolled a 6 for example, then that was a big factor for that player and I couldn't.

I don't know how OOTP can really do this, but I would love some sort of a system that just made the AI more intelligent and consistent (more win now teams, more rebuilding teams, and they stuck consistent with those intentions)

[eauhomme]

A couple things I would like to see:

Catcher feedback on mound visits (accuracy affected by catcher ability and intelligence). Pitcher says "Let me pitch", but catcher says "Warm up the pen".

Series scouting reports that give useful information, like who's hot/who's not or a few key stats a team is top 3 in. ("The Cardinals are second in the league in SB" or "The Mets are 3rd in OPS against RHP") that may affect your strategies.

Including pickoffs as a stat tracked.

Baserunner AI that minimizes stupid mistakes--Running into the first or third out at 3B, Stealing bases when up/down 5+ runs, Getting picked off when slow runner is on 1B up/down 5+, etc.

Shopping players resulting in multiple player packages offered in return (not just 1x1--shopping a star results in an offer of three prospects, for example).

[eauhomme]

Originally Posted by BarneyRubble

Another small change, that would go a long way in realism, would be the trade screen. As it stands, the second I put a player on both sides, I get a response. At this point, I can 'game' the game based on that response. To do this, I have to remove what I'm offering, ask for an additional player or money, and add my offer back. I immediately get a response. What is needed is a submit offer and stop assuming you are done modifying offer.

I suggest...

1) A submit offer button to stop immediate responses.
2) Have the opposing GM answer with a simple yes/no. If he rips me off, so be it.

My suggestion would be to do like they have with contract negotiations: With each change to an offer, the morale of the GM drops, with him demanding more or cancelling the trade outright if you keep moving the goalposts.



Have an undisplayed relationship rating that affects your ability to trade with each team (or use the smiley icon). If you renegotiate too many deals or bug him with too many unrealistic deals ("Will you trade Mike Trout for Dylan Moore?") the relationship rating drops, making him less likely to respond to your player shops or to accept your more reasonable deals.



Leaving the guy alone for awhile or getting a less favorable trade accepted could raise the rating a bit (on the theory that he's more likely to want to deal with you if he knows he can win the deal).


This could make the trade AI work a little better by making it more difficult for you to win a deal by adding to it after it's accepted. If your initial deal is accepted, then that's what you've got.



"I'm offering Abraham Toro for David Fletcher".
"Let's Do It."


"How about Abraham Toro for David Fletcher and Jo Adell?"
"No."

"Abraham Toro for David Fletcher and Kean Wong?"
"Not a chance."

"Abraham Toro for David Fletcher and Jaime Birria?"
"I'm hanging up now. Leave me alone!"


"Abraham Toro for David Fletcher?"
The Angels GM refuses to deal with you at this time.

[ms2002]

Originally Posted by eauhomme

My suggestion would be to do like they have with contract negotiations: With each change to an offer, the morale of the GM drops, with him demanding more or cancelling the trade outright if you keep moving the goalposts.



Have an undisplayed relationship rating that affects your ability to trade with each team (or use the smiley icon). If you renegotiate too many deals or bug him with too many unrealistic deals ("Will you trade Mike Trout for Dylan Moore?") the relationship rating drops, making him less likely to respond to your player shops or to accept your more reasonable deals.



Leaving the guy alone for awhile or getting a less favorable trade accepted could raise the rating a bit (on the theory that he's more likely to want to deal with you if he knows he can win the deal).


This could make the trade AI work a little better by making it more difficult for you to win a deal by adding to it after it's accepted. If your initial deal is accepted, then that's what you've got.



"I'm offering Abraham Toro for David Fletcher".
"Let's Do It."


"How about Abraham Toro for David Fletcher and Jo Adell?"
"No."

"Abraham Toro for David Fletcher and Kean Wong?"
"Not a chance."

"Abraham Toro for David Fletcher and Jaime Birria?"
"I'm hanging up now. Leave me alone!"


"Abraham Toro for David Fletcher?"
The Angels GM refuses to deal with you at this time.

Brilliant idea and would address many of the issues with exploiting the AI.

The user should have to ask for feedback rather than getting it instantly. It's too easy to play around with options and find a way to take advantage of the AI.

[oldfatbaldguy]

Yeah, that's not bad.

[BarneyRubble]

Originally Posted by eauhomme

My suggestion would be to do like they have with contract negotiations: With each change to an offer, the morale of the GM drops, with him demanding more or cancelling the trade outright if you keep moving the goalposts.



Have an undisplayed relationship rating that affects your ability to trade with each team (or use the smiley icon). If you renegotiate too many deals or bug him with too many unrealistic deals ("Will you trade Mike Trout for Dylan Moore?") the relationship rating drops, making him less likely to respond to your player shops or to accept your more reasonable deals.



Leaving the guy alone for awhile or getting a less favorable trade accepted could raise the rating a bit (on the theory that he's more likely to want to deal with you if he knows he can win the deal).


This could make the trade AI work a little better by making it more difficult for you to win a deal by adding to it after it's accepted. If your initial deal is accepted, then that's what you've got.



"I'm offering Abraham Toro for David Fletcher".
"Let's Do It."


"How about Abraham Toro for David Fletcher and Jo Adell?"
"No."

"Abraham Toro for David Fletcher and Kean Wong?"
"Not a chance."

"Abraham Toro for David Fletcher and Jaime Birria?"
"I'm hanging up now. Leave me alone!"


"Abraham Toro for David Fletcher?"
The Angels GM refuses to deal with you at this time.

Great idea.

[itsmb8]

Originally Posted by BarneyRubble

Another small change, that would go a long way in realism, would be the trade screen. As it stands, the second I put a player on both sides, I get a response. At this point, I can 'game' the game based on that response. To do this, I have to remove what I'm offering, ask for an additional player or money, and add my offer back. I immediately get a response. What is needed is a submit offer and stop assuming you are done modifying offer.

I just traded a very good reliever for an average reliever to save some cash. As soon as I added the two players, I get a "WOW, that is an awesome deal, we'll take it". At this point, I remove my reliever, ask for cash from them, add my reliever back and immediately get a response telling me how good a deal that is. So, I remove my reliever, increase the cash, add my reliever back and get a 'this works for us response'. This is gaming the game, which I try not to do.

I suggest...

1) A submit offer button to stop immediate responses.
2) Have the opposing GM answer with a simple yes/no. If he rips me off, so be it.

I MOSTLY agree with this. The only change is the AI responses. If they like most of the trade, or their perceived value is relatively close, they should be able to offer a counter. Not all the time, but a decent amount.

If the original offer is very far off or they think they've already won the trade though, then definitely just a yes/no or even an immediate "im not willing to give up this player" and "the gm refuses to negotiate."

[Crazyjoe0813]

I really wish future drafts for historical leagues would be available. There's the dropdown box for future drafts so the functionality is there, but that only works for fictional leagues. The database of future drafts are already there, so why can't they show up in the future draft class lists?

[wallewalls]

The GM relationships thing was in the old EA Sports NHL games from around 2011. It was such a great feature IMO.

You had a relationship with each GM, and it was harder to trade with your rivals by default (you can make a league-changing, blockbuster deal with the Red Sox as the Yankees in OOTP like it's nothing out of the ordinary), that's certainly not realistic.

And I believe if you kept offering things like trying to get a better draft pick (a 5th instead of a 7th for instance) too many times, the GM would walk back the offer to the point where the original deal might not be able to go through, and also impacting your GM ratings and relationships. I would love to see something like this in OOTP.

Additionally, I know that I for some reason end up making a lot of deals with the same teams in my game. This happens IRL too (the Yankees made a lot of deals with the Pirates, Diamondbacks, and Tigers in the early-mid 2010s,for instance). It would be cool if this could be replicated in OOTP somehow. Like if I quickly want to pick up some minor league depth (nothing too important to the other team), they would be easier to work with in getting this accomplished.

Overall, I would say just changing things up when having to deal with the AI could make long-term saves a lot more interesting. A whole living world for instance, and these things would change then if one of your good GM buddies gets fired or retired and whatnot.

[Deft]

Custom Awards with customizable criterion, so the awards could be auto generated rather than assigned by the human.

For example, Comeback Player of the year is your custom award. There is a filter like on the player search screen where you can set up algorithm to rate the players that could include performance this year vs. the last, injury history, and throw in popularity as a criteria.

[cyrusb]

Please add some sort of mechanism for online leagues to (a) record any changes made by the commissioner in edit screens for players/teams or (b) restrict the ability to make changes to players/teams

Commissioners of online leagues work hard to create great gameplay experiences for the OOTP community! We deserve some support for a long-requested feature to help assure members of our leagues that any good or bad luck is just that -- luck!

[Cryomaniac]

Originally Posted by Crazyjoe0813

I really wish future drafts for historical leagues would be available. There's the dropdown box for future drafts so the functionality is there, but that only works for fictional leagues. The database of future drafts are already there, so why can't they show up in the future draft class lists?

That would be a decent idea.