This game is a joke!!!!!

Fighting22 · 06-07-2025, 11:13 PM

Why is it, after seven seasons, that NONE of my 4 or 5 star players, despite a maxed out training budget, all top seven draft picks, NEVER even sniff anything close to their potential. And when I click on the opposing players, over 90% of them are maxed out on their ratings?
Why is it, when my guys hit a single, they MUST stop after 3 steps to watch the ball hit the ground and only advance 1 base, while the teams I play against are off and running and get 2 bases 80% of the tine?
Why is it, my catcher, a #3 pick, with a 72 defensive rating to go with a 92 arm, after spending a full season at AAA, CAN'T throw out 20% of the guys trying to steal against him in over 120 attempts?
Why is it, the three guys I have that have over a 88 steal rating, can't get over 60% success in their attempts?
Why is it, with all the pickoff throws I try, I might get to pick off 2 a year, while between the opponents pitchers and catchers, I get picked off a bout 25 times a season?
Why is it, my pitchers can't field and throw a guy out at first? They pick up the ball, count the seams, and then throw. This happens at least every third game.
Why is it, when I have the bases loaded and no outs, 75% of the time I will NOT score a run? Depressing.
Why is it, my 75 rated shortstop makes 20 errors a year for 3 straight years, and when I sign a free agent shortstop with a 85 rating, he makes 21 errors a gets injured the last 6 weeks of the season?
Why is it, the opposing pitcher with 40 control and 40 stuff with a 37 endurance goes 7 shutout innings, gives up 1 hit and walks no one?
Why is it, every time I sign a 28 year old or so free agent to a six year deal, by year 3 his ratings have fell so far you can replace him with a AAA Player? And you can't trade him away because no one will take him?
Don't get me wrong, I love baseball and this is my third year of OOTP, but I will Never buy this game again. You put in a lot of time and strategy in this, but the AI engine in this version is crap.

twins_34 · 06-08-2025, 06:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fighting22

Why is it, after seven seasons, that NONE of my 4 or 5 star players, despite a maxed out training budget, all top seven draft picks, NEVER even sniff anything close to their potential. And when I click on the opposing players, over 90% of them are maxed out on their ratings?
Why is it, when my guys hit a single, they MUST stop after 3 steps to watch the ball hit the ground and only advance 1 base, while the teams I play against are off and running and get 2 bases 80% of the tine?
Why is it, my catcher, a #3 pick, with a 72 defensive rating to go with a 92 arm, after spending a full season at AAA, CAN'T throw out 20% of the guys trying to steal against him in over 120 attempts?
Why is it, the three guys I have that have over a 88 steal rating, can't get over 60% success in their attempts?
Why is it, with all the pickoff throws I try, I might get to pick off 2 a year, while between the opponents pitchers and catchers, I get picked off a bout 25 times a season?
Why is it, my pitchers can't field and throw a guy out at first? They pick up the ball, count the seams, and then throw. This happens at least every third game.
Why is it, when I have the bases loaded and no outs, 75% of the time I will NOT score a run? Depressing.
Why is it, my 75 rated shortstop makes 20 errors a year for 3 straight years, and when I sign a free agent shortstop with a 85 rating, he makes 21 errors a gets injured the last 6 weeks of the season?
Why is it, the opposing pitcher with 40 control and 40 stuff with a 37 endurance goes 7 shutout innings, gives up 1 hit and walks no one?
Why is it, every time I sign a 28 year old or so free agent to a six year deal, by year 3 his ratings have fell so far you can replace him with a AAA Player? And you can't trade him away because no one will take him?
Don't get me wrong, I love baseball and this is my third year of OOTP, but I will Never buy this game again. You put in a lot of time and strategy in this, but the AI engine in this version is crap.

Ok? I feel more that you do not really understand the game or understand what the 3d is but rather blame the game over trying to understand the game?

Just the fact that you are basing your SS on their overall like having an 85 rated player means they will be godly at everything? A good SS with good range, that makes it to more balls, will have more errors and of course will be worse if their range is great but their error is not the best. Even the best shortstops in real baseball can make a lot of errors. The best shortstops in the MLB average about 1 error every 15 games. So, on average 10 errors a year but that can fluctuate every year so a SS could easily have 20 errors in a year even if they are elite.

The 3D stuff you watch in a game, where a pitcher runs to the ball, picks it up, counts the stitches... is not what is actually going on. Probably a really fast runner and the pitcher just would not have a good play or the runner is too fast and just beats out the throw because the ball just was out of reach of the pitcher to make a hard throw to 1st. Has nothing to do with AI not making the throw, its how the behind the 3D calculations happened and then the 3D tried to make a 3D version of the play and the 3D is not perfect!

Once again on the ball dropping and only getting a single... you can't rely on the 3D. What you read in the text box is what is really going on. The ball could be hit through the wall and you still only get a single and why? Because the 3D is not what is really going on. It TRIES to emulate but it does not always get it right.

As for your other points... there are probably settings that are not set right, or you have bad coaching, bad cohesion, and many other factors that could cause your players to struggle in development. Like you left the dude in rookie ball for a year too long or in double AA for too many years. There are SO MANY reasons why development can stall. I've had amazing prospects just crash and burn when trying to do everything right and that's because some players, just will be harder to develop than others. It happens in real life as well where a dude comes out of high school or college as this amazing prospect but just crashes and burns in the minors.

But for someone that has so few posts, does not seem like you took advantage of the forums in asking questions and getting help over the past 3 years. This site is full of great advice and you just don't seem to have used it.

mytreds · 06-08-2025, 07:24 AM

My 2 cents:
1) rarely do 1st picks historically pan out. If your top picks still have a gap between potential and current ability, leave him in the minors longer, so their current ability can develop properly.
2) the 3D engine is simply window dressing to the simulation being played out. Don’t rely on it being able to 100% accurately describe what the PbP box is saying.
3) because arm is only half of the equation for a good catcher. IIRC his ability is more important than his arm.
4) stealing alone isn’t enough, you need speed(?) as well. And of course the opposing catcher factors into this as well.
5) because we remember bad events more than successful ones. I’m willing to bet that if you get picked off 25 times in a season, you didn’t get picked off over 100 times.
6) pitchers are poor fielders. Check their fielding ratings.
7) because the ball is round, i.e. bad luck happens. Again we remember bad events more than good ones.
8) 75 overall rating? Or 75 rating at SS? Good SS need very high range rating. Injuries suck. We’ve all had good players get injured at the wrong times. I always see injuries as a chance for a fringe player to have a chance. As an aside, I find defense is overrated. I’d rather have 9 silver sluggers instead of 9 golden glovers.
9) again, this is chance. Sometimes, a guy just has a nuts game and performs above expectations. Or, maybe your scout isn’t that good and the pitcher is better than what your ratings tell you.
10) this is hyperbole, as 28 is a players prime years. Most often, players will begin to decline after 32 or so. Try to avoid long term deals, but use the shop player feature to find places to dump him. Even use the retain salary function to sweeten a deal.

26 is also being tweaked with patches, so if any of your concerns are bugs or aberrations, hopefully they can be patched out. If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask, and the politer forum users can be able to support your concerns. If this is just a rant, be assured, we all have been where you are a number of times while playing ootp! So you’re in good company.

Carplos · 06-08-2025, 07:47 AM

Quote:

4) stealing alone isn’t enough, you need speed as well..

I thought they removed speed from stealing calculations?

mytreds · 06-08-2025, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carplos

I thought they removed speed from stealing calculations?

If they did, my mistake

Brad K · 06-08-2025, 04:36 PM

Thirty years ago, someone would have responded that the solution was "Go to a DOS prompt and press 'Enter' after typing 'Format C'".

LansdowneSt · 06-08-2025, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fighting22

Why is it, after seven seasons, that NONE of my 4 or 5 star players, despite a maxed out training budget, all top seven draft picks, NEVER even sniff anything close to their potential. And when I click on the opposing players, over 90% of them are maxed out on their ratings?
Why is it, when my guys hit a single, they MUST stop after 3 steps to watch the ball hit the ground and only advance 1 base, while the teams I play against are off and running and get 2 bases 80% of the tine?
Why is it, my catcher, a #3 pick, with a 72 defensive rating to go with a 92 arm, after spending a full season at AAA, CAN'T throw out 20% of the guys trying to steal against him in over 120 attempts?
Why is it, the three guys I have that have over a 88 steal rating, can't get over 60% success in their attempts?
Why is it, with all the pickoff throws I try, I might get to pick off 2 a year, while between the opponents pitchers and catchers, I get picked off a bout 25 times a season?
Why is it, my pitchers can't field and throw a guy out at first? They pick up the ball, count the seams, and then throw. This happens at least every third game.
Why is it, when I have the bases loaded and no outs, 75% of the time I will NOT score a run? Depressing.
Why is it, my 75 rated shortstop makes 20 errors a year for 3 straight years, and when I sign a free agent shortstop with a 85 rating, he makes 21 errors a gets injured the last 6 weeks of the season?
Why is it, the opposing pitcher with 40 control and 40 stuff with a 37 endurance goes 7 shutout innings, gives up 1 hit and walks no one?
Why is it, every time I sign a 28 year old or so free agent to a six year deal, by year 3 his ratings have fell so far you can replace him with a AAA Player? And you can't trade him away because no one will take him?
Don't get me wrong, I love baseball and this is my third year of OOTP, but I will Never buy this game again. You put in a lot of time and strategy in this, but the AI engine in this version is crap.

Could be worse...

Syd Thrift · 06-08-2025, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carplos

I thought they removed speed from stealing calculations?

I think steal success rate is more or less uncoupled from "speed" but if you try to force-steal a runner even if they don't have a jump then speed will absolutely come into play.

WhiskyTango · 06-10-2025, 11:43 AM

This really needs to be rethought and overhauled. There is nothing intrinsically obviously distinct and descriptive between "speed", "aggressiveness", "ability", and "running". Wha..? They need to add mouseovers or clean it up a bit. Are there common examples where the baserunner has exceptional "ability" but yet is not aggressive? Does "speed" differentiate from "jump"? Does it matter? Why is there no "jump" or "leadoff" rating? Are they part of "ability"? How much is window-dressing? My teams tend to produce fewest steals and this is probably why. I have no idea what they are trying to communicate.

AdequateRandomGaming · 06-10-2025, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhiskyTango

This really needs to be rethought and overhauled. There is nothing intrinsically obviously distinct and descriptive between "speed", "aggressiveness", "ability", and "running". Wha..? They need to add mouseovers or clean it up a bit. Are there common examples where the baserunner has exceptional "ability" but yet is not aggressive? Does "speed" differentiate from "jump"? Does it matter? Why is there no "jump" or "leadoff" rating? Are they part of "ability"? How much is window-dressing? My teams tend to produce fewest steals and this is probably why. I have no idea what they are trying to communicate.

I think it's pretty telling that we are on version 26 of the game and the top 2 posts in the forums are about (or contain) complaints about the vagueness of features, attributes and core game functions.

I'm not sure why this is still the stance to be honest. Perhaps it's to preserve some integrity by preventing players from gaming the game but I find it odd that in 2025 where accessibility in games is at a premium we are still debating what certain ratings that have been in the game for years even do, or can't even figure out why a player is unhappy and if their unhappiness even affect anything.

This is not meant to be a harsh critic on the game. I just think the fog of war in some instances is misplaced and causing unnecessary frustrations for some of the player base.

Brad K · 06-10-2025, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdequateRandomGaming

This is not meant to be a harsh critic on the game. I just think the fog of war in some instances is misplaced and causing unnecessary frustrations for some of the player base.

In some cases its not intentional fog of war. Sometimes it isn't known. That, of course, is a problem too, but the solution isn't as easy.

Bill Veeck · 06-10-2025, 02:42 PM

A lot probably stems from having just 9 people. It's an extraordinarily deep and complex simulation of a deep and complex sport - at least in regard to developing players, projecting player performance, AI GMs and so many other things working together across different sandbox variations. Everything that is discrete by itself seems simple, but I believe the complexity of baseball is the real fog of war.

It really helps when Matt and Lukas comment and it's great that we respond to them productively in most cases!

NoOne · 06-10-2025, 02:59 PM

This is mostly a matter of irrational expectations and false perceptions of reality. Some stuff you have the power to change to see what you want.

Some players don't develop. A ton of players can show high potential but it's just amatter of bad scouting -- which is the norm not the expection in real life. Scouts are terrible at what they do based on accuracy. Absolutely inaccurate more times than not.

There was a cool post many years ago that showed the average career war of players based on draft round. Finding and assessing such information corrects poor perceptions.

The discrepencies that arise from the 3d portion of this game are not necessarily related to the actual game engine. It is a superfical overlay at best. While real ife physics impact probabilities modeled, physics is not invovled directly in the game engine. What you see is just one of many possible visuals that correlates to whatever outcome was caclulated to occur. Focusing on 3d stuff is fine to make it work better but the underlying probabilities of various outcomes is what matters.

those are easily adjusted with modifiers and totals. ... well, sometimes it's complicated as there's a lot of interrelationships between them. The dynamics of somethings need to be learned.. like changing nubmer of HR will just shift some 1b/2b/3b to hr while hits stay the same... unless you also change hits. If hits remain teh same probability, then all you do is shift ratios around when adjusting doubles/triples/hrs. or, a greater proportion of singles resulting and all other factors the same, will obviously result in more SB.

throwing out base stealers is a bit volatile year to year for any 1 catcher. I don't know what other ratings might be new, but the pitcher in real life drastically effects the catcher's success of throwing player out.. if that rating isn't a new one, then it's all about the modifier for SB attemps and success %. Tweak those until the elite catchers throw out the percentage you feel is correct... though a little research onthe subject is probably a wiser way to set a target.

Then a ton of these are simply a matter of false perceptions of reality. Players very often lose their talent quickly after 30. Even faster for a catcher or some faceet based on physical ability like speed and athelticism.

Even so, if you prefer your perceptions, you can make them a reality in your simulation with the modifiers and league totals. i would suggest focusing on higher water marks of individuals rather than overal league averages to see what you want to see from the players. A spreasheet that can take the exported comma-delimted data can help or just sim out and start watchign results.. adjust modifiers tosee roughly what you expect.

the whole disconnect of 3d and what you want.. that's just how it is. the 3d isn't actually how the game is playing out.. it's just a supeficial thing... a layer on top. whaa you see is just one of many possible visual representations that matches up with what outcome was calculated. A weak outcome that was determined to be afly ball has numerous optiosn to dsiplay.. and the location distribution is just forced to be somewhat realistic.

Go use a 1000' OF fence and see what i mean, lol.

rwd59 · 06-10-2025, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoOne

Some players don't develop. A ton of players can show high potential but it's just amatter of bad scouting -- which is the norm not the expection in real life. Scouts are terrible at what they do based on accuracy. Absolutely inaccurate more times than not.

Are you talking in the game or in real life with this quote?

kq76 · 06-10-2025, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoOne

...

Scouts are terrible at what they do based on accuracy. Absolutely inaccurate more times than not.

...

The times, they might be a-changin'.

The Yurpman · 06-10-2025, 06:23 PM

In real life, the vast, vast, VAST majority of drafted players do not ever pan out. I'm a Red Sox fan so I brought up some of their past recent drafts just as an example. Most of the top picks did not pan out and in some years the best player picked came way later in the draft. (Not including the most recent ones as that wouldn't be fair to judge yet.)

2013
Top Pick: Trey Ball (7th overall, bust)
Best Pick: Mauricio Dubon (26th round, 773rd overall, not great)

2014
Top Pick: Michael Chavis (26th overall, did not pan out)
Best Pick: Chavis? Michael Kopech? Jalen Beeks? (none stand out)

2015
Top Pick: Andrew Benintendi (7th overall, extremely hyped coming out, middle of the road MLB player)
Best Pick: Benintendi by far. Next best is not even an option, really. Kevin Ginkel, I guess? An entire draft and ONE player became serviceable.

2016
Top Pick: Jay Groome (12th overall, never made the majors)
Best Pick: Bobby Dalbec (yeah...)

2017
Top Pick: Tanner Houck (at least he's still playing in the majors)
Best Pick: Tanner Houck (this entire draft produced TWO players that made the majors. Houck and Kutter Crawford)

2018
Top Pick: Triston Casas (jury is still out, hurt too much)
Best Pick: Jarren Duran (finally a legit, good pick. Came way later in the draft. Casas and Duran are the only two that have done anything from this draft, though)

2019
Top Pick: Cam Cannon (who?)
Best Pick: Chris Murphy? (yeah...awful draft, again)

That's seven years in a row of drafts for the Red Sox in real life. Jarren Duran and maybe Casas are legit good picks. The rest is pretty much garbage. Yes, there were some really good international free agents like Devers along the way. And hopefully guys like Rafaela, Bello, etc pan out. But this is strictly draft. Players just don't pan out most of the time. It's realistic. You can adjust settings if you want all of your top picks to become MLB stars.

rwd59 · 06-10-2025, 07:23 PM

So Boston's scouting department sucks. The vast majority of MLB players were drafted at some time or another. I mean the only options are being drafted, international amateur free agent, occasional established player from foreign league, or undrafted free agent. I would love to see the % of players in the MLB from each category. In the end though with the exception of established foreign players, they all have to be developed.

OK I did a little search. 30% of current MLB players were IAFA's. So that leaves 70% of MLB players that were drafted, undrafted, or established FA from foreign leagues. Obviously the majority of those were drafted. Also found a site that said only 1 in 5 (actually 17.6%) of the players drafted in MLB draft from 1981-2010 ever made it to the majors. The number of players drafted has changed through the years. I saw in 1991 there were 96 rounds. Evidently at one time the draft kept going until nobody wanted to draft anyone else. It was 40 round until Covid and is now 20 rounds.

The Yurpman · 06-11-2025, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rwd59

So Boston's scouting department sucks. The vast majority of MLB players were drafted at some time or another. I mean the only options are being drafted, international amateur free agent, occasional established player from foreign league, or undrafted free agent. I would love to see the % of players in the MLB from each category. In the end though with the exception of established foreign players, they all have to be developed.

OK I did a little search. 30% of current MLB players were IAFA's. So that leaves 70% of MLB players that were drafted, undrafted, or established FA from foreign leagues. Obviously the majority of those were drafted. Also found a site that said only 1 in 5 (actually 17.6%) of the players drafted in MLB draft from 1981-2010 ever made it to the majors. The number of players drafted has changed through the years. I saw in 1991 there were 96 rounds. Evidently at one time the draft kept going until nobody wanted to draft anyone else. It was 40 round until Covid and is now 20 rounds.

I'm not entirely sure what you're arguing about. I don't understand your point. Of course most of the players in MLB come from the draft. The OPs complaint was that none of his top players pan out and become stars. That's what my post was about, how that is actually realistic. Nobody is debating players come from the draft.

rwd59 · 06-11-2025, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Yurpman

I'm not entirely sure what you're arguing about. I don't understand your point. Of course most of the players in MLB come from the draft. The OPs complaint was that none of his top players pan out and become stars. That's what my post was about, how that is actually realistic. Nobody is debating players come from the draft.

Ok, I reread your post and found that I should have read it slower and more carefully. In a quick read it struck me as saying you should never really expect draft picks to work out. Knowing that 60-70% of MLB players came from the draft sparked my post. Although in the beginning I felt like the changes they made to development were bad, I am coming around to the way things are now. It does make the game more difficult now (at least the way I have always played the game) which is a good thing. The days of me having a AAA roster stacked with players who would be starters on most of the other teams in the league are gone. I now have to actually consider resigning some of my upcoming FA rather than trade them to continue to stack my farm system because I do not have a ready replacement at AAA.

Bagpipes5 · 06-11-2025, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Yurpman

In real life, the vast, vast, VAST majority of drafted players do not ever pan out. I'm a Red Sox fan so I brought up some of their past recent drafts just as an example. Most of the top picks did not pan out and in some years the best player picked came way later in the draft. (Not including the most recent ones as that wouldn't be fair to judge yet.)

2013
Top Pick: Trey Ball (7th overall, bust)
Best Pick: Mauricio Dubon (26th round, 773rd overall, not great)

2014
Top Pick: Michael Chavis (26th overall, did not pan out)
Best Pick: Chavis? Michael Kopech? Jalen Beeks? (none stand out)

2015
Top Pick: Andrew Benintendi (7th overall, extremely hyped coming out, middle of the road MLB player)
Best Pick: Benintendi by far. Next best is not even an option, really. Kevin Ginkel, I guess? An entire draft and ONE player became serviceable.

2016
Top Pick: Jay Groome (12th overall, never made the majors)
Best Pick: Bobby Dalbec (yeah...)

2017
Top Pick: Tanner Houck (at least he's still playing in the majors)
Best Pick: Tanner Houck (this entire draft produced TWO players that made the majors. Houck and Kutter Crawford)

2018
Top Pick: Triston Casas (jury is still out, hurt too much)
Best Pick: Jarren Duran (finally a legit, good pick. Came way later in the draft. Casas and Duran are the only two that have done anything from this draft, though)

2019
Top Pick: Cam Cannon (who?)
Best Pick: Chris Murphy? (yeah...awful draft, again)

That's seven years in a row of drafts for the Red Sox in real life. Jarren Duran and maybe Casas are legit good picks. The rest is pretty much garbage. Yes, there were some really good international free agents like Devers along the way. And hopefully guys like Rafaela, Bello, etc pan out. But this is strictly draft. Players just don't pan out most of the time. It's realistic. You can adjust settings if you want all of your top picks to become MLB stars.

No offense friend, but maybe the Red Sox don't draft so well. I've always liked the Astros approach, they miss a lot sure but sometimes they really hit. Usually their top pick isn't their best pick, they find some hidden gems, granted they had some high picks a few year including #1 overall in 2013 and 2014.

2013: Top Pick: Mark Appel (6 MLBers)
Best Pick: Tony Kemp
2014: Top Pick: Brady Aiken (9 MLBers)
Best Pick: Ramon Laureano (JD Davis, Daniel Mengden)
2015: Top Pick: Alex Bregman (13 MLBers)
Best Pick Alex Bregman (Kyle Tucker, Patrick Sandoval, Miles Straw, huge draft with over a dozen MLBers)
2016: Top Pick: Forrest Whitley (10 MLBers)
Best Pick: Jake Rogers (Abraham Toro, bust year not much here)
2017: Top Pick: JB Bukauskas (13 MLBers)
Best Pick: Chas McCormick (Jake Myers, Josh Rojas)
2018: Top Pick: Seth Beer (7 MLBers)
Best Pick: Jeremy Pena
2019: Top Pick: Korey Lee (6 MLBers)
Best Pick: Hunter Brown

So a high of 13 hit twice and a low of 6 also hit twice but 64 major leaguers in a 7 year period is pretty good, an average of over 9 per draft.

06-08-2025, 04:36 PM	#6
Brad K Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2016 Location: St Petersburg Florida USA Posts: 6,663 Infractions: 0/2 (3)	Thirty years ago, someone would have responded that the solution was "Go to a DOS prompt and press 'Enter' after typing 'Format C'". __________________ . Pirates Play Moneyball 1951-2008 Ratings and League Totals Modifiers A new pre-calc file! (Applause!) Settings and Auto-calc Popular Opinions and Undisputable Facts

06-10-2025, 07:23 PM	#17
rwd59 All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: LA (Lower Alabama) Posts: 912	So Boston's scouting department sucks. The vast majority of MLB players were drafted at some time or another. I mean the only options are being drafted, international amateur free agent, occasional established player from foreign league, or undrafted free agent. I would love to see the % of players in the MLB from each category. In the end though with the exception of established foreign players, they all have to be developed. OK I did a little search. 30% of current MLB players were IAFA's. So that leaves 70% of MLB players that were drafted, undrafted, or established FA from foreign leagues. Obviously the majority of those were drafted. Also found a site that said only 1 in 5 (actually 17.6%) of the players drafted in MLB draft from 1981-2010 ever made it to the majors. The number of players drafted has changed through the years. I saw in 1991 there were 96 rounds. Evidently at one time the draft kept going until nobody wanted to draft anyone else. It was 40 round until Covid and is now 20 rounds. Last edited by rwd59; 06-10-2025 at 07:47 PM.

06-07-2025, 11:13 PM	#1
Fighting22 Bat Boy Join Date: Mar 2023 Posts: 10	This game is a joke!!!!! Why is it, after seven seasons, that NONE of my 4 or 5 star players, despite a maxed out training budget, all top seven draft picks, NEVER even sniff anything close to their potential. And when I click on the opposing players, over 90% of them are maxed out on their ratings? Why is it, when my guys hit a single, they MUST stop after 3 steps to watch the ball hit the ground and only advance 1 base, while the teams I play against are off and running and get 2 bases 80% of the tine? Why is it, my catcher, a #3 pick, with a 72 defensive rating to go with a 92 arm, after spending a full season at AAA, CAN'T throw out 20% of the guys trying to steal against him in over 120 attempts? Why is it, the three guys I have that have over a 88 steal rating, can't get over 60% success in their attempts? Why is it, with all the pickoff throws I try, I might get to pick off 2 a year, while between the opponents pitchers and catchers, I get picked off a bout 25 times a season? Why is it, my pitchers can't field and throw a guy out at first? They pick up the ball, count the seams, and then throw. This happens at least every third game. Why is it, when I have the bases loaded and no outs, 75% of the time I will NOT score a run? Depressing. Why is it, my 75 rated shortstop makes 20 errors a year for 3 straight years, and when I sign a free agent shortstop with a 85 rating, he makes 21 errors a gets injured the last 6 weeks of the season? Why is it, the opposing pitcher with 40 control and 40 stuff with a 37 endurance goes 7 shutout innings, gives up 1 hit and walks no one? Why is it, every time I sign a 28 year old or so free agent to a six year deal, by year 3 his ratings have fell so far you can replace him with a AAA Player? And you can't trade him away because no one will take him? Don't get me wrong, I love baseball and this is my third year of OOTP, but I will Never buy this game again. You put in a lot of time and strategy in this, but the AI engine in this version is crap.

06-08-2025, 07:24 AM	#3
mytreds All Star Starter Join Date: Nov 2019 Posts: 1,117	My 2 cents: 1) rarely do 1st picks historically pan out. If your top picks still have a gap between potential and current ability, leave him in the minors longer, so their current ability can develop properly. 2) the 3D engine is simply window dressing to the simulation being played out. Don’t rely on it being able to 100% accurately describe what the PbP box is saying. 3) because arm is only half of the equation for a good catcher. IIRC his ability is more important than his arm. 4) stealing alone isn’t enough, you need speed(?) as well. And of course the opposing catcher factors into this as well. 5) because we remember bad events more than successful ones. I’m willing to bet that if you get picked off 25 times in a season, you didn’t get picked off over 100 times. 6) pitchers are poor fielders. Check their fielding ratings. 7) because the ball is round, i.e. bad luck happens. Again we remember bad events more than good ones. 8) 75 overall rating? Or 75 rating at SS? Good SS need very high range rating. Injuries suck. We’ve all had good players get injured at the wrong times. I always see injuries as a chance for a fringe player to have a chance. As an aside, I find defense is overrated. I’d rather have 9 silver sluggers instead of 9 golden glovers. 9) again, this is chance. Sometimes, a guy just has a nuts game and performs above expectations. Or, maybe your scout isn’t that good and the pitcher is better than what your ratings tell you. 10) this is hyperbole, as 28 is a players prime years. Most often, players will begin to decline after 32 or so. Try to avoid long term deals, but use the shop player feature to find places to dump him. Even use the retain salary function to sweeten a deal. 26 is also being tweaked with patches, so if any of your concerns are bugs or aberrations, hopefully they can be patched out. If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask, and the politer forum users can be able to support your concerns. If this is just a rant, be assured, we all have been where you are a number of times while playing ootp! So you’re in good company. __________________ “Baseball isn’t statistics; it’s Joe DiMaggio rounding second.” “Once, centuries ago, it was the beloved national pastime of the Americas, Wesley. Abandoned by a society that prized fast food and faster games. Lost to impatience.” “ The term ‘WAR’ should be replaced by ‘WAG’. WAR isn’t an actual measurement; it’s just a wild-ass guess” -Bill James RIP National League 1876-2022 Floreat semper vel invita morte. I make custom ballparks. Last edited by mytreds; 06-08-2025 at 07:56 AM.

06-10-2025, 11:43 AM	#9
WhiskyTango Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Mar 2025 Posts: 221 Infractions: 0/1 (1)	This really needs to be rethought and overhauled. There is nothing intrinsically obviously distinct and descriptive between "speed", "aggressiveness", "ability", and "running". Wha..? They need to add mouseovers or clean it up a bit. Are there common examples where the baserunner has exceptional "ability" but yet is not aggressive? Does "speed" differentiate from "jump"? Does it matter? Why is there no "jump" or "leadoff" rating? Are they part of "ability"? How much is window-dressing? My teams tend to produce fewest steals and this is probably why. I have no idea what they are trying to communicate.

06-10-2025, 02:42 PM	#12
Bill Veeck Minors (Single A) Join Date: Aug 2014 Posts: 52	A lot probably stems from having just 9 people. It's an extraordinarily deep and complex simulation of a deep and complex sport - at least in regard to developing players, projecting player performance, AI GMs and so many other things working together across different sandbox variations. Everything that is discrete by itself seems simple, but I believe the complexity of baseball is the real fog of war. It really helps when Matt and Lukas comment and it's great that we respond to them productively in most cases!

06-10-2025, 02:59 PM	#13
NoOne Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 7,268 Infractions: 1/0 (0)	This is mostly a matter of irrational expectations and false perceptions of reality. Some stuff you have the power to change to see what you want. Some players don't develop. A ton of players can show high potential but it's just amatter of bad scouting -- which is the norm not the expection in real life. Scouts are terrible at what they do based on accuracy. Absolutely inaccurate more times than not. There was a cool post many years ago that showed the average career war of players based on draft round. Finding and assessing such information corrects poor perceptions. The discrepencies that arise from the 3d portion of this game are not necessarily related to the actual game engine. It is a superfical overlay at best. While real ife physics impact probabilities modeled, physics is not invovled directly in the game engine. What you see is just one of many possible visuals that correlates to whatever outcome was caclulated to occur. Focusing on 3d stuff is fine to make it work better but the underlying probabilities of various outcomes is what matters. those are easily adjusted with modifiers and totals. ... well, sometimes it's complicated as there's a lot of interrelationships between them. The dynamics of somethings need to be learned.. like changing nubmer of HR will just shift some 1b/2b/3b to hr while hits stay the same... unless you also change hits. If hits remain teh same probability, then all you do is shift ratios around when adjusting doubles/triples/hrs. or, a greater proportion of singles resulting and all other factors the same, will obviously result in more SB. throwing out base stealers is a bit volatile year to year for any 1 catcher. I don't know what other ratings might be new, but the pitcher in real life drastically effects the catcher's success of throwing player out.. if that rating isn't a new one, then it's all about the modifier for SB attemps and success %. Tweak those until the elite catchers throw out the percentage you feel is correct... though a little research onthe subject is probably a wiser way to set a target. Then a ton of these are simply a matter of false perceptions of reality. Players very often lose their talent quickly after 30. Even faster for a catcher or some faceet based on physical ability like speed and athelticism. Even so, if you prefer your perceptions, you can make them a reality in your simulation with the modifiers and league totals. i would suggest focusing on higher water marks of individuals rather than overal league averages to see what you want to see from the players. A spreasheet that can take the exported comma-delimted data can help or just sim out and start watchign results.. adjust modifiers tosee roughly what you expect. the whole disconnect of 3d and what you want.. that's just how it is. the 3d isn't actually how the game is playing out.. it's just a supeficial thing... a layer on top. whaa you see is just one of many possible visual representations that matches up with what outcome was calculated. A weak outcome that was determined to be afly ball has numerous optiosn to dsiplay.. and the location distribution is just forced to be somewhat realistic. Go use a 1000' OF fence and see what i mean, lol.

06-10-2025, 06:23 PM	#16
The Yurpman Major Leagues Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 320	In real life, the vast, vast, VAST majority of drafted players do not ever pan out. I'm a Red Sox fan so I brought up some of their past recent drafts just as an example. Most of the top picks did not pan out and in some years the best player picked came way later in the draft. (Not including the most recent ones as that wouldn't be fair to judge yet.) 2013 Top Pick: Trey Ball (7th overall, bust) Best Pick: Mauricio Dubon (26th round, 773rd overall, not great) 2014 Top Pick: Michael Chavis (26th overall, did not pan out) Best Pick: Chavis? Michael Kopech? Jalen Beeks? (none stand out) 2015 Top Pick: Andrew Benintendi (7th overall, extremely hyped coming out, middle of the road MLB player) Best Pick: Benintendi by far. Next best is not even an option, really. Kevin Ginkel, I guess? An entire draft and ONE player became serviceable. 2016 Top Pick: Jay Groome (12th overall, never made the majors) Best Pick: Bobby Dalbec (yeah...) 2017 Top Pick: Tanner Houck (at least he's still playing in the majors) Best Pick: Tanner Houck (this entire draft produced TWO players that made the majors. Houck and Kutter Crawford) 2018 Top Pick: Triston Casas (jury is still out, hurt too much) Best Pick: Jarren Duran (finally a legit, good pick. Came way later in the draft. Casas and Duran are the only two that have done anything from this draft, though) 2019 Top Pick: Cam Cannon (who?) Best Pick: Chris Murphy? (yeah...awful draft, again) That's seven years in a row of drafts for the Red Sox in real life. Jarren Duran and maybe Casas are legit good picks. The rest is pretty much garbage. Yes, there were some really good international free agents like Devers along the way. And hopefully guys like Rafaela, Bello, etc pan out. But this is strictly draft. Players just don't pan out most of the time. It's realistic. You can adjust settings if you want all of your top picks to become MLB stars.