Fundamental flaws... your chance to vent!

[udbacker58]

Originally Posted by Raidergoo

The hiring coaches is broken. You can make them a contract offer and then watch them take the same position at an international level team, accepting 99% less money to do so.

Coaches should accept the biggest contract offers. Their hiring procedure should be very similar to a Free Agent.

I would like to second this and I'll highlight my earlier posts to expand on the problem.

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...55-post23.html

[ptwarr18]

Originally Posted by Markus Heinsohn

The AI does steal third at the same rate as real life teams do.

Hmm... interesting - I guess I just watch the slow as molasses Pittsburgh Pirates so I don't see much of it -

Thanks for taking the time to post a thread like this though - it's things like this that makes me love OOTP - well, other than loving the game itself!

[t-bone shuffle]

Spring Training Rosters.

Currently OOTP requires that a player be on the 40-Man (or 50-man, or whatever your settings are) roster to participate in Spring Training games. IRL, any player within an organization can participate in Spring Training games without triggering any service time accumulation, regardless of his 40-man roster status.

It's important because it causes service time accumulation and somewhat diminishes the usefulness of Spring Training. More specifically, it keeps you from getting a look at kids in your organization who are not yet ready to contribute to the 40 man roster.

I think the NRI (non-roster invitee) issue would be covered here as well, assuming the veteran is willing to sign a Minor League contract. Some will complain that IRL there are a lot of split contracts offered to vets (MLB contracts/Minor league contract) with differing dollars for both, but to handle a vet who makes the 25-man out of Spring Training there should be some type of predetermined MLB veteran minimum.

Most importantly, there needs to be a separate Spring Training roster which is essentially limitless in size and carries no service time accumulation of any kind.

[Simmo13]

Originally Posted by PhillieFever

This is awesome news Markus.Here's my list.

In game managing-As of now,AI managers do not call a good game of baseball,here's some of the things I've noticed while playing out(one pitch) my games(over 600 of them)

-the AI needs to play their defense in when the situation calls for it.Way too many times late in games(from the 6th inning on) I was able to take the lead or tie the game on a simple ground ball which would have been avoided had the AI played his defense in(basic example)



-Intentional walks are given out way to frequently,I've even seen the AI inentionally walk the tying or winning run late in the game.

-The AI's baserunning/base stealing is way too aggressive late in games,with a lead or without this needs to be toned down.

-In close games,the AI will pinch hit/run for superstars who should not be taken out as well as for players that they don't have suitable replacements for in the field.

-Another problem is lineup choices.Way too often the AI will start a guy at a position that he has no experience at while there is a suitable player on the bench.I can't tell you how many times that the Dodgers started Jim Lefebvre at SS(rating 2) when Maury Wills was on the bench(16)

-The current injury model seems to me to have not enough short term injuries(two weeks or less,a week or less) and way too many long term ones.Injury log has the evidence to corroborate this(I think)

-Another thing has to do with rain delays,something weird is going on here.In OOTP 8 you would get PBP lines saying still raining... until it stopped letting you know there was a delay.Now in OOTP 9 that dosen't happen and you're never informed of a rain delay which causes you to be unprepared when you pitcher suddenly becomes exhausted out of the blue.

Thats pretty much it for now,if I see anything else,I'll list it as I go.

T

As someone who plays out all my teams games this list sums up my immediate concerns very well.

[Simmo13]

P.S. Markus, thanks for addressing the problem of "no pinch-runners" that a number of us wanted fixing but I feel that it's gone too far the other way so that pinch-runners are depleting benches and defensive options too much in late(or extra) innings.

This thread is a great idea, by the way

[thomamon]

There are way too many good players in the Ammy Draft when using Feeder Leagues. The more the years go on, the better the talent gets. I would love to see something so that the ammy draft has an even amount of talent whether you use feeder leagues or not. That would be a huge help.

Also, a major one for me is that pitchers are not valued correctly in the rating system. Check out the top 100 specs in two different leagues and see how many are offensive compared to pitchers:

Action Packed Baseball League Annual Baseball America Top 100 Prospects

Over The Mound Annual Baseball America Top 100 Prospects

[Solonor]

I'm going to have to go back and dig up my posts, but the two big areas that I'm concerned with are rosters (as in the Spring Training post above) and the lack of self-awareness of the game. Neither the AI nor the news "knows" what's going on in the present or history, so it doesn't take anything outside the current game into account (like historical milestones approaching or resting players at the end of a season when you've already sewn up a spot in the playoffs).

More to follow...

[Jaxxvain]

The stickiness of the filters does not work. When I click on the lower right icon for my team's pitching page I need to click it twice to get back to the view and filter settings that I want on that page. I am not even sure how the game "saves" these views, as they sometimes change on me mid-season, and I am unable to get them back to where I want them.

Filters and Views are not available in different windows. Ex: I create and save a view to put the player's age in instead of the player's uniform number (should be a DEFAULT, who scouts players based on uniform numbers?!). I also create and save a filter to only show players under 30 years old. However, these "saved" views and filters I created are not available when I go to the amateur draft pool, but they are available when I go to my teams line-up pages or the Show all Players tab.

[mad0die]

Players sign contract extensions with their current team too easily. This causes perpetually bad free agent classes.

[Laser]

Too many high quality middle relievers. In every league I play in, it seems that it is way too easy to build a good bullpen. After a few seasons of play most teams will have a closer and 4 middle relievers rated at least 50 current or 70 potential (using 20-80 rating scales).

[BPS]

I play fictional leagues that start in late 1800s to early 1900s.

In these leagues the minors often quickly become pitcher-dominated, with far too many strikeouts and very low BAs. This is not only unrealistic but makes it hard to identify the good players (as most pitchers have inflated good results and most hitters have "deflated" poor results). And it appears that sometimes good minor league prospect hitters get depressed as they hit .100 year after year. I would too.

Through extensive trial-and-error with settings I can generally get more satisfactory results, but the effort is far greater than it should be. And things have to be readjusted almost every season.

The statistical results in minor leagues should be in the ballpark, so to speak, of what is going on at the ML level.

The determination of statistical results at all levels, minors included, involves many moving parts and complex interactions. But it seems that some technique can be developed that will bump minor league stat outcomes up or down as needed. As odd results can be permitted to happen more often at the minor league level (compared to the ML level) it seems that the adjustment process for minor league stat results needn't be nearly as precise as anything that happens at the ML level.

[JTSMOOTH]

I'd still love to see the minor league options fixed...I dont know if you want me to spell it all out again, but I will anyways

There is a loophole in the game that allows players who are on your 40 man roster, in the minor leagues and out of options to remain in your organization at the minor league level for however long the team sees fit.

Any player who is on the 40 man roster and does not make the opening day 25 man roster, gets "Optioned" to a minor league team. If that player is out of options, he then has to be exposed to irrevocable waivers, if he clears, the player can then be sent to the minors.

To quote Le Grande Orange from a post about 6 months back on the issue, since he says it better...

"The ONLY way a player on the 40-man roster can be in the minor leagues is if he's on an optional assignment (meaning the major league club can recall him to the 25-man active list). If the player is out of options, then he CANNOT be on the 40-man roster AND in the minor leagues at the same time. He can only be on the 25-man active list if he's has no option years left.

To assign a player out of options to the minor leagues, this means removing him from the 40-man roster. This is called an outright assignment, which means the major league club no longer has any title to the player and cannot recall him to the majors like they can with a player on an optional assignment. Whenever a player is being outrighted, he first must clear waivers (outright assignment waivers to be precise) which gives all the other clubs in the majors the chance to claim him if they want. If no club does, then the player is assigned to the minor league club and removed from the 40-man roster. "

So just some sort of check at the beginning of each season to verify whether a player has options remaining or not and if does not, the team either has to keep him on the big league 25 man roster or expose him to waivers.

JT

[Raidergoo]

Originally Posted by mad0die

Players sign contract extensions with their current team too easily. This causes perpetually bad free agent classes.

This is spot on.

[Raidergoo]

It would be great to see Super Two Arbitration implemented, like in MLB. The current version allows you to get MVP level talent at minimum wage, then three more seasons at vastly under priced arbitration.

It would be nice to see a more realistic arbitration system, too.

[hyde4us11]

Originally Posted by JTSMOOTH

I'd still love to see the minor league options fixed...I dont know if you want me to spell it all out again, but I will anyways

There is a loophole in the game that allows players who are on your 40 man roster, in the minor leagues and out of options to remain in your organization at the minor league level for however long the team sees fit.

Any player who is on the 40 man roster and does not make the opening day 25 man roster, gets "Optioned" to a minor league team. If that player is out of options, he then has to be exposed to irrevocable waivers, if he clears, the player can then be sent to the minors.

To quote Le Grande Orange from a post about 6 months back on the issue, since he says it better...

"The ONLY way a player on the 40-man roster can be in the minor leagues is if he's on an optional assignment (meaning the major league club can recall him to the 25-man active list). If the player is out of options, then he CANNOT be on the 40-man roster AND in the minor leagues at the same time. He can only be on the 25-man active list if he's has no option years left.

To assign a player out of options to the minor leagues, this means removing him from the 40-man roster. This is called an outright assignment, which means the major league club no longer has any title to the player and cannot recall him to the majors like they can with a player on an optional assignment. Whenever a player is being outrighted, he first must clear waivers (outright assignment waivers to be precise) which gives all the other clubs in the majors the chance to claim him if they want. If no club does, then the player is assigned to the minor league club and removed from the 40-man roster. "

So just some sort of check at the beginning of each season to verify whether a player has options remaining or not and if does not, the team either has to keep him on the big league 25 man roster or expose him to waivers.

JT

I agree with JT on this issue. It would also help other teams trying to get better as well (online leagues). In online teams can hoard talent for way to long. Which in turn wrecks players career's as well.

[SteveP]

Since you asked, I'll go out on a limb here with a list I've been keeping. I've been consciously testing this list against a 1960's league only so far. By testing, I mean comparing what happens in OOTP games to what I read in real life game logs. Also, part of my testing has been to actively manipulate the various settings available in the game, in order to get OOTP games to play more like the games I am reading about. Here are the highlights of my list:

1. I have never seen the AI call a squeeze play, no matter what settings I use. I don't know if OOTP consider this to be a type of sac bunt (which is how it is scored in real life) or a bunt-for-hit, but this may have some bearing on why I've never seen it.
2. I have never seen (in OOTP) a non-force play at home or at third (less than 2 outs) on a ground ball hit to an infielder (e.g. runner at third goes home on a ball hit to 1B, and the play is made at home instead of at 1B), unless the hit is a bunt.
3. I have never seen the AI call a bunt with no one on base (i.e., a definite bunt-for-hit), no matter what settings I use (this is probably an era specific problem, due to unrealistically low bunt-for-hit ratings for players. I'm still testing this).
4. The game does not allow for double steals with runners at first-and-third, though this happens in real historical games and not all that rarely.
5. Pick-off plays at 2nd or 3rd don't happen as often as in real life.
6. While I agree that steals of 3rd happen in the game about as often as in real life, double steals with runners on 1st and 2nd happen more often than in real life (this may be fixable with changes to settings related to stealing. I'm still testing this.)
7. In the game, pitchers always continue to sac bunt even with two strikes. The game needs to vary this decision more and not be so automatic, particularly for pitchers with some hitting ability. Pitchers strike out on sac bunting more often in the game than in real life. In fact, sac bunting by pitchers should be less automatic than it is in the game -- however, I have been finding some work-arounds in the game settings that help to solve this problem.
8. I have never seen the runner on third thrown out at home while advancing on a WP or PB. Admittedly, this is rare in real life.
9. In OOTP, the AI routinely has pitchers sac bunt with runners on 1st and 3rd. However, I have yet to see this in a real life game, unless it was a squeeze play.
10. A play in which the batter strikes out and a runner is thrown out on a steal attempt on the same pitch is scored as a DP in real games, but not in OOTP.
11. I have never seen in OOTP a DP at 3rd and 2nd.
12. I have never seen in OOTP an attempted DP in which the runner is safe and the batter out (or an error at the play at 1B, or the hitter beats the second throw). In OOTP, the outcomes are only: successful DP, runner out/batter safe, error at play on runner, or no DP attempt at all.
13. Back to bunting: I've seen some strong evidence that bunt ratings are treated as both a measure of frequency and proficiency. As a result, players with low bunt ratings (which I assume reflect #bunts/AB) are more likely to blow the bunt attempt. Real life examples don't support this.
14. Small point: I believe that the game is too generous in what it calls "infield hits." In particular, it does not seem that any ball hit to a zone that ends with a "D" should be considered an infield hit. But I bow to more expert judgment on that one.

I realize that saying "I have never seen" isn't a certainty that it doesn't happen in OOTP (one can't prove a negative ) -- only that it happens more rarely in OOTP than in real games. I'm only putting out this list now because of the timing, cause I'm still doing my "research"

[Solonor]

These are just things missing that we used to have in 6.5:

-An editable record book that kept team and rookie records.
-News stories that mentioned when a player broke a team record.
-News stories referring to in-game records (like most strikeouts in a game).
-Ability to set the leaderboard minimums to whatever you want.
-Ability to broadcast a game in progress to a web page.
-Option to have the sim stop and take you to a game in-progress where there's a chance of a no-hitter or some historic milestone
-Ability to define your preferred pinch hitters vsL and vsR
-Ability to get all your players into spring training without screwing around with Active/40-man Roster (even though the spring training was vastly different)
-On screen cues as to who the AI thinks you should promote/demote without having to run a report (i.e., the little red/green arrows)
-Ability to hold/send baserunner at 3B on sac flies and hits to the OF.
-Strategic one-pitch mode
-Being able to edit the text files (names, injuries, nations, cities) files at any time, and have them take effect, so you can correct errors or add stuff. (Those reload options in the current version still don't work.)
-Being able to set your own Promotion Days

And, of course, the OOTP5 ability to enter stats and have it come up with the ratings for the player.

But if you're talking stuff that exists vs. stuff that's missing, I'd still have to go back to rosters and situational awareness.

Rosters (not even going into historical details):
-There should be no requirement for Active or 40-man in Spring Training.
-There should be a Playoff Roster that respects the rules for playoff rosters (i.e., only players that were on the regular season roster on Sept 1, substitutions only allowed between playoff series for injuries, etc.)

Situational awareness:
-The AI should know whether a game is important enough to screw around with the pitching rotation to put the best pitcher on the mound even if it's not his turn or to have him available in the bullpen if it's a do-or-die scenario.
-The AI should know that the team has already clinched a playoff berth and to rearrange the pitching rotation so that the ace of the staff will start Game 1 of the playoffs if possible.
-The AI should know how to handle the All-Star Game and make efforts to get all the players into the game if possible.
-The news system should report on the pennant races and who won the American League Championship (there should be reports during the playoffs like the game actually knows there's playoffs going on, too).
-The news system should report when someone breaks a record (career or season), not just hitting certain milestones.

[Malleus Dei]

Originally Posted by bababui

I would love the ability to start a universe with all market sizes equal..especially before the initial draft.

Also, I would love to see minimum ratings for MLB staff. Ive seen quite a few MLB managers in the game with horrific ratings.

My name is Malleus Dei, and I fully endorse this idea.

[Eugene Church]

Please fix the Hard-Code PBP typos and errors.
All of them are listed and corrections are suggested in this very lengthy thread posted by the Text Team on the Beta Forum last year:

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...oded-text.html

This is not a technical flaw, but it is a flaw not to have all of the basic plays of a baseball game in the game.

In the Hard-Coded PBP, corner outfielders and shortstops need to be programmed to catch a foul ball. I have seen a second baseman, catcher, first baseman and third baseman catch a foul fly, but none of the others.

However, the Text Team did purposely put it in a fly ball category several times so the corner outfielders would finally catch a foul ball. It should be in the Hard-Code PBP.

Not all infielders drop throws. I think I have seen a second baseman drop a throw and a first baseman... maybe a pitcher at first base. But the other infielders and catcher need to drop a throw on a force out.

Have an infielder, pitcher or catcher throw late to a base on a ground ball or bunt. They should also commit an error on bunts, either fielding it or throwing it away.

Have an infielder, pitcher or catcher drop a bunt that is popped into the air.

An occasional three-base or four-base error... where an outfielder boots the ball and it gets by him and goes deep to the wall, allowing the runner to get to third or circle the bases.

Two errors on the same play: the infielder makes a wild throw to first, it gets by the first baseman, he retrieves it and throws the ball away trying to get the baserunner at second or third base. In another play, the right fielder could retrieve the ball and throw it away, too.

[Malleus Dei]

Originally Posted by Eugene Church

Please fix the Hard-Code PBP typos and errors.
All of them are listed AND corrections are suggested in this very lengthy thread posted by the Text Team:
http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...oded-text.html

This is not a technical flaw, but it is a flaw not to have all of the basic plays of a baseball game in the game.

In the Hard-Coded PBP, corner outfielders and shortstops need to be programmed to catch a foul ball. I have seen a second baseman, catcher, first baseman and third baseman catch a foul fly, but none of the others.

However, the Text Team purposely put it in a fly ball category several times so the corner outfielders would finally catch a foul ball. It should be in the Hard-Code PBP.

Markus: Please do what Danny asks here. These fundamental fixes are several versions overdue.