My Steam Review Based on 1000+ Hours (at least)

[OutS|der]

Is TCR calculated once per season and if so when?

[sprague]

Know that even with TCR at 1, there can still be some very wild swings from players especially pitchers.
I recall in a TCR 1 game in the 1890s in a year Decon Philippe, Sam Lever and Kid Nicholls all went from great pitchers to one star pitchers in a year.
So for me when I play a development type TCR 1 game, every year or so I have to do an overview of star players to be sure they did not get a massive hit.
I would love the chance for a TCR 0 mode for this, where current values can go up and down as a player develops and ages, but his potentials never alter.

[David Watts]

Originally Posted by sprague

Know that even with TCR at 1, there can still be some very wild swings from players especially pitchers.
I recall in a TCR 1 game in the 1890s in a year Decon Philippe, Sam Lever and Kid Nicholls all went from great pitchers to one star pitchers in a year.
So for me when I play a development type TCR 1 game, every year or so I have to do an overview of star players to be sure they did not get a massive hit.
I would love the chance for a TCR 0 mode for this, where current values can go up and down as a player develops and ages, but his potentials never alter.

My current save started in 1961 using historical minors. No recalc, TCR set to 1. Ernie Banks appears to be my first victim of the randomness of no recalc. Banks had a nice season for the Cubs in 1961. He then signed a free agent deal with the Yankees. When the 62 season started, I kind of sensed something was off, as Ernie just didn't seem to have it clicking on all cylinders. I thought maybe it was just a slow start. By mid season, he wasn't playing every day. Fast forward to the start of the 63 season and Ernie is a bench player for the Yankees. Over the first month of the season, he's played in around 6 games, starting none. I don't know if this is TCR or something else, but I would not be surprised at all if Banks were to retire following the 63 season, or end up in the minors.

[Brad K]

Originally Posted by sprague

Know that even with TCR at 1, there can still be some very wild swings from players especially pitchers.
I recall in a TCR 1 game in the 1890s in a year Decon Philippe, Sam Lever and Kid Nicholls all went from great pitchers to one star pitchers in a year.
So for me when I play a development type TCR 1 game, every year or so I have to do an overview of star players to be sure they did not get a massive hit.
I would love the chance for a TCR 0 mode for this, where current values can go up and down as a player develops and ages, but his potentials never alter.

What does the TCR setting control? How often TCR happens or how big the change is?

[uruguru]

Originally Posted by David Watts

My current save started in 1961 using historical minors. No recalc, TCR set to 1. Ernie Banks appears to be my first victim of the randomness of no recalc. Banks had a nice season for the Cubs in 1961. He then signed a free agent deal with the Yankees. When the 62 season started, I kind of sensed something was off, as Ernie just didn't seem to have it clicking on all cylinders. I thought maybe it was just a slow start. By mid season, he wasn't playing every day. Fast forward to the start of the 63 season and Ernie is a bench player for the Yankees. Over the first month of the season, he's played in around 6 games, starting none. I don't know if this is TCR or something else, but I would not be surprised at all if Banks were to retire following the 63 season, or end up in the minors.

He might be a special case. Ernie Banks from 1961 onward was not as good as his overall career numbers suggest. He was basically a 1B defensively with maybe a 105-110 OPS+, but his numbers benefited from playing every day on a terrible team (the 1960s Cubs).

If he can't play SS, then most teams have better options at 1B.

[uruguru]

Originally Posted by OutS|der

Is TCR calculated once per season and if so when?

I'm not a dev so I can't say for sure, but players seemed to be constantly checked throughout the year for talent changes. I think TCR just controls how likely it is to happen when a player is checked.

[sprague]

Originally Posted by David Watts

My current save started in 1961 using historical minors. No recalc, TCR set to 1. Ernie Banks appears to be my first victim of the randomness of no recalc. Banks had a nice season for the Cubs in 1961. He then signed a free agent deal with the Yankees. When the 62 season started, I kind of sensed something was off, as Ernie just didn't seem to have it clicking on all cylinders. I thought maybe it was just a slow start. By mid season, he wasn't playing every day. Fast forward to the start of the 63 season and Ernie is a bench player for the Yankees. Over the first month of the season, he's played in around 6 games, starting none. I don't know if this is TCR or something else, but I would not be surprised at all if Banks were to retire following the 63 season, or end up in the minors.

This happens more than it used to. In around OOTP 19 or 20 a TCR of 1 resulted in very very few big changes to just about anyone. It was a more of a surprise when it happens.
Now in 25 I will say that in a 3 year time span a good 20-30 players (often big names) usually get a big talent hit (it almost never happens to be a big bump up in talent). Cy Young tends to get a bit hit for example in every save in walk rate immediately, from say 490 to 430 in a year. I boost it back up in the off season, and a year later it is back down to 400.
So you have to stay on top of it if you don't want big swings.
Still it is a minor thing to have longer riding careers and not need to have recalc on

[Brad K]

Originally Posted by uruguru

I'm not a dev so I can't say for sure, but players seemed to be constantly checked throughout the year for talent changes. I think TCR just controls how likely it is to happen when a player is checked.

I'm inclined to support that view based on the name of the feature. However I found this (and I am surprised it's covered) in the 24 manual.

This modifier controls how random player talent changes are. If the number is raised above 100, the possible amount of a talent change will have a larger minimum and maximum, leading to more significant changes in talent over the course of a player's career; if it's lowered below 100, the changes will be smaller and the player's general talent will remain unchanged. The effect will be most noticeable among the most skilled players.

Also interesting is the concept that a better the player is the worse he can get. Turning a star SP into a mop up RP is a devastating event And since the TCR decline starts on the first day of the off season, there's plenty of time to drive a player down before the season even starts. TCR is a significant equalizer, particularly since it targets the best players for the biggest declines.

TCR has been flawed since the beginning. It needs settings for both how often and how much.

[Brad K]

Originally Posted by sprague

Know that even with TCR at 1, there can still be some very wild swings from players especially pitchers.
I recall in a TCR 1 game in the 1890s in a year Decon Philippe, Sam Lever and Kid Nicholls all went from great pitchers to one star pitchers in a year.
So for me when I play a development type TCR 1 game, every year or so I have to do an overview of star players to be sure they did not get a massive hit.
I would love the chance for a TCR 0 mode for this, where current values can go up and down as a player develops and ages, but his potentials never alter.

That's interesting, because what I found in the 24 manual indicates that won't happen. I believe what you've stated over what is in the manual. The manual doesn't have a reputation for being right.

[David Watts]

Originally Posted by sprague

This happens more than it used to. In around OOTP 19 or 20 a TCR of 1 resulted in very very few big changes to just about anyone. It was a more of a surprise when it happens.
Now in 25 I will say that in a 3 year time span a good 20-30 players (often big names) usually get a big talent hit (it almost never happens to be a big bump up in talent). Cy Young tends to get a bit hit for example in every save in walk rate immediately, from say 490 to 430 in a year. I boost it back up in the off season, and a year later it is back down to 400.
So you have to stay on top of it if you don't want big swings.
Still it is a minor thing to have longer riding careers and not need to have recalc on

Will have to keep an eye on this as I play forward. I'm a "Let it Be" type player, so I won't be doing any editing.

[Brad K]

Originally Posted by David Watts

Will have to keep an eye on this as I play forward. I'm a "Let it Be" type player, so I won't be doing any editing.

So am I. Except I broke that for the first time in years. Too many career minor leaguers turning into MLB stars. I don't want career minor leaguers leading the league in HRs or being voting onto the All Star Team. I think there were eight or so that were over 3 stars so I knocked them down to 3 stars.

[Baby Ruth]

Reading this topic makes me wonder what the correct settings are for my universe. I'm playing historical teams, parks, etc., but the starting draft of historical players took place, so no one is guaranteed to play for who they did in the real world. However, I would like some semblance or nearness to a player's historical performance. I don't need Babe Ruth to be Babe Ruth. I don't mind a chance of him being a complete scrub, but I would want that to be a lower possibility on the scale, with a greater chance of him being closer to Babe Ruth was, or even being who Babe Ruth was, than not. Again, though, I am not looking for historical clones of the players. I still want possibilities of alternate history to play out.

With all of that being said, I find myself very confused and lost as to how to tweak the universe I've set up. What settings should I now look at, in July of the 1st season, to try to get close to what I'm looking for?

[Baby Ruth]

Originally Posted by OutS|der

Is TCR calculated once per season and if so when?

What is TCR?

[Brad K]

Originally Posted by sprague

This happens more than it used to. In around OOTP 19 or 20 a TCR of 1 resulted in very very few big changes to just about anyone. It was a more of a surprise when it happens.

With TCR set to 1 there shouldn't be any big changes (based on how the 24 manual says it works). Based on various things said in this thread this is another feature where I'm ready to ask "Is this control connected to anything?"

[Brad K]

Originally Posted by Baby Ruth

Reading this topic makes me wonder what the correct settings are for my universe. I'm playing historical teams, parks, etc., but the starting draft of historical players took place, so no one is guaranteed to play for who they did in the real world. However, I would like some semblance or nearness to a player's historical performance. I don't need Babe Ruth to be Babe Ruth. I don't mind a chance of him being a complete scrub, but I would want that to be a lower possibility on the scale, with a greater chance of him being closer to Babe Ruth was, or even being who Babe Ruth was, than not. Again, though, I am not looking for historical clones of the players. I still want possibilities of alternate history to play out.

With all of that being said, I find myself very confused and lost as to how to tweak the universe I've set up. What settings should I now look at, in July of the 1st season, to try to get close to what I'm looking for?

I use three year recalc, usually not weighted but I'm trying one now that's weighted, development on, retire according to history off, TCR at 100, and the make bad settings as they show as default not the increased numbers based on an unproven allegation the game previously did that automatically.

I like it except that TCR sometimes wipes out players 2 or 3 years in a row and with full minors enabled too many career minor leaguers make MLB and too many of those are over 3 stars (there should be none over 3 stars).

But don't let anyone say their settings are right for you. For example, the most commonly promoted settings are intended to result in duplicating MLB careers, which based on your Ruth comments you don't want. Settings that result in highly predicable outcomes might be OK for watching but make for a boring game if you're a GM.

[David Watts]

Originally Posted by Brad K

I use three year recalc, usually not weighted but I'm trying one now that's weighted, development on, retire according to history off, TCR at 100, and the make bad settings as they show as default not the increased numbers based on an unproven allegation the game previously did that automatically.

I like it except that TCR sometimes wipes out players 2 or 3 years in a row and with full minors enabled too many career minor leaguers make MLB and too many of those are over 3 stars (there should be none over 3 stars).

But don't let anyone say their settings are right for you. For example, the most commonly promoted settings are intended to result in duplicating MLB careers, which based on your Ruth comments you don't want. Settings that result in highly predicable outcomes might be OK for watching but make for a boring game if you're a GM.

Please change that to might be OK for testers......I watch and I find settings ball extremely boring.

[Baby Ruth]

Originally Posted by Brad K

But don't let anyone say their settings are right for you. For example, the most commonly promoted settings are intended to result in duplicating MLB careers, which based on your Ruth comments you don't want. Settings that result in highly predicable outcomes might be OK for watching but make for a boring game if you're a GM.

I'm not actually managing any team. I'm just a fan in the universe watching the history unfold. I fully expect Ruth to make some mark on the game when he arrives, but would be ok if some random chance of the baseball gods determined that in this alternate reality he just flopped horribly. I'm so lost, though, that I'm not even sure with all the game and league settings where to find all these recalc and no-recalc things that people are referring to. I'm not really sure what I'm currently using and what the effect will be.

[David Watts]

Originally Posted by Baby Ruth

I'm not actually managing any team. I'm just a fan in the universe watching the history unfold. I fully expect Ruth to make some mark on the game when he arrives, but would be ok if some random chance of the baseball gods determined that in this alternate reality he just flopped horribly. I'm so lost, though, that I'm not even sure with all the game and league settings where to find all these recalc and no-recalc things that people are referring to. I'm not really sure what I'm currently using and what the effect will be.

Go to the historical menu in your league settings. Look on the right hand side of your screen. Page down and you will see the box for recalc(I'm at work, so I don't know exact wording). If the box for recalc is checked, that means you're using recalc. It will also tell you if you're using 1, 3 or 5 year recalc. If the box isn't checked that means you're using the OOTP development engine. Recalc will keep your players very close to what they were in real life. The development engine will allow for more leeway in how a player's career plays out.

You probably want to check the players menu as well. Look on left side of screen. First thing you will see is the settings for injuries. Scroll down and you will see the options for whether the game is using the development engine or if development is disabled. Based on what you've described, I would suggest using development. You can use a combo of recalc and development or go 100 percent development engine. Playing with 100% recalc and no development will not give you much opportunity for a surpize in terms of Ruth.

[Brad K]

Originally Posted by David Watts

Please change that to might be OK for testers......I watch and I find settings ball extremely boring.

Hmmm... well, they claim they're watchers... you and I know they're testing. However I agree with your point.

[Baby Ruth]

Originally Posted by David Watts

Go to the historical menu in your league settings. Look on the right hand side of your screen. Page down and you will see the box for recalc(I'm at work, so I don't know exact wording). If the box for recalc is checked, that means you're using recalc. It will also tell you if you're using 1, 3 or 5 year recalc. If the box isn't checked that means you're using the OOTP development engine. Recalc will keep your players very close to what they were in real life. The development engine will allow for more leeway in how a player's career plays out.

You probably want to check the players menu as well. Look on left side of screen. First thing you will see is the settings for injuries. Scroll down and you will see the options for whether the game is using the development engine or if development is disabled. Based on what you've described, I would suggest using development. You can use a combo of recalc and development or go 100 percent development engine. Playing with 100% recalc and no development will not give you much opportunity for a surpize in terms of Ruth.

Here's what I'm using in my world. Are these good settings for a fairly reasonable alternate history that will still allow for some unexpected variations?