OOTP 26 Public Beta Patch: 26.9.85 - Page 2

Baseballman2K5 · 02-19-2026, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kq76

I forget who it was, but I'm pretty sure I saw someone somewhere say there was an "insane" or "crazy" number of trades.

Maybe my tolerance is just way higher than others, but I'm really not seeing anything I think is insane or crazy. Looking just through the Jays txns (since I know them best), yes, there are some questionable txns (purchasing Fisher from AAA one day to optioning him to AAA the very next day before the season even starts, or recalling pitchers from AAA then optioning them back a day or 2 later, but I also understand that if you have injuries and need a guy to be available for a game or 2 then you do whatever you have to do). There's really nothing, however, that would make me stop playing the game out of frustration. I've made plenty of txns myself that would probably look odd to people and I'm sure that if we looked at some of MLB's real life txns that some of them would look really strange too. I think some txns look weird just because we're reading from the bottom of the page up (oldest dates to most recent), when on a single day the order is from top to bottom, like when a guy is sent to injury rehab, but then the entry above that is their activation from the IL.

Anyway, I get it. Different people have different tolerances and some people might be seeing completely different things depending on their league settings, but I just wanted to put it out there that what some might be seeing in their leagues isn't necessarily what everyone will see in their own.

What? We're talking about teams constantly signing and releasing players day after day

hefalumps · 02-19-2026, 11:28 PM

So I bought 26 when it was on one of the discounts, but I haven't played it yet - I play a single "alternate universe" league that I've imported throughout several versions, and I tend to wait until the final patch before I move to a new version because I'd be really upset if something borked my league.

As for the ridiculous number of trades, I saw that when I first moved my league to one of the recent OOTP versions - I can't remember which, but it was the one when the rating/scouting system underwent some drastic changes, so I think it took the AI a little while to "establish equilibrium". But it was nuts - a player who was just drafted would get traded to three different teams before making his debut. I ended up changing the trade frequency from "Normal" to "Low", but after a few in-game years, the trades were almost non-existent, so I eventually switched back to "Normal". Now I'd say it's genuinely a normal amount - although the trade deadline is still pretty boring - usually my team is the most active and there's a sprinkling of other deals.

So I don't think trading is the problem most people are noticing specifically with 26 - it's more the sign/release minor league churn and the questionable promotion/demotion decisions.

I'm still in Spring Training of my league - when my season is over, I'm going to take the plunge and try 26. I'll do a test sim with my league first to see how it goes. By then maybe 27 will be out and I can do the same test sim there. If I see the same results you all are seeing, I guess I'll stick with 25.

redranger · 02-20-2026, 10:06 AM

Loaded the patch and can now vouch that I’m still seeing the sign and immediate release of players as well as an initial influx of waived ones. Going past the first day the waivers isn’t large but still more daily waivers than what was appearing

Going to continue to watch it as I’ve only moved past about a week in my save.( i micro manage and play out all my games) so a big slower moving for me. Curious to see if maybe it ripples out over time but I suspect the sign and release isn’t as it should not be happening at all

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Baseballman2K5 · 02-20-2026, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hefalumps

So I bought 26 when it was on one of the discounts, but I haven't played it yet - I play a single "alternate universe" league that I've imported throughout several versions, and I tend to wait until the final patch before I move to a new version because I'd be really upset if something borked my league.

As for the ridiculous number of trades, I saw that when I first moved my league to one of the recent OOTP versions - I can't remember which, but it was the one when the rating/scouting system underwent some drastic changes, so I think it took the AI a little while to "establish equilibrium". But it was nuts - a player who was just drafted would get traded to three different teams before making his debut. I ended up changing the trade frequency from "Normal" to "Low", but after a few in-game years, the trades were almost non-existent, so I eventually switched back to "Normal". Now I'd say it's genuinely a normal amount - although the trade deadline is still pretty boring - usually my team is the most active and there's a sprinkling of other deals.

So I don't think trading is the problem most people are noticing specifically with 26 - it's more the sign/release minor league churn and the questionable promotion/demotion decisions.

I'm still in Spring Training of my league - when my season is over, I'm going to take the plunge and try 26. I'll do a test sim with my league first to see how it goes. By then maybe 27 will be out and I can do the same test sim there. If I see the same results you all are seeing, I guess I'll stick with 25.

I was just curious if you haven’t patched it at all, if you ran a test season to see how many sign and releases there are each day

Edit: I guess it doesn’t matter

Baseballman2K5 · 02-20-2026, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redranger

Loaded the patch and can now vouch that I’m still seeing the sign and immediate release of players as well as an initial influx of waived ones. Going past the first day the waivers isn’t large but still more daily waivers than what was appearing

Going to continue to watch it as I’ve only moved past about a week in my save.( i micro manage and play out all my games) so a big slower moving for me. Curious to see if maybe it ripples out over time but I suspect the sign and release isn’t as it should not be happening at all

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ya I guess now the waivers are a new thing from this beta. Hopefully mods reduce that. I wonder if the guys being waived just would’ve been released in the old patches? Still, it’s annoying. There can be 30 guys on waivers and 10 teams claiming people, everyday

Baseballman2K5 · 02-24-2026, 12:30 PM

Small sample size, but I believe I'm seeing better AI management of rosters and lineups

uti-pontus-hage · 02-24-2026, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baseballman2K5

Small sample size, but I believe I'm seeing better AI management of rosters and lineups

Thanks for the update @Baseballman2K5
I haven't played OOTP since October because I'm fed up with roster management and have seriously considered not buying the upcoming version for the first time in a long while, or at least waiting. If they've managed to improve this, they'll have my money on release even if I won't play OOTP27 until x number of patches in.
Keeping my fingers crossed as I'm really craving some OOTP.

PSUColonel · 02-24-2026, 02:32 PM

To me the AI issues appear to be two fold.

1: The constant signing and releasing of players with the entire "rinse, repeat" scenario.

2. The AI placing too many players (and too many players of quality) non waivers way too often, and seemingly for illogical reasons.

If these two items are shored up, OOTP 26 should be in very good shape...if not, it's nearly unplayable as a single player experience. You wouldnt think an issue or two would make such as big a difference as I'm making out, but in this case, I believe it does.

Paul Reuschel's Mustache · 02-25-2026, 01:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PSUColonel

To me the AI issues appear to be two fold.

1: The constant signing and releasing of players with the entire "rinse, repeat" scenario.

2. The AI placing too many players (and too many players of quality) non waivers way too often, and seemingly for illogical reasons.

If these two items are shored up, OOTP 26 should be in very good shape...if not, it's nearly unplayable as a single player experience. You wouldnt think an issue or two would make such as big a difference as I'm making out, but in this case, I believe it does.

I agree 100%. Two weeks ago, Lukas told me that they had worked on the sign and release issue. Not sure about excessive waivers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lukas Berger

It's been worked on quite a bit in regard to prospect signings and releases.

We'll also post a beta patch for 26 as well with some of those improvements soon.

Hopefully, OOTP 27 will be free of those flaws, which made 26 unplayable for me. I'll be monitoring the 27 feedback on the various forums before deciding whether or not to purchase.

uti-pontus-hage · 03-01-2026, 09:59 AM

Hello,
Any news on this? It's been two weeks since the first public beta release. No updates on that either, so hopefully we're close to the release?
I really appreciate the effort to fix things this late in the OOTP 26 cycle.

Baseballman2K5 · 03-04-2026, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by uti-pontus-hage

Hello,
Any news on this? It's been two weeks since the first public beta release. No updates on that either, so hopefully we're close to the release?
I really appreciate the effort to fix things this late in the OOTP 26 cycle.

Ya I'd like to know too. There is roughly 40 players on waivers everyday and about 15 teams claiming people. Constant players being passed through waivers...and signings and releases are still happening. Milwaukee released their starting 3b in May and then he was signed by Detroit for 18 million a year.

BusterKing · 03-09-2026, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baseballman2K5

Ya I'd like to know too. There is roughly 40 players on waivers everyday and about 15 teams claiming people. Constant players being passed through waivers...and signings and releases are still happening. Milwaukee released their starting 3b in May and then he was signed by Detroit for 18 million a year.

This IS a major problem and should have been fixed a long time ago.

This should be their number 1 priority.

BarlowJack · 03-13-2026, 03:59 PM

I hope that at the very least, this patch makes it past Beta.

Johnny Case · 03-14-2026, 07:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BarlowJack

I hope that at the very least, this patch makes it past Beta.

Yes! 26 days in "beta stage"??

WTF?

Irrelevant Dude · 03-14-2026, 09:28 PM

Agreed. This is the first time I haven't bought a new OOTP version at release in probably the past 7-8 years. OOTP 26 has really left a sour taste in my mouth, especially if they leave it in this state.

Eburaci · 03-16-2026, 10:51 AM

I hate to echo frustration, but I am going back to 25. The roster churn/sign & release, weird stats in the low minors, and game is more laggy to me. Bummer, as I really liked the improvements to the dev lab and think the new UI was cool. For the first time in years, I am not buying 27 on release. I only got 300 hours on 26, and definitely had some good times, but I am frustrated that things that used to work well seem to break in 26 and early 27 reviews are decidedly mixed. Many of the changes don't seem to make the game better, just more illusion of complexity (e.g. draft combine, even hiding player personality until avg scouting).

I guess I am in the minority in terms of what I want from OOTP -- a smooth, consistent, fast single player experience where game mechanics work as intended and are even well defined in a manual. I'm usually new feature agnostic, though the dev lab was the best improvement for years. I'm not interested in new features like city connect uniforms (I mod my own anyway), draft combine that doesn't really work well IMO, or for 27 weather mods. Advanced stats are fine, but not exciting to me personally.

Anyway, I'm back to 25. I'll keep monitoring for future improvements!

Baseballman2K5 · 03-26-2026, 02:40 PM

All this beta did was add a new problem, players constantly changing teams through waivers...as I've stated before there are a lot of people on waivers every day. I realize 27 is out now and we probably won't see a solution to this beta, but I figured I'd report it in case this problem creeps into 27.

Baseballman2K5 · 03-27-2026, 01:25 PM

Another screenshot of what the waiver madness looks like...

How does the development team release a beta, which makes things WORSE than before, and then not finish it up with an actual patch?

So terrible. I've been playing OOTP since version 4 and have never been so disappointed. My save in 26 is absolutely ruined and not worth importing into 27. Only reason I will eventually buy version 27 is due to an online league.

OOTP is in a bad state right now. The signings and releases have not improved in 27 according to a friend

hefalumps · Yesterday, 12:13 PM

This is extremely disappointing. I haven't bought 27 yet, but I'm about to migrate to a new laptop and was hoping to migrate my long-running league to 26 (since I've been playing in 25 for quite awhile). But I guess my plan will be to switch my team to AI and then sim a season to see if I see this ridiculous waiver and/or sign/release stuff affects me in 26. If it does, I guess I have to stick with 25 until 27 looks less broken and then skip straight to that.

Devs, I know 27 is out, but is this last 26 "beta" patch the last final patch?

02-24-2026, 02:32 PM	#28
PSUColonel Hall Of Famer Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 13,134	To me the AI issues appear to be two fold. 1: The constant signing and releasing of players with the entire "rinse, repeat" scenario. 2. The AI placing too many players (and too many players of quality) non waivers way too often, and seemingly for illogical reasons. If these two items are shored up, OOTP 26 should be in very good shape...if not, it's nearly unplayable as a single player experience. You wouldnt think an issue or two would make such as big a difference as I'm making out, but in this case, I believe it does. Last edited by PSUColonel; 02-24-2026 at 10:21 PM.

03-13-2026, 03:59 PM	#33
BarlowJack Bat Boy Join Date: Dec 2025 Location: NC USA Posts: 5	I hope that at the very least, this patch makes it past Beta. __________________

03-26-2026, 02:40 PM	#37
Baseballman2K5 All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Phoenix Posts: 510	All this beta did was add a new problem, players constantly changing teams through waivers...as I've stated before there are a lot of people on waivers every day. I realize 27 is out now and we probably won't see a solution to this beta, but I figured I'd report it in case this problem creeps into 27. Attached Images

03-27-2026, 01:25 PM	#38
Baseballman2K5 All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Phoenix Posts: 510	Another screenshot of what the waiver madness looks like... How does the development team release a beta, which makes things WORSE than before, and then not finish it up with an actual patch? So terrible. I've been playing OOTP since version 4 and have never been so disappointed. My save in 26 is absolutely ruined and not worth importing into 27. Only reason I will eventually buy version 27 is due to an online league. OOTP is in a bad state right now. The signings and releases have not improved in 27 according to a friend Attached Images

02-19-2026, 11:28 PM	#22
hefalumps All Star Starter Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 1,387	So I bought 26 when it was on one of the discounts, but I haven't played it yet - I play a single "alternate universe" league that I've imported throughout several versions, and I tend to wait until the final patch before I move to a new version because I'd be really upset if something borked my league. As for the ridiculous number of trades, I saw that when I first moved my league to one of the recent OOTP versions - I can't remember which, but it was the one when the rating/scouting system underwent some drastic changes, so I think it took the AI a little while to "establish equilibrium". But it was nuts - a player who was just drafted would get traded to three different teams before making his debut. I ended up changing the trade frequency from "Normal" to "Low", but after a few in-game years, the trades were almost non-existent, so I eventually switched back to "Normal". Now I'd say it's genuinely a normal amount - although the trade deadline is still pretty boring - usually my team is the most active and there's a sprinkling of other deals. So I don't think trading is the problem most people are noticing specifically with 26 - it's more the sign/release minor league churn and the questionable promotion/demotion decisions. I'm still in Spring Training of my league - when my season is over, I'm going to take the plunge and try 26. I'll do a test sim with my league first to see how it goes. By then maybe 27 will be out and I can do the same test sim there. If I see the same results you all are seeing, I guess I'll stick with 25.

02-20-2026, 10:06 AM	#23
redranger All Star Reserve Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Birmingham, Alabama Posts: 595	Loaded the patch and can now vouch that I’m still seeing the sign and immediate release of players as well as an initial influx of waived ones. Going past the first day the waivers isn’t large but still more daily waivers than what was appearing Going to continue to watch it as I’ve only moved past about a week in my save.( i micro manage and play out all my games) so a big slower moving for me. Curious to see if maybe it ripples out over time but I suspect the sign and release isn’t as it should not be happening at all Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

02-24-2026, 12:30 PM	#26
Baseballman2K5 All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Phoenix Posts: 510	Small sample size, but I believe I'm seeing better AI management of rosters and lineups

03-01-2026, 09:59 AM	#30
uti-pontus-hage Minors (Single A) Join Date: Oct 2024 Location: Sweden Posts: 69	Hello, Any news on this? It's been two weeks since the first public beta release. No updates on that either, so hopefully we're close to the release? I really appreciate the effort to fix things this late in the OOTP 26 cycle.

03-14-2026, 09:28 PM	#35
Irrelevant Dude Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Bourbonnais, IL Posts: 277	Agreed. This is the first time I haven't bought a new OOTP version at release in probably the past 7-8 years. OOTP 26 has really left a sour taste in my mouth, especially if they leave it in this state.

03-16-2026, 10:51 AM	#36
Eburaci Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Jan 2024 Posts: 31	I hate to echo frustration, but I am going back to 25. The roster churn/sign & release, weird stats in the low minors, and game is more laggy to me. Bummer, as I really liked the improvements to the dev lab and think the new UI was cool. For the first time in years, I am not buying 27 on release. I only got 300 hours on 26, and definitely had some good times, but I am frustrated that things that used to work well seem to break in 26 and early 27 reviews are decidedly mixed. Many of the changes don't seem to make the game better, just more illusion of complexity (e.g. draft combine, even hiding player personality until avg scouting). I guess I am in the minority in terms of what I want from OOTP -- a smooth, consistent, fast single player experience where game mechanics work as intended and are even well defined in a manual. I'm usually new feature agnostic, though the dev lab was the best improvement for years. I'm not interested in new features like city connect uniforms (I mod my own anyway), draft combine that doesn't really work well IMO, or for 27 weather mods. Advanced stats are fine, but not exciting to me personally. Anyway, I'm back to 25. I'll keep monitoring for future improvements!

Yesterday, 12:13 PM	#39
hefalumps All Star Starter Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 1,387	This is extremely disappointing. I haven't bought 27 yet, but I'm about to migrate to a new laptop and was hoping to migrate my long-running league to 26 (since I've been playing in 25 for quite awhile). But I guess my plan will be to switch my team to AI and then sim a season to see if I see this ridiculous waiver and/or sign/release stuff affects me in 26. If it does, I guess I have to stick with 25 until 27 looks less broken and then skip straight to that. Devs, I know 27 is out, but is this last 26 "beta" patch the last final patch?