Suggestions for 24

[BirdWatcher]

Originally Posted by yanko

3. Catcher Framing Stats - Something like these stats would be great. https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/catch...tcher&sort=4,1

From what has been said recently, it sounds like you will get your wish met with OOTP 23 when it comes to catcher framing stats. Obviously I have no idea what that will look like and whether it will be anything like what you have shared here from Baseball Savant, but at least we know that stats on catcher framing are on the way.

[ToTheBackstop]

Some additional wishlist items (apologies if these have been mentioned before):

In-Game

• More error variants -- there's the two-base error (Batter -> 2nd), but I don't think there are two base errors which deal with runners going 1st -> 3rd or 2nd -> home. And I'm pretty sure there are no three-base errors (Batter -> 3rd or 1st -> home).
  
• More ejection variants -- I think the only ejection case is batter ejection for protesting a strikeout. There could be many more, including:
  • Batter ejection for protesting a questionable strike during the plate appearance (e.g. batter gets a dubious Strike 2 count, pops up on next pitch, mouths off on the way back to the dugout)
  • Pitcher/catcher ejections for protesting questionable ball counts
  • Baserunner/fielder ejections for protesting safe/out calls
• Manager ejections -- at which point the game strategy tendency of the Bench Coach takes effect
  
• More brawl variants -- I believe the only brawl case occurs on a HBP between the batter and the pitcher. Other possibilities could be:
  • Baserunner/fielder brawls (e.g. takeout slides)
  • Brushback pitches (as opposed to an actual HBP)
  • Also, the catcher should be potentially involved in any batter/pitcher scrum
• Play by Play Milestone comments -- the PbP currently will note when a batter e.g. rises from #7th to #6th all-time for doubles, but I don't believe there is any in-game PbP reflecting when a player reaches a key milestone (e.g. "50th homer of the season!", "400th homer of his career")
  
• Play by Play comments for debuting prospects -- e.g. "Now pitching, Fred. He's a highly-touted prospect who's #3 on the BNN Prospect Pipeline" or "Stepping to the plate, Tom. This is the debut game for the 1st round pick, Missouri fans have been eagerly awaiting his arrival."

Stats:

• Add Championship WPA (cWPA) -- note: this might be WAY too complicated to implement given all of the league variants
  
• Add Situational Wins Added (WPA/LI)
  
• I welcome the Goose Egg suggestion, although it hasn't had a lot of adoption. (I'm glad OOTP added SD/MD in OOTP22, as I was manually calculating this myself before!)

League Records (League History -> Season & Career Records)

• Support fractional innings pitched -- currently the "Innings Pitched" records all show integer values
  
• Additional categories, like many that Baseball Reference (https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/) tracks:
  • Batters: WPA, IBB, Times On Base, Extra Base Hits, HBP, SH, SF, GIDP
  • Pitchers: WPA, Holds, Shutdowns/Meltdowns, HBP, WP
• Mode or option for viewing Active career leaders -- yes, I know that active players are tagged with a "#" when reviewing Career Records, but sometimes you want to filter out retired players in order to see who's the (e.g.) #56 Active leader in RBIs, etc.
  
• I'm not sure why Batter Postseason WAR is always zero while Pitcher Postseason WAR can be be non-zero
  
• We currently have Season/Career Batting and Fielding Leaders for 2-9 (C through RF). Consider adding for DH, pitchers (i.e. "Who is the career leader for HRs hit as a pitcher?", for non-DH leagues), and PH ("Most pinch-hit HRs in a season?")

Engine:

• Batter ratings for different pitch types -- I don't know if this is already under-the-hood, but e.g. some batters are particularly vulnerable to offspeed pitches or whatnot, and this could be captured by pitch-based batter ratings (similar to batting rating splits by pitcher handedness)
  
• Multiple rain delays -- I'm pretty sure there's maximum one rain delay per game, so currently we know once that rain delay is out of the way, there is no chance that there will be any others or that the game will get rained out
  
• Umpires (togglable!) -- umpires with distinct tendencies (e.g. low/high/inside/outside strike, favors batter vs favors pitcher, low/high ejection rates, etc.) and different individual accuracy ratings
  
• In-game impact for minor injuries that don't result in player removal -- again, this might already be under-the-hood. Many times a player will suffer some minor in-game injury, and the game will report that the player "shakes it off" and remains in the game. While the player remains in the lineup, perhaps some in-game ratings adjustment for the player could occur for the remainder of the game (e.g. reduction of range / speed / stealing after a leg injury, etc.)
  
• Delayed in-game injuries -- player "shakes it off" immediately after the incident, but gets pulled from the game after a few innings later since the impact was worse than anticipated

[Crickett13]

Update the manual as it was practically useless in 22 because there was so much outdated information.

[ToTheBackstop]

It'd be nice if there were more options for contract incentives:

• Bonuses for more awards
  • Silver Slugger
  • Gold Glove
  • Reliever Of The Year
• More performance-based incentive options -- bonuses for reaching
  • XX number of hits / HRs / RBIs / runs / TBs / etc. (batters)
  • XX number of wins / saves / strikeouts / games / etc (pitchers)

[SoxFan123]

One suggestion for '24 is to launch in March instead of April

[Syd Thrift]

Originally Posted by SoxFan123

One suggestion for '24 is to launch in March instead of April

I’m sure they tried to launch the game in March this year. Would you have preferred a buggy product?

[Syd Thrift]

So I am loooooooooooving the customizeable team stats. That said, WE NEED MORE STATS PLX

• Runs scored and runs allowed per game (you can get them overall but not per game, and also they both just show up as "runs" because one is coming from batting and the other from pitching stats)
• Pythagorean won-lost records and differential
• Working OPS+ (should be based on subleague; right now you can add that field but it's blank)... I'm guessing derived stats like WAR will be the same but I have not looked at those on the team page as of yet
• Number of All-Stars on the team
• All-time All-Star berths on the team
• Ordinal rankings (1st, 2nd, etc.) for major stats like runs scored, allowed, HRs, SBs, etc.
• Average batter and pitcher age (so (player age * PA / total team PAs) and (pitcher age * BF / total pitcher age)
• For pitchers: starters' wins and losses and relievers' wins and losses
• IP/GS (this would be nice for individual pitchers too, although this is usually pretty easy to eyeball)
• Starts on short (3 or fewer days) or long (more than 4 days) rest
• Pitches/GS (also would be great for individual pitchers; right now we only have P/G)
• For relievers: times entered into a game in low/medium/high LI situations (also would be great for individual pitchers)
• IP/GR and Pitches/GR (again, also would be great for individual pitchers)
• Games entered in relief with the team ahead, tied, and losing (also would be great to see for individuals)
• Games in relief where the reliever recorded less than 3 outs and games where the reliever got more than 3 outs (as above, would also be great for individuals)
• Steal rates (as in, steals / PAs with runners in applicable situations) for 2nd and 3rd, sac bunt rates, and intentional walk rates
• Pinch hitters, defensive subs, and pinch runners per game and overall
• Pickoffs and "outs on base" (i.e. times thrown out advancing on the basepaths over and above fielders' choice plays)

FWIW I compiled this from data that bbRef already has available; in fact, other than pitch counts, all of this is even available for historical seasons (I looked at 1970). I'm also 99.9% positive that all of this data can be figured out from looking at the game data that is already tracked by OOTP; I'm pretty sure that if you worked on it long enough, you could compile all of this from the MySQL data dump. Some of these would probably also cause a little extra load time for this page but I at least feel like this is a good trade-off.

[mpejkrm]

I haven't tried the demo yet but if the AI still doesn't know how to manage a pitching staff after a doubleheader leading to guys going on short rest, that would be a nice add some day

[md40022]

Originally Posted by AlpineSK
Deeper chemistry. Player meetings. The chance to bring players into the manager's office and discuss performance, and make promises.

Originally Posted by BigRed75

Hard pass. I want a baseball simulator, not a psychology simulator

I gave up on playing Football Manager because it became less about soccer and more about managing relationships between players, agents and the media. Not fun

100% agreement with BigRed. This would need to be something that could be toggled on/off, because if it were a permanent feature it would be a mega disappointment for me - possibly to the point of not even purchasing anymore, depending on how over the top it was. Don't need to play relationship counselor. Some of the more video-gameish games have went this route in recent years and I hate it lol

[Syd Thrift]

Originally Posted by md40022

Originally Posted by AlpineSK
Deeper chemistry. Player meetings. The chance to bring players into the manager's office and discuss performance, and make promises.






100% agreement with BigRed. This would need to be something that could be toggled on/off, because if it were a permanent feature it would be a mega disappointment for me - possibly to the point of not even purchasing anymore, depending on how over the top it was. Don't need to play relationship counselor. Some of the more video-gameish games have went this route in recent years and I hate it lol

You still have the option to turn chemistry off and I don't expect OOTP will be taking away that option in the near or far future; indeed, OOTP seems to have made the design decision, for better or worse, to overwhelm its user base with options upon options.

Personally I really like chemistry and think that in a game that is ultimately about humans and not robots, it has its place. One thing I'd love to see in fact is some ability to set role/usage expectations with a player in the offseason - particularly a new signing, but I also think that you should modify existing expectations to accommodate new players - and let the player in question perhaps take a larger morale hit up front in exchange for a lesser one during the season. This would be one way to not be able to just sign the 5 best shortstops in the league and hoard them (well, other than the fact that shortstops are usually not available via free agency).

TBH I feel like a lot of the "no personalities please" is not so much because "video game" as much as it is that a lot of people came over from cards and dice games that didn't have this aspect because, well, how do you add that to a cards and dice game. OOTP is first and foremost a general manager simulator and as such I think managing the egos of your stars (and sometimes your scrubs) ought to be an integral part of that.

[koolkerns101]

I'd really like to control the signing deadline for the amateur draft, especially now that there are development leagues that could extent past this deadline. Being able to draft someone in these leagues and monitor their progress (somewhat like the draft-and-follow, which is in the CBA but not in OOTP) would be a nice feature.

[Baby Ruth]

Let us turn off Challenge Mode if we decide we really don't want it. If it's a permanent thing because of fear of cheating, just set a flag that once you turn it off you can't turn it back on.

[FelipeMassa08]

I would like to see the almanac system reworked- I haven't upgraded from OOTP 21 so I don't know if this aspect has been changed, but as someone who is more focused on the world-building element of the game rather than the management aspect, I find it frustrating that the only way to view game logs and box scores from previous systems is by generating the almanac, which is time consuming, easy to make mistakes on and doesn't save much memory. Obviously players who aren't interested in this can have an option to delete games from past seasons, but having an option to view past matches within the game itself more easily would be much appreciated.

[KJDelaney]

Originally Posted by Syd Thrift

I’m sure they tried to launch the game in March this year. Would you have preferred a buggy product?

Its not wonderful on a Mac, so.......

[md40022]

Originally Posted by BigRed75

You're the Math Bandit, can you explain to me why this is? Because I can't wrap my head around it. To me, the two situations are the same, you would have the same run expectancy with a runner on second and no outs regardless of how the baserunner got there.

Or is it because there is a "guaranteed" runner on second to start the bottom half of the inning that isn't being taken into account?

The difference is with the Manfred Rule, BOTH teams are getting to start with the man on 2nd base. So the odds are equal (which is why the rule makes no sense to begin with haha)



Your example of the visiting team leading off with a double is a way different scenario, because there is only maybe a 15% chance of the home team then leading off with a double or better..... as where with the Manfred Rule, both teams are guaranteed that runner starting on 2nd base.

[md40022]

2 main things for me....

1. Add that extra roster spot for double headers

2. A modified in-game save feature where you could literally save after every single inning if you wanted to.... I think this would be really helpful early in the OOTP release when some people might be dealing with crash issues. Being able to save after every inning for you weren't crashing out and losing everything after playing 8 innings would be a lot less frustrating for people.

[Pelican]

Originally Posted by KJDelaney

Its not wonderful on a Mac, so.......

Well, it’s wonderful on my Mac Mini, at least.

But to answer the original question, I would have preferred a product without bugs before the MLB season started. But I’m the spoiled kid who wants to have his cake and eat it too. Now the realist adult who could wait a few days for the devs to get things right, and a few weeks to sort out the bugs and flaws. Meanwhile happily playing the whole time, at least when not posting here.

[chazzycat]

I'll keep saying this every year: owner/GM mode.

I am sick of being beholden to the illogical whims of some billionaire. Let me control the fate of my franchise completely.

Ever play civ? In the early versions, your wishes could sometimes be overriden by Congress. While realistic, this loss of agency was not fun for the player, and they dropped it from subsequent versions.

Just assign me a "net worth" at random (in the billions) and if my baseball team loses that whole amount then it's game over but otherwise I can spend it however I want.

[KJDelaney]

Originally Posted by Pelican

Well, it’s wonderful on my Mac Mini, at least.

But to answer the original question, I would have preferred a product without bugs before the MLB season started. But I’m the spoiled kid who wants to have his cake and eat it too. Now the realist adult who could wait a few days for the devs to get things right, and a few weeks to sort out the bugs and flaws. Meanwhile happily playing the whole time, at least when not posting here.

Good for you.

[WyattGOAT]

Originally Posted by md40022

2. A modified in-game save feature where you could literally save after every single inning if you wanted to.... I think this would be really helpful early in the OOTP release when some people might be dealing with crash issues. Being able to save after every inning for you weren't crashing out and losing everything after playing 8 innings would be a lot less frustrating for people.

Yes please. Game crashed twice on me in the playoffs. I save after every game but still sucks to see a game just erased. Completely ruins the immersion.