Can a commish cheat in OOTP?

blitz33 · 03-28-2013, 08:01 PM

I was telling a friend about my sim league. He was not familiar with them at all. When I told him how it worked he said he wouldn't be interested because it sounded like the people simming the league could cheat. The funny thing is that never crossed my mind at all. lol I told him I never gave it a thought and didn't think it was happening in my league. He began to debate this with me and we went back and forth on it for a little bit.
I really have no idea how it all works on the commish end so since it was brought up I wanted to ask. I would not see the point in cheating but if one wanted to can the commish cheat?

RchW · 03-28-2013, 08:36 PM

Yes but it would become obvious. I can state with certainty that the commishes of about 99% of all online leagues are committed generous people who have a passion for what they do and are far too busy to cheat. Those that do disappear along with their leagues.

fhomess · 03-28-2013, 11:18 PM

My experience has been the same as Rich. There have been a few bad commishes here and there, but for the most part, it's not at all hard to find a trustworthy OOTP league. Not all leagues have a commish who runs a team.

Germaniac · 03-29-2013, 01:24 AM

In theory a Commish can cheat - but as it was said before it would become obvious.
Where there may be a chance without getting caught is when you face the Commish in the World Series - I believe he could backup the files and sim for as long as he thinks until the right result appears.

BUT:

I'm in several leagues - and in one I even faced the Commish in the Series - and i haven't come across one I didn't trust 100%, because why put up all that work when you cheat to win the league ?

Oh, one Commish I didn't trust at the end and eventually left the league because of it.
I was talking a blockbuster deal with him, one of my players would have been a FA at the end of the season - and I knew I couldn't afford him as far as his demands where. We had agreed on a 3-for-3 deal, and just before pulling the trigger he backed off, saying that he couldn't afford to re-sign him.
I was - and still am - sure he checked to find out what his contract demand was.

Anyway, basically it's no big deal - you're in a league where you don't trust the Commish for one reason or another ... simply pack your bags and leave. Again, the huge majority of Commish's are 100% trustworthy

blitz33 · 03-29-2013, 10:44 PM

Thanks for the responses. I have been in my current league for a very long time and I never have even thought anyone was cheating. I honestly never thought of it until my friend asked me if I thought the commish would cheat.
I only asked on here because I really don't know what the process is of running a sim. So I started thinking about it. I assumed if a commish ran a sim and looked at the results and he lost his ace to a season ending injury he could resim? Things like that. I never have suspected any of that was going on in our league and it is a very old league. I didn't ask in our league forum because i didn't want the commish to think I thought he was doing that. Just wondered if it was possible or if anyone had experienced it. Thanks again for the feedback.

darkcloud4579 · 04-01-2013, 09:47 PM

As a Commish, I have intentionally sold off my teams after a few years when they get too good. I like saying "who wants to play in a league where the commish wins all of the time?" I think given how much work goes into it, like everyone has said, most people want to play in a competitive environment free of the sort of shenanigans that make playing online less than fun.

For the record OOTP isn't the easiest game to "resim" in, even if one wanted to. It's not that it can't be done and sometimes (when the game crashes, for example) you have to. But it's extremely rare.

But again, most people aren't going to run a league just to win. They can play alone and get the same satisfaction sans the guilt.

eMLBCommish · 04-02-2013, 08:31 PM

As a longtime Commish (Germaniac is in my league), I love the challenge of winning. I agree, most of us want to earn our bragging rights. I've been fortunate to win 3 times in about 50 simulated seasons I've played in, a little over half of those seasons I've Commished.

My opinion is my success is more because of the time commitment I put into my league, building draft pools from scratch, etc. League awareness may be an automatic advantage for any Commish.

There is always the risk of cheating in this format, but I'm certain many who run a league are mature, accountable people. The great thing is that if you're convinced there's cheating going on, you just move on. There's plenty of quality leagues out there, and I'm sure some of the better leagues out there are the ones that have a Commish with a struggling team.

Montreal Hitman · 04-07-2013, 01:22 PM

Not cheating, but the Commish in my league, who has a team that has gone to the WS something like 8 times in 12 seasons and STILL always has the top 5 farm system......just got caught hiding SP for the rule V draft. He changed his SP's position to RF or LF so their pitching ratings would be hidden when you look at the player.

Now, if he has just been caught, that means he did it already and also, must have other "tricks"" like these....Not cheating....but.....

Isryion · 04-11-2013, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Montreal Hitman

Not cheating, but the Commish in my league, who has a team that has gone to the WS something like 8 times in 12 seasons and STILL always has the top 5 farm system......just got caught hiding SP for the rule V draft. He changed his SP's position to RF or LF so their pitching ratings would be hidden when you look at the player.

Now, if he has just been caught, that means he did it already and also, must have other "tricks"" like these....Not cheating....but.....

I dunno, I think that's pretty gamey and cheating as it's essentially trying to hide a player using the game system to do so, or at least to make him very difficult to find, the exact opposite of what a commissioner should be doing, imo. He should be striving for transparency, and in this case, making sure all players are properly represented and that all GMs have an equal shot at the player. I'd be out of there.

HerbD · 04-11-2013, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Montreal Hitman

Not cheating, but the Commish in my league, who has a team that has gone to the WS something like 8 times in 12 seasons and STILL always has the top 5 farm system......just got caught hiding SP for the rule V draft. He changed his SP's position to RF or LF so their pitching ratings would be hidden when you look at the player.

Now, if he has just been caught, that means he did it already and also, must have other "tricks"" like these....Not cheating....but.....

That IS cheating!!

ingey1968 · 04-11-2013, 05:21 PM

ivbe been in a league where it was fairly obvious he was editing his players ratings. Outside of that someone could actually "cheat" But its time consuming and would be fairly obvious if it happened a lot.

Go Tribe · 04-11-2013, 05:22 PM

copy the league folder
sim
if you don't like the results delete the league folder and restore the old one
sim again

sadly it's very easy to do that way and i know of one commish that admitted it to me after he left the league

ingey1968 · 04-11-2013, 05:25 PM

you dont even have to do that much. save the league file before sim, if you dont like the results, close with control, alt ,delete and then reload.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Go Tribe

copy the league folder
sim
if you don't like the results delete the league folder and restore the old one
sim again

sadly it's very easy to do that way

ingey1968 · 04-11-2013, 05:26 PM

i use to do this with my offline when i didnt like the draft classes and wanted another one

brokenbat · 04-12-2013, 08:57 PM

Can they? Yes, of course. Do they? Sadly the number that do is probably rather more than the 1% suggested by RchW and it's not always as obvious as others have claimed. Why do they? As it happens SciAm is asking that very question this month (though I suspect OOTP won't get a specific mention

) so I might have a better idea in a few days time (so much to read, so little daylight to read it in!)

In the meantime, as I'm currently recruiting, let me assure you that this Commissioner ain't no cheat (or if he is, he's terrible at it!!!) One glance at my team at the foot of the division 18 games back should prove that!

03-28-2013, 08:01 PM	#1
blitz33 Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 29	Can a commish cheat in OOTP? I was telling a friend about my sim league. He was not familiar with them at all. When I told him how it worked he said he wouldn't be interested because it sounded like the people simming the league could cheat. The funny thing is that never crossed my mind at all. lol I told him I never gave it a thought and didn't think it was happening in my league. He began to debate this with me and we went back and forth on it for a little bit. I really have no idea how it all works on the commish end so since it was brought up I wanted to ask. I would not see the point in cheating but if one wanted to can the commish cheat?

03-28-2013, 08:36 PM	#2
RchW Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: The big smoke Posts: 15,628	Yes but it would become obvious. I can state with certainty that the commishes of about 99% of all online leagues are committed generous people who have a passion for what they do and are far too busy to cheat. Those that do disappear along with their leagues. __________________ Cheers RichW If you’re looking for a good cause to donate money to please consider a Donation to Parkinson’s Canada. It may help me have a better future and if not me, someone else. Thanks. “Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition …There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.” Frank Wilhoit

03-28-2013, 11:18 PM	#3
fhomess Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 3,585	My experience has been the same as Rich. There have been a few bad commishes here and there, but for the most part, it's not at all hard to find a trustworthy OOTP league. Not all leagues have a commish who runs a team. __________________ StatsLab- PHP/MySQL based utilities for Online Leagues Baseball Cards - Full list of known templates and documentation on card development.

03-29-2013, 01:24 AM	#4
Germaniac Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Frankenthal, Germany Posts: 2,993	In theory a Commish can cheat - but as it was said before it would become obvious. Where there may be a chance without getting caught is when you face the Commish in the World Series - I believe he could backup the files and sim for as long as he thinks until the right result appears. BUT: I'm in several leagues - and in one I even faced the Commish in the Series - and i haven't come across one I didn't trust 100%, because why put up all that work when you cheat to win the league ? Oh, one Commish I didn't trust at the end and eventually left the league because of it. I was talking a blockbuster deal with him, one of my players would have been a FA at the end of the season - and I knew I couldn't afford him as far as his demands where. We had agreed on a 3-for-3 deal, and just before pulling the trigger he backed off, saying that he couldn't afford to re-sign him. I was - and still am - sure he checked to find out what his contract demand was. Anyway, basically it's no big deal - you're in a league where you don't trust the Commish for one reason or another ... simply pack your bags and leave. Again, the huge majority of Commish's are 100% trustworthy __________________ I'm going to have to meet my Maker some day. And if He asks me why I didn't let this boy play, and I say it's because he's black, that might not be a satisfactory answer. Happy Chandler, 1947

03-29-2013, 10:44 PM	#5
blitz33 Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 29	Thanks for the responses. I have been in my current league for a very long time and I never have even thought anyone was cheating. I honestly never thought of it until my friend asked me if I thought the commish would cheat. I only asked on here because I really don't know what the process is of running a sim. So I started thinking about it. I assumed if a commish ran a sim and looked at the results and he lost his ace to a season ending injury he could resim? Things like that. I never have suspected any of that was going on in our league and it is a very old league. I didn't ask in our league forum because i didn't want the commish to think I thought he was doing that. Just wondered if it was possible or if anyone had experienced it. Thanks again for the feedback. Last edited by blitz33; 03-30-2013 at 04:55 PM.

04-01-2013, 09:47 PM	#6
darkcloud4579 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 8,305 Blog Entries: 32	As a Commish, I have intentionally sold off my teams after a few years when they get too good. I like saying "who wants to play in a league where the commish wins all of the time?" I think given how much work goes into it, like everyone has said, most people want to play in a competitive environment free of the sort of shenanigans that make playing online less than fun. For the record OOTP isn't the easiest game to "resim" in, even if one wanted to. It's not that it can't be done and sometimes (when the game crashes, for example) you have to. But it's extremely rare. But again, most people aren't going to run a league just to win. They can play alone and get the same satisfaction sans the guilt. __________________ Godfather of Fast-Sim OOTP My Mods: GMExcel 24 Major League Women's Baseball (OOTP24) quickstart Indian Premier League \| 300+ years of baseball quickstart \| Expatriate League quickstart \| Off-Field Injuries Update \| Women's Name File for OOTP \| My (outdated) market calculator & financial spreadsheets

04-02-2013, 08:31 PM	#7
eMLBCommish All Star Reserve Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 666	As a longtime Commish (Germaniac is in my league), I love the challenge of winning. I agree, most of us want to earn our bragging rights. I've been fortunate to win 3 times in about 50 simulated seasons I've played in, a little over half of those seasons I've Commished. My opinion is my success is more because of the time commitment I put into my league, building draft pools from scratch, etc. League awareness may be an automatic advantage for any Commish. There is always the risk of cheating in this format, but I'm certain many who run a league are mature, accountable people. The great thing is that if you're convinced there's cheating going on, you just move on. There's plenty of quality leagues out there, and I'm sure some of the better leagues out there are the ones that have a Commish with a struggling team. __________________ The Fluffy Kitty Ninjas Show - Home of the eMLB Universe! www.twitch.tv/FKNCommishLB The Man Behind eMLB - https://atl-02.statsplus.net/emlb/re..._150_home.html Proud OOTP Affiliate Streamer Proud Twitch Partner (Partnered 3/15/22)

04-07-2013, 01:22 PM	#8
Montreal Hitman Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 36	Not cheating, but the Commish in my league, who has a team that has gone to the WS something like 8 times in 12 seasons and STILL always has the top 5 farm system......just got caught hiding SP for the rule V draft. He changed his SP's position to RF or LF so their pitching ratings would be hidden when you look at the player. Now, if he has just been caught, that means he did it already and also, must have other "tricks"" like these....Not cheating....but.....

04-11-2013, 05:21 PM	#11
ingey1968 Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 41	ivbe been in a league where it was fairly obvious he was editing his players ratings. Outside of that someone could actually "cheat" But its time consuming and would be fairly obvious if it happened a lot.

04-11-2013, 05:22 PM	#12
Go Tribe All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 1,534 Infractions: 1/0 (0)	copy the league folder sim if you don't like the results delete the league folder and restore the old one sim again sadly it's very easy to do that way and i know of one commish that admitted it to me after he left the league Last edited by Go Tribe; 04-11-2013 at 05:27 PM.

04-11-2013, 05:26 PM	#14
ingey1968 Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 41	i use to do this with my offline when i didnt like the draft classes and wanted another one

04-12-2013, 08:57 PM	#15
brokenbat Minors (Single A) Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 92	Can they? Yes, of course. Do they? Sadly the number that do is probably rather more than the 1% suggested by RchW and it's not always as obvious as others have claimed. Why do they? As it happens SciAm is asking that very question this month (though I suspect OOTP won't get a specific mention ) so I might have a better idea in a few days time (so much to read, so little daylight to read it in!) In the meantime, as I'm currently recruiting, let me assure you that this Commissioner ain't no cheat (or if he is, he's terrible at it!!!) One glance at my team at the foot of the division 18 games back should prove that!