Feedback Needed / Leagues with Ratings Off

[battists]

Hey folks,

I have always played with ratings and potential on. Usually with a 1-100 scale, because hey, I like it. However, I have come to realize over time that I really rely on the stars, more than I should.

I'm in the process of setting up a new league, and I wanted to consider giving it settings that would encourage me NOT to rely on those things. At the same time, in the "real world," a scouting team is certainly going to give SOME kind of idea what kind of prospect someone is.

So, for people who play with ratings hidden, what settings do you use, and then how do you go about evaluating talent?

Thanks!

[Basebrah]

Batts, I bagan researching stats only a few days ago and I'm setting up my league now so I'll give it a go. There are so many different ways to play a stats only game but this is mine.
Global Settings
Settings- Ratings
Player actual rating- Off
Player potential rating- off
Other player rating- 1-10 ...yes, i know
Overall/Potential- off

Scouting- on
Scouting Accuracy- low

AI Settings
Player Evaluation Setings
Ratings- 0
Current year stats- 67
Previous Stats- 22
2 years stats- 11

-To evaluate a player you can read the written scouting report. It's on low so it's not that accurate but it gives you an idea. Otherwise you evaluate on his past/current stats.
-During the draft I will turn on potential ratings as I don't use feeders and can't judge by stats alone. The people who use feeders will go by the stats during the draft. Feeders are a must for stats only so they say.

The only setting I questioned was the AI Settings. Setting the Rating to 0 wouldn't it make the AI dump good potential players who aren't hitting well that year? It seems the AI will always look at ratings as to what degree is not known.

Batts, reading all the debates about ratings on or off it all comes to using stats as the primary factor in making decisions and not relying on the scouts ratings/stars. Not having ratings in front of your face, accurate or not, makes you look at stats more.

[TribeFanInNC]

Paging Mr. Wolf. Mr Wolf, you are needed at this thread stat.

[Bristolduke]

Here was some advice I got from Honorable_Pawn for stats only


Yes, the AI needs help evaluating players. I would put at least 25% on ratings

If you are going to play stats-only with scouts turned on I would put it on high in order to help the AI a little. Don't hire the best scout. It just ain't fair. Hire a middling scout.

[TribeFanInNC]

It does come down to just evaluating the stats you have on hand. I've always explained it that regular OOTP requires you to be the GM (and mgr if you want). Playing stats-only requires you to play both the scout and the GM roles. Some people like this, some people don't. I definitely recommend giving it a try, but it isn't for everyone. Some people don't like being a scout. One thing is that stats-only definitely takes more of your time because you are playing both roles. Some people love that, some people find it tedious. I personally love it.

As noted above, you have to account for the entry draft somehow. This is most commonly done by using feeder league to proivdes stats to use in drafting (although that is still very hard). Otherwise, you need to turn ratings on to draft.

[Matt Arnold]

I used to play with both current and potential hidden, but that I found almost gave me too little details. I know it's "cheating" according to some to see ratings, so what I thought was a good compromise was to play with current ratings hidden, but potential ratings visible.

I like that mostly because for any kids, or players progressing through the farm, you still have to rely on stats to see how close they are. But I find it a good, quick way to just check if someone is a contact hitter or a power hitter at a glance, without having to check back multiple years of stats and try to account for run environments, down years, etc...

I still rely on stats - so for example, I have a LF whose potential ratings show him as like 6/6/5, 4 star player (I use current and potential stars visible, although it's tempting to turn current stars off, too, now that I think about it). But he's hit like crap for 2-3 years. So this off-season, I'll trade him away and he'll probably win the MVP next year, but I'm tired of him under-performing for me. I may have to play around with AI evaluation settings a little more to make sure it feels balanced, but I found that somewhere around 20% ratings for them, with the rest split between the yearly perf was a decent mix.

[David Watts]

I have a question and I really hope this isn't seen as a thread hijack. If I were to use 0, 67,22,11 would I start seeing the AI make more in season lineup adjustments according to actual performance? For example, if a guy starts the season hitting 8th, but gets hot and stays hot, will the AI move him up in the lineup?

[YanksFan]

To piggyback David Watts a little what are the negatives to the 0/67/22/11 eval settings since it was suggested to put ratings on 25% to help the A.I.?

[The Wolf]

Set your scouts to average, do NOT set the AI to look at ratings, and sim for five years before you start so that everyone has stats.

[The Wolf]

And be sure to use feeder leagues, not an ordinary draft. That way the draft class will all have stats after the five year initial sim.

[SirMichaelJordan]

I know with 0% ratings if there is not enough stats to go off the game will use ratings but my question is how much? Also does the injury rating get calculated? How about speed? These are questions that are probably best suited for Markus.

[Honorable_Pawn]

I have never tested 0 on ratings. I will explain why I think at least 25% (if not more) should be on ratings for the AI. My primary reason (and the only one I will mention in this thread) is that Marcus has probably optimized AI roster behavior for the default settings. If you look at these you will see that Marcus is saying, "hey! keep ratings high"

I tone them done a little but, personally, I would be hesitant, to go in the complete opposite direction as default.

$0.02

[SirMichaelJordan]

Those default seem to change from year to year. Correct me if im wrong but it seem as the default for ratings is 15%

[The Wolf]

I've tested 0% ratings and IMO it works better.

[wuttang]

A option to turn on potential and/or ratings for just minor leaguers or kids under 21 would be nice.
Or maybe just draftees?

[The Wolf]

Originally Posted by YanksFan

To piggyback David Watts a little what are the negatives to the 0/67/22/11 eval settings since it was suggested to put ratings on 25% to help the A.I.?

I have yet to see any. Run it at 0 with scouts at average or lower and see if you can find any.

Play with fictional the first time so that you have no expectations to be disappointed.

[battists]

Thanks everyone!

[Antonin]

I have been using this setup:

Rating Scales:

Player Actual 1-5
Player Potential 1-5
Other Player Ratings 1-20


AI Player Evaluation Options:

Ratings weight - 10%
Current year stats weight - 40%
Previous year stats weight - 30%
2 Years Ago stats weight - 20%