The Annual Settings Thread

[Silent_Thunder]

Originally Posted by 24Rocks

My Dad has been telling me for years move to 1-5 I just dont want the change to be to drastic 20-80 does sound interesting I do use it for player value
In all my test leagues I used this It is still very confusing to my brain as I used 1-100 for so many years but ya it is on my list of things to try.


Side note looking reading old thread about this exact topic I came across a post by The wolf 4 years ago saying he wants to try stats only look at what 4 years does, a few other people have said It makes OOTP so much more frustrating/enjoyable as well.
I love this sort of immersion in Games I might try a small league of stats only.

I just got really into it this edition after my original plan, to do a historical minors game, took a backseat as its bugs get ironed out. Just finished my first season and it made me make decisions with both more and less confidence. less because theres much more unknown, but more in that I'm not going "this guy is puking all over the field, but his ratings say he SHOULD be better, so I should just give him another month... another two months?... Three will do it right?".

That said, the biggest thing to do is, assuming a 1080p setup, change the default view screen to this using the drag & drop settings. The expanded stats on the game screen really help you know your team better as you play.


(Large image warning, which is why it's not embeded.)
http://i.imgur.com/NoRaBLT.jpg

['94 EXPOS]

Originally Posted by The Wolf

Different GM's value different things, and scouts are of variable quality, and your scouting should be on low or very low accuracy. So the GM gets a crappy scouting report on Joe Schmoe and cuts him in reposnse. Meanwhile another GM gets a really good scouting report on him and signs him.

In other words: the AI GM's are doing the same thing that you are, trying to figure out who the hell is good and who the hell isn't, because easy mode ratings data isn't there anymore. Welcome to increased realism.

I am confused-----if stats are the primary mode of evaluation for the AI how could Davis get cut? It makes no sense.


I like the idea of stats only for the human player but I do have my reservations about the system....please address further, I am all ears

[SirMichaelJordan]

Originally Posted by '94 EXPOS

I am confused-----if stats are the primary mode of evaluation for the AI how could Davis get cut? It makes no sense.


I like the idea of stats only for the human player but I do have my reservations about the system....please address further, I am all ears

In previous years if there weren't any stats to go off of then it uses ratings by default. There have been some changes to AI evaluation I believe so this may have changed. We need more info on that situation. Was their OVR low but had the tools? Maybe their OVR was low because the players had no stats and didn't use ratings in that scenario or maybe it's a bug and the AI was freaking out.

Edit- quoted the wrong user.

[Syd Thrift]

Originally Posted by '94 EXPOS

I am confused-----if stats are the primary mode of evaluation for the AI how could Davis get cut? It makes no sense.

I like the idea of stats only for the human player but I do have my reservations about the system....please address further, I am all ears

The big issue with starting up a brand new league is that no matter how much care you put in to making each and every step of the organization behave exactly like its real life counterparts, at some level the AI is bound to evaluate its players differently than guys do in real life. Maybe that particular AI GM simply does not value power, or gets really skittish about guys who strike out in 40% of their at-bats, or maybe the scout doesn't like him all that much. IRL the guy probably wouldn't have been signed in the first place by this team, but in a league where you are essentially putting 30 GMs at the helm of brand new teams from Day One, some of them are going to make drastic moves like this. I think the big issue is in cutting a guy like this outright instead of shopping him around first, although a *lot* of the time you see this kind of thing happening IRL because of the sunk cost fallacy and I can kind of get behind the idea that not programming this human error into the AI prevents exploits.

This is a big part of why a lot of us recommend using fictional players and then also simming through a few seasons before you jump in. There is probably going to be some weirdness early on as things get sorted out (and on top of that at least as of last year the issue where fictional players come in fully formed no matter what their age still exists, so you'll probably see a lot of early dynasties and talent discrepancies early on) and it's best to get into a game where each GM knows and understands its team.

[MikeG719]

Is there a way to set up a real world league with all fictional players?

[Syd Thrift]

Yes, this is basically what I do. If you want to have the game expand/relocate/etc. by itself then what you do is you import a normal historical league and then release and delete all of the players in it (release them to free agency first and then delete everyone in free agency because that's waay faster than deleting them team by team). Then you populate each team with fictional players, starting from the lowest level of minors up. The last thing you have to make sure to do is to turn off historical rookies because otherwise your 1901 league will start out cool but then suddenly you'll have Joe Tinker in there.

There is a guide out there on how to do this. It's a couple versions old now but the method remains the same.

[koohead]

Originally Posted by Syd Thrift

The big issue with starting up a brand new league is that no matter how much care you put in to making each and every step of the organization behave exactly like its real life counterparts, at some level the AI is bound to evaluate its players differently than guys do in real life. Maybe that particular AI GM simply does not value power, or gets really skittish about guys who strike out in 40% of their at-bats, or maybe the scout doesn't like him all that much. IRL the guy probably wouldn't have been signed in the first place by this team, but in a league where you are essentially putting 30 GMs at the helm of brand new teams from Day One, some of them are going to make drastic moves like this. I think the big issue is in cutting a guy like this outright instead of shopping him around first, although a *lot* of the time you see this kind of thing happening IRL because of the sunk cost fallacy and I can kind of get behind the idea that not programming this human error into the AI prevents exploits.

This is a big part of why a lot of us recommend using fictional players and then also simming through a few seasons before you jump in. There is probably going to be some weirdness early on as things get sorted out (and on top of that at least as of last year the issue where fictional players come in fully formed no matter what their age still exists, so you'll probably see a lot of early dynasties and talent discrepancies early on) and it's best to get into a game where each GM knows and understands its team.

I don't have a ton of empirical to share, but just an eyeball of the transactions at the beginning of the sim seemed to show the AI trying to get players through Waivers as they adjusted their rosters at the very beginning of the season. Might be worth just disabling waivers in year 1 of a new league.

[The Wolf]

If you're going to do stats only, you really, really need to sim your league for a number of years, and I have found five years to be the sweet spot.

[koohead]

Originally Posted by The Wolf

If you're going to do stats only, you really, really need to sim your league for a number of years, and I have found five years to be the sweet spot.

Understood...and definitely in the process of doing that before I take over a team. just trying to deal with the Month 1 whackyness.

[iBrandon]

So to set this straight - You all who recommend stats only, it's for fictional leagues. Sim a few years ahead and then take over a team. Is there a way to sim that far ahead or it's a season by season basis? TO take over a team, I need a certain mode on so I can take over whoever when I like?
What are the best quickstart fictonal leagues? I am not good at creating things from scratch. I know there is a fictional quickstart the OOTP guys have ready to go when you boot up.'

If I decide to do an MLB league, don't use stats only, correct?

There is a lot of information here, so my apologies for the repeating questions. Stats only sounds like a blast though. Going to give it a go and try not to look back. Just need to dig through the thread so much to make sure I have everything set up correctly.

[TwinsGuy11]

Originally Posted by iBrandon

So to set this straight - You all who recommend stats only, it's for fictional leagues. Sim a few years ahead and then take over a team. Is there a way to sim that far ahead or it's a season by season basis? TO take over a team, I need a certain mode on so I can take over whoever when I like?
What are the best quickstart fictonal leagues? I am not good at creating things from scratch. I know there is a fictional quickstart the OOTP guys have ready to go when you boot up.'

If I decide to do an MLB league, don't use stats only, correct?

There is a lot of information here, so my apologies for the repeating questions. Stats only sounds like a blast though. Going to give it a go and try not to look back. Just need to dig through the thread so much to make sure I have everything set up correctly.

I'm a month in using stats only for an MLB league. I think it's possible but you have to find the right combination of AI sliders. I think the key is to put a heavier emphasis on the the previous two years than the current.

For instance, using the sliders suggested (0,67,22,11) and one month in I was able to move Nolasco for Jameson Taillon). He's had a great start to the year (3-0 with a 1.75 era), but obviously not even close to fair value. I adjusted settings (I don't have the game up but something like 0-35-40-25) and I was still able to move him to the Pirates, but it was essentially a salary dump and they need help because Liriano went down for the year. I thought it was a reasonable trade.

It may not be perfect, but I think it's possible to have an enjoyable league.

[SirMichaelJordan]

Originally Posted by iBrandon

So to set this straight - You all who recommend stats only, it's for fictional leagues. Sim a few years ahead and then take over a team. Is there a way to sim that far ahead or it's a season by season basis? TO take over a team, I need a certain mode on so I can take over whoever when I like?
What are the best quickstart fictonal leagues? I am not good at creating things from scratch. I know there is a fictional quickstart the OOTP guys have ready to go when you boot up.'

If I decide to do an MLB league, don't use stats only, correct?

There is a lot of information here, so my apologies for the repeating questions. Stats only sounds like a blast though. Going to give it a go and try not to look back. Just need to dig through the thread so much to make sure I have everything set up correctly.

I use stats and use MLB.

[sprague]

You can play the mlb qs stats only right out of the box AS every player has a carrer of stats to work with.

For fictional i keep normal ratings type evaluation on for 5 years so the ai makes decent decisions the first few years with few stats.
Then year 6 i reset the evaluation ratings for stats only and play on.

[Silent_Thunder]

Btw, to stats only, if you don't want to have the AI manage your team before you get it, the best way to do it is to have the team you plan to manage join as an expansion team.

So the save I'm restarting again (after realizing I had screwed up in setup) which I intend to play as 1920 as a 12 team league, is starting with 10 teams in 1915 and in 1920 I held an expansion draft.

Plus is adds the fun of playing an expansion team, something I feel all players should experience at least once.

[progen]

I always play stats only, and generally fictional, but I started a game in 1961, and at the end of the season, I took over the Houston Colt 45's. I always enjoy the challenge of taking over an expansion team. And actually, even though you know the Koufax's and Mays' of the world, using the OOTP engine(whatever it's called) vs recalc, does make it interesting, because there are no guarantees. For an example, Jim Merritt who I saw pitch for the Reds at Connie Mack one year, had an Ok career. In 1969 he won 17, in 1970 he won 20. He just finished the 1963 season with my AA team and went 3-17, with a 6.46 ERA. I could give many other examples as well. But I like playing this way right now, because it brings back so many memories.

So yes, you can play with real world players, but it's not nearly as challenging as playing stats only and fictional. But again, what makes this game so great, is that you can play it so many ways.

In my next historical adventure, I'm going to follow even a more real life scenario where I won't have any draft until 1965, which was really the very first draft as we know it. Before that, there was a two round draft for a couple of years, but mainly it was just the rich teams like the Yankees and Cardinals, and in the early 60's, the A's with Charlie Finley, buying all the great players up! When the owners voted on this in 1964, not surprisingly, the A's, Yankees, Cardinals, and stinkin Mets tried to get it abolished.

[SiN8]

If the "Overall rating based on AI evaluation, not pure ratings" is unchecked, do the weights in the AI settings have any effect in the game?

I was under the impression that the weights are always "on" for the purposes of AI roster management. The checkbox was just for human team scouts evaluations. Is that correct?

Also, how does the weights in the global settings affect each AI GM given they have their own weights? Does the "Recalculate GM tendencies..." need to be clicked before anything takes affect?

[SirMichaelJordan]

Originally Posted by SiN8

If the "Overall rating based on AI evaluation, not pure ratings" is unchecked, do the weights in the AI settings have any effect in the game?

I was under the impression that the weights are always "on" for the purposes of AI roster management. The checkbox was just for human team scouts evaluations. Is that correct?

Also, how does the weights in the global settings affect each AI GM given they have their own weights? Does the "Recalculate GM tendencies..." need to be clicked before anything takes affect?

The weight is always on but if unchecked, the user see the OVR as if it was calculated purely based on ratings.

[Mister_G]

Any thoughts on player development and aging settings? Going with the standard MLB QS

[The Wolf]

Originally Posted by Mister_G

Any thoughts on player development and aging settings? Going with the standard MLB QS

I used to customize them but I don't anymore.

[JaBurns]

Is it possible to take my fictional league from OOTP 16 (7 years in) move it over to 17 use the Fyrestorm settings and basically change it to a stats only league? If so what are the pitfalls and other things I should watch when beginning the league in 17? I want to try this and thought this might be good way because there is already enough history.