Correct Timing of Fan Interest Adjustments for "Lost" Players

[the doctor]

Right now, a team doesn't take a fan interest ding for losing a popular player until that player SIGNS with another team - this doesn't necessarily make a lot of sense.

The player should be considered lost/left the team when he becomes a free agent, not when another team signs him. It's frustrating that your team doesn't take the fan interest loss/hit right away when he leaves the team, which would make more far more sense. This way the lost interest could be mitigated if/when you resign him as an FA.

[Orcin]

But you could re-sign the player.

[the doctor]

Originally Posted by Orcin

But you could re-sign the player.

right, but does a real-life fan base collectively decide to not get mad while waiting out the FA period, hoping the team resigns him? not really. they get mad right away when he's let go/fails to resign. fans aren't exactly logical/patient in that regard.

also, you could simply "Recover" the lost fan interest if you do resign him.

[Bluenoser]

Originally Posted by the doctor

right, but does a real-life fan base collectively decide to not get mad while waiting out the FA period, hoping the team resigns him? not really. they get mad right away when he's let go/fails to resign. fans aren't exactly logical/patient in that regard.

also, you could simply "Recover" the lost fan interest if you do resign him.

Not necessarily - a prime example is Jose Bautista after 2016 - He was on the market for 3 months before resigning. The fans didn't mad.

Give fans some credit - they will wait a while and see if the team resign said player or an improvement. It's not always just - they let a popular player go so I'm pissed - maybe they let him go so they could use the money for a better player.

[the doctor]

Originally Posted by Bluenoser

Give fans some credit - they will wait a while and see if the team resign said player or an improvement. It's not always just - they let a popular player go so I'm pissed - maybe they let him go so they could use the money for a better player.

fair enough, but in this case, how would the game account for that? this example suggests that there would be an element of NOT losing fan interest when a popular player leaves the team, because the fans somehow "know there is a plan". unfortunately i don't think there's a way for the game to handle that in a realistic way.

this also might be slightly off-point from my original suggestion anyhow - i just don't think the current timing of how/when fan interest is lost is a great system. in a literal sense, a player is "lost" when he is no longer on your team - regardless of whether or not he is resigned later.

in the present system it would theoretically be possible for a popular player to leave the team, never get signed by any other team, and languish indefinitely in FA for multiple seasons. while for all effective purposes that player has been "lost", your team suffers no fan interest hit because he hasn't been signed by someone else. that's kind of weird to me.

does anyone actually know what would happen in this case - would the fan interest hit not take effect until the player retires? that would be sort of weird if you're taking a fan interest hit like 4 years after a player left your team, for that player finally being considered "lost" when he retires/otherwise leaves the league.

[froren]

From a gameplay perspective I've always found it odd that you don't lose the fan interest until another team signs the player in the offseason. Often times a few months have passed and you get the email and you're like wait what? Why did I lose fan interest for ANOTHER team signing a guy that doesn't make any sense. Often I just forget about it because it's been some time.

It just seems poor messaging to the player and confusing. You could make these kind of esoteric arguments that 'oh the fans are waiting to see what happens' but that's generally beyond the simple conveyance of why doing an action in a video game results in a particular outcome.

I'd also like to know what happens in the scenario that the doctor lays out. Because if it's years removed from losing the player that seems real silly.

[the doctor]

Originally Posted by froren

that's generally beyond the simple conveyance of why doing an action in a video game results in a particular outcome.

this here is a good point, thank you.

i think that's a big part of the problem - the result (lost fan interest) is potentially so far removed, in terms of in-game time, from the action (letting a player go) that it's jarring/confusing when this happens.

[Rain King]

I think the way the game does it makes complete sense. As a Cardinal fan, the perfect example is Albert Pujols. Up until the day he sighed with the Angels, everyone pretty much assumed he would sign with the Cardinals. The reaction from the fan base absolutely came on the day he signed with a new team.

[the doctor]

Originally Posted by Rain King

I think the way the game does it makes complete sense. As a Cardinal fan, the perfect example is Albert Pujols. Up until the day he sighed with the Angels, everyone pretty much assumed he would sign with the Cardinals. The reaction from the fan base absolutely came on the day he signed with a new team.

that seems like the exception rather than the rule, though. how often are players that become straight up FAs a) expected to resign with their original team and b) actually follow through on it?

i guess really it depends on the team/market. as a cleveland fan, if one of our guys hits FA, i'm fully expecting we've got no prayer of resigning him.

[NoOne]

i think it's just current dynamics of how it works..

you'd lose more than you gain if it deducted immediately and you re-signed later... they's have to overhaul the whole thing -- which isn't an argument against at all . better is better.

it's not unreasonable to think the fan base would get a bit antsy if you let a player hit FA instead of wrapping them up early. this stuff turns into a rabbit whole you can dive too deep into too. KISS principle may very well be best, who knows

[shakeweight]

if you deducted it right away you may have a loss in projected sales which in turn could lower your budget and fiscally handcuff you. I think the way it is now is great.

[the doctor]

Originally Posted by shakeweight

if you deducted it right away you may have a loss in projected sales which in turn could lower your budget and fiscally handcuff you. I think the way it is now is great.

ok, but this doesn't really address whether or not the way it works now from a timing perspective is realistic.