Hey, is this tanking, shrewd managing, or just plain unethical?

[pstrickert]

Originally Posted by ignats75

Yesterday, I beat a team 31-0. I posted about it as I reaped about 11,000 PPs from that one game. A bunch of people came on the thread to point out it was tanking. I'm such a by the rules guy, the thought never crossed my mind. When I get trouble, its for pissing Kris Jardine off during a podcast (for which I did provately apologize. Kris was cool about it.)

I was reminded about this, because I am just now going to face that team again in Silver 278. So I looked at his(or her) team closely.

2 Gold and 3 Silver SPs. 2 G and 5 Diamond SPs in reserve. (Including a 99 Maddux)

4 Silver and 3 Gold RPs with 1 gold and a ton of silver in reserve.

Catcher 1 Gold 1 Silver and 100 Yogi on Reserve Roster

1B 2 Gold with 97 Bagwell on reserve roster

2B 1 Gold with 97 Cano on reserve roster

3B 91 Matthews on roster

SS 2 Gold with 91 Tulowitzski on reserve roster

LF 2 Golds with 99 Yaz on reserve roster

CF 1 Silver with 96 Duke Snider on reserve roster

RF 2 Golds with nothing of note in reserve.


So the question is, Is this really tanking? Its a pretty good silver team. I looked at the boxscore from last month and he played it straight with his lineup. Everyone playing legit positions; power in the middle; good OBP at top. The only thing strange was that his leadoff hitter was a catcher. But he had good steals ratings. But he had a 60 contact and 80 aviod Ks. His eye was poor.

So if he's tanking, its subtle. But I'm not sure I can make a case for sure.

HOWEVER. Look at this Pitching line. How does the game engine do this?

Up to the minute screenshots:

[dkgo]

just might be tanking

[ignats75]

Originally Posted by pstrickert

Up to the minute screenshots:

What does that screen shot prove though other than a yo-yo on the record? Is that alone a sign of tanking? I'm not in that world at all.

[pstrickert]

I can't think of any plausible explanation other than tanking.

[dkgo]

Originally Posted by ignats75

What does that screen shot prove though other than a yo-yo on the record? Is that alone a sign of tanking? I'm not in that world at all.

It is impossible to go 6-61 giving up 10 runs a game unless you are trying to lose

If you want to try playing a theme team that isnt as good fine, maybe you end up moving up and down some, but this is so blatant youd have to be an idiot not to see it

[ignats75]

If you want to try a theme team that isnt as good fine, but this is so blatant youd have to be an idiot not to see it

Maybe. Except, as I posted on his roster, he may not be using his Diamonds; but he is using all Golds. Its not like he's using Irons. I'm not trying to argue with you. I just don't understand the concept of tanking, nor how to do it.

[pstrickert]

Batting leadoff: Willians Astudillo, C. Meanwhile, Yogi plays only every other season. Hmm.

[Caedus]

Originally Posted by ignats75

Maybe. Except, as I posted on his roster, he may not be using his Diamonds; but he is using all Golds. Its not like he's using Irons. I'm not trying to argue with you. I just don't understand the concept of tanking, nor how to do it.

You can set up strategy or how your players play to seriously inflate runs without using all bad pitchers. Check for players playing out of position or very low pitch counts for starters.

The latter is the sneaky tanking strategy I've been seeing in PT21; the roster looks fine at a glance but the players is forcing their bullpen to pitch far more often than they are capable meaning they blow almost every game with dead tired pitchers.

[ignats75]

Originally Posted by Caedus

The latter is the sneaky tanking strategy I've been seeing in PT21; the roster looks fine at a glance but the players is forcing their bullpen to pitch far more often than they are capable meaning they blow almost every game with dead tired pitchers.

THIS looks like what he is doing. My big game and a game this series both ripped through 8, 9 and 10 pitchers. So, that's indeed what he is doing. Burning out his bullpen. That's a really cynical move and IMHO he needs what we call on another site I frequent:

[dkgo]

Originally Posted by ignats75

Maybe. Except, as I posted on his roster, he may not be using his Diamonds; but he is using all Golds. Its not like he's using Irons. I'm not trying to argue with you. I just don't understand the concept of tanking, nor how to do it.

I dont know whats not to see. They are 6-61 giving up over 10 runs a game! Clearly they tanked using the pitching strategy

[ignats75]

I see it now as I explained. I've had enough bad luck in this game to not accept outcome as the only necessary evidence for tanking. I see it now. Just color me a healthy skeptic on alot of things

[pstrickert]

UPDATE: Nothing has changed, 72 hours after this user was reported.

[pstrickert]

So, what happened here? Team was investigated but cleared. I hope not. Team will be investigated sometime. Well, when? It doesn't do a whole lot of good now. Team will not be investigated. Then why bother?

[pstrickert]

And lo and behold, he's suddenly added his best players to the active roster. And lookie there: a four-game win streak! Now, he can rake at Bronze next week, move to Silver, rinse, and repeat.

[pstrickert]

Brand-new rotation:

[DonMattingly]

Very strange - this team (in Rookie) has Greg Maddux and then no other pitchers, it uses all batters in its rotation and pen. And has several stud hitters in its lineup. Only Iron cards show on the roster. Noticed it because last night I was waiting for the season to end, and there was a tie-breaker scheduled to determine one WC spot. I thought it was a little off that Mike Ford was the starting pitcher...

[pstrickert]

This team is tanking and, by the look of the team history, has tanked before. In a recent five-game stretch, this team was outscored 130-24. Yogi in CF, Ichiro at C. Severe pitch limits on SPs. Bullpen always exhausted. It's a common formula for tanking in PT. Will anything be done about it? My money's on No.

[Rich Grisham]

Originally Posted by pstrickert

This team is tanking and, by the look of the team history, has tanked before. In a recent five-game stretch, this team was outscored 130-24. Yogi in CF, Ichiro at C. Severe pitch limits on SPs. Bullpen always exhausted. It's a common formula for tanking in PT. Will anything be done about it? My money's on No.

Thank you for bringing this up. Please feel free to reach out to me directly to talk about these things. We take this seriously and want a great experience for everyone.

[Matt Arnold]

And as a reminder, please remember to report teams, and include as much detail as you think will help the team in investigating the situation.

[Syd Thrift]

Part of my frustration here - and I’ve got to say, I wound up setting PT aside because of this - is that if the guy I reported on in the OP was ever disciplined (and by the way I can’t see how anything short of “your account is banned, create a brand new one” is sufficient), their team didn’t change until after the season was over. IMO if you have to step in to suspend or ban a player, you should just allow the AI to take over the team, for better or for worse, and then if need be remove them from future leagues. I’m sure that will cause some of these teams to accidentally win championships but it’s not like they’ll be able to do anything with their ill-gotten gains.