new to the game

wired71 · 06-29-2018, 11:20 AM

Love the concept and the stats etc.

However, I am like a deer in headlights. There is so much to the game I dont even know where to begin.

Would love to be in a league but ...clueless at this point.

Tips, advice for a newbie?

hqbaseball · 06-29-2018, 01:19 PM

Start with an MLB quickstart, choose your favorite team, get acquainted with day to day operations, see what you like doing (simming for a long time, 3D game managing, 2D, etc.). #1 tip: delegate minor league tasks to your asst. GM

Timofmars · 06-29-2018, 02:53 PM

Stuff like setting up the lineup and pitching has a relatively small effect compared to acquiring better players, so don't stress too much about it.

Try to understand how the AI values players in order to make better trade decisions. Given the same overall rating, pitchers that are capable of being starters will be worth more to the AI in trading than position players, and relievers are worth the least. On a 20 to 80 scale, a 40 rated pitcher might be as valueble as a 50 rated position player and a 65 rated reliever.Starting pitchers would have stamina at least greater than 1/4 of the scale, and more than 2 pitches (Only 2 pitches is rare, though).

Player's values in trade are mostly a combination of their overall ability (and potential for prospects) combined with their salary. So a high ability, low salary player is going to be worth a lot to the AI, and difficult to acquire. But players that are overpaid compared to their ability might be relatively easy to acquire, especially if the team is over budget.

With default ratings settings (absolute ratings instead of relative ratings), highly rated players are often worth many times more than slightly lower rated players. You may even find that your 30 or 40 overall rated position players won't fetch you anything of value and may barely add any value to a trade you are offering. And it may take you 5 lower rated players to make a trade for 1 player that's 20 overall points higher (depending on trade difficulty level). But it's still good to make those trades usually, because quality is much better than quantity.

A good way to make trades with the AI is to add 4 or 5 weaker players to the trade that the AI team finds acceptable, and then 1 by 1 remove a player and click "make it work" to see if they are willing to take someone even less valuable to you instead.

Prospects are 25 years old and younger, and they generally see very little improvement at 26 and older. If they haven't reached their potential by then, they probably won't ever.

NoOne · 06-30-2018, 08:00 PM

start small, make it more complicated as you go.

whether that's league buidling or diving into all the settings or more direct management of an organization.

i'd even suggest turning TCR off and use 100% accuracy for a few 'quick' seasons. less attention to day-to-day detail and more about who does well and who is consistent etc without the clutter. (no personality, no coaches etc...)

simply ratings, development and some basic stuff that won't cloud the ratings or anything else specific you want to learn. you don't have to spend a normal amount of time on these seasons. glossing it over and running through multiple offseasons in a short period of time can really help you learn too.

then, turn TCR back on / personalitiees piecemeal or all at once. they are small factors for the most part, although certain aspects of personality significantly impact developement.

when you do turn accuracy back to whatever you prefer, try to see how it is applied. some things are more accurate than others, or see that age and service time (and/or level) is a factor in accuracy

when i tried to learn the draft, for example, i'd use 100% accuracy and shortlist some names to stand out that were above a certain quality, then turn accuracy back to my normal level. compare distribution. see what's more accurately scouted of each rating. after the 'better' SP are gone, i find more 3-pitch SP sorting by movement than anything else. (that's not a magic bullet, but it does help mil success a lot by having plenty of AAA/AAAA-competent SP.) when it's junk batters i also sort by somethign other than contact potential.. but i am still looking for 'higher' contact potentials near top of gap- or power-sorted list.

wired71 · 07-01-2018, 11:18 AM

Thanks guys...I'll give it a whirl.

Much appreciated.

JaBurns · 07-01-2018, 04:44 PM

Have fun and ask questions, people are great here and will answer any questions. Start and learn as you go, I learn something new every day, the great thing is that you can always start again with what you have learned from the past.

Izz · 07-01-2018, 05:34 PM

Experiment. Read the manual. Experiment. Read some dynasty reports to get a feel for different ways to play the game. Experiment. Ask questions here on the forum. Experiment.

Welcome to the best game in the universe!

mitchkenn · 07-01-2018, 07:01 PM

make backups. lots of them. as said above, experiment. try something even if it doesn't appear like it should work. start any idea you want. if it doesn't work, delete it and try something new. this game is so flexible, almost any set-up is possible with enough patience and experimentation. Again, as said above, ask questions if you get stuck or seek advice on how to do something or what something is for, or where to find some feature. People here are great and willing to share whatever they've learned (most likely from others!). But most of all, enjoy the trip. It's your game, make it work for you. AND .... Welcome to Markus' Holiday camp. here the holiday is forever ....

battists · 07-05-2018, 12:23 PM

Just adding something to one of the recommendations above:

I would actually suggest creating a new game with just 16 teams, rather than starting with the MLB QuickStart.

MLB is extremely complex, with so many leagues and so on. You also have the burden of expectations with MLB, because you expect certain players to perform a certain way because you know them in real life. That can also lead you to NOT learn how to evaluate players in OOTP, because you think you already know who the good players are.

So start with a really simple fictional league and get a feel for the game and what you enjoy. Do you like managing individual games? Do you prefer to look at the big picture? Make some trades. Sign some free agents. Make some waiver claims. Learn how scouting and player development work. Sim through a few seasons to get a feel of the flow of a season. Get familiar with the mechanics.

You can also consider turning off finances and/or scouting at first to simplify things even further to begin with.

Once you have done that, try starting a more complex game with minor leagues. Or even add a minor league to your existing one and play with that. That will add another dimension.

There are a TON of moving parts in this game, it’s a little easier to get rolling if you start small and simple.

I wouldn’t join an online league until you have a better understanding of the game, though.

Good luck; enjoy!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

tklem321 · 07-05-2018, 05:00 PM

Another option, which was my route to learning the game, is to pick a historic season from before free agency and play one team through one calendar year (I GM'd and managed the Detroit Tigers in 1941). You can learn how the game plays, how to move players up and down in the minors, how player development works, etc..

After playing that season, move on to creating your own league or using MLB and learning about the rest of the game (finances, contracts, scouting etc.).

07-01-2018, 05:34 PM	#7
Izz Hall Of Famer Join Date: Sep 2012 Posts: 2,467	Experiment. Read the manual. Experiment. Read some dynasty reports to get a feel for different ways to play the game. Experiment. Ask questions here on the forum. Experiment. Welcome to the best game in the universe! __________________ Not only do I play OOTP but I also write science-fiction: My Website A brief history of the Australia-New Zealand Baseball League (AUNZBL 2019-2119)--A Dynasty Report The National Penterham Four-Bases Association--A Dynasty Report

07-01-2018, 07:01 PM	#8
mitchkenn Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Oregon, not by design Posts: 2,853	make backups. lots of them. as said above, experiment. try something even if it doesn't appear like it should work. start any idea you want. if it doesn't work, delete it and try something new. this game is so flexible, almost any set-up is possible with enough patience and experimentation. Again, as said above, ask questions if you get stuck or seek advice on how to do something or what something is for, or where to find some feature. People here are great and willing to share whatever they've learned (most likely from others!). But most of all, enjoy the trip. It's your game, make it work for you. AND .... Welcome to Markus' Holiday camp. here the holiday is forever .... __________________ "This is my opening farewell " - Jackson Browne “They make a desolation and call it peace.” ― Agha Shahid Ali "Maybe she just has to sing, for the sake of the song - And who do I think that I am to decide that she's wrong." - Townes Van Zandt "I saw a young man leaning on his wooden crutch - He called out to me, 'Don't ask for so much' And a young woman leaning in her darkened door She cried out to me, 'Why not ask for more?' " - Leonard Cohen "Hello darkness, my old Friend ...." - Paul Simon Before Mays, before DiMaggio, there was Oscar Charleston. "All the lies about Babe Ruth are true." - Waite Hoyt Avatar is the late great Townes Van Zandt. rip. Last edited by mitchkenn; 07-01-2018 at 07:06 PM.

07-05-2018, 12:23 PM	#9
battists Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 18,506 Blog Entries: 7	new to the game Just adding something to one of the recommendations above: I would actually suggest creating a new game with just 16 teams, rather than starting with the MLB QuickStart. MLB is extremely complex, with so many leagues and so on. You also have the burden of expectations with MLB, because you expect certain players to perform a certain way because you know them in real life. That can also lead you to NOT learn how to evaluate players in OOTP, because you think you already know who the good players are. So start with a really simple fictional league and get a feel for the game and what you enjoy. Do you like managing individual games? Do you prefer to look at the big picture? Make some trades. Sign some free agents. Make some waiver claims. Learn how scouting and player development work. Sim through a few seasons to get a feel of the flow of a season. Get familiar with the mechanics. You can also consider turning off finances and/or scouting at first to simplify things even further to begin with. Once you have done that, try starting a more complex game with minor leagues. Or even add a minor league to your existing one and play with that. That will add another dimension. There are a TON of moving parts in this game, it’s a little easier to get rolling if you start small and simple. I wouldn’t join an online league until you have a better understanding of the game, though. Good luck; enjoy! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk __________________ Come check out my dynasty report, Funky Times!

06-29-2018, 11:20 AM	#1
wired71 Bat Boy Join Date: Jun 2018 Posts: 6	new to the game Love the concept and the stats etc. However, I am like a deer in headlights. There is so much to the game I dont even know where to begin. Would love to be in a league but ...clueless at this point. Tips, advice for a newbie?

06-29-2018, 01:19 PM	#2
hqbaseball Minors (Single A) Join Date: Sep 2016 Posts: 71	Start with an MLB quickstart, choose your favorite team, get acquainted with day to day operations, see what you like doing (simming for a long time, 3D game managing, 2D, etc.). #1 tip: delegate minor league tasks to your asst. GM

06-29-2018, 02:53 PM	#3
Timofmars Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Feb 2018 Posts: 251	Stuff like setting up the lineup and pitching has a relatively small effect compared to acquiring better players, so don't stress too much about it. Try to understand how the AI values players in order to make better trade decisions. Given the same overall rating, pitchers that are capable of being starters will be worth more to the AI in trading than position players, and relievers are worth the least. On a 20 to 80 scale, a 40 rated pitcher might be as valueble as a 50 rated position player and a 65 rated reliever.Starting pitchers would have stamina at least greater than 1/4 of the scale, and more than 2 pitches (Only 2 pitches is rare, though). Player's values in trade are mostly a combination of their overall ability (and potential for prospects) combined with their salary. So a high ability, low salary player is going to be worth a lot to the AI, and difficult to acquire. But players that are overpaid compared to their ability might be relatively easy to acquire, especially if the team is over budget. With default ratings settings (absolute ratings instead of relative ratings), highly rated players are often worth many times more than slightly lower rated players. You may even find that your 30 or 40 overall rated position players won't fetch you anything of value and may barely add any value to a trade you are offering. And it may take you 5 lower rated players to make a trade for 1 player that's 20 overall points higher (depending on trade difficulty level). But it's still good to make those trades usually, because quality is much better than quantity. A good way to make trades with the AI is to add 4 or 5 weaker players to the trade that the AI team finds acceptable, and then 1 by 1 remove a player and click "make it work" to see if they are willing to take someone even less valuable to you instead. Prospects are 25 years old and younger, and they generally see very little improvement at 26 and older. If they haven't reached their potential by then, they probably won't ever.

06-30-2018, 08:00 PM	#4
NoOne Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 7,167	start small, make it more complicated as you go. whether that's league buidling or diving into all the settings or more direct management of an organization. i'd even suggest turning TCR off and use 100% accuracy for a few 'quick' seasons. less attention to day-to-day detail and more about who does well and who is consistent etc without the clutter. (no personality, no coaches etc...) simply ratings, development and some basic stuff that won't cloud the ratings or anything else specific you want to learn. you don't have to spend a normal amount of time on these seasons. glossing it over and running through multiple offseasons in a short period of time can really help you learn too. then, turn TCR back on / personalitiees piecemeal or all at once. they are small factors for the most part, although certain aspects of personality significantly impact developement. when you do turn accuracy back to whatever you prefer, try to see how it is applied. some things are more accurate than others, or see that age and service time (and/or level) is a factor in accuracy when i tried to learn the draft, for example, i'd use 100% accuracy and shortlist some names to stand out that were above a certain quality, then turn accuracy back to my normal level. compare distribution. see what's more accurately scouted of each rating. after the 'better' SP are gone, i find more 3-pitch SP sorting by movement than anything else. (that's not a magic bullet, but it does help mil success a lot by having plenty of AAA/AAAA-competent SP.) when it's junk batters i also sort by somethign other than contact potential.. but i am still looking for 'higher' contact potentials near top of gap- or power-sorted list.

07-01-2018, 11:18 AM	#5
wired71 Bat Boy Join Date: Jun 2018 Posts: 6	Thanks guys...I'll give it a whirl. Much appreciated.

07-01-2018, 04:44 PM	#6
JaBurns All Star Starter Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Kelowna, British Columbia Posts: 1,266	Have fun and ask questions, people are great here and will answer any questions. Start and learn as you go, I learn something new every day, the great thing is that you can always start again with what you have learned from the past.

07-05-2018, 05:00 PM	#10
tklem321 Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Apr 2017 Posts: 246	Another option, which was my route to learning the game, is to pick a historic season from before free agency and play one team through one calendar year (I GM'd and managed the Detroit Tigers in 1941). You can learn how the game plays, how to move players up and down in the minors, how player development works, etc.. After playing that season, move on to creating your own league or using MLB and learning about the rest of the game (finances, contracts, scouting etc.).