PbP improvements?

[mattb_222]

I play ootp 13 currently, so I may be late to the party, but I was wondering about some of the idiosyncracies I've seen playing pbp in both 13 and 11's versions. I've played roughly 40 seasons in both versions and see some of the same problems over and over. I don't have extensive data to back me up, so I realize much of this should be taken with a grain of salt.

I do love the game and think the realism is tremendous. With that said, here's a list of oddities or improvements I'd like to see:

1. Almost no plays at the plate on groundballs. (I think I've seen it once maybe twice in 40 seasons)
2. Never seen a ground rule double (unless the announcing team says it; I play with announcing off. Never see it in the text though).
3. Sacrifice bunt success - Again, I don't have data, but the success rate seems incredibly high.
4. Would love to see on fielder's choice if the batter was almost thrown out at first. Same for line drives and guys getting doubled off the base or almost doubled off.
5. Too easy to double steal. I've come this close to making a house rule against doing it. This close.
6. Squeeze bunts where the runner coming home gets thrown out after the bunt happens too often. IRL, the more common way for squeeze bunts to fail is for the guy to miss the bunt and the guy coming home simply get tagged out. I think I've seen a squeeze bunt fail by the latter method one time in 40 seasons.
7. Speaking of bunts, they are hardly ever popped out and runners are never doubled off from bunt pop outs.
8. Would love a "pitch for the strikeout option." Perhaps the penalty would be more likely to walk the guy.
9. (NO data alert) seems like fast guys are more likely to get thrown out at the plate. Frankly, I'd rather they do away with the option that gives you the choice to send them and just let the 3rd base coach (AI) decide. I have no way of seeing the play so why am I given the option? Then again it would be frustrating when he didn't send the tying run home with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th so maybe I'm fine with how it is. Maybe a % of your chance of making it would be good?
10. Outfielders throwing home (or to 3rd) and allowing base runners to advance when they shouldn't be (usually in the 9th inning). For this to happen every once in a while would be fine but it happens a ton.
11. Guys getting thrown out trying to get an extra base in the 9th inning when they're not the tying run. Again, every once in a while this would be ok but it happens way more than it should in my mind. It's a bonehead play that happens quite a bit in ootp.
12. Pitcher substitution - I know this isn't just a pbp thing, but when the AI pinch hits for pitchers (or doesn't) can be a little wacky in my mind.


Well, that's all I can think of. It seems like most of these are fairly easy to fix, though I could be wrong. I numbered them so repliers could agree or disagree with me easily. As I said before, this is pretty much my favorite computer game ever (maybe Sid Meyer's Civ games are the only competition), but after playing a lot of pbp these little things start to get a little annoying.

Would be interested to see what others think and also to see if any improvements have been made in ootp14...

[Fyrestorm3]

I've played every version since 11, and though my memory may be foggy on 11 and 12, I can reasonably say the following for 13 and 14 (though, like you, this is all anecdotal and I don't have evidence):

Originally Posted by mattb_222

1. Almost no plays at the plate on groundballs. (I think I've seen it once maybe twice in 40 seasons)
- What are you talking about here? Like, a runner on third and the batter hits a ground ball? Because, in real life, you rarely see a play at the plate on that - the runner either thinks he can't make it and stays put, or is fairly certain he can and scores easily.
2. Never seen a ground rule double (unless the announcing team says it; I play with announcing off. Never see it in the text though).
- I have seen it. Very, very rare, however, far less often than in real life.
3. Sacrifice bunt success - Again, I don't have data, but the success rate seems incredibly high.
- I don't think so. I've had maybe 6 or 7 bunt attempts this season alone (currently in mid-August) that have resulted in the lead runner being thrown out. Usually only happens with players with average or below-average bunting skills, however.
4. Would love to see on fielder's choice if the batter was almost thrown out at first. Same for line drives and guys getting doubled off the base or almost doubled off.
- You said above that you don't have the actual PbP on, just the result of the play? That's why you've never seen this. The PbP will tell you how close the play was.
5. Too easy to double steal. I've come this close to making a house rule against doing it. This close.
- Never thought about it before, but I've got to agree. Stealing third has a fairly low success rate, but a double steal seems to work far more often, now that I think about it.
6. Squeeze bunts where the runner coming home gets thrown out after the bunt happens too often. IRL, the more common way for squeeze bunts to fail is for the guy to miss the bunt and the guy coming home simply get tagged out. I think I've seen a squeeze bunt fail by the latter method one time in 40 seasons.
- I've seen the exact opposite. For me, the most common failed squeeze play is the batter missing the bunt. It happens a ton. Are you maybe hitting Safety Squeeze every time, instead of Squeeze Bunt? Because in that case, the runner won't head for home if the batter misses the bunt, so you'd never see it happen.
7. Speaking of bunts, they are hardly ever popped out and runners are never doubled off from bunt pop outs.
- Again, I beg to differ. I see bunts popped out plenty, but again, from players with average or below-average bunting skills. Maybe that's your issue? You have too many good bunters? And you're right, I have never seen anyone get doubled-up, but how often does that happen in real life, anyway?
8. Would love a "pitch for the strikeout option." Perhaps the penalty would be more likely to walk the guy.
- Can't comment here, as I HATE the different pitching options. I just sim at-bat by at-bat with the spacebar, unless I'm shifting the defense or something like that, and even then I just hit "Pitch." I don't bother with any of the other options.
9. (NO data alert) seems like fast guys are more likely to get thrown out at the plate. Frankly, I'd rather they do away with the option that gives you the choice to send them and just let the 3rd base coach (AI) decide. I have no way of seeing the play so why am I given the option? Then again it would be frustrating when he didn't send the tying run home with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th so maybe I'm fine with how it is. Maybe a % of your chance of making it would be good?
- I don't know about fast guys getting thrown out; I've never had a problem with this. They do KIND OF give your percentage chance by telling you how deep the ball is, and how good of an arm the outfielder has. If you don't like having the option yourself, you can always just set it so that the AI handles baserunning decisions (under the Options tab during the game).
10. Outfielders throwing home (or to 3rd) and allowing base runners to advance when they shouldn't be (usually in the 9th inning). For this to happen every once in a while would be fine but it happens a ton.
- Honestly, I see the opposite problem. I feel like runners don't advance often enough. But, you do have a point about the in-game AI rarely taking the fact that it's the 9th inning into consideration when it makes decisions; I have seen that before.
11. Guys getting thrown out trying to get an extra base in the 9th inning when they're not the tying run. Again, every once in a while this would be ok but it happens way more than it should in my mind. It's a bonehead play that happens quite a bit in ootp.
- Addressed above.
12. Pitcher substitution - I know this isn't just a pbp thing, but when the AI pinch hits for pitchers (or doesn't) can be a little wacky in my mind.
-the AI got much better in 14 in this regard, but it's still bad at times. Probably one of the most glaring errors that needs fixing.

All of that's just my opinion, and anecdotal at best. The two big issues that we agree on (AI not taking the inning into consideration and wacky substitutions) have already been brought up multiple times. The double steal issue could use some research.

[mattb_222]

Very interesting replies. Thanks for taking the time. Interesting how one person's experience can vary from anothers.

It's especially interesting what you said about bunts in general, how different our experiences have been. I'm sure it's possible I've accidentally hit safety squeeze a few times but I doubt I do it every time. As I've said, I can't recall the batter missing the bunt even once when I squeezed, but I do generally use good bunters for this. Even so, not once in about 40 seasons...

Same thing with the groundballs and a play at the plate. I agree that this play is somewhat rare, but in 40 seasons you'd think it would happen more than once or twice.

Also, didn't realize I could take away the option of sending runners. That's very helpful...

Thanks again for the feedback.