What's the difference when you disable morale and personality?

[BattlinBuccos]

I think I know the answer, but...

When you disable player morale and personality, is the player performance just based on pure ratings then? I know players can still get hot and cold, but I figured the main reason to disable morale and personality was to not have to deal with someone underperforming if they feel they aren't playing enough, etc?

Also wondering how many people play with those features disabled? I've tried it both ways.

[Questdog]

Originally Posted by BattlinBuccos

I think I know the answer, but...

When you disable player morale and personality, is the player performance just based on pure ratings then? I know players can still get hot and cold, but I figured the main reason to disable morale and personality was to not have to deal with someone underperforming if they feel they aren't playing enough, etc?

Also wondering how many people play with those features disabled? I've tried it both ways.

Mad players don't under-perform; they just won't resign......

[BattlinBuccos]

Ah, that makes sense. Anyone prefer it one way or the other? I guess it's much easier to build a formidable dynasty with those features turned off.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by BattlinBuccos

Ah, that makes sense. Anyone prefer it one way or the other? I guess it's much easier to build a formidable dynasty with those features turned off.

Yes, the game is easier and less interesting without these features. Let's put it like this. I just had to trade a guy who was sitting on the bench behind my star RF, a guy who has the tools to be a starter and was unhappy that he wasn't doing so on my team. So I traded him (I have a policy of no bad attitudes on my teams) and was surprised at the material he commanded in return. Isn't that more interesting than him sitting like a pet dog on my bench, waiting for the RF to get injured or retire?

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by BattlinBuccos

Ah, that makes sense. Anyone prefer it one way or the other? I guess it's much easier to build a formidable dynasty with those features turned off.

One other thing. If you have personality on, you actually gain a powerful tool, one that you had better use because I can swear the AI does. That is, players with high marks in leadership will make your team better and players with high marks in intelligence and work ethic will realize their potential better. I cannot imagine drafting and trading these days without looking for those traits.

[JMDurron]

I play with them disabled, mostly because I don't trust any simulation to be able to accurately predict/represent the personality interactions of MLB players. There are definitely fewer restrictions on the ability to maintain a stacked team with them off, but part of my fantasy is players not acting like annoying human beings and taking me out of the escapism of the sport, so that's more of a feature to me than enabling them would be.

[MrWideFrame]

Originally Posted by Questdog

Mad players don't under-perform; they just won't resign......

From the manual:

What does Morale Affect?

Morale can affect a number of things in the game, including:

• Player performance
• Likelihood of the player asking for or accepting a contract extension
• Likelihood of the player re-signing with your team in free agency
• Likelihood of the player requesting or demanding a trade
• Likelihood that the player will demand a change in his role on the team

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by JMDurron

I play with them disabled, mostly because I don't trust any simulation to be able to accurately predict/represent the personality interactions of MLB players. There are definitely fewer restrictions on the ability to maintain a stacked team with them off, but part of my fantasy is players not acting like annoying human beings and taking me out of the escapism of the sport, so that's more of a feature to me than enabling them would be.

This brings up a good point, although I am not sure JMD meant it this way: I play fictional, so my SS demanding a trade is not jarring like Jeter demanding a trade would be because he's unhappy with the team's record, say. That's something to keep in mind when deciding whether to play with morale and personality on or off.

[JMDurron]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

This brings up a good point, although I am not sure JMD meant it this way: I play fictional, so my SS demanding a trade is not jarring like Jeter demanding a trade would be because he's unhappy with the team's record, say. That's something to keep in mind when deciding whether to play with morale and personality on or off.

That is a part of it, yes. If the game rates a player as high intelligence/leadership, low work ethic, and I'm playing the MLB Quickstart, then I get taken out of the game a bit when it turns out that the player is a selfish moron who beats his wife when he isn't cheating on her in real life, but who gets himself into great condition and devotes himself completely to baseball to keep making the money to keep his mistresses happy.

I also have a generally low opinion of the actual personality traits of most real world players, and therefore would just like to try to avoid thinking about the kind of people that I project most players to be when I play the game. Best not to peek behind that curtain, or try to pretend that it isn't there in my case.

[goalieump413]

Originally Posted by JMDurron

I play with them disabled, mostly because I don't trust any simulation to be able to accurately predict/represent the personality interactions of MLB players. There are definitely fewer restrictions on the ability to maintain a stacked team with them off, but part of my fantasy is players not acting like annoying human beings and taking me out of the escapism of the sport, so that's more of a feature to me than enabling them would be.

So you like your robo-players! Fair point. I hadn't thought of it like that. I always assumed that most players want personality to play a role in the sim, but you make a good point. After all, how do we know the personality formulas really produce an accurate result?

[Carlton]

I like it for the aspect of say Derek Jeter, Brad Ausmus or Mark Loretta, or David Eckstein

Neither one of these guys would be talent wise one of the best players ever, but with great work ethic, leadership, loyalty and intelligence, as well as low or normal greed...they can be better than what they look like from the numbers and will tend to stick around more so than my very talented Manny Ramirez with his 25 work ethic and 1 intelligence and Albert Belle with his 10 loyalty, 5 intelligence and 200 greed

Works great for me

[endgame]

Originally Posted by goalieump413

So you like your robo-players! Fair point. I hadn't thought of it like that. I always assumed that most players want personality to play a role in the sim, but you make a good point. After all, how do we know the personality formulas really produce an accurate result?

Therein is the real issue, what would we possibly call accurate results with regard to personality traits? That a leader leads ALL the time? That a high greed doesn't have that moment where a hometown discount sits okay with him? It's about variability and unpredictability, with 'some' notion of your own expectations, but think there's anything approaching accuracy regarding human nature is fallacy. I'm not sure we could even concoct tests that measure much more than far-reaching correlations at best. It's a matter of desire for an immersive or more complete set of tools with which to imagine your baseball world. It's really an example of the to-each-his-own, based on the game-owner's personality and morale.

[Fyrestorm3]

Originally Posted by endgame

It's a matter of desire for an immersive or more complete set of tools with which to imagine your baseball world. It's really an example of the to-each-his-own, based on the game-owner's personality and morale.

Well put, as usual. I don't care about the minutiae of a greedy player only signing for the money, or a low work ethic guy not reaching his full potential; I like having personalities on because I like knowing which of my players are leaders and which are meatheads. Whether it's Manny Ramirez being a lovable idiot, or John Rocker being... John Rocker, we all know which MLB players we look up to, and which ones we love to hate. Even if it's just within my own internal narrative, being able to tell who's who in my fictional league makes for a more interesting dynamic, in my opinion.

[BattlinBuccos]

Great responses, and I can definitely see both sides of the coin.

I keep them off because my main goal is to not really "real-life" accuracy....but to dominate and keep a stacked team year-in and year-out. I want 20/20 guys 3-4-5 in the lineup, with 5-star prospects on the bench or waiting in the minors. I want a killer 5-man rotation and future star SP as middle relievers. (Of course you also generally have to fiddle with minor league option years and some of the trade rules to help this along).

That's just how I find the game most enjoyable....winning between 110-120 games a year....although in the playoffs it's still never a sure thing,

I do find it interesting (as mentioned above) the possibility of leaving personality on, and see if that helps win even more, since I generally have a bunch of high character guys,

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by BattlinBuccos

Great responses, and I can definitely see both sides of the coin.

I keep them off because my main goal is to not really "real-life" accuracy....but to dominate and keep a stacked team year-in and year-out. I want 20/20 guys 3-4-5 in the lineup, with 5-star prospects on the bench or waiting in the minors. I want a killer 5-man rotation and future star SP as middle relievers. (Of course you also generally have to fiddle with minor league option years and some of the trade rules to help this along).

That's just how I find the game most enjoyable....winning between 110-120 games a year....although in the playoffs it's still never a sure thing,

I do find it interesting (as mentioned above) the possibility of leaving personality on, and see if that helps win even more, since I generally have a bunch of high character guys,

That's good; you should play the game your way.

Me, I like that [fictional] catcher who, although he's not a great batsman, is good defensively and has high marks for leadership, loyalty, and intelligence [as long as he's not lazy, which is a downer].

I will nurse a guy like that for 10+ years, keeping him around as a GM's pet so to speak, as long as he does not fall too far below the Mendoza Line!

BB, if you read the above with a bit of interest, you will turn on those options some day, I bet.