is it possible to manage and win games?

[wastesomepaint]

I have it set on All Star difficulty and I'm starting to think it is not possible to win a game. It seems like every opposing team's players become the second comings of Willie Mays and Ozzie Smith but my team can never turn a DP. My team is hitting .205 through 20 games, averaging 2.4 runs per game. My shortstop who has 10 range with .980 fielding percentange has already committed 8 errors with a FP of .915.

Does anyone else feel my pain?

[rudel.dietrich]

Originally Posted by wastesomepaint

I have it set on All Star difficulty and I'm starting to think it is not possible to win a game. It seems like every opposing team's players become the second comings of Willie Mays and Ozzie Smith but my team can never turn a DP. My team is hitting .205 through 20 games, averaging 2.4 runs per game. My shortstop who has 10 range with .980 fielding percentange has already committed 8 errors with a FP of .915.

Does anyone else feel my pain?

Stop playing on All-Star. It shatters any sort of statistical accuracy by giving the AI player better odds in any die rolls.

[Dan Theman]

Exactly - the difficulty settings only help the opposing players perform better and yours perform worse. It deosn't help the AI make better decisions, etc..

I redcommend playing on normal and simply setting some house rules for yourself if you want a good challenge.

[Steve Kuffrey]

Don't play "manager mode" just play the game normally......

[Sjadow]

How do you control the difficulty level?? Is this only for Manager Mode???

[Davey Eckstein]

Originally Posted by Sjadow

How do you control the difficulty level?? Is this only for Manager Mode???

Once you start a career, you can't change the difficulty.

[ctorg]

The Manager Mode version of the game is kind of messed up. As others have said, it actuall affects the statistical outcome if you have it set to anything other than a normal difficulty level.

The game itself does not have different difficulty levels, though you can make it harder or easier for yourself in a variety of ways. You can change the trading difficulty, turn off ratings, etc.

[Pymont]

Are you using SkyDog's creation modifiers?

I don't have the time (or inclination) to do an in-depth study on the effects of SkyDog's modifiers on in-the-field play, but I didn't have a problem before I created a new league using his numbers. In that league, I had all the problems you're describing and more. In 40 games, my team never scored more than two runs in a game, never turned a double play, and never stole a base in spite of the fact that I had three players with "Base Stealing" >85. Putting on a hit and run meant an almost automatic line drive double play. Speaking of double plays, my guys once hit into nine DPs in a nine inning game. My ace starter was 0-10 with a 1.59 ERA. In all those games, I don't recall any of my players getting a hit with a runner in scoring position, EVER. Our overall record was 2-38, with both wins coming in 1-0 games. This was with the difficulty level set to Average, by the way.

I thought something might be corrupted in the league file (or some such), so I uninstalled the game, ran scan disk with the surface scan, defragged the hard drive, re-installed the game and re-created the league exactly as it was, from scratch. Nothing changed. Managing games was still torture.

Then I remembered that the problems started when I incorporated those creation modifiers. I reset the league, changed the creation modifiers back to 0, and started over. Play went back to normal.

Okay, that's anecdotal, I realize that. Has anyone else managed their games in a league that used SkyDog's modifiers, for good or ill?

[Erik W.]

Originally Posted by Steve Kuffrey

Don't play "manager mode" just play the game normally......

Was that some sort of bad joke? I thought the whole point was that the game gave us a choice, and the manager mode is what made me switch from Baseball Mogul to OOTP3 or whatever the first version I bought was.

It's a little disconcerting to see an OOTPD employee telling us not to use one of the bigger features of the game.

[Gil Thorp]

Originally Posted by Azamien

Was that some sort of bad joke? I thought the whole point was that the game gave us a choice, and the manager mode is what made me switch from Baseball Mogul to OOTP3 or whatever the first version I bought was.

It's a little disconcerting to see an OOTPD employee telling us not to use one of the bigger features of the game.

Steve's response might have been a little curt. What I think he meant is that the shortcomings of Manager Mode, as pointed out in the other posts, make it a feature not worth using.

[HolyCow98]

I took it as his personal preference....now ask him how much he likes the in-game sounds...

[Hellion9]

Originally Posted by Pymont

Are you using SkyDog's creation modifiers?

I don't have the time (or inclination) to do an in-depth study on the effects of SkyDog's modifiers on in-the-field play, but I didn't have a problem before I created a new league using his numbers. In that league, I had all the problems you're describing and more. In 40 games, my team never scored more than two runs in a game, never turned a double play, and never stole a base in spite of the fact that I had three players with "Base Stealing" >85. Putting on a hit and run meant an almost automatic line drive double play. Speaking of double plays, my guys once hit into nine DPs in a nine inning game. My ace starter was 0-10 with a 1.59 ERA. In all those games, I don't recall any of my players getting a hit with a runner in scoring position, EVER. Our overall record was 2-38, with both wins coming in 1-0 games. This was with the difficulty level set to Average, by the way.

I thought something might be corrupted in the league file (or some such), so I uninstalled the game, ran scan disk with the surface scan, defragged the hard drive, re-installed the game and re-created the league exactly as it was, from scratch. Nothing changed. Managing games was still torture.

Then I remembered that the problems started when I incorporated those creation modifiers. I reset the league, changed the creation modifiers back to 0, and started over. Play went back to normal.

Okay, that's anecdotal, I realize that. Has anyone else managed their games in a league that used SkyDog's modifiers, for good or ill?

For what it's worth, I am using Skydog's now (9th season, fictional, and I play manage about 99.5% of my games). I've had nice statistical averages and nothing overtly unusual and while the first several seasons seemed a bit strange (I had a lot of remarkably good ptichers and relatively few good batters, I decided to pretend it was an anomoly (such as seen in MLB in the early 1960s) and continued on. I have seen a rise in single-season homers in the last two years and things are working nicely for me. Again, empirical evidence to be sure, but I have liked skydog's system, at least for this game (I typically run 2 or 3 concurrently).

My team is set to small market (based on population modifiers I use) and typically does well, once winning the championship and once winning 104 games (162 game) but usually we play .500 ball.

I've not tried the manager mode since it first came out. Watching my best batters hit .203 depressed me and didn't create the statistical norms I would have preferred.

I don't know how useful this will be for you, but I can at least say that skydog's numbers have created an intereting league with balanced numbers and I have won games with it. Hope this is helpful!

[WarrenBuffett]

I've also been using SkyDogs numbers and am quite happy with the results. I have the lowest payroll in the league and am currently 28-36. My ace pitches well, my 5th starter is a revolving door, i've got a few nice prospects that are going through some growing pains, a few seasoned vets that are steady contributors, i turn a few dp's a game, i've scored 15 runs in a game and also been shut out. i've pitched 2 shut outs and also gotten shelled. in other words...i am the pittsburgh pirates.

[Vezna31]

I have 3 historical leagues that I play regularly on All-Star difficulty and I have only lost 2 world championship series. I also have a fictional league, but I have yet to win a championship after 4 seasons.

[bulldog55]

Originally Posted by Steve Kuffrey

Don't play "manager mode" just play the game normally......

Hah, there you have it, folks.

[Scott Vibert]

Originally Posted by Azamien

Was that some sort of bad joke? I thought the whole point was that the game gave us a choice, and the manager mode is what made me switch from Baseball Mogul to OOTP3 or whatever the first version I bought was.

It's a little disconcerting to see an OOTPD employee telling us not to use one of the bigger features of the game.

I believe he was referring to the mode where you are the "manager" get married, have kids, etc., and not the in game module.

[<o>]

Originally Posted by Scott Vibert

I believe he was referring to the mode where you are the "manager" get married, have kids, etc., and not the in game module.

No, I believe he was saying that the results of the games are less realistic when you play the game in manager mode. So in essence, he is telling customers not to play one of the modes in the game.

[AggermanTxR]

All-star difficulty is great, for me. It makes the game so much more unforgiving and the other teams are sometimes hard to beat. It's all up to how good your teams are when you get down to it. Since you can rip off the AI in trades and free agency (and I sure have!) I need the luck against me a little bit. Even with average pitching staffs, yet highly efficient offensive capability, I have won multiple divisions and been and lost in the WS twice with my Jays. For me if you have about 3 effective 3+ star starters, a few great short relief guys and a solid closer (which I feel is key in division races); that is what you need on your pitching staff. On offense I like the long ball (I've consistently broken the 200 hr mark), a little speed and good contact hitters are my strategy. We'll I've been spoiled since I've had 5-consecutive-MVP Vernon Wells hitting .320 +, 40+ hr, 130+ rbi consistently. With the help of an Albert Pujols and an awesome 2b by the name of Quincy McElfresh. Anyway, the difficulty settings are kind of a compromise between "cheating" (trade ripoffs, et al) and real life competition (so the game isn't a cake walk) to create an enjoyable gaming experience. Does that make any sense? It all comes down to the talent you assemble, period.

[DiMaggio5CF]

Originally Posted by Azamien

Was that some sort of bad joke? I thought the whole point was that the game gave us a choice, and the manager mode is what made me switch from Baseball Mogul to OOTP3 or whatever the first version I bought was.

It's a little disconcerting to see an OOTPD employee telling us not to use one of the bigger features of the game.

I agree, but the point is not that manager mode is bad, but that it has its share of pitfalls. If you know what you're doing with MM, then it's a decent feature. But if you don't know what you're doing, it can trip you up, and it really doesn't offer enough of a benefit to make it worth it; you're better off just skipping it.

Changing the difficulty when starting a MM career is the most misleading thing about it. Most people think, understandably so, that it just makes the other teams' management beter. But what it actually does is make your players worse and the other teams' players better. I don't know the exact numbers, but for argument sake let's say that if you have a guy who would normally hit .300, if you put MM on a more difficult setting, he will hit .280. Obviously, a .300 hitter might hit .280 on Normal setting because of other factors, but putting it on a difficult setting will make a conscious effort to make your players worse than they should be, and opposing players better than they should be. If you trade a .290, 30 HR guy away to get a .300, 35 HR guy, on a difficult setting, the guy you trade away should be better than the guy you get, while on a Normal setting, that obviously wouldn't be expected.

The biggest problem that I've run into with Manager Mode is that it stops you from going back and changing a lot of stuff. Most of that can be worked around by D-Loading the Manager Mode Editor.

The biggest things that MM adds is the ability to look for a job (instead of being able to just sign with whomever you want), keeping track of career stats, and perhaps having a son play in the big leagues if you play long enough and get lucky. Like I said, if you have the Editor and you know what you're doing, it's fine to use it; I always use MM on leagues that I play seriously and I've never had a problem. But if you don't really know how to handle it, you have to ask yourself if what it brings to the table is really worth the headaches.

EDIT: By the way, if you want to make the game harder, you can do it without doing it in MM. What you want to do is go to League Setup and set trade difficulty to difficult or very difficult. If you find yourself screwing the CPU over in one particular way (trading vets to get all their good prospects, for example) then set the trade valuation system to reflect that (heavily/favor prospects in this scenario). That will make it harder for you to acquire the best players, but it won't affect the stats that players put up. A .300, 35 HR guy should still do better than a .290 30 HR guy -- it will just be harder to make that trade.

And if that's still not hard enough for you, then -- as many others do and have suggested -- set ground rules for yourself. For example, no more than four trades in a season, no more than free agent signings, set an individual salary cap (just pretend that your owner wants the team's profits to go into his pockets rather than back into the team to make it seem realistic). As long as you can set and follow limits, you can control how hard or easy the game is better than the game itself can.

[scoobz0202]

Is playing under the default difficulty level in MM the same as playing without MM?