[RonCo]

The development engine needs work, this much is obviously true (as it has been true in every issue of OOTP). That said, I beginning to think that OOTP ownerss will not ever be very happy with truly realistic results. We want our cake and eat it too.

Matter talked about scouts -- this is always part of the problem. OOTP development is not about scouts.

When you turn scouts off (or, actually, anytime), development is about ratings movement. We OOTP owners keep viewing the potential rating as if it is a true cap, a valuable value in itself. But this is wrong. Potential cap shouldn't be viewed as "true." Instead, the gap between rating and potential cap should be viewed more like a "speed of expected development." So a guy with 40 rating and 120 potential should be viewed as "40 and growing rapidly," whereas a guy with 40 rating and 50 potential should be viewed as "40 and not growing much at all."

In this light, scouts _should_ be there to project future peak ratings rather than discern current potential cap. But please don't bring scouts into the actual act of development. In the world of cause and effect, a scout should not have any ability to directly change a player's ratings--which is what the potential rating eventually does.

blah, blah, blah...