Too easy

[mh2365]

Couple of things that could help, because some people aren't going to make the judgement as to whether or not a trade is fair. Some people are going to try and screw over the game and then complain about how easy it is. They'd also be the first people screaming if the trade AI got too hard.

1) was already mentioned, there needs to be an annoyance factor with the other GM's. You can change an offer a couple of times then they tell you to go away. Also if the agree to an offer, that's the end of it. If you try to change it up to favor yourself more they refuse to deal with you. This should stick for a random amount of time also. You try to screw over a GM and now two years later he still won't listen to any offers you make.

That would make you far more cautious when you make an offer.

2) player AI ... players should refuse to sign with you if you are 9 deep at their position. The 5th best 3rd baseman would not go to a team that the top 2 3rd basemen and a stud prospect are on. Plus all those studs in AAA should be demanding a trade and playing like crap when you don't give it to them.

Those two things right there would go a long way to fixing the "this game is too easy" problem.

[BIG Irish]

I think you're missing what he's saying. He's getting his players from INTERNATIONAL scouting. Is anyone else getting multiple players rated 60+ from international scouting? Most of the guys my scouts turn up are rated 20-30 OVR. I just assumed that they were rated low and would possibly develop well beyond what was expected.

What kind of players are you finding overseas?

[Raidergoo]

Hmm. It is starting to seem to me that joek1972 is using scouting in an unanticpated manner. He's the proverbial early bird; he locates and acquires international talent instead of trying to do the same from other teams in his league(s) far more often than his competitors.

[Geebob]

Originally Posted by Raidergoo

Hmm. It is starting to seem to me that joek1972 is using scouting in an unanticpated manner. He's the proverbial early bird; he locates and acquires international talent instead of trying to do the same from other teams in his league(s) far more often than his competitors.

I'm not finding a whole lot either... one or two decent quality players every year, and certainly no superstars. In fact, my best international find was an Australian catcher who bolted straight up to AAA, but has fallen on tough times after a series of injuries and may never make the show.

[cabot41]

Originally Posted by joek1972

I think the main thing allowing me to dominate the league so much is the international system. I don't really use my scouts to assess other franchises-- I generally go with the Billy Beane-style performance-based approach, so my scouts are generally free for round-the-clock international scouting. They generally turn up at least 2-3 players a year with 60+ OVR potential. The AI does not use international scouting as much, so this ends up being a huge advantage for me. I really love that part of the game, but I think I'm going to have to make a house rule. Nine of my top ten prospects have come from international scouting. Maybe I'll limit the number of scouts in my employ.

If you like the international apsects, I think you could try one other thing to keep from having to self impose a rule. Turn the player creation modifiers down in the international leagues. You have to remember that the sim generates players for drafts in all of those leagues as well as your main one. If the creation modifiers are set to be on par with your main league, what you get is serious international talent being generated with players who don't want to stay in their native leagues and/or can be easily bought out by your team. You've got to make sure that the best talent in your world is draft eligible. If you've got a significant block of your talent coming from overseas, this might do the trick.

[Syd Thrift]

Originally Posted by mh2365

Couple of things that could help, because some people aren't going to make the judgement as to whether or not a trade is fair. Some people are going to try and screw over the game and then complain about how easy it is. They'd also be the first people screaming if the trade AI got too hard.

1) was already mentioned, there needs to be an annoyance factor with the other GM's. You can change an offer a couple of times then they tell you to go away. Also if the agree to an offer, that's the end of it. If you try to change it up to favor yourself more they refuse to deal with you. This should stick for a random amount of time also. You try to screw over a GM and now two years later he still won't listen to any offers you make.

That would make you far more cautious when you make an offer.

2) player AI ... players should refuse to sign with you if you are 9 deep at their position. The 5th best 3rd baseman would not go to a team that the top 2 3rd basemen and a stud prospect are on. Plus all those studs in AAA should be demanding a trade and playing like crap when you don't give it to them.

Those two things right there would go a long way to fixing the "this game is too easy" problem.

Yep. One thing that WWSM does really well is it makes you assign a "role" to any player on your team. A guy you're bringing in to play striker for you is going to look and refuse to sign (except maybe for a LOT of money) if you already have 2 guys you've promised the position to. Unless you promise him an entirely different position, of course. And then if you make a promise and break it, you're screwed far more than if you didn't make that promise in the first place and let the guy go elsewhere.

I'm going to keep bringing that up until I have word that player role will be in 2k7.

[56lightsout56]

Originally Posted by joek1972

Is anybody else finding it absurdly easy to dominate fictional leagues? In my fictional league, I have put together a franchise that won the World Series the previous year, and has won 116 games this year. My AAA team crushed it's competition, winning its third straight title. My AA team won the regular season by 20 games then lost in the AA World Series in seven games. My A ball team also crushed its competition, winning its third straight World Series.

The major league club is led by a hitter who's 26 and kind of a cross between Albert Pujols and Barry Bonds. The shortstop is 25 and is a non-injury prone Nomar clone. My 24-year old catcher is basically Johnny Bench. I had the top offense in the league, leading the league in every category except steals, in which I finished second. My starters had the best ERA in the league, as did my relievers.

I have by far the best farm system in the league. The SION report ranks me #1 with 224 points. The #2 team has 130 points. I have three MLB quality pitchers in AAA-- any of them could easily start in the majors for any other team in the league. I also have a killer right-handed hitting 1B in AAA, and a killer left-handed hitting 1B in AAA. Neither of those is as good as the Lou Gehrig-type 1B I have in AA, who had a 1.000+ OPS in AA at age 20 and is the #1 prospect in the game. I have major-league quality players at pretty much every position in AAA, which led to my AAA team putting up a .700 winning percentage.

The game is gradually improving with the patches, but it's way too easy to kick the AI's butt. The stockpile of talent I have makes the 1950's-era Yankees look like a bunch of scrubs. My AAA team could probably hold its own as a major league team. This is not good.

rearrange the letters in his name (JOEK1972) and you get JOKE1972.

I just started playing OOTPB with this version. I set up a my universe based upon the real life current world set up and have found it challenging. I started with year 2000 and went through the inagural draft to test the game and play/sim the first 6 years.
The first year I went 45-117 and the second year I went 56-106
but through some good trades, a rule 5 draft, the waiver wire and two rookie drafts I have a good stockpile of talent in AA and AAA. I signed some good #2 starters in FA and now plan to sign some gap power guys this year.

the only odd thing i have noticed is I have to continue to tweak some of the financials for the international leagues (mexico, japan,etc) since i saw was they were able to sign some all star players from the MLB and that shouldnt happen. one was acutally the NL batting champ that cam close to also being the HR leader as well.

[tcblcommish]

The way that I am doing trades for me personally is I am allowed to make one real big trade but only if I deem that I am trading a legit superstar in return.

I also allow myself to make only a couple of trades using minor leaguers and less talented players. I find it a lot harder for me to win more and more.

When I cannot resign players, I allow them to go to FA instead of trading them off also. Real teams, unless out of the running, usually won't trade someone before the deadline. I try that as well. I also won't trade for a guy under 25 from the ML team unless I trade someone 25 or less also.

I find this restricts you greatly and puts a damper on the trade happy computer.

[joek1972]

Originally Posted by BIG Irish

I think you're missing what he's saying. He's getting his players from INTERNATIONAL scouting. Is anyone else getting multiple players rated 60+ from international scouting? Most of the guys my scouts turn up are rated 20-30 OVR. I just assumed that they were rated low and would possibly develop well beyond what was expected.

What kind of players are you finding overseas?

I'm finding all kinds of awesome players overseas. Last season, on the stretch drive to what turned out to be a 100-win season and world championship, I found a 25-year old pitcher from Cuba who came up to the majors after about a month in AAA. He was 4-3 down the stretch. In his second season, he went 24-6. Now, that's kind of a cool storyline-- Cuban defector signs and becomes an instant star.

I'm in season six of my sim. In those six years, I have signed four grade-A prospect starting pitchers-- two from Japan, one from Cuba and one from Mexico. The Cuban pitcher I mentioned above. One of the Japanese pitchers excelled in long relief for my big league club at age 23. The other one had a very good season at AAA, but is only 21. The Mexican guy shredded AAA to the tune of 10 K/9, 16-5 ERA at age 22. His ratings, I believe, are 14/10/15, potential ratings 16/15/15 or something like that. All four have OVR potential ratings over 60.

I have acquired three awesome first basemen-- one is from the Dominican and is the #1 rated prospect in MLB. I signed him at age 16. He is now 20 and crushed AA last year. I have a platoon of blue-chip first basemen at AAA-- a left-handed hitter from Canada and a right-handed hitter from Mexico. Both guys already have contact ratings above 15. The Mexican guy probably has higher upside. I called him up to the big leagues in August and made him the starter. He hit .350 the rest of the way. The Canadian guy is no slouch either-- he hit .350 with a .450 OBP in AAA.

You want middle infielders? I signed one guy out of Mexico who made my MLB roster as a 21-year old after a few years in the minors. He put up a .900 OPS in part-time duty. Oh, and he plays five positions. A pretty useful player, to say the least.

Then there's my Canadian closer at AAA who put up 44 K's, 2 BB at age 21. Throw in the top picks from my drafts over the years and my farm system is completely out of control. Every team except my rookie league team crushed its competition mercilessly.

I have no "foreign" leagues operating, so Japan, the Dominican, Mexico, etc. are extremely fertile territory for finding these types of players. I think tweaking the player creation modifiers for international players may help. I'll give that a shot.

[Raidergoo]

Originally Posted by Syd Thrift

I'm going to keep bringing that up until I have word that player role will be in 2k7.

Maybe you should start a campaign. It's worked before.

[turdfurgeson]

Originally Posted by joek1972

I have no "foreign" leagues operating, so Japan, the Dominican, Mexico, etc. are extremely fertile territory for finding these types of players. I think tweaking the player creation modifiers for international players may help. I'll give that a shot.

Is it possible to change PCMs for foreign players if there is no league in those countires? I thoght hidden players were created and maintained when you checked the box, and have seen no where to adjust these settings.

Joek, Have you seen many instances where the computer takes advantage of international scouting? I have not played around with it too much to notice myself. If the computer is not using this enough, this may need to be tweeked a bit in the future.