Too easy

[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.

[bababui]

use a salary cap

[jarmenia]

Don't cheat.


But seriously, try playing for a small market team and only accepting trades the AI sends you.

[joek1972]

Originally Posted by jarmenia

Don't cheat.


But seriously, try playing for a small market team and only accepting trades the AI sends you.

This does not seem like very much fun to me. "It's just like being a GM, except you don't initiate trades!" Screw that. The AI only offers HORRIBLE trades that I would never accept in a billion years. What, you want my Johnny Bench-esque catcher for your Rico Brogna-esque first baseman? Sure! At least we won't win 125 games next year!

I think what's making my team such an absurd juggernaut is the international system. Virtually all of my top prospects came from international scouting. My scouts unearth a solid 3-5 blue chippers a year. If I have to never make trades and turn off the international scouting system to make this game remotely competitive, it's really hard to figure out why I'm playing this game in the first place.

[scefalu]

You could resign your position and take over the worst team in the league. Try turning them around in a year, or two. That'd give you some challenge.

[joek1972]

Originally Posted by scefalu

You could resign your position and take over the worst team in the league. Try turning them around in a year, or two. That'd give you some challenge.

That is probably what I will do. My current team will be winning 100+ games for the next five years, no doubt. I am virtually immune to injuries, because my AAA team is basically just another major league team. I have unbelievable depth at every position. I have a 40 HR, 40 SB outfielder, two .350+ first basemen, three monster starting pitchers with 200+ K's, a 30 HR second baseman and a closer with a 22-1 K/BB ratio on my AAA team. Oh, yeah, and a blue-chip catching prospect who's the #10 prospect in baseball, but will probably never get to play because I have essentially Roy Campanella on steroids on my major league team. All of these players in AAA are 23 or younger.

There's a lot to like about OOTPB 2006, but without beefed up AI it's basically a baseball sandbox, not a competitive experience.

[jarmenia]

I'd be curious how you did this since the AI isn't that bad.

[toddnorr]

Perhaps you are just very good. Have you considered a career change?

[endgame]

Originally Posted by joek1972

There's a lot to like about OOTPB 2006, but without beefed up AI it's basically a baseball sandbox, not a competitive experience.

Quite an uncommon claim. Like jarmenia, I'm curious about how this all came about. Maybe you could post a screenshot of your league leaderboard? Be interesting to see how far out of line you are with the competition. Thanks. How many seasons did you say you'd played?

[Syd Thrift]

Maybe part of the problem is that there's no "stop annoying me" factor to the game. You could theoretically send out trade offers to a team about a player you want, lowball them all to hell, and slowly work your way up in terms of what you're offering until you get to the bare minimum the AI will accept to complete a trade. In real life, GMs do do that, but the end result is that the guy on the other end of the line will catch on to the game and start grossly over-valuing the player in question because it's obvious you want the guy, and if you're going to play games with him, well, you deserve to be the result of some play yourself.

Actually, this happens a lot in online/multi-player leagues as well. Seasoned owners will try and trip up the "noobs" by offering vet-for-lots of prospect deals, but they won't do that sort of things once you catch on because... well, it's like going into a pawn shop. If you see a guitar grossly overpriced, you know the people who run the store don't really understand the value of musical equipment and as a result you're bound to find a bargain somewhere in there. Similarly, if you make a habit of trying to put one over on someone with every trade, someone's going to see your angle and take advantage of it.

Can this be fixed with AI? The way I'd do it is with the "bad boy point" thing I keep bringing up. But outside of that, bear in mind that it's not such an easy thing to implement, I don't think. Explaining it is hard; imagine how tough it would be to code.

[Rockpile]

Originally Posted by endgame

Quite an uncommon claim. Like jarmenia, I'm curious about how this all came about. Maybe you could post a screenshot of your league leaderboard? Be interesting to see how far out of line you are with the competition. Thanks. How many seasons did you say you'd played?

I'm pretty much in the same boat as this guy. Since I got a handle on the new version vs. OOTP 6.5 I've won every world series with young and amazing talent. I usually have at least 5 all star position players, 2-3 starters in the running for Cy Young (including the winner), I have the league MVP, and win 100+ games every year. After the first year I usually win 110+ games every year.

I really need to implement some ground rules (even though I already really limit my payroll) to make this game more of a challenge.

I figured this was the case for everyone though. I don't think OOTP 2006 is any harder than previous versions in terms of having an amazing winning team. There is a learning curve in getting used to navigating the screens and using the scouting system, but it not any harder than previous versions when playing solo.

[HolyCow98]

Everytime I read a post like this I actually think about all the posts on the trade AI...and how people say the AI needs to be more realistic. This is true...but I also think that the way a lot of people trade with the AI isn't very realistic.

Talking to people I have been in online leagues with about our solo leagues..and how they play...has given me the impression that people have to trade and trade quite often. It's not trading to be trading mind you...they must have a bevy of young SP studs in the wings......they must have young all stars up and down their lineup...and they must have the a AAA team to rival most major league clubs. By the time the young all star start getting in their late 20's they are traded away for the current young studs and prospects...and all you have to do is call up the stars in waiting to replace any vacancies that weren't filled with the recent trades.

My point is...I don't recall any GM who GM's this way in real-life. A lot of that I think is its harder to predict just how good someone will end up being. What ever is the fun way to play for a person is the way they should play....but if you find your self trading a lot or constantly trading for prospects to constantly have loaded farm system while maintaining a talented and inexpensive major league roster and than waiting for the current players to get to the point where they want the real $$$ and moving them on for more young cheap studs....than you have to realize that is not realistic.

For people who play that way or even partly that way...for the game to be harder with out them using house rules...Markus would have to make the AI try to play that way....meaning trading too much...always trading for young studs just as your current players on nearing then end of their arbitration years. I would hope Markus would not try and make the AI act that way. I don't use house rules myself...but I just try to make trades that the AI wouldn't attempt (of course that is subjective) and influenced by need due to injury, retirement, free agency, regression of ratings etc.

[endgame]

Originally Posted by Rockpile

I'm pretty much in the same boat as this guy. Since I got a handle on the new version vs. OOTP 6.5 I've won every world series with young and amazing talent. I usually have at least 5 all star position players, 2-3 starters in the running for Cy Young (including the winner), I have the league MVP, and win 100+ games every year. After the first year I usually win 110+ games every year.

I really need to implement some ground rules (even though I already really limit my payroll) to make this game more of a challenge.

I figured this was the case for everyone though. I don't think OOTP 2006 is any harder than previous versions in terms of having an amazing winning team. There is a learning curve in getting used to navigating the screens and using the scouting system, but it not any harder than previous versions when playing solo.

Thanks for chiming in on that note. Something now to watch for, I guess.

[Hotwheelz]

I am finding this years version much harder. Are you guys using the scout feature? In the past I was able to assemble an entire team of great, young talent. This year I have been forced to use scrubs at a few positions, fill my rotation with guys that make Joel Pineiro look like a Cy Young candidate this season. Its fun. I have had a tough time putting together a GREAT team real fast like in previous versions.

But thats just me.

[jarmenia]

Originally Posted by endgame

Thanks for chiming in on that note. Something now to watch for, I guess.

Except they still haven't told us how they are doing it.

[MadMax58]

Originally Posted by HolyCow98

Everytime I read a post like this I actually think about all the posts on the trade AI...and how people say the AI needs to be more realistic. This is true...but I also think that the way a lot of people trade with the AI isn't very realistic.

Talking to people I have been in online leagues with about our solo leagues..and how they play...has given me the impression that people have to trade and trade quite often. It's not trading to be trading mind you...they must have a bevy of young SP studs in the wings......they must have young all stars up and down their lineup...and they must have the a AAA team to rival most major league clubs. By the time the young all star start getting in their late 20's they are traded away for the current young studs and prospects...and all you have to do is call up the stars in waiting to replace any vacancies that weren't filled with the recent trades.

My point is...I don't recall any GM who GM's this way in real-life. A lot of that I think is its harder to predict just how good someone will end up being. What ever is the fun way to play for a person is the way they should play....but if you find your self trading a lot or constantly trading for prospects to constantly have loaded farm system while maintaining a talented and inexpensive major league roster and than waiting for the current players to get to the point where they want the real $$$ and moving them on for more young cheap studs....than you have to realize that is not realistic.

For people who play that way or even partly that way...for the game to be harder with out them using house rules...Markus would have to make the AI try to play that way....meaning trading too much...always trading for young studs just as your current players on nearing then end of their arbitration years. I would hope Markus would not try and make the AI act that way. I don't use house rules myself...but I just try to make trades that the AI wouldn't attempt (of course that is subjective) and influenced by need due to injury, retirement, free agency, regression of ratings etc.

I totally agree with this post. I play with, what I consider, 1 house rule...don't try to do something that would get you barred from after hours drinks with the rest of the GM's. Of course, that's a diffferent standard for everybody, but it's how I keep things competitive.

I've played games the way HC98 describes...get young studs, trade away when they get just old enough to want big money...rinse & repeat. It gets boring...and honestly, coding AI to find it's own flaws and exploit them, is probably outside the scope of a baseball game.

Edit: I haven't actually tried that approach with this year's OOTP, but I really don't want to even if it does work.

[Cooleyvol]

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.

I don't think what you describe is domination; its a couple good years. Do it for 10 seasons in a row and you're dominating.

Try this: Bring your AAA team up, and as you state, see if they hold their own.

[rasnell]

When I get a major free agent and pay a huge, multi-year salary to get him, I feel that I should be stuck with him when he gets older, under-performs, is injured, etc.

I try to avoid trading him and force myself to tough it out to his final year. This is closer to reality and makes you have to stick with the long-term deals that landed him in the first place.

I also restrict myself severely from making trades at any point in a season when I'm in first place.

When a trade is obviously lopsided in my favor, I'll throw in another prime player that really hurts and would truly help the other team -- trying to make it more realistic.

I would rather win in a very tight pennant race where I need to play out my final games to clinch and closely manage every move to pull that off.

[endgame]

Originally Posted by jarmenia

Except they still haven't told us how they are doing it.

Well, as usual, good point.

[Rockpile]

Originally Posted by Hotwheelz

I am finding this years version much harder. Are you guys using the scout feature? In the past I was able to assemble an entire team of great, young talent. This year I have been forced to use scrubs at a few positions, fill my rotation with guys that make Joel Pineiro look like a Cy Young candidate this season. Its fun. I have had a tough time putting together a GREAT team real fast like in previous versions.

But thats just me.

Yes, I am...usually after two years I find out that most of my prospects that my initial scouts had picked out are pretty much garbage (esp picking last in the draft), but other than that they were close enough to put together a really amazing team.

I just need to set up house rules...sucks too because I really don't want to get fired, but I don't want the Yankees on the A's payroll winning the world series every year either.