OOTP10 Suggestions: News and Text Engine

[injury log]

Suggestion

Advanced news subscription options (see Design Team spec).

Reason

Particularly as more news items are added, the mass of news stories can be overwhelming for the user who only wants to read the important news. A guy goes 6 for 6, is out for the season or pitches a no-hitter and I want to read about it, but a 5-5 game, a day-to-day injury or a shutout and I don't much care. It's impossible for me, and no doubt others, to find a news setting I like; with news on, reading all the messages is tedious, but with it off, I feel like I'm missing out on the really important stories.

Priority

Medium or up.

[Eugene Church]

Suggestions:
Cover all games in the postseason playoffs.

Give the score of the game, where it is played, the winning pitcher, losing pitcher, home runs in the game, how long the series is, and who is ahead in the series. Possible pitchers for the next game. Date of the next game.

News story:

In the World Series today the Tampa Bay Rays whipped the Philadelphia Phillies at Tropicana Field by the score of 4-2. Third baseman Evan Longoria had a two-run homer for the Rays, while Chase Utley hit a solo home run for the Phillies.This evened the best-of-seven series at one game each. The winning pitcher was James Shields and the loser was Brett Myers. Shields is 3-0 in the playoffs with a 3.09 ERA, while Myers is 0-2 and a 4.05 ERA. The Series will resume Saturday at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia with Matt Garza (2-0) pitching for the Rays and Jamie Moyer (0-1) for the Phillies.

Reason:
Important stories need to be covered in the News.

Priority:
High (this is much needed)

[Raidergoo]

Suggestion
Better graphical presentation of news

Reason
It's a text sim. Let's make the text come alive!

Priority
High.


-----------------------------------


Which is a better story?



Monday, July 4th, 2016: Dodgers, Braves Confirm Deal
Newspapers in Los Angeles (N) and Atlanta reported that the Dodgers have reached a deal sending 31-year old first baseman Danny McGwire to the Braves for 24-year old minor league center fielder Donato Velazquez, 26-year old shortstop Dale Carpenter, 20-year old minor league first baseman José Delgudo and a 4th round draft pick.

This season McGwire has hit at a .309 clip and produced 53 RBIs, 14 home runs and 45 runs scored.

OR


By CARROLL ROGERS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Monday, July 4th, 2016


Dodgers, Braves Confirm Deal
Team officials in Los Angeles (N) and Atlanta reported that the Dodgers have reached a deal sending 31-year old first baseman Danny McGwire to the Braves for 24-year old minor league center fielder Donato Velazquez, 26-year old shortstop Dale Carpenter, 20-year old minor league first baseman José Delgudo and a 4th round draft pick.

This season McGwire has hit at a .309 clip and produced 53 RBIs, 14 home runs and 45 runs scored.

[bp_]

Suggestion
During the post season there should be news stories posted for each game played.

Reason
This is what everyone is playing for and the news should reflect the importance of each game by generating a story for each one plus a preview story before each series begins.

Priority
Medium

[Eugene Church]

Suggestion:
When an event happens in an extra-inning game, this should be mentioned in the News story.
Maybe we need a condition for an extra-inning game.

Example:
Pujols went 6-for-8 in the Cardinals 10-7 victory over the Cubs. The game went 14 innings.

Reason:
If there is no reference to extra innings, then the reader thinks it happened in a regulation game.

Priority:
Low (it would be nice)

[KGAGE]

Suggestion
Team news. Right now all news is generated off of individual happenings. I want to read about teams who have won/lost 10 in a row, teams who have clinched a playoff spot, attendance records, teams who score 20 runs in a game, etc.

Reason
Immersion

Priority
Medium

[KGAGE]

Suggestion
Add local and national columnist to news system. These columnist would have personality ratings such as Critical/Nuetral/Benovolent. On a weekly/monthly basis, the local columnist would write articles about your team commenting on the manager's strategy, hot and cold players. National columnist would write articles in a more broad stroke bringing out league high and low lights.

Reason
The local columnist would provide more feedback on what the public thinks of your team. Currently there isn't much of that other than attendance and the loyalty raiting.

Priority
Low

[GEP]

SUGGESTION
Change the description of the weather at the start of the game to accurately reflect the start time of the game (based on wether the Daytime or Night stadium picture is used).

REASON
"It's a sunny day" sounds a bit silly when looking at a picture of a stadium at night. "It's a clear night" would make more sense.

PRIORITY
LOW (text change with no actual effect on game play).

[pstrickert]

SUGGESTION:

Automated game recaps. (See below for examples from Strat-o-matic Baseball which, by the way, has had them for many years.)

REASON:

Immersive effect.

PRIORITY:

Medium.


EXAMPLE 1:

Hank Aaron slammed 3 homeruns as the Kansas City Athletics topped the Des Moines Dusters in 16 innings by a score of 7 to 6 at Municipal Stadium.

The score was tied at 5 after nine. Kansas City won the game in the 16th inning. After two outs Smokey Burgess lashed a single. Frank Bolling was next and he doubled giving Kansas City the victory as 47,425 happy fans celebrated wildly. Despite losing, Des Moines out-hit Kansas City 16 to 13.

The victory went to Gary Peters(2-3) who went 3 innings, allowing no runs. Lew Burdette(1-1) was the loser in relief. 'I've spent a lot of time in the cage and made some adjustments and they've paid off,' Aaron said. 'I just take the same approach up there. I don't overanalyze it. I go up there, see the ball and try to put a good swing on it.'

EXAMPLE 2:

In a great finish the Oneonta Tigers won in dramatic fashion over the Peoria Chiefs by a score of 4 to 3 at Tiger Stadium.

Oneonta had the game winning rally in the 9th inning with 2 runs using 2 hits. Carl Yastrzemski led off and started the attack as he stroked a one-base hit. After an out was recorded, Ron Fairly stepped in and he smashed a two-run homer (his 3rd of the season) resulting in an exciting win for Oneonta and a raucous post-game celebration by the home town fans. Oneonta finished with just 6 hits in the victory.

Galen Cisco(1-0) went 1 inning allowing 1 run for the victory. The losing pitcher was Jack Lamabe(0-2) in relief. The Oneonta ballclub's record now stands at 8-7. With the loss Peoria now has a record of 12-7.

[prigsbee]

Suggestion: news articles on shutouts should include references to career stats.

Smith's shutout is the 5th of his ML career.
This was the first ML shutout for Martin.

Reason: increased realism

Category: medium

[prigsbee]

Suggestion:

Generate milestone-like news stories when a new player takes over sole possession of the top spot on leaderboard categories. This can be limited to the key categories that generate milestone articles - hits, home runs, wins, strikeouts (by pitcher).

These shouldn't be generated until a league has been around for a reasonable number of seasons (probably after the minimum PAs and IPs take effect). This would avoid lots of unrealistic stories that would otherwise be generated for the first few years of new leagues.

This could be extended to generate stories as a player moves within one of the career leader, and as he ties the career leader.

Reason: increased realism. Just focusing on round number milestones ignores the whole class of news stories in real life that occur as someone approaches the all-time record in something.

Category: medium

[endgame]

Suggestion: the game should include news articles on combined shutouts .

(borrowing from the above example) Smith and Lee combined for a 5-0 shutout against the Mariners.

Reason: broadens the review

Category: medium

[gglennwill]

I would suggest that you add a weekly "newsmagazine" much the same way that Puresim Baseball has. This would be a feature containing interesting stats for the season up to that point or the week. Post the top 10 in "isolated power" or "runs created". The ten most likely hall of famers. The ten best games so far that year. Put several of these stats in one magazine. Next weeks magazine would have different features. I found in Puresim that this magazine was really enjoyable and increased my gameplaying experience.

[fantom1979]

Originally Posted by Eugene Church

Suggestion
New tokens for News stories and, if applicable, for the PBP, too:

Milestones for batters and pitchers (Hits, HR, RBIs, SBs, R, Wins) showing how many players have accomplished the milestone
- "He is the 10th player to hit 500 home runs."
- "he is the 10th pitcher to win 200 games."

Reason
It would improve and expand the News and PBP content.

Priority
Low

This is a high priority for me.

[spitfire]

I like all the ideas in this thread. The News is a primary method of interacting with the game, especially for those of us who sim and don't play out each match. The more interesting and detailed it can become, the more it will enhance the OOTP experience.

Two other small suggestions .....

1) Many players have the same last names. Some of them (not all) could be referred to in the News as brothers, as for example the Alou brothers who played for years in the majors. Stories that reference one could sometimes mention the other members of the family. Also opens the way for "most wins by brothers" etc. comparisons. Naturally it would be good if most brother combos came from the same home town, or at least the same country!

2) Player of the week and month stories could perhaps also brefly refer to honourable mentions. It would be a way of spotlighting more players and making us familiar with their accomplishments.

REASONS
Adds more immersion to the game

PRIORITY
That's up to Markus to decide, not me!

[Eugene Church]

Originally Posted by fantom1979

This is a high priority for me.

It is for me, too.

But News and PBP is low priority with Markus.

[spitfire]

Originally Posted by Eugene Church

But News and PBP is low priority with Markus.

Unfortunate, though it would seem to be the case. Perhaps it's because the News section at least works the way it's supposed to, while other sections of OOTP (in-game AI etc.) need more urgent attention. In any event, if News is to be upgraded, another idea would be to refer to a player's past teams when a trade announcement is made. For example, "Smith started his career with ##### in 2063 and has also played for ##### and #####". There could also be a mention of a player returning to a team he's played for in the past. Small things, but they would add a little to the personality of the game and our leagues' players.

[jg2977]

News stories need to have a much higher priority in OOTP than it does right now. I would be so much more into the game if it featured team-related news.

[TSmith1969]

Suggestion
Create news item when a team clinches a playoff spot, clinches a division, or sets a new team record for most wins in a season. Ex: "The Colorado Rockies defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers today 8-1, clinching the NL West Division and booking their third trip to the NL playoffs in club history."

Reason
In online league it would help GMs determine whether they have clinched yet so they can rest key players. Also, adds more depth to the news stories.

Priority
Medium

[TSmith1969]

Suggestion
Improve "News Involving Player" so it actually includes big games, injuries, and contract news that appear in the news.

Reason
One stop place to look at all the news stories generated for a particular player. In OOTP9 this feature does not seem to function properly.

Priority
Medium