[hit_or_miss54680]

I want just one new feature. I've wanted it for years so I thought I'd finally give in my official request (sorry if it's been mentioned before). All I want is one more level to player popularity. Something that is hard to achieve or rare. My suggestion is this: If a player who has an "Extreme" popularity has been on the same team for 9-10 years (or whatever number) they get the next tier "Face of Franchise" or something. It just needs to be rare. After a player leaves the team, he'd default back down to "extreme" until he potentially stayed with another team for the duration. I was really excited about the addition of player popularity when it was introduced but too many players have "extreme." I really want something that stands out and that you just don't see. I'd like an extra reason to want to pay a player to finish out his career on my team. Thanks.

[jasonn29tn14]

I love this idea. And if you think about it there are probably less of these type players in MLB today than there are teams. Derek Jeter, Chipper Jones, etc. come to mind immediately. And I can think of 10-12 teams right off that don't have anyone who would qualify. My only suggestion would be maybe if a guy was already 'Extremely Popular' he could get this after 5 extremely good years or something to that effect - think Vlad Guerrero of the Angels.

[hit_or_miss54680]

Originally Posted by jasonn29tn14

I love this idea. And if you think about it there are probably less of these type players in MLB today than there are teams. Derek Jeter, Chipper Jones, etc. come to mind immediately. And I can think of 10-12 teams right off that don't have anyone who would qualify. My only suggestion would be maybe if a guy was already 'Extremely Popular' he could get this after 5 extremely good years or something to that effect - think Vlad Guerrero of the Angels.

I thought of it because of Ken Griffey Jr. I went to the last Mariner game of the season and to see the outpouring of love for a guy who batted .214 was incredible. He means a ton to Seattle because of how long he had been there (previously). I'd think I'd be concerned that 5 years would be too short of time to achieve this level of popularity. It seems in most of my games a lot of players have extreme and hold it for a long time. That's why I think it should be something the player has to do to push over the edge. A player can be Extremely good and then move from team to team every year. I wouldn't think that type of player could achieve the love for a player that a city can have if the player had been there a long time. If you were forced into a 10 year contract, you'd have a lot of interesting scenarios (with that one player alone!) Near the end of his career you get forced to ask yourself "let him play" and keep the fans happy? Or drop him and make the team technically better. Etc.

Also I wouldn't think it would need to be 10 years for one contract. It could be accumulated contracts... IE 3 four year contracts or 2 five year or something.

I REALLY want this to be a feature. It's the only feature that I really thought OOTP has needed for a long time.

[jasonn29tn14]

It's sort of in there already if you think about it. I recently traded an 'Extremely Popular' guy and took a pretty big hit at the gate. But I agree with you there needs to be one higher level of popularity than currently exists for face of the franchise types.

[hit_or_miss54680]

Originally Posted by jasonn29tn14

It's sort of in there already if you think about it. I recently traded an 'Extremely Popular' guy and took a pretty big hit at the gate. But I agree with you there needs to be one higher level of popularity than currently exists for face of the franchise types.

I just want to see one level of popularity that is hard to get. With my proposed method of having to have the player under contract for X years ensures that you will really only get one per team IF that. Unless you REALLY feel like throwing huge contracts at all your players which seems like a pretty bad idea to me.

[drowtfs]

Originally Posted by hit_or_miss54680

I thought of it because of Ken Griffey Jr. I went to the last Mariner game of the season and to see the outpouring of love for a guy who batted .214 was incredible.

Yea, I agree with you. We do see some players with higher popularity ratings than can be justified, but they usually don't last very long.
You could say the same thing about Jason Varitek, though that might change this offseason..
I wonder how this kind of subtle thing could be effectively included in OOTP.. like perhaps, players could have different levels of popularity in different markets... that's what happens with Ken Griffey Jr, other parts of the country wouldn't care about him, but he comes back to Seattle and, just because it's him, those fans in particular love him... Likewise, Oakland A's players will be better known locally to SF Giants fans as well, and might be more popular or less popular... I guess that would be his "local" popularity, but that seems to carry over somehow when players move to other teams, it doesn't seem to me like it's really in connection with the team he's currently on... But I could be wrong, correct me if I am.
Additionally, this could affect a player's performance when he plays at teams where he has a level of popularity. It would be fun even if the game just remembered that and the PbP showed some mention of the fact that the fans know this player from when he played there before and gave him standing ovation on his first visit as an opponent...