OOTP 26 announcement.

[bhlloy]

FWIW, I haven't played this year but every version I've played since the change to development/drafts I've put down after a season or two for exactly the reasons you both mention.

OOTP used to have a very compelling position as a fun, pseudo-realistic game that was deep and you could quick sim a few seasons in a single session while feeling connected to the results and having success with developing a team over time. Some of the best gaming experiences I've ever had were in online OOTP leagues. And since those changes, just hasn't been the same to me. I have no doubt it's much more realistic, but it feels totally random and without a path to success.

[Mota]

One thing I started to do is to draft college players that have meaningful ratings already. Those guys with 20/20/20 with massive potential seem to fizzle out almost 100%.

In a way, that's probably fairly realistic. Drafting high school players is a huge risk in real life. But it's not fun.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Mota

One thing I started to do is to draft college players that have meaningful ratings already. Those guys with 20/20/20 with massive potential seem to fizzle out almost 100%.

In a way, that's probably fairly realistic. Drafting high school players is a huge risk in real life. But it's not fun.

Early in the draft I almost exclusively avoid high school guys and won't draft 20 CV college guys either. For hitters I want to see at least 25 CV and for pitchers, ideally, 30 or even 35 CV.

I get less picky after the first few rounds but still my general rules are no 1st basemen or high school catchers in the first few rounds. I usually avoid catchers early altogether as their bust rates are crazy. As the draft progresses I prefer guys that at least offer some defensive value since even if they don't develop as hitters they may be useful utility guys.

I feel the draft has more depth and strategy this year. I find I'm rarely just drafting BPA.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by dubb93

Just one example off my current roster that is full of these guys. Chris Paczkowski is a starting pitcher I took 1.2. I have had a dev budget 3x the league baseline every season and my pitching coach is legendary. As a 22 year old his bars looked as such:

Stuff: 50/65
Movement: 50/75
Control: 50/90

Now he has had a nice career as a middle of the rotation guy so he didn't turn out to be a bust but you will notice his bars at age 30 look oddly similar.

Stuff: 50/50
Movement: 60/60
Control: 50/50

My dev strategy for his has resulted in minimal gains to movement and minimal losses to control. I have many more examples like a OF I drafted with who was 45/75 for contact and then when he hit 30 (he's now 31) that potential just left and he became 50/50. I have a 28 y/o starter who has had the same current ratings since he was 23 the only thing that has changed is potential slowly going down. I assume he will just lose all that potential when he hits 30 like my OF.

Guys just aren't developing for whatever reason. I'm not really complaining because I see what they are aiming for, but there is zero incentive to get high draft picks because those guys all end up stuck at the 50-55 range for nearly everything just as the guys taken later do.

What do you have your Talent Change Randomness set at? And how many rounds are your drafts?

I've noticed if the drafts are too short (less than 10 rounds), the players kind of get muddled together because it needs to be able to create enough major league talent.

[RainMaker]

Also turn off the development lab if you can. The AI managing that is so horrendous it throws everything into a mess.

[dubb93]

I guess it’s entirely possible it could be the settings. I’m playing historical fictional with mostly default settings. 12 teams in the league currently, 8 round drafts, reserve roster no minors, and talent randomness is at default 100.

[RainMaker]

I'd drop the talent randomness down a bit. Maybe 50 or 75. More linear development although less late round gems that develop.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I got curious, so I looked up something fwiw

re: HS players picked high



2020 MLB Draft

2019 MLB Draft
10 HS players 1st round - 4 have been All-Stars already (Witt Jr, Riley Greene, CJ Abrams, Corbin Carroll) At least a couple have notably underachieved -- Brett Baty, Quinn Priester -- but all but one reached the majors (Keoni Cavaco, #14 pick by the Twins, never got above High A, tried to convert to pitcher but failed at that too, playing indy league ball according to Wiki)

2020 MLB Draft
11 HS 1st rounders -- about half have reached the majors, Pete Crow-Armstrong the best thus far with probably Tyler Soderstrom and Jordan Walker the most notable so far behind him.

2021 MLB Draft
15 HS 1st rounders - Jackson Merrill the most notable, Jackson Jobe probably next. only a handful have reached the majors so far

I went back one more, 2018 had 16 HS 1st rounders (over half the 1st round)
Several flame outs in this crop, three that didn't sign, most notable names would include Nolan Gorman, Brice Turang, Matthew Liberatore, Bo Naylor, Tristan Casas.

All of that leads me to wonder something about real-life vs gaming (or gamer perceptions): do the HS draftees in OOTP feel even worse than they are because other games have us accustomed to faster progression than seems to be typical?

I ain't go no dog in the fight, nor do I have a strong opinion on whether that's the case, I'm just posing the question as a possibility.

[RainMaker]

It's a good question. The game has its issues but I think they normally do a good job with the difference in HS and college.

College players are usually rated higher overall at the moment. So the good ones can be dumped into A ball right away. But there aren't a ton of them with high potential. So higher floor but lower ceiling for many.

High school players are tricky because you're talking 6 years of development. With how injuries or other factors impact development in the game, it's much much harder to project them. But it goes both ways. You'll find more 5th or 6th round picks who develop over those 6 years and become stars in the league.

I hate to sound like I'm propping up the game too much because there are flaws, but I do feel like it handles development fairly well. It just feels bad because real life player development sucks too. Sometimes that 5 star prospect taken in the top 10 doesn't pan out. The expression "there is no such thing as a pitching prospect" is there for a reason.


Same goes for injuries in the game that a lot of people complained about but when tests were run shows that they mirror MLB pretty well. Real life is much more brutal than we think.

[Atocep]

Yeah the game has its problems but I'll still say this is the best version out of the box and without major updates.

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by Atocep

Yeah the game has its problems but I'll still say this is the best version out of the box and without major updates.

I’m not saying the game is bad just that something seems odd with development. I wouldn’t say it was odd if I wasn’t seeing patterns. I see alot of players having the same ratings at 23 as they do at 30 as they do every year in between. It’s just not what I’m used to seeing with the game but I haven’t upgraded since 23.

[RainMaker]

My biggest issue sim wise is they haven't adjusted for the increase in stolen bases. Top base stealers are just not stealing enough.

[Flasch186]

So strictly based on game results accuracy and statistical accuracy for players in a career sim, which sim is best? Still ootp?


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[dubb93]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

So strictly based on game results accuracy and statistical accuracy for players in a career sim, which sim is best? Still ootp?


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I haven’t noticed any oddities in the sim engine. The actually graphic representation is somehow worse than it was in 2023 which makes me think they just stopped developing it. But besides that if you are just simming it seems really solid.

[Lathum]

I won this mornings Daily Perfecto Sunrise. OK, no big deal, I've won tournaments before but this was a wild ride.

Round 1- Down 3-0 I win 4 in a row
Round 2- Down 3-1 win 3 in a row
Round 3- Up 3-0, lose 3 in a row then win game 7
Round 4- Down 3-1 win 3 in a row
Round 5- Down 3-1 win 3 in a row
Round 6- Down 3-2 win 2 in a row

Crazy and never seen a tournament like it. Funny thing is I was drunk when I drafted and only took 1 catcher but had Bullet Joe as the backup. Final record 24-18. Wonder how many teams have played the max games you can in a 64 team daily.