Thoughts on simulation accuracy...

**tinpanalley** · 04-09-2015, 04:05 AM

Re: Thoughts on simulation accuracy...

Well, I don't think I'm likely to get a response on the blog, so I'll just ask here then in a much shorter form...
If you're a franchise/season player that does what I do and follows along the real season doing real life transactions and injuries (and this goes for any sport)... when real life teams start to make changes based on their performance during the season, but are performing completely differently in your game, I'm beginning to wonder if it's wrong to actually do those transactions in the video game season. I feel like it doesn't make sense but I don't have any other solution. All I can think of is maybe to set the opening day rosters and just leave it there for the whole season. I don't like letting the CPU have total control of injuries and transactions so that's not a solution for me but something about mimicking real life trades as you get later into the season is starting to bother me. After all, it's not often that the teams perform similarly in real life and in the game so there are inevitably situations where a team is doing badly in real life, well in the game, and I do all the same firesale transactions to follow the real season even though the video game team is going to the playoffs.
Any thoughts, what's an alternate solution? Not doing ANY transactions other than injuries is the only one I can think of.

**HozAndMoose** · 04-09-2015, 04:25 AM

Re: Thoughts on simulation accuracy...

Any moves done in real life after opening day I pay no attention to in game. If someone gets hurt, cut, traded before game 1. I will put it into my franchise. After that the game becomes a completely different world to me.

**tinpanalley** · 04-09-2015, 05:33 AM

Re: Thoughts on simulation accuracy...

Originally posted by HozAndMoose

Any moves done in real life after opening day I pay no attention to in game...

Yeah, I'm starting to realise that might be the way to go. I'm just having a hard time justifying managerial decisions made throughout the season in real life being applied to game teams that are performing differently.

**CRIP4LIFE** · 04-09-2015, 07:09 AM

Re: Thoughts on simulation accuracy...

Originally posted by HozAndMoose

Any moves done in real life after opening day I pay no attention to in game. If someone gets hurt, cut, traded before game 1. I will put it into my franchise. After that the game becomes a completely different world to me.

agree wholeheartedly. i want pure roster accuracy BEFORE i start game 1. after i start, my franchise becomes it's own universe. my greatest joy is to see where it goes over the years of my simulation.

i rarely make trades for my own team, if at all -- even outside of this game (if i were a real life GM) i love the idea of building a team, not trading for one. so, i have no issues with bias or taking advantage of the cpu in trades.

i accept what the cpu teams do between each other, injuries, early retirements, career ending injuries -- i accept all of these as realities in my universe. in my real life (i'm 45) i've seen some crazy moves by all GMs in every sport (the trade the minnesota vikings made with the dallas cowboys where they basically traded 67,987 players for herschel walker in 1989 comes to mind)

Herschel Walker trade - Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herschel_Walker_trade

that was one of the dumbest trades in sports history if you are a minnesota backer. but if you're a dallas fan, the trade was brilliant and maybe among the biggest factors in the cowboy 3 superbowl wins in 4 years from '92 to '95. but if anyone saw this happen in a video game they'd say, "that's dumb" and try to fix it.

so, give me roster perfection (or as close as i can get) before i start. once i start, i buckle my seatbelt and see where it goes.

**tinpanalley** · 04-09-2015, 07:13 AM

Re: Thoughts on simulation accuracy...

Originally posted by CRIP4LIFE

after i start, my franchise becomes it's own universe.

Ok, that sounds good, thanks for the feedback. The only difference is I'll never play more than one season but even within that one season, if I want the ultimate stats-nerd experiment (and I do), it would be to start playing with opening day rosters and see how that compares at the end to what happened in real life.

**My993C2** · 04-09-2015, 08:48 AM

Re: Thoughts on simulation accuracy...

I am a Season Mode player and I think it's best to not even attempt to compare the results we get in this game with the real world. Some times the game will emulate the real world. In my virtual Season Opener, my Rockies beat the Brewers 12-2 while the real world Rox beat the Brew Crew 10-0. But more often than not, the results in the game and the real world results will be different enough to know comparing the two is a futile cause.

**tinpanalley** · 04-09-2015, 09:02 AM

Re: Thoughts on simulation accuracy...

Originally posted by My993C2

I am a Season Mode player and I think it's best to not even attempt to compare the results we get in this game with the real world. Some times the game will emulate the real world. In my virtual Season Opener, my Rockies beat the Brewers 12-2 while the real world Rox beat the Brew Crew 10-0. But more often than not, the results in the game and the real world results will be different enough to know comparing the two is a futile cause.

When I say 'comparing', I don't mean to try and achieve a parity between real life and the game, I just mean as a sports fan and stats nut to just to look at the two at the end of the season and observe differences. I don't continue to play sports games after 20 years just because it's fun to play the video game, a large part of it is to live these seasons myself in an even more active way than being a fan, to see how today's AI stats models hold up to real life. To see how even real life doesn't represent real life well sometimes and to be even more into those 9th inning rallies than when I'm on the edge of my seat as a fan.

**My993C2** · 04-09-2015, 10:14 AM

Re: Thoughts on simulation accuracy...

 The beauty of this game is that there are numerous different ways to play it and enjoy it. If you take pleasure in playing your season out and then at the end of it comparing your results to the real world results, then all the power to you for finding enjoyment for yourself with the game and ignore all those who say what you are doing is pointless. It is pointless to judge other people on how they play the game, because if the game makers had intended us all to play the same way, we would not have all these different options on how to play the game. As long as real world people are not being hurt, I see no harm in immersing yourself in this game as much as you want.

I only mentioned that for me comparing my results with the real world results was futile, because two summers ago when I did this for the first time, my season and the real world season started off incredibly similar with each other to the point where I thought the game could mirror the real world. But then in June or July all of a sudden the two took completely different paths from each other, to the point where I began manipulating rosters and players skills to attempt to get the two back on track and I only made things worse. So this season, I have vowed I will not touch any player attributes whatsoever, I will ignore when real world players are injured, called up or sent down. The only time I will emulate the real world is when big block buster trades (like the recent Padres/Braves) trade are made. Other than that my season and the real world season are two different beasts.
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**jcar0725** · 04-09-2015, 10:26 AM

Re: Thoughts on simulation accuracy...

I prefer a fantasy draft, I want my franchise to be a completely different world from reality. I find it more fun to see players on totally different teams than real life.

**tinpanalley** · 04-09-2015, 10:38 AM

Re: Thoughts on simulation accuracy...

Originally posted by My993C2

...immersing yourself in this game as much as you want.

Very well put.

Originally posted by My993C2

I began manipulating rosters and players skills to attempt to get the two back on track and I only made things worse. So this season, I have vowed I will not touch any player attributes whatsoever
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That's exactly what I've decided to do. And hearing others' thoughts about how to do it has helped. I also have decided that major blockbuster trades are worth representing in the game. Somebody like Ortiz moves, it would be hard to not do that one because of how much he brings to his team. Also, where big guys are hurt to start the season, I will bring them in when they come back and deal with major injuries throughout the season as well.
But this is big for me because for the first time ever (like, since PC baseball "Hardball III" gaming days) I will be setting opening day rosters accurately and not updating rosters and batting orders throughout the season once a month. I'm positive that I'll end up playing more.
The bottom line for me is that over time, the logic I was attempting to justify through my style of playing seasons had big holes in it. And it was bugging me more than I could ignore. I simply couldn't justify anymore replicating a fire sale of players in the game when the team was in a playoff hunt just because they were dead last in real life.

Thoughts on simulation accuracy...

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