Some Franchise Gameplay Questions

[flamingoezz]

I find that players progress slowly -- top prospects will never become high 80/low 90 players. Is there a method to get better progression? Do you only promote guys who are on hot streaks? Do you move guys down a lot who underperform? Can you gain points in spring training?

Any tips on situational hitting? Ground ball to right side with man on 2nd and no out?

Do quirks really matter -- like if I have a reliever who is better when behind, should I move him to that role even if he is my 2nd best RP? If a guy excels at first pitch swinging do you tend to do that even if its not a perfect pitch? Wondering how much it affects tendencies and if I should go out of my way to try to fulfil their quirks.

Seems like bloopers in the gap or down the line rarely become doubles, even for speedy players. I was thinking of jacking up runner speed or slowing the OF throw speed, but that will affect sac flies. Any slider recommendation?

[tessl]

Re: Some Franchise Gameplay Questions

I argued unsuccessfully against performance based progression because the game engine and sim engine are not the same. The 29 other teams progress at a different rate.

I tend to leave my top prospects in the minors until they are ready to play. Expecting them to develop at the MLB level seems less reliable but I can't honestly say how it all works. One thing I'm sure of is pitcher stamina always declines and therefore if you intend to carry over your franchise you need starting pitcher prospects with a minimum of 85 stamina. Speed also always declines.

[My993C2]

Re: Some Franchise Gameplay Questions

I argued unsuccessfully against performance based progression because the game engine and sim engine are not the same. The 29 other teams progress at a different rate.

I tend to leave my top prospects in the minors until they are ready to play. Expecting them to develop at the MLB level seems less reliable but I can't honestly say how it all works. One thing I'm sure of is pitcher stamina always declines and therefore if you intend to carry over your franchise you need starting pitcher prospects with a minimum of 85 stamina. Speed also always declines.

Speed and stamina should decline, but only once the players get into their 30s. If you are seeing new'ish players still in their 20s declining, then that is concerning. I never see this, but that is because I have always been just a "One Season at a time" sort of gamer. In regards to the game engine versus the sim engine, it's always been an apples to oranges sort of thing. I have always felt that the only way to have a apples to apples comparison was to play all 2430 games in a given season played as CPU vs CPU games with Quick Counts disabled, but who has time for that.

PS: I am going to keep my various RTTS characters around, but they will be used more for batting practice than anything else. I have decided that when it comes to franchise game play, I am coming back to the world MoM game play after a 2 year break. Contrary to what some folks may think, we actually have a lot of influence playing our MoM games without introducing our joy stick abilities (or lack of abilities) into the game results.

[Therebelyell626]

Re: Some Franchise Gameplay Questions

I argued unsuccessfully against performance based progression because the game engine and sim engine are not the same. The 29 other teams progress at a different rate.

I tend to leave my top prospects in the minors until they are ready to play. Expecting them to develop at the MLB level seems less reliable but I can't honestly say how it all works. One thing I'm sure of is pitcher stamina always declines and therefore if you intend to carry over your franchise you need starting pitcher prospects with a minimum of 85 stamina. Speed also always declines.

Agreed. But sometimes the performance based progression works properly in the sim engine. I remember one year I did a test franchise with the padres. Simmed the whole season and Hunter renfro finished with something like a .330 average and 18 homers against lefties (didn’t do as well against righties). His left handed contact and power both shot up by like +10. So it’s beautiful when it works. It really gives those players the ability to jump a level if they perform.

But you are right. The problem is it doesn’t work consistently and when it doesn’t it’s an ugly situation.

I think the biggest issue is the training. It flat out doesn’t work. I tested over 200 franchise seasons last year and training seems to have little to no effect on progression. I can say with 100% certainty you can train stamina and speed until your blue in the face and will never improve and most of the time still regress. Training is essentially a “broken” feature the last couple of years

[eric7064]

Re: Some Franchise Gameplay Questions

There definitely is performance based progression. Players can move substantially up or down in attributes based on the season stats.

I do not think prospects progress fast enough. You will hardly ever see drafted generates players 20-23 make an MLB team. They just are not a high enough overall.

I'll usually go to the top 100 list every season and tinker with the prospects to get them more MLB ready.

[flamingoezz]

Re: Some Franchise Gameplay Questions

So is the issue that simmed games don't accrue point bonuses as fast? If I play through spring, will I see progression in players? I think that would essentially fix things if players could gain a couple points with a good spring. Over the course of 3 years, a prospect could add a 4 or 5 base point improvement to their regular progression.

I noticed if you edit a player mid season, they don't seem to progress, at least not for a while. Is there a way to boost a players stats without forcing manual changes after that -- for example, is it best to do prior to spring training vs mid season?

I know franchise has been neglected for years. any chance they make tweaks to progression, or is it historically not possible.

There definitely is performance based progression. Players can move substantially up or down in attributes based on the season stats.

I do not think prospects progress fast enough. You will hardly ever see drafted generates players 20-23 make an MLB team. They just are not a high enough overall.

I'll usually go to the top 100 list every season and tinker with the prospects to get them more MLB ready.

[TheWarmWind]

Re: Some Franchise Gameplay Questions

I've seen A prospects bust and I've seen C prospects become all stars. I've seen a prospect start at 37 and make it all the way to 99. That is increadibly rare though.

I will say one thing. Too often you see A prospects not be ready until they are 26-27. I've never seen a generated prospect be ready at 19. Not once.

I do get guys ready in the 21-23 range, but it's usually prospects who were drafted at a near MLB ready rating already.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Operation Sports mobile app

[jcar0725]

Re: Some Franchise Gameplay Questions

From my experience, if a player is "a" rated, and he's young, and wherever he is (MLB, AAA, AA) if he is playing well, he will progress nicely. Some players it takes longer, some players they progress quickly. Just like the real thing. I've had plenty of young stars reach 85-90+ ratings over a span of a few seasons.

[flamingoezz]

Re: Some Franchise Gameplay Questions

At what rating do you bring them up to the majors -- 70? 75?

From my experience, if a player is "a" rated, and he's young, and wherever he is (MLB, AAA, AA) if he is playing well, he will progress nicely. Some players it takes longer, some players they progress quickly. Just like the real thing. I've had plenty of young stars reach 85-90+ ratings over a span of a few seasons.

[Caulfield]

Re: Some Franchise Gameplay Questions

At what rating do you bring them up to the majors -- 70? 75?

I tend to make 65 my cutoff number. but what really determines it, if he's above 65 but still not 1 of my 12 or 13 best players (12 for pitchers/13 for others) he'll stay in the minors till an injury or trade dictates a call-up

[jcar0725]

Re: Some Franchise Gameplay Questions

I don't know if there is a precise formula, I tend to stick with 70 or higher if I don't have a better player in front of them at that position. Even so, some lower rated guys I've raked with at the MLB level, and some higher rated guys I can't hit anything with. You just gotta play it out and adjust on the fly. I like that it's not an exact formula otherwise it would get old fast.

[lemarflacco]

Re: Some Franchise Gameplay Questions

Anyone have a idea of how attributes progress? /Like if you have A prospect.. does that mean he has an A power?

[tessl]

Re: Some Franchise Gameplay Questions

Agreed. But sometimes the performance based progression works properly in the sim engine. I remember one year I did a test franchise with the padres. Simmed the whole season and Hunter renfro finished with something like a .330 average and 18 homers against lefties (didn’t do as well against righties). His left handed contact and power both shot up by like +10. So it’s beautiful when it works. It really gives those players the ability to jump a level if they perform.

But you are right. The problem is it doesn’t work consistently and when it doesn’t it’s an ugly situation.

I think the biggest issue is the training. It flat out doesn’t work. I tested over 200 franchise seasons last year and training seems to have little to no effect on progression. I can say with 100% certainty you can train stamina and speed until your blue in the face and will never improve and most of the time still regress. Training is essentially a “broken” feature the last couple of years

My point is the sim engine is what all the CPU teams use but the game engine is what I use because I don't sim any of my games and those two separate engines produce different gameplay which results in different progression.

I've always considered training to be unrealistic and it doesn't bother me if it doesn't work. No MLB franchise trains its players in only one area and neglects everything else.

[jcar0725]

Re: Some Franchise Gameplay Questions

My point is the sim engine is what all the CPU teams use but the game engine is what I use because I don't sim any of my games and those two separate engines produce different gameplay which results in different progression.

I've always considered training to be unrealistic and it doesn't bother me if it doesn't work. No MLB franchise trains its players in only one area and neglects everything else.

But if you're leaving your top prospects in the minors to develop in to 80+ players, then that's the same sim engine as the CPU.

[tessl]

Re: Some Franchise Gameplay Questions

But if you're leaving your top prospects in the minors to develop in to 80+ players, then that's the same sim engine as the CPU.

True but my MLB team progresses/regresses at a different rate from the other 29 teams. I would assert that is important in a carry over franchise.