Regular Franchise vs Fantasy Draft

[PowerofRed25]

I was just curious about what everyone thought was more difficult and/or enjoyable long term, taking over an existing franchise or utilizing a fantasy draft franchise. I've started one of each, a regular Cubs franchise and a fantasy draft Cubs franchise, each with the same settings and base rosters, and I get conflicting results.

The regular Cubs franchise is a lot more difficult initially but I get absolutely zero joy out of it. I'm a Cubs fan, although disillusioned in recent years, so playing with guys I have minimal control over and have grown to hate (Soriano ) is just not that fun.

The fantasy draft franchise is a whole lot more fun, I love picking MY guys and setting up the entire organization how I want it, down to the prospects I select and I can create a team as I like it. Speed, defense, pitching, power, whatever. The problem is, it seems WAY too easy to have a loaded team. I've done a few fantasy drafts and try and keep a young, prospect laden team but it seems like I end up with a great organization top to bottom while the CPU teams maybe have less so. I still lost plenty of games (I play them all and struggle at times), but it seems like the team is just a whole lot better and the CPU doesn't draft well.

My main fantasy draft ended up having a starting lineup of Trout, Kemp, Harper in the OF (backed up by Jennings). Wright, Aviles, Kipnis, Butler in the IF (backed by Andino and Moustakas). Avila and Ramos catching. Dan Hudson, Drabek, Norris, Duffy were my main starters and my 5th starter ended up being Jarrod Parker and then Alexei Ogando. Chapman and Jansen as key RP.

That is a fairly solid, albeit young MLB roster. But my minor leagues were insane (and I specifically drafted these guys over more established players). My AAA rotation was Bauer, Bundy, Parker (when Ogando went to the rotation), Taillon, Cole. My AA rotation featured Skaggs. That is 5 A potential prospects in the rotation.

My AAA hitters included Wil Myers (who I returned to catcher), Mike Moustakas (after I demoted him), Anthony Rizzo and Jurickson Profar. All A potential. My AA hitters included Alex Presley (a current MLB guy), Bubba Starling, Josh Vitters and Mat Gamel. My three levels of teams were filled with about 15 top 30 real life prospects and a few more that have been up a year or two.

I guess I'm not sure which I prefer. I don't want to feel like I totally fleece the CPU in the fantasy draft, but I'd like to get more joy out of playing the game that franchise mode doesn't offer.

[Troopershorty51]

Re: Regular Franchise vs Fantasy Draft

I solely do fantasy drafts and I was just about to start a Cubs one as well! Nothing like bringing a championship to Chicago haha.

But as for my reasoning I just really like to get the players that I enjoy using and can preform well with. Also, I too have noticed that you can easily stack your team but I tend to try not to do it just by sometimes drafting a bit lower than you need to. I usually do about 30-35 rounds so as to not stack my farm and let the CPU do it so it's a bit more realistic. I generally draft a mix of young players but also a lot of aging vets as sort of "mentors" to keep it even more realistic. One last positive to doing a fantasy draft is that if you're not using 30-team control then the wacky trades the CPU makes won't really both you because everyone is already all jumbled up anyway. My only negative is I often can't bring myself to draft players like Jeter and Mariano Rivera because it's too strange to see them on another team.

Sorry for the slight wall of text but I hope this helps!

[Chappine05]

Re: Regular Franchise vs Fantasy Draft

I always go with fantasy draft. My reasoning is that the Phillies play in real life and I watch them. I don't see any reason that I need to play in a video game with them too. I do see why people like the realism of playing with the real rosters though.

[derelictojama]

Re: Regular Franchise vs Fantasy Draft

I haven't tried fantasy draft much, though I've toyed with the idea and made some teams, but I never liked the way it turned out and I never ran with it for a full dynasty. What I like about it is the draft itself, then I get bored with it. I'm more of a regular franchise guy.

Anyway, more to the point, this might be a place where to mitigate your problems you might institute some "house rules"-- maybe by going with 30 team control, which I assume means you do the whole draft yourself, and trying to make good decisions for each team (or specific decisions for each team--Yankees go for high priced older guys, Cubs go for guys with high potential who then don't pan out--jk), then when you get to the team you really intend to control, you're faced with a board that's more realistic, because each team really is trying to build a balanced team. So you won't end up getting all the A prospects. Too much trouble, perhaps, but it might help avoid the specific situation you mentioned. I find, and I know a lot of others do, that you just have to make the decision sometimes of letting the CPU be stupid or taking extra steps to make sure things happen the right way. And if I'm being completely honest, I make different decisions in different situations, so I'm not at all a hardcore "no cheating" guy. I play offline, if I'm cheating anyone, I'm cheating myself, so it's nobody else's business or concern. It's all about making the experience rewarding for you as the player.

Just had another thought, if you want to stay with the good, young team you have: you say you play your games, right? So maybe do some random changing up of the way you play, like randomly bump the hitting difficulty up to HOF level for one game, so your young team "mysteriously" goes into a slump when facing, say, Roy Halladay, or mess with the sliders occasionally to reflect the unpredictability of having such a young roster. Because you know if you had a team made up of all young star prospects, there would be some weird things that happened, without experienced veteran players to balance things out. Just thinking. Anyway, I stick by my statement above, it's all about getting the max enjoyment out of the game, anybody else's opinion be damned. Good luck!

[KomicJ]

Re: Regular Franchise vs Fantasy Draft

I like fantasy draft as well, but I agree with you, it's seems way to easy to have an all-star lineup, espcially if you don't have any house rules about trading (ridiculously easy in this game).

I just did one, using the Marlins, had the 4th pick in the 1st round. My first three picks were Ryan Braun, Ian Kennedy and Daniel Hudson...but I pretty much completely changed my starters after the draft, when I realized they were all right-handed.

*Acquired by trades

PITCHERS
*David Price*
*Ubaldo Jimenez*
*Matt Moore*
*Anibal Sanchez*
Vance Worley

(Minors: Edinson Volquez, Matt Harvey, Shelby Miller, Randall Delgado, Julio Teheran, Carlos Martinez, Tyler Skaggs)

BULLPEN
Jake McGee
David Hernandez
Rhiner Cruz
*Kerry Wood*
David Robertson
Jonny Venters
*Jordan Walden*

(Minors: Carlos Gutierrez, *Philippe Aumont*)

INFIELDERS
C - *Carlos Santana*, Ivan Rodriguez
1B - Justin Smoak, Jonathan Singleton
2B - Marco Scutaro
3B - Chipper Jones
SS - Erick Aybar

(Minors: Devin Mesoraco, Anthony Rizzo, Delino Deshields, Jean Segura, Will Middlebrook, Anthony Rendon, Jurickson Profar, Yordy Cabrera)

OUTFIELDERS
LF - Ryan Braun, *Brett Gardner*
CF - Adam Jones, Brett Jackson
RF - Bryce Harper, Ryan Sweeney

(Minors: Michael Choice, Oscar Taveras)

I don't know if I'll keep this one going, as I find it highly unrealsitic...

[PowerofRed25]

Re: Regular Franchise vs Fantasy Draft

I solely do fantasy drafts and I was just about to start a Cubs one as well! Nothing like bringing a championship to Chicago haha.

But as for my reasoning I just really like to get the players that I enjoy using and can preform well with. Also, I too have noticed that you can easily stack your team but I tend to try not to do it just by sometimes drafting a bit lower than you need to. I usually do about 30-35 rounds so as to not stack my farm and let the CPU do it so it's a bit more realistic. I generally draft a mix of young players but also a lot of aging vets as sort of "mentors" to keep it even more realistic. One last positive to doing a fantasy draft is that if you're not using 30-team control then the wacky trades the CPU makes won't really both you because everyone is already all jumbled up anyway. My only negative is I often can't bring myself to draft players like Jeter and Mariano Rivera because it's too strange to see them on another team.

Sorry for the slight wall of text but I hope this helps!

Most of that is why I prefer fantasy draft at this point. I also don't select guys like Rivera or Jeter or long time with one team players just because it feels weird. I like young guys for that purpose.

I'll probably just start over again, one fantasy draft franchise and try and limit the back loading of talent in the minors. Now my problem becomes what team. I am a Cubs fan first and foremost, but watching the Cubs daily and seeing all those same teams makes the stadiums and such dull. Originally I wanted to do Pittsburgh because PNC Park is fantastic, but I find it hard to get invested in the Phillies. I may do the Diamondbacks or Royals, who are my two other teams. Not sure yet.

[dbacks_Nation]

Re: Regular Franchise vs Fantasy Draft

Fantasy Drafts seem about as fun as a stick in the eye.

[Troopershorty51]

Re: Regular Franchise vs Fantasy Draft

Most of that is why I prefer fantasy draft at this point. I also don't select guys like Rivera or Jeter or long time with one team players just because it feels weird. I like young guys for that purpose.

I'll probably just start over again, one fantasy draft franchise and try and limit the back loading of talent in the minors. Now my problem becomes what team. I am a Cubs fan first and foremost, but watching the Cubs daily and seeing all those same teams makes the stadiums and such dull. Originally I wanted to do Pittsburgh because PNC Park is fantastic, but I find it hard to get invested in the Phillies. I may do the Diamondbacks or Royals, who are my two other teams. Not sure yet.

If you want to stay NL I'd say choose the Nationals, nice jerseys and a pretty cool stadium. However, if you want to try AL, I'd have to say the Orioles mostly because their my favorite team but there's nothing like making a team that hasn't had a winning season since 1997 into a winner. Plus it doesn't get better than Camden Yards. (Except for Fenway and Wrigley.)

[il blood il]

Re: Regular Franchise vs Fantasy Draft

i use to do all fantasy drafts as well for alot of the reasons already mentioned however, i got really annoyed with the cpu lineups, and realized that some real teams (padres, mets, pirates, royals, cubs, twins) just to name a few that has guys on the MLB roster that if i did a fantasy draft, they would be on my AA team...so what i wanna know is the guys who like fantasy drafts, i am assuming that you guys dont care about cpu lineups, am i wrong?

[PowerofRed25]

Re: Regular Franchise vs Fantasy Draft

i use to do all fantasy drafts as well for alot of the reasons already mentioned however, i got really annoyed with the cpu lineups, and realized that some real teams (padres, mets, pirates, royals, cubs, twins) just to name a few that has guys on the MLB roster that if i did a fantasy draft, they would be on my AA team...so what i wanna know is the guys who like fantasy drafts, i am assuming that you guys dont care about cpu lineups, am i wrong?

The few times I've done it, I have just controlled my team. But I did notice that there were a bunch of guys both in rotations and in lineups who wouldn't crack my lineup at AAA. I believe the problem is with the CPU's ability to draft, not necessarily their ability to control the roster. That's tied a bit to my point about being able to self-draft a pretty damn good organization by just jumping and getting the good prospects early.

[IK720]

Re: Regular Franchise vs Fantasy Draft

I always do real teams when I do franchise. My reasoning..

1. Hard not to stack your team with better drafting ability
2. Lineups/Pitching rotations get all screwy
3. I like having key players being on the correct teams.. you know like jeter on the yankees, longoria on the rays, kemp on dodgers.. etc (albeit they could end up traded anyway)
4. It also shifts the balance of power. Lets face it teams in baseball aren't created equally. If you draft that talent is spread out a lot more making things more equal. I'd rather have the powerhouses that exist and see changes towards somebody else taking over.

[BenGerman]

Re: Regular Franchise vs Fantasy Draft

I enjoy doing one of each. For me, I think the offseason is a little more fun with a Regular Franchise, but the Fantasy Draft is a lot of fun to do, and I love seeing how players stats end up on their new teams. I can see the appeal of both, but I play more regular franchise, just because when I finally do win a championship with my Phil's it will be that much more exciting to me.

A tip I would have for you is do to 30 team control and set up a fantasy draft that way. That way, the CPU teams will have a more humanistic approach to their drafting. I use "house rules" of sort when I do it, so I might as well share it here.

First Three Rounds:

• At least one guy who can hit in the 3/4 hole.
• A guy that can hold the fort for a pitching staff.

First Five Rounds:

• At least young player with a lot of upside (to avoid an all "old age" team).
• Some kind of speed/leadoff hitter. This helps avoid the CPU ending up with a guy like Matt Holliday as their leadoff.

First Ten Rounds:

• At least one prospect who isn't quite reader for the Majors, but should be in a year or so (Middlebrooks).
• A number 2 and 3 pitchers on the staff.
• A closer or strong relief option.
• If you haven't already, draft a the other half of the 3 or 4 hole in the lineup.

First Twenty Rounds:

• The lineup should be filled, or at least very close to being filled at this point. Draft any open positions unless you think a team can wait a few more rounds to get a player that would fit their new "playstyle".
• Have at least 2 prospects.
• Have at least 3 bullpen options. This to go along with a closer should give the team some nice options in-game. I see it too often in fantasy drafts where a team will wait until the 30th round and draft a guy that isn't MLB ready, and completely destroys the teams ERA.
• Have your rotation close to being filled out.
• Make sure the team has a pitching prospect and a hitting prospect.

First thirty rounds:

• Make sure you have a guy who can come off the bench and play at least 3 different positions for you.
• Your rotation must be filled out.
• Your lineup must be filled out.
• Your rotation should have a long man who can make spot starts, when needed.
• Each team should have 5 B level or higher players under the age of 26.

Hope you guys find this useful, I certainly have.

[derelictojama]

Re: Regular Franchise vs Fantasy Draft

I enjoy doing one of each. For me, I think the offseason is a little more fun with a Regular Franchise, but the Fantasy Draft is a lot of fun to do, and I love seeing how players stats end up on their new teams. I can see the appeal of both, but I play more regular franchise, just because when I finally do win a championship with my Phil's it will be that much more exciting to me.

A tip I would have for you is do to 30 team control and set up a fantasy draft that way. That way, the CPU teams will have a more humanistic approach to their drafting. I use "house rules" of sort when I do it, so I might as well share it here.

First Three Rounds:

• At least one guy who can hit in the 3/4 hole.
• A guy that can hold the fort for a pitching staff.

First Five Rounds:

• At least young player with a lot of upside (to avoid an all "old age" team).
• Some kind of speed/leadoff hitter. This helps avoid the CPU ending up with a guy like Matt Holliday as their leadoff.

First Ten Rounds:

• At least one prospect who isn't quite reader for the Majors, but should be in a year or so (Middlebrooks).
• A number 2 and 3 pitchers on the staff.
• A closer or strong relief option.
• If you haven't already, draft a the other half of the 3 or 4 hole in the lineup.

First Twenty Rounds:

• The lineup should be filled, or at least very close to being filled at this point. Draft any open positions unless you think a team can wait a few more rounds to get a player that would fit their new "playstyle".
• Have at least 2 prospects.
• Have at least 3 bullpen options. This to go along with a closer should give the team some nice options in-game. I see it too often in fantasy drafts where a team will wait until the 30th round and draft a guy that isn't MLB ready, and completely destroys the teams ERA.
• Have your rotation close to being filled out.
• Make sure the team has a pitching prospect and a hitting prospect.

First thirty rounds:

• Make sure you have a guy who can come off the bench and play at least 3 different positions for you.
• Your rotation must be filled out.
• Your lineup must be filled out.
• Your rotation should have a long man who can make spot starts, when needed.
• Each team should have 5 B level or higher players under the age of 26.

Hope you guys find this useful, I certainly have.

That's awesome, that would help counteract the problems, and if you use the same philosophy for everyone, with just little variances (as you say, as you see the "style" of the team develop), that kinda makes me want to do it now... I expect that initial draft takes a long time, then... can you save in progress, or do you have to do the whole thing at one time? Thanks for sharing!

Stupid game, being so good that there's so much I want to do -- RTTS pitcher, RTTS hitter, Braves franchise, Cubs franchise, fantasy draft, old-time rosters-- I don't have time for it! God forbid I should ever try an RTTS catcher, that would take 20 years. Stop being so good, game! I'm trying to live an actual life here, in addition to playing you!

[Deutscher]

Re: Regular Franchise vs Fantasy Draft

IF you're concerned about having a stacked team, set a user to each team when you start your franchise...then you control EVERY PICK OF THE DRAFT!

You can do what's fair.

Side note: Be sure to go into all the teams you don't want to control after and turn everything to auto and set notifications to off. This will save you a lot of screen popups

[WhosJab]

Re: Regular Franchise vs Fantasy Draft

Fantasy draft all the way , it keeps me tuned into my franchises , If your like me and you watch a lot of baseball in real life it can be weird when your stats using real teams don't match with what's happening in real life , also the wacky cpu trades in a season or two teams will be completely different then they are in real life so might aswell do a fantasy draft.