[RogueHominid]

I think it all depends on how well the game is tuned & how smart the CPU is at player acquisition and development, and play calling.

I think house rules make most sense once you determine that there are strategic advantages available to the human that are not closely approximated by the CPU. If that's the case, I say use whatever house rules you want to help create competitive balance.

What that looks like is probably gonna be different from user to user, and we all have to figure out how to play the game in a way that is fun for us.

The one thing I'll probably have an eye on is trade logic. I think I'd have to be able to rationalize a trade I'd initiate with the CPU and be able to say that it makes just as much or more sense for the trade partner as it does for me. I typically don't find trade logic to be super well done in the games I play, so I'll likely just proceed with caution here.

The other thing I'll probably do is make a rule about raiding the FA pool on startup. I like the idea of only signing replacement-level players at that stage, since the CPU doesn't seem to really go after those guys aggressively (or at least not consistently across the league).