[rasnell]

I'm playing out each game in my first season and finding a whole series of problems which I hope will be patched soon because they are game and fun killers.

The worst example is the attached screen image. In a close game, ace pitcher Mike Scott was positioned at 3B by the AI and the closer was the catcher. Caminiti was at SS where he is rated 4 of 100 defensively. Worse, these two pitchers remained in the lineup as hitters throughout the entire game. There is no reason why the AI should have chosen them as position players -- not fatigue, not too many subs, not any reason at all.

In addition, my historical league is so full of fictional players that three of my stars are fakes (right off the bat in the first season of play). And I did not choose to fill the rosters with fictional players. I simply did the historical import and kept all default settings.

During the game, with the closer as a catcher and arm of 1 of 100, my 100 SB runner did not steal because he didn't want to challenge the catcher's arm, according to the PBP text.

The extraordinary depth of this game and an outstanding manual and game guide are remarkably to the credit of Markus and SI, but such huge lapses in basic game play, roster decisions, AI, and forcing fictional players in a historical league are equally extraordinary setbacks.

Yes, all new games need patches, but the two-year wait and so many excellent beta testers on the team would have seemed to have avoided a very troublesome start. Most bothersome is that the most essential elements of fun and game play are where the huge flaws are.