Having wrapped up another regular season and with the WPK universe really starting to take on shape and texture for me, there are a few thoughts I've been having, which I will share here in divinity/gamer perspective.
1) Despite how frustrating it sometimes was, despite the ultimate disappointment, I'm glad the Brewers finished in second place this year and didn't claim a fourth straight MGL pennant. As I've mentioned here before, several times, (and probably will again many, many more times in the future), I would consider it a failure if the Brewers became too dominant. I realize that for many OOTP gamers the point of the game is to build a team into a position of dominance. And I get that. There is a challenge in it and certainly a pay off. (Emotionally, intellectually, etc.) And I've done that before (taking over the Colorado Rockies from inaugural season and turning them into a 125-win season force). But if that ever happened with the Brewers I fear I would lose interest. (Or, more likely, find a way to tear it all down and start again.) I am concerned enough that the Brewers have the best career win-loss record in the MGL and third best in the WPK.
2) I'm thrilled to see the perennial bottom-feeder Charlotte Sting team win the MGL and finish with the most wins in the WPK! Much of what has gone right in this save is that some more dominant teams have emerged (Columbus Whalers, Jacksonville Wolf Pack, especially) and some very weak organizations already developing a reputation for futility have emerged- El Paso Dawgs, Detroit Falcons- I'm looking at you. But it's also great to see that in this league one can move from the latter into the realm of the former. And that is exactly what the Sting did this season.
3) Unlike many who play OOTP in fictional league mode, I did not set up the league and then sim forward a chunk of years to establish a history and let talent distribution sort itself out a bit. I jumped right in with day 1, and I haven't regretted it a bit. And so far (knock on wood) one thing I am happy about is that talent distribution seems very realistic. There is a nice mix of superstars, but nobody that really pushes the envelop of believability. Stars have risen and then subsequently fallen, mediocre players have suddenly produced an All-Star season, solid contributors have put up good numbers year after year, never rising to the level of future HOF's but looking very much like one of those players who will be the source of HOF debates for years to come (think the Al Oliver's or Lou Whitaker's of the WPK). And yes, there are some likely HOF's, but even then well within the parameters of what a baseball universe should look like.
4) Yearly statistical leaders also fall well within expected norms. Maybe a bit too much as there have been few outliers, especially when it comes to offensive production. But we are only 8 seasons in, so that is probably a good thing. Granted, things have been a bit more skewed to pitching and defense thus far, but that is also a product of starting the league in 1965 and mirroring MLB realities of that time period. But even in pitching, no 30-game winners (or 30-game losers), no 300 K in a season pitchers, no 50 save seasons, etc. When the extreme does happen, and I'm sure in time it will, it will have meaning.
5) With the shift to OOTP 20 one thing that has changed is how the minor league teams are populated on the AI-run teams (any team not the Brewers, that is). I have always allowed ghost players for simplicity sake and to avoid having to deal with any shortages of players. And for many seasons now this has practically meant that most AI run minor league teams have far too few actual players on their roster and a whole lotta minor league talent sits around on the free agent list. Meanwhile, I've chosen to always keep my minor leagues fully stocked and more and more I have taken control of those rosters. This imbalance has annoyed me a bit but wasn't a deal breaker. I just accepted it. Then OOTP 20 came along and suddenly every organization is keeping their minor league teams fully stocked. Great! Except suddenly when I need to fill a gap in my organization late in a season by signing a minor league free agent there are almost no players there. Everybody (almost) is playing somewhere. Great for them, not always so great for me. So the next amateur draft has been boosted to 30 rounds (instead of 25) and with enough players for 31 rounds (I forgot to factor in a supplemental first round when I first set up this league.) And I'm seriously thinking about adding a small independent league to give some free agents another place to play.
I guess that's it for now. I really had no idea what I was doing when I first set up this fictional league. When I first started it I was pretty brand new to OOTP and although I had played my Rockies save for a while, this was my first foray into the fictional side of things. And partly because of that I (in hindsight, wisely) kept things pretty simple and mostly went with default settings. Although I slowly add in more as I go along, I am very happy with how this approach has worked out. I love this league more and more and expect to be playing it for many, many years to come.
And I thank you for following along and making it even more interesting for me with your feedback.
