Unrealistic Events

[Tie Montana]

Hate to bring up this thread again, but... Pasta signs new deal 6 years $6,950,000 AAV. 6.95M for 4th best RW in game.

[Habsfan18]

It’s a bit of a crappy situation though. Because although it definitely looks unrealistic from an actual real-life NHL point of view when you consider the name, believe me when I say that you don’t really want the AI handing out 9, 10, 11, 12 million dollar mega contracts to all of these highly rated players. In my testing and playing experiences, that starts to make a mess of things for anyone who likes to play long-term. Essentially, you’ll have to start increasing the salary cap regularly because there simply won’t be enough cap space available league wide. 5 star players will end up sitting in free agency because teams won’t have the available cap space to sign them. They’ll either sit in free agency, sometimes for an entire season, or they’ll sign really cheaply overseas. And from an immersion and realism standpoint, we definitely don’t want that happening.

So it’s about finding a balance. Cap and salary related issues are very very difficult to get right in a manegement sim. So many factors have to go into play.

[Tie Montana]

Originally Posted by Habsfan18

It’s a bit of a crappy situation though. Because although it definitely looks unrealistic from an actual real-life NHL point of view when you consider the name, believe me when I say that you don’t really want the AI handing out 9, 10, 11, 12 million dollar mega contracts to all of these highly rated players. In my testing and playing experiences, that starts to make a mess of things for anyone who likes to play long-term. Essentially, you’ll have to start increasing the salary cap regularly because there simply won’t be enough cap space available league wide. 5 star players will end up sitting in free agency because teams won’t have the available cap space to sign them. They’ll either sit in free agency, sometimes for an entire season, or they’ll sign really cheaply overseas. And from an immersion and realism standpoint, we definitely don’t want that happening.

So it’s about finding a balance. Cap and salary related issues are very very difficult to get right in a manegement sim. So many factors have to go into play.

In same save Pierre-Luc Dubois is asking 7.2M AAV and he is not even close being top4 C in game. For me game is just unplayable if its this unrealistic.

[Savoie45]

Originally Posted by Tie Montana

In same save Pierre-Luc Dubois is asking 7.2M AAV and he is not even close being top4 C in game. For me game is just unplayable if its this unrealistic.

Well he's getting 6 million for this year in reality so it's really not that unrealistic. Pasta is getting a little over 6.5 for the year.

[Savoie45]

Originally Posted by Habsfan18

It’s a bit of a crappy situation though. Because although it definitely looks unrealistic from an actual real-life NHL point of view when you consider the name, believe me when I say that you don’t really want the AI handing out 9, 10, 11, 12 million dollar mega contracts to all of these highly rated players. In my testing and playing experiences, that starts to make a mess of things for anyone who likes to play long-term. Essentially, you’ll have to start increasing the salary cap regularly because there simply won’t be enough cap space available league wide. 5 star players will end up sitting in free agency because teams won’t have the available cap space to sign them. They’ll either sit in free agency, sometimes for an entire season, or they’ll sign really cheaply overseas. And from an immersion and realism standpoint, we definitely don’t want that happening.

So it’s about finding a balance. Cap and salary related issues are very very difficult to get right in a manegement sim. So many factors have to go into play.

Almost all sports sims struggle with roster management issues when it comes to the CPU. AI will never outsmart humans and likely never be as smart as humans would like it to be when it comes to video games.

[tomkmb]

I'd rather this and players end up on teams as opposed to last year where FA was just littered with star players. I mean, if I'm scrolling through my league and looking at stuff, I'm looking at what star players are doing and where they are doing it not really at how much they're being paid to do it.

I can understand if this is bothersome for you but if this makes the game unplayable then I'd love to know what sports sim out there you find playable because I play everything from Football Manager to OOTP to Draft Day Sports and they all have their quirks akin to this.

[Félicette]

For what it's worth he received around 8.0M AAV in my current save, so that depends. So far the game has handled contracts pretty well in my first game.

[Smetana]

Really not possible to judge these two particular signings without knowing what type of seasons DuBois and Pasta were having when they signed.

DuBois is making too much in RL, and if he had a good season, that raise is not out of the question.

Pastrnak had an off-year in 21-22 by all accounts but you could still argue he is underpaid in RL. If he continued to regress in your game, he might not get a huge raise.

Not saying the AI is perfect, we all know it's far from. Just playing devil's advocate on this specific situation.

[Habsfan18]

Originally Posted by tomkmb

I'd rather this and players end up on teams as opposed to last year where FA was just littered with star players. I mean, if I'm scrolling through my league and looking at stuff, I'm looking at what star players are doing and where they are doing it not really at how much their being paid to do it.

I can understand if this is bothersome for you but if this makes the game unplayable then I'd love to know what sports sim out there you find playable because I play everything from Football Manager to OOTP to Draft Day Sports and they all have their quirks akin to this.

That’s exactly it. There have been times in the past where you could sim a number of years and randomly stop on some random day in November only to see about 20 four and five star players sitting in free agency, some for multiple seasons. That is a situation that we need to try to avoid at all costs.

[Tie Montana]

Originally Posted by Savoie45

Well he's getting 6 million for this year in reality so it's really not that unrealistic. Pasta is getting a little over 6.5 for the year.

You missed the point. Again: Pasta and Dubois should not make same amount(ish) money. Pasta is 4th best player in game in his best position. Dubois is not.

[Savoie45]

Originally Posted by Tie Montana

You missed the point. Again: Pasta and Dubois should not make same amount(ish) money. Pasta is 4th best player in game in his best position. Dubois is not.

Shouldn't but do in the game and in reality.

[Tie Montana]

Originally Posted by tomkmb

I'd rather this and players end up on teams as opposed to last year where FA was just littered with star players. I mean, if I'm scrolling through my league and looking at stuff, I'm looking at what star players are doing and where they are doing it not really at how much they're being paid to do it.

I can understand if this is bothersome for you but if this makes the game unplayable then I'd love to know what sports sim out there you find playable because I play everything from Football Manager to OOTP to Draft Day Sports and they all have their quirks akin to this.

There is no salary cap in football manager so whats your point? Probably you can understand that if boston pays $7M for 4th best RW in game and my 2nd line C asks same amount something is not right. This is pretty huge deal in salary cap sports imo. Its called competitive advantage.

[Tie Montana]

Originally Posted by Savoie45

Shouldn't but do in the game and in reality.

We are talking about 2023-2024 season contracts. I bet they are not making same amount $ next season.

[Tie Montana]

Originally Posted by Smetana

Pastrnak had an off-year in 21-22 by all accounts but you could still argue he is underpaid in RL. If he continued to regress in your game, he might not get a huge raise.

40 goals "off year". That was funny

[tomkmb]

Originally Posted by Tie Montana

There is no salary cap in football manager so whats your point? Probably you can understand that if boston pays $7M for 4th best RW in game and my 2nd line C asks same amount something is not right. This is pretty huge deal in salary cap sports imo. Its called competitive advantage.

My point is that aligning every decision made by any games AI to match the wishes of a single person at any given time is an impossible task and one that you'll be waiting the rest of your life for.

Also, if you'd simmed 1000 seasons and this had happened every time it would be a stronger evidence base for concern for these sorts of issues.
This one instance has fixed a much larger issue(the aforementioned pile up of elite players in FA) without creating an issue of a similar magnitude(otherwise it wouldn't have made it out of testing), which in my books is a compromise I'm willing to make. If the Jets go on to suck because they can't flesh out their roster due to the higher PLD contract and Boston go on to pick up some guys with their extra cap room then I guess that's just the shape of the league in this dynamic fictional universe that is being generated for my enjoyment, not to predict a financially ethical version of a future reality.

[Tangerino]

You could also pretend hes taking a pay cut cause he wants to stay in Boston to help them win? idk but I understand what you're saying but I agree with the first commenter, it is very frustrating seeing 5star players sit in FA and not even sign a cheap contract somewhere or a 1 year 7m deal in the KHL somewhere so it's not perfect but just use a little imagination and it makes the situation a bit better

Also I know its extra work but if it bothers you why not just edit the contract in Comish mode to something you would think is more fair? Sure its more work but if it makes the game playable for you then it's probably worth the extra effort.

[Tangerino]

Originally Posted by tomkmb

My point is that aligning every decision made by any games AI to match the wishes of a single person at any given time is an impossible task and one that you'll be waiting the rest of your life for.

Also, if you'd simmed 1000 seasons and this had happened every time it would be a stronger evidence base for concern for these sorts of issues.
This one instance has fixed a much larger issue(the aforementioned pile up of elite players in FA) without creating an issue of a similar magnitude(otherwise it wouldn't have made it out of testing), which in my books is a compromise I'm willing to make. If the Jets go on to suck because they can't flesh out their roster due to the higher PLD contract and Boston go on to pick up some guys with their extra cap room then I guess that's just the shape of the league in this dynamic fictional universe that is being generated for my enjoyment, not to predict a financially ethical version of a future reality.

Well said

[Smetana]

Originally Posted by Tie Montana

40 goals "off year". That was funny

Those were the exact words Pastrnak used to describe his own season, in an interview. Take it up with him.

[belial1134]

I am planning on starting up a new season soon but I am curious if the whole 4.5-5.0 star players sitting in free agency for a season (or longer) is still an issue like it was in FHM8 or does it look to be better in FHM9? Thanks.

[Habsfan18]

Originally Posted by belial1134

I am planning on starting up a new season soon but I am curious if the whole 4.5-5.0 star players sitting in free agency for a season (or longer) is still an issue like it was in FHM8 or does it look to be better in FHM9? Thanks.

Still seeing some cases of high level free agents sitting in free agency. It’s not as bad as it once was, but more work is still needed.

Here is November 2030.

Thomas is coming off a 70 point season. Oettinger is one of the better goalies in the league. Kaliyev coming off an 86 point season..

Even with increasing the salary cap to 85 million, there still seems to be not a whole lot of available cap space league wide. I think this is still causing the long standing free agency issues. The league gets to a point where it simply does not have the available money for teams to sign these high level free agents.

Now, this is why I have no problem with guys like Pastrnak signing for close to 7 mill per rather than 9 or 10. If these guys sign massive deals that’ll make the issues even more prevalent.

It’s a tough thing to get just right. But for me, it just seems to boil down to the fact that too many teams spend right up to the cap and that leaves no available space for certain guys. So it means teams are spending, which is obviously good, but maybe we need to find a way to lower certain contract tiers or something so teams have a bit more in available funds. I guess the solution is to just keep increasing the cap, but that’s not ideal.