No Minors or Feeder League—How Do You Stock A League?

chucksabr · 10-07-2013, 12:16 AM

For the league I am thinking of creating, I do not want to have any minors or feeder leagues, because it will become just too big and unwieldy, and I don't care what happens on the field down there enough to put it into an almanac anyway. Instead, I may just go with a reserve roster.

My main question is, do you need to concern yourself with a scouting and player development budget when you go the reserve roster route? IOW, does the game still have scouts beating the bushes looking for good player to stock in the reserves for the various teams? Or does the game just create fictional players of all stripes to stock the reserves without regard to what it might cost? Seems as though franchises would end being random crapshoots if none of them had a development or scouting budget, and that there should be qualitative differences between ho teams find and develop young talent based on how much they invest in it. Or isn't there?

Also, is there a noticeable difference in the quality of a league using only a reserve system versus a league using a minors/feeder league system? Not just quality of play, but quality of franchise management?

chucksabr · 10-09-2013, 08:42 PM

eriqjaffe · 10-10-2013, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chucksabr

IOW, does the game still have scouts beating the bushes looking for good player to stock in the reserves for the various teams? Or does the game just create fictional players of all stripes to stock the reserves without regard to what it might cost?

The reserve rosters won't stock themselves, you still have to go out and sign/draft players.

I know you can have the game auto-fill minors with fictional players, but it's something you have to specifically tell the game to do and it's a one-time thing. I'm not sure if you can do that with reserve rosters or not, though.

David Watts · 10-10-2013, 12:21 PM

The reserve roster is stocked during the inaugural draft based on how many rounds your draft is and whether or not you use budgets. From that point on, you(and the AI) fill rosters through drafts, trades, free agent signings etc. Players develop just as they do when using minors, but you won't have any stats to use as a guide to their development. You will strictly have to go by ratings. I never play with scouts or coaches, so I can't answer anything in regards to scouting budgets. I do recommend you set a reserve roster limit for your league. I usually set somewhere between 25 or 30, but I've heard of people setting it lower. The reason you want this is to make sure teams don't hoard talent.

jaysdailydose · 10-10-2013, 02:11 PM

David answered most of it, and I can take a rip at the rest...

You could play with scouting off, but that takes a way a lot of what the game is supposed to represent for me. If you play with scouts off, all the ratings you are presented with will be 100% accurate unless you turn the ratings off as well. (A fair amount of people play the "stats-only" way, but I wouldn't advise this for a reserve roster as your players do not play minor league games on a reserve roster to accrue stats which would be your only way of seeing their talent.)

As far as player development, yes, you pretty much always have to use your development budget, as your players do develop on the reserve roster even if you don't have game stats to look at. Teams that spend more on development will generally do better at developing prospects, obviously...

Quote:

Also, is there a noticeable difference in the quality of a league using only a reserve system versus a league using a minors/feeder league system? Not just quality of play, but quality of franchise management?

Not really sure what you're asking here... do you mean talent level and then how the AI manages the talent they have? As already stated, the players will still develop on a reserve roster even though they aren't technically playing games -- so the league's talent level in this case would be determined by the generated draft classes, which will be set by the player creation modifiers and other strategic settings for your league.

I personally think that the AI manages their organizations in a better way with minor leagues as you can see how they order their systems and the like -- but if you are only worried about what happens on the field in the majors (you say you don't care about the on-field of the lower leagues), you shouldn't notice any real differences, no.

Not sure if I answered what you were looking for, but I think I hit the heart of what you were looking for, at least.

Bluenoser · 10-10-2013, 02:34 PM

The affect of pouring money into player development is so minimal that you'll hardly notice it. From what Markus said on it when it was first introduced to OOTP - otherwise it could be used as an easy cheat against the AI.

I just disable it myself so everyone is on a level playing field.

jaysdailydose · 10-10-2013, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluenoser

The affect of pouring money into player development is so minimal that you'll hardly notice it. From what Markus said on it when it was first introduced to OOTP - otherwise it could be used as an easy cheat against the AI.

I just disable it myself so everyone is on a level playing field.

I don't know if it has received much work since he made that statement, but I find it definitely plays a fun part -- especially when you have a good financial setup.

I definitely see more guys make it through the minors in a solid, productive pattern with the teams that spend more -- and see more flameouts and the like when seeing teams that don't spend.

Pretty much all of my leagues use strictly the development engine and never recalc, and I find its an extra layer as long as you aren't actively trying to exploit. I must admit, I generally play smaller markets, though.

chucksabr · 10-12-2013, 06:41 PM

Thanks for the replies.

I will be creating a world in which there are no minor league farm systems for teams, and there will also be no feeder leagues, at least not any overt leagues in the game I am playing. Plus, I am playing the game strictly as commissioner, or more like God. I will create the parameters around financials, and the teams will have free will to evolve how they want. I will manually manage the team's stadium situations along the way.

I think you correctly understood the question I asked, Jay (?). I wanted to know whether, if players develop implicitly through a reserve system versus explicitly through a minor or feeder league the AI actively manages, would there be a qualitative difference at the major league level? Sounds like the answer is no difference, so I don't have to clutter up my disk drive with developmental leagues that I don't care one iota about.

10-07-2013, 12:16 AM	#1
chucksabr Hall Of Famer Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: In the canyons of your mind Posts: 3,194	No Minors or Feeder League—How Do You Stock A League? For the league I am thinking of creating, I do not want to have any minors or feeder leagues, because it will become just too big and unwieldy, and I don't care what happens on the field down there enough to put it into an almanac anyway. Instead, I may just go with a reserve roster. My main question is, do you need to concern yourself with a scouting and player development budget when you go the reserve roster route? IOW, does the game still have scouts beating the bushes looking for good player to stock in the reserves for the various teams? Or does the game just create fictional players of all stripes to stock the reserves without regard to what it might cost? Seems as though franchises would end being random crapshoots if none of them had a development or scouting budget, and that there should be qualitative differences between ho teams find and develop young talent based on how much they invest in it. Or isn't there? Also, is there a noticeable difference in the quality of a league using only a reserve system versus a league using a minors/feeder league system? Not just quality of play, but quality of franchise management? __________________ The (English) Baseball League (est. 1888): A History The 1932 Season is Underway Dynasty Mission \| Creation Story \| Subscribe 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 (Great War Hiatus) 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 The OOTP Interview about the Baseball League Last edited by chucksabr; 10-07-2013 at 08:26 AM.

10-09-2013, 08:42 PM	#2
chucksabr Hall Of Famer Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: In the canyons of your mind Posts: 3,194	__________________ The (English) Baseball League (est. 1888): A History The 1932 Season is Underway Dynasty Mission \| Creation Story \| Subscribe 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 (Great War Hiatus) 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 The OOTP Interview about the Baseball League

10-12-2013, 06:41 PM	#8
chucksabr Hall Of Famer Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: In the canyons of your mind Posts: 3,194	Thanks for the replies. I will be creating a world in which there are no minor league farm systems for teams, and there will also be no feeder leagues, at least not any overt leagues in the game I am playing. Plus, I am playing the game strictly as commissioner, or more like God. I will create the parameters around financials, and the teams will have free will to evolve how they want. I will manually manage the team's stadium situations along the way. I think you correctly understood the question I asked, Jay (?). I wanted to know whether, if players develop implicitly through a reserve system versus explicitly through a minor or feeder league the AI actively manages, would there be a qualitative difference at the major league level? Sounds like the answer is no difference, so I don't have to clutter up my disk drive with developmental leagues that I don't care one iota about. __________________ The (English) Baseball League (est. 1888): A History The 1932 Season is Underway Dynasty Mission \| Creation Story \| Subscribe 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 (Great War Hiatus) 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 The OOTP Interview about the Baseball League

10-10-2013, 12:21 PM	#4
David Watts Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Looking for a place called Leehofooks Posts: 10,092 Infractions: 0/1 (1)	The reserve roster is stocked during the inaugural draft based on how many rounds your draft is and whether or not you use budgets. From that point on, you(and the AI) fill rosters through drafts, trades, free agent signings etc. Players develop just as they do when using minors, but you won't have any stats to use as a guide to their development. You will strictly have to go by ratings. I never play with scouts or coaches, so I can't answer anything in regards to scouting budgets. I do recommend you set a reserve roster limit for your league. I usually set somewhere between 25 or 30, but I've heard of people setting it lower. The reason you want this is to make sure teams don't hoard talent.

10-10-2013, 02:34 PM	#6
Bluenoser Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: In The Moment Posts: 14,426	The affect of pouring money into player development is so minimal that you'll hardly notice it. From what Markus said on it when it was first introduced to OOTP - otherwise it could be used as an easy cheat against the AI. I just disable it myself so everyone is on a level playing field.