Rules for Realism?

[RoyalsRetro]

Hello, I just played with the demo version and I think I'm ready to make the plunge and buy Baseball Mogul. I'm interested in a realistic experience, not winning ten straight pennants. I was wondering if anyone could recommend some ground rules to limit myself in making moves to make the game more realistic. For example, in my demo I was able to trade Kevin Seitzer to the Twins for Jeff Reardon and Roy Smalley, even though the Twins were in a pennant race and they had just signed Reardon the previous winter. That didn't seem quite that realistic to me. Also some of the trade proposals other teams made didn't seem quite that realistic.

Anyone have good rules to limit myself? Or should I just go by "if it seems unrealistic, don't do it?" Any other steps I should take to go for more realism? Thanks.

[etothep]

Hello, I just played with the demo version and I think I'm ready to make the plunge and buy Baseball Mogul. I'm interested in a realistic experience, not winning ten straight pennants. I was wondering if anyone could recommend some ground rules to limit myself in making moves to make the game more realistic. For example, in my demo I was able to trade Kevin Seitzer to the Twins for Jeff Reardon and Roy Smalley, even though the Twins were in a pennant race and they had just signed Reardon the previous winter. That didn't seem quite that realistic to me. Also some of the trade proposals other teams made didn't seem quite that realistic.

Anyone have good rules to limit myself? Or should I just go by "if it seems unrealistic, don't do it?" Any other steps I should take to go for more realism? Thanks.

a good rule of thumb is that if it doesnt look realistic then dont do it....no trading 8 mediocre players for a stud

also i try to limit the amount of trades i make w/in my own leage & rarely trade w/in my own division

also, dont exploit the loopholes in signing players


and instead of getting bm08, you may want to just wait a few weeks for bm09 to come out

[Chin Music]

I add the following "house rules":

1) No signing other team's drafted players until the following season at a minimum;
2) No more than 5 million added to a trade (I think I read somewhere that MLB must approve any trade that involves over 5 million... maybe its less);
3) No more than a three player differential on a trade (i.e. 5 players for 2 players trade);
4) No trades for cash... ever;
5) NO "cheating" the AI with the player option in the re-signing;
6) No signing of players I released during Free Agent negotiations (When your team has over 100 million in cash you''ll see how this can be advantageous);
7) I only sign Free Agents that have a better than low interest in signing with me.

[RoyalsRetro]

Great stuff Chin Music.

How is the AI for transactions made between two other teams? Do they tend to make realistic moves or will I be upset when one of my rivals rips off another team?

[CatKnight]

It's not AS bad. AI to AI there is the occasional odd looking deal, but nothing close to what a human player can do.

For some good house rules hop over to the dynasties subforum and look around. Most people post theirs within the first 2 or 3 messages on their thread.

Personally I only use the trading block - put up who I want, let the AI offer who it thinks is fair, and choose. Those deals tend to be a little closer to even. I don't modify trading block deals further except to balance cash - if I don't like what the AI is telling me, it doesn't happen.

Ditto for computer offers. If I want who they're offering I can balance cash, but can't change players.

Free agency is a big one for realism as you could theoretically sign everyone before the computer can even react. I use a variant on OldFatGuy's system to determine who I can talk to, and how many I can go after. You can find a link to his rules (and my other house rules) on the second message of my Royals dynasty (link to that in my signature.)

I think ohmslaw said it pretty well in another thread: The game's AI actually isn't that bad. It is perfectly capable of evaluating players. Where it falters is situational awareness - in other words, is it making a playoff run (like your Twins) and really needs to keep the players they have? Or can they afford to let their bench develop and dump payroll? (Etcetera)

[Chin Music]

I haven't really noticed major trades between the AI that made me question the integrity of the game. They may occassionally seem stupid to me, but not unfair or "gamey". By the way, Seitzer becomes a **** good player with solid numbers so that trade didn't make me scratch my head much. If you would have been able to play out the demo a bit, Seitzer may have developed to a 90-91 3rd baseman. Not bad.

[boomboom]

I would really wait a few weeks for BM2k9...hold off on buying 2k8 unless you are planning on buying both. 2k8 is coming up on its first birthday. After the first B-Day, support ends. Actually that last official patch was 10.31.