Developer Chat

Want to learn more about how the recent position player fatigue update will affect your teams in the future? Want to discuss what we have planned next? Want answers to specific SimLeague Baseball questions? Here's your chance.

how will this new Player Fatigue effect us, will there be settings that we can set on the players like we do our pitchers? and will this somewhat be a advantage near playoffs. (sidekicker - Hall of Famer - 6:59 PM)

The revamped position player fatigue will have a huge impact on SimLeague Baseball. You will truly be getting much closer to what you paid for in terms of plate appearances. Every player will be able to exceed his actual season's plate appearance total by 10% to make up for the increased offense often seen in leagues. In the Manager's Office, users will now be able to see the player's actual and league plate appearance count. Also, if the player is playing at a clip over his projected plate appearance total, you can hover over this fatigue to get the actual rate. Also, we expanded the Managerial Settings by breaking the Player Rest setting into two categories, when winning and when losing. This is long overdue and will provide more flexibility for the manager. In addition, as the manager you will now have the option to Rest a position player in addition to placing him on the bench. When rested, he will not appear in a game for any reason.

Currently, if a player played in say... 158 games with 600pa, he will be less than 100% if he is in a league with great offense, and gets more plate appearances per game than he got in his drafted season. Is there a point where players will not fatigue no matter how many PAs they get? Like 600-650? (eschwartz67 - Hall of Famer - 7:01 PM)

Position players will continue to fatigue down until zero where they will then be at the minimum levels in terms of fielding, running, and hitting. In leagues with enormous offense where players tend to get many more plate appearances than in real life, it is now important to draft bench players or use AAA players in order to save some of the position player's plate appearances. This is now similar to the pitching staff where handing the staff and managing pitch counts plays such a large role.

When the new ballpark effects were announced a few months back, you posted in the forum that Petco would remain nuetral until 3 real life seasons had been played there, to allow a more realistic sampling of the data. Why was it decided to go ahead and use the 1 real life season results anyway? (olddumbguy - Hall of Famer - 7:02 PM)

I actually posted a response to this in one of the forum threads today. Check it out here.

Tzent, If Olddumbguy is correct in his assumption, this could prove to be quite the windfall for a few desperate to exploit the Sim for every glitch . You get the idea. Can you comment on this also, the ballpark effects for Petco. thank you (tarzan - Hall of Famer - 7:04 PM)

We don't view this as a glitch at all, simply another strategic option. Anyone creating a team views the park effects, so they know it's an option for both them and their opponents. If you check out the current ballpark effects for the 2005 season, Petco is playing very similarly to last season.

Almost every current "cookie" has outstanding defense. Fielding _may_ be as bad as a C, but range is almost never below an A. This isn't terribly surprising given the positive benefits that defense has not only in preventing runs but also in keeping low pitch counts which allows teams to skimp on drafting quality pitching innings. Is there any thought to changing the price of defense when calculating player salaries? (kujayhawk - Hall of Famer - 7:08 PM)

Most definitely. When the salaries were updated the last time, we didn't take defense into enough account. We have lots going on in terms of the next pricing update. We plan on ballpark adjusting every player season so his original ballpark is taken into consideration when generating the stats we use for game simulation. This will remove the double accounting issue that so many players enjoy or suffer through and be reflected in the re-pricing. In addition, normalization will be a part of the equation. This repricing will indicate that the 1920 Babe Ruth seasons outperform the 2000 Barry Bonds seasons. We won't be giving users an easy way to win, but we will price the players more in line with how they perform in the sim.

What factors are used in order to determine results of stolen base attempts? Is it nothing but the stolen base record of the runner? Is there any input involving any defensive players? (Extract - Hall of Famer - 7:10 PM)

Stolen base success is based on a variety of things. First off, we don't have catcher stolen base numbers or pitcher stolen base numbers yet, so they aren't involved in the outcome. The runner's stolen base percentage is used as well as a factor for which side the pitcher throws from and what base is being stolen (i.e. it's more difficult to steal 2B on a LHP than a RHP).

How soon can we expect to see catcher's CS avg/rating added to the sim? (olddumbguy - Hall of Famer - 7:13 PM)

For some seasons, the data is already available. When we develop our Baseball Dynasty product, we will be incorporating this info into the simulation for the fictitious players. After it has been tested, we will gather as much CS/SBA info for catchers as is available and use it for those players. For the players that don't have it available, we will come up with a team-specific value for catchers. This will be an improvement over the current system.

Is fielding normalized for era? Is a 35-error SS from the 1890s as error-prone as a 35-error SS from 1940? (bkoron - Prospect - 7:13 PM)

Fielding is currently normalized by era. However, we plan on improving this at some point to be normalized to season.

Do you rate baserunners on SB FREQUENCY as well as CS%? Catchers should really have an ability to INTIMIDATE runners from stealing. (bkoron - Prospect - 7:14 PM)

When the data is available, we will definitely work this in. Pudge will be stolen on less because he would have appeared in a bunch of games at catcher and saw less SBA attempts than his counterparts across the league.

Are there any plans for fielding options for specific situations? (bbplyr1 - Rookie - 7:15 PM)

We plan on expanding the settings for our Baseball Dynasty game. If they work out well and adding them to SimLeague Baseball makes sense and doesn't turn off our casual users, then we will problably add them.

How much do parks really affect players. (tvenner16 - All-Star - 7:17 PM)

Park effects play a significant role in the simulation. How significant depends on the park itself. As mentioned earlier, we will ballpark adjust players in the future to eliminate the double bonus for hitters such as Dante Bichette and Todd Helton at Coors Field and Jake Peavy at Petco.

any plans for a baseball dynasty? Warriorsrise (warriorsrise - Hall of Famer - 7:24 PM)

The development began last week. As an overview, it is geared to be as realistic a baseball simulation as can be from the low level Rookie Leagues to the Big Leagues. Users will be in charge of controlling an entire franchise and will be involved in drafting players in the Amateur Draft, negotiating with free-agents, in charge of player promotions/demotions/waiver claims/disabled lists and much, much more. Managerial settings will be greatly expanded as well as the play-by-play. All players will be fictitious and have a wide variety of ratings. Player Development will play a huge role. Deciding when to promote a player will be a tough decision involving option years, age, confidence, etc. Each world will rollover at the end of the season so users will have the option of remaining with their franchise. Eventually, we will introduce worlds where you must have a certain rating to join. Also, we will offer private worlds so you can play with your friends.

I notice some adjustments to player fatigue factors after the 5/16 PM games were simmed. In my case, all the adjustments reduced fatigue, eg. one of my players went from 96% to 100%. So clearly some part of the fatigue factor changes are immediately effective, although the forum discussion said only leagues formed after 5/16 would be affected. So my question is , what is immediately effective and what is not ? Tegesta. (tegesta - All-Star - 7:26 PM)

Players have their fatigue values rise even using the old fatigue system (which is the case for any league that began prior to 5/16). If he went from 96 to 100, it was probably due to his overall numbers averaging out as it did in the old system. Please send a support ticket if you believe otherwise.

Has any consideration been given to removing normalization? (silverpaw - Hall of Famer - 7:31 PM)

No. It's been in existence for a couple years now and we view it as the best way to simulate games involving players from different seasons We have considered creating a theme league option that would turn off player normalization for individual leagues. We think Babe Ruth should be superior in the sim because he obliterated the league average. We think Bob Gibson's 1968 season is less impressive when considering how the entire league pitched that season. To us, this is a critical piece of our simulations. An argument can be made that Ruth wouldn't be as impressive in today's game, but we go by stats rather than opinion. The use of normaliziation is definitely a topic often debated and we always read the posts in the forum threads. Most of which are usually well thought-out and interesting.

TZ, you said you would incorporate catcher's CS% for Baseball Dynasty. When can we exspect to see it in regular Simleagues? (ozomatli - Hall of Famer - 7:32 PM)

Sometime after the rollout of Baseball Dynasty. We don't currently have a firm release date for the Dynasty game so we can't say when it will be in SimLeague Baseball.

What percentage do the +1/-1 park effects increase/ decrease hitting? Is a -1 for singles a different % decrease than a -1 for HR? (dontrellew - All-Star - 7:33 PM)

Each factor is rated differently so a +1 in doubles does mean something different than a +1 in triples.

I have played in one or two leagues with you before...You didn't do very well despite your extra knowledge...what's your excuse? (silverpaw - Hall of Famer - 7:34 PM)

I suck. I watched too many Reds' games managed by Bob Boone.

Will there ever be any WIS created theme leagues? i.e. 120 mil open leagues (silverpaw - Hall of Famer - 7:35 PM)

We have a Developer league that isn't quite full as I type this. Every employee at WIS is in the league. I'm the league author if you look at the Available Theme Leagues page.

Has there been any consideration given to making ballparks cost money? (silverpaw - Hall of Famer - 7:36 PM)

It will definitely be part of our Dynasty game and will probably be part of SimLeagues at some point. Personally, I think It makes a great deal of sense to do so.

TZ, how do people get promotional codes? (ericgagne - Prospect - 7:38 PM)

Promotional Codes are often part of our marketing arsenal. They are sometimes given out over the radio and other times in emails. They usually offer a credit or a free team.

bob Gibson's 1968 season was still adjusted to era+ 258. I hope earlier you are not planning on penalizing him since the perception was that 68 was a pitchers year. He still had an ERA of 1.12 when the league average was 2.90. (thethrill10 - Hall of Famer - 7:40 PM)

His numbers are still fantastic even after normalization is brought into play. His season always comes to mind in terms of stellar stats from a notably slanted season.

Kind of off topic but: How can someone become a beta tester for the New Baseball Dynasty? (ozomatli - Hall of Famer - 7:42 PM)

When we get to a point where we need beta testers, we will post info in the forums. If you're interested, you will certainly be invited.

Has any consideration been given to a market based system where the more a player is used the higher his price goes? (silverpaw - Hall of Famer - 7:42 PM)

It's been considered but not something in the plans. It would definitely be interesting. Most users could probably rattle off who the top 50 players would be in terms of usage.

When do you guys plan on raising 1886 Abner Powell's salary to where it should probably be? Or do you intend to leave his salary where it is? (ozomatli - Hall of Famer - 7:44 PM)

I wasn't aware it was mispriced. Could you please sent a customer support ticket? Thanks.

Something I've mentioned before, but maybe I'm the only one who cares - any chance the Sim game narrative could be expanded to identify the fielder position connected to + and - plays? It would definitely give us all a better handle on what defense is either doing or not doing for us. Thanks. (lx88aod - Newbie - 7:45 PM)

Certainly. When we expand and improve our play-by-play, we'll definitely note this info.

Are lost home runs currently turned into doubles? (silverpaw - Hall of Famer - 7:46 PM)

Yes. Although, not at the ridiculous rate they were for a week last month. This should be apparent when viewing player's slugging percentages. As they lose homers to certain pitchers, the hit is often turned into a double or a triple (depending on the player's stats).

I've seen several "ground outs to CF (+)" Is that the CFer or the SS/2B? (silverpaw - Hall of Famer - 7:48 PM)

This is always the 2B or the SS or the pitcher.

TZ, how do you you make a link to your forums in the available theme leagues page: i noticed only one or two had links, and do not know how to make one. (ericgagne - Prospect - 7:48 PM)

This is currently not available. The intitial concept of automatically generating a Theme League Classified thread after creating a Theme League using the wizard didn't go over too well. We are still debating if we plan on bringing it back in some form.

Is there a specific reason some players (1988 Kirby Puckett for one) consistently overperform in leagues? Or is it just dumb luck? (ozomatli - Hall of Famer - 7:49 PM)

It could be dumb luck or it could be due to how he performed compared to his league average. Off the top of my head, I'm not sure how his season compares to the league average.

Any chance on collecting and showing "split " data for hitters, eg how they do against rh and lh pitchers ? Same thing for home and away data . Tegesta (tegesta - All-Star - 7:52 PM)

Yes, it's on our growing list of things to add. A few other items: League Salary Breakdown (each team in the league and how much their payroll is for the entire team, active roster, minor leagues, position players, lineup, bench, pitching staff, starting rotation, bullpen). League Ballpark List (after the schedule is posted and throughout the season, this page will display each team in the league's home ballpark as well as stats and park factor associated with each park). Trading Needs section in the Trading Block page so owners can announce what it is they are looking for (power hitting 1B, speedy bench player, etc.)

Can we ever expect a greater variety of open leagues? Some DH, some different cap, some for beginners, etc.? (silverpaw - Hall of Famer - 7:53 PM)

I'll never say never, but the thought is that we want Open Leagues to remain the default and any variation to be a Theme League. For new users, we think this is the clearest setup.

The search engine for Forums is not very good..or I don't know how to use it. Have you ever looked at that? (tegesta - All-Star - 7:54 PM)

Our forums will be completely rewritten in the coming months and will be greatly improved. I would imagine the search feature would be part of the improvements.

im starting a lg, but have drafted based on old fatigue ... is it ok to draft 450-600 at-bats for every player, with one utility guy and AAA? also, is it ok to have a staff w/ 1486 innings, but only 4 bullpen guys and 4 starters? (ericgagne - Prospect - 7:57 PM)

For position players, be prepared to rest your starters down the stretch so they have enough juice for the playoffs. Teams in tight races will be at a disadvantage to those teams that have run away with it because they won't be able to rest their starters as much. Every player can go beyond his actual PA total (prorated to 162 games) by 10%. You can monitor this rate in the Manager's Office.

That's it everyone. Thanks for participating and for all the good questions. We'll do this again next month.