Garcia's Blog 8/28/14- Max Rules recap
Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2014 3:43 pmHey guys,
Before I start I want to mention that the 2014 Players Championship is looking for fillers to join their Event 2 league. It’s a 24 team league, $60 million, 2013 unleased, no DH, 10% drop penalty. If interested, you can join the league using League name "PC2014 Event 2 League 5" and password "PC2014".
In the past few weeks I've talked about how we were able to help theme leagues who wanted special drafts (such as leagues who wanted to draft one team at a time or who had keepers from one league to the next). Since then we've had a number of leagues write in and request special types of drafts for their league and each one has gone off without a hitch. For other leagues that are planning or wish to plan something similar, please make sure to let us know and we should be able to help you out!
Earlier this week we had a veteran gamer asking if we use Baserunning 'Max' Rules where the runner can take an extra base even for SINGLE * and DOUBLE ** readings. Yes, we do. A number of rules exist in Baseball Online would are not available for the board game that many people are used to. You can find a full list of max rules used at the bottom of the following link: http://onlinegames.strat-o-matic.com/help/hittercard. I've copied the list below for everyone as well.
MAXIMUM RULES
Some rules have been added to Strat-O-Matic Baseball Online that improve upon minor limitations of the original board game. These 'maximum rules' could affect about 5% of all results and are listed below.
Bunt for Base Hit -- This will allow a player to try and bunt for a base hit when the bases are empty. The players ability to reach base safely on this bunt is affected by a number of factors including his bunting ability, his speed and the position of the infield defense.
Improve out distribution -- This overrides some of the default outs assigned by the board game for a more realistic distribution of outs. For example, ballpark chart outs can become fly outs, pop outs, ground outs, etc. instead of just lineouts. This also causes foul outs to be distributed amongst other players including second baseman and short stops.
Improve baserunning realism -- This can alter the location of base hits for more realistic baserunning results. In addition using this will allow for more baserunning realism including a few additional coaching decisions such as deciding whether or not to send a runner home on certain ground balls.
Home field advantage -- This forces a statistical advantage of approximately 10 points (.010) on the batting average for the home team. This is the traditional major league difference between batting averages at home and on the road.
More baserunning decisions -- This allows for more baserunning decisions because it does not follow the board game rules for baserunning. The computer manager decides to send a runner from first to third on a Single* or a Single** reading. In the board game Single* means a single with runners advancing one base and Single** means a single with runners advancing two bases (it is automatic in both cases, no option exists). This also allows certain base hits to be stretched. For instance, some singles will have an option to be stretched into a double, some doubles to triples and some triples to inside the park homeruns!
Realistic throwing errors -- Throwing errors by outfielders can be committed on throws.
Allow extra pre-1920 errors -- Before 1920 fielding errors were much more prevelant than they are today. There were sometimes as many as 12 errors committed per game, quite an extraordinary number by today's standards. Due to these extremes we have normalized the pre-1920 teams to 1920 levels which will keep the number of errors under control (this makes for a faster playing game that might be preferred by some). However, for realism sake this allows these teams to commit errors at their historical rate.
Pitch-Around option -- This strategy will cut the offensive player's power and batting average down dramatically. However, using this strategy will also dramatically increase the chances that you will walk the batter. The pitch around strategy is only used from the 7th inning on when there are 2 outs, first base is open and the tying or go-ahead run is on base or at bat.
Correct Board Game Excesses -- This improves overall statistical accuracy by adjusting for minor variances that cannot be accounted for in the board game. This improves the statistical accuracy of certain players who had extreme performances. For instance certain pitchers such as Greg Maddux allow very few walks. Using this will enable Maddux to duplicate his real-life dominance in this area. A number of categories are affected by this option including home runs, walks and strikeouts. Also pitchers hitting will be affected by using this, resulting in less walks and extra base hits by pitchers.
Pitch-Count Fatigue -- The pitcher's condition is listed on the right of the play-by-play as a number from F9 through F0. F9 means that he is operating on all cylinders whereas F0 indicates that he has nothing left in the tank. Normally pitchers start their appearance as a 9 and maintain that level until they start to approach their pitch count. The lower the number goes the worse the pitcher will perform. When a pitcher's condition drops below F9 he starts to give up more singles, doubles, triples, home runs and walks. If a pitcher's condition drops to level F0 he will continue to fatigue the longer he stays in the game. His condition rating will remain displayed as F0, but he will start to give up more and more hits and walks if you leave him in the game.
Even using these, some are still tied to the original board game rules. For example, you may not see a gradual decline of a pitcher's fatigue level. Occasionally you may see a pitcher's fatigue drop sharply after allowing 3 hits or walks in their 'fatigue inning' listed as their endurance. This is similar to the board game rule on how pitcher's fatigue works.
That's all I have for this week. If anyone has any questions, as always, we encourage you to e-mail us at onlinegamesupport@strat-o-matic.com. Enjoy your Labor Day vacation on Monday and talk to you all next Friday!
-John
Before I start I want to mention that the 2014 Players Championship is looking for fillers to join their Event 2 league. It’s a 24 team league, $60 million, 2013 unleased, no DH, 10% drop penalty. If interested, you can join the league using League name "PC2014 Event 2 League 5" and password "PC2014".
In the past few weeks I've talked about how we were able to help theme leagues who wanted special drafts (such as leagues who wanted to draft one team at a time or who had keepers from one league to the next). Since then we've had a number of leagues write in and request special types of drafts for their league and each one has gone off without a hitch. For other leagues that are planning or wish to plan something similar, please make sure to let us know and we should be able to help you out!
Earlier this week we had a veteran gamer asking if we use Baserunning 'Max' Rules where the runner can take an extra base even for SINGLE * and DOUBLE ** readings. Yes, we do. A number of rules exist in Baseball Online would are not available for the board game that many people are used to. You can find a full list of max rules used at the bottom of the following link: http://onlinegames.strat-o-matic.com/help/hittercard. I've copied the list below for everyone as well.
MAXIMUM RULES
Some rules have been added to Strat-O-Matic Baseball Online that improve upon minor limitations of the original board game. These 'maximum rules' could affect about 5% of all results and are listed below.
Bunt for Base Hit -- This will allow a player to try and bunt for a base hit when the bases are empty. The players ability to reach base safely on this bunt is affected by a number of factors including his bunting ability, his speed and the position of the infield defense.
Improve out distribution -- This overrides some of the default outs assigned by the board game for a more realistic distribution of outs. For example, ballpark chart outs can become fly outs, pop outs, ground outs, etc. instead of just lineouts. This also causes foul outs to be distributed amongst other players including second baseman and short stops.
Improve baserunning realism -- This can alter the location of base hits for more realistic baserunning results. In addition using this will allow for more baserunning realism including a few additional coaching decisions such as deciding whether or not to send a runner home on certain ground balls.
Home field advantage -- This forces a statistical advantage of approximately 10 points (.010) on the batting average for the home team. This is the traditional major league difference between batting averages at home and on the road.
More baserunning decisions -- This allows for more baserunning decisions because it does not follow the board game rules for baserunning. The computer manager decides to send a runner from first to third on a Single* or a Single** reading. In the board game Single* means a single with runners advancing one base and Single** means a single with runners advancing two bases (it is automatic in both cases, no option exists). This also allows certain base hits to be stretched. For instance, some singles will have an option to be stretched into a double, some doubles to triples and some triples to inside the park homeruns!
Realistic throwing errors -- Throwing errors by outfielders can be committed on throws.
Allow extra pre-1920 errors -- Before 1920 fielding errors were much more prevelant than they are today. There were sometimes as many as 12 errors committed per game, quite an extraordinary number by today's standards. Due to these extremes we have normalized the pre-1920 teams to 1920 levels which will keep the number of errors under control (this makes for a faster playing game that might be preferred by some). However, for realism sake this allows these teams to commit errors at their historical rate.
Pitch-Around option -- This strategy will cut the offensive player's power and batting average down dramatically. However, using this strategy will also dramatically increase the chances that you will walk the batter. The pitch around strategy is only used from the 7th inning on when there are 2 outs, first base is open and the tying or go-ahead run is on base or at bat.
Correct Board Game Excesses -- This improves overall statistical accuracy by adjusting for minor variances that cannot be accounted for in the board game. This improves the statistical accuracy of certain players who had extreme performances. For instance certain pitchers such as Greg Maddux allow very few walks. Using this will enable Maddux to duplicate his real-life dominance in this area. A number of categories are affected by this option including home runs, walks and strikeouts. Also pitchers hitting will be affected by using this, resulting in less walks and extra base hits by pitchers.
Pitch-Count Fatigue -- The pitcher's condition is listed on the right of the play-by-play as a number from F9 through F0. F9 means that he is operating on all cylinders whereas F0 indicates that he has nothing left in the tank. Normally pitchers start their appearance as a 9 and maintain that level until they start to approach their pitch count. The lower the number goes the worse the pitcher will perform. When a pitcher's condition drops below F9 he starts to give up more singles, doubles, triples, home runs and walks. If a pitcher's condition drops to level F0 he will continue to fatigue the longer he stays in the game. His condition rating will remain displayed as F0, but he will start to give up more and more hits and walks if you leave him in the game.
Even using these, some are still tied to the original board game rules. For example, you may not see a gradual decline of a pitcher's fatigue level. Occasionally you may see a pitcher's fatigue drop sharply after allowing 3 hits or walks in their 'fatigue inning' listed as their endurance. This is similar to the board game rule on how pitcher's fatigue works.
That's all I have for this week. If anyone has any questions, as always, we encourage you to e-mail us at onlinegamesupport@strat-o-matic.com. Enjoy your Labor Day vacation on Monday and talk to you all next Friday!
-John