GO B YOURSELF HAL

Fred-- for a better GM challenge, you may want to try on of these 'Dual Franchise' leagues. Your team is built off of 2 teams and you get a few free agents from the FA/unchosen teams. There may or may not be trading allowed.

Frequently, you wind up with imbalanced team due to you forced narrow player pool ( as are all the other teams ). Because of this, lineup tweaks/swapping out players vs XR/XL LHPs and XR/XL RHPs are rewarded. Likewise, matching up pitchers against righty hvy lineups, lefty hvy lineups. It's good to have an assortment of XL and XR righty SPs for this.

Here is a team I'm running right now. It's definitely not a "fire and forget". I have to do tweaks of some sort almost every night. https://365.strat-o-matic.com/team/1802519

Fred-- for a better GM challenge, you may want to try on of these 'Dual Franchise' leagues. Your team is built off of 2 teams and you get a few free agents from the FA/unchosen teams. There may or may not be trading allowed.

Frequently, you wind up with imbalanced team due to you forced narrow player pool ( as are all the other teams ). Because of this, lineup tweaks/swapping out players vs XR/XL LHPs and XR/XL RHPs are rewarded. Likewise, matching up pitchers against righty hvy lineups, lefty hvy lineups. It's good to have an assortment of XL and XR righty SPs for this.

Here is a team I'm running right now. It's definitely not a "fire and forget". I have to do tweaks of some sort almost every night. https://365.strat-o-matic.com/team/1802519

thank you, for both yours, and also the other commentator suggested a league

to be clear, if it wasn't before, there is NOTHING about leagues, player cards, GMs, divisions, that I think is inherently wrong or needs serious change

I would estimate 20%-40% of my issues are in the inane computer settings (weird def switches, leaving RP specialist way to long facing the wrong sided hitters when they're not supposed to, stealing bases/taking extra bases/getting picked off with many runs up or down, and other completely non-sensical occurrences

and the other 60%-80% is about the greater amount/reliance/impact of luck in the game......without expecting perfection, the comparison to other games/competitions i've experienced shows 365 to have a high amount of luck factor, which directly reduces GM skills factor......

I realize supposed changes are on the way, however long away that is....which might repair/adjust the 20-40% setting issues, but unsure if they would also have any impact on the outlier/luck impact

some people love playing roulette and betting on 00, or bet on the longshot at the track....more conservative bettors/competitors limit their participation to lower reward/risk games, such as blackjack.....while even more conservative (or wise ?) others limit their involvement to games/contests with little or no luck and exterior forces applied.....

if you play no-limit poker in person, with a live honest dealer that isn't cheating, the only factors possibly against you are luck....there is no preset/faulty computer algorithm, etc....I understand the SOM engine will never be a real person, and it's not supposed to be

but I think (too) many people here believe my gripes are unwarranted and that they accept a much less standard of excellence from the platform....maybe they have been members for a decade or much longer, and compared to how things used to be, they are better now

but, many things have improved over the years in all industries....and my strong sentiments are that at the very least, the many anomalies should be cleaned up in an online interactive game in the year 2025....while, anything else (reducing luck,etc.) that would improve the game results would be optimum

I understand and respect some people love a preponderance of luck in any contest, surely it brings a level of unknown mystery....and probably I'm way to conservative or risk-averse to like those kinds of contests....I prefer betting on myself, not on a sports team, not on a horse, not on an outcome impacted by other sources....and certainly with as little to no luck as possible

I apologize to all who've for one reason or another read this entire thread and think its' "much ado about nothing", and for some it is......but, my intentions and sentiments aren't self-centered or selfish....they aim to improve the game for ALL players, current and future

hope people can at least understand and respect that, I've loved SOM for over 50 years, and if wishing to continue playing, need to find a computer (off line) or other way to enjoy playing and competing, and doesnt use HAL in its current form

And thanx for all comments, negative, neutral, and supportive, certainly the cumulative perspective shines a greater light on any issue than any sole/indlvidual one

hope people can at least understand and respect that, I've loved SOM for over 50 years, and if wishing to continue playing, need to find a computer (off line) or other way to enjoy playing and competing, and doesnt use HAL in its current form

Use Meetup.com or general internet search to find live Strato players. That is what you need. Seek them out, I'm sure there's several in your metro. And go set up live play. You'll get you money's worth and won't need the online after that.

some things are better in theory Lol

I live in Manila, Philippines for the past few years

think there's about as many SOM players here as there is good music being played during sporting events nowadays ;- /

thanks for the idea though, I still might check out that site

It might be unorthodox, but you might see if there are leagues that play via Zoom mtg. All you'd need is a $30 camera. And if you get along with the people, it just about as good as being in the room. I don't know how you'd do the die rolls so you could both see them, but I bet advanced online SOM people have figured something out.

https://rolladie.net/roll-3-dice

https://rolladie.net/roll-3-dice

2-6 Homerun 1-19

Check the split…20 awwww

Luck will always be a factor because at its core the game is based on rolling dice and sometimes, they roll funny. Fred, you seem to be asking the game to be something it's not. I actually agree with you; it is too luck based. I discovered this not playing online but playing in face-to-face leagues when I was first introduced to the board game 30 years ago. I actually think the online version hides the dice rolls better, You have to really hunt them down and pick apart the results. I have neither the time nor inclination to do that, so this online version dose not bother me in the way the board game did. Board game wise, the Strat football game is much better in that regard. The chess match between play caller and defender really helps negate some of the luck factor, not all mind you, crazy things do happen in football from time to time after all. Sadly, the online version of the football game is an abomination that I still can't figure out how anyone enjoys. So maybe that makes us a little even. Just my 2 cents.

it is too luck based)

I don't feel this. It simply has an element of luck in it. It's agnostic -- not good or bad. You can hate when luck turns against you, but the long reality is that lucky favors all equally over the long haul-- you simply focus on the bad ones and have forgotten the good ones. This is not luck's fault-- it's the emotional human wiring and ego hurt at work. And it does hurt--losing a playoff series I thought I should dominate/win, it definitely hurts. But it doesn't change the fact that the law of averages is a de facto law, even if we never enacted legislation to make it so.

But I prefer games that have a luck element in them-- classic Avalon Hill wargames over chess. Yes, chess is a pure skill challenge. But the wargames are more like real life, where luck is omnipresent. You can always have a "bad day" whether the stakes are large or small. But this is why luck has to be considered as part of strategy itself. This is why you attack at 3-1 odds, because luck only very rarely defeats you, even with the worst luck "roll" you will win. And substrategies result, a "soaker" attack at 1 to 1 odds to isolate a unit away from another one, which is attacked at 3-1 odds. Localized strategies. And luck has to be taken into account. When you're plan A fails, even due to luck, you have a plan B (as well as plan C or even D) that was laid out at the same time as plan A, you segue into it seamlessly and can win when luck turns back to your side. I've seen more people lose games because they had no plan B, they relied on luck to favor them. And when it did not-- they lost, quickly and badly. And they'd complain vociferously against luck, which is useless because it is a god and you are simply a mortal. But in the end, I'd beat them because I respect that god, I accept it in all its glory.

Upon reflection, most of those people who lack the plan B and lose have lesser, unsatisfactory lives that I can tell. I think they're unhappy at the lack of control. But raging against luck leads to lack of understanding about why failure is happening, making excuses for not changing yourself to get a better result and results in more failures. It comes down to attaching your emotions to things you can control and detaching them when you cannot. Easier for some people than others. But it is the key. You win more when you can do this, you feel better overall.

Big-- here is your "face to face" using actual cards chance:

https://forum-365.strat-o-matic.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=654911&sid=20c54e432d43a5b5214932f6bcd8c7a9