I wonder...

I wonder what the average age is of the 365 community? I wonder what the breakdown is between, shall we say rookie vs veteran, I don’t know, based on winning percent? How do we guage managers to each other? What’s the best way to understand rules and strategy? Trial and error? Is SOM going to incorporate Diamond Dope or something like it? I don’t know, just a lot of general thoughts on my mind, and I do realize chance plays a big role in 365. Anyway your comments will be interesting.
Ron

Hi Ron - here are my thoughts

I wonder what the average age is of the 365 community?
I assume it’s older than the adult population average, probably significantly, but I have no data for this.

I wonder what the breakdown is between, shall we say rookie vs veteran, I don’t know, based on winning percent?
A couple years ago, I pulled a lot of data on members’ performance. I was trying to see if there was a clear arc of improvement over time. I didn’t reach any clear conclusions, but I did calculate that very new managers (prospects) had a winning percentage of about 48% (going on my memory, it would take me awhile to find the data). A couple things that cloud this analysis are 1) some members start one or more new memberships under different names, and 2) not all members are playing to win all of the time (playing your favorite players, playing in unusual theme leagues, and other things “just for fun”).

How do we gauge managers to each other?
There’s a recent thread started by J-PAV on this topic.

What’s the best way to understand rules and strategy? Trial and error?
For rules, I’d say it’s to read everything that SOM makes available on the 365 site and on the 365 wiki. Also, if you have the board game or the pc game, you have access to the detailed board game rules that are helpful for understanding the more complex situations/rules. For strategy, I think there are a couple(or more) camps here. Just like in real baseball, you have traditional and analytics-based managers (for lack of better labels). And, just like in real baseball, you'll find successful managers in both camps. I think you do what's fun for you and then try to learn from others by observing their teams, reading posts in the forum, your own analysis/experience, etc.

Thanks for the input Brian

i don't play that much anymore. i am 61 years old.

I'm old (70), at least it feels that way. I think most of the players are and I haven't met any young ones yet. I came to the game late although I have played fantasy baseball for a long, long time.

I am starter level, and I don't know what criteria SOM uses to promote us. I play the Players Championship and Barnstormers every year (I'm cannon fodder but improving each year). During the "off-season" I play ATG but limit myself to only a few franchises to draw from, so I have a very low winning percentage. I am OCD so I tend to have a lot of rules I play by that are not for anyone else. SOM keeps my mind busy and it's fun, although I sometimes drive other managers crazy with some of the things I do.

I also play in two keeper leagues. I like that there are plenty of ways to play SOM and all of them require you to be pissed at HAL. That's my two-cents!

Interesting thoughts, Ron. I wonder a lot of things about other players also. For what it's worth, I'm 53 and have been playing for a few years online, however way back when I was in college, we had leagues with cards and dice. That was my introduction to the game and how I learned to play.

Barrmorris mentioned something about improvement of managers, which is another interesting topic/thought. I think that some managers play with different goals... some tinker to try to find that "right formula" that will get them 90-100 wins every season, and others like to experiment with different players, totally different types of teams, etc., which leads to having more teams that are real stinkers and bring down overall winning percentage. Just a thought.

Another thing that I wonder about SOM......Do you think they will ever adjust the price of the Blowers, Mercer, Duncan, Collins, etc of the world ..... you know the list. It always seems comical to me that when we all have all of these Hall of Famers, all-time greats to choose from, the drafts become an arms race for those guys that most average baseball fans have never heard of! LOL. It works and it is a winning strategy, but it kind of seems crazy to me when Mike Blowers and Mariano Duncan are the two most sought after baseball players of all time! HA!

Thanks for the conversation!

Chad

The age question recently came up in the mystery card franchise league I've been part of for a decade or so. We are just wrapping up our 50th strat season together. We've played every season from 1962 to 2009 and started over again. Three managers left early on. One returned a few seasons later, so we're pretty consistent. Our age range is pretty tight, between 64 and 74 years old. Some, not all, played cards and dice back in the day. Most have been playing online Strat for at least fifteen years.

So, yeah, we skew older. And though I've only met two of them face to face (A third and I are getting together for a spring training game next week!), I consider them my good friends.

i don't play that much anymore. i am 61 years old.

Hi Dandy!

I also am 61 yrs old.

OK guys…after seeing all the responses I surmise I’m playing with a bunch of youngsters. Hold on to your seats, I’m 84 this year. I will say a young 84 and HAL keeps me jumping, keeps my brain in working order. So there. All I know is that the SOM 365 community is great, competitive and always helpful. Keep it up guys.
Ron

62 here and I do agree with Clevchad about tinkering, because while I always want to win a ring and have a decent winning %, I also like to try new and different strategies which can produce a 60 win team sometimes which tend to but a dent in that winning %.