Forum Topics

This forum would be very quiet if it weren't for l.strether's regular, non-Strat topics and people's responses to them, regardless of whether they stay on the topic he initiates or degenerate into criticism and insult-swapping. Oh sure, we have the occasional topic specifically Strat-related, but not as much as in the TSN forum era.

All of this leads me to ask: What happened to the thriving discussions we used to have on the actual SOM game and, in the case of this forum, the 20xx set(s)? You know, the discussions like "Can you win with a "3" at shortstop?" or "Best players under 1.00" kind of things. One thing I have to tip the hat to TSN over was their forum organization. Strat forums, regular real life sports forums, and the old Bullpen free-for-alls (can you imagine the entertainment value over discussing Trump, Hillary et al for the next several months?).

Most members probably feel their thread will likely spiral out of control so they don't bother to post. When there's a cancer around people tend stay away.

Take a look at the threads on the ATG forum. Looks like a great community.

This forum would be very quiet if it weren't for l.strether's regular, non-Strat topics and people's responses to them, regardless of whether they stay on the topic he initiates or degenerate into criticism and insult-swapping. Oh sure, we have the occasional topic specifically Strat-related, but not as much as in the TSN forum era.

All of this leads me to ask: What happened to the thriving discussions we used to have on the actual SOM game and, in the case of this forum, the 20xx set(s)? You know, the discussions like "Can you win with a "3" at shortstop?" or "Best players under 1.00" kind of things. One thing I have to tip the hat to TSN over was their forum organization. Strat forums, regular real life sports forums, and the old Bullpen free-for-alls (can you imagine the entertainment value over discussing Trump, Hillary et al for the next several months?).

Blue Turtle,

The forum is for SOM and MLB. I write well-thought-out and non-contentious baseball posts. Nobody has to read or respond to them. So, my posts and threads are not to blame for the trolls that come on them to start conflict, as they did today. If you can find one of those threads where I Initiated the conflict, I will apologize for it. Otherwise, you should be focusing on those trolls.

And if you miss SOM threads, you should start one yourself. You know SOM, there's nothing stopping you.

Here's a perfect example. I posted this polite and non-contentious awards and all-stars list:

The first four months of baseball have finished, and MLB has played enough baseball (and I) to start tracking their awards and all-stars Here are my selections. There are definitely some usual suspects like Trout, Cabrera, Hernandez, and Scherzer. However, there are definitely some surprises. With Kris Bryant and Joc Pederson making their debuts, few would have thought the 27-yr-old soft-tossing sinkerballer, Chris Heston of the SF Giants would be the NL's top rookie at this point. Also, few saw the little-touted scrappy, speedy Of Billy Burns of the A's would be the AL's top rookie with his excellent hitting and disruptive gameplay. Such surprises are some of the beauties of MLB.If anyone has different selections, feel free to post them. I'd prefer this thread be just a posting one...no comments needed, but they're obviously allowed:

NL MVP
1. Bryce Harper, Of, Nationals
2. Paul Goldschmidt, 1b, Diamondbacks
3. Buster Posey, C, Giants
4. Adrian Gonzalez, 1b, Dodgers
5. Gerrit Cole, Sp, Pirates

NL Cy Young
1. Zack Greinke, SP, Dodgers
2. Gerrit Cole, SP, Pirates NL
3. Jake DeGrom, SP, Mets
4. Max Scherzer, SP, Nationals
5. Carlos Martinez, SP, Cardinals

NL Rookie-of-the-year
1. Chris Heston, Sp, Giants
2. Jung-Ho Kang, Ss, Pirates
3. Matt Duffy, 3b, Giants
4. Joc Pederson, Of, Dodgers
5. Noah Syndergaard, Sp, Mets

NL Manager-of-the-year
1. Mike Matheny, STL
2. Bruce Bochy, SF
3. Joe Maddon, CHC

NL Top Offseason moves.
1. Washington signs Max Scherzer to long-term contract
2. Atlanta trades Of Jason Heyward and Rp Jordan Walden for Sp Shelby Miller and Sp Tyrell Jenkins
3. Miami trades Sp Andrew Heaney, RHP Chris Hatcher, SS Enrique Hernandez and C Austin Barnes for 2b Dee Gordon, SP Dan Haren, and SS Miguel Rojas

NL Top Breakouts (Non-Rookies)
1. Bryce Harper, OF, Nationals
2. Shelby Miller, SP, Braves
3. Dee Gordon, SS, Marlins

NL All-Stars
C. Buster Posey, Giants
1b. Paul Goldschmidt, Diamondbacks
2b. D.J. LeMahieu, Rockies
Ss. Brandon Crawford, Giants
3b. Nolan Arenado, Rockies
Lf. Gerardo Parra, Brewers
Cf. Andrew McCutchen, Pirates
Rf. Bryce Harper, Nationals
Sp. Zack Greinke, Dodgers
Sp. Gerrit Cole, Pirates
Sp. Jake DeGrom, Mets
Sp. Max Scherzer, Nationals
Sp. Carlos Martinez, Cardinals
Rp. Mark Melancon, Pirates
Rp. Jeurys Familia, Mets
Rp. Drew Storen, Nationals
Rp. Trevor Rosenthal, Cardinals
Rp. Francisco Rodriguez, Milwaukee

Executive of the Year (MLB)--John Hart, Braves.

AL MVP
1. Mike Trout, Cf, Angels
2. Miguel Cabrera, 1b, Tigers
3. Lorenzo Cain, Cf, Royals
4. Josh Donaldson, 3b, Blue Jays
5. Alex Rodriguez, Dh, Yankees

AL Cy Young
1. Sonny Gray, SP, Athletics
2. Dallas Keuchel, SP, Astros
3. Chris Archer, Sp, Rays
4. David Price, Sp, Tigers
5. Felix Hernandez, SP, Mariners

AL Rookie-of-the-Year
1. Billy Burns, Of, Athletics
2. Devon Travis, 2b, Blue Jays
3. Nate Karns, Sp, Rays
4. Carlos Correa, Ss, Astros
5. Lance McCullers Jr., Sp, Astros

AL Manager-of-the-Year
1. Ned Yost, Royals
2. A.J. Hinch, Astros
3. Paul Molitor, Twins

AL Top Off-season moves
1. Toronto trades 3b Brett Lawrie, SS, Franklin Barreto, Sp Kendall Gravesman and Sp Sean Nolin for 3b Josh Donaldson
2. Seattle Mariners sign Of Nelson Cruz to a multi-year contract.
3. Yankees sign Closer Andrew Miller to an multi-year contract.

AL Top Breakouts (Non-rookies)
1. Dallas Keuchel, Sp, Astros
2. Xander Bogaerts, Ss, Red Sox
3. Manny Machado, 3b, Orioles

AL All-Stars
C, Russell Martin, Blue Jays
1b. Miguel Cabrera, Tigers
2b. Brian Dozier, Twins
Ss. Xander Bogaerts, Red Sox
3b. Josh Donaldson, Blue Jays
Lf. Brett Gardner, Yankees
Cf. Mike Trout, Angels
Rf. Nelson Cruz, Mariners
Sp. Sonny Gray, Athletics
Sp. Dallas Keuchel, Astros
Sp. Chris Archer, Rays
Sp. David Price, Tigers
Sp. Felix Hernandez, Marineers
Rp. Andrew Miller, Yankees
Rp. Zack Britton, Orioles
Rp. Glen Perkins, Twins
Rp. Wade Davis, Royals
Rp. Koji Uehara, Red Sox.

And here was Robert LaTorre's rude, contentious, and erroneous troll post at it:

More chapter and verse that no one has any interest in...

When people make rude troll posts like that at non-contentious thread posts about SOM or baseball--instead of politely commenting or moving on--that is the problem, not baseball posts themselves.

Where does it say this is for Strat and real-life MLB? Not in the forum rules. Maybe it is somewhere else. Not the main issue anyway.

1. This forum is for healthy discussion about Strat-O-Matic Baseball Online only. Talk about online baseball, debate about strategy, get help for your teams, ask a general knowledge question about the game, even rant about last night's heartbreaking loss. We encourage you to participate, as long as you contribute towards a positive experience for the community.

I am not saying your MLB posts are a bad violation of Rule 1, indeed, by throwing in a simple "I expect Bryant to have a great card for the 2015 set" would put it in compliance.

Just was saying it was a lot more fun when we stuck to the online game discussions, or at least a lot less contentious.

Where does it say this is for Strat and real-life MLB? Not in the forum rules. Maybe it is somewhere else. Not the main issue anyway.

I am not saying your MLB posts are a bad violation of Rule 1, indeed, by throwing in a simple "I expect Bryant to have a great card for the 2015 set" would put it in compliance.

Just was saying it was a lot more fun when we stuck to the online game discussions, or at least a lot less contentious.

The rules say the Forum is for SOM-related discussions. MLB is clearly related to SOM. And if you have a lot of problems with MLB discussions, you should be complaining about the ATG forum, they start and continue just MLB threads all the time. So, I wouldn't worry about my, other 20xx posters', or the ATG posters' compliance you deem necessary. The ATG'ers, in particular, would disagree with your stance.

And again, the contention doesn't come from the baseball topics; it comes from trolls coming on MLB threads, as Robert LaTorre did in the example I gave. So, again, you should be complaining about those trolls, not MLB threads themselves.

P.s. Your problem with MLB threads would also apply to these following threads:
Valen's August Call-Ups thread
TeamNasty's The State of the Trade Market hread
Valen't 2016 Free Agent Class thread
Valen's Masahiro Tanaka threads
TeamNasty's Updated Odds to Win the World Series thread
Clowntimeisover's all-star Alcides Escobar isn't even the THIRD best A.L. SS

So, you can see many posters on this Forum like to start threads about MLB as well. Apparently, you want to tell them to stop as well.

Wavy's response is spot on. Who wants to deal with the crap when he gets involved.

Wavy's response is spot on. Who wants to deal with the crap when he gets involved.

I read your post, this time, Stoney, and it's not spot on at all, unless you can show where I initiated conflict. Here's where you did so with your rude, hostile post at my polite statement:

But Schwarber legitimately has the potential to produce .300/.400/.550-.650 lines, with 25-30 hrs and 10 rbis for years.

You have to be kidding right? Only 20 players with over 3,000 pa's have a career ops over .950 and you saying someone with 110 ab's is already at that level? Take a deep breath and stop drinking the koolaid.

That was me having to deal with your rude "crap." And if you don't like my threads, why do you keep coming on to them to pick fights with me? Let's just agree it would be best if you didn't. So, please, do stay away from my threads, and we'll both be happier.

The rules say the Forum is for SOM-related discussions. MLB is clearly related to SOM. No, it isn't. And if you have a lot of problems with MLB discussions, you should be complaining about the ATG forum, they start and continue just MLB threads all the time. If I visited that forum, I would make the comment, if your statement is accurate So, I wouldn't worry about my, other 20xx posters', or the ATG posters' compliance you deem necessary. Unsolicited, unnecessary advice about what should merit my worry. The ATG'ers, in particular, would disagree with your stance.

And again, the contention doesn't come from the baseball topics; it comes from trolls coming on MLB threads, as Robert LaTorre did in the example I gave. So, again, you should be complaining about those trolls, not MLB threads themselves. The LaTorre comment was an unnecessary response to a thread that didn't comply with forum rules. It was harsh. I wish he hadn't said it.

P.s. Your problem with MLB threads would also apply to these following threads:
Valen's August Call-Ups thread
TeamNasty's The State of the Trade Market hread
Valen't 2016 Free Agent Class thread
Valen's Masahiro Tanaka threads
TeamNasty's Updated Odds to Win the World Series thread
Clowntimeisover's all-star Alcides Escobar isn't even the THIRD best A.L. SS

So, you can see many posters on this Forum like to start threads about MLB as well. Apparently, you want to tell them to stop as well. Yeah, probably would apply to those threads too. The point of the original post, which you missed because it is not about you, is the scarcity of SOM online posts, about the cards and the game engine and what the future of the game play (cards, engine, online enhancements) might be.

Yeah, probably would apply to those threads too. The point of the original post, which you missed because it is not about you, is the scarcity of SOM online posts, about the cards and the game engine and what the future of the game play (cards, engine, online enhancements) might be.[/b]

Firstly, it wouldn't "probably" apply to those threads, too; it definitely would. And I didn't miss your point, which was why I told you you should start an SOM thread, yourself. You missed that, and it was about you. So, your sad shot at me was both immature and erroneous.

As to there being more SOM threads, I'm all for it; I like those as well. As I said before, you should start one yourself since you're missing them so.