Normalization: A Humble Request to Strat-O-Matic

Hello, everyone. Not many likely remember me, but I have returned from a long absence in recent months. It feels great to be back playing! As you may know, the game owners have previously divulged that normalization exists in the game. You may have noticed your backup players performing surprisingly well or sluggers like Ruth having a potentially record-breaking home run season only to hit a brick wall in the later stages of the season. Perhaps your struggling team had multiple late-season sweeps or your league-leading team was on the receiving end. This is by design. Many players probably enjoy this, while many others do not. So I have a solution that may please everyone and increase the profitability of the game in the process.

We have Standard and Advanced leagues. Back in the day, Advanced leagues were used albeit functionally identical, but nowadays I've noticed it's almost exclusively Standard leagues. So if we're all in the same player pool, and the functionality exists, why not repurpose Advanced leagues to be normalization free? That way we can put an end to the debates, the conflict, and the frustration of the highly competitive players. Meanwhile, the more casual players can enjoy higher win rates, more credits, and more fun. But they can always join Advanced leagues. Everyone wins.

You may ask: What about the records? Wouldn't those be effectively disrupted? Well, yes. The solution would be to separate the records for Standard and Advanced leagues, starting at the time of implementation. Nothing is lost, yet new territory is ready to be explored. How strong of a team can you design? Who is the best manager? Who will have the winningest season, the most home runs, the best ERA? There is a ton of excitement to be had.

Above all: This game we love has its roots in the Strat-O-Matic Baseball board game, released in 1961! There was, and is still, no normalization in the physical version of the game. Yet we're playing with normalization online. Why is that? Is it necessary? Please give us the option of playing the game we love in its natural form. Thank you all for reading. If anyone knows of a way to show this to Strat-O-Matic, I would greatly appreciate your assistance. Have a wonderful day and best of luck on the field!

Yes, do this! Perhaps also a clear explanation of all the rules that we are playing by.

..... if anyone knows of a way to show this to Strat-O-Matic, I would greatly appreciate your assistance. .....

365support@strat-o-matic.com

..... if anyone knows of a way to show this to Strat-O-Matic, I would greatly appreciate your assistance. .....

365support@strat-o-matic.com

Thank you for your help, Palmtana. I actually sent an email weeks ago and did not receive a reply. So I was under the impression that email may not be the best way to make contact. I then thought it may be best to take the idea here for discussion and later evaluation by Strat-O-Matic. I imagine the company is quite busy, after all!

That said, I am eager to see more players join this discussion. It is a very interesting topic and I suspect some may be shy to discuss it. I keep thinking about the grand possibilities of a purely randomized, statistically driven fantasy baseball experience and would absolutely love to see it become a reality.

There is not, nor has there ever been, any form of "normalization" . Also, the earth is not flat, Bush did not detonate the twin towers, Denver airport is not the nazi headquarters for the new world order, the moon landing was not faked, etc etc etc.

There is not, nor has there ever been, any form of "normalization" . Also, the earth is not flat, Bush did not detonate the twin towers, Denver airport is not the nazi headquarters for the new world order, the moon landing was not faked, etc etc etc.

As previously stated, the owners of the game openly admitted to normalization in the past. On a separate account, please view the following link, press ctrl+f and input "normalization" into the search feature. There you will find a company representative openly discuss normalization in effect. https://www.strat-o-matic.com/announcem ... pril-2015/

This refers to normalization between seasons when the cards are designed. Hitting .300 in 1930 is not as impressive as hitting .300 in 1968. Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract has a detailed discussion about comparison of players across eras. Presumably the game company is doing something similar.

The 42 and 36 team old timer sets discussed in the article are for use in cards and dice games. Please explain to me how mid season normalization can be implemented using printed cards and dice.

I sent this entire thread to SOM support. This was there response:

Hi Steve,



There is no truth to that whatsoever - there is no normalization going on that affects players or teams based on what they happen to be on pace for. There are no hidden mechanisms designed to achieve any sort of unexplained agenda. There's not even a reason we can see for us to do anything like that.



Sincerely,
Strat-O-Matic 365
https://365.strat-o-matic.com

This refers to normalization between seasons when the cards are designed. Hitting .300 in 1930 is not as impressive as hitting .300 in 1968. Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract has a detailed discussion about comparison of players across eras. Presumably the game company is doing something similar.

The 42 and 36 team old timer sets discussed in the article are for use in cards and dice games. Please explain to me how mid season normalization can be implemented using printed cards and dice.

Thank you for clarifying that.

I sent this entire thread to SOM support. This was there response:

Hi Steve,



There is no truth to that whatsoever - there is no normalization going on that affects players or teams based on what they happen to be on pace for. There are no hidden mechanisms designed to achieve any sort of unexplained agenda. There's not even a reason we can see for us to do anything like that.



Sincerely,
Strat-O-Matic 365
https://365.strat-o-matic.com

Thank you for digging deeper into this. I would like to contact them as well and see if I can get a reply this time!

I sent this entire thread to SOM support. This was there response:

Hi Steve,



There is no truth to that whatsoever - there is no normalization going on that affects players or teams based on what they happen to be on pace for. There are no hidden mechanisms designed to achieve any sort of unexplained agenda. There's not even a reason we can see for us to do anything like that.



Sincerely,
Strat-O-Matic 365
https://365.strat-o-matic.com

lol well done man. Fantastic to get an official response after years of wailing and gnashing of teeth. Mods can we please pin this message from Strat, maybe put it in a fancy frame, maybe encourage folks to create memes out of it, anything that helps it sink in. "There's not even a reason we can see for us to do anything like that." Just lol. lol, lmao. So true besties. So true.

It's a day to remember folks. The day when Strat finally shot down all the black box nonsense. The occasion is especially momentous because all the folks who have been demanding an official statement from Strat will definitely not ignore this statement and continue believing in the black box because they want to. Nay, they will arrive shortly to celebrate this unambiguously good news with the rest of us.