From the 7/28 update to the update (https://www.whatifsports.com/forums/Posts.aspx?topicID=109203&page=9):

"In the new system, the accuracy of the high school, college and international scouting departments is now different and less accurate than the advanced scouting department."

Does this bring Advanced Scouting back into play?  Why or why not?

If you're not TRADING young players, nope.

If they're on your team, develop them.
If they're not on your team, you don't care.

I found their clarification made it harder to understand.

Before: COL 20 ADV 0, the projected ratings in the draft for college players would be very accurate. Now, "the accuracy is less accurate" ... does that mean COL 20 ADV 20 will give you better projected ratings for the draft than COL 20 ADV 0? If I can still trust my COL 20, why does ADV matter? (Talking specifically about pre-draft projections.)

Seems straightforward if it's accurate: Any given amount spent on ADV will be more accurate than the same amount in HS. So with high ADV, your projections will be more accurate after the player is draft than they were before. $20M in HS/COL/INT is not going to be as accurate as it was in the past.

As Mike noted, it will only make a difference if you trade young players. Otherwise, you're still going to want to maximize development of your top signings and picks, and will soon enough know where they will end up. If you have 16 HS and 0 ADV, you'll assume your top 3-5 picks in the draft are worth putting development effort into even when their ADV-based projections are horrible. If you can't stand seeing your 18yo SS's range drop from 85 under 16M HS to 45 under 0 ADV, then yeah, you'll need to bump up ADV. If you can ignore the worthless rating and stick the guy in HiA at SS this season and put him in AA next to see where his range will really end up, there's no reason to start spending on ADV.

Assuming that ADV would have to get up to 14M+ to be accurate enough to rely upon, I'd rather spend that money beefing up coaching so I can propely develop three levels of hitters instead of the two I do now, and boost HS or COL by a few million. Same result, $8-14M/year cheaper.

I don't see any suggestion that ADV will affect pre-draft projections. Given that they're pushing ADV spending, if that were changed they'd be making it crystal clear. They're saying that 20M ADV will give you more accuracy on drafted players than 20M COL gave you predraft.

Posted by begonias on 8/3/2015 12:52:00 AM (view original):
I found their clarification made it harder to understand.

Before: COL 20 ADV 0, the projected ratings in the draft for college players would be very accurate. Now, "the accuracy is less accurate" ... does that mean COL 20 ADV 20 will give you better projected ratings for the draft than COL 20 ADV 0? If I can still trust my COL 20, why does ADV matter? (Talking specifically about pre-draft projections.)

I think what they said is that you cannot trust COL 20 as much as you used to.

If you REALLY want/need to see what you got AFTER the draft, you might consider 20 ADV.

But like Mike pointed out, if you're not looking to acquire young prospects from other teams, it probably doesn't matter.  As long as you follow best practices for developing your own young prospects, nothing really has changed with respect to ADV.

Posted by tecwrg on 8/3/2015 9:21:00 AM (view original):

Posted by begonias on 8/3/2015 12:52:00 AM (view original):
I found their clarification made it harder to understand.

Before: COL 20 ADV 0, the projected ratings in the draft for college players would be very accurate. Now, "the accuracy is less accurate" ... does that mean COL 20 ADV 20 will give you better projected ratings for the draft than COL 20 ADV 0? If I can still trust my COL 20, why does ADV matter? (Talking specifically about pre-draft projections.)

I think what they said is that you cannot trust COL 20 as much as you used to.

If you REALLY want/need to see what you got AFTER the draft, you might consider 20 ADV.

But like Mike pointed out, if you're not looking to acquire young prospects from other teams, it probably doesn't matter.  As long as you follow best practices for developing your own young prospects, nothing really has changed with respect to ADV.

I'd have to agree with Mike and Tecwrg as that's how I interpreted the change as well.

I dont care about prospects around the league.   I know that if I wanted to trade for said prospect, the owner would want a ridiculous amount in return.  I use the money to develop my own talent, not to pay just look at other good players I dont have

Yep. If you're looking for a market inefficiency, trading for top prospects ain't it.

If anything, the only change that will occur because of this is more people punting all forms of scouting and going all in on free agents with massive payrolls.

IMO, one of the better ways to play this game is to be contrarian.    If that were to happen in my worlds, I'd be at 20m in HS/College scouting as soon as possible.

What Mike said.  Less competition in the draft = a win for those who go "all in" on the draft and IFAs.

I will not be leaving ADV at $0M. Because ADV is now more accurate than HS/COL/IFA, I am looking at this as an incremental change so that half the user base at $0M can choose to build (or not) $4M a season preparing for it to become more valuable. Needing $20M while sitting at $0M is gonna leave you in a year and a half hole if it becomes more valuable. I feel it will be more valuable. I'll probably sit a $12M (once I can get there) until the next update.

I hope that is beneficial for me if it happens, and they don't cave to the people who end up screaming they can only move $4M at a time.