But really, even when you send in tickets, initial CS responses are often flat out wrong.  This isn't new.

They give us FAR too much information as it is, and people scream for more.

Posted by iain on 12/22/2010 2:08:00 PM (view original):
I'd like them to post all the code for us to read.

That would clear any further misconceptions up nicely.

Thanks in advance!

Yea again, he's not asking for this.  He just doesn't want admin to explicitly list how free agent tiebreakers work, and have it be incorrect, because you begin to question everything else.

I agree they give too much info to begin with.

The level of interaction we have with CS is unique, in my experience (and kinda cool, to be honest), but can make for a slippery slope when they start answering questions about specifics of game play.

I've told WifS, on any number of occassions, that their response should be "We can't divulge that information."   They never learn.

Posted by iain on 12/22/2010 2:16:00 PM (view original):
The level of interaction we have with CS is unique, in my experience (and kinda cool, to be honest), but can make for a slippery slope when they start answering questions about specifics of game play.

Agreed.  They should either not give the specifics or make sure they're correct when they do it.

Cliff Lee is an illustration of how it is impossible to reduce FA signings to some sort of convenient formula with clear flowcharted decision points with fixed weights and probabilities. 

If WIS had any brains, they would say, "In the event of EXACTLY equal contract offers (or even very similar offers), the system will flip an imaginary coin".  Then tell everyone to STFU while they program whatever convoluted logic they want to into the decision making engine.

By attempting to canonize a decision tree, they open themselves up for whining like this.

"Me and another owner offered max bids.  The player signed with him.  Why?"

"We have tie-breakers in place."

"What are they?"

"We can't divulge that information."

Posted by MikeT23 on 12/22/2010 2:26:00 PM (view original):
"Me and another owner offered max bids.  The player signed with him.  Why?"

"We have tie-breakers in place."

"What are they?"

"We can't divulge that information."

"We flipped a coin.  You lost.  STFU."

My way saves one cycle of back-and-forth.

Posted by MikeT23 on 12/22/2010 2:26:00 PM (view original):
"Me and another owner offered max bids.  The player signed with him.  Why?"

"We have tie-breakers in place."

"What are they?"

"We can't divulge that information."

Perfect.

burnsy is right. My beef is that they gave us information that does not appear to be accurate. Like he said I would have no problem if they told us nothing on the matter but to tell us an inaccuracy is pretty irresponsible on their part. For the record my coaches had a slight advantage and his park had a slight advantage. The fact I won 45 more games than him should have tipped the scales in my favor.

Posted by timf on 12/22/2010 2:40:00 PM (view original):
burnsy is right. My beef is that they gave us information that does not appear to be accurate. Like he said I would have no problem if they told us nothing on the matter but to tell us an inaccuracy is pretty irresponsible on their part. For the record my coaches had a slight advantage and his park had a slight advantage. The fact I won 45 more games than him should have tipped the scales in my favor.

Suppose they told you that all those are FACTORS, but it's still a weighted probability.

For example, you have the probabilstic equivalent of AA and he has 78.  He still has a 10% chance of beating you. 

This whole game is PROBABILITIES, not certainties.  If it was based on certainties, there would be no reason to simulate the games.

Here is what WiS had to say: Franchise record is not important unless the player specifically wants to play for a contender. Even then contract value and the tie breakers outlined in the following knowledge base article are far more important.Please read the following knowledge base article as it lists how tiebreakers for same value contracts are determined.

http://whatifsports.com/knowledgebase/KB_Article_Details.aspx?kbid=761

So even though they told us on 10/06/09 that previous seasons record does play a factor it appears as though they now think it is not important. I asked them to clarify their answer as to whether or not the record plays any role at all and will update IF they give me a response to that question.

No, they said it's not important unless the player specifically said he wants to play for a contender.  This:
"At this point in my career, making the playoffs is my main goal."

Don't distort what WifS told you for your own benefit.