I sent a ticket involving the pinned forums and such...

Those of us active in league forums answer basic noobie questions as to how this all works. We have spent years going over countless issues involving logic, strategy, so forth...

Why not include some brief statement as they tour the halls to inform them where to turn for this?

Nothing worse than noobs getting clobbered right out of the gate, getting frustrated then running off before they can figure out how to become informed. A PSA of sorts...

I agree. The OL Draft Center STILL includes the strong recommendation to draft over 200 more IP than are good for you for example, and nothing about the fact that you will get decent AAA players so don't load up your bench. Leading lambs to slaughter.

Hi,

Are you asking for a link to the game FAQ or something that would be managed by other owners?

Thanks for playing on WhatIfSports.

A better explanation of what to expect. As italyprof posted

I agree. The OL Draft Center STILL includes the strong recommendation to draft over 200 more IP than are good for you for example, and nothing about the fact that you will get decent AAA players so don't load up your bench. Leading lambs to slaughter.

If you like, I will employ the masses to write something up for your review. We could be quite broad or exact. If it runs too long, it could be linked i suppose. I will get back to you...

I think we need to submit something that they can use, rather than what they have.

Input welcome. Let's do something positive with this one...

This is the current Hints for Drafting

Hints for Drafting

There are many important items to consider when building a team through the draft center. The following are several helpful hints that should serve as recommendations, especially to new users who have not yet built a SLB team:

Fatigue is the single most important item to remember with a team. There are no injuries in SLB, but all players are subject to fatigue if they greatly exceed or are on pace to greatly exceed the plate appearance (pa/162*) or innings pitched (ip/162*) values that they had in real-life. When a player begins to fatigue, all of his statistical inputs drop, making him far less valuable. For this reason, the salary formula is always constructed on a per plate appearance or inning pitched basis.

To prevent fatigue, we recommend drafting approximately 1,500 total ip/162 and 6,000 plate appearances. Keep in mind that usage matters as well, so the innings should be divided over several pitchers who can help whether they be from the starting rotation or bullpen. We allow rotation sizes from one to six, so have a rotation in mind when drafting. Along those lines, it is important to have around 700 plate appearances at each position.

The other biggest item to note when drafting is normalization. WhatIfSports.com uses log5 normalization in which the batter and pitcher's statistics are compared to the league averages from their respective seasons. Statistical categories indicated by the # represent how this player would fare against the historically average player. In this case, players who were great hitters in poor offensive years like 1968, get a little more credit, while those with similar raw numbers from a great offensive season like 1930 will not fare as well. Log5 (#) values are the single most important representations of a player's value in SimLeague Baseball and are thus highly incorporated in salaries.

All of the statistical categories could have value when creating a team, so it is important to review the Stat Legend

Also, never forget about the importance of defense and ballpark (more on those to come).

* The per 162 numbers allude to the fact that all stats are prorated to a full 162 game season even if the player did not play in a league with 162 games in a season.

I'm not looking to reinvent the wheel here. Perhaps we just get them to add a link leading them to the pinned threads...

I'm on my 3rd team. Would love ALL the rules on one page. What they have now is incredibly awful

All the rules? Not sure I get your meaning...

The site is easy enough to navigate once you learn your way around.

I'm talking about information easy to find for the newbies wandering these halls. Information that helps get them up to speed faster, to avoid the immediate faceplants we commonly see. We need to work to eliminate those times when newbies crash and burn right out of the gate due to having no clue how to begin. Perhaps in the form of a checklist?

Doc states some really valuable info for noobs here. It's a great start for them, if they are not delusional in thinking that their favorite players, or ones they simply like or know produces results. Maybe they need to know that results early on is more often a stroke of luck rather than one of genius. They will likely lose a ton of games with realism taken off the table in many instances. It's easier to be discouraged and walk away than to stay involved and learn-as-you-go. Sometimes an in your face statement is as potentially valuable as the inputs Doc and the rest of you legends you provide. Clear the pre-conceptions early on

Biggest thing I see is newbies with 1500-1600 innings or 6000 PA's, and then I see a lot of people questioning the "realism" of the sim. I think links in the draft center for "tips on drafting" or so forth would be very beneficial.

biglenr wrote an "advice for newbies" column about 15 years ago...it was invaluable. You may still be able to find it, but I think it was lost to the ether when the forums were updated some years back. I posted a revised version of that thread here: https://www.whatifsports.com/forums/Posts.aspx?ForumID=3&TopicID=474014&page=1#l_10369725

I am sure any experienced owner on this site can improve upon it, but frankly there is enough information in that thread that newbies should never make some of the most common mistakes that have been posted about in recent weeks.

That thread, and many other valuable pieces of info, are linked in the FAQ thread that is pinned at the top of the forums. Not sure we can expect admin to do much more than that.

Maybe they Could post that link instead of posting 1500/6000 minimum requirements?

Yeah, no doubt we can do a better job guiding new users. I generally prefer to build that sort of thing into the game where it's possible, but I'm not against some helpful links in the forums. I would be happy to read anything you want to put together.

Thanks

Thanks for playing on WhatIfSports.

I asked that the link be added. Awaiting reply.