I am in that world. It's where I spent my frist 2 HBD seasons... he basically kept offering me mediocre guys with high overalls in exchange for the couple studs that I had.

Luckily I got the impression from him that he was very underhanded and I resisted. Now, knowing a little more and looking back at it, the deals woud have been complete screw jobs for me and that's what he does. He just picked up last season's #1 Overall pick, and complete stud CF, in exchange for a guy with vsLHP of 38 and a decent RP entering his final years of ARB. and gonna get way over paid and of course this was at the expense of a newbie as usual.

So I ask all of you longtime owners, what do we do to save out world from this guy?

As a new owner, if I were in Foxx, I'd love to have seen, on my 1st day of my 1st season, a post in World Chat that reads something like:



"Welcome to all the new owners! Just to let you know, owner X of team ABC has a habit of trying to rob the new guys blind. That's how he wins 140 games every year. I wouldn't trade with him if I were you. For more information, check out this forum thread: http://www.whatifsports.com/forums/threads.asp?forumID=58&TopicID=399608&ReturnPage=&PagePosition=1&ThreadPage=2 "



Then copy and paste into trade chat.

Quote: Originally posted by gjello10 on 11/03/2009As a new owner, if I were in Foxx, I'd love to have seen, on my 1st day of my 1st season, a post in World Chat that reads something like: "Welcome to all the new owners!  Just to let you know, owner X of team ABC has a habit of trying to rob the new guys blind.  That's how he wins 140 games every year.  I wouldn't trade with him if I were you.  For more information, check out this forum thread:  http://www.whatifsports.com/forums/threads.asp?forumID=58&TopicID=399608&ReturnPage=&PagePosition=1&ThreadPage=2 " Then copy and paste into trade chat.

I don't think its fair to single out a owner unless he is cheating. . Something along the lines of below is what I tell new owners to my world every season. Every world that has new owners has the same problem. Experienced owners see a new owner and see easy pickings for trades.

My usual warning for new owners.
Be careful when trading in your first full season. HBD is like GD in that overall ratings are not always reflective of overall value of a player, and it can take you a good season before you feel comfortable with the ratings. Take this simple approach to trades, when a veteran owner who has learned the game from experience, trades with a rookie owner who is trying to use his opinion on how real life works translates into a game trade with each other, the veteran will win that trade every time......I also suggest the same things with Free agents. Consider the first season a learning experience and you don't want to hurt yourself for the future, so when it comes to free agency I suggest minimizing your long term liability. Last thing you want to do is sign some guy you think is good to a 5 year contract and then later realize he sucks and you are stuck with a long term contract.If you sign him to a 2 season contract at least you are only saddled one more season with a problem.

Is anyone else surprised that the owner in question hasn't piped up here OR in the league chat board? I know if people threw false accusations about me all over the place, I'd respond to deny them.

Not everybody reads the forums. Or participates in World Chat.

tell me about it. been recruiting for a world and i have 1 owner who has been in the world for 12 seasons and apparently doesn't check world chat, trade chat or sitemail as he's the only one who hasn't responded to me. maybe he jus don't like me.

Everybody likes you erff.

I can understand never seeing the forums, but I'm sure at some point the league chat board would catch your eye.

How can I join world foxx!!?!?!?

create one of your many aliaii

@ plague:

That's an excellent warning. I especially liked the part about FA. You can do more damage there than almost anywhere. And if you have the patience to follow it, it's probably the best advice.

However, I think it's hard to tell a new owner essentially "Wait 3 months before attempting to fix your team and get it going in the right direction." Making the game fun for new owners will improve retention and capitalize on the discounted 1st season, etc. Turning over the roster creates emotional investment in the team. I think a few simple rules for new guy trading are these:

1) Beware of vets who offer deals to you. Better to identify players you want and make offers.

2) Evaluate your own players well before trading.

3) Beware high OVR guys with poor stats. In general, be aware that stats for well established players tell as much or more of the story than OVR ratings.

4) Always be aware of the contracts you are getting/giving.

And for FA:

1) One year deals are a great idea.

2) Asking prices drop sharply late in the FA season and through Spring Training (not knowing this the first time through really messed up my strategy).



I think following these simple rules should help a new guy turn over his roster pretty quickly without killing his team, given an adequate understanding of baseball and of sim-type games. Again, if you have the patience, your way is best. But many don't.

And finally, I'm not sure why it's okay to single out an owner in the forums, but it's not okay to let a new owner KNOW that an owner has this reputation. Why is it okay for a new Foxx owner to find out about this guy by reading it in this thread, but not okay for him to find out by reading it in World Chat? Or a private Trade Chat? Make it un-fun for him to continue this behavior.

"However, I think it's hard to tell a new owner essentially "Wait 3 months before attempting to fix your team and get it going in the right direction." Making the game fun for new owners will improve retention and capitalize on the discounted 1st season, etc. Turning over the roster creates emotional investment in the team. I think a few simple rules for new guy trading are these:"

I know its a strong warning. I however have seen time and time again new owners come in and in the first 10 days of owning their team they set their team back multiple seasons. When you put a new coach in with veteran coaches and they are active in trading and aggressive in free agents, they almost always hurt their team. You can tell them what to look for in ratings, salary, etc, etc. I find it is just too overwhelming for them to learn in the first 2 weeks and the new coach is much better off just playing it safe the first season. For that reason I always give my warning and they can decide whether to wish to follow my warning or ignore my warning and attempt to help their team before they understand the game.

The league chat has taken an odd turn, as many as 3 owners have defended born losers quite aggresively.

The WC is an entertaining read.

As a individual owner I will always get the best trade I can get for a player, its the other owners responsibility to veto a trade if they think its unfair. If you think the owner is cheating by owning multiple teams then that is different and the owner deserves to be branded, but if you are mad because he is offering lopsided trades, the other owner is accepting these trades, and 10 owners did not veto then you are getting upset at the wrong person. If the league does not veto lopsided trades then the league gets what it deserves.