Guys, If you think the reason the game is shrinking is because new players don't understand AAA, I don't know what to tell you. The reason the game is shrinking is obvious. It's because you don't have an app and people can't play the game on a phone. Period. AAA is not the reason. It's 2021. Any game that is successful online now is playable on a phone.

You're going to fundamentally change a great game, with the thought that this change will attract and keep new players. I predict it will not. And in fact, I predict you will lose long time players. Possible including me. And many others. Foolish. Honestly, has ANY long time player told you they like this idea?

Posted by farleyfustle on 2/20/2021 5:43:00 AM (view original):
I don't like-at all getting rid of AAA

A lot of people don't like pre-1920 players

So,just have 4 different open leagues

1 with aaa

2 without aaa

3 with no pre1920
4 with pre1920
Or some combo

Good idea.

Posted by choralmike on 2/28/2021 4:57:00 PM (view original):
Guys, If you think the reason the game is shrinking is because new players don't understand AAA, I don't know what to tell you. The reason the game is shrinking is obvious. It's because you don't have an app and people can't play the game on a phone. Period. AAA is not the reason. It's 2021. Any game that is successful online now is playable on a phone.

You're going to fundamentally change a great game, with the thought that this change will attract and keep new players. I predict it will not. And in fact, I predict you will lose long time players. Possible including me. And many others. Foolish. Honestly, has ANY long time player told you they like this idea?

I agree completely. I'm 19 years into it. Bought a lot of teams. But I am just not going to agree to having things taken away from me. Once I play out the teams I (sadly) bought in advance, I'll be gone.

Posted by choralmike on 2/28/2021 4:57:00 PM (view original):
Guys, If you think the reason the game is shrinking is because new players don't understand AAA, I don't know what to tell you. The reason the game is shrinking is obvious. It's because you don't have an app and people can't play the game on a phone. Period. AAA is not the reason. It's 2021. Any game that is successful online now is playable on a phone.

You're going to fundamentally change a great game, with the thought that this change will attract and keep new players. I predict it will not. And in fact, I predict you will lose long time players. Possible including me. And many others. Foolish. Honestly, has ANY long time player told you they like this idea?

Yes, lots of long-term players have been expressing their approval. Many can be seen in the first several pages of this thread. People who have invested more dollars and years into this site than they'd care to admit--and have seen hundreds of newbies get frustrated and leave--believe this is a good idea.

You're absolutely right about the need for an app and mobile support. That is not lost on the management here. It's simply that it's a monumental task, and they want to do it right. It will take some time. In the meantime, they're trying to make small changes to show that they are involved and interested in making the game better. The past several years, we've seen very little to make us believe management cared about the site, so this is encouraging to me. An you're also right that the AAA change won't make a major difference, but I believe in the long-term, it will be a net positive.

I don't follow why someone would leave the site over this change. If you prefer AAA, join one of the many theme league that are open leagues plus AAA. It's literally the same thing. Or, even better, join a progressive league. As much fun as an open-style league is, keeping and managing a roster over decades is much more engaging - and most of them allow AAA.

I play 99% on my phone. I agree an app would be great but the game is absolutely playable on phone

Or for the several posting above that they want to keep AAA in their OL, just throw your teams in champs leagues (all but 1-2 of you in this entire thread qualify). If y’all did that instead of throwing in OL by default we’d fill several a week instead of one every few weeks.

You get the OL style league you’re used to with 3x the rewards. And, it’s easy because CL are the first league option on your league menu. You have to actively skip it to enter an OL. The only benefit OLs have/had is how fast they fill. If everyone who qualified for champs leagues defaulted there instead champs leagues would fill just as quickly and they play the same way you are expressing you want to play. I’ve got teams in the next four champs leagues waiting for y’all to join me.

Oh, and did I mention 3x the rewards?

Posted by ozomatli on 2/28/2021 3:29:00 AM (view original):
Full support. Great change. Still believe strongly that the OL salary cap should be increased as well (lower cap = more players to choose from = harder to do well), but you can't win 'em all right away.

This is like saying, turn the current Microsoft Flight Simulator into "Babe Ruth and Nolan Ryan Dirigible Simulator," for Open Leagues.

If I personally had my way, OL's might be 70M, to be more realistic to having an MLB team, but I understand 80M, it's a good compromise.

Posted by just4me on 2/28/2021 7:11:00 PM (view original):
Or for the several posting above that they want to keep AAA in their OL, just throw your teams in champs leagues (all but 1-2 of you in this entire thread qualify). If y’all did that instead of throwing in OL by default we’d fill several a week instead of one every few weeks.

You get the OL style league you’re used to with 3x the rewards. And, it’s easy because CL are the first league option on your league menu. You have to actively skip it to enter an OL. The only benefit OLs have/had is how fast they fill. If everyone who qualified for champs leagues defaulted there instead champs leagues would fill just as quickly and they play the same way you are expressing you want to play. I’ve got teams in the next four champs leagues waiting for y’all to join me.

Oh, and did I mention 3x the rewards?

(They say repetition helps, J4M. Hope so.)

My final post here?: Taking away key features, rather than explaining them (the site explaining what they're selling so we don't have to!) is just not a very good way to sell, sorry. More power to Adam and all.

PS: Smartphones are just computers with tiny screens and no keyboards, but issuing a dumbed down app is a fine idea, as long as you didn't also wimpify the Adult Computer Version (ACV).

I would want to see a very realistic Open League salary cap, as well as a much higher cap (perhaps $120M to $140M) where you can afford some high end talent.

My current examples for voting $70-75M for a cap are the WS winning 2009 Yankees, and a very solid 1968 Reds team that both check in around $72M. Open League teams at $80M are surely better than either...

Has it been announced just when Aaa players will be taken away from us?

Does anyone know of other platforms where an AAA feature is part of what is offered? If so, what are your thoughts?

Posted by ArlenWilliam on 2/28/2021 7:23:00 PM (view original):

Posted by ozomatli on 2/28/2021 3:29:00 AM (view original):
Full support. Great change. Still believe strongly that the OL salary cap should be increased as well (lower cap = more players to choose from = harder to do well), but you can't win 'em all right away.

This is like saying, turn the current Microsoft Flight Simulator into "Babe Ruth and Nolan Ryan Dirigible Simulator," for Open Leagues.

If I personally had my way, OL's might be 70M, to be more realistic to having an MLB team, but I understand 80M, it's a good compromise.

As the cap increases, new owners have a better chance of doing well. Do you think a first time player would do better in a 40M league or a 255M league? And there is no happy medium here, it's linear.

Open Leagues are not for you, or me, or other veteran players. Our preferences shouldn't matter. They are for getting new users further interested in the site. Overwhelming new users with a higher number of seemingly usable player seasons with tradeoffs that are unfamiliar, from players they probably don't know from history or real life nonetheless, is a terrible idea.

Posted by mpbthb on 3/2/2021 8:54:00 PM (view original):
Does anyone know of other platforms where an AAA feature is part of what is offered? If so, what are your thoughts?

any number of theme leagues on this very platform

Or, as someone who qualifies for champs leagues, which are identical to open leagues, but still include AAA, and feature 3x the rewards, there’s champs leagues available here, as well.