THE TALK SHOW
Host: Glenn Guzzo
You can submit your question or insight on any Strat-O-Matic game to SOMTalkShow@aol.com. When you do, kindly include your name and town. Other gamers like to see that. And the display format below works better that way.
Reminder: Send us your “Great Moments in Strat” – your
playing experiences that you just have
to share.
Football Zoo: Tigers, Gators, Steers and Ducks
I am wondering is there any plan to recreate past seasons for the college football game. I as an Oregon Ducks fan would love to see the 2001 season come out for the game. But it would be cool to have seasons from the past. I have played Strat-O games since the early ‘70s.
Jack Bogan,
No word, but unless there is a sudden
downpour of old seasons, I think we could wait quite a while for 2001. If
Strat-O-Matic ventures into NCAA past seasons, I would expect either of two
developments: Either work backward, beginning with 2003, or go further back for
some nostalgic history.
In order to consider doing older
seasons, Strat-O-Matic Director of Development
In
addition to chronology, the 2003 season offers the “what-if” attraction of its
controversial season with split national champions. LSU won the official
championship with its victory over Oklahoma in the BCS title game, while USC
won the writers’ poll. That was some of the fuel for the fire of criticism
against the BCS system, since
Two older seasons offer similar
“what-if” glamour: 1966 and 1969.
In 1966, we had the famous Notre
Dame-Michigan State 10-10 tie in a battle of unbeaten No. 1 vs. No. 2, but that
overlooked Bear Bryant’s undefeated, untied Alabama team. How interesting is
this? – Alabama finished No. 1 in the 1965 AP poll and is the pre-season No. 1
for 1966, goes undefeated and untied, and finishes No. 3 behind Notre Dame (No.
6 in the pre-season poll) and Michigan State (No. 2 in 1965 and in the ’66
pre-season poll). And this – neither Notre Dame nor
A
host of other interesting teams from that season would make a fine NCAA playoff
pool. Among others: Florida, led by Heisman-Trophy-winning QB Steve Spurrier
and replenished by a new invention, Gatorade; UCLA with RB Mel Farr; Rose Bowl
winner Purdue with QB Bob Griese; SMU, which won its first Southwest Conference
championship since 1948 thanks to coach Hayden Fry and big-play WR Jerry
Levias, the first black starter at the school.
In 1969,
That’s just the half of it, albeit
the top half. Also in 1969, the No. 1 team most of the season was
Looking Forward to
Will Strat-O-Matic support the new
Winberry
replies: “Early testing of the
“The
plus side is that we expect to have a new and much-improved
user interface. And this also puts us in better position for
future
improvements.
“Of
course, we cannot support
version of each
game. The other games might need to be
ported as well --
but the timetable for
Baseball Strategy
Has Strat
ever thought about implementing the bullpen-warmup
rule as an option in the computer game? Also, has anyone else ever asked about
the computer game having the l/r stats for the batter and pitcher available
during game play?
Will Oast
The bullpen-warmup
rule was short-lived in the board game and I have not heard much call for it
since, though I know a few board gamers who still like to use it as something
that enhances strategy. I think too many gamers found this too demanding – they
would forget to warm up their reliever too often, or fail to see far enough
ahead to the possibility that a certain pitcher would be needed suddenly.
That’s an aspect of real managing that we gamers should respect.
The lefty-righty
stats on screen have been mentioned, but not often. Strat-O-Matic has made its
game engine transparent in most respects, but still wants its game to reflect a
bit of the uncertainty that comes with managing a game. The BALance
ratings give us the general idea of who is best equipped for certain roles.
Wilt, the Big O and More
Will Strat ever release a ‘60s basketball season, so that gamers will have an opportunity to see Chamberlain, Baylor, Russell, Robertson, West and other greats of that era in their primes? I know that certain stats were not kept during those years, but I believe I speak for many gamers in saying that we would gladly accept some estimates and perhaps less than the normal Strat detailed analysis in some statistical areas for the chance to play the great players and teams of the ‘60s.
Rob,
Do you think SOM will ever
reproduce 70's NBA teams updated to play against current card sets? Many people
on the Strat-Fan-Forum are interested in such a product. Perhaps a best of the
70's?
Bob,
No
question, the absence of those players from their 1960s primes is a gap in Strat-O-Matic’s hoops history. We can hope. Once the ‘60s
Hall of Famers were missing from hockey, too. That
obstacle was overcome by gamer Tim Comely’s research,
STRAT FAN’s enterprise and, eventually, by Strat-O-Matic’s deep involvement with NHL past seasons.
Hockey has several advantages over basketball in this area: The necessary stats
could be re-created after the fact, the card-making program is much simpler and
SOM’s customer base for hockey is larger than it is
for basketball.
I
have written here before about how attractive it would be to see the 1961-62
NBA season, with all the stars you mention (plus Bob Cousy,
Bob Pettit, Hal Greer, Guy Rodgers and more) and Chamberlain’s 100-point game
(and 50-point scoring average). The high-volume, low-percentage shooting that
resulted in high scores would be an interesting history lesson, as well – and
an interesting alternative to today’s NBA style.
Historic
cards are a long shot. Historic teams in all sports sell less than current
teams. SOM basketball card sales aren’t as strong as SOM would like even for
current teams. I think we’re looking at computer-only for thirty-year-old NBA
teams.
Getting Personal
I have a lot of Strat-O-Matic Personalized baseball cards, but I was wondering: Do you think Strat-O-Matic will be making personalized cards for basketball, football and hockey soon?
Fred Benson,
I doubt it. It’s a fringe item even for
baseball, SOM’s most popular sport by far. And the
computer programs that translate data into cards are more complex for football
and basketball.
Basketball: Tracking Rest Minutes
I have had a question about the basketball game for some time now, but I’ve hesitated to ask because it seems like such a stupid question. What is the recommended way to gauge player rest in the board game when playing solitaire? I know the rules mention that you can substitute playes at any stoppage of play (after a foul, turnover, etc.). But let’s say at the start of the second quarter I have Dwyane Wade in the basketball game and Jason Williams resting. Maybe 15 cards into the quarter, Wade picks up his 3rd foul and I want to take him out, so I bring in Jason Williams and he plays the rest of the quarter until the “6 minute” marker comes up. Does Jason Williams get credit for any rest at all or is he treated as if had played the entire 6 minute interval? What about Dwyane Wade? Does he get credit for any rest? I normally prefer to use the “2-minute intervals” super advanced option when playing with other people, but that is a real hassle when trying to play solitaire. Any advice?
Scott Dicken,
No question is stupid if it helps you
understand something. When playing solitaire, my general advice is: Make it
easy on yourself. Do what makes you comfortable, foremost for ease of play and
secondarily for the level of statistical accuracy you demand.
Players would get credit for time
played (and time rested) for the appropriate portion of any six-minute period
(or any two-minute period, etc.). If Williams replaces Wade three minutes into
a six-minute segment, they each get three minutes played and three minutes
rested.
Keeping track of playing time solo
for up to 24 different players in a game can be annoying, too. So if I am going
to play a lot of games, I set up a playing-time grid for each team, identifying
the players to be used for each 6-minute interval. In that grid, a 36-minute
player might rest 6 minutes at the start of the second quarter and 6 minutes in
the last half of the third quarter. For players whose PT isn’t neatly divisible
by 6 (24 minutes, 30 minutes, 36 minutes), either round to the nearest six or
subdivide the 6-minute intervals into 4 and 2 or 2, 2 and 2. Doing this for all
the teams and each of their primary players “automates” the individual playing
time for me. Then, I really only have to track deviations – players removed for
foul trouble, injury, gross ineffectiveness or blowouts. Knowing that all those
things can happen, I might schedule an extra couple of minutes per game for the
starters. Just remember to yank these guys in blowouts if you don’t want their
stats to be inflated. I don’t add the minutes to the backups, because they are
less likely to get into foul trouble and are the guys who get to play more in
the blowouts.
Hockey: 4-on-4
I’ve always wondered about playing the 4-on-4 overtime in the basic version of Strat-O-Matic Hockey. I know the center position should remain open like it is when a team is shorthanded, but aside from this, what adjustments, if any, should be made to the play results?
David Solomon,
No
official rule changes to separate this OT situation from the way you would play
4-on-4 for coincidental penalties. But anticipate that most teams will play a
center at one of the forward positions during the five-minute overtime.
I have been an avid hockey gamer since 1981. This is my first stab at the computer version and I am really thrilled with it. I am currently replaying the 2005-06 season and have had pretty realistic stats so far. Some changes I would like to see:
-- The PK ratings. If a player is a 3 def and 4 PK 3(4), he should have all 12-14 D as take away puck. Or 4(3) should be D14 outside shot for opponent. The way it is now the PK D is based on even strength. This is really big for guys with 1(3) or 3(1), etc.
-- The power play. If a player didn’t score a PP goal during the year, he shouldn’t be able to in Strat. Somehow have only PP goals as + ratings, etc.
-- I also like to set it up to where a SH goal is only scored on a breakaway with skating ( ) rating. I set all skaters as icing only unless they have a breakaway number. They are set at skate once and clear only. This really cuts down on the SH goals. It’s too easy to score SH with skate twice or skate always. Still players now score SH if they didn’t score SH during the year. Kuba of Minnesota has 2 SH goals in my replay after 15 games and didn’t score any SH goals last year. Maybe something can be done there.
Randy, St.Louis
The second two conditions are easily remedied by not using those
players on special teams, or (as you are doing), limiting the way they are used
in killing penalties. But to say that a 20-goal scorer could not score a
power-play goal, or a short-handed goal just because that wasn’t his role one
season seems an extreme an unnecessary solution.
Some board gamers choose to play the shorthanded defensive columns the
way you prefer it. But keep in mind that the ratings were made with the SOM
rules in mind. If the rule was the way
you like it, the rating likely would not be the same.
How Many Words are These Pictures Worth?
I am a huge fan of SOM and have been playing their games since 1973, I am currently replaying the 1951 season for computer baseball (Ver. 11)...
Could give me some insight as to whether this is in the works or if its just a pipe dream? I love the statistical accuracy in all their games, but I would love to see the game engine resemble more of the arcade-game features i.e.. players running the bases and fielding the ball. There was a game about 20 years ago called MicroLeague baseball, which was also a statistical simulation game, however the players fielded and ran the bases (which included them sliding if the play warranted). It was very basic but it was fun watching the play develop and it gave a more realistic appearance. If SOM could come up with a version that resembled say EA Sports Baseball or ESPN 2K6 in appearance that showed the outcome of the dice roll and player cards, for instance if the outcome of the dice roll showed a flyout, instead of just showing the flight of the ball now you would see the players actually making the play in the field in 3D, or if the outcome were a single it would show the players attempting to field the ball in the hole and the batter running to first and making the turn.
Thanks for this forum. I love SOM, the best in Sports gaming.
Mike Novak,
Never say never when it comes to technology.
And SOM very will likely update its baseball-game interface for Version 12 in
2007 to adapt to Microsoft’s forthcoming
Stadium Shots
I was just wondering if there were
plans for new ballpark pictures for the PC game.
Joe Mundy –
I
expect that we will see stadium photo updates from time to time, but the
timetable is fuzzy, too. SOM has a long wish list for improvements and is
staring at a tough deadline to get the next baseball version compatible with
Solid Gold
I was
wondering if you agreed with Albert Pujols’ Gold
Glove at first base. Many feel he was the best defensive first baseman this
past season. I thought so, too. I don’t see Jose Reyes everyday, as I am from
As you know, Gold Gloves don’t guarantee 1’s
in the eyes of Strato. They can be stubborn about
that. Look at what they have done to
Derek Jeter over the last few years.
Thanks for your time. I
have been playing Strato since 1980, when I was 16.
Darrell Sharp,
Both are excellent fielders. With incumbent
Gold Glove winner Derrek Lee on the injured list much
of 2006, Pujols stepped up as the best full-time
first baseman in the National League. He is that rare superstar – a natural
whose work ethic is second to none. That’s why he is constantly improving his
game and has put up the best numbers for his first six seasons than anyone in
the history of the game. I expect a 1 for him, but when a man wins in the void
of an injured player, that leaves room for doubt.
Reyes didn’t win the Gold, but
repeat winner Adam Everett is a lock for a 1 at shortstop, so that opens the
door for another 1 at the position in the National League. Reyes has a fine
chance for that based on his skills and his breakout season as a vital part of
the team with the best record in baseball this year.
Jeter is another story – a unique
story, really. He just won his third straight Gold Glove, while all the
statistical analyses of the past few years show that he is among the
least-adept full-time shortstops. Many believed that Jeter wasn’t even the best
shortstop on his team in 2004 and 2005, but Alex Rodriguez’ error-prone season
in 2006 might quiet some of that talk. Others have been denied 1s for two
straight Gold Gloves (Ernie Banks, Gene Alley and Wade Boggs come to mind), but
if Jeter is not a 1 for 2006, I believe he will be the first to be a 2 for
three straight GG seasons.
T Time
One huge thing I would like to see in SOM Computer hoops would be to have
technical fouls assigned to individual players (or even coaches). The risk of losing a star player would be far more realistic and it’s been missing from the game since its inception.
Brian McNeil
With the new NBA rules allowing for quicker
Ts and quicker ejections, the technical foul is more of a factor in the real
game than ever. That would be an obvious upgrade. Ideas like this should be
submitted directly to the game company.