Today's Update:

• The player watch system has been added. You may now watch any player in your world, excluding International Prospects and unsigned draft picks.
• We have added an International Prospect history page. You can now see all of the International Prospects that have been signed in your world.
• The problem with the all-stars not appearing for some worlds has been fixed.
• Slugging percentage was being calculated incorrectly for bench players when viewing "Split Stats", it is now fixed.
• Free agent demands for injured players were based on pre-injury projected ratings, this has been fixed.

That's all for this week, we have a lot more planned for this month. We'll keep you posted.

In Today's Update:

• We have made the International Prospect Signings page sortable.
• Minor league player's who did not make the playoffs will now recover fatigue.
• Three times per season you will be getting correspondence from your fielding instructor letting you know which players should be considered for position changes.

Today's Update Continued:

• Starting pitchers are now listed in the play-by-play
• Hit-and-run/strikeout outcomes have been added
• Corrected a bug in which fielders weren't being credited with 2 outs on double plays. For example, if a SS played an entire 9 innings but his team turned a double play, he'd show up as only having played 8.2 innings at SS
• Corrected a bug in which 2 RBI were being credited when a player hit a fly ball that fell for a two-base error when runners were on second and third. the batter should only get 1 RBI for the sac fly even though the fielder dropped the ball
• Lowered the rate of bad sac bunts turning into double plays
• Added 3-6-4 double plays
• Increased the importance of range when deciding if a player can turn two (the player recieving and then continuing the throw, such as the shortstop in a 4-6-3 double play)
• Corrected a bug in which a mopup pitcher was being removed from a game prematurely rather than staying in to eat innings
• Corrected a bug in which starting pitchers flagged to be used in relief weren't being brought in correctly. they weren't being brought in until all relief pitchers pitched, when they should have been coming in if the remaining bullpen guys were below their autorest value
• Improved the logic for determining when to pull a pitcher from the game, both in the field and for a pinch-hitter
• Improved the logic for deciding when to use a relief specialist
• Adjusted the pinch-running logic for aggressive and very aggressive managerial settings
• Improved the sac bunt logic to reduce sac bunt attempts with 1 out and a runner on 2nd.

We also found and fixed a bug involving end-of-season player awards. The results were being displayed incorrectly if two players tied for the user-submitted vote count. This has been fixed, but the listed awards could be wrong for the next 24 hours. If they appear incorrect, give it until tomorrow night before you submit a ticket. It should correct itself over the next day.

Today's Update:

• Corrected a bug on the Trade Build page (Depth Chart view) where it was allowing draftees to be traded. This snuck out the door when we introduced the depth chart view for trades.
• Added the ability to view and pick the franchise you want to control when signing up for season 2 and beyond

There were also a few small engine tweaks including:

• Improved logic for deciding when to bring in a starting pitcher eligible for relief into the game. previously, it would use a mopup or closer despite the related managerial setting instead of an SP
• Expanded the pinch-running opportunities when using the two most aggressive PR settings
• Made basestealing aggressiveness more of a factor in pickoffs. Teams that are more conservative will now have less pickoffs, for example.
• Reduced stolen base attempts when it's a 1st and 3rd situation
• Improved hit and run decision making. batter's contact now plays more of a role rather than his ability to hit for average

The update is out!

We snuck in a few additional items, too:

• A totally new menu system for quicker page access
• When a team has the AI automatically take over for their big league team, the owner will now receive an email
• when a player is ***igned to the big league team, we now automatically add the player to the 40-man to reduce the # of steps you have to make
• Corrected the order of supplemental round picks for a handful of worlds that were impacted by a previous bug.

That's it. We hope you enjoy the update.

Today's Update:

• Corrected the season/career rollups for fielding stats on the player profile
• Added Franchise Notes to the Edit Rosters page
• Added the ability for fielders to prevent throwing errors (will show up as + plays)
• Added ability for fielders to get to balls due to great range but then make an error (show up as +- play)
• Toned down the upper bound of pitches available for some starting pitchers. This stems from the most recent dev chat. Pitchers affected will be those pitchers with a durability betwen 25 and 35. The change will be noticeable the next time the player goes through a development cycle. The change is minimal for those between 25 and 30 and more substantial for those between 30 and 35. This will bring back the max # of IP a SP can throw to a more modern day level. For instance, if a top end SP could previously rack up 340 IP during the regular season, he'll now only be able to throw 300.

Enjoy!

Small update today:

• Improved the Rule 5 Draft player availability process. Any player acquired the 24-hour period prior to the Rule 5 Draft Roster Freeze is no longer exposed in the Rule 5 Draft. This is to handle the situations where a free-agent signed late, a trade was processed at the last minute or a waiver claim was processed and the owner didn't have time to add the player to the 40-man roster.
• Improved the supplemental round shuffle process so that all A picks are now before B picks which are before D picks.
• Added pitcher stamina and durability to the player settings page
• Added link to propose trade on the trade chat page
• Engine improvement -- Setup B pitchers will start to see more action when the team is winning by 6 or more runs (including baserunners) in the 7th inning or later. Previously, the setup A would get this ***ignment.
• Engine change -- improved some logic so that pinch-hitters can now be pinch-run for.
• Engine change - improved the logic where a player sub at a position would be replaced by another player at the inning half that wasn't as suited for the position as the original replacement. The original replacement will not remain in the game.
• Engine improvement - manager will now place more emphasis on defense when deciding whether to pinch-hit for a position player. For instance, if it's late in the game and the team has the lead, sometimes it's better to leave your slick fielding SS in the game rather than go for an insurance run by pinch hitting and then bringing in an inferior fielder at SS.

Enjoy!

Small Update:

We corrected a few issues with the latest rollout including some display issues with the new world content, an issue with the Player Awards page when toggling between worlds in different seasons and a rare sign-up issue.

It turns out there was, in fact, an issue with strikeouts. We had an error in one of our formulas which was causing a decrease in strikeouts across the board. This has been corrected, so plan on seeing a return to the norm for strikeout levels.

Thanks to those that pointed out these errors.

This update was driven primarily from your suggestions. The central focus was improving the coach hiring process, the Free Agent Report page, and the playoff format for the first and second rounds.

Coach Hiring Improvements:

• Retired players can now become Coaches! The subset of retired players who do become coaches will seek Rookie Level jobs.
• If a coach's demanded role and level has filled he will now adjust his demands.
• The number of vacancies at a specific role/level combination will now be displayed in the coaching matrix. This should give owners a good idea of what roles and levels will require a bidding war.
• The number of offers per level/role combination has been restricted to three. This was done to deter other owners from negotiating with several coaches at once to get other owners to drop out of the negotiations or to significantly raise the coach's demands.
• Coaches who are asking for a level or role change will now entertain offers at the same level/role that they coached at the previous season for a significant pay increase

• The Playoff format for the Division Play In Series and the Division Championship Series has been changed to a 2-2-1 format
• Minor League Free Agent demands now coincide with the player's highest level of play achieved
• The Free Agent Report page will not load any data initially so that owner's can set their criteria before having to load a large subset of data
• All arbitration players at the ML level can now be released without regard to the minimum roster requirement.
• If you have put a player on reversible waivers it will now show up in the pending moves display
• Lopsided contracts that are submitted to International Prospects and Free Agents will now throw an exception directly on the negotiations page
• The player gamelog will now display past month results in addition to the past week
• You can now initiate a trade chat from the trade proposals screen
• The sorting issues that some of you reported with the World Content have been fixed
• Filter options for the FAQ have been added along with some additional help for the Rule 5 draft and the Amateur draft

Engine Improvements:

• Expanded +/- opportunities for infielders
• Increased opportunities for runners on 3B trying to score on ground balls meeting certain criteria
• Only winning run will score on game ending ground-rule doubles
• Improved logic for runners advancing on balls hit to outfield where fielder would have to field, pivot and throw across body
• Improved logic for pinch-hitting for pitcher to now take into consideration whether he should be in to earn the win (by pitching at least 5 IP)
• Reduced likelihood of attempting steal of second when runners on 1st and 2nd
• Improved logic for deciding to attempt the hit and run

Our next order of business will be to add an advanced edit rosters mode. We hope you enjoy all of the changes and keep the feedback coming!

We put out a small update/patch today including the following:

• Corrected a bug in which the final 4-hour cycle of free-agent offers wasn't being processed at the proper time. Rather than being processed at the 3:00 AM EST cycle, they were being processed at 11:00 AM EST.
• Added regional scouts for Canada. Since the inception of HBD, no players from Canada have been seen by franchises because we had a typo in the scout creation code.
• Improved the addion/removal from the playoff roster so it can be done in the same series of moves.
• Added an extra correspondence during spring training to remind owners to fill their minor league rosters
• Expanded the logic on the Edit Rosters page to allow for the minimum roster size to be flexible for minor league teams when it comes to releasing/DFA'ing arbitration eligible players prior to arb hearings.
• Several minor engine improvements/adjustments

Enjoy!

We released some engine updates this morning:

* Improved the logic for deciding to yank a pitcher by increasing the importance when there are bases loaded or runners on 2nd/3rd. Previously, we weighted a runner on 3rd the same as if the bases were loaded. This will result in pitchers being lifted more often when running into trouble but before allowing a run late in the game.

* When evaluating whether a pitcher should be lifted for a PH, we've broken down the minimum lead for a PH into early in the game and late in the game. The result is more pitchers hitting for themselves when they have a lead late in the game.

* Adjusted the logic for pinch-hitting for a pitcher in the 5th inning. Pitchers with close leads are now more likely to hit for themselves rather than be lifted for a PH.

* Expanded the logic for yanking a pitcher mid-inning when it's late in the game, team has the lead and multiple runners reach base. Previously, a pitcher wouldn't be considered for a yank until he allowed a run or reached his pitch count or if a specialist was available. Now, for example, a Setup A reliever could be considered to be yanked if other Setup A pitchers are available and he's given up a couple baserunners in the 8th with a 1-run lead.

* Improved the logic for determining whether a player is out/safe when trying to take a base (scoring from second on a single to RF, for example). We had been using managerial settings in the outcome factor when it should not have been, resulting in more players being thrown out. This primarily impacts slower runners who don't attempt to advance very much. For example, a slow runner on 2B will still hold up on most singles to right. However, when they do attempt, their success ratio should now be higher since they had already evaluated all the in-game situational factors.

* Increased the importance of defense when evaluating whether a team with the lead should pinch-hit for a position player late in a game. If the current player is significantly better than the replacement, the player may remain in the game rather than the superior pinch-hitter. Other factors are at play, but the defensive factor now carries more weight.

* Improved the logic for determining who covers 2B when the corner infielders are playing in. The SS now covers in just about every situation.

* Decreased the number of unsuccessful double play attempts by splitting some of them out into simple force outs at 1B. Previously, there were far too many out at 2B, runner beats the throw at 1B. Whether it does one over the other is based on the quality of the fielders, the batter's speed and the hit type and location.

* Increased the frequency of fielders (mostly 1B) saving errant throws. Range factor determines the likelihood.

* Removed the possibility of double plays at 2B while infielders are playing in since it's virtually impossible.

We put out a minor update this afternoon including the following changes:

• Corrected a small loophole that allowed an owner to begin a trade with a franchsie in another world. The trade could never be accepted, but it could cause an owner's Trade Proposal page to not load properly.
• Tightened up some links that allowed owners to begin trade proposals prior to budgets being set. This involved the Trade Chat and Trading Block pages.
• Fixed a flaw that allowed an owner to negotiate a long-term contract with one of his/her players that was in an option year before deciding to accept/decline the option.
• Corrected a bug that prevented owners from making playoff roster changes in between rounds of the playoffs if they happened to have lost 2 games in the first round. This stemmed from the change from the best of 3 to best of 5 first round playoff format.
• Made some significant under-the-hood performance changes to our main display control used on the Free Agent Report, Trade Build Depth Chart and Waiver Wire page. This should prevent some owners running on slower connections from seeing the Page Error message when the page failed to load because it was loading too slowly.

We've scheduled our next developer chat. It'll be this Thursday (1/10/2008) from 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EST. You may enter questions anytime before or during the chat. For more details, click here.

Thanks

Today's update involves 3 significant changes:

1. Made some more under-the-hood changes to improve site performance. Cut down on the size of the pages so page loads should be faster across the board.
2. Based on findings in the recent dev chat, we closed the loophole that was allowing owners to sign players to 1-year long term contracts despite them asking for longer deals.
3. Also based on the dev chat and an ensuing forum thread, corrected a bug involving the player aging process. If a franchise's training budget was high enough and the player met certain conditions (age, makeup), certain players could actually see improvement during the aging process rather than see a plateau followed by a decline. The training budget should lengthen/shorten a player's plateau, not ***ist in a player's improvement beyond their peak age.

The two bugs have been in the game since the day we launched, so we are very happy to be closing them. Thank you very much to those who brought these issues to our attention.

We hope you enjoy the improvements to the game. We feel all three should lead to a more enjoyable, realistic product.

Thanks

Today's update includes a few noteworthy items.

First, we made some adjustments to the logic that determines stolen base success rates for individual players. The players at the upper end were being successful too often (upwards of 98% with over 75 attempts!). These upper tier players should come back down to Earth a bit.

Second, we made a change to the way players evaluate contract offers for long-term contracts and during the Re-signing stage of the free-agent process. You can now offer a player a contract for less years than he's demanding, but you'll have to make it for more money than he's asking in the longer deal.

For instance, if a player is asking for $6M per season over 4 years, he may now accept a contract for 1 year at a much steeper price than $6M. This does NOT come into play at all during the primary free-agent period. During that timeframe, free-agents who aren't receiving offers will lower their demands themselves.

We also put a cap on the age a player will accept a contract for. Previously, there was no cap and you could keep offering a player long-term deals regardless of age. Now, if a player is 42, for example, he won't be willing to accept a deal that keeps him playing at age 45.

We hope you enjoy the changes.

Today's Update Details:

• Expanded the # of fielding coaches created in between seasons to prevent an occasional shortage.
• Loosened some rating threshold checks for coachs when determining their demands. There were a few too many coaches not meeting the appropriate rating checks for hitting, pitching and/or fielding coaches at the big league level and, as a result, were looking for other roles. For example, some worlds were seeing a glut of coaches looking for bullpen coach roles when some of them could have been looking for pitching coach jobs.
• Corrected a bug where a small group of coaches were not lowering their demands during the coach hiring phase when they should have been.
• Improved the coach hiring process by adding an additional check for evaluating coach offers for AAA and MLB coaches. Up until 12 hours before the end of the coach negotiation period, AAA and MLB coaches must have had the same franchise be the top offer for 2 periods in a row before they'll consider signing. This was put in place to prevent the scenario where a franchise is a coach's top offer for 5 periods in a row, but then another franchise sweeps him away with his first offer. Now, early in the negotiation process, the other franchise will have an attempt to make another offer. Again, this is only for AAA and MLB coaches.
• Improved the logic for filling empty coaching roles at the end of the coach negotiation process. The first attempt is to re-sign the coach from the previous season if he's still available. We continue to do this, but if it's obvious the coach is not a good fit for that role, he will not re-sign.
• Improved the logic for players evaluating the exact same non big league offers. Up until this point, if two franchises offered a player the exact same minor league, minor league with invite or invite contract, he would always sign with the franchise that made the first offer. The player now evaluates the depth of the franchises and goes with the franchise where he has the best chance to reach the big leagues.
• Corrected a bug involving International Prospects. Some players would occasionally react to a contract offer by saying they don't want to be booed out of the stadium or something similar. We have a check in place so players don't accept offers for way more than their quality level. We were inadvertantly comparing the offer with the prospect's current overall rating rather than his projected overall rating.
• Corrected a financial bug involving players who signed long term contracts, were released during season A of that contract and then signed as a free-agent by a different club the following season during the same contract. The original franchise was not having the prorated portion of the league minimum subtracted, and the new franchise was not being held responsible for the prorated amount of the league minimum. We have fixed all existing cases.
• Addded links to the official world blog or forum thread for each world to the World Center, Franchise Center and World Chat pages.
• Added Blog pages to both the Player Profile and Franchise Profile pages. There's a new menu item along the of each profile page. The info in the copy-and-paste code is high level information and contains links to the profile pages. We didn't include current stats or record since these will change frequently and can always be accessed via the profile link.

There are some styling issues with some of the blog entries -- we'll be improving these tomorrow [FOLLOW_UP: These have been corrected!].

If your world has a blog and it's not been ***igned, please let us know via customer support. 1 blog per world.

We hope you enjoy the improvements and additions.