Free agent happiness

[cubsfanbudman72]

I don't have a screenshot to show you, but I've noticed when I've tried to sign free agents that they express interest in my team then change their mind after getting signed.

Example: P Brian Lawrence is a free agent and I'm managing the Giants which I did for one replay. It said on his profile "Brian would like to play for San Francisco" so I signed him. Then it says on his profile "Brian hates San Francisco." One would think that after signing a $3.5 million dollar deal that someone would be happy. Is this going to be fixed?

[BorgHunter]

What's his happiness? Sometimes the little blurb accompanying a player can be misleading.

[BINGLEBOP]

It's completely random. Change his personality characteristics if it really bothers you, especially since those are randomly generated. For example, if you have an expansion or rebuilding team, lower a player's ambition score. If you have a contending team, raise it. Increase the community rating as well. Then he will love it and want to spend his career there, although it's San Francisco, so I don't see why any player would want to do such a thing.

This overrides the happiness score. If I have a horrible team, a player can have "10" happiness, but as long as his ambition rating is low and community rating is high, his scouting report will say something about how he's settled in well or wants to finish his career there. At the same time, give your player with a high ambition score a happiness score of 100 on a losing team and he'll want out and it'll say something silly like "Freddy McFriendless wants to live somewhere warmer than Las Vegas".

[BINGLEBOP]

See the screenshot below. I lowered his happiness score but increased his ambition and community ratings (since I have a contending team). He's "unhappy" but wants to finish his career here. I think of that as the equivalent of a grumpy player who just wants to be on a contending team.

[ohms_law]

That's the whole thing, it's not a bug because the two messages are telling you different things. When he's a FA, it's telling you about his desire to be on the team. When he's on the team, it's telling you about how he's fitting in.

I put this in suggestions though, since changing the strings to be more descriptive is one idea.

[GreenDiamond2]

Agree that the strings should be more descriptive. If a player is ambitious then he should not be reported as happy when on a leading team. The actual happiness rating should tell you where he's at emotionally, you're managers are going to know if he "fits in" or is consistently negative attitude-wise.

Since happiness is tied to contract values and performance, it is important to know where the player stands.

[grasshopper]

This is actually a good topic because I have been wondering. If you set happiness as a factor at 100 versus performance, will the player really, really suck? I havent taken it up that far. 99% of the time it will say "xxx would really love to play for the xxx" when you sign them. Then they hate it from day 1.

[GreenDiamond2]

This is actually a good topic because I have been wondering. If you set happiness as a factor at 100 versus performance, will the player really, really suck? I havent taken it up that far. 99% of the time it will say "xxx would really love to play for the xxx" when you sign them. Then they hate it from day 1.

I've never taken it past about +40. Seemed to have a moderate effect, if I remember correctly.

Signed players should be happy to have a contract, and at least initially optimistic about it being a good thing. If they were bitter about it, they wouldn't sign the deal for an amount of money that was less than what would make them reasonably happy.

Possibly a bonus during the first year with a new team after signing. Perhaps the equivelant of having a friend on a team, at least until they have an opportunity to see if they actually make any of them. Since it is a temporary bonus, it should be listed on the happiness card (excited about new contract). This bonus may be lost when the player is traded. The bonus should be listed on the the happiness chart, so that players are not suddenly suprised when the joy of the extra money wears off and the player becomes bitter about his new teammates, assignment role or whatever.

[grasshopper]

Actually, I tried that quick fix a couple of times. Got that message " Joe misses Schmoe". So I traded and brought over Schmoe. No tangible difference in Joes happiness or perfomance.

[ohms_law]

It usually works for me... although, it doesn't really have an effect on players who are already on your team. What it does effect is the willingness fo players who are free agents or who have a NTC who you are trying to aquire. It also can bring down their asking price in renegotiations fairly significantly. I think you're talking about their general happiness when their already on the team and signed through the current season, and you're right that it doesn't really affect that (although it can, at the extremes).

[Rongar]

In the "League Editor" -at least for BM 07; 08; can't speak for 09 - the default
setting for "Effect of Happiness/Personality on Performance and Negotiation" is set at zero.

In other words, as long as one doesn't alter this setting, the player's "likes & dislikes" matter not a jot, in this game.

[ohms_law]

the 0% setting is for "average". At the average setting, players happiness affects both their performance and negotiation demands slightly, it's just not extreme is all. If you really want to shut off the effect of happiness then you need to turn both settings to -100%.