Basically, when you want to use a league file and there is a team with a tag of <team_average_talent> associated with it, you want to assign that team the value that is within the <team_average_talent> tag and not the <average_talent> tag listed in the header part of the league that that team is a part of. If this league is listed in the <league> section of the country_<country_name>.xml file, then the league in question would be considered a national league and therefore, the team within that league would be playable to the user. In that case, that team will be assigned the value that is associated with the <team_average_talent> tag compared to the <average_talent> value assigned to the league file. That's normal.
Now for the not normal part. When you would load up the same league file into an international cup, when the league file isn't part of your country's national definition, even when using the <property> tag with a value of "league_talents", you would get those teams loaded with values that would be representative of the league's <average_talent> value instead of the team's <team_average_talent> value, which is sometimes not what you want. I will say that I can look at this issue in two different ways.
The first way relates to using say the fifa world cup league files to create international friendly competitions within my country definitions that aren't necessarily playable by the user but just there for the user to observe and say cheer on, if wanted. Within my country definition, the only thing that would be present there would be a cup file that loads the league files to select teams for the international friendly matches, of which none of my national league files would participate in. Although a side benefit would be that sometimes those national teams would offer players on the transfer list of which I can select to trade for, if wanted.
The second way this can relate is if through a normal country definition, you have international cups that you participate in, like the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup/Europa League. Say you have <team_average_talent> values for the big clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, P.S.G, Bayern Munich, Manchester CIty and Liverpool, and potentially other teams within the top leagues, and you're playing as a team from Belgium. If any of those teams were selected for the Champions League or UEFA Cup/Europa League, none of them would likely be using their <team_average_talent> values but instead be using the values assigned to the league they are from, which would be the values from the <average_talent> tag, respectively. Now in this case, it becomes a question of whether or not you'd want to have those teams use their <team_average_talent> values or not? Yes, it might make it harder to win the competition but then it might make it more realistic too. But then another question would be would it be fair to the user as they themselves may not have chosen the value for the <team_average_talent> tag if they downloaded the definitions in question?
So, those are two ways to look at this issue. Personally for me, it is about being able to use the fifa world cup files or files like them, to create international friendlies of which can be run within my country definitions for the users to appreciate, while also playing their league matches. As those files have <team_average_talent> values for all the teams listed, they also have an <average_talent> value listed for the league file itself, likely as one is needed to run the league as is I guess. As there is a workaround for the first way, although it is a rather long, long workaround way, it can be done. As for the second way, there is no workaround for that and then it becomes a question of whether or not it is a feature that is wanted or is fair to the user to have? Or can it be something that can be implemented? I'm guessing it can be implemented but how, that's something for the developers to figure out.
So anyways, this is my report on this "bug" as it is something that when thought about, is rather niche but then it could be something that could be useful and interesting to have. Comments always welcome.
will_the_canuck