[thevaliantx]

Quote: Originally Posted by ey215

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem to be arguing that 2D animations are a necessity. I completely disagree. I've been playing text based sports games since MicroLeague baseball back on my Apple IIgs and have messed around in most of the genres (even pro wrestling). I wasn't crazy about the idea of an animation engine when they put it into FM, but it has worked out well. I just don't think it would add enormously to the OOTP experience. The difference between the two games essentially is that in a game like soccer it's good to get a visual representation of where your players are on the pitch and how various tactics interact with the opposing team. Baseball is not a sport that really needs that. Would I take a 2D engine? Sure. Is it a necessity? Not at all, and I'd rather the OOTP team spends valuable time and resources on other things.

Yeah, you're wrong. I never said that 2D animations are a necessity. I implied, correctly so, that there is a segment of the OOTP community that wants SOME SORT of animation (beyond a silly looking ball that just glides in a linear path across the screen), and that Markus (lead developer of the OOTP series) caved because posters on the OOTP forum that have thousands upon thousands of posts cried that it's not a necessity. Look, you can try and spin it any way you want, but this is not about what's a necessity and what isn't. It's about what the gamers WANT. You may not want 2D animations, and that's perfectly fine, but whether you want something or not does not by definition make something a necessity, or not.

I must chuckle at your assertion that soccer is so much more complex than baseball that it needs animations. Looks to me like it's a case of you wanting animations in your favorite game, but that its not okay if someone wants animations in their favorite game. Correct me if I'm wrong.

As far as how the OOTP spends their "valuable time", I believe that would be up to Markus & Gang. At this point, especially at the rate that MLB: The Show is going, Markus might want to evaluate whether redesigning the interface adding the ability to hold a a 500 team league (slight exaggeration there, but not off by much) are the sorts of things that are going to keep the OOTP series going strong. Reading the comments on the OOTP forums, playing MLB: The Show this year (it's a HUGE improvement over last year), and looking back at all my years of baseball gaming experience and my knowledge of the sport, I'd say that things don't look so rosy for OOTP. Yes, I've bought the last five versions of OOTP so I know what I'm talking about. ;-)