How did you meet FOF?

[Vinatieri for Prez]

For the sake of curiosity, and to help Jim in the marketing department, I thought it would be cool to find out how everybody first learned about FOF (since no one else I personally know has ever heard of the game).

My story is quite interesting. Sitting at a computer one night I was tempted to download some free computer software (back when I was learning that it was quite easy - although I never ended up doing it). I typed in "football" at the appropriate (or inappropriate) sites, and up popped up the download "front office football." Rather than downloading it, I decided to search the web to find out about it. I ended up hitting FOFC and started lurking for a few days. Back in 2001, there was a lot less OT on FOFC. I then went to solecismic.com and bought the game (EA version FOF2001) and loved it ever since.

So, share your stories here and vote above.

[MizzouRah]

I was on the ootp2 boards and someone mentioned FOF, I came here for a sec and remember Blackadar.. from there it's all blurry. I then preceeded to buy FOF2.


Todd

[JasonC23]

I'm pretty sure it was a football or pc game newsgroup that led me to the original FOF. Wow, that was a while ago.

[MrBug708]

Met FOF through Download.com. FOF2 it was

[jetpunk2000]

I believe it was October 1998, and I had just bought Baseball Mogul. I honestly can't remember how I found FOF, but I remember being so excited that finally a text football sim had been made. I fell in love with the game from the first night I played it. I honestly wish I knew what I did with the original copy. I can't believe it's been that long since it came out though. And here I am still amazed by it.

[jbmagic]

first sports sim game was ootp 6

saw it talk about on ootp forum and .400 forum..

keep my eye on FOF for awhile and reading this FOF forum. than finallly after getting TPB 2005, i decided to get FOF when it became fof 5.1

i love this game its awesome..wish i got it along time ago..

[Craptacular]

I think it was a little blurb about TCY in ESPN The Magazine.

[DaddyTorgo]

It must have been the SIGames forums. Someone talking about different text-sime for different sports. I remember them talking about Eastside, OOTP, and yes, FOF.

[LionsFan10]

I'm pretty sure it was a football or pc game newsgroup that led me to the original FOF. Wow, that was a while ago.

Exactly what happened with me. It was on a newsgroup.

[TargetPractice6]

FOFCers invaded Hattrick and brought me over.

[duckman]

In 2000, I was visiting my cousins Vickie and Cindy. Cindy's daughter Melissa needed to get something at CompUSA for school, so I went along for the hell of it. I was looking through when I found Football Mogul in the bargain bin.

When I got home, I put it on my hard drive and, I found it to be pretty cool except I kept running out of money. Figuring I would find some type of help online, I came across The Sideline and I've been a part of the community and playing the game ever since.

[Eaglesfan27]

I had been playing Baseball Mogul, when I got Football Mogul. Decided to do a web search for Football Mogul information and found this forum. The rest is history.

[Yellow5]

I was the site director for Planetunreal and 3dActionplanet for a few years when Gamespy started to expand. I found this site while browsing Sportplanet. Purchased FOF a few days later.

[Cap Ologist]

I saw FOF on EA's website, I looked for it for a couple of months in stores and couldn't find it, so I went back and bought it from EA, then had no clue what to do so I googled Front Office Football Strategy Guide and found you guys.

[Coffee Warlord]

I somehow found the first EA version, bought it, loved it, and several months later, found the board.

And then the world wept.

[sabotai]

I heard about the original FOF a very long time ago. Either on a message board or newsgroups. I didn't get a chance to buy the game until the 2nd version.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

I was at a webfx.com/ncaa football 98 site and it had a link there. To whoever that was that linked to the sideline thanks.

[Pyser]

you know whats weird? i have absolutely NO idea how i got here. i know the first time i played it was when fof2 came out. but for the life of me, i cant remember how i found the game, or this forum. and i've been racking my brain.

is this bad?

[GoldenEagle]

I think I read about through a Madden board. Whatever the big Madden board use to be.

[Fonzie]

you know whats weird? i have absolutely NO idea how i got here. i know the first time i played it was when fof2 came out. but for the life of me, i cant remember how i found the game, or this forum. and i've been racking my brain.

is this bad?

I'm in the same boat. I know I started with the original FOF (I actually have the CD sitting on my desk, for some reason), but other than that it is all a blur. I have a suspicion I learned of FOF from a newsgroup, but that's just a hunch.

Yet more evidence of the fallability of human memory.

[Pyser]

I think I read about through a Madden board. Whatever the big Madden board use to be.


this sounds familiar, actually. this could be it! maddemania or something? madden101? keep talking, im losing the scent!

[GoldenEagle]

Maddenmania may be right. I do know though, keep smelling.

[ISiddiqui]

Surfing the web. I guess I was intrigued by Championship Manager demos and wanted to find out what football sims were around.

[sabotai]

I was a regular at Madden Mania back in the day.

[Vince]

Searching GameSpot for a new sports game to buy, I ran accross a review of TCY. I downloaded the demo and was hooked. I found the board doing a search for FOF. Been here ever since.

[msf518]

I thank Football Pro 99 for sucking so much ass that I needed somewhere to get my football fix. At their message boards I saw a link for Front Office Football, and I have bought every version since.

[ISiddiqui]

Oh, and thinking back, I should air a grievance with Buccanear for posting here and not informing me of it when we were both on Apolyton!!! ;)

Btw, you still post there? I wish Off Topic posts over there counted towards the post count, I'd be over 20,000 posts easily :D.

[Bad-example]

I bought the original game after seeing the review in a magazine.

I think it is telling that no one has yet mentioned finding out about FOF from any kind of advertising whatsoever.

[bbor]

Daedalus dragged me over.Now i am here more than him:)

[Northwood_DK]

PCGamer had an article about sports games a few years back and also mentioned sport-text-sims and among them FOF.

[Icy]

Read about it at Sigames boards (Championship manager series) doing a search for other text sims.

[Sun Tzu]

I came here a long, long time ago when the original sideline exsisted. The first frontofficefootball.com. I had recently messed around with Baseball Mogul, and I was looking up PC football games (I was still big on FBpro games). I head read a lot about the first FOF, and when I heard FOF2 was coming out I decided to give it a go. The rest as they say, is history.

[stevew]

I found out about the game after playing football mogul for awhile. I bought the EA version, not exactly how I found it tho. After my hard drive broke, i lost that FOF, but i bought the next one from EA, the one set in Vicks rookie year. I thought it was pretty ass, a lot of the contracts were broken, etc. I used to go to the sideline every now and then, but i dont think i ever posted. I started posting here cause Wig was banned, and he needed someone to make a message posting about needing owners to fill the WigFL.

[Honolulu Blue]

My answer is covered in this thread (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?t=16405&highlight=Sanders).

[JeffR]

I heard about the original on Usenet, when Bill Abner posted a message in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.sports (http://groups-beta.google.com/group/comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.sports/messages/6077d9771c480966,e99d926de4e63878,eb00f3f1ca750d83,7811ae5400e95027,1b84ea127c3d36ae,1ded766f28638a9b,f0461de24f3b9a4b,66eb748d5a8eacbe,1069e8e3d08afff8,4923c3ec00944ae2?thread_id=62958c1a057728fe&mode=thread&noheader=1&q=group:comp.*+author:jim+author:gindin#doc_6077d9771c480966) in August of 1998 (even beating Jim to the punch.) At the time, I think Baseball Mogul was pretty much it when it came to management simulations for North American sports, and the online hockey league I played in used the DOS-based relic APBA - we've sure come a long way in 6+ years.

[Coder]

I found it through a newsgroup.. I think I read comments about the very first FOF and I was frustrated that it wasn't available for download.. it was about the same time as the first version of OOTP was out, because people were seriously dissing it's DOS-interface :), but raved about the gameplay.

I bought the first downloadable version.. was that FOF2?

I remember Bill Abner asking in the comp.sys.ibm.pc.sportsgames (or whatever) which we thought was the better sim, FOF or CM (ought to have been 97/98 or 98/99?), and though I liked FOF, CM was miles ahead :).

[Darkiller]

Found that browsing the web, looking for PC football games...

Back from the Sideline (frontofficefootball.com)...my first buy was FOF2 (although I played a little of the FOF1 demo) and I actually didn't get quite hooked at the very beginning (probably my having to become more familiar with text-based sims, which I didn't know much before).
all of a sudden, late in 1999, I got the virus. One night just like this.
And I've been a FOF fan ever since...and although I own, play and adore TCY and FOF2004, I keep playing that FOF2 game which remains my all-time best.

[spleen1015]

I heard about it at the OOTP boards. There was a short, almost nuclear board war between here and there for about 3 days back around the time OOTP3 was released.

[fantastic flying froggies]

Found FOF after playing Baseball Mogul and Football Mogul. Wasn't really happy with Football Mogul, somebody on the Mogul forum posted about FOF...the rest is history...

[sterlingice]

FOFCers invaded Hattrick and brought me over.
Damn. That was our mistake ;)

DK showed this place to me after telling me about some of the dynasties being written (GB's and Gatesville, iirc).

SI

[Raiders Army]

I found it through a newsgroup.. I think I read comments about the very first FOF and I was frustrated that it wasn't available for download.. it was about the same time as the first version of OOTP was out, because people were seriously dissing it's DOS-interface :), but raved about the gameplay.

I bought the first downloadable version.. was that FOF2?

I remember Bill Abner asking in the comp.sys.ibm.pc.sportsgames (or whatever) which we thought was the better sim, FOF or CM (ought to have been 97/98 or 98/99?), and though I liked FOF, CM was miles ahead :).

I, too, found it through the comp.sys.whatever.sports newsgroup. I downloaded the demo and was hooked. The package couldn't come quickly enough through the mail. Been a fan ever since. I must've simmed at least 300 seasons throughout the various incarnations of the game (it usually takes me about 3-4 hours to get through a season).

[JeeberD]

I had always loved the seasonal play of Tecmo Super Bowl, and when TSM:III came out which had free agency from year to year I was overjoyed. However, I wanted something better, with retirements and drafts. I searched the net and found a blurb about FOF2, so I went to the local game store and asked if they had anything like that. They didn't (obviously, since FOF2 was download only), so I searched the net some more and found that I could get FOF2 through EA. Then, I found FOFC (The Sideline) when I did a search for some help on strategy for the game.

The rest is history...

[FrogMan]

I was looking for a real player file for FOF4, I think it was, even though I'd been playing the game since the very first version. I knew of the main front page, and its files/downloads section, but was never very big on message boards. One day, I clicked the "forum" link, been happy ever since :)

FM

[gi]

I thank Football Pro 99 for sucking so much ass that I needed somewhere to get my football fix. At their message boards I saw a link for Front Office Football, and I have bought every version since.
Same here. Returned that version too for the refund! :)

[Shepp]

The old board address was in an PC game magazine article that reviewed the original FOF.

[Alan T]

Back I think in 1998 or 1999 (some point before I moved from Texas)... Celeval told me about fof.. conversation went something like:

You need a football game to drain all of your time so you will not pay attention to your fantasy football team so I can beat you. Check out FOF at this site...

If I remember right, he did the same thing with Baseball mogul before that too.... I blame Celeval for alot of my life being eaten up by sim games... :)

[condors]

way back in the day jim posted in a newsgroup about the game(fof1)

[judicial clerk]

I don't exactly remember how I found FOF, but I remember enjoying the demo. I thought the game had so much potential, but I had never ordered anything that i hand found on the net, so I was apprehensive. I remember calling the telephone number and giving the girl who answered my visa card number. i was hoping that I did not just get ripped off. When the package finally arrived, my wife asked me "what the heck is this?". I said "nothing" and quickly snatched it from her hand and retreated into the computer room. If my wife had only known, she would have smashed that disk into little bitty pieces. I still have all the original stuff, and will sell it to finance future solecismic purchase if the current e-bay expirement goes well.

[Easy Mac]

From the SIgames Board. Found out about FOF in the summer of 01. Bought TCY around that time, then found the board a little after 9/11. Finally posted in OCT, and the rest is history.

Rarely posted on the SI messageboards since.

[Franklinnoble]

I heard about the original on Usenet, when Bill Abner posted a message in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.sports (http://groups-beta.google.com/group/comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.sports/messages/6077d9771c480966,e99d926de4e63878,eb00f3f1ca750d83,7811ae5400e95027,1b84ea127c3d36ae,1ded766f28638a9b,f0461de24f3b9a4b,66eb748d5a8eacbe,1069e8e3d08afff8,4923c3ec00944ae2?thread_id=62958c1a057728fe&mode=thread&noheader=1&q=group:comp.*+author:jim+author:gindin#doc_6077d9771c480966) in August of 1998 (even beating Jim to the punch.) At the time, I think Baseball Mogul was pretty much it when it came to management simulations for North American sports, and the online hockey league I played in used the DOS-based relic APBA - we've sure come a long way in 6+ years.

Wow... that's a blast from the past... thanks for sharing that link. :)

I stumbled across the old sideline board while searching for an alternative to FPSFBPro.

I missed the last of the original game copies, but FOF2 came out shortly after that, and I've been hooked ever since.

[judicial clerk]

dola: I always wondered if the girl who took my order was Jim's wife. She was quite pleasant but she did not project a very official tone, like if you called dell or IBM or something.

slightly OT, I also remember finding the original FBPro, Civilization, TecmoBowl, baseball stars and the board game Axis & Allies.

[Suicane75]

HOW I MET FOF

I was in a bar late one night, this round girl came in, nothing fancy but there was something about her, she flirted with me for the entire evening but I was weary, there were many more striking birds in the dingy old pool hall, but this girl had substance. In the end i bought her a few drinks but went home alone.

Over the next few years I would see her around town and overhear people talk about what a special girl she was, and i sort of regretted not taking her home that evening. Then one night a few years ago my friends drug to the trendy club in town and I spotted her, but something was different. She was all dressed up, slutty like, trying to get the rich dudes interested in her, the kind of guy with too much mouse in his hair and the top botton on his shirt undone, who thought he was gods gift to women, but they only wanted her for beauty, not who she was, and it made me sad, so I left, and rarely saw her again.

Then one day it happened. I was in that same old dingy bar not more than a year ago and there she was, back in her plain clothes, simple jeans and a tank top 1 size too small but still looking good. She sat down next to me and explained how she thought that by wearing short skirts and teasing up her hair she would get the kind of attention the other girls always got. I explained to herself that in the end, you have to be yourself, and that underneath all that makeup and fake attitude I could see the real girl inside, and that I always regretted not taking her home with me that night.

I bought her a few beers, we had a few laughs and when last call came i looked deep into her eyes and smiled, "I'd really like to take you back to my place and play with you all night long", I said. She lowered her head and gave me that little smile that girls give. I knew then that this was love.

The End

[rkmsuf]

"I'd really like to take you back to my place and play with you all night long",

Generally that works for me as well.




Too bad you picked up a hooker had to pay for it.

[Glengoyne]

Found the game based on a thread that started on the Puresim site.

[Surtt]

I saw FOF on EA's website, I looked for it for a couple of months in stores and couldn't find it, so I went back and bought it from EA, then had no clue what to do so I googled Front Office Football Strategy Guide and found you guys.

Same here.

[Franklinnoble]

HOW I MET FOF

I was in a bar late one night, this round girl came in, nothing fancy but there was something about her, she flirted with me for the entire evening but I was weary, there were many more striking birds in the dingy old pool hall, but this girl had substance. In the end i bought her a few drinks but went home alone.

Over the next few years I would see her around town and overhear people talk about what a special girl she was, and i sort of regretted not taking her home that evening. Then one night a few years ago my friends drug to the trendy club in town and I spotted her, but something was different. She was all dressed up, slutty like, trying to get the rich dudes interested in her, the kind of guy with too much mouse in his hair and the top botton on his shirt undone, who thought he was gods gift to women, but they only wanted her for beauty, not who she was, and it made me sad, so I left, and rarely saw her again.

Then one day it happened. I was in that same old dingy bar not more than a year ago and there she was, back in her plain clothes, simple jeans and a tank top 1 size too small but still looking good. She sat down next to me and explained how she thought that by wearing short skirts and teasing up her hair she would get the kind of attention the other girls always got. I explained to herself that in the end, you have to be yourself, and that underneath all that makeup and fake attitude I could see the real girl inside, and that I always regretted not taking her home with me that night.

I bought her a few beers, we had a few laughs and when last call came i looked deep into her eyes and smiled, "I'd really like to take you back to my place and play with you all night long", I said. She lowered her head and gave me that little smile that girls give. I knew then that this was love.

The End


Anybody else find this a little disturbing? I don't know if it's healthy to have, umm, these sort of feelings about a piece of software.

[JeffR]

dola: I always wondered if the girl who took my order was Jim's wife. She was quite pleasant but she did not project a very official tone, like if you called dell or IBM or something.

Yeah, I remember talking to her, too - she seemed pleased, but a bit bemused, that people were actually willing to pay money for the game.

[Suicane75]

Anybody else find this a little disturbing? I don't know if it's healthy to have, umm, these sort of feelings about a piece of software.

Oh admit it, you love her too. Too many men have problems expressing their feelings.

[Honolulu Blue]

I always wondered if the girl who took my order was Jim's wife.

I have always assumed that that was the case. At the time, the assets of Solecismic consisted of a bunch of code, lots of notebooks, and a few thousand CDs. No room in that budget for an employee. Could've been a temp, could've been one of the neighbors, could've been a sister or something, but I always thought it was Angela.

I suppose I could ask, but it's not an important enough subject for me to bother wih.

[path12]

It was either the newsgroup post or a blurb in Computer Gaming World that got my interest -- due to shitty reflexes I had always hoped for a game that would simulate GM'ing rather than trying to find the damn open receiver......had my future ex-wife get the first one for me for Christmas. That was when Jim put the names of people ordering into the database so it was pretty cool when someone would come up in the draft with my last name.....

[jbmagic]

Anybody else find this a little disturbing? I don't know if it's healthy to have, umm, these sort of feelings about a piece of software.


have you read the book

Men loves Software and Woman loves Hardware..

:)

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Suicane's story was the best. Very interesting stuff. Jim, maybe this will help give you an idea of how people learn about the game. Apparently you should try visiting as many messageboards/forums as possible, and slip in a link.


I'm serious, I think this could work. Like the ones on sport's related websites. Ok, now I'm really serious. Jim has to make enough so he will finally introduce a 3-D game engine.