Alright boyz, here we go!!! OOTP2006 First Impressions Thread!

[MrBug708]

I wanted to beat SirFozzie. :)

[sovereignstar]

not cool

[MrBug708]

Well...I havent preordered yet, if that makes you feel better. I went to and the ordering system was down so I said screw it...

[sovereignstar]

Starting an impressions thread and not being able to make any impressions because you do NOT have the game yet is just plain stupid period->>.

[SirFozzie]

I wanted to beat SirFozzie. :)

Damn You! You Ruined it! :D

(and I did preorder the game, too! :D)

[MrBug708]

What? Not I keel you now?

[SirFozzie]

Ok.. just remember, you asked for it.

I KEEL YOU NOW!

[Johnny Slick]

My first impression is that a day is too long to wait. Argh.

(and yes, I did pre-order)

(in mid-March. I'm a moron, what can I say?)

[DanGarion]

I'm looking forward to this game so much I have preordered TWO copies!

[MrBug708]

I have preorder envy right now..:(

[Johnny Slick]

I'm looking forward to this game so much I have preordered TWO copies!4 E-licenses!!! You can put that on your computer at home, your laptop, your computer at work, and your iPod!

[DanGarion]

4 E-licenses!!! You can put that on your computer at home, your laptop, your computer at work, and your iPod!
Well the second copy is for my best friend for his birthday.

[Johnny Slick]

Well the second copy is for my best friend for his birthday.Better buy a 3rd copy then! I bet your friend won't be happy to only be able to play the game on your computer at work or your iPod.

[sovereignstar]

These impressions fucking rock.

[Johnny Slick]

Whoever is running a hobbit league from scratch plz let me know thx! How's the AI?

[Pumpy Tudors]

These impressions fucking rock.
You have become a bitter man.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Dola

Or woman. I can never keep some of you folks straight.

[Ryche]

I preordered. Will have just enough time to download it tomorrow morning too, then go to a conference for two days until I can actually play it :(

[Buccaneer]

Let's see....Start -> All Programs -> 400 Software Studios -> Out of the Park Baseball 5 -> OOTP5. Yep, still there. Whew.

[Ryche]

Installed and up and running. Too bad I have to leave now.

[SackAttack]

Installed and up and running. Too bad I have to leave now.

Why do I get the feeling somebody has a death wish?

[KWhit]

Starting an impressions thread and not being able to make any impressions because you do NOT have the game yet is just plain stupid period->>.

True dat.

[Ryche]

Why do I get the feeling somebody has a death wish?

It installed just fine. Is that an impression?

[Ramzavail]

I just got my email!!!!!!!!!!

[KWhit]

Downloading now. How's that for an impression?

[SackAttack]

It installed just fine. Is that an impression?

I suppose. I checked the website, and it still indicated pre-orders, so I was assuming it wasn't available yet. Seeing two more posts to that nature, well...

You have my apologies, sir.

[Marc Vaughan]

As I understand things currently people who pre-ordered are allowed to download, once a short period of them having 'exclusivity' the website will updated and people will be able to download as they purchase.

[SackAttack]

As I understand things currently people who pre-ordered are allowed to download, once a short period of them having 'exclusivity' the website will updated and people will be able to download as they purchase.

Yeah, I learned that while browsing the forums. I just hope those of us in the media won't have to wait six hours, too. ;)

[SirFozzie]

Downloading now.. thank god I took my serial code to work and have Logmein on my home machine :)

[sovereignstar]

BREAKING NEWS!!

http://www.fof-ihof.com/phpBB2/images/smiles/icon_alert.gifhttp://www.fof-ihof.com/phpBB2/images/smiles/icon_alert.gifhttp://www.fof-ihof.com/phpBB2/images/smiles/icon_alert.gifhttp://www.fof-ihof.com/phpBB2/images/smiles/icon_alert.gif

There is a manual included with this game.

[sovereignstar]

Here's the manual if you're bored: http://rapidshare.de/files/21859862/ootpb2006_manual.zip.html

[SirFozzie]

I have a mini dynasty going on in the dynasty section :)

[sovereignstar]

This is worth noting


The packaged manual is a cut down version of a rather mammoth "Game Guide" that'll be uploaded tonight!

I'm assuming this is the 250+ page deal.

[mauchow]

The game is overwhelming, the same feeling I had when I beta'd for three days.

I consider myself an average player of OOTP, I like things to be quick and easy and I'm not really getting that feeling with this one. Oh, well. With time, I suppose.

The depth is insane. I'm going to be pissed when a few of my players get called up to their respective ML squads(I took a job in AAA to start out).

[Marc Duffy]

This is worth noting



I'm assuming this is the 250+ page deal.

Yes. We felt including this in the package might be a little off putting so we cut it down a bit but the big one will go out on the site later.

[Maple Leafs]

I consider myself an average player of OOTP, I like things to be quick and easy and I'm not really getting that feeling with this one. Oh, well. With time, I suppose.
That's what kept me from getting into EHM. I found myself saying "Geez, can we just get to simming a game already?"

That said, I realize that "too much depth" is probably not something most text-simmers will complain about.

[Marc Duffy]

The game is overwhelming, the same feeling I had when I beta'd for three days.

I consider myself an average player of OOTP, I like things to be quick and easy and I'm not really getting that feeling with this one. Oh, well. With time, I suppose.

The depth is insane. I'm going to be pissed when a few of my players get called up to their respective ML squads(I took a job in AAA to start out).

I wouldn't disagree that it's overwhelming but it will be second nature soon enough when you learn where everything is and how it all fits together.

[SackAttack]

Initial thoughts - it doesn't seem like there's any way to change your mind on how many minor leagues to add short of starting the process over again. You can remove the major leagues, but the only option I see for the minors is to add them.

So, uh, I'm playing MLB with a full minor league contingent. Hopefully my PC doesn't choke on that. So far so good.

[Ramzavail]

Initial thoughts - it doesn't seem like there's any way to change your mind on how many minor leagues to add short of starting the process over again. You can remove the major leagues, but the only option I see for the minors is to add them.

So, uh, I'm playing MLB with a full minor league contingent. Hopefully my PC doesn't choke on that. So far so good.

That is whats scaring me, I've sat with the FM slowness before.

I started with the same type of league.

[SirFozzie]

Game is a LOT quicker then FM

[CraigSca]

Wow - it's flippin' FAST.

[MizzouRah]

Sack was saying ootp is 33 meg and Puresim is 100.. kind of weird.

[korme]

One question - can you add additional teams to leagues after you've already began? I have visions to expand the NPB

[SirFozzie]

Ok, just some quick issues to note:

The screen is really busy. No unused space whatso ever. Makes me long for the day where in FM it was just the field and folks running around :)

Unless you go to the screen that has the schedule, and you hit Continue, it will auto sim games for you (unless you hit the manage button)

[sovereignstar]

One question - can you add additional teams to leagues after you've already began? I have visions to expand the NPB

Yes.

[Young Drachma]

I preordered too. But barring any late developments, I'll be gone in two weeks from the summer. So, I won't get to play much at all. That annoys me, but..at least its here.

[MizzouRah]

Impressions are so overrated.

[Swaggs]

Does each team have a coaching staff, a la EHM? I want to be able to hire former players as my managers, hitting coaches, bench coach, etc. :)

[MrBug708]

Each team does Swaggs, according to the ootp boards. Former players do come back and coach, but not sure if it is all players

[Ramzavail]

It shouldn't be all players - its not in real life, I mean imagine Dave Telgheder as your pitching coach...

[Swaggs]

In EHM, it seems like only players who have certain leadership ratings can become coaches, so I would imagine this would be similar. In EHM, toward the end of their careers, you can opt to sign these type of guys as players or coaches/scouts.

[MrBug708]

I never played EHM more then 3 seasons so I couldnt tell ya...

[SirFozzie]

Urgl.. it may be just that I'm playing it over the net, but there is just too much information. too much STUFF on the screen.

[Bee]

Urgl.. it may be just that I'm playing it over the net, but there is just too much information. too much STUFF on the screen.

You need to turn in your text simmers card...;)

[Swaggs]

Urgl.. it may be just that I'm playing it over the net, but there is just too much information. too much STUFF on the screen.

It could just be residual effects of your brain being broken yesterday. ;)

[SirFozzie]

That too.. :D

the scoreboard with the lineups completely in scoreboard light is offputting, at least right now to me

[astrosfan64]

That too.. :D

the scoreboard with the lineups completely in scoreboard light is offputting, at least right now to me

5mb left to download.

One impression, the links to the downloads are SLOW.

[astrosfan64]

5mb left to download.

One impression, the links to the downloads are SLOW.

dola next time get this stuff put on FILEPLANET

[Young Drachma]

The ones towards of the download list are a lot faster. I don't remember the one I chose. But I initally chose one of the top ones and it was slow as heck. I chose a bottom one and then it went really fast.

[CleBrownsfan]

I have it d/l'd @ work and messed with it a bit at lunch. Overwhelming is the only thing I can say after a hour of toying around with it.

[CleBrownsfan]

My d/l took onlly 4-5 min - I used one of the later ones in the list they provided.

[Young Drachma]

Overwhelming is what I thought the first time I ever played EHM, so....I'm actually happier to hear that about OOTP than "OMG, where is this or where is that..." I'm sure that'll come later, but...yeah. Just downloaded my copy and got another license.

I actually got a refund for my preorder (I preordered after the price went up, so it didn't matter..) because I didn't figure I'd be here. But, 3 weeks will be enough to get into and stuff.

Here's hoping I get a job here this summer I applied for so I don't have to leave at all.

[DanGarion]

I love the simulation screen you get to see while the game sims, it's sweet.

[Maple Leafs]

Is there a demo?

[Bee]

I just finished reading the impressions thread on the OOTP boards. So sugary, my tooth hurts. :(

Looking forward to some real impressions...

[John Galt]

I just finished reading the impressions thread on the OOTP boards. So sugary, my tooth hurts. :(

Looking forward to some real impressions...

Yeah. I expect we will have to wait at least a couple days before anyone really starts to examine the stats engine in depth. The tech support forum does show a fair amount of strange bugs. So, that's something I guess.

[CleBrownsfan]

Is there a demo?

Not yet...

[kingfc22]

Hmmm, I really have the itch to purchase this game, but I want to be sure that there are no show stoppers.


Any plans for an FOFC league?

[MizzouRah]

I just finished reading the impressions thread on the OOTP boards. So sugary, my tooth hurts. :(

Looking forward to some real impressions...

yeah... where's Skydog when you need him...:)

if histories imported from 6.5 I might have done the deed.. but I really want to read some FOFC impressions..

[MizzouRah]

From Todd at the sportsblog: a tad encouraging


Quickie OOTP Notes



Okay, I spent my lunch hour with OOTP. Here is what I've learned: If you move very quickly, you might be able to read all of the league creation options available to you. Not change them. Not understand them all. Just observe them all and go, "Uh. Wow that's a lot a stuff and, er... stuff, man."

It's simply overwhelming. Hopefully all this stuff works. A few other observations:

On Importing Leagues:
- Importing a leage takes just a minute or two, at least to get it to show in the league creation screen. Actual league creation once you clicke the "Start Game" (ie - create new league) takes a few minutes (less than 5 on my underpowered laptop).
- Logos don't appear to import
- Fielding stats don't import, but hitting and pitching stats do.
- Year-end player awards (gold glove, MVP, etc.) import
- Team histories (including League Champions) don't appear to import (that seems odd to me)
- Because you import leagues into the league creation screen first, it's actually possible to make your existing OOTP league a separate minor or world league within a larger world baseball framework. For instance I could replace the AAA baseball setup for a conventional Major League Baseball scenario with the New City Baseball League that Bill ran and I was in. (I'm not sure why you'd want to do this, but it's cool that you can.)

One special note for Vista users: If you try to run this game in Windows Vista Beta 2, you must select to run the program as an Administrator. If you don't, nothing happens when you activiate the game's icon. (To do this, right-click the game's icon and select Run as Administrator. You can also permanently set this option from its Properties dialog box.) I expect that at best, this will apply to maybe one of you reading the blog, but hey, it's worth noting. (Btw - I really, really, like the Beta 2 build of Vista. Very stable.)

More to come!

[Young Drachma]

I'll do a detailed impression once I get to class and I use logmein, in like a half hour.

[Terps]

Anyone know if you import a roster set from 6 or 6.5 if the minor leaguers will import also?

[Vince]

So am I missing something?

I didn't pre-order (why, I don't know. I intended to get it upon release anyways), but I put in an order this morning, and it still said pre-order. I go to the download page, and it says 'Download Items', but there are no links, and it mentions that the game will be available in Spring of 2006. Do I have to wait because I didn't pre-order, or am I just retarded?

[lighthousekeeper]

Do I have to wait because I didn't pre-order, or am I just retarded?
Is 'both' an option?

[sovereignstar]

Do I have to wait because I didn't pre-order, or am I just retarded?

I'm not sure if you are retarded or not, but you do have to wait until it's released to the general public.

[Vince]

Is 'both' an option?

Obviously, the correct answer.

[Vince]

I'm not sure if you are retarded or not, but you do have to wait until it's released to the general public.

Well, I think it's safe to say that I qualify for the retarded moniker at this point. I would mention that I just got out of bed, but it's friggin noon.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I'm totally off the topic here, but I just discovered something. I've been out here in the Eastern time zone for 10 months now, and I'm still not used to be so far in front of California. Vince says that it's noon, and I flip out when I see 3:00 on my computer screen. Agh.

[Vince]

Heh...it always takes me a while to figure out what time zone someone is in...it plays hell with me when I try to figure out what time it is where MIJB is when we chat late at night :)

[MizzouRah]

Anyone know if you import a roster set from 6 or 6.5 if the minor leaguers will import also?

Yes I believe they do.

[Young Drachma]

I'm totally off the topic here, but I just discovered something. I've been out here in the Eastern time zone for 10 months now, and I'm still not used to be so far in front of California. Vince says that it's noon, and I flip out when I see 3:00 on my computer screen. Agh.

That happened to me as I've moved further west. That I can never call home without realizing how late it is there.

Gah.

[Young Drachma]

So am I missing something?

I didn't pre-order (why, I don't know. I intended to get it upon release anyways), but I put in an order this morning, and it still said pre-order. I go to the download page, and it says 'Download Items', but there are no links, and it mentions that the game will be available in Spring of 2006. Do I have to wait because I didn't pre-order, or am I just retarded?

Like I said earlier in the thread. I'd preordered, but cancelled it because I didn't think I'd be here. But long story short, I ordered a new copy this morning and it worked fine.

[sovereignstar]

THE MAMMOTH GAME GUIDE (http://ootpdevfiles.com/ootp/OOTPBaseball2006-GameGuide.zip)

[JS19]

On the time zone topic, I had to go to Pensacola, Fl for the Marines a little over a yr ago and for the first week I was there I was still clueless to the fact that it was a different time zone than NY.

Back to OOTP, when exactly is this gonna be available for an idiot like myself who didn't preorder?

[korme]

I try to figure out what time it is where MIJB is when we chat late at night :)

That doesn't sound gay at all

[Young Drachma]

I'm sitting here messing around with this and keep going "wow" Sooo robust featurewise. I'm loving the polished look.

[Icy]

Crap, i'm downloading it at 5kbs so it will take like 40 minutes. I have tried all the links, the top ones are so slow and the later ones are not working right now.

[Blade6119]

Crap, i'm downloading it at 5kbs so it will take like 40 minutes. I have tried all the links, the top ones are so slow and the later ones are not working right now.
Ya, i picked a bad day to download my new data updtate 5.05 patch for WWSM...3kbs for 70 megs....i hate you damn baseball people

[SackAttack]

Augh.

I lost my network connection on my laptop about two minutes after getting licensed. What that has meant is that I've been able to play, but not been able to get access to the Internet to post about things I've seen.

Even better, this computer is on the same network, but can't detect the other one, so I can't upload and post screenshots of some of the really weird stuff.

Just a couple notes off the top of my head before I go back and try to fix my network issues.

1) I had a reliever get credited with both the win and the save. I've only seen it happen once, but he was the pitcher of record when the game's lone run scored in the bottom of the 12th inning, AND he pitched 3 innings of relief, so the game might be tracking both things. That normally wouldn't come up is my guess.

2) You can only put players on the disabled list if you're the parent franchise. Probably as it should be, but I had a couple of injuries in an A-ball career beyond two weeks where, well, I had to live with it, because the parent franchise wasn't inclined to do anything about the injuries.

3) "Send Forced"? Cooooool. Pitch-by-pitch mode as an option? Coooooool. Six hits of combined offense in 12 innings because the game appears to be treating the ratings of minor leaguers as major league equivalencies (i.e. contact of '4' sucks ass even though, well, he's a 19 y/o in Rookie ball)? That's...not so cool.

3) Has anybody yet figured out how, when starting a league, to 'lock' the team nicknames in so that when you choose a particular league, you don't have to rename the teams each time?

[Marc Duffy]

On the time zone topic, I had to go to Pensacola, Fl for the Marines a little over a yr ago and for the first week I was there I was still clueless to the fact that it was a different time zone than NY.

Back to OOTP, when exactly is this gonna be available for an idiot like myself who didn't preorder?

Available now

[kingfc22]

...the game appears to be treating the ratings of minor leaguers as major league equivalencies (i.e. contact of '4' sucks ass even though, well, he's a 19 y/o in Rookie ball)? That's...not so cool.

Eww, that is not cool

[John Galt]

Six hits of combined offense in 12 innings because the game appears to be treating the ratings of minor leaguers as major league equivalencies (i.e. contact of '4' sucks ass even though, well, he's a 19 y/o in Rookie ball)? That's...not so cool.


Wouldn't low ratings also affect the pitchers and balance things out?

[TroyF]

Yeah. I expect we will have to wait at least a couple days before anyone really starts to examine the stats engine in depth. The tech support forum does show a fair amount of strange bugs. So, that's something I guess.


Barring disaster with my internet connection, I plan to have a 100 year fictional report up by tomorrow morning.

That should give us all some idea of what the statistical output is.

As for the in game impressions, you know the people who have it here at FOFC will give you truthful feedback.

[Blade6119]

Wouldn't low ratings also affect the pitchers and balance things out?
Yes, so likely his team is that much worse compared to the opponent

[spleen1015]

3) Has anybody yet figured out how, when starting a league, to 'lock' the team nicknames in so that when you choose a particular league, you don't have to rename the teams each time?

Do you mean when you select one of the standard leagues?

[Schmidty]

I can't find anywhere to download the damned game even though I just bought it. I keep trying the torrent link, but it won't work. Does anyone have another link to the exe?

[Eaglesfan27]

Barring disaster with my internet connection, I plan to have a 100 year fictional report up by tomorrow morning.

That should give us all some idea of what the statistical output is.

As for the in game impressions, you know the people who have it here at FOFC will give you truthful feedback.


I'm looking forward to it. I'm vacilating about whether or not to buy, and I'm waiting for some reliable impressions.

[sovereignstar]

http://rapidshare.de/files/21871657/ootp2006_setup.exe

Do you have a Bittorrent client, Schmidty?

[John Galt]

Barring disaster with my internet connection, I plan to have a 100 year fictional report up by tomorrow morning.

That should give us all some idea of what the statistical output is.

As for the in game impressions, you know the people who have it here at FOFC will give you truthful feedback.

I look forward to reading that.

[Schmidty]

http://rapidshare.de/files/21871657/ootp2006_setup.exe

Do you have a Bittorrent client, Schmidty?

Yeah, but for some reason it just hangs, and doesn't d/l anything. I tried another file, and it did the same thing. I'll uninstall it and reinstall. Hopefully that will work.

Thanks for the link.

[Icy]

Nice, got 800kbps from that link, it took like 2 minutes to download, installing now :)

[SackAttack]

Wouldn't low ratings also affect the pitchers and balance things out?

Would have been my guess as well. What I'm noticing is that managed games are yielding pretty low scores and simulated games are yielding something more than that.

I've seen lots of 1-0 and 2-1 games while managing, and a handful of 9-2 and 17-3 games while simming.

So I'm not precisely sure what's going on, but it feels like when managing, the game is treating the ratings as it would do if the players were in the major leagues. Very, very anecdotal at this point, but I bring it up in case somebody else has a similar take.

[SackAttack]

Do you mean when you select one of the standard leagues?

Yes sir.

Fairly certain that if I imported the Lahman database, I wouldn't have to go through that, but with no network connection, I can't snag the Lahman database TO import.

*sob*

[John Galt]

Would have been my guess as well. What I'm noticing is that managed games are yielding pretty low scores and simulated games are yielding something more than that.

I've seen lots of 1-0 and 2-1 games while managing, and a handful of 9-2 and 17-3 games while simming.

So I'm not precisely sure what's going on, but it feels like when managing, the game is treating the ratings as it would do if the players were in the major leagues. Very, very anecdotal at this point, but I bring it up in case somebody else has a similar take.

Well maybe you are really good at managing pitchers, but absolutely horrible at managing hitters. ;)

[SackAttack]

Yes, so likely his team is that much worse compared to the opponent

Not offensively. Pitching, I don't know, but offensively I had several guys with 9's and 10's for contact - although I had a few who were seven and below as well.

[SackAttack]

Well maybe you are really good at managing pitchers, but absolutely horrible at managing hitters. ;)

I'm great at working the count, though!

For some reason, they just don't want to safely put the ball in play when they're swinging 3-1 and 3-2. I thought those were hitters' counts. :(

[Qrusher14242]

Got up to 1910 on an historical replay(started in 1901). Only takes about a min and a half to sim a season. It imports automatically and you can have it automatically adjust the league totals each year.

[rjolley]

If someone needs a download link, I can put one up off my machine.

[sovereignstar]

THE MAMMOTH GAME GUIDE (http://ootpdevfiles.com/ootp/OOTPBaseball2006-GameGuide.zip)

http://rapidshare.de/files/21883680/OOTPBaseball2006-GameGuide.zip.html

[BreizhManu]

Available now
Price : $34.99/€39.99

Big question mark, why should I pay in € ???

[Ramzavail]

Big question mark, why should I pay in € ???

Do you have a choice?

[Icy]

Big question mark, why should I pay in € ???

Already discussed to dead here and at ootp when they announced the preorders in past December. One of the few things i didn't like from SI, that we Europeans need to pay way more for a game when it's a sport supossed to be way less popular here (when it was their excuse for cheaper FM in the states).

[Ajaxab]

Would have been my guess as well. What I'm noticing is that managed games are yielding pretty low scores and simulated games are yielding something more than that.

I've seen lots of 1-0 and 2-1 games while managing, and a handful of 9-2 and 17-3 games while simming.

So I'm not precisely sure what's going on, but it feels like when managing, the game is treating the ratings as it would do if the players were in the major leagues. Very, very anecdotal at this point, but I bring it up in case somebody else has a similar take.

The low rating system for young players sounds like it's borrowed from the FM system. 19 y/o in FM typically are measured against their older, more polished veterans. How or why this would affect OOTP game outcomes is unclear as the same system in FM doesn't seem to influence the plausibility of that game's results.

[ice4277]

The low rating system for young players sounds like it's borrowed from the FM system. 19 y/o in FM typically are measured against their older, more polished veterans. How or why this would affect OOTP game outcomes is unclear as the same system in FM doesn't seem to influence the plausibility of that game's results.

Keep in mind that the system in FM is still just going off the ratings. It just happens. Younger guys aren't necessarily being compared to older players, its just that the younger guys' ratings are in general going to be lower.

[Icy]

Ok, loaded the game and toyed around and it looks as complex as FM that are awesome news for me. It's late here in Spain so i'm going to read the manual and wait until tomorrow to start to play. I hope somebody will release soon a MLB06 quickstart with real players, teams, etc etc.

[John Galt]

I actually read through a lot of that monstrous manual. I had a couple questions for people who have the game. I love the idea of starting small time and advancing in a career. However, am I right that the only real ability you have to enhance your team's success as an A-ball manager is to set lineups and manage games? Since you can't control transactions, isn't your success really entirely at the whim of the parent organization? That's probably realistic, but it does mean you can have years upon years of failure with little you can do about it. Am I wrong there?

Related to that, does someone have a feel for the prospects of job advancement? In the real world, it is really damn hard to break into the big leagues. An overwhelming majority of minor league managers never do that. And unlike FM, you can't crash the big leagues through promotion of your team. Does OOTP make it too easy (not that I'm sure I want the realistic option either - I'm torn on this)? And if making from minor league manager to MLB manager is rough, how is it from foreign leagues? In the real world, it is pretty much impossible (since managers like Valentine who go to Japan also had MLB experience). Does OOTP make this happen too easy (since you have much greater control of a foreign franchise than you would a minor league team)?

edit: I realize the 2nd question is unlikely to have a solid answer in the short term for players. So, maybe it is better directed at the developers or beta testers.

[Terps]

I thought I read, say I started at the O's organization in Single A Aberdeen, that it wasn't possible to get promoted up to AA, AAA, and then MLB.

[Terps]

Dola,

Within the same organization, at least.

[Young Drachma]

South African major league baseball...here we go. ;)

[John Galt]

I thought I read, say I started at the O's organization in Single A Aberdeen, that it wasn't possible to get promoted up to AA, AAA, and then MLB.

The manual says that. It says the only way to get new jobs is to look at the available jobs screen and apply. To me, that means you aren't precluded from moving up in an organization, but you can only do so in the same way you can change jobs generally. I'm not sure if that is right, but that's how I interpreted things.

[Young Drachma]

just kidding, it'll be a winter league.

But the UAE major leagues? It's a done deal.

[Young Drachma]

The manual says that. It says the only way to get new jobs is to look at the available jobs screen and apply. To me, that means you aren't precluded from moving up in an organization, but you can only do so in the same way you can change jobs generally. I'm not sure if that is right, but that's how I interpreted things.

That seems realistic since even if a team "promotes" a manager from A to AA or to hitting coach, he'd have to apply for the gig..even if he's the only applicant.

[John Galt]

That seems realistic since even if a team "promotes" a manager from A to AA or to hitting coach, he'd have to apply for the gig..even if he's the only applicant.

I think that is realistic, but I do think organizations often look inward when they have an opening. I'm not sure OOTP does that. In fact, I'm not sure you receive job offers at all. If that's the case (no jobs at all), then it would be more than a little disappointing. If the game doesn't look inward in organizations, it probably isn't that big of a deal.

[cartman]

Are the uniforms customizable?
Does your CPU's MIPS rate affect the results of games?
Can I use Canadian rules?

These are the questions that must be answered.

:D

[Young Drachma]

I guess its time to crack open the manual.

[Young Drachma]

Has anyone tested this whole "winter league" deal? I'm curious how that's going to work...

[spleen1015]

Has anyone tested this whole "winter league" deal? I'm curious how that's going to work...

They don't work as you would think. Organizations can't send prospects to play in a winter league. They're just regular leagues that play in the winter

[Young Drachma]

They don't work as you would think. Organizations can't send prospects to play in a winter league. They're just regular leagues that play in the winter

Yeah, I just read the OOTP boards and that's the impression I got there. Oh well. I'll adapt.

Thanks.

[Galaril]

Eww, that is not cool


This is as I feared. The minor leagues sound like they are being treated like just a slightly lower rated league when actually there is ahuge differnce between them.

[tucker rocky]

Wow, after reading this thread, I'm tempted.
I've just got going with Puresim, and now OOTP is out.
I may wait a little longer for more reviews.

[Bee]

I actually read through a lot of that monstrous manual. I had a couple questions for people who have the game. I love the idea of starting small time and advancing in a career. However, am I right that the only real ability you have to enhance your team's success as an A-ball manager is to set lineups and manage games? Since you can't control transactions, isn't your success really entirely at the whim of the parent organization? That's probably realistic, but it does mean you can have years upon years of failure with little you can do about it. Am I wrong there?

Related to that, does someone have a feel for the prospects of job advancement? In the real world, it is really damn hard to break into the big leagues. An overwhelming majority of minor league managers never do that. And unlike FM, you can't crash the big leagues through promotion of your team. Does OOTP make it too easy (not that I'm sure I want the realistic option either - I'm torn on this)? And if making from minor league manager to MLB manager is rough, how is it from foreign leagues? In the real world, it is pretty much impossible (since managers like Valentine who go to Japan also had MLB experience). Does OOTP make this happen too easy (since you have much greater control of a foreign franchise than you would a minor league team)?

edit: I realize the 2nd question is unlikely to have a solid answer in the short term for players. So, maybe it is better directed at the developers or beta testers.

Well here's my experience so far.

I started off at Single A - West Virginia (fictional league). You basically have no control over the roster and the Major League team keeps moving your players up and down. It can be pretty frustrating at times because you have no control over your roster. You do control the lineups and rotation and that seems to be the only influence you really have. I had a couple guys they sent me that I more or less refused to play and they ended up shipping them off to the other Single A team at the end of the month. The owner expected me to finish .500. I ended up finishing in 2nd place with a record of 81-59. After the season, I checked the available jobs and there were about 10 openings. Most were other Single A teams and Rookie league teams, but there were 2 Double A teams so I took one of those and moved on to Bowie. I'm now working my way through the offseason. I got the feeling I'll be abandoning this career and starting over in the Majors just to have some control of my roster.

[Terps]

So, I just noticed the trading block and shop player feature were removed for some reason.

[Swaggs]

Has anyone worked through a major league draft yet?

Have they changed it at all? (like do players sign immediately and are there more player details?)

[Buccaneer]

So, I just noticed the trading block and shop player feature were removed for some reason.

Not that I have any interest in purchasing this version but if this is true, that's despicable. A good portion of the enjoyment I get out of any pro text sims is in looking to make trades. That's probably one of the main reasons I stick with 5.11 for that had the best trade AI, better than what came before and after (including 5.12 and 6.x). IMO.

[sovereignstar]

This is as I feared. The minor leagues sound like they are being treated like just a slightly lower rated league when actually there is ahuge differnce between them.

This confuses me. How do you get that impression? Minor league stats might not be perfect, but I'm not seeing anything too out of the ordinary.

[Young Drachma]

After 3+ hours of setup, I'm finally ready to get started. lol

[MizzouRah]

Not that I have any interest in purchasing this version but if this is true, that's despicable. A good portion of the enjoyment I get out of any pro text sims is in looking to make trades. That's probably one of the main reasons I stick with 5.11 for that had the best trade AI, better than what came before and after (including 5.12 and 6.x). IMO.

6.5 isn't bad with some settings.. but I agree, another reason to keep my wallet closed.

[Galaril]

This confuses me. How do you get that impression? Minor league stats might not be perfect, but I'm not seeing anything too out of the ordinary.

I screwed up the quote thing on that post. I got that impression from this quote earlier by SACKATTACK:
"Six hits of combined offense in 12 innings because the game appears to be treating the ratings of minor leaguers as major league equivalencies (i.e. contact of '4' sucks ass even though, well, he's a 19 y/o in Rookie ball)? That's...not so cool."

[Maple Leafs]

I started off at Single A - West Virginia (fictional league). You basically have no control over the roster and the Major League team keeps moving your players up and down. It can be pretty frustrating at times because you have no control over your roster.
I wouldn't be especially interested in playing this sort of career but assuming you were... isn't this exactly what you would expect? Wouldn't it be unrealistic to be an A-ball manager and have roster control?

[Galaril]

So, I just noticed the trading block and shop player feature were removed for some reason.


I am assuming this is sarcasm? If not wouldn't that constitute a deal breaker. How do we trade?:confused:

[Buccaneer]

I am assuming this is sarcasm/ If not wouldn't that constitute a deal breaker. How do we trade?:confused:

Probably like we did it for OOTP4 (and FOF, if I recall correctly). You just make your offer and the AI will tell you how close or not.

[MizzouRah]

Well, trading and trading block are different. Trading block is putting players on a trading block so other teams can offer you players or you can see who the computer is wanting to get rid of. Shop a player lets you pick a player and in one click see what other teams are willing to offer you for that player.

[MrBug708]

A few thoughts. I hate how you have to go to a certain screen to sign FA's or do anything, instead of a sub menu on the players card. I also dislike when offering a contract, they'll tell you the offer and you have to manuelly enter it in to get to the right price, instead of their offer being what is the default offer

[Buccaneer]

Well, trading and trading block are different. Trading block is putting players on a trading block so other teams can offer you players or you can see who the computer is wanting to get rid of. Shop a player lets you pick a player and in one click see what other teams are willing to offer you for that player.

I have found the value of trade blocks to be one way. I get a lot of offers for decent players I put on the block (every once in a while, the AI would offer a trade that interest me). With 5.11, I have not had much success in trading for good players that they put on the block so I don't use that. However, I absolutely love the shop player feature. I know v.6 did improve on that mechanism but v.511 works very well for me even if I have to do it team by team.

[ScottVib]

3) Has anybody yet figured out how, when starting a league, to 'lock' the team nicknames in so that when you choose a particular league, you don't have to rename the teams each time?

Use the Save as Quickstart option.

This will save all settings nicknames/etc in the league. Then the next time you create a league just choose that quickstart as the base.

[ScottVib]

The trading in OOTP2006 requires you to make or respond to an offer (rather then just hitting the shop player button).

After you make the offer the other GM will contact you via email with a response.. if he doesn't like the offer he'll tell you what he's looking for to make it work for him.

[Bee]

I wouldn't be especially interested in playing this sort of career but assuming you were... isn't this exactly what you would expect? Wouldn't it be unrealistic to be an A-ball manager and have roster control?

I was hoping to have some degree input on the roster, which seems like it would be much more realistic to me. A MLB GM doesn't just move people around without consulting the managers of the minor league teams. I'd have also liked to see the option to request certain free agent signing, releases, etc. I didn't expect final decision power, but I was hoping (not expecting) there would be something in place for roster input at the minor league level.

[Buccaneer]

I was hoping to have some degree input on the roster, which seems like it would be much more realistic to me. A MLB GM doesn't just move people around without consulting the managers of the minor league teams. I'd have also liked to see the option to request certain free agent signing, releases, etc. I didn't expect final decision power, but I was hoping (not expecting) there would be something in place for roster input at the minor league level.

But it has to be a game in there somewhere, which is what I think you are getting at. I think that's one of the big things I have against people crying "not realistic" is that if it were true realism, it would so boring and monotonous. We are playing a game not simulating real life and in the case of managing at A, it has to be fun for us to play, just as if we are playing GM/Coach at any other level.

I'm not responding to anything specific, just a random, incoherent thought I had.

[Bee]

I'm seeing what feels like a ton of injuries in my second season. This is at the default "normal" injury setting. Does this same unusually high to anyone else?

Sunday, July 8th, 2007
D. Lytle was injured while throwing the ball. The Diagnosis: Strained Tricep Tendon. He's expected to miss about 2 weeks.
Saturday, July 7th, 2007
J. Zhai was injured while pitching. The Diagnosis: Strained Back Muscle. He's expected to miss about 3 weeks.
Friday, July 6th, 2007
F. MacCorkill was injured on a defensive play. The Diagnosis: Fractured Nose. He's expected to miss about 4 weeks.
Sunday, July 1st, 2007
A. Borquez was injured while throwing the ball. The Diagnosis: Back Spasms. He's expected to miss about 3 weeks.
Saturday, June 30th, 2007
R. Heald was injured while throwing the ball. The Diagnosis: Strained Rotator Cuff Muscle. He's expected to miss about 8-9 weeks.
Saturday, June 23rd, 2007
P. Ibarbia was injured while pitching. The Diagnosis: Damaged Meniscus (Knee). He's expected to miss about 7-8 weeks.
Saturday, June 16th, 2007
M. Barnes was injured while pitching. The Diagnosis: Tender Shoulder. This is a day-to-day injury expected to last 2 weeks.
Thursday, June 14th, 2007
E. Martely was injured while pitching. The Diagnosis: Hyperextended Elbow. He's expected to miss about 6 weeks.
Sunday, June 10th, 2007
B. Schuster was injured in a collision at a base. The Diagnosis: Torn Labrum (Shoulder). This is a CAREER ENDING injury!
Friday, June 1st, 2007
T. Freutez was injured while pitching. The Diagnosis: Torn Labrum (Shoulder). He's expected to miss about 7-8 months.
Tuesday, May 29th, 2007
E. Martely was injured while pitching. The Diagnosis: Finger Blister. He's expected to miss about 2 weeks.
Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007
R. Heald was injured while running the bases. The Diagnosis: Bruised Ankle. This is a day-to-day injury expected to last 6 days.
Sunday, May 13th, 2007
C. Cosio was injured while pitching. The Diagnosis: Back Spasms. He's expected to miss about 4 weeks.
Wednesday, May 9th, 2007
D. Hendricks was injured on a defensive play. The Diagnosis: Torn Rib Cage Muscle. He's expected to miss about 2-3 months.
Tuesday, May 1st, 2007
F. MacCorkill was injured while running the bases. The Diagnosis: Hyperextended Knee. He's expected to miss about 1-2 weeks.
Friday, April 27th, 2007
K. McIlvrae was injured on a defensive play. The Diagnosis: Concussion. This is a day-to-day injury expected to last 2 weeks.
Saturday, April 21st, 2007
J. Meade was injured while pitching. The Diagnosis: Torn Back Muscle. He's expected to miss about 8 months.
Sunday, April 15th, 2007
B. Jolley was injured while throwing the ball. The Diagnosis: Torn Rotator Cuff Muscle. He's expected to miss about 13 months.
Thursday, April 12th, 2007
S. DeRouen was injured while pitching. The Diagnosis: Torn Rotator Cuff Muscle. He's expected to miss about 8 months.

[General Mike]

So, I just noticed the trading block and shop player feature were removed for some reason.

I didn't download the game yet or anything, but in EHM, you put a guy on the trading block, by setting their player status and making them available. I don't know if OOTP 2006 is the same or not.

[Bee]

But it has to be a game in there somewhere, which is what I think you are getting at. I think that's one of the big things I have against people crying "not realistic" is that if it were true realism, it would so boring and monotonous. We are playing a game not simulating real life and in the case of managing at A, it has to be fun for us to play, just as if we are playing GM/Coach at any other level.

I'm not responding to anything specific, just a random, incoherent thought I had.

Yep, I agree. I think there's a balance that could have been struck to keep the minor leagues interesting without giving too much unrealistic control to the minor league manager. Instead I'm finding it pretty boring and not all that realistic since I have absolutely zero input or ability to comment if I think players are ready for the next level or not.

[lynchjm24]

I went ahead and purchased.

It has seemingly everything under the sun. It just isn't really built for people who want to blow through season like I like to. It sims very fast, but it takes so much time to make decisions or filter through a mind-blowing amount of information that it's not something you can breeze through and have any success.

[sovereignstar]

I didn't download the game yet or anything, but in EHM, you put a guy on the trading block, by setting their player status and making them available. I don't know if OOTP 2006 is the same or not.

Yeah, I initially thought that could've been what was up, but there aren't 'statuses' in this game.

[Buccaneer]

Yeah, I initially thought that could've been what was up, but there aren't 'statuses' in this game.

Because baseball is not hockey or soccer? There may be more to that flippant remark than meets the eye?

[rexallllsc]

But it has to be a game in there somewhere, which is what I think you are getting at. I think that's one of the big things I have against people crying "not realistic" is that if it were true realism, it would so boring and monotonous. We are playing a game not simulating real life and in the case of managing at A, it has to be fun for us to play, just as if we are playing GM/Coach at any other level.

I'm not responding to anything specific, just a random, incoherent thought I had.

This is the problem I've had with the Grey Dog games thus far. I have so much un-fun managing the roster that I can't even get into the game.

Like you, this comment isn't about this game - I'll prob. even buy it in a few weeks after school.

[sovereignstar]

Because baseball is not hockey or soccer? There may be more to that flippant remark than meets the eye?

que?
http://www.fawltytowersonline.com/images/cast_05.jpg

[Buccaneer]

This is the problem I've had with the Grey Dog games thus far. I have so much un-fun managing the roster that I can't even get into the game.

I say the same thing about another company but then again, I'm a strategy gamer, not a sports simmer. Heck, I play OOTP5 and FBCB like a strategy game because they are very easy for me to do so.

[TroyF]

OK, some quick thoughts:

My 100 year sim is running. I got a really late start on it. I likely won't have it up until tomorrow night. Sorry.

Early impressions are pretty much what I expected. The amount of options are staggering. A little overwhelming at first to be honest. It will take me some time to set up a "serious" league if I ever get into the game.

Running through a fictional draft now, more to report later.

[Hammer755]

I'm seeing what feels like a ton of injuries in my second season. This is at the default "normal" injury setting. Does this same unusually high to anyone else?

I think that injuries in V2006 are probably modeled as close to reality as anything in the game. BP's Will Carroll, who is an injury expert, shared the data that he's collected with Markus, thus the 'Under the Knife' section. It may look like a lot, but I don't think the average baseball fan understands how many injuries occur in real life.

[MizzouRah]

I went ahead and purchased.

It has seemingly everything under the sun. It just isn't really built for people who want to blow through season like I like to. It sims very fast, but it takes so much time to make decisions or filter through a mind-blowing amount of information that it's not something you can breeze through and have any success.

I'm kind of surprised as I know you get into Puresim quite a bit. ;)

So far though, nothing has made me want to purchase the game at all. In fact, back to my 6.5 career.

[Young Drachma]

So is this like EHM where even if you don't load one of the standard league, they still exist?

[GoSeahawks]

I don't see the 'sim multiple seasons' option. Is it in this years edition?

[Young Drachma]

I don't see the 'sim multiple seasons' option. Is it in this years edition?

I don't think so.

[lighthousekeeper]

umm...i feel ashamed to ask this...but how do i control a team? i started the league as unemployed so i could sim a few seasons out and now i want to take control over a team. i read the 'smaller' manual but didn't see anything encouraging.

[GoSeahawks]

umm...i feel ashamed to ask this...but how do i control a team? i started the league as unemployed so i could sim a few seasons out and now i want to take control over a team. i read the 'smaller' manual but didn't see anything encouraging.
Not sure, but try clicking the manager tab and check job openings. I haven't gotten that far though.

[TroyF]

I'm not even going to try to get into the AI tonight. My plan is to put my 100 year sim up and let everyone else go through it at the same time I get to do so.

Some initial thoughts on the game itself:

1) Overwhelmed. I think I've probably said that to myself 10 or 12 times in the two hours I've played around with the game. You can literally get lost in all of the options, stats, screens. . . it's utterly amazing the way this thing is layed out. I'm still getting used to it, but I like it a lot. For those who hate the FM interface? Don't even bother with this. You'll spend 10 minutes looking dumbfounded at the screen and go insane.

2) I don't like the new trade interface. There should be a trade block in every sports game.

3) I have to play around more, but I didn't see an option that would let me watch a game straight through, without clicking a button. I like to watch the occasional game, I'd like to be able to do it without having to click the mouse 100+ times in a game.

4) That said, the different ways to watch a game are outstanding. The "web" based interface is incredible. It gives you the location and speed of each pitch. Very nicely done.

5) Have I mentioned that I've felt overwhelmed a couple of times? I love stats. Love them. I love options. This is insanity. (that's a good thing)

6) The game is super, duper fast.

---------------------------------------------------------

If the AI from those reports shows up and is a letdown, this will be a major dissapointment. The game has a ton going for it. I could see myself getting lost in it like no other game in recent memory.

***Sigh*** Look at what I just wrote up there? I'm setting myelf up to be left to die on Mt. Everest with the FOFC faithful laughing at me as it happens.

Well, more impressions tomorrow (along with the reports tomorrow night)

I'm going to play the game some more before I start noticing bugs and get ticked off.

[FBPro]

I don't see the 'sim multiple seasons' option. Is it in this years edition?
Yes it is, just designed differently. Go to the sked page, click on the year at the top of the sked and you should get a column of about 20 or so seasons. You can scroll higher if you wish...just choose the year/season you want to sim until. Then at the bottom of the page you choose "autoplay" and the date you selected is the bottom option.

[TroyF]

I don't see the 'sim multiple seasons' option. Is it in this years edition?


I had trouble figuring that out myself. Here is what you do:

Go to the schedule screen. You'll be able to see the current day. Click on the year tab. Scroll down to the year you want. Click on "auto play" at the bottom right of the screen. Click on "sim until this date"

[lighthousekeeper]

Not sure, but try clicking the manager tab and check job openings. I haven't gotten that far though.
i don't want to be offered a job. i want to be god and control whichever team i want.

[lighthousekeeper]

i don't want to be offered a job. i want to be god and control whichever team i want.
oh i figured it out. need to go to manager homepage, then select 'play in commissioner mode', then go to the 'available jobs' screen

[JS19]

Wow. Just made the purchase and as it's been said already, THERE IS SO MUCH STUFF. Being that I am a computer idiot I feel like a lost 6 yr old in a grocery store.

Is there a way to start a league using default rosters, or is the draft the only way to start the game?

[sovereignstar]

FWIW I'm making a real-life quickstart with all the real nicknames and hopefully all the logos of the MLB and minors. Not sure if all the logos have been done or not, but I'll include as many as possible (all will be named correctly for ease of use).

Just finished up all the nicknames and damn is this exhausting, especially when a handful of teams were in the wrong divisions.

[Terps]

FWIW I'm making a real-life quickstart with all the real nicknames and hopefully all the logos of the MLB and minors. Not sure if all the logos have been done or not, but I'll include as many as possible (all will be named correctly for ease of use).

Just finished up all the nicknames and damn is this exhausting, especially when a handful of teams were in the wrong divisions.

Nice, I was naming teams up until AA and then I got sick of it.

[aran]

Can't you download that database of professional teams names and such for this game just like you could for Puresim? I thought i saw someone say that they hadn't downloaded that DB because they hadn't been on the internet recently... Maybe I'm thinking of the pursim impressions thread, though.

[sovereignstar]

Can't you download that database of professional teams names and such for this game just like you could for Puresim? I thought i saw someone say that they hadn't downloaded that DB because they hadn't been on the internet recently... Maybe I'm thinking of the pursim impressions thread, though.

Yeah, but what about the gazillion minor league teams? :)

[SirFozzie]

I just created an English Baseball league to go with all the leagues that go with it.

Bringing proper sport to Jolly Old England! It's just not cricket I say.. :D

[SackAttack]

oh i figured it out. need to go to manager homepage, then select 'play in commissioner mode', then go to the 'available jobs' screen

You don't even need to do that. When you set up a league and you create a manager, you have the option right there to either start as unemployed or specifically select the team you wish to control.

[SackAttack]

Can't you download that database of professional teams names and such for this game just like you could for Puresim? I thought i saw someone say that they hadn't downloaded that DB because they hadn't been on the internet recently... Maybe I'm thinking of the pursim impressions thread, though.

That might've been me. Last time I downloaded Lahman separate from a baseball game was back in the OOTP 5 days, I think. My OOTP desktop is STILL fucking offline, so I haven't been able to snag it for OOTP 2006.

[GabeRivers]

oh i figured it out. need to go to manager homepage, then select 'play in commissioner mode', then go to the 'available jobs' screen

I struggled with this for awhile, too. I wanted to sim multiple seasons before i started managing, but the game has you create a manager from the start. I don't recall whether I picked this up from the extensive guide, the shorter manual, or someone's post at the OOTP forums, but I've landed on a good approach -- at least for me.

You can easily set up multiple managers. Set up your first manager as the commissioner, with no team. Sim through as many seasons as you want before starting your managing career.

Then create a new manager, the one you want to be your active manager (actually, it appears that you can create as many of these as you want, and you can cycle thru them as you wish). When you create the new manager, you have the opportunity to assign him to manage any team you want, without making him a commissioner.

Anytime you want to edit in commissioner mode, you simply cycle to the original manager (the commissioner).

As far as the game goes, I think "overwhelming" is an apt description. The trading situation is almost a deal killer for me -- but the jury is still out, and I'm going to press on for now.

[Barkeep49]

So it sounds like Bee got discouraged playing a career as a minor league manager. Is anyone else trying that or will impressions of that have to wait? Anyone have draft impressions? For those managing in the majors, such as lynchjim because I know we have similar play styles, what kind of decisions are you making on a daily basis? Certain micromanaging I don't mind as long as the decisions are easy to do, meaning I'm not forced to go to 5 screens play each week, for instance.

[lighthousekeeper]

i must say that the play-by-play is very much improved. there's a good deal of variety and it's just plain odd to see text for plays that isn't the same old text that had been in ootp since v3.

i actually need to read the wholoe play to find out what happened, as opposed to ootp6 where i could predict what the play would be based on the first word, since it had gotten so repetitive.


i love seeing things like "fouled off the catchers mitt" or "he throws his bat down in disgust after that out"

[SirFozzie]

I can't wait to see someone do up an announcer text file like Ernie Harwell.. or Vin Scully. Or well.. you get the point.

[korme]

How do you sim to a certain year? I started a fic. league in 1980 with plans to sim until 2006 but I only see an option of sim for one season.

[GoSeahawks]

I played one season using the full MLB template. I want to introduce you to Sol Padilla. As of 7/30/2006 Padilla was leading the MLB in HR's and RBI's. His .348 BA ranked second in the MLB only behind his LF teammate.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h250/nathan_hicks/SolPadilla.jpg

On the day of the trade deadline the Baltimore fans were shocked as their triple crown hopeful was traded away to San Diego.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h250/nathan_hicks/PadillaPlayerHistory.jpg

Of course the thought of getting a MR in exchange for a 25 year old phenom was cause for distress, but there's a happy ending.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h250/nathan_hicks/AlBoone.jpg
That's right, he got two wins out of the bullpen for the O's and helped them to a spot in the playoffs (BAL finished 111-51). Even though the he posted an 8.08 era and two wins he was left off the playoff roster and watched as his team won the world series. Ahhhh, I only see him getting better throughout his 30's.....

End of story.....

[cougarfreak]

How do you sim to a certain year? I started a fic. league in 1980 with plans to sim until 2006 but I only see an option of sim for one season.

Change the date at the top of the schedule screen, then under the same button you see the option to sim for one year, you can sim to the date you've chosen.

[korme]

Sims 1 season in a minute and a half? My ass. I have the full MLB, plus Japan and Korea and a brand new laptop, it's been ten minutes and I've simmed through 2 months of the first season

[GoSeahawks]

Sims 1 season in a minute and a half? My ass. I have the full MLB, plus Japan and Korea and a brand new laptop, it's been ten minutes and I've simmed through 2 months of the first season
How many teams is that?

[SackAttack]

Yay, my computer works again.

[sovereignstar]

FIRST DAY FICTIONAL MLB QUICKSTART (http://rapidshare.de/files/21909233/Fictional_MLB_Quickstart.zip.html) (14.1 MB)
-----

What this has:
-Only MLB and all minor leagues
-Real team nicknames
-fictional players
-Correct minor league setup (there are errors in the default quickstarts)
-All major league logos and the majority of minor league logos (AAA, AA, and all levels of A should be there) (all logos courtesy of OOTP member 'truthserum' - he's done a masterful job)

What this won't have:
-real MLB players (!!)
-any foreign leagues
-Every single logo
-MLB color schemes should be right, but I think all the minor league schemes are messed up

-I only messed with a few cosmetic things in the initial setup. Otherwise, just about everything is the default. Hopefully I didn't miss something.

-To install unzip the Fictional MLB.quick folder into your data/quickstart_games folder with any other quickstarts you have
-----

Let me know if there are any mistakes mmkay

[sovereignstar]

Okay, which one of you saps is gonna download that thing and make sure it works? I'm too busy starting my managing career in Durham.

[SackAttack]

Sov, I might give it a try.

Is it possible to replace logos within the quickstart? I'd be okay with leaving his AAA and AA logos alone, but I really like the stamp baseballs that justafan did, and would rather use those for my major league logos.

Is replacement easy enough?

[sovereignstar]

Sov, I might give it a try.

Is it possible to replace logos within the quickstart? I'd be okay with leaving his AAA and AA logos alone, but I really like the stamp baseballs that justafan did, and would rather use those for my major league logos.

Is replacement easy enough?

Should be. What you'll want to do is open up your data/saved_games/yournewleague.lg/news/html/images folder and see what the current ones are named in case the ones you are downloading aren't named correctly. Then drag the justafan logos over and hopefully they will overwrite the current ones.

[SackAttack]

Cool.

I'll give it a shot.

[kingfc22]

Al Bone is the next big thing. The Orioles GM must have known this.

[sovereignstar]

Hmmm.. it seems that with the quickstart you'll start off with me as a manager. I should hope that there is a way to delete managers, but I'm not seeing it.

[sovereignstar]

Yeah, this is friggin brilliant. You are forced to at least name a general manager once you create a new game, so I don't think I could've prevented myself from being included in the quickstart!

[SackAttack]

Hmmm.. it seems that with the quickstart you'll start off with me as a manager. I should hope that there is a way to delete managers, but I'm not seeing it.

You can edit the manager, but unless you add a new one you're stuck with the Durham Bulls as your starting team.

[SackAttack]

Closest thing I can think of to keeping yourself out of the quickstart would probably be to create Joe Unknown and have him start unemployed. It still freezes you out of the majors, but it's probably the next best thing unless you want to activate Commish Mode.

[Ragone]

looking at that trade in the screenshot above.. maybe balitmore figured they couldn't keep him at his price level.. as he was a free agent after the season and basically got what they could for him

[sovereignstar]

Closest thing I can think of to keeping yourself out of the quickstart would probably be to create Joe Unknown and have him start unemployed. It still freezes you out of the majors, but it's probably the next best thing unless you want to activate Commish Mode.

Yeah, this quickstart is only going to be cool for like 3-4 days tops anyways. It's like this:

1. Go to Game, Add Manager and create your very own profile
2. Go to Game, Select Manager and select yourself
3. Go to Game, Add Manager and delete me from your mothatruckin game

[SackAttack]

sov, how did you figure out where to insert logos? All I can find is 'generate logo' using the color codes. I don't see any way to link to them off the hard drive the way you could in previous OOTP games.

[SackAttack]

Yeah, this quickstart is only going to be cool for like 3-4 days tops anyways. It's like this:

1. Go to Game, Add Manager and create your very own profile
2. Go to Game, Select Manager and select yourself
3. Go to Game, Add Manager and delete me from your mothatruckin game

Option 3 is not an option. You can do the rest though.

[Schmidty]

I know I'm dumb, but I can't figure out how to assign a scout to scout a league (such as AAA). I've read the manual, and fiddled around to the point of insanity, but no luck. I'm sure it's something simpl and I'm just missing it, but does anyone know?

[sovereignstar]

Option 3 is not an option. You can do the rest though.

It should be if you are the new "active" manager.

[SackAttack]

I know I'm dumb, but I can't figure out how to assign a scout to scout a league (such as AAA). I've read the manual, and fiddled around to the point of insanity, but no luck. I'm sure it's something simpl and I'm just missing it, but does anyone know?

What I'm quickly discovering is that this entire game is needlessly complicated to do just about any fucking thing.

[sovereignstar]

sov, how did you figure out where to insert logos? All I can find is 'generate logo' using the color codes. I don't see any way to link to them off the hard drive the way you could in previous OOTP games.

I just opened up that particular directory in a window and drag-n-dropped.

[SackAttack]

It should be if you are the new "active" manager.

I dunno. Maybe I needed to switch managers but I thought the act of adding one did that automatically.

[SackAttack]

I just opened up that particular directory in a window and drag-n-dropped.

Ugh. I'm just trying to figure out a way to have the game default to those logos the way you could do in OOTP 6. Having to drag-and-drop each time I create a new league is ridiculously draconian.

[GabeRivers]

Option 3 is not an option. You can do the rest though.

Go to Add Manager. Click on any of the choices for existing managers on the right list. That activates that manager. Then there is a button option at the bottom to delete that manager.

[SackAttack]

Go to Add Manager. Click on any of the choices for existing managers on the right list. That activates that manager. Then there is a button option at the bottom to delete that manager.

Did that. It highlighted the button for the added manager but not for the one sov had in there. Maybe I wasn't switching to the other guy, and so sov's manager was still active and thus undeletable. I'll try again on that later.

[Shkspr]

looking at that trade in the screenshot above.. maybe balitmore figured they couldn't keep him at his price level.. as he was a free agent after the season and basically got what they could for him

And nobody's going to offer more than a 30 year old reliever with an ERA in the fives for three months of Albert Pujols in his walk year?

[Schmidty]

What I'm quickly discovering is that this entire game is needlessly complicated to do just about any fucking thing.

Yeah, me too.

The Fantasy draft was 4 hours of my life I wish I could have back. I have a giant headache, and I'm not having a lot of fun right now. :(

[Schmidty]

Honestly though, if anyone can tell me how to scout a league (other than the MLB), PLEASE let me know.

[Shkspr]

Hell, I've played this thing for ten hours and I'm not sure I've yet to go past April 10.

[Shkspr]

Honestly though, if anyone can tell me how to scout a league (other than the MLB), PLEASE let me know.

All I've been able to do is get my guys to scout each team or organization individually. I've been assigning each of my coachs to scout my team - this gives me an idea of who I can trust and ho I can't, and what the error ranges are. I then send each scout out to a different team and have them scout the entire organization - first quick, then full. I can get most of the league done by opening day, and then I can cross-check players who are offered to me in trades.

[sovereignstar]

Honestly though, if anyone can tell me how to scout a league (other than the MLB), PLEASE let me know.

I haven't checked it out yet myself, but have you peaked at the big manual yet? I think one of the blogs contained a large excerpt from the manual on scouting and it seemed pretty in-depth.

[Schmidty]

Ok, I just figured it out, and it WAS in the manual. I must have missed before.

You have to have chosen the league, and then you go to "Transactions" from the League Menu. After that you go to the bottom right and choose "Scout League"

It's just a REALLY unintuitive way to do something that should be on a dedicated scouting screen. Frustrating.

[SackAttack]

Frustrating.

I used that word in my PureSim review.

It gives me an Inigo Montoya moment now.

"You keep on using that word...I do not think it means what you think it means."

[Young Drachma]

at least there IS a manual this time.

[aran]

SackAttack:

From your experiences so far, do you prefer puresim or OOTPB?

[SackAttack]

at least there IS a manual this time.

Oh, yes. A 300 page behemoth, and don't think I'm not happy about that level of documentation.

The problem is, the stuff giving me the biggest headaches - figuring out how to use the logos I want without having to jump through hoops every time I create a new league - well, you know, that stuff didn't get documented in time for the release.

Sad.

[Marc Duffy]

Josh, I'll have the answer in the next hour for you I hope. We were aiming to have a customization manual out on release day but in the end time ran out. It'll be uip soon!

[sovereignstar]

Here's a post (re: logos) that might help you out a little --http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/showpost.php?p=1686691&postcount=1

[SackAttack]

SackAttack:

From your experiences so far, do you prefer puresim or OOTPB?

Smartass answer: a gun barrel in my mouth.

Honest answer: God, I don't know. For the most part, I prefer the FM-style interface that OOTP sports, and God knows it buries PureSim statistically at the moment.

On the other hand, glancing at the tech support forum over at OOTP's forums, it looks like OOTP really wasn't ready for release even ignoring some of the complaints about its intuitiveness. It's a complex game, I understand that.

But when I see that somehow relief pitchers are earning wins and saves at the same time, I wonder how that made it past beta. It realistically should have taken one extra-inning game of sufficient length to find that. Hell, the first game I managed, I found that. Do the beta testers just bang on the simulation engine without testing the manage mode?

There are improvements to OOTP, and a great many of them, but what I'm finding right now is that getting STARTED is an overwhelming chore. Then there's all the hunting around through various menus to find out how to do things like make trades, activate players received via trade, there's stuff like lineup replacement that automatically voids the position (so if you swap centerfielders, you have to re-set your player as a centerfielder, doubling the number of necessary clicks)...

Let me summarize my level of frustration with the two games this way:

If I were an average consumer who had purchased PureSim, OOTP and Baseball Mogul 2007 right now, and I were choosing one to play, I would probably go with Mogul. It's simplistic, yes, but at least it won't drive me to baldness before my 30's.

PureSim needs some polish before I can call it the best of the bunch, and OOTP is clearly, CLEARLY suffering from growing pains related to the switch to SI's codebase.

With PureSim, I know that most of my frustrations are fixable with future patches and updates. That's going to be a game I can play and enjoy with a little patience.

OOTP, I can see a game in there that I want to play. What's driving me fucking batshit insane is figuring out how to GET to that game.

[SackAttack]

Josh, I'll have the answer in the next hour for you I hope. We were aiming to have a customization manual out on release day but in the end time ran out. It'll be uip soon!

Thanks, Marc.

I know I'm full of piss and vinegar right now, but I also realize that this is a pretty radical change from what I'm used to. I'm giving it a shot to grow on me, and hopefully a week from now I can look back at my early frustrations and laugh.

In the meantime, I'm likely to be one bitter SOB until I figure out what the hell I'm doing. Be patient with me. :D

[SackAttack]

Here's a post (re: logos) that might help you out a little --http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/showpost.php?p=1686691&postcount=1

sov,

That helps me with the naming conventions. It's still a PITA if I have to do that process every time I create a new league (which, if a useable roster set ever pops up, might happen; I have a weird attachment to my favorite real-life Dodgers), and that's what I'm looking for. With OOTP 6, I could dump them all into the folder that the game used when creating new associations, so the same logos would get used each time.

That's what I'm after, is something along those lines.

But at least that link should get me started in the short-term.

[sovereignstar]

sov,

That helps me with the naming conventions. It's still a PITA if I have to do that process every time I create a new league (which, if a useable roster set ever pops up, might happen; I have a weird attachment to my favorite real-life Dodgers), and that's what I'm looking for. With OOTP 6, I could dump them all into the folder that the game used when creating new associations, so the same logos would get used each time.

That's what I'm after, is something along those lines.

But at least that link should get me started in the short-term.

Well, I think it's just a matter of time before everyone gets on the same page. A Los Angeles Dodgers logo should always be named Los Angeles (A)_Dodgers.png. Am I missing something, but isn't that the same as an old OOTP 6 logo always being logo13.bmp (or whatever it was)?

[SackAttack]

Well, I think it's just a matter of time before everyone gets on the same page. A Los Angeles Dodgers logo should always be named Los Angeles (A)_Dodgers.png. Am I missing something, but isn't that the same as an old OOTP 6 logo always being logo13.bmp (or whatever it was)?

Well, other than that the Dodgers are (N) and not (A), yup. :D

No, that's not the issue. That's actually fine. The problem is that yeah, I can name the images appropriately and drag and drop them each time I need to use them, and that's fine and all, but what I want to do is find a way to just either import them once and for all or drag and drop them once, as OOTP used to do.

It would still assign the same logo to the same team, and that's fine, but it'd already be there waiting for me instead of having to manually insert them into the images folder with each new league.

[CamEdwards]

I'm glad/sad to see that others are sharing my concerns and frustration with this game. I downloaded this last night and sat down eager to play. After 45 minutes had gone by and I STILL hadn't been able to actually play a game, I turned off the computer for the night. I'll try to pick it back up later today, but so far I can't help but be disappointed.

I'm not saying anything new here, but it's just so damned complicated to do anything in the game. The interface is not just unintuitive, it's counter-intuitive. And the play by play does not excite me. At least in older versions there were specific mentions of it being Opening Day and things like that. My first game of the season started out like any other game. In fact, I didn't even see any pre-game notes about starting pitcher and whatnot (perhaps that's in one of the OTHER ways to watch the game).

Like Sack said, you can see where this game has the potential to be very good, if you could strip all the extraneous crap from it.

[Bee]

I'm not feeling overwhelmed at all, but it might be the way I started in the minor leagues. That takes out a bunch of the decisions and possibly some of the frustration others are having (although it adds it's own issues IMO). I've now moved on to the Japanese Pro League and am having much more fun with the game. It was pretty easy to move up the manager's ladder even when I finished dead last in my Triple A league. I think I'd recommend to anyone wanting to try the game and having concerns about being overwhelmed to try the minor leagues, get used to the basics and then move on to the pro leagues. I think that might be a better way to learn the game a little at a time.

[Bee]

I think that injuries in V2006 are probably modeled as close to reality as anything in the game. BP's Will Carroll, who is an injury expert, shared the data that he's collected with Markus, thus the 'Under the Knife' section. It may look like a lot, but I don't think the average baseball fan understands how many injuries occur in real life.

After 3 full seasons, I haven't had much problems with the injuries other than the stretch I posted. I'm willling to accept it being just really bad luck at this point but when you lose your #1, #2 and #3 starting pitchers for the year in the space of 10 days it's something you tend to notice. Not to mention that at the minor league level you can't control the DL, so these guys were just sitting on the roster eating up space despite being useless for the whole year. I think at one point I was using the bat boy as a starter. :D

[lynchjm24]

So it sounds like Bee got discouraged playing a career as a minor league manager. Is anyone else trying that or will impressions of that have to wait? Anyone have draft impressions? For those managing in the majors, such as lynchjim because I know we have similar play styles, what kind of decisions are you making on a daily basis? Certain micromanaging I don't mind as long as the decisions are easy to do, meaning I'm not forced to go to 5 screens play each week, for instance.

I haven't quite gotten through spring training yet. I actually haven't been able to figure out how to look at my spring training stats. Nor have I figured out how I could actually watch/manage the game. I'm sure all this is in the manual, but I'm not really a manual kind of guy - that's on me, not the game.

You get a lot of trade offers, which are horrible to get through. If you go from the trade offer to the closest thing the game has to a trade block - then the game tells you the offer has expired when you go back to your email. This of course makes no sense because it tells you that you have 14 days to decide.

I set up a fictional league based on real life. I already miss the old OOTP 'transactions' screen. I think that might be my favorite text sim screen and the new one is much more complicated. You have to hit a drop down to pick which of the 5 minor league teams you are looking at and you can't see nearly as many players as you used to be able to. Certainly part of this is because of the added levels of minors, but I miss that screen.

The set lineup and rotation screens aren't all that easy to work with. Another area where the simpler screens in OOTP were better. Sure now you have more lineup flexibility, but I play as a GM mostly and used to only tweak things a little bit. Being able to quickly tweak lineups is something that isn't as easy as it was before.

It's really exactly what I expected. It's now more designed for the FM type player who slowly plays out seasons. There is just too much going on to really play this game like I played solo OOTP in the past. It's an amazing game, but if you added maybe a half dozen of the new features to OOTP 6.5 I would have been happier then I'm going to be with the complexity I'm faced with here. I don't have huge amounts of time to play and I'm interested in the long term aspects of a league, watching players develop - building a history around my team. I can't spend 20 minutes trying to figure out which player I should designate for assignment, but with all the information at your fingertips it makes decisions like that harder - not easier.

Maybe it will grow on me, but I have never been able to get into FM or EHM because there was just 'too much'.

[Draft Dodger]

Well, other than that the Dodgers are (N) and not (A), yup. :D

No, that's not the issue. That's actually fine. The problem is that yeah, I can name the images appropriately and drag and drop them each time I need to use them, and that's fine and all, but what I want to do is find a way to just either import them once and for all or drag and drop them once, as OOTP used to do.

It would still assign the same logo to the same team, and that's fine, but it'd already be there waiting for me instead of having to manually insert them into the images folder with each new league.

maybe I'm missing something, but all you have to do is copy your logos into that news\html\images folder and make sure they are named right (Los Angeles (N)_Dodgers.jgp for example). that's it. if you make a new league with LA, copy the logo into the new folder. one caution - if you add logos to the folder while the game is open, they won't work in all places until you restart the game. in 6, you could do this while it was running (and almost had to, because you had to look up who was team 1, team 2, etc.)

I don't really understand why logos are giving people trouble. they should be much more upset about having all the logos and player photos in the same damn directory.

[Ramzavail]

has anybody found the option to add stats in the players eval of AI instead of the pure ratings approach? I really liked that and tweaked it often in 6.5

[Draft Dodger]

I haven't quite gotten through spring training yet. I actually haven't been able to figure out how to look at my spring training stats. Nor have I figured out how I could actually watch/manage the game. I'm sure all this is in the manual, but I'm not really a manual kind of guy - that's on me, not the game.

spring training stats are a split.

for league stats...League dropdown menu>Statistics. View Batting Stats. You should now have several dropdowns, including Stats Splits - choose Spring Training. you can further refine with additinal splits (home / road) with the stats double split. unfortunately, lefty / righty splits do not work for spring training, but I think must of the other (albeit less important) splits are available.

to play a game, got to League>Scores & Schedules. assuming you're at that part of the season, pick a game and choose "manage" to play it out. quick-play used to be called sim - that will just sim it out. if you aren't yet where there are any games, you can choose the auto-play until buttons below to advance.

[Draft Dodger]

has anybody found the option to add stats in the players eval of AI instead of the pure ratings approach? I really liked that and tweaked it often in 6.5

I may be wrong, but I do not think this is in the game.

[Marc Duffy]

I'm glad/sad to see that others are sharing my concerns and frustration with this game. I downloaded this last night and sat down eager to play. After 45 minutes had gone by and I STILL hadn't been able to actually play a game, I turned off the computer for the night. I'll try to pick it back up later today, but so far I can't help but be disappointed.

I'm not saying anything new here, but it's just so damned complicated to do anything in the game. The interface is not just unintuitive, it's counter-intuitive. And the play by play does not excite me. At least in older versions there were specific mentions of it being Opening Day and things like that. My first game of the season started out like any other game. In fact, I didn't even see any pre-game notes about starting pitcher and whatnot (perhaps that's in one of the OTHER ways to watch the game).

Like Sack said, you can see where this game has the potential to be very good, if you could strip all the extraneous crap from it.

Please help me understand the interface problems. It's difficult for me to recognise the problems having grown up on such an interface. The more experiences shared, the better chance I have of getting them fixed

[cuervo72]

Well, (for me, can't speak for Cam) for one, I find it frustrating to do the following:

Click on a screen from the dropdown. Say, just your basic roster screen.
Click on a player.
Use the arrows to toggle through your players

Now, in the old version, all you had to do is to close the player page, and you were back on the page you started - be it the roster page, a lineup page, a transactions page, etc. I don't see that there is any way to "close" a player page and get back to where you were besides going back up to the dropdown navigation and going down the tree again or pressing the back key a number of times? Basically, instead of a linear page memory, I wouldn't mind one that is tree-based in a way. Hope I'm explaining it well enough...

[Ramzavail]

I may be wrong, but I do not think this is in the game.

Then I really don't understand why it isn't in this game. Why regress?

[TroyF]

Please help me understand the interface problems. It's difficult for me to recognise the problems having grown up on such an interface. The more experiences shared, the better chance I have of getting them fixed


Marc,

Just a few examples from me:

1) It took me 15 minutes to find the trade screen. Why in the hell isn't it in the front office of your specific team? Why do I have to go to the league screen to do it?

2) Why on Earth do I have to go to ten different places to send my scouts? I have to go to one place to scout a league, one place to scout a player, another place to scout a team. . . for the love of God, have a scouting screen like FM and let me assign my scouts on one page with a few clicks.

3) Speaking of the trade screen, where are my options for looking at anything other than stats? There are certain things that are important in trading in a career sim. Things like contract information, age, potential. . . it's a nightmare to click through all of it.

4) I click on the team schedule page and sim forward a day. It takes me back to the SION front page. To look at my box score, I have to click back into the schedule screen. Or I can use the league schedule screen and click the back button to look at an individual box score.

5) I couldn't figure out where to find the spring training stats either. Now that DD posted, I'll start looking at the screen, but I spent 10 minutes looking for them and gave up.
-----------------------------------------------------

I like the FM UI and I'm sure with some time I'll figure out where everything is and be OK. The amount of information is staggering and I understand that it has to be hard to organize all of the information. But my God, there are some things here that just blow me away. The scouting thing is about the best example I can come up with.

You have something that SHOULD be fairly simple to figure out and incredibly simple to execute. Counter-intuitive explains it 100%.

------------------------------------------------------

I haven't dug into the AI as of yet, but please oh please report the GoSeahawks trade from above as a MAJOR bug. I'll put up with clunky AI long before I'll put up with a triple crown slugger being traded for a middle reliever at the trading deadline. If things like that stay in, I won't be around long enough to figure out the UI.

[CamEdwards]

What TroyF said, Marc. :)

[TroyF]

One tip for those who have the game:

Use the bookmark feature. Use it extensively. I think I have about 25 bookmarks already, taking me to my minor league teams home pages, stats pages, trade screen, lineup settings, etc.

It's on the bottom right hand side of the screen. Probably the single most useful thing in the game.

[Draft Dodger]

Then I really don't understand why it isn't in this game. Why regress?

there are a few things that are not in the game. there's no trading block. the star ratings are gone. I don't believe players get ejected from games anymore (may be wrong there).

I can't speak for Markus or SI, but in some cases it was a design decision (star ratings falls into this category). I believe other features not making it (back) in are simply a function of the game being rewritten from scratch. I have no idea where that stat rating thing falls, but I would suspect it's the latter.

[cuervo72]

One tip for those who have the game:

Use the bookmark feature. Use it extensively. I think I have about 25 bookmarks already, taking me to my minor league teams home pages, stats pages, trade screen, lineup settings, etc.

It's on the bottom right hand side of the screen. Probably the single most useful thing in the game.

Any idea how these bookmarks work in a multiplayer setting? Are they stored somewhere outside of the league directory local to your machine, or somewhere in the league file?

(I'd look right now, but don't have it set up at work)

[DanGarion]

I haven't been able to figure out how to only look at free agents from the Player Search screen.

[TroyF]

Any idea how these bookmarks work in a multiplayer setting? Are they stored somewhere outside of the league directory local to your machine, or somewhere in the league file?

(I'd look right now, but don't have it set up at work)


I don't know to be honest.

I know that for my game, they are simply invaluable. Anything that took me more than fifteen seconds to find went into a bookmark. I haven't played wiht organizing them or any of those options yet. Marc, I'd SRONGLY reccomend making this feature as robust as possible in the first patch, I'm talking about being able to create folders for specific tasks (ie: you can put offseason tasks in one folder, stats in another, news in another, etc)

Now, with all of the negaitivity aside. I think the game has some potential, even in this version. I see no problem with quick simming. It can get interupted for things like trades, but I can set the options up to let the computer managers control anything I don't want to. As a GM, I'll probably let the manager control everything outside of promotions, demotions, trades and draft.

If I see a lineup tweak that should be made for a younger player, I can always control the lineups as well. (which while not easy to catch at first, isn't all that bad, it's easy to set up a depth chart and give your catcher a rest every fifth day for example)

[Bee]

I haven't been able to figure out how to only look at free agents from the Player Search screen.

Me either, but you can sort by team and it puts them at the top. The only problem is when you change views to see their stats and stuff it reorders them. :(

[DanGarion]

Me either, but you can sort by team and it puts them at the top. The only problem is when you change views to see their stats and stuff it reorders them. :(

Exactly, I hate that every time you change your view it resorts the info. It should only sort when you click on a column, not just because you change your view.

[Ramzavail]

there are a few things that are not in the game. there's no trading block. the star ratings are gone. I don't believe players get ejected from games anymore (may be wrong there).

I can't speak for Markus or SI, but in some cases it was a design decision (star ratings falls into this category). I believe other features not making it (back) in are simply a function of the game being rewritten from scratch. I have no idea where that stat rating thing falls, but I would suspect it's the latter.

Trading blocks and stars are just b.s. time savers in my opinion. I could care less about those things.

But the fact that you have the opportunity to tweak the ratings via actual performance brings a realistic feel to the universe you are playing in. I hate the full ratings approach.

[Bee]

Exactly, I hate that every time you change your view it resorts the info. It should only sort when you click on a column, not just because you change your view.

yep, hopefully Marc will note this and have it fixed in the next patch.