Alright Boyz, Here We Go!!!! (OOTP 2007 release thoughts!!!)

[BigPapi]

He said it wasn't intended to be in the game and was removed with the first patch, but a bunch of us responded that we liked it and it should be put back in.

I'll second that...But only if it works as intended.

[Lathum]

Something odd happening.

I like to manage the games and for some reason all of a suddenly when it is my turn for my players to bat they arent shown in the batters box with their ratings. etc..

anyone else seen this?

[Lathum]

dola- it shows the other teams players in the box and it shows my players ratings when they are in the field and on base as well.

[adubroff]

Something odd happening.

I like to manage the games and for some reason all of a suddenly when it is my turn for my players to bat they arent shown in the batters box with their ratings. etc..

anyone else seen this?


There's a pulldown on the game screen where you choose what scout's ratings to show for the batters. Most likely, whichever scout you've chosen hasn't scouted your team.

I didn't see the second message about the fielding ratings showing up. That seems to indicate the scout has scouted your team. I'm stumped.

[RainMaker]

I think one of the problems with the minors is that it doesn't take age into consideration. You may have a 19 year old kid on your AA team who is ready for AA but the 2nd best catcher on the team. The first guy might be better, but 25, and more or less at the peak of his development. The computer doesn't take into account that the 25 year old is expendable, and the 19 year old is the prize.

Age and potential need to factor into the AI decision making.

[Drake]

Here's a thought (that I haven't tested): could part of the problem with the minors be that we treat the minor league managers as interchangeable? When I turn the minors over to the AI -- which I always do -- I never look at the strategies of the manager I'm hiring. By default, the manager in the minors is going to try to *win* (because, well, that's what the AI is programmed to do), meaning that it's going to put the team most likely to win games on the field. It doesn't *care* about developing players because it doesn't understand that the role of the minor leagues is to develop talent for the parent club.

So, my question is: what happens if you hire minor league managers that have their strategy slider all the way over to "favor prospects"? Would the manager then play the young guys that you want to develop rather than favoring guys who are older but who might have topped out?

I don't know the answer to this question. I'm just thinking out loud.

[lynchjm24]

Not to mention, I've had plenty of trades offered to me that would not have been a good deal for me. So even if I'm looking at complete balance as being the sole determining factor of whether the trading AI is flawed, I'm not consistently seeing one-sided deals at all.

I'm just talking about taking a useless player, shopping around and always finding something useful for him.

[lynchjm24]

Would the manager then play the young guys that you want to develop rather than favoring guys who are older but who might have topped out?


The beauty of it is that playing time doesn't matter in developing prospects. Which makes the whole minor league overload pointless.

[Ksyrup]

I'm just talking about taking a useless player, shopping around and always finding something useful for him.

And when I do that on hard trading, I get 3-5 offers, tops. On average trading, I'd get 10-20 offers.

[lynchjm24]

And when I do that on hard trading, I get 3-5 offers, tops. On average trading, I'd get 10-20 offers.

Hmm.... I have it on very hard and get screens of offers, I've never counted how many.

This game has so many odd issues, and everyone's experiences are different. Some say the AI has 100 players on it's A ball team, some say it won't sign enough to fill the rosters.

The tone on the OOTP board is getting negative. Clearly the posters are tired of new bells and whistles and want the AI to be the main priority, but I'm sure it won't get fixed. You'd have to be an idiot at this point to believe it's getting fixed.

[BigMak]

I am glad I waited to see everybody's thoughts here on the game before purchasing. It sounds like issues which have been there for a long time are still present. I also get the impression that there is very little of a "game" left in OOTP. A second job is what this sounds like now. The idea of buying a game and spending an hour or hours setting up a universe is just a terrible idea.

Also, the lack of an OOTP community has turned me off to it. One of the reasons I chose OOTP over Puresim in years past was because of the active members in the community. Now a month of so after release and there are still no 2007 rosters available. In years past, there were usually several versions to choose from.

[Buccaneer]

I am not disappointed that I purchased v2007 for I personally support developers that build "open" games. But I am glad that I still have v5 for while many OOTP fans have been struggling with finding everything or getting the right settings in v2007, I have been into a great career so far. I know I didn't work hard to get into v2007 but I was eager to start playing a baseball sim again so I got out my long time favorite.

[lighthousekeeper]

Hmm.... I have it on very hard and get screens of offers, I've never counted how many.

This game has so many odd issues, and everyone's experiences are different. Some say the AI has 100 players on it's A ball team, some say it won't sign enough to fill the rosters.

The tone on the OOTP board is getting negative. Clearly the posters are tired of new bells and whistles and want the AI to be the main priority, but I'm sure it won't get fixed. You'd have to be an idiot at this point to believe it's getting fixed.

you're such a curmudgeon :)

[Ksyrup]

To be fair, I'm enjoying the game, but there are a lot of issues with it, from substance to UI, and I'll admit that I don't play in a way that exposes me to many of the issues people have found. And, I'll also admit that I'm so pleased, in general, with the historical part of the game that it trumps many of the small issues I have.

[Ksyrup]

The other thing I'm somewhat curious about is SD's lack of contribution to this thread since around the time the game was released. He's been very quiet, outside of working on his fictional settings stuff. I'm curious to hear what he thinks, if he's still playing, and what his level of enjoyment is. Because honestly, if this game was strictly fictional, or there wasn't the improvement to the historical side that there is, I'd probably be inclined to do what Bucc is doing.

[lynchjm24]

you're such a curmudgeon :)

Don't you have to get back to fixing things so that the Pirates get 'hot' when you run a sim? :)

[RainMaker]

Hmm.... I have it on very hard and get screens of offers, I've never counted how many.

This game has so many odd issues, and everyone's experiences are different. Some say the AI has 100 players on it's A ball team, some say it won't sign enough to fill the rosters.

The tone on the OOTP board is getting negative. Clearly the posters are tired of new bells and whistles and want the AI to be the main priority, but I'm sure it won't get fixed. You'd have to be an idiot at this point to believe it's getting fixed.

I think the "openness" of the game is the problem. There are simply too many variables involved when allowing someone to build a universe. It's just too hard to develop an AI that will handle every possible scenario effectively.

I setup 5 universes that were completely different in terms of teams and minor league systems. Each one had problems that were completely different. Some had lopsided talent distribution, some had horrible management of the minors, and others just had odd bugs that were stuff I'd never seen in an OOTP game before. You'd report this stuff, but honestly, no two universes and errors are alike.

Whether SI takes any blame for the disasters of the last two OOTPs, that partnership has been nothing short of a game killer.

[lynchjm24]

I think the "openness" of the game is the problem. There are simply too many variables involved when allowing someone to build a universe. It's just too hard to develop an AI that will handle every possible scenario effectively.

I setup 5 universes that were completely different in terms of teams and minor league systems. Each one had problems that were completely different. Some had lopsided talent distribution, some had horrible management of the minors, and others just had odd bugs that were stuff I'd never seen in an OOTP game before. You'd report this stuff, but honestly, no two universes and errors are alike.

Whether SI takes any blame for the disasters of the last two OOTPs, that partnership has been nothing short of a game killer.

The goal for the next patch should be to get the 6.5 structure to work properly. 30 team MLB with 3 levels on minors. Get that to actually work, then get to work on fixing the rest of this mess.

[SirFozzie]

Wow, I'm seeing a lot of undeserved negativity here on this game.

[lynchjm24]

Wow, I'm seeing a lot of undeserved negativity here on this game.

I disagree. This game seemed excellent to me for a few weeks. The more I play, the worse it gets. The AI is hideous, the player creation and balancing is horrid and there are so many moving parts it's impossible to strike any sort of balance.

Edit: And that is throwing out things like scouting which are completely terrible 'features'. I'm just trying to play a fictional league with 30 teams and 3 levels of the minors.

[tanglewood]

Why is scouting terrible? I like it.

[lynchjm24]

Why is scouting terrible? I like it.

I guess it's a matter of taste, but the amount of work and clicking alone makes it terrible in my eyes.

[Young Drachma]

I think some of this criticism is probably more likely to signal the fact that a different game (read: PureSim) would be more apt for people who are solely interested in playing a MLB universe with minors and nothing else.

Because frankly, the depth of OOTP in my mind is its biggest strength, even with all of the problems. The game sure does appeal to a certain base. And the AI has problems like it always has and there are some other "fundamental" issues that are annoying.

But I always like to compare these issues to other types of games we play without any sort of recourse at all. And maybe it's not fair to compare textsims to big box publisher games that get produced en masse or console games that we all play despite their inability year after year (Especially in sports) to get some things right versus others.

I think all in all, OOTP07 does it what it's designed to do. To allow pretty much any conceivable universe scenario and allow you to pull it off fairly well. Perfect? Heck no.

But I think at this point, the space between #1 and #2 on the market for this genre of baseball sim is so far that apart that it's not funny.

And if last year is any indication, they'll at least listen to what we have to say and that the next version -- not to mention whatever patches follow -- will be better.

And while there are niches to be filled out there, I don't think this makes this version a "bad" one by any stretch.

Though all of the gripes are well taken.

[lynchjm24]

I think all in all, OOTP07 does it what it's designed to do.

Well you might be right, which to me is the problem.

You can build all sorts of complicated universes and have beautiful logos and playing fields. You can have statistical overload beyond anything that would even be remotely necessary. You can believe that the player personalities and the happiness modules work (I can't tell if they do or not).

To actually enjoy the game though you have to ignore things that I'm just not capable of ignoring. The constant sign and release. The releasing of early round draft picks a few months after the draft. The horrible player creation in the draft (i.e. how about some infielders). The huge problem that the MR position has become for the AI. The breakneck speed at which prospects develop. The fact that for all the complexity built into the minor leagues playing time seems to have NO IMPACT on how players develop.

I know I'm just stating the same complaints over and over, but I want to play this game and I want to enjoy this game, but these things are making it impossible. I know that Jim takes a lot of crap because the game isn't flexible, but you can't even compare things like player development or the draft process between FOF and OOTP, FOF is so much better at this point that you have to wonder if OOTP is EVER going to improve.

[Young Drachma]

Sign and release doesn't happen if you have the lowest level of minors set to unlimited.

You can create players in the draft to replace the ones the game creates if you want, by simply changing your creation modifiers and then going to "Create fictional players" and creating the type of players you want for different rounds, etc.

And you can slow down the prospect development if you want.

I know because I've done all of it.

I think that the one thing I didn't mention in my last post that I meant to, is the fact that this game does have a huge gulf to immersiveness. There is SO much going on, that if you just want to dive in and start a MLB universe and go from there, it might require so much to do that that it's almost not worth it for most people.

I totally get that. And a suggestion someone once made would be if people who have already done that would release templates for people to just download and to dive into, so they don't have to go through all of that.

So yeah, in terms of an "out of the box" game ready situation, this game leaves a lot to be desired because so much tinkering is needed.

But I think that's just something that's always been endemic to ANY of the games of this genre.

[Swaggs]

I'm still enjoying it. My only complaint is that I really cannot sim as quickly as I would like, but I am really enjoying the franchise building aspect of it.

[lynchjm24]

Sign and release doesn't happen if you have the lowest level of minors set to unlimited.

You can create players in the draft to replace the ones the game creates if you want, by simply changing your creation modifiers and then going to "Create fictional players" and creating the type of players you want for different rounds, etc.

And you can slow down the prospect development if you want.

I think that the one thing I didn't mention in my last post that I meant to, is the fact that this game does have a huge gulf to immersiveness. There is SO much going on, that if you just want to dive in and start a MLB universe and go from there, it might require so much to do that that it's almost not worth it for most people.

I totally get that. And a suggestion someone once made would be if people who have already done that would release templates for people to just download and to dive into, so they don't have to go through all of that.

So yeah, in terms of an "out of the box" game ready situation, this game leaves a lot to be desired because so much tinkering is needed.


If you set it to unlimted you just end up with 50+ players at that level. And even though they don't play they still develop. Just as annoying.

I'm not creating fictional players to replace the draft pool, just something I'm not going to do. This one isn't a huge deal breaker anyway, if the AI would just draft the MR and use them I could get over that.

I've tried to slow down prospect development, but just end up with them not developing at all.

I'm using a template, 30 teams with three levels of minors. This game is a huge improvement over the last version, and even though I don't love the interface, that isn't what is killing me. It's the same issues that were annoying in OOTP4 are still annoying now - that is the issue. If they would just fix them instead of adding complicated systems of personality and happiness I'd much prefer that. Plus the more things like that you add, the harder it gets to program the AI to make any kind of decent decisions, but why not keep making it harder when you can't get it right anyway.

[bselig]

Ran into something neat I didn't expect(or possibly some kind of bug and I'm giving the game/template too much credit). Simmed the game to 1917 and took over the Pirates. Of course I aquired Ruth and turned them into the Yankees. So I'm cruising along into the 30s(fastest of the fast simmers) and I start noticing my budget keeps getting chopped, after years of it going up in a straight line. So I start trying to lower ticket prices more in line with the league, but it's not doing anything. As it dips below payroll(naturally I have expensive superstars like Gehrig, Foxx, Gehringer) I start freaking out, thinking this is clearly some kind of bug and I'll have to retire my league. Then I realize it's 1933, right in the middle of the Great Depression. Nice touch

[Ksyrup]

Sign and release doesn't happen if you have the lowest level of minors set to unlimited.

You can create players in the draft to replace the ones the game creates if you want, by simply changing your creation modifiers and then going to "Create fictional players" and creating the type of players you want for different rounds, etc.

And you can slow down the prospect development if you want.

I know because I've done all of it.

See, this is where I start to have a problem with the game, where the openness you see as a strength some of us see as a weakness. I'm already doing so much to get my game in playable shape that I don't want to have to continually mess with how many players are on the minor league teams; I don't want to have to create fictional players every single year for the draft to balance out the problems the game has in creating them; I don't want to have to scientifically assess the player development problems and then figure out what tweaks need to be put in place to get it right. The damn game should do all of that for us! Bottom line. It's one thing if I want to create a certain outcome, but just a general, playable, "normal" scenario, the game should be able to make that happen with few, if any, tweaks.

And if, in order to get that right, we have to sacrifice some customization, I'm all for it. It's great being able to set up all of these different leagues. The problem comes when you actually do more than that - when you try to play. I think this game needs to narrow its focus to get the core of the game right and playable. Otherwise, you end up with a game that, on the vast majority of set ups, is only fun to create the types of leagues you want and sim them out. Because if you play from the macro level and don't get too in-depth into the leagues, things look alright. Anything more than that, and you start to see issues as you play.

And this doesn't even bring in the UI issues I have, which are monumental and I've posted about repeatedly. Playing yesterday, I still can't get past when I look at my players' stats and want to click on one of them, I get their HTML page. If I'm fast simming and not really playing, that's perfect. If I'm playing in-game and need to make a move with them, the HTML page is worthless. So instead, I have to think Right Click and Open Player Profile, or go to my Manager Page to get into the Roster/Transaction screens to get to the "correct" player pages I need to get to. It's insane.

Even though I've gotten better at using the UI, there are issues with it that I can't get past. Like the fact that the way you view your team on the roster/rotations/lineup screens are all customizable. That sounds great in theory, until you try it in practice. If I go to my roster screen, I'd like to see an overview of my players, so I leave it on the default settings. When I go to my rotation screen to see my pitchers, that same default view is there - including my batters. Why do I need to see my batters on the rotation screen? So I change the defaults to see just my pitchers and their current year's stats. Great. Now I need to make lineup changes, so I go to that screen, and what do I see? My pitchers. I then have to make another set of changes to the "defaults" so that I can see hitters and make the lineup changes I need. Whoops, I forgot I wanted to make a couple of changes to my middle relief. Back to that screen. Wait, all I see are my hitters; gotta change the defaults again to see my pitchers.

It's that kind of experience that has gotten me close to just giving up on the game. It's a credit to the game, though, that I haven't. There are some tremendous things going on here, and like I've said repeatedly, the historical part of this game is the only thing keeping me going right now, it's that good. But the problems with the UI and the "under the hood" issues I see as I play tell me that this game has some fundamental problems that are being caused by what many see as the game's biggest strength - its openness.

[Young Drachma]

I'm no apologist for the game by any stretch. No of the complaints to me seem to be well-reasoned issues. No doubt about it.

[King of New York]

I've only run historical sims since getting the game, and without taking anything away from the valid criticisms and suggestions that folks have made, I want to give this game some love.

As far as historical simming goes, this game has set a new standard for ease of use, flexibility, and statistical accuracy. Automatic expansion; automatic adjustment of finances; automatic updating of team names and league alignment; league totals automatically recalculated each season; individual player ratings recalculated if you want them to be...

My one suggestion: I would like to see the game made even harder financially. Taking even the lowly Senators, I can inevitably turn my team into a financial powerhouse after a decade or two, and then I almost never finish lower than second or third place. My merchandise sales are greater than some teams' entire income! Of course, I can adjust this by giving all my cash to other ball clubs, but it would be nice if I did not have to do that every few seasons.

[Buccaneer]

As far as historical simming goes, this game has set a new standard for ease of use, flexibility, and statistical accuracy. Automatic expansion; automatic adjustment of finances; automatic updating of team names and league alignment; league totals automatically recalculated each season; individual player ratings recalculated if you want them to be...



Let's say I wanted to do exactly the opposite on each of those things, what would your opinion be as a historical simmer?

My interest in playing v2007 as a long time historical simmer would be to add some of the new elements into my routine but to absolutely not do any of those things (e.g., manual expansion, no recalc, keep in one era, etc.).

[RainMaker]

Anyone know why they are having so much trouble with rosters (did they even have a roster set last year?)? Is the game not being given in advance, or atleast the format for making the rosters to some of the roster makers? And if they are giving to people in advance, who is deciding to give it to these specific people?

I went through the roster thread to see what was up over there, and it was basically some guy giving his daily medical report on his tennis elbow.

[lynchjm24]

Anyone know why they are having so much trouble with rosters (did they even have a roster set last year?)? Is the game not being given in advance, or atleast the format for making the rosters to some of the roster makers? And if they are giving to people in advance, who is deciding to give it to these specific people?

I went through the roster thread to see what was up over there, and it was basically some guy giving his daily medical report on his tennis elbow.

It's too much work to do and those that said they were doing it seemed to have quit.

[RainMaker]

It's too much work to do and those that said they were doing it seemed to have quit.

Is it because the game is more complex? In the old versions, they always had a roster set on release date and a slew of others throughout the season.

[lynchjm24]

Is it because the game is more complex? In the old versions, they always had a roster set on release date and a slew of others throughout the season.

I can't imagine trying to do a set for this game with the number of available things to rate players on.

[Sweed]

Is it because the game is more complex? In the old versions, they always had a roster set on release date and a slew of others throughout the season.



I think it has to do with the roster makers thinking they need to put out a set with every real player from MLB down to Rookie ball and if they don't put out this "complete" set people will bitch. Too me this is not the way to go. IMHO the makers should put out a MLB set (40 man roster) and the teams top 5-10 prospects. You're now looking at a set that will contain 50 players per team tops, 1500 players in total. Much easier number to manage and more in line with what was needed for the old versions before complete minor leagues were introduced.

Once this set is out then move on to adding all the other levels if it's really even worthwhile (it's not IMHO). Keep in mind most of these "real minor leaguers" are never going to get a sniff of the show.

[RainMaker]

I think it has to do with the roster makers thinking they need to put out a set with every real player from MLB down to Rookie ball and if they don't put out this "complete" set people will bitch. Too me this is not the way to go. IMHO the makers should put out a MLB set (40 man roster) and the teams top 5-10 prospects. You're now looking at a set that will contain 50 players per team tops, 1500 players in total. Much easier number to manage and more in line with what was needed for the old versions before complete minor leagues were introduced.

Once this set is out then move on to adding all the other levels if it's really even worthwhile (it's not IMHO). Keep in mind most of these "real minor leaguers" are never going to get a sniff of the show.

That is a good idea. I think that's how they used to be. I honestly don't know more than the top 10 on my favorite team. Not to mention that the CPU will just drop all the top prospects from their team within a couple weeks anyway.

I did read through the thread in its entirety. What a mess! By the time rosters come out, it's time for the next season. And Rolen was always one of the coolest guys from the old boards, it's a shame he's gotten caught up in the attention baiting that a lot of the newer guys have. Seems like the roster sets are more about getting "board props" than actually building a nice OOTP community.

And what happened to GForce? That guy was phenomenal at roster sets. Hopefully next year the OOTP guys don't give out the early copies to the same dolts they did this year.

[BigPapi]

That is a good idea. I think that's how they used to be. I honestly don't know more than the top 10 on my favorite team. Not to mention that the CPU will just drop all the top prospects from their team within a couple weeks anyway.

I did read through the thread in its entirety. What a mess! By the time rosters come out, it's time for the next season. And Rolen was always one of the coolest guys from the old boards, it's a shame he's gotten caught up in the attention baiting that a lot of the newer guys have. Seems like the roster sets are more about getting "board props" than actually building a nice OOTP community.

And what happened to GForce? That guy was phenomenal at roster sets. Hopefully next year the OOTP guys don't give out the early copies to the same dolts they did this year.

GForce...There's a name from the past- I agree his roster sets were awesome.

I don't know what to think about the current situation. Six weeks ago we were told they were "almost complete" with a little bit of tweaking- but just following the blogging of some of the help Erich has gotten makes it clear that was never the case. I posted over there last week just asking what still needed to be completed- and was promptly ignored. I would never put Erich in the same class as that complete tool Pujols or whatever his name is- but I am really disappointed these are dragging into May- especially knowing these were started well in advance of the game being released....I am starting to doubt whether they will be released or not as well.

[SunDevil]

The most ironic part is when Mark creates a thread asking people why they have not picked up the game yet, and the majority agree its because of no roster set.

Another miscalculation by SI, maybe next year they can streamline the process or make it easier to make a roster set. In terms of the people assigned to create the roster sets, they do have a long track record of coming through and doing a good job, I am sure the truth lies somewhere in the middle with both sides responsible for dropping the ball on this issue.

[scoman]

The most ironic part is when Mark creates a thread asking people why they have not picked up the game yet, and the majority agree its because of no roster set.

Another miscalculation by SI, maybe next year they can streamline the process or make it easier to make a roster set. In terms of the people assigned to create the roster sets, they do have a long track record of coming through and doing a good job, I am sure the truth lies somewhere in the middle with both sides responsible for dropping the ball on this issue.


Most people could care less about so called real rosters. A very small percentage of people have not bought the game based on ,no so called real rosters.

Another thing I find very odd is,if you have OOTPB 2007 and have complaints,why do you post them here on Front office football forum,of all places.


Why don't you fellas create so called real rosters and post them.


Oh wait a minute,I know,its easier to bitch and moan about it.

[cougarfreak]

I'll be honest with you..........after the 2006 disaster, I'm enjoying 2007 quite a bit. My biggest complaint would be the players that make up the draft classes (been mentioned on here). But I can live with it, and hope it improves.

[scoman]

I'm no apologist for the game by any stretch. None of the complaints to me seem to be well-reasoned issues. No doubt about it.


Couldn't agree more,most of the complaints in this thread are weak at best. And if there is a issue,the tech support team are more than willing to take note of the issues and try to get them fixed. The bashing in this thread is just ridiculous,mostly made by people that you can't please anyway.

[scoman]

And what happened to GForce?



He was banned a month or 2 ago.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Couldn't agree more,most of the complaints in this thread are weak at best. And if there is a issue,the tech support team are more than willing to take note of the issues and try to get them fixed. The bashing in this thread is just ridiculous,mostly made by people that you can't please anyway.

Oh what a shock. An OOTP fanboy doing his best imitation of a troll.

Gosh, never seen that one before :rolleyes:

[scoman]

Oh what a shock. An OOTP fanboy doing his best imitation of a troll.

Gosh, never seen that one before :rolleyes:


Oh what a shock,being called a fanboy by someone who has no idea of my gaming background or gaming experience,always pretty easy to resort to the troll card when you really have nothing valid to say,nice job skippy, 12,000 posts and thats the best you got,pretty typical of the crap I've seen posted.Bottom line,fanboy has nothing too do with it,hated 2006,just calling a spade a spade,sorry you can't handle it.:rolleyes:

[JonInMiddleGA]

... sorry you can't handle it.:rolleyes:

Rather than waste bandwidth by trolling here, simply go play Markus' latest abomination. Or go suck his dick. Or whatever floats your boat.
But try to do the world a favor and be sure to die before you breed.

But if you venture over here & act like a typical sack of shit fanboy, you can bet your ass you're going to be called on it.

[Fouts]

I was going to say the level of maturity on the OOTP forums was much lower than here so I avoid the place, but now I have no leg to stand on. :rolleyes:

[JonInMiddleGA]

Cut the sanctimonius bullshit Fouts.

[Fouts]

Cut the sanctimonius bullshit Fouts.

LOL

[CaLiKrAzY]

Even though I've gotten better at using the UI, there are issues with it that I can't get past. Like the fact that the way you view your team on the roster/rotations/lineup screens are all customizable. That sounds great in theory, until you try it in practice. If I go to my roster screen, I'd like to see an overview of my players, so I leave it on the default settings. When I go to my rotation screen to see my pitchers, that same default view is there - including my batters. Why do I need to see my batters on the rotation screen? So I change the defaults to see just my pitchers and their current year's stats. Great. Now I need to make lineup changes, so I go to that screen, and what do I see? My pitchers. I then have to make another set of changes to the "defaults" so that I can see hitters and make the lineup changes I need. Whoops, I forgot I wanted to make a couple of changes to my middle relief. Back to that screen. Wait, all I see are my hitters; gotta change the defaults again to see my pitchers.



I've been trying to point stuff like this out over and over again but I don't think I got this one across good enough.

Please post this again over in tech support because this is essentially how It's suppose work and the way it works now might not change if we aren't heard.

[scoman]

Rather than waste bandwidth by trolling here, simply go play Markus' latest abomination. Or go suck his dick. Or whatever floats your boat.
But try to do the world a favor and be sure to die before you breed.

But if you venture over here & act like a typical sack of shit fanboy, you can bet your ass you're going to be called on it.




Speaking of wastes of bandwidth,your the king,skippy.

[MrBigglesworth]

What's the name for someone that tries to combat supposed trollish behavior with trolling behavior of his/her own, inevitably just making the situation worse by dragging the discourse even further into the gutter?

I think it's ironic that most of the OOTP problems that I hear are problems that I have always had with FOF: too many clicks to get places, bad computer roster management, etc.

[Ksyrup]

For all of its problems, I'm enjoying OOTP2K7 overall. For me, more of the problems are design-related as opposed to issues tech support can fix. That said, I haven't touched the game since earlier this week, so we'll see if I'm starting to lose interest or just had a busy week. But calling this game an "abomination" is way off-base - not to mention the other stuff.

[Ksyrup]

I've been trying to point stuff like this out over and over again but I don't think I got this one across good enough.

Please post this again over in tech support because this is essentially how It's suppose work and the way it works now might not change if we aren't heard.

Honestly, I've lost interest in posting over there. I feel like a voice in the wilderness. The tech staff takes the bug reports and is doing a good job with them, but stuff like this doesn't seem to be getting any attention. I understand it's not really a bug and it doesn't affect how the game is played, so maybe it gets lower priority, but I just get the feeling that people don't care. I posted a number of things in the "how many clicks does it take..." thread, and maybe one person agreed with me on something I posted. The rest completely ignored obvious issues like this.

Someone who gets paid by SI needs to sit down with this game, look at all the duplicate screens and default info settings on the various screens, and make a list of inconsistent and poorly-functioning problematic areas. I don't have the time to do it - I tried posting them piecemeal over there, and didn't feel like people (granted, I'm talking players and not staff) cared enough for me to continue pointing out the obvious.

The kinds of things I'm seeing probably wouldn't get interest until the game is 6-8 months old, and by then, I'll probably be on to another game. And then, if there's a 2K8, I'll probably see them again next year. I've read enough over there to get the idea that Markus is wed to his design decisions (like refusing to consider allowing us access to the quick-sim screen when not simming). And that's fine, but it dampens my enthusiasm for making suggestions.

[markprior22]

Rather than waste bandwidth by trolling here, simply go play Markus' latest abomination. Or go suck his dick. Or whatever floats your boat.
But try to do the world a favor and be sure to die before you breed.

But if you venture over here & act like a typical sack of shit fanboy, you can bet your ass you're going to be called on it.

If this guy isn't banned for a remark like this, then banning shouldn't even exist.

[Draft Dodger]

Rather than waste bandwidth by trolling here, simply go play Markus' latest abomination. Or go suck his dick. Or whatever floats your boat.
But try to do the world a favor and be sure to die before you breed.

But if you venture over here & act like a typical sack of shit fanboy, you can bet your ass you're going to be called on it.

another frustrating day in the completely sucky life of JiMGA, I see.
don't hold back, let it all out big boy. it's going to be all right.

[JonInMiddleGA]

another frustrating day in the completely sucky life of JiMGA, I see. don't hold back, let it all out big boy. it's going to be all right.

Nothing out of the ordinary, that's for sure. Although honestly that was probably about 1% of what I really felt, 2% at the most, so the "hold back" version is probably better for the more sensitive out there.

[JonInMiddleGA]

If this guy isn't banned for a remark like this, then banning shouldn't even exist.

Riiiiiiiight. Gracious, we certainly wouldn't want some fanboy troll getting their wittle feewings hurt or anything.:rolleyes:

[spleen1015]

Yikes.

[BigPapi]

Oh what a shock,being called a fanboy by someone who has no idea of my gaming background or gaming experience,always pretty easy to resort to the troll card when you really have nothing valid to say,nice job skippy, 12,000 posts and thats the best you got,pretty typical of the crap I've seen posted.Bottom line,fanboy has nothing too do with it,hated 2006,just calling a spade a spade,sorry you can't handle it.:rolleyes:

I understand all the obvious assumptions concerning post count- but I swear I will never understand those who apparently think post count is synonymous with sperm count....Quick, somebody call me a troll.....

[Buccaneer]

Someone who gets paid by SI needs to sit down with this game, look at all the duplicate screens and default info settings on the various screens, and make a list of inconsistent and poorly-functioning problematic areas. I don't have the time to do it - I tried posting them piecemeal over there, and didn't feel like people (granted, I'm talking players and not staff) cared enough for me to continue pointing out the obvious.


I agree 100%. I have stopped reading the OOTP forum because it's a waste of time. SI knows that they purposely designed many different kinds of games in v2007 and not all combinations are going to work well. From what little I have seen and read, esp. from you, it appears the game does do its job but it so needlessly cluttered, redundant, etc. that for historical simmers, it is like going back in time with all of today's SABR books and computers. What they need to do is to split Ma OOTP into Baby OOTP, each with its own interface, from minimal to full. And, of course, to redesign the reports so they are more clear, concise and readable.

[MJ4H]

haha Jon is nothing if not entertaining.

[JonInMiddleGA]

haha Jon is nothing if not entertaining.

There's actually the one thing that does sort of bother me about this mini-tempest, probably the reason that I reacted to the troll at all much less with a certain amount of emotion.

I click this thread for the same reason I click all threads regardless of my interest - so they won't remain in bold because of new posts. I haven't bought OOTP & won't be buying it for my own reasons. My interest is limited & so any posts I've made in the thread have been of the generally speaking variety as there have been a couple of interesting tangents along the way. So far, I've done no fingerpointing, no snide observations, no I-could-have-told-you-so's, I've pretty well stayed out of it. Trying hard to play nice as it were, although I'll admit to having been tempted on occasion.

So when I clicked through last night & noticed the troll, it was more than I was in the mood to tolerate. Given the feelings I have about the subject, if I can manage to play nice then AFAIC anybody else damned well ought to be able to. And if they can't then I'm probably not going to be inclined to sit silent when they don't.

I'm happy enough if it entertained you in some way, but that really wasn't/isn't my goal. I just don't see any margin in giving their typical fanboys free reign without reserving the option to respond.

[Swaggs]

I am starting to understand some of the complaints folks have with OOTP2007.

I set up a fictional league and enjoyed it for several seasons, but it got a little too easy for me and I tried to expand and it seemed as if about 40% of the players taken were from my system, as I guess I had it pretty stacked. No biggie, as I had a good understanding as to how to play and was ready to try with real players.

So, I try to set up a universe with the Lahman database and it made me feel like I was in the Butterfly Effect movie.

I got everything set up the first time and all is cool--it brings in the entire history from the beginning of MLB and we're ready to go. I try to set up a Japanese League so that I can import talent and I get a crash. I reload, set up the Japanese League and it works. I then add a Cuban League and it crashes. I reload and get the Cuban league setup, sim a few days and it crashes and I run into a dead end. Net time on this is probably 90 minutes.

A few days later, I give it another try. I again import the Lahman database and forget about the Japanese and Cuban Leagues. I get my scouts set up to scour the nation, so that I can rebuild the putrid Pirates' system. Two months go by and, with 80% of my scouts searching for new talent, I have yet to see them uncover anyone new (which was uncommon in my previous fictional universe). So, I spend about 20 minutes searching through the various setup screens and finally see that I do not have the "create and find new talent" (or whatever its in-game name is) box checked AND, awesomely enough, you cannot retroactively turn this feature on for some reason. So, this league is scrapped after roughly two hours of setup with a short amount of play time.

A few days pass to last night, and I try it once again. Lahman database imports with the entire league's history, once again. Everything going well, so far. I search through millions of screens and find the "create and find new talent" and am pleased to see that I can turn it on, as I thought maybe it could not be used together with a historical setup and it is one of the more fun "game-like" features in OOTP2007. I briefly consider setting up a Japanese and/or Cuban League, but decide not to press my luck. I begin my game and, for some unknown reason, this time I have a Major League Baseball-like setup with no freaking minor league teams in place. So, I basically have a 40-man roster with the big league clubs only and I guess I unchecked something that was checked in the other two universes or forgot to check something (although I don't recall doing anything out of the ordinary to create minor league teams the previous two times). So, another 1:15 minutes down the drain there.

So, like the Butterfly Effect, I feel like I keep going back and just cannot get things right and I am noticing more and more days between having the desire to try and set it up again, since I have spent close to 5 hours trying to get things set up in the past 10 days or so and have nothing to show for it.

I'll probably try once more in the next few days or so (I would have liked to give it a go this weekend during the draft, as I'll have a good bit of idle/computer time) and if I can't get it right this time, I'll probably shelf it until someone creates a good quickstart.

[MJ4H]

I'm happy enough if it entertained you in some way, but that really wasn't/isn't my goal. I just don't see any margin in giving their typical fanboys free reign without reserving the option to respond.

Oh, I know it wasn't your goal. Your genuine passionate feelings are what are entertaining to me. I understand your frustration believe me. I occassioanlly feel it is misplaced, but I do empathize with you at times and seeing you bust it out like this always makes me smile at the very least.

[Drake]

I understand all the obvious assumptions concerning post count- but I swear I will never understand those who apparently think post count is synonymous with sperm count....Quick, somebody call me a troll.....

I'd respond to your post, but I can't read what you said. I've set my filters up to skip any messages by members with fewer than 1000 posts.

;)

[Oilers9911]

Rather than waste bandwidth by trolling here, simply go play Markus' latest abomination. Or go suck his dick. Or whatever floats your boat.
But try to do the world a favor and be sure to die before you breed.

But if you venture over here & act like a typical sack of shit fanboy, you can bet your ass you're going to be called on it.

While understanding and sharing your distaste for fanboyism I think it's a bit unfair to slap the label on this guy unless you have further proof that he is indeed a fanboy. I'm not going to look up his other body of work in other forums so maybe there is a precedent here and if so then I apologize and have at him but innocent until proven guilty I think.

[Oilers9911]

I'm happy enough if it entertained you in some way, but that really wasn't/isn't my goal. I just don't see any margin in giving their typical fanboys free reign without reserving the option to respond.

Respond, fine. But "I hope you die before you breed" is the stuff of 14 year old boys and pretty uncalled for too.

[Drake]

I'm pretty sure that "you should post your complaints over at OOTP rather than just bitching" counts as fanboyism in most of our books. FOFC is the center of the text sim universe as far as I'm concerned. This is as valid a place to objectively discuss and evaluate a text sim game as any on the net.

[Draft Dodger]

I am starting to understand some of the complaints folks have with OOTP2007.

[edit out many many words you all already read above]



I ran into the same sort of stuff. I'd spend an hour or two getting the league set up only to find out that the quick start was bad and would make the league crash at the all-star break. I finally managed to get my league set up properly, but it took a lot of trial and error...and a lot of waiting for the computer to create a new league...and a lot of shuffling around through menus and trying to remember the exact order of the process so that I don't accidentally fuck stuff up and need to redo it all over again.

too much work to be enjoyable. I can see that the game is layed out a bit more intelligently than 2006, but it still is way too much of a cluster fuck for me to spend the hours I need to figure everything out.

[RainMaker]

He was banned a month or 2 ago.
Why would they ban GForce? The guy has been one of the best assets to the game and boards over the years. While I don't read every post he makes, he put out some of the best roster sets the game has ever seen.

[RainMaker]

Most people could care less about so called real rosters. A very small percentage of people have not bought the game based on ,no so called real rosters.

Another thing I find very odd is,if you have OOTPB 2007 and have complaints,why do you post them here on Front office football forum,of all places.


Why don't you fellas create so called real rosters and post them.


Oh wait a minute,I know,its easier to bitch and moan about it.
Apparently you haven't read the thread on the OOTP forums where the majority of people say that the reason they haven't purchased the game is because of the lack of roster sets. :)

[Senator]

I have no complaints. For what I like to do, it is very much a dream game.

[MizzouRah]

I'm pretty sure that "you should post your complaints over at OOTP rather than just bitching" counts as fanboyism in most of our books. FOFC is the center of the text sim universe as far as I'm concerned. This is as valid a place to objectively discuss and evaluate a text sim game as any on the net.

Exactly. Who really cares where we post it? Markus as well as the SI team visit this place quite frequently, so what does it matter?

[Drake]

I have no complaints. For what I like to do, it is very much a dream game.

This is me, too. I do get some crashes that bug me, but I believe those are all known issues that should be resolved in the future.

[Young Drachma]

I have no complaints. For what I like to do, it is very much a dream game.

Same here.

[Ksyrup]

A few days pass to last night, and I try it once again. Lahman database imports with the entire league's history, once again. Everything going well, so far. I search through millions of screens and find the "create and find new talent" and am pleased to see that I can turn it on, as I thought maybe it could not be used together with a historical setup and it is one of the more fun "game-like" features in OOTP2007. I briefly consider setting up a Japanese and/or Cuban League, but decide not to press my luck. I begin my game and, for some unknown reason, this time I have a Major League Baseball-like setup with no freaking minor league teams in place. So, I basically have a 40-man roster with the big league clubs only and I guess I unchecked something that was checked in the other two universes or forgot to check something (although I don't recall doing anything out of the ordinary to create minor league teams the previous two times). So, another 1:15 minutes down the drain there.


If you're using the historical template to start your league, one of the 5 or 6 screens it takes you through is where you choose how many minor leagues you want. If you leave that unchecked, the default is a reserve roster. That's probably what happened here.

Typically, what I do is set up everything on those screens then exit out to the advanced settings before hitting the "create league" button, fix all of the other settings I need set the way I want them, and then create the league. If you forget to create a minor league, you can always add one later, but you'll get a crash and then you'll have to do it again. For me, the crash always happens on the first try and never again, so I create a dummy league to go through the crash, then I create the real league and put time in to changing names, settings, etc. I don't know why, but that's the way it works.

[scoman]

Why would they ban GForce? The guy has been one of the best assets to the game and boards over the years. While I don't read every post he makes, he put out some of the best roster sets the game has ever seen.



From what I understand,it was one too many warnings. But I did read somewhere that he is still working on a alltime great roster set,and will have someone else post it when it is finished.

[CaLiKrAzY]

Someone who gets paid by SI needs to sit down with this game, look at all the duplicate screens and default info settings on the various screens, and make a list of inconsistent and poorly-functioning problematic areas. I don't have the time to do it - I tried posting them piecemeal over there, and didn't feel like people (granted, I'm talking players and not staff) cared enough for me to continue pointing out the obvious.


I completely agree with you.

It's more like add this and that instead of just fixing the damn interface already. Trying to lobby for a more natural feel or the way things were with 6.5 is really becoming a PITA.

It's a shame the way it works now and I've made a few interface requests (one being the way you suggested being the way it's suppose to work in the game) and wouldn't mind making more of the same just so they get it right.

This bothered me before patch one and still does because it's still not the way it's suppose to work.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Why I haven't bought the game...(a short story)

I read the first few pages of this thread during the days following the release. Things looked quite good. The reports of complexity seemed to be more than offset with the people having fun generating excellent baseball histories for their leagues. Interesting stuff.

I made a mental note to come back and check on things after a patch or two, as I didn't have time at that time to handle a complex learning curve and there were other things to play.

So tonight, I come back with the intent of purchasing the game. But as I read through the last five pages in this thread, I was struck by the volume of posts dealing with people trying to get their leagues working right. Things like unchecking such and such a button on such and such a screen to allow unlimited A-ball rosters, and setting age limits on minor leagues to force the AI to dump players, which may or may not actually be even in the game.

Swaggs' excellent post about making several attempts and taking several hours to get a league set up brought flashbacks to my first attempt at playing OOTP 3.0. I remembered taking about ten hours and making a half dozen league startups to get the financial system working the way I wanted it in that game. By the time I got it all somewhat working, I was tired of the game and went on to something else. Although certainly the current game is vastly improved, the gamer's experience sounds eerily similar: there is a significant chunk of time that must be invested in OOTP before you can actually play the game. I want to buy a game I can play now, not a game that I have to decipher for five hours or more before I can start to enjoy. And so I go back on the fence to wait to see if things might change after another patch or two.

Bottom line is that I don't feel the fun in OOTP in this thread anymore. The complexity of the game seems to drown the essence of the game, which should be baseball. Where are the stories of drafting a pitcher in the fifth round of a draft and watching him become an All-Star that leads your team to three World Series titles? Or the stories of season-ending series where your team squeaks into the playoffs by winning three of four games from your rivals? This is that stuff that makes me pull out my credit card.

I'd also have to say that all the world league options sound great, and part of me dreams of setting up a World League of Baseball with oodles of leagues and players, but it doesn't mean enough to me to want to spend a few hours getting it all working right.

[bselig]

One thing I'd like to see in the future is the MVP award getting more a lot more random. As it stands now in my game, Ted Williams has lead the majors in VORP every year he's been in the league, so he's won 10 consecutive MVPs. Which might be sensible, but doesn't remotely aproximate how the award works in MLB

[Ksyrup]

If you want, you can manually choose the MVP. But for fast-simming, or just to allow te AI to do it, you're right.

[MrBigglesworth]

Bottom line is that I don't feel the fun in OOTP in this thread anymore. The complexity of the game seems to drown the essence of the game, which should be baseball. Where are the stories of drafting a pitcher in the fifth round of a draft and watching him become an All-Star that leads your team to three World Series titles? Or the stories of season-ending series where your team squeaks into the playoffs by winning three of four games from your rivals? This is that stuff that makes me pull out my credit card.

I'd also have to say that all the world league options sound great, and part of me dreams of setting up a World League of Baseball with oodles of leagues and players, but it doesn't mean enough to me to want to spend a few hours getting it all working right.
I've never bought a OOTP before, but I set up a universe with 5 minors levels, Japan, Korea, Venezuala, Mexico, and Cuba, and it took like a half hour. I made a bunch of mistakes, but corrected them as I went along and never had to restart. I've spent hours playing three seasons. Financials are working fine, I've made some good deals when my amazing hitting scout found some gems before the teams realized how good they were, and some deals that didn't work out because the guy busted. I've had players sign for less than market value to stay with the team, and some players want insane contracts.

Last year I got to game 7 of the World Series. My number 3 starter got hurt in game 3, so I had to choose between my a starter who had been in AAA most of the year and who had been my long reliever all playoffs, or my old #4 starter who had pitched great until midseason when he hurt his elbow and was just now eligible to come off the DL. I went with the guy off the DL, and he pitched 5 solid innings and left with the lead, then my bullpen who had been my Achilles heel all year, gave up 7 runs in 4 innings and I was gone. It was a great playoff run, in the ten games I won there were 3 walk off homeruns.

There are a couple of things I don't like about it, but I'm having a great time playing it.

[Cringer]

After two weeks with the game now I am still loving it. My one problem is managing in the minors pretty much is pointless to me, since every time my major league GM moves guys up or down, my depth charts and lineups are reset to how the AI wants them. That means if I want things my way then every game I am redoing this stuff because the retard of a GM is moving guys up and down every day almost. No fast simming a week or two unless you want to just hope the computer does ok for you. Lucky for me it did ok but it seemed pointless while I was doing it.

[Atocep]

One thing I'd like to see in the future is the MVP award getting more a lot more random. As it stands now in my game, Ted Williams has lead the majors in VORP every year he's been in the league, so he's won 10 consecutive MVPs. Which might be sensible, but doesn't remotely aproximate how the award works in MLB


Previous versions of OOTP have had numerous threads complaining about the "wrong" player getting the MVP. Its really a no-win situation for Markus and he probably just decided to give it to the guy with the best season rather than making it subjective and getting a lot more complaints on the issue.

[MrBug708]

Jon's from Georgia, banning is outlawed down there :)

[lynchjm24]

You just see things in this game that always make me question what is going on under the hood.

I just saw a player in A ball who didn't have a defense rating on the report. The AI keeps putting this 1st baseman who is rated a 4 out of 20 defensively at Catcher where he is not rated. Ok, whatever you want to turn this lousy first baseman into a catcher, that is fine.

The scary part is this in his history:

Won the Gold Glove at C in 2009


Umm... ok, so a player who isn't rated at C won the Gold Glove there......

[Ksyrup]

Was that in the same year - you mean the Single A GG Award?

[lynchjm24]

Was that in the same year - you mean the Single A GG Award?

It was the Florida State League Gold Glove. He's never gotten out of A ball, he still catches every day, still has no rating at catcher but he's got that shiny FSL gold glove...

[Atocep]

It was the Florida State League Gold Glove. He's never gotten out of A ball, he still catches every day, still has no rating at catcher but he's got that shiny FSL gold glove...


At least gold gloves in the game are worth about as much as they are in RL. :)


Its something that should never happen, but you know if its posted on the OOTP forums you're going to get every example of poor gold glove choices in MLB history (not by Markus, but by the fanboys there), which entirely misses the point...

[RainMaker]

Why I haven't bought the game...(a short story)

I read the first few pages of this thread during the days following the release. Things looked quite good. The reports of complexity seemed to be more than offset with the people having fun generating excellent baseball histories for their leagues. Interesting stuff.

I made a mental note to come back and check on things after a patch or two, as I didn't have time at that time to handle a complex learning curve and there were other things to play.

So tonight, I come back with the intent of purchasing the game. But as I read through the last five pages in this thread, I was struck by the volume of posts dealing with people trying to get their leagues working right. Things like unchecking such and such a button on such and such a screen to allow unlimited A-ball rosters, and setting age limits on minor leagues to force the AI to dump players, which may or may not actually be even in the game.

Swaggs' excellent post about making several attempts and taking several hours to get a league set up brought flashbacks to my first attempt at playing OOTP 3.0. I remembered taking about ten hours and making a half dozen league startups to get the financial system working the way I wanted it in that game. By the time I got it all somewhat working, I was tired of the game and went on to something else. Although certainly the current game is vastly improved, the gamer's experience sounds eerily similar: there is a significant chunk of time that must be invested in OOTP before you can actually play the game. I want to buy a game I can play now, not a game that I have to decipher for five hours or more before I can start to enjoy. And so I go back on the fence to wait to see if things might change after another patch or two.

Bottom line is that I don't feel the fun in OOTP in this thread anymore. The complexity of the game seems to drown the essence of the game, which should be baseball. Where are the stories of drafting a pitcher in the fifth round of a draft and watching him become an All-Star that leads your team to three World Series titles? Or the stories of season-ending series where your team squeaks into the playoffs by winning three of four games from your rivals? This is that stuff that makes me pull out my credit card.

I'd also have to say that all the world league options sound great, and part of me dreams of setting up a World League of Baseball with oodles of leagues and players, but it doesn't mean enough to me to want to spend a few hours getting it all working right.

Well said and I think you mirror the thoughts of a lot of people. The old boards were riddled with great stories of the game and stuff that has happened. The online leagues were rocking. Now the boards have the feel of a software development site with people trying to fix a game they actually paid for. They lost the focus of what made the great and look to be on the verge of destroying a great franchise.

[Buccaneer]

Well said and I think you mirror the thoughts of a lot of people. The old boards were riddled with great stories of the game and stuff that has happened. The online leagues were rocking. Now the boards have the feel of a software development site with people trying to fix a game they actually paid for. They lost the focus of what made the great and look to be on the verge of destroying a great franchise.

Which, again, why I went back to v5. I was too anxious to start playing again, to see my career unfold (I'm in my 5th season after 3 weeks), that I knew I would be frustrated in trying to find my game with v2007. I really do believe, however, that this new version will work eventually - given patches, time, experience and familiarity, even if they did mess up some the good reports and screens we had in the past.

[RainMaker]

Which, again, why I went back to v5. I was too anxious to start playing again, to see my career unfold (I'm in my 5th season after 3 weeks), that I knew I would be frustrated in trying to find my game with v2007. I really do believe, however, that this new version will work eventually - given patches, time, experience and familiarity, even if they did mess up some the good reports and screens we had in the past.
My problem is that I like playing with the current rosters too much. So I have to stick to 6.51.

[Godzilla Blitz]

I've never bought a OOTP before, but I set up a universe with 5 minors levels, Japan, Korea, Venezuala, Mexico, and Cuba, and it took like a half hour. I made a bunch of mistakes, but corrected them as I went along and never had to restart. I've spent hours playing three seasons. Financials are working fine, I've made some good deals when my amazing hitting scout found some gems before the teams realized how good they were, and some deals that didn't work out because the guy busted. I've had players sign for less than market value to stay with the team, and some players want insane contracts.

Last year I got to game 7 of the World Series. My number 3 starter got hurt in game 3, so I had to choose between my a starter who had been in AAA most of the year and who had been my long reliever all playoffs, or my old #4 starter who had pitched great until midseason when he hurt his elbow and was just now eligible to come off the DL. I went with the guy off the DL, and he pitched 5 solid innings and left with the lead, then my bullpen who had been my Achilles heel all year, gave up 7 runs in 4 innings and I was gone. It was a great playoff run, in the ten games I won there were 3 walk off homeruns.

There are a couple of things I don't like about it, but I'm having a great time playing it.

Stories like these make me wonder if it's a vocal minority that is complaining and a quiet majority that is simply playing the game and having a great time.

[SirFozzie]

Hey GB, long time no see. Hope you're doin well :)

[lighthousekeeper]

My problem is that I like playing with the current rosters too much. So I have to stick to 6.51.

so is doing the lahman import to end-of-season 2006 rosters not good enough? that's good enough for em when I want to play using real players (though I normally play fictional)

[RainMaker]

so is doing the lahman import to end-of-season 2006 rosters not good enough? that's good enough for em when I want to play using real players (though I normally play fictional)

Does it have a decent batch of minor league players? I don't need full minors, but I'd want atleast the top 10 prospects for each team. If that's possible, I'll try that.

[RainMaker]

Stories like these make me wonder if it's a vocal minority that is complaining and a quiet majority that is simply playing the game and having a great time.

Perhaps. But sales are down and the boards are dead. My guess is that people just didn't bother.

[lighthousekeeper]

Does it have a decent batch of minor league players? I don't need full minors, but I'd want atleast the top 10 prospects for each team. If that's possible, I'll try that.

it has all players who played at the major league level in 2006, so since that is more than can fit on an active 25 man roster, you will have some guys in the minor leagues, but these are typically not 'top prospects' but rather scrubs who came up in 2006 for a cup of coffee.

still might be something to at least try out.

[Atocep]

Stories like these make me wonder if it's a vocal minority that is complaining and a quiet majority that is simply playing the game and having a great time.

I'm having fun with the game, despite its flaws. Its, IMO, a big step forward in terms of what the game is capable of doing, Markus just needs to focus on the actual game now instead of adding more features. We'll see if he focuses on the engine, roster management, and some more UI tweaks for next version as he should.

I prefer fictional leagues and I think this version is fantastic for that. I love the number of options available for league creation, its a huge plus for me. I set up a 20-team league with 1 level of minors and a 30-team college feeder league. I'm getting a good amount of immersion with my only real issue being the issues with the minors that have been mentioned earlier.

Much, much more fun with this version and I'll probably be playing the game off and on throughout the season.

[markprior22]

Perhaps. But sales are down and the boards are dead. My guess is that people just didn't bother.

I've been playing at least a couple hours per day since it came out. I play a league mirroring real MLB teams, divisions, etc but with fictional players. It's not perfect by any means, but I personally am enjoying it very much.

[BYU 14]

Perhaps. But sales are down and the boards are dead. My guess is that people just didn't bother.


I think sales will be steadier during the Season than they were for '06, especially after the final patch.......just speculation as we don't know actual figures. I am not surprised it is taking some time to get some previous customers back in the fold....hopefully they do come back as I think this is a huge step up after last year and I am having a blast doing historical sims, which were woefully inadequate in '06.

[Izulde]

I bought OOTP 2K7 because it had actual expansion in it along with some other things that appealed to me and I thought I could get the hang of the interface after a while.

After about a week of putzing around, I went back to 6.51. 6.51 has an extremely elegant, clean interface, sleek and slick like The Great Gatsby. OOTP 2K7, on the other hand, is The Beautiful and the Damned, a sprawling morass that might have some merits in it, but the thing's just such a tortured slogfest it's not worth the effort.

[PilotMan]

I bought OOTP 2K7 because it had actual expansion in it along with some other things that appealed to me and I thought I could get the hang of the interface after a while.

After about a week of putzing around, I went back to 6.51. 6.51 has an extremely elegant, clean interface, sleek and slick like The Great Gatsby. OOTP 2K7, on the other hand, is The Beautiful and the Damned, a sprawling morass that might have some merits in it, but the thing's just such a tortured slogfest it's not worth the effort.


I couldn't disagree more. While I like the 6.5 game, this truely is on another level. I love where the game is going. It is with out a doubt the most ambitious and all-encompassing baseball sim on the market. The level of detail is welcome and the navigation more streamlined than it could have been. It makes 6.5 look like an old version of Baseball Mogul.

[RainMaker]

I couldn't disagree more. While I like the 6.5 game, this truely is on another level. I love where the game is going. It is with out a doubt the most ambitious and all-encompassing baseball sim on the market. The level of detail is welcome and the navigation more streamlined than it could have been. It makes 6.5 look like an old version of Baseball Mogul.
But the roster management AI is worse in 2007 than it ever was in 6.51. To some, that's the most important aspect of the game, not building some feeder league in Guam.

[RainMaker]

I think sales will be steadier during the Season than they were for '06, especially after the final patch.......just speculation as we don't know actual figures. I am not surprised it is taking some time to get some previous customers back in the fold....hopefully they do come back as I think this is a huge step up after last year and I am having a blast doing historical sims, which were woefully inadequate in '06.
Five of the guys I was in an online league with who are avid OOTP guys have not purchased because of no rosters. I guess one tried to contact someone at SI in the offseason as he was willing to help them with them, but made no headway. Since they are league guys who like to play with today's rosters, OOTP 2007 doesn't have much value to them. I think if the rosters come out by the all-star break, they'll have a nice upkick in sales.

[Atocep]

But the roster management AI is worse in 2007 than it ever was in 6.51. To some, that's the most important aspect of the game, not building some feeder league in Guam.

Yes, but people act like 6.51 was an out the box release. It had to be patched to the point it was at. OOTP 6 was solid out the box, but far from perfect.

[RainMaker]

Yes, but people act like 6.51 was an out the box release. It had to be patched to the point it was at. OOTP 6 was solid out the box, but far from perfect.

It depends on what kind of player you are. If you're into being a GM and playing the game against computer teams, it's not as good as 6.51. If you're into global leagues and not focusing too much on the transaction details, 2007 is better.

To me, AI trumps all in baseball games. I don't care if I can build a 120 team league in Belize if the computer doesn't realize that they shouldn't realize their 19 year old phenom prospect.

[Cringer]

Five of the guys I was in an online league with who are avid OOTP guys have not purchased because of no rosters. I guess one tried to contact someone at SI in the offseason as he was willing to help them with them, but made no headway. Since they are league guys who like to play with today's rosters, OOTP 2007 doesn't have much value to them. I think if the rosters come out by the all-star break, they'll have a nice upkick in sales.

Guess I am in such a different place in the sim game world then some. To completely put off a game for the reason of real rosters seems like such a stupid thing to me. How I read this is they couldn't possibly like playing the game with or without real players, all they want is to make believe they are controlling real players and somehow get off on that.....

To each his own I guess....

[Swaggs]

Stories like these make me wonder if it's a vocal minority that is complaining and a quiet majority that is simply playing the game and having a great time.

I don't regret buying the game and, when I play computer games, it is the game I most look forward to play. If you are into fictional leagues, I think it is ready to go for you and that you will enjoy it. I ran a fictional league as a type of self-tutorial for quite a few seasons and enjoyed it quite a bit, but then I semi-ruined it by expanding and losing a disproportionate amount of players in relation to the other teams in the league.

My main frustration was in trying to set up a league that includes the MLB history/universe, where I can take off into the future. But it seems like I had to make a lot of correct choices, at the appropriate times (and on the appropriate screens) in order to get things the way I envision them.

I think it would be a great tool to create a fictional online league with and, if you are into fictional play, you can have some fun with it right now.

[RainMaker]

Guess I am in such a different place in the sim game world then some. To completely put off a game for the reason of real rosters seems like such a stupid thing to me. How I read this is they couldn't possibly like playing the game with or without real players, all they want is to make believe they are controlling real players and somehow get off on that.....

To each his own I guess....

I guess so. Those idiots at EA who spent hundreds of millions on an exclusive NFL license when only stupid people actually want to play with real players.

[Atocep]

It depends on what kind of player you are. If you're into being a GM and playing the game against computer teams, it's not as good as 6.51. If you're into global leagues and not focusing too much on the transaction details, 2007 is better.

To me, AI trumps all in baseball games. I don't care if I can build a 120 team league in Belize if the computer doesn't realize that they shouldn't realize their 19 year old phenom prospect.

You missed my point. OOTP 6.51 was not the out of the box release of that version. OOTP 6 was released and had to be patched to 6.51. It took several patches to get there. To compare and unfinished product to a finished product is unfair.

Now, I doubt 2k7 will ever reach the point where it's roster management is as good as 6.51's was, but you have to remember that Markus spent a lot more time working with that code than he has the code thats's been used in 2k6 and 2k7. 6.51 was the pinnacle of that code's evolution. To expect a new code to be on par with it is unfair.

[RainMaker]

You missed my point. OOTP 6.51 was not the out of the box release of that version. OOTP 6 was released and had to be patched to 6.51. It took several patches to get there. To compare and unfinished product to a finished product is unfair.

Now, I doubt 2k7 will ever reach the point where it's roster management is as good as 6.51's was, but you have to remember that Markus spent a lot more time working with that code than he has the code thats's been used in 2k6 and 2k7. 6.51 was the pinnacle of that code's evolution. To expect a new code to be on par with it is unfair.

Well I hope no company is selling an un-finished product. And I apologize for thinking a game that came out 4 years ago should be at a lower level than one that just came out.

[Atocep]

Well I hope no company is selling an un-finished product. And I apologize for thinking a game that came out 4 years ago should be at a lower level than one that just came out.

Name one PC game that you can recall not being patched at some point. Espececially text sims.

Text sims are largely 1-man shows. You can't expect a finished product out of the box and if you do you're constantly setting yourself up for disappointment. If Markus had decided OOTP 6 was finished, there never would have been a 6.51. When you completely redesign code for a game some areas are going to take a step backwards. Its a given.

We're fortunate to have access to the developer of the games we buy and able to make suggestions for improvements and point out bugs. At the same time its good to have developers like Jim, Markus, Gary, and the many others that listen to these suggestions and offer multiple updates for the game.

The only thing you can do is decide if you wish to support a certan developer and accept their games for what they are while offering suggestions to improve the game and helping squash bugs. If you're a fan of text sims, its something you have to learn to deal with.

[cougarfreak]

I couldn't disagree more. While I like the 6.5 game, this truely is on another level. I love where the game is going. It is with out a doubt the most ambitious and all-encompassing baseball sim on the market. The level of detail is welcome and the navigation more streamlined than it could have been. It makes 6.5 look like an old version of Baseball Mogul.

Agree Pilotman. You have to play the game for a bit (week of so) to get the hang of the UI, or if you've played FM it's pretty much a snap. I like the game, there are some improvements that can be made and I hope to see some in a patch. My biggest wish after a perfect AI (which will never be accomplished), is a good in game schedule generator. Heck, I'd take an incarnaction of stickware scheduler, the in game one is horrific.

[lynchjm24]

I played pretty much all day. I play fictional solo leagues, and there are some really good things in the game.

That being said there are many things I can't stand. I can't stand the scouting interface and execution. I am finding I enjoy the game more when I turn off the smiley faces and the 'personalities'. I am also finding that the AI doesn't make nearly as many bad decisions when I do that.

I just don't know if turning things off even works. If you click in to the html player cards even with morale off you can see the player's morale, so it's still tracked.



I think the major reason this game isn't selling to SI's goals is that it must be nearly impossible for a new player to pick up this game. If you don't have an OOTP or FM background it must be completely overwhelming to try. I still can't find things in game, for example I have no idea how to figure out who my pending free agents are.

[Cringer]

I guess so. Those idiots at EA who spent hundreds of millions on an exclusive NFL license when only stupid people actually want to play with real players.

EA, the great text sim company? :rolleyes:

Apples and oranges.

[Sweed]

I think the major reason this game isn't selling to SI's goals is that it must be nearly impossible for a new player to pick up this game. If you don't have an OOTP or FM background it must be completely overwhelming to try. I still can't find things in game, for example I have no idea how to figure out who my pending free agents are.

So how do they sell FM to new players? If they don't have a EHM or OOTP background it must be overwhelming?

The first SI game I bought was FM (before OOTP v2006 came out) so the UI was totally new to me much like ootp's UI is to any new players. A lot to look at and learn? yes. Overwhelming? No, I don't think so. Really no different than any somewhat complex game I have bought. It took me much longer to learn the rules of "football" and how rosters are managed in the EPL than it did to learn the UI.

And your pending FA are under the "front office" tab on your teams screen;)
I don't use this screen a lot though preferring to set up my own views showing me more categories. This lets me see all of their service time, years pro, etc all on one screen and sort accordingly. Becomes easy to sort by days of service and know absolutely who will qualify for FA, arbitration etc.

[dcg12]

I think the major reason this game isn't selling to SI's goals is that it must be nearly impossible for a new player to pick up this game. If you don't have an OOTP or FM background it must be completely overwhelming to try. I still can't find things in game, for example I have no idea how to figure out who my pending free agents are.[/quote]


Front office screen>two tabs at top>finances is default click pending free agents.

[Swaggs]

I played pretty much all day. I play fictional solo leagues, and there are some really good things in the game.

That being said there are many things I can't stand. I can't stand the scouting interface and execution. I am finding I enjoy the game more when I turn off the smiley faces and the 'personalities'. I am also finding that the AI doesn't make nearly as many bad decisions when I do that.

I just don't know if turning things off even works. If you click in to the html player cards even with morale off you can see the player's morale, so it's still tracked.



I think the major reason this game isn't selling to SI's goals is that it must be nearly impossible for a new player to pick up this game. If you don't have an OOTP or FM background it must be completely overwhelming to try. I still can't find things in game, for example I have no idea how to figure out who my pending free agents are.

I am curious to hear about your dislike of the scouting system?

I look at it as a type of "fog of war," and really enjoy it. Each team has six scouts available, so I continuously assign two of them to scout the league and/or my organization, so that I have a pretty good sample size to give me the best idea of a players' abilities. There is also a screen that gives you the average of all of your scout's opinions on players.

If you don't like that, I believe you can turn scouts off, so that may help. I generally turned scouts/coaches off in previous versions of OOTP, but I enjoy the personnel management in this version, so I have kept it on and enjoy it.

A compromise that might help you would be to make the scouting reports ratings from 1-10, so the variability will be a bit less visible and perhaps annoy you less. I always keep mine on 1-10, since that is what we use in most online leagues I have been in, so it is easier for me that way, but I find it keeps me from fixating on the difference between, say a contact rating of 71 and 78, as they would both appear as a rating of "8" on the 1-10 scale. And, with that, you give yourself a little extra challenge in having to determine who is going to be better between two players with similar ratings.

[Swaggs]

By the way, does anyone know what the "bench coach" does? Does he add some type of support to the manager or does he just give you a position to groom a new manager/keep a reserve manager on staff?

[cougarfreak]

Now I will say.............I have never played with scouts on. For me, I don't see the point. There are so many reports on players in real life that I can't imagine not having ratings on players.

[lynchjm24]

I am curious to hear about your dislike of the scouting system?

I look at it as a type of "fog of war," and really enjoy it. Each team has six scouts available, so I continuously assign two of them to scout the league and/or my organization, so that I have a pretty good sample size to give me the best idea of a players' abilities. There is also a screen that gives you the average of all of your scout's opinions on players.

If you don't like that, I believe you can turn scouts off, so that may help. I generally turned scouts/coaches off in previous versions of OOTP, but I enjoy the personnel management in this version, so I have kept it on and enjoy it.

A compromise that might help you would be to make the scouting reports ratings from 1-10, so the variability will be a bit less visible and perhaps annoy you less. I always keep mine on 1-10, since that is what we use in most online leagues I have been in, so it is easier for me that way, but I find it keeps me from fixating on the difference between, say a contact rating of 71 and 78, as they would both appear as a rating of "8" on the 1-10 scale. And, with that, you give yourself a little extra challenge in having to determine who is going to be better between two players with similar ratings.

Oh I turn them off.

I wouldn't mind something that was easy to use. It's just so much work to use scouts that I can't be bothered with it. I'd like to just have ratings through my scouts eyes without me actually having to tell them what teams to look at. I don't need 6 scouts with personalities... just non exact ratings would be a nice simple way to actually enjoy it as a game.

As for the ratings scale I have always played 1-10 before this version. I found that the players were so lumped together though that I went to 1-20 and so far I like that better.

[Young Drachma]

Name one PC game that you can recall not being patched at some point. Espececially text sims.

Text sims are largely 1-man shows. You can't expect a finished product out of the box and if you do you're constantly setting yourself up for disappointment. If Markus had decided OOTP 6 was finished, there never would have been a 6.51. When you completely redesign code for a game some areas are going to take a step backwards. Its a given.

We're fortunate to have access to the developer of the games we buy and able to make suggestions for improvements and point out bugs. At the same time its good to have developers like Jim, Markus, Gary, and the many others that listen to these suggestions and offer multiple updates for the game.

The only thing you can do is decide if you wish to support a certan developer and accept their games for what they are while offering suggestions to improve the game and helping squash bugs. If you're a fan of text sims, its something you have to learn to deal with.

Glad you said it. I'm always saying that say what you want about these games, EA Sports doesn't give a damn what you think about their games, what you want and all they're going to do is release essentially the same product each year for more than what we pay for these games and rather than releases patches, they just release their fixes in new versions.

So...having this sort of access to developers in my mind, is the only reason I'm hooked so much on text sims. Because they offer a lot for us cerebral types and we get unparalleled access to impact where the game goes.

[Swaggs]

Oh I turn them off.

I wouldn't mind something that was easy to use. It's just so much work to use scouts that I can't be bothered with it. I'd like to just have ratings through my scouts eyes without me actually having to tell them what teams to look at. I don't need 6 scouts with personalities... just non exact ratings would be a nice simple way to actually enjoy it as a game.

As for the ratings scale I have always played 1-10 before this version. I found that the players were so lumped together though that I went to 1-20 and so far I like that better.

You might enjoy giving the scouts a try. They can be a pain/overwhelming at first, but once you assign them some tasks, you can pretty much set them on autopilot and they will file their reports at scheduled intervals and, as an enjoyable aside, you can send a few to scout for new talent in different areas and pick up some undrafted signees. Find and signing undiscovered talent is a nice touch for me, as it it makes OOTP2007 go from a strict sim to more of a game.

[Atocep]

You might enjoy giving the scouts a try. They can be a pain/overwhelming at first, but once you assign them some tasks, you can pretty much set them on autopilot and they will file their reports at scheduled intervals and, as an enjoyable aside, you can send a few to scout for new talent in different areas and pick up some undrafted signees. Find and signing undiscovered talent is a nice touch for me, as it it makes OOTP2007 go from a strict sim to more of a game.

I agree.

I turned off scouting in 2k6, but with the new scouting automation it takes a lot of the tedium out of it. I usually keep 5 scouts, set 3 of them to cycle through organizations and the other 2 to scout different countries.

It allows me to keep the fog of war without forcing me to micromanage a very boring part of the game.

[Marc Duffy]

Five of the guys I was in an online league with who are avid OOTP guys have not purchased because of no rosters. I guess one tried to contact someone at SI in the offseason as he was willing to help them with them, but made no headway. Since they are league guys who like to play with today's rosters, OOTP 2007 doesn't have much value to them. I think if the rosters come out by the all-star break, they'll have a nice upkick in sales.
Not sure who you refer too. I was in contact with everyone who showed an interest. These guys had code since December.

[Young Drachma]

I think the roster set complaints are overblown. I mean, I can't see how it'd be HARDER to make a roster for this year's version than for past OOTPs. I started to make one and then I got busy again and stopped. It's tedious and something of a pain.

But...I think if the collective energy of those who were complaining about it was funneled into making a roster set, it'd have been done by now. I don't really need them, because the databases work for me fine.

And I can understand the desire from just someone who wants to fire the game up and go. But it's not like there aren't other options out there. Those boards are so cluttered now, it was bad before..but it's just awful now.

[Ksyrup]

FWIW, I have done my best to put aside all of my issues with the UI, nonsensical design issues, questionable "under the hood" decision-making, and other personal gameplay issues, and I'm enjoying the game. I'm progressing through what I hope will be a century-long GM stint with the Tigers. At times, it is addicting more than exhausting, which is a good thing.

Unfortunately, as with several previous OOTPs, the overall concept is way ahead of the implementation. That was OK with OOTP 3-6, and I understand that with the move from indie developer to SI, Markus had to start over and reinvent the game to some extent, but at some point, Markus needs to find a happy medium, stop with the overhauls and adding bells and whistles, and just perfect what he's created. And if that means not putting out a game next year because not enough is being added to justify us paying another $35, then so be it. I think in the long haul, we will all be better off that way.

And really, this game doesn't need to be a yearly release. Many of us are stuck in the past anyway, and if all there is to the game is creating current roster sets, surely someon can crank out a 2008 roster set by March of next year, right? RIGHT?!

[Ksyrup]

So I'm in 1910 and in the process of transitioning my starting rotation from older guys who are starting to lose it to a few younger guys, and I offer Bill Donovan around to see what I can get. Washington offers Walter Johnson. But wait! Before you roll your eyes, The Big Train is now just a 22-year old MR, having suffered a dead arm injury that took him from ROTY in 1907 to out of the rotation 3 years later. His rating went from 3/10/7 to 2/10/6, and his potentials are 1/10/1. I don't even need a MR, but I couldn't resist, so I packaged Donovan and a minor league LF for Johnson, a minor league CF and C. Maybe his arm will come back...?!

[Young Drachma]

FWIW, I have done my best to put aside all of my issues with the UI, nonsensical design issues, questionable "under the hood" decision-making, and other personal gameplay issues, and I'm enjoying the game. I'm progressing through what I hope will be a century-long GM stint with the Tigers. At times, it is addicting more than exhausting, which is a good thing.

Unfortunately, as with several previous OOTPs, the overall concept is way ahead of the implementation. That was OK with OOTP 3-6, and I understand that with the move from indie developer to SI, Markus had to start over and reinvent the game to some extent, but at some point, Markus needs to find a happy medium, stop with the overhauls and adding bells and whistles, and just perfect what he's created. And if that means not putting out a game next year because not enough is being added to justify us paying another $35, then so be it. I think in the long haul, we will all be better off that way.

And really, this game doesn't need to be a yearly release. Many of us are stuck in the past anyway, and if all there is to the game is creating current roster sets, surely someon can crank out a 2008 roster set by March of next year, right? RIGHT?!

Agreed with all of this. This game doesn't need to be a yearly release. Especially with this latest release.

[Young Drachma]

Guess I am in such a different place in the sim game world then some. To completely put off a game for the reason of real rosters seems like such a stupid thing to me. How I read this is they couldn't possibly like playing the game with or without real players, all they want is to make believe they are controlling real players and somehow get off on that.....

To each his own I guess....

QFT

[Lathum]

I have a question about free agent personel. When are they available?

I have no coaches and everytime I go to the personel list there is no one listed?

when is the right time to sign them?

[Young Drachma]

I have a question about free agent personel. When are they available?

I have no coaches and everytime I go to the personel list there is no one listed?

when is the right time to sign them?

Usually in the off-season. If for some reason enough haven't been generated, then I usually just create more. Which is kinda a pain. I wish that you could automatically take former players and turn them into personnel.

[Ksyrup]

How do I take someone off of the trading block? I can't figure it out.

[Lathum]

Usually in the off-season. If for some reason enough haven't been generated, then I usually just create more. Which is kinda a pain. I wish that you could automatically take former players and turn them into personnel.

how do i create more?

[Young Drachma]

How do I take someone off of the trading block? I can't figure it out.

Team Home Page -->Transactions tab --> and click on one of the drop down screens to get to "Players on the Trading Block"

[Young Drachma]

how do i create more?

Lemme open the game and look. I don't remember the exactly verbage.

[Young Drachma]

Ok, to create new personnel go to:

MLB (or whatever your league is called) ---> Free Agents ---> click on the "Available Personnel" tab and on the bottom right, you'll see "Create Fictional" for whatever you want to create, a doctor, scout, manager or bench coach, hitting, etc.

[Lathum]

thx

[Ksyrup]

Team Home Page -->Transactions tab --> and click on one of the drop down screens to get to "Players on the Trading Block"

I see. So I can only change the people on my trading block from my team's transactions screen, where the trading block is hidden as a drop-down screen, but I can't also drop-and-drag my guys from the trading block on the league transaction page, where the trading block is easy to find. :mad:

I'm....OK. Really, I am. :cool:

[Young Drachma]

Yeah, I admit it's pretty stupid.

[markprior22]

I'm at work so I can't check this right now but can't you right click on the player you want to remove from the trading block and remove him from there?

[Ksyrup]

I'm at work so I can't check this right now but can't you right click on the player you want to remove from the trading block and remove him from there?

Nope. That was my first option. But all I can do is set status to "available, untouchable, or on the block." And even though a guy may already be there, it doesn't give you the "negative" option to remove the guy from that status. I assume it's the same for all 3 status options.

[SirFozzie]

Available I believe is the default status.

[cougarfreak]

I see. So I can only change the people on my trading block from my team's transactions screen, where the trading block is hidden as a drop-down screen, but I can't also drop-and-drag my guys from the trading block on the league transaction page, where the trading block is easy to find. :mad:

I'm....OK. Really, I am. :cool:

You can do it from the action menu on each players profile as well.

[cougarfreak]

Nope. That was my first option. But all I can do is set status to "available, untouchable, or on the block." And even though a guy may already be there, it doesn't give you the "negative" option to remove the guy from that status. I assume it's the same for all 3 status options.

Wouldn't changing the status take him off the block?

[Ksyrup]

You can do it from the action menu on each players profile as well.

No, you can't. That's what I explained above. When a guy is on the trading block, you get the same "set status to on the block" option that you have when a guy isn't on the block. I just tried to take a guy off the block by trying that option, and it doesn't work. You can only put a guy on the block (or make him available or untouchable) from the action screen. To remove the person from any of those statuses (?), apparently you have to go to the transaction screen, change one of the drop-down menus to either trading block or untouchables (note: how would we remove someone from the "available" list?), and drag-and-drop them off of that list.

But don't forget - you have to then change that drop-down back to whatever it was before (DL, DFA, etc.), because it is now stuck on that screen.

Like I've said, the easy with which this game allows you to play is really unparalleled in the text sim universe.

[Ksyrup]

Wouldn't changing the status take him off the block?


NO!!!! There's only one status - On the block. When a guy is on the block, trying to change his status on that screen DOES NOT WORK. It appears to be a one-way street, as ridiculous as that may seem. I just tried it again, and the guy is still on the block.

[MrBigglesworth]

NO!!!! There's only one status - On the block. When a guy is on the block, trying to change his status on that screen DOES NOT WORK. It appears to be a one-way street, as ridiculous as that may seem. I just tried it again, and the guy is still on the block.
I have the game open right now, and I just put someone on the block and took him off by right clicking on his name --> trade options --> set status to "available". I checked the block after putting him on, then checked it after putting him off, and he was gone.

[lynchjm24]

You might enjoy giving the scouts a try. They can be a pain/overwhelming at first, but once you assign them some tasks, you can pretty much set them on autopilot and they will file their reports at scheduled intervals and, as an enjoyable aside, you can send a few to scout for new talent in different areas and pick up some undrafted signees. Find and signing undiscovered talent is a nice touch for me, as it it makes OOTP2007 go from a strict sim to more of a game.

I read the scouting threads at OOTP and I'm pretty unimpressed by some of the results.

Does the AI actually 'discover' players in this version, or is it still a huge human advantage?

[Young Drachma]

I think scouting from 6.5 was pretty cool, with scouting reports and stuff. We should bring that back. I think that's one of those things that you can tell was really taking over by the SI way of doing things, with scouting being how it is now and so, it's not as refined as it once was -- not that it worked great before, but still.

[Swaggs]

I read the scouting threads at OOTP and I'm pretty unimpressed by some of the results.

Does the AI actually 'discover' players in this version, or is it still a huge human advantage?

I cannot answer that with certainty. I have seen players with histories that show nothing prior to signing a contract with a team (rather than being drafted or acquired from a foreign league), but I'm not sure there is anyway to know if they were overlooked in the draft or what.

[adubroff]

I read the scouting threads at OOTP and I'm pretty unimpressed by some of the results.

Does the AI actually 'discover' players in this version, or is it still a huge human advantage?


I can confirm that they do, I just looked at an AI shortstop, 25 yrs old, no draft history, discovered in Dominican Republic.

[Ksyrup]

I have the game open right now, and I just put someone on the block and took him off by right clicking on his name --> trade options --> set status to "available". I checked the block after putting him on, then checked it after putting him off, and he was gone.

I'm not making him available, I'm putting him on, and then taking him off, the block.

So wait, you're telling me that to put a guy on the block, I set his status to "on the block." Then to take him off the block, I set his status to..."available"?!!!! At the very, VERY least, I should be able to take a guy off the block the same way I put him on. And now that you explain how you did that, I guess I don't even understand what the difference is between "on the block" and "available."

Yes, all of my complaining about how counter-intuitive this game is has been completely unwarranted... :confused:

[Ksyrup]

Putting aside the ridiculousness of the design (again), I played 2 seasons last night and had a great 1912 season with my Tigers. Despite a slow start and losing Ty Cobb for 10 months in August (while hitting .424!), my Tigers overcame the STL Browns to win the AL pennant, then put on a dominating performance in the WS to sweep the Pirates. In 4 games, my starting pitchers allowed 1 earned run.

I'm just praying Cobb comes back OK in mid-1913. So far, in 10 seasons (1903-1912), I've been to 7 WS, winning 3 of them. I hope I don't continue to be THAT good as I replay history, although the Tigers of that era were pretty good IRL. The team that has been even more dominant than the Tigers so far is Cincinnati. I played them in 5 of my WS appearances, losing the first 3 then winning the next 2. They've been to 8 WS, I think - 6 in a row before the Pirates won it in 1912.

[Coder]

I'm not making him available, I'm putting him on, and then taking him off, the block.

So wait, you're telling me that to put a guy on the block, I set his status to "on the block." Then to take him off the block, I set his status to..."available"?!!!! At the very, VERY least, I should be able to take a guy off the block the same way I put him on. And now that you explain how you did that, I guess I don't even understand what the difference is between "on the block" and "available."

Yes, all of my complaining about how counter-intuitive this game is has been completely unwarranted... :confused:

Without double checking this in the game, is it possible that "On the block" is a check-marked menuitem, thus by clicking it a second time you're removing the check-mark?

[Coder]

Dola: figured it out..

"Available" means not on the block, but open for offers
"Untouchable" means not on the block, and not open for offers
"On the block" means just that.. on the block and open for offers

So you basically switch between those three

[Ksyrup]

I don't have the game open, but I don't recall ever seeing a check mark associated with any of those items. When you right-click on the player, you get a menu of things you can do. One of those is trade options or something like that. When you slide the mouse ovw that, you get about 5 action items. There are no check marks, you just choose what you want to do. And when you've done one of those things - like place a player on the block - and you go back to that same item on that same player, nothing has changed. There is no "remove player from block" choice. And according to Bigglesworth, he has successfully removed a player from the block by clicking the "set status to available" item. I haven't tried that, since that wasn't even in my thought process for how you would take someone off the block.

[Ksyrup]

Dola: figured it out..

"Available" means not on the block, but open for offers
"Untouchable" means not on the block, and not open for offers
"On the block" means just that.. on the block and open for offers

So you basically switch between those three

So available is the default setting, in essence? Everyone is "available?" See, that doesn't make much sense to me, either, since by making it an action item, it seems like something one is required to choose in order to make someone available. Maybe I'm just not "getting it," but I don't see "available" as being a default, nor do I understand how "available" is what I'm supposed to choose to take someone "off the block."

I appreciate you figuring that out, but that's just bizarre.

[Coder]

So available is the default setting, in essence? Everyone is "available?" See, that doesn't make much sense to me, either, since by making it an action item, it seems like something one is required to choose in order to make someone available. Maybe I'm just not "getting it," but I don't see "available" as being a default, nor do I understand how "available" is what I'm supposed to choose to take someone "off the block."

I appreciate you figuring that out, but that's just bizarre.

This is basically the same setup as in FM. Perhaps an actual checkmark would have been more indicative though. You can see the current status of all players in the "Contract & Status" subscreen of the player-card. The label is "Trade Availability"

[Ksyrup]

This is basically the same setup as in FM. Perhaps an actual checkmark would have been more indicative though. You can see the current status of all players in the "Contract & Status" subscreen of the player-card. The label is "Trade Availability"

Not to be too much (more) of an ass, but what player card are you referring to - the HTML or the SION? Or both? :)

To be honest, I don't think I've ever even looked at a screen called "Contract & Status" - not that I would expect to look there for something related to trading, anyway.

[Buccaneer]

I'm just praying Cobb comes back OK in mid-1913. So far, in 10 seasons (1903-1912), I've been to 7 WS, winning 3 of them. I hope I don't continue to be THAT good as I replay history, although the Tigers of that era were pretty good IRL. The team that has been even more dominant than the Tigers so far is Cincinnati. I played them in 5 of my WS appearances, losing the first 3 then winning the next 2. They've been to 8 WS, I think - 6 in a row before the Pirates won it in 1912.

K, that's why I asked about the financials and caps earlier. It's never been that hard to do in OOTP which is why I have always played with a house rule that AI teams have no cap while I have to remain under the top payroll in the league. Additionally, I make sure all teams have maximum cash to spend at the beginning of the season (several ways to do that).

When I read about "historical" finances in v2007, I thought that it is as stupid as playing with a recalc. It is essential that the AI not only have a level playing field but that you don't have any aritifical advantage over them. Otherwise, you'll win the pennant 3/4 of the time and the WS 1/2 the time (as oppose to a more balance 1/2, 1/4 which makes it more competitive while keeping it fun to keep going). The one thing you can't avoid is how easy it is to rebuild since we will always have an advantage over the AI is getting bargains at each position. That by itself makes being (and staying) a winning team easy but by setting house rules, that makes being a champion a little more challenging.

[Ksyrup]

I guess maybe I don't understand what the historical finances mean. I thought it was just a league-wide adjustment to make sure finances are in-line with what they would have been back in the day (i.e., no million dollar players in the 20s), as opposed to specific team finances based on what the team's finances were IRL. I thought the AI was controlling the specifics, based on attendance, market size, performance, number of popular players on team, etc. If it's not, then that's not what I wanted.

Just anecdotally, I've noticed that my owner seems to increase my budget only when I meet or exceed expectations. For instance, in 1911 I finished 2nd and he kept my payroll the same. I won it all the next year, and it increased $20K. If that's not how the game is controlling the AI teams, then I'm confused. What does market size, performance, attendance, etc., have to do with anything?

If you're telling me that the As are going to restrict their payroll iafter 1914 because IRL Mack sold off all of his stars, then I need to change these setting quickly. Maybe I need to read the manual more carefully about that function, because my understanding of it might be all wrong. Crap.

[Ksyrup]

If anyone has any input/answers to the historical league financials question, I'd like to know. Looking at the manual, it's still vague, at best. Since it's included between the "adjust league strategy" and "adjust legal totals modifiers" options, I assumed that "import adjusted financial settings" was a league-wide adjustment, not team-specific. The description says that it uses "a set of historical financial data...to realign your league finances after each season with actual historical numbers." That still doesn't tell me if it is done on a team or league basis.

Anyone?

[dcg12]

Ksyrup
I believe it is done league wide. Markus explained at one point that if you watch finances in the 1920's as power hitters start to emerge you will see salaries go up as will ticket prices and media and merchandise income but in 1929-30 things will go back down as the great depression hits.

I think there is a text file that the game uses that can be viewed which shows the calculations for every year.

[Ksyrup]

OK, that's what I thought. I'm not sure if Bucc's understanding is different than mine, or whether, even given that understanding, he thinks there is some inherent edge we get. Basically, I'm staying within my budget, which I think is in and of itself a house rule, since I'm playing in Commissioner Mode and can otherwise disregard my owner's input.

[MrBigglesworth]

So wait, you're telling me that to put a guy on the block, I set his status to "on the block." Then to take him off the block, I set his status to..."available"?!!!! At the very, VERY least, I should be able to take a guy off the block the same way I put him on. And now that you explain how you did that, I guess I don't even understand what the difference is between "on the block" and "available."

Yes, all of my complaining about how counter-intuitive this game is has been completely unwarranted... :confused:
I just want to put out there that I found this particular feature pretty intuitive. Maybe it was from experience with a past game though.

[Ksyrup]

I just want to put out there that I found this particular feature pretty intuitive. Maybe it was from experience with a past game though.

I think it must be your familiarity with FM (I assume). A simple "on the block" and "off the block" function is intuitive to me. Having to set someone to "available" when I DON'T want to try to trade them doesn't make sense to me.

[lighthousekeeper]

I just want to put out there that I found this particular feature pretty intuitive. Maybe it was from experience with a past game though.

agreed

[Ksyrup]

Care to elaborate? For me, this is just another example of how I am apparently on a completely different wavelength from the developers.

[Atocep]

Care to elaborate? For me, this is just another example of how I am apparently on a completely different wavelength from the developers.

I didn't find it too odd. All your players are, by default, set as available meaning you'll listen to offers for them but you aren't actively trying to trade them. If you are going to actively shop someone you put them on the trading block. If you don't want to even listen to offers you set them to untouchable.

None of that is really un-intuitive to me. Where it can get confusing is when you move them from "on the block" to available. That sounds strange, but when you look at things from where they start and look at it in a way that "available" is the middle ground, then it makes a little more sense.

[Ksyrup]

I didn't find it too odd. All your players are, by default, set as available meaning you'll listen to offers for them but you aren't actively trying to trade them. If you are going to actively shop someone you put them on the trading block. If you don't want to even listen to offers you set them to untouchable.

None of that is really un-intuitive to me. Where it can get confusing is when you move them from "on the block" to available. That sounds strange, but when you look at things from where they start and look at it in a way that "available" is the middle ground, then it makes a little more sense.

I guess I don't understand the need for the "available" default to begin with. Players don't need a status to be freely tradeable. They just are. Untouchable and On the Block change that "status." Having a clearly-defined "remove from" status option makes sense to me. Having Available as a stand-alone option on par with the other two just makes it look like it is a separate and distinct option, which just adds to the confusion.

Not to mention, the fact that Available is the default status is buried on page 360-something of the manual (I think the 500+ page manual is just a tad too big for consumption), and there's not even a connect-the-dots explanation that if you want to take someone off the block or untouchable, you would set them back to available.

It's almost as if someone put TOO much thought into the way things are set up, instead of just going with a straight-forward, easily understood system for doing a number of things in this game. This is just the latest in a series of head-scratchers to me. Even if I accept the way it is set up, it still begs the question of why someone would come up with such a tortured way to make people do something so easy. Kinda like taking away the quick-sim screen with the explanation that you can find all of that information on a screen 2 clicks and a scroll away.

[Buccaneer]

K, what I meant was in comparison to earlier versions where you had a static "salary point" that all teams followed. By not giving the AI any disadvantages because of market size, cash, TV revenues and minimizing small stadiums, I ensured the AI stayed fairly aggressive. Million dollar salaries for historical never bothered me because I'm not into historical replay and just use those as a definitive value of worth that remains constant through my career. When I saw that truer historical financials are the default for historical leagues, that turned me off. I know it could be changed back but like a lot of things, I didn't want to go through the hassle of doing so.

[Ksyrup]

K, what I meant was in comparison to earlier versions where you had a static "salary point" that all teams followed. By not giving the AI any disadvantages because of market size, cash, TV revenues and minimizing small stadiums, I ensured the AI stayed fairly aggressive. Million dollar salaries for historical never bothered me because I'm not into historical replay and just use those as a definitive value of worth that remains constant through my career. When I saw that truer historical financials are the default for historical leagues, that turned me off. I know it could be changed back but like a lot of things, I didn't want to go through the hassle of doing so.

It doesn't really bother me - at least at this point - because finances probably play a very small role in my game. I have no free agency, so about the only disadvantage the AI could have is not being able to make a trade because it would put the AI over budget. But I like the idea of the owner setting a budget and teams market size, etc., rising and falling based on performance.

[Buccaneer]

It doesn't really bother me - at least at this point - because finances probably play a very small role in my game. I have no free agency, so about the only disadvantage the AI could have is not being able to make a trade because it would put the AI over budget. But I like the idea of the owner setting a budget and teams market size, etc., rising and falling based on performance.

I keep forgetting that you are not playing with FA. I can't imagine playing without it (same with drafting and trading) for those are by far the most fun elements of the game for me. Just like the artificial salary structure, it's irrelevant if they match real-life or not. The only "realistic" thing I want is how the different eras play out. Right now, I started in the 'Baseball Boom' (for the first time) and will switch to the 'Golden Age' in about 10 season to experience going from a hitter's league to a pitcher's league.

[Ksyrup]

I'm finding it to be a challenge, though, since I can't just throw money at who I want - I either get a goodplayer thanks to history, or I have to trade for them. And I'm finding I have to give up something to get something in most cases, so it's not just highway robbery masquerading as trading.

[MrBigglesworth]

I guess I don't understand the need for the "available" default to begin with. Players don't need a status to be freely tradeable. They just are. Untouchable and On the Block change that "status." Having a clearly-defined "remove from" status option makes sense to me. Having Available as a stand-alone option on par with the other two just makes it look like it is a separate and distinct option, which just adds to the confusion.
I'm not sure I follow you. I think that 'Available' more than just looks like a distinct option, I think that it is a distinct option.

I think there is a difference in how we are perceiving the options. You say that they don't need a status to be freely tradeable, they just are that way. So what would you call it if they aren't untouchable or aren't on the block? Whatever it is you would call it, change it in your mind to 'Available'. In relation to my hometown team, the Phillies, Ryan Howard is untouchable, Jon Leiber is on the block, and Shane Victorino (along with most other players) is available.

[Ksyrup]

I'm not sure I follow you. I think that 'Available' more than just looks like a distinct option, I think that it is a distinct option.

I think there is a difference in how we are perceiving the options. You say that they don't need a status to be freely tradeable, they just are that way. So what would you call it if they aren't untouchable or aren't on the block? Whatever it is you would call it, change it in your mind to 'Available'. In relation to my hometown team, the Phillies, Ryan Howard is untouchable, Jon Leiber is on the block, and Shane Victorino (along with most other players) is available.

The fact that it is an option at all suggests it is a status I could put a player on, since it is always on the screen as an option. But that's not really true, since all players are 'available' by default. It is an unnecessary option to be on the screen 24/7. Maybe it would have helped if the unnecessary options were greyed out - available was greyed out until I put a player on the block or untouchable, for instance. Then it would give me a hint as to the relationship between them. As it stands, it looks right now like I could open up any player and place them on 'available' status, when there's no reason to. And of course, there's absolutely no explanation that I would need to set someone back to available once they've been put on the block or untouchable (outside of you guys telling me that's how it is supposed to work).

In any event, I fully understand how this works now. My main gripe has been that it was ever done this way to begin with, but now that it has been explained, I'll be able to work with it. Like I said, this is just another area where the developers and I just don't see eye-to-eye. If I didn't love baseball so much, I would have given this game the same treatment I gave EHM and FM.

[Coder]

Maybe it would have helped if the unnecessary options were greyed out - available was greyed out until I put a player on the block or untouchable, for instance.

I know I suggested a checkmark, but perhaps even more inutitive would have been a dropdown box on the player-screen.. though that screen isn't built like that.

[Ksyrup]

The Action button is fine for that purpose (or right-clicking on the player's link), but the problem for me is really how it is laid out once you get to the choices. Ideally, I'd just do away with 'Available' and have Untouchable and On the Block options, with a "remove from" option for either one once you have set the guy to either status. If everyone is 'Available' by default, why is that status even necessary? I don't think I've ever seen a game where a player's default status exists as an option. It just is! In response to MB's question of what I would call a player not on the block or untouchable...I would call them players. I don't see a need for a status, since all players are freely tradeable by default. Making someone "available" suggests, to me, that the default is something other than available, and that in order to make someone available, I have to actually do something to enable that status. That's my entire point. It's confusing.

But anyway, we've beaten this into the ground, so here's my obligatory "despite the wackiness, I'm still enjoying the game" comment, so I don't get thrown into the "you hate this game and refuse to give it a chance" crowd. :)

[lynchjm24]

But anyway, we've beaten this into the ground, so here's my obligatory "despite the wackiness, I'm still enjoying the game" comment, so I don't get thrown into the "you hate this game and refuse to give it a chance" crowd. :)

I'm beginning to actually like the game a little more. I've turned off scouting, personalities and morale.

I wish the player generation for the draft was better and that the AI would value the high talent MR's that are borderline starters. I wish that the AI would do a better job deciding who to keep in the minors. I wish that the game wouldn't slow so badly as the league gets older.

Those are really my only major problems right now. I do hope that future patches are more for tightening current features instead of adding more.

[Ksyrup]

I have scouting and personnel off. How do you turn off personalities and morale? I never pay attention to them anyway, so I don't know why I need them.

[Marc Duffy]

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/showthread.php?t=147316

We've made a beta version of the 2.0.2 patch available. This is work in progress as we'd like this patch to fix as many issues as possible

[Ksyrup]

Excellent. I'll give it a run through this weekend, I hope.

[Icy]

Here is the fix list:

What's new in 2.0.2 - BETA BUILD 50

- Fixed AI changing lineups when managing in the minor leagues
- Fixed editing of contract extentsions
- Fixed editing of pro service time
- Fixed problems with historical fictional leagues
- Fixed problems with free agent offers in online leagues
- All-Star game boxscores are now always saved, regardless of the option settings
- Improved depth chart AI in leagues with incomplete minors
- The rule 5 draft no longer excludes players with more than 6 pro years
- Improved trade AI
- Tweaked the pitcher fatigue system
- Fixed MLB service time calculation
- The scrollbar position in the shop player page is now remembered
- Fixed problems after turning off commish mode
- Fixed off-field injury minimum year usage
- Team stats reports no longer include players with no games played
- Patch function will now remember when a patch has been installed and will not install it twice
- OOTP will not start when skins and certain skin files are missing
- styles.css will be reloaded when switching database
- When switching database, existing images will not be overwritten
- Fixed problems with age limits for created players
- Pitchers now warm up faster between innings
- Personnell contract extensions can now be edited
- Fixed problem with missing line breaks in transaction reports and other reports
- Fixed problems with unretiring players
- Online league file creation will optionally include new and changed images
- 1960 Major League schedule has the correct number of games now (154)
- Fixed several small bugs
- Updated the readme.txt files

[Huckleberry]

I just finished setting up my English Baseball League, patterned after English football, of course.

Teams were named after English football clubs. There are 20 teams at each professional level.

Here's some quick info:

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width=1009 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width="23%" height=16>League

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>Abbr

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>Level

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>Games

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>Start

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>Tot Tms

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>Div Tms

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>Gms

</TD><TD width="7%" height=16>IntDiv Tms

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>Gms

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>Typ Ser

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>Mod/Gen

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>Split

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>AllStar

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>Ages

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>Roster

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>Rot

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="23%" height=16>English Baseball Premier League

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>EBPL

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>Major

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>162

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>Mon 3/31

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>20

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>9

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>18

</TD><TD width="7%" height=16>0

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>0

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>3

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>Mod

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>N

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>Y

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>N/A

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>25

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>5

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="23%" height=16>English Baseball Championship

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>EBC

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>AAA

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>144

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>Thu 4/4

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>20

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>4

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>21

</TD><TD width="7%" height=16>5

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>12

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>3

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>Mod

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>N

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>Y

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>N/A

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>25

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>5

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="23%" height=16>English Baseball League One

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>EBL1

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>AA

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>144

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>Thu 4/4

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>20

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>4

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>21

</TD><TD width="7%" height=16>5

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>12

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>3

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>Mod

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>Y

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>Y

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>N/A

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>25

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>5

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="23%" height=16>English Baseball League Two

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>EBL2

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>A

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>144

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>Thu 4/4

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>20

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>4

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>21

</TD><TD width="7%" height=16>5

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>12

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>3

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>Mod

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>Y

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>Y

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>N/A

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>30

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>5

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="23%" height=16>English Baseball League Three

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>EBL3

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>S A

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>72

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>Tue 6/18

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>20

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>9

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>8

</TD><TD width="7%" height=16>0

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>0

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>3

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>Gen

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>Y

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>Y

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>N/A

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>35

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>5

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="23%" height=16>English Baseball Conference National

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>EBCN

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>R

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>72

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>Tue 6/18

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>20

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>9

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>8

</TD><TD width="7%" height=16>0

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>0

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>3

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>Gen

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>Y

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>Y

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>N/A

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>40

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>5

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="23%" height=16>Key Stage 4 Baseball League

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>KS4BL

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>HS

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>36

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>Tue 2/8

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>10

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>9

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>4

</TD><TD width="7%" height=16>0

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>0

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>1

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>Gen/Mod

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>Y

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>N

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>15-16

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>20

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>2

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="23%" height=16>Sixth Form Baseball National League

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>SFBNL

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>HS

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>38

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>Tue 2/8

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>40

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>19

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>2

</TD><TD width="7%" height=16>0

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>0

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>1

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>Gen/Mod

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>Y

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>N

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>15-18

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>20

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>2

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="23%" height=16>Sixth Form Baseball Royal League

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>SFBRL

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>HS

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>38

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>Tue 2/8

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>40

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>19

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>2

</TD><TD width="7%" height=16>0

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>0

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>1

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>Gen/Mod

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>Y

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>N

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>15-18

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>20

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>2

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="23%" height=16>English College Baseball League

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>ECBL

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>COL

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>56

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>Tue 2/8

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>16

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>7

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>8

</TD><TD width="7%" height=16>0

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>0

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>2

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>Gen/Mod

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>N

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>N

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>19-20

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>25

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>3

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="23%" height=16>English University Baseball League

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>EUBL

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>COL

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>70

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>Tue 2/8

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>40

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>4

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>6

</TD><TD width="7%" height=16>15

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>3.07

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>3

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>Mod

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>N

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>N

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>19-22

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>30

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>3

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="23%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="7%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="23%" height=16>Draft

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="7%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="23%" height=16>Rounds

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>30

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="7%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="23%" height=16>Create

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>60

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>

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</TD><TD width="7%" height=16>

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</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="23%" height=16>Feeders

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>~50

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>

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</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="3%" height=16>

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="23%" height=16>Gen

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>~10

</TD><TD width="4%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="5%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="6%" height=16>

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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

What are the odds this works as I'm imagining it? BTW, I've got logos and uniforms for the Premier League teams as well as my minor league teams.

[Buccaneer]

More soccerizing of a baseball game.

[Huckleberry]

:D

I get tired of beating down the AI with real players, although I have a historical league going at the same time. It's kind of nice to take over the Astros (Colt .45s) and know that I won't let Morgan go and that J.R. Richard probably won't suffer a stroke.

[moriarty]

I just finished setting up my English Baseball League, patterned after English football, of course.
What are the odds this works as I'm imagining it? BTW, I've got logos and uniforms for the Premier League teams as well as my minor league teams.

You could have just bought FM2007 and saved yourself a lot of setup time you know. ;)

[MJ4H]

Does OOTP allow promotion and relegation automatically now? Because if so, awesome. Soccerizing more sports would be awesome since it has the best league setup in my opinion.

[Huckleberry]

I don't believe so. In my setup the minor league teams are affiliated.

[Ksyrup]

Does OOTP allow promotion and relegation automatically now? Because if so, awesome. Soccerizing more sports would be awesome since it has the best league setup in my opinion.

Yes and no. You can accomplish relegation and promotion by manually changing your league structures on a yearly basis. But it's DIY.

[Huckleberry]

Can someone explain why the computer is offering contract extensions to my players?

[Ksyrup]

It probably has something to do with a screwy soccer rule you're trying to approximate. :)

Seriously, I don't know. Is this with the new patch?

[Huckleberry]

Yes. I just installed that patch.

[Huckleberry]

Nevermind. Apparently I wasn't actually the GM for the team. Even though I said to start as their GM. We'll see if it happens now.

[Young Drachma]

I just finished setting up my English Baseball League, patterned after English football, of course.

Teams were named after English football clubs. There are 20 teams at each professional level.


I want to do this, too. Did you use their logos? Or did you ignore that and just move forward?

[Young Drachma]

I want to do this, too. Did you use their logos? Or did you ignore that and just move forward?

nevermind. i saw that you did. It'd be awesome if you ever decide to release this.

[Huckleberry]

I can release it whenever. I just don't know how. :)

What files, etc. And if the files are too big I'll need to borrow some web space. If not I can put it up temporarily on a site.

[Young Drachma]

[QUOTE=Huckleberry;1458530]I can release it whenever. I just don't know how. :)

You could save it as a QuickStart and then the files would be in the C:\Documents and Settings\rbronson\My Documents\Sports Interactive\OOTP Baseball 2007\data\quickstart_games\Name of your league.quick Folder

That entire folder would be uploaded or maybe .Zip and that would be it.

[Huckleberry]

Yeesh. It's 23 megs.

http://www.hornfans.com/recruiting/huckleberry/EBPL.quick.zip

Please let me know once you've downloaded it so I can take it down. I don't pay for that webspace and I don't want to tick anyone off.

Thanks.

Note that cities and stadia for the minor league teams are all wrong. All I did with the minor league teams is name them and organize them. Well, except for Manchester City's affiliates. They have proper logos and stadia. City's affiliates are Sunderland, Nottingham Forest, Lincoln City, Torquay, and Kettering Town.

[Young Drachma]

Yeesh. It's 23 megs.

http://www.hornfans.com/recruiting/huckleberry/EBPL.quick.zip

Please let me know once you've downloaded it so I can take it down. I don't pay for that webspace and I don't want to tick anyone off.

Thanks.

Note that cities and stadia for the minor league teams are all wrong. All I did with the minor league teams is name them and organize them. Well, except for Manchester City's affiliates. They have proper logos and stadia. City's affiliates are Sunderland, Nottingham Forest, Lincoln City, Torquay, and Kettering Town.


Yeah, stadiums don't matter. Having the teams is huge. Thanks for that. I've got it, thanks again.

[Huckleberry]

No problem. I guess I will post screenshots of the uniforms for all to see. As soon as I can.

[Huckleberry]

Well, I'm no Icy but here they are anyway:

http://www.hornfans.com/recruiting/huckleberry/arsenal.pnghttp://www.hornfans.com/recruiting/huckleberry/astonvilla.pnghttp://www.hornfans.com/recruiting/huckleberry/blackburn.pnghttp://www.hornfans.com/recruiting/huckleberry/bolton.pnghttp://www.hornfans.com/recruiting/huckleberry/charlton.png
http://www.hornfans.com/recruiting/huckleberry/chelsea.pnghttp://www.hornfans.com/recruiting/huckleberry/everton.pnghttp://www.hornfans.com/recruiting/huckleberry/fulham.pnghttp://www.hornfans.com/recruiting/huckleberry/liverpool.pnghttp://www.hornfans.com/recruiting/huckleberry/mancity.png
http://www.hornfans.com/recruiting/huckleberry/manu.pnghttp://www.hornfans.com/recruiting/huckleberry/middlesbrough.pnghttp://www.hornfans.com/recruiting/huckleberry/newcastle.pnghttp://www.hornfans.com/recruiting/huckleberry/pompey.pnghttp://www.hornfans.com/recruiting/huckleberry/reading.png
http://www.hornfans.com/recruiting/huckleberry/sheffieldunited.pnghttp://www.hornfans.com/recruiting/huckleberry/tottenham.pnghttp://www.hornfans.com/recruiting/huckleberry/watford.pnghttp://www.hornfans.com/recruiting/huckleberry/westham.pnghttp://www.hornfans.com/recruiting/huckleberry/wigan.png

[Huckleberry]

Okay, a couple of problems. The Rookie League teams (EBCN) weren't all affiliated. Also, the University league season lasts too long. The two finalists lost their draftable players before the championship series. I guess OOTP doesn't have the logic that they finish the season with their feeder league team before leaving the roster.

I am going to rework the EUBL schedule to start a week sooner.

[Young Drachma]

I haven't messed with it too much. But at least with the foundation there, I can tweak it for my own purposes. I think I'd like to have the lower divisions remain independent, so I can have relegation/promotion. But I'm gonna play FM for a while before getting into it. lol

[Galaril]

I am not believing it till I see them psoted but it appears in few hours this guy is posting a 2007 roster;)
http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/showthread.php?t=147298

[SirFozzie]

Could you send that English file to me, or post it on the Mods forum at OOTP? That way we can get it hosted (like my college one is)

[Pumpy Tudors]

Any opinions on the beta patch yet?

[Young Drachma]

I downloaded the beta patch and it's stable to me. Haven't noticed any glaring issues with it. I didn't see a lot of the problems others were seeing with it, at least not recently. The most notable thing is, it doesn't crash on exit anymore. Or at least, I haven't seen that in a week or so now.

[Young Drachma]

I've created a work-in-progress, alpha/beta/gamma, roster set today. I know there are people missing. I know it's not perfect, but...it's serviceable.

I only created one level of minors, figuring you could add as many as you wanted. Most teams should be current as opening day, though there are some gaps there, I know it. That's why it's a beta, I'll likely update it -- provided the rancor isn't so furious so as to not make it worthwhile -- and make the requisite changes as necessary.

I mostly wanted to put it out there and have people dive in and see what was wrong, so it could be fixed and be out of the way.

As far as prospects, there are quite a few in there. I also added a random amount, using this (http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6574424) and other sources (boy, there are all sorts of random sites just with prospect data..)

I know the numbers might be off. Deal.

You can download it here (http://www.mediaoptera.com/ootp/07rosterbeta.zip), for now, anyway.

Unzip the folder and place it in your C:\Documents and Settings\whateveryoursiscalled\My Documents\Sports Interactive\OOTP Baseball 2007\data\saved_games folder. At least, that should be where it goes.

[Huckleberry]

Could you send that English file to me, or post it on the Mods forum at OOTP? That way we can get it hosted (like my college one is)

Will your e-mail accept a 23 Mb file? If so I can send it. Or do the OOTP forums let you attach files that large?

I'm fine either way. Once we figure it out I'll reload the quick start and then fix the affiliations and EUBL start date situation.

[SirFozzie]

Use YouSendIt.Com or MegaUpload.DE, they'll allow you to send 23 meg files.

[King of New York]

After running a number of historical sims, I have to say: even if I try, I cannot help but crush the AI.

In my latest sim (1901-1919), I tried to make things brutally hard for myself:
1) Turned off star ratings
2) Set player ratings to 1-5 scale
3) Set my market size and fan loyalty to "almost non-existent"
4) Set as a house rule: I cannot go over my player budget
5) Set trading to "very hard/favor prospects"
6) Made minor leaguers eligible for free agency after three years, to prevent me from collecting talent
7) Turned off scouting/coaches/trading draft picks

I still managed to win 7 world series in 19 years, and to have an average seasonal winning percentage of .570. By themselves, those numbers are not completely outlandish, but considering the settings that I was playing on, I should have been crushed. Instead, for sixteen seasons in a row, I finished no lower than third place.

Maybe it's just that I was playing in the deadball era, and the AI doesn't value pitching and defense enough in those years. Whenever I ask the AI to set my lineups, it seems to want to eke out every last bit of offense, even if that means playing weak fielders out of position.

[Ksyrup]

Yeah, I've noticed that the error totals are ridiculous in the dead ball era. I haven't seen the real error totals to compare, but I've seen catchers with 50+ errors in a season. That and the ridiculous caught stealing numbers make me want to play out my games, but that would give me that much more of an advantage.

[Buccaneer]

Yeah, I've noticed that the error totals are ridiculous in the dead ball era. I haven't seen the real error totals to compare, but I've seen catchers with 50+ errors in a season. That and the ridiculous caught stealing numbers make me want to play out my games, but that would give me that much more of an advantage.

OOTP has never done the Dead Ball Era right in SP (I was in a DB Era MP league where we had tons of rules to make it reasonable). I am finding that it does the Baseball Boom Era marginally ok and from previous experiences, it does the Golden Age Era very well.

[dcg12]

Yeah, I've noticed that the error totals are ridiculous in the dead ball era. I haven't seen the real error totals to compare, but I've seen catchers with 50+ errors in a season. That and the ridiculous caught stealing numbers make me want to play out my games, but that would give me that much more of an advantage.


Other than catchers I don't know what kind of totals you are seeing but errors where off the charts in the early 1900's. In the 1901-1910 time frame both leagues avg about 2700 errors per season. Teams would avg about 310 per team. While 50 for a catcher is high the league leader in 1902 made 30 with most making more than 20. SS routinely made 65-70 in a season ( 1901 Baltimore SS made 97) with the other infielders making 50-60.

As for caught stealing the first records I can find are in 1915. The sb/cs ratio was just over 50% in the NL(1194 sb/995 cs). 1920 969 sb/862 cs
and 1921 803 sb/771 cs

One thing that most historical simmers are saying on the ootp boards is to turn the steal frequency down to "often" from "very often"

[Galaril]

Some much for getting the last few big things corrected in this years version. I posted a questions about these issues and

Quote:
Originally Posted by galaril
How about the level of talent in the lower leagues minors and feeder league.
And....................
the sign and release of players still happnes
And................ERA issues others have mentioned?
Have any of these been addressed or will be soon?

I'm sorry, but we can't address any of these issues without a TT reference . . . if it has been logged in Tech Support, Markus will have an opportunity to review and fix it, although the above is the list of what is likely to be in the final patch #2. Unfortunately, I don't know all of the reported issues off the top of my head!

[Young Drachma]

Some much for getting the last few big things corrected in this years version. I posted a questions about these issues and

Quote:
Originally Posted by galaril
How about the level of talent in the lower leagues minors and feeder league.
And....................
the sign and release of players still happnes
And................ERA issues others have mentioned?
Have any of these been addressed or will be soon?

I'm sorry, but we can't address any of these issues without a TT reference . . . if it has been logged in Tech Support, Markus will have an opportunity to review and fix it, although the above is the list of what is likely to be in the final patch #2. Unfortunately, I don't know all of the reported issues off the top of my head!

Welcome to Hollywood.

[MizzouRah]

You know, I started playing 6.51 again and once again I'm at peace with myself.

I think ootp 2007 will be just another icon on my desktop for a few months and then I'll delete it and the program to boot. It's just too much clutter for me, but I applaud Markus for his return post v2006.

I've enjoyed watching the historical years, but beyond that, I just can't get into it.

[Ksyrup]

I was very disappointed to read that Markus completely ignored the obvious evidence several of us had found that the AI was releasing or demoting pitchers for no reason in historical leagues. A number of us have concrete examples of guys winning Cy Young awards one year and being in the FA pile the next spring, not only let go by his team but left untouched by the rest of the league. And after a year or so, they'd retire. So the league was dotted with guys having good-to-great seasons, losing maybe 1 point of contol or stuff in the offseason, getting released, and never pitching again. And it even happened for me when I had a league with 0 weight placed on ratings - meaning the AI should have been making decisions solely based on stats. Like, for instance, Bob Gibson winning 21 games one year and sitting in the FA pool the next year, then retiring.

Very frustrating to see an issue, have the developer look at it, and get a response that there is no problem.

[Young Drachma]

It's also kinda annoying that the game really doesn't make any distinctions (still) between prestige of leagues.

It seems that no matter what you do, it's very difficult to keep international leagues from signing MLB free agents after very good seasons (16+ wins, sub 3.50 ERA, is one example), when said player should CLEARLY be holding out for more money.

The creation modifiers simply don't do it.

[Galaril]

It's also kinda annoying that the game really doesn't make any distinctions (still) between prestige of leagues.

It seems that no matter what you do, it's very difficult to keep international leagues from signing MLB free agents after very good seasons (16+ wins, sub 3.50 ERA, is one example), when said player should CLEARLY be holding out for more money.

The creation modifiers simply don't do it.

Did you see this even after setting the option up so MLB player can't be signed to other leagues? Or is that only for player trades and not FA's. If so this along with the previous post by KSYRUP on Marcus ignoring obvious and proven problems says this game has just flatlined. Too bad it never made it even long enough on my hard drive for the 2007 rosters to come out.

[molson]

I've never seen a text sim impression thread swing from one direction to the other so dramatically.

[Galaril]

I've never seen a text sim impression thread swing from one direction to the other so dramatically.

Two words for ya:

JACK DANIELS:D

[Young Drachma]

Did you see this even after setting the option up so MLB player can't be signed to other leagues? Or is that only for player trades and not FA's. If so this along with the previous post by KSYRUP on Marcus ignoring obvious and proven problems says this game has just flatlined. Too bad it never made it even long enough on my hard drive for the 2007 rosters to come out.

Yeah, I know the options about not swapping leagues. I want the players to be able to switch leagues. I just wanted it to be smarter about it. It's not that big a deal.

I still like the game a ton. It's very conducive to how I sim, so...whatever problems I have with it, it's still the most complete version of OOTP. But when you've spent the better part of your childhood some 20 years ago dreaming of a game that lets you do pretty much whatever the heck you want in a baseball context...well...that's where that comes from.

[Galaril]

Yeah, I know the options about not swapping leagues. I want the players to be able to switch leagues. I just wanted it to be smarter about it. It's not that big a deal.

I still like the game a ton. It's very conducive to how I sim, so...whatever problems I have with it, it's still the most complete version of OOTP. But when you've spent the better part of your childhood some 20 years ago dreaming of a game that lets you do pretty much whatever the heck you want in a baseball context...well...that's where that comes from.

I am ol' Strato-matic baseball board game and this version of OOTP has me thinking of checking out the replay scene for baseball sims like Stratomatic since I don't enjoy any of the "big three" baseball text sims. I have spent more time the boards trying to address problems and installing user mods to add things that should be included with game slike 07 rosters and park dimensions e.g then actually playing.

[miked]

Re: The sign and release

I did try and bring this up during the preview process, but was basically told that as long as you set the lower limits to a high number of players it would be fine. I argued that the game should get real baseball correct, in that there are limits to lower levels and a problem could arise where the A teams just accumulated massive amounts of players.

To Markus's credit, he did come up with a reason, and when I tested it with the A-ball limit at 40 or so, it seemed ok (teams weren't even carrying the limit). I was told with no minor league DL and such, the teams needed a higher limit to account for the missing plaers, even with ghosts on. In my historical leagues and online tests, I've never seen the sign and release or draft and release. But my response to Markus was simple. Stop making compensations for an ADD AI (unlimited minors) and just get it right. If player A was cut, don't sign. If player A was just signed, don't cut. Get the basics right before we try and model Dutch baseball.

[Fouts]

I am ol' Strato-matic baseball board game and this version of OOTP has me thinking of checking out the replay scene for baseball sims like Stratomatic since I don't enjoy any of the "big three" baseball text sims. I have spent more time the boards trying to address problems and installing user mods to add things that should be included with game slike 07 rosters and park dimensions e.g then actually playing.

FYI, last I checked SOM was $50 for the game + $25 for the season disk, but you get to replay that season as many times as you want. :rolleyes:

SOM, APBA and Action need to rethink their pricing strategy.

[Galaril]

True about the replays pricing but one you have spent the initial 50 bucks for the game you just spend 25 each year on a new season disk.

[Ksyrup]

Did you see this even after setting the option up so MLB player can't be signed to other leagues? Or is that only for player trades and not FA's. If so this along with the previous post by KSYRUP on Marcus ignoring obvious and proven problems says this game has just flatlined. Too bad it never made it even long enough on my hard drive for the 2007 rosters to come out.

As much as I gripe about problems with the game, I'm still enjoying it. Problem is, my favorite part of the game is just simming history and looking at it. I'm still not all that interested in the "game" part of it. It's odd. The only other game I can think of that came closest to being this way for me was TCY. I got to the point with TCY where I didn't want to go through the tedium of allocating each player's time blocks, and then I even got the point where I wasn't enjoying the recruiting part of it, so I'd pick a team and basically sim through years, providing minor input into certain things but never really playing much. That's ultimately what OOTP is becoming for me.

This latest issue is just the latest disappointment for me. The comments we got back were that the issue was primiarly with early era pitchers. Well, our first examples were early era pitchers, but that was mainly because we were seeing the issue as we were simming, so of course we'd see something happen in 1920 before we ever got to 1960 or 1980. But I'm fine with the explanation of why it is more likely to happen with dead ball pitchers than any other (Markus' comment is that everyone back then had low stuff, so a small drop in stuff is more likely to get a guy dropped). But then we showed guys from the modern era doing the same thing, and the discussion switched to Koufax and how he went out on top. Problem is, that's not what we're seeing. These guys aren't leaving the game of their own accord, they're either sitting in FA or wallowing in the minors the year immediately after they've pitched great, and without throwing a single pitch the next year. Even if you thought a guy had fallen off the cliff from one year to the next, are you really going to cut a 20-game winner during the off-season? Hell no!

And again, lost in this discussion over there is the fact that this is happening with my ratings weights set at 0/50/35/15. I want the AI to disregard ratings and use nothing but stats in making decisions, and it's obvious that part of the game isn't working at all. And that's a separate issue that really needs to be examined, regardless of whether I'm just pissing into the wind on the other issue. I'm going to try one more time to make my point over there, see if someone responds, and then I'm giving up. :(

[Lathum]

Does anyone know why when I have my scout doing the ratings I get nothing but when I switch to SISA ratings appear?

[MrBigglesworth]

Does anyone know why when I have my scout doing the ratings I get nothing but when I switch to SISA ratings appear?
It means that your scout hasn't scouted that player yet. You need to send your scout out to either scout him individually, or scout his team, organization, or league.

[Galaril]

As much as I gripe about problems with the game, I'm going to try one more time to make my point over there, see if someone responds, and then I'm giving up. :(

K good luck with that.;)

[Lathum]

So I think this is a bug and if so an annoying one.

For the second year in a row I had a rookie who stole 60 bases and his speed/steal ratings were 17/20. The following season began and his ratings were down to 2/4 for no reason? Anyone know why?

[MizzouRah]

So I think this is a bug and if so an annoying one.

For the second year in a row I had a rookie who stole 60 bases and his speed/steal ratings were 17/20. The following season began and his ratings were down to 2/4 for no reason? Anyone know why?

Boating accident? :)

[Young Drachma]

http://ootpdevelopments.com/board/showthread.php?t=148133

Patch 2.0.2 Final is released. Changelist seems the same.

v.2.0.2 changes

- Fixed AI changing lineups when managing in the minor leagues
- Fixed editing of contract extentsions
- Fixed editing of pro service time
- Fixed problems with historical fictional leagues
- Fixed problems with free agent offers in online leagues
- All-Star game boxscores are now always saved, regardless of the option settings
- Improved depth chart AI in leagues with incomplete minors
- The rule 5 draft no longer excludes players with more than 6 pro years
- Improved trade AI
- Improved AI for releasing players
- Tweaked the pitcher fatigue system
- Improved importing of defensive ratings & positions in historical leagues
- Fixed MLB service time calculation
- The scrollbar position in the shop player page is now remembered
- Fixed problems after turning off commish mode
- Fixed off-field injury minimum year usage
- Team stats reports no longer include players with no games played
- Patch function will now remember when a patch has been installed and will not install it twice
- OOTP will not start when skins and certain skin files are missing
- styles.css will be reloaded when switching database
- When switching database, existing images will not be overwritten
- Fixed problems with age limits for created players
- Pitchers now warm up faster between innings
- Personnell contract extensions can now be edited
- Fixed problem with missing line breaks in transaction reports and other reports
- Fixed problems with unretiring players
- Fixed problems with executing double-switches
- Online league file creation will optionally include new and changed images
- 1960 Major League schedule has the correct number of games now (154)
- Fixed several small bugs
- Updated the readme.txt files

[Galaril]

ok I am trying a mlb assocaition with the World of baseball 1.5 template which has japan, cuba, MLB,AAA,AA,A leagues. The one problem is I am sick of seeing 500 german players floating around in my free agent pool for the world as well as aton of weird name sfor both players and coachs. Toomany eauropean sounding names. Is their a good name and or nation file mod that will set this up mor elike MLB style names that anyone is using?

[MizzouRah]

I haven't even reloaded ootp 2007 after going back to Windows XP, anyone here still playing?

[Ksyrup]

Nope, not really. I've come to the conclusion that OOTP is a very nice simulation, but not a good game.

[Swaggs]

Good question.

I wonder if there is a 2007 roster released yet.

[dervack]

I haven't even reloaded ootp 2007 after going back to Windows XP, anyone here still playing?
I've been playing it and having fun. As far as 2007 rosters, soon is what the latest word is. Like maybe mid to late next week. Ugh

[MizzouRah]

Nope, not really. I've come to the conclusion that OOTP is a very nice simulation, but not a good game.

I think I've come to the realization that ootp has finally passed me by. :(

[Poli]

Maybe I'll stay dumb and happy with 6.5.

[Big Fo]

I haven't even reloaded ootp 2007 after going back to Windows XP, anyone here still playing?

Still waiting on some solid 2007 MLB rosters unfortunately. I like the game a lot but haven't played it for a month or so. Hopefully something gets released soon so I can get back into the game.

[Young Drachma]

If nothing else, I hope they've learned for next year that you need to make creating rosters a lot easier than it's been this year.

[Buccaneer]

Maybe I'll stay dumb and happy with 6.5.

So that makes me very dumb and happy to stick with 5.14.

[cougarfreak]

I converted over a fictional league and am enjoying it pretty much.