OOTP 2007

[Schmidty]

OOTP2006 was the biggest disappointment in my gaming life.

I've always supported OOTP, so even though I got burned before, I'll be giving 2007 a shot (a few weeks after release).

[JPhillips]

Can we take Markus' smiley privileges away?

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by Markus Heinsohn

We have several beta testers who didn't enjoy OOTP 2006, but showed the interest to improve the game. I think the only way to improve a game is to listen to its critics

I'm very happy you guys took this approach. I loved 2006 just for being able to view so many stats but I haven't ever really played single player with it, I just let the game sim out for fun. I've always enjoyed the break out the box option to do this with OOTP, and I wish other developers would understand that some us just want to do this and not actually GM a specific team. (FOF...)

[Markus Heinsohn]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Can we take Markus' smiley privileges away?

Nooooo. I'm a happy person, I smile a lot! *insertsmileyhere*

[Galaril]

Marcus,
Sounds good. One question about foreign players. Will we see a little more realistic depiction of players from outside of the traditonally strong countries in baseball. So will we still see alot of players coming from Rwanda or is it going to depend what countries we allow at setup. Also, will foreign contracts be more realistic?

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I really want to give this game a fresh try this year, and if the historical sim improvements deliver, it looks like this game will be well-worth my money.

Ditto. I'm not going to buy until I see many good reviews on here or am able to play the demo a good length of time, but I'm hoping this game delivers.

[Fouts]

Expansion? OMG. Instant buy for me.

I didn't see anything regarding computer GM/Manager records (similar to WWSM). Is that going to make it in?

[FBPro]

Pretty sure Markus said this in this thread.

[Fouts]

Originally Posted by Markus Heinsohn

Here is the full feature list:
http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...d.php?t=137884

As you can see, we've added tons of stuff, brought back missing features from 6.5, and tweaked existing features. I am confident that this game will be the best baseball magagement sim ever.

Holy crap, what a list. What are the % chances this will be out by MLB opening day?

[Fouts]

Originally Posted by FBPro

Pretty sure Markus said this in this thread.

Yep, I read further. It is in there. Looking forward to this.

[Toddzilla]

Originally Posted by Markus Heinsohn

Maybe you're right. But I am really excited about this game. It won't be perfect in every area, of course. But I never had this much fun playing my own game before. And that says something

That's a big stretch - comparing how well the creator of the game likes playing it to how your average slob like me will enjoy playing it. Or more accurately, as was my experience with last years version, *try* to play it for weeks before giving up in a frustrated heap.

Unless the learning curve on this new version is shortened (significantly?), all the bells and whistles ain't gonna make a bit of difference.

[Marc Duffy]

It was key to get people on board who didn't like the game last year. We did it in part with the patches but from day 1 we wanted to hear the issues in full from people who felt strongly about them.

In addition, the guys in the beta team are free to say how they feel about the game publically - so if they don't like it they are free to say whatever they like here (as long as they've told us the problems first so we can at least try to address)

[dervack]

Originally Posted by Fouts

Holy crap, what a list. What are the % chances this will be out by MLB opening day?

Well, they already announced a release date of 3/23, so I would say 99.99% chance of being before opening day. Now, will there be a real MLB roster set out by then, who knows.

[MizzouRah]

Can't they use a REAL roster now? Jim has in his latest relase and now Gary has... would think Markus would now too.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

Can't they use a REAL roster now? Jim has in his latest relase and now Gary has... would think Markus would now too.

aaah. but the MLBPA is the strongest PA of all of them.

[cougarfreak]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

Can't they use a REAL roster now? Jim has in his latest relase and now Gary has... would think Markus would now too.

Not sure if it matters. All those guys do is implement the lahman db in the game itself, with ootp, you just have to download it and import it.

[SteveMax58]

Originally Posted by cougarfreak

Not sure if it matters. All those guys do is implement the lahman db in the game itself, with ootp, you just have to download it and import it.

Yeah...I'm certainly not the authority on the subject...but I think the issue is more that OOTP has been built to import a "Lahman-Format" DB for importing players, which Sean Lahman requires to be licensed if you are going to distribute with your commercial product. I believe PS did have it licensed to use last year.

But he provides it as a download regardless, so I think it's more of a technicality...as SI/Markus "could" include their own version, wink, wink...but it would be a little obvious that it was "lifted" from Lahman's DB. And why do that when it's reasonably easy for customers to download.

Thats at least what I "think" the situation is.

[FBPro]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

OOTP2006 was the biggest disappointment in my gaming life.

I've always supported OOTP, so even though I got burned before, I'll be giving 2007 a shot (a few weeks after release).

Whoa, if that's the case you must not have played many games.....

[BYU 14]

I am really excited about the early feedback on historical play....last years version took a big step back here IMO. And as it is the main style I play left me feeling very dissappointed.

I like the approach Markus is taking though, bringing some of the most critical players onto the Beta Team, kudos for that guys.

[Buccaneer]

It does sound like OOTP2007 will be a better release than 2006, and that's a good thing. For me, I don't know, I am stuck in my old ways and have a real comfort level in playing a long historical career in OOTP5 - and will do so again starting this spring. With the lahman db and having complete control in how I move through the historical seasons (e.g., expansion, movements), I have that wired since I've done it enough times.

I recall trying out one of the other baseball sims where it did everything for me and it just didn't feel right. I also found that it didn't have enough variance from expectations regarding historical players. I found the historical variance each time I play OOTP5 to have just enough believable unpredicatableness to make each career (covering mostly the Golden Age) fun and exciting.

Good luck with this release. I'll reading along with great interest.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by cougarfreak

Not sure if it matters. All those guys do is implement the lahman db in the game itself, with ootp, you just have to download it and import it.

I didn't think the Lahman database was up to date, meaning you could import last seaons rosters?

[Icy]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

I didn't think the Lahman database was up to date, meaning you could import last seaons rosters?

Lahman has been recently updated to the end of the past season and does it every year.

[Fouts]

I preordered OOTP 2k7 last night. I just couldn't help myself. Anybody else preordering?

[Ksyrup]

Is there a discount? I don't recall any info in this thread about preordering.

[Fouts]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Is there a discount? I don't recall any info in this thread about preordering.

If you bought the last version, you received an email with the 20% discount code.

[Ksyrup]

Guess I'll be waiting to order then. If they wanted to give a discount for early orders, I might be persuaded. *hint, hint*

[Icy]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Is there a discount? I don't recall any info in this thread about preordering.

It was anounced today at OOTP forums, a 20% discount on preorders if you purchased OOTP2k6. You should receive an email about it.

[KWhit]

Originally Posted by Fouts

If you bought the last version, you received an email with the 20% discount code.

Hmmm....

That makes it 27.99. Not bad at all. I told myself I wouldn't pre-order this year, but....

[Drake]

I pre-ordered this morning.

[MizzouRah]

Damn discounts! Haven't pulled the trigger yet.... would love to hear more from the beta testers.

What's going on with the high school - college leagues? Anyone care to expand on that?

[spleen1015]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

Damn discounts! Haven't pulled the trigger yet.... would love to hear more from the beta testers.

What's going on with the high school - college leagues? Anyone care to expand on that?

Don't assume they are going to be like real life HS and college leagues. They won't come anything close. They are just leagues that will be used as feeder leagues for the majors. As of right now, undrafted HS players don't even go into the college league. Markus is looking at that option.

I've been wondering about this as well, so I asked some questions over on the OOTP board.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

Don't assume they are going to be like real life HS and college leagues. They won't come anything close. They are just leagues that will be used as feeder leagues for the majors. As of right now, undrafted HS players don't even go into the college league. Markus is looking at that option.

I've been wondering about this as well, so I asked some questions over on the OOTP board.

I figured as such, just wondered how it was going to work.

[Icy]

Mizzou, I wouldn't want you having too high expectations about it. High School and College leagues are not mirroring life 100%. For example, there are no redshirts, no elegibillity years, no graduations, etc. Let's say they are just leagues with a maximum age set and that act as feeders for the pool of draft players, but the rest of real HS or College features are not there yet.

The feeder leagues are cool for having real stats from your draftees and to follow them in their youth career, but don't base your purchase on the believe that you will have a full HS or College system because it's not there for this version. In the beta team we have suggested it to Markus, but maybe for 2k8 as the game new features are more or less closed now to only test bugs and functionality and i think it's a better approach than to keep adding stuff until the last day.

[Marc Duffy]

If you didn't order last year but you are on the ootp mailing list - a mail should eventually get to you with a discount code (although not as tasty as 20%)

[spleen1015]

They should have just called them feeder leagues and left HS/College out of it. It is sure to confuse folks.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

They should have just called them feeder leagues and left HS/College out of it. It is sure to confuse folks.

Agreed. Also, I'm wondering how tasty that discount will be for mailing list people.

[Bee]

I usually don't preorder anything, but I think I'll go ahead and use the 20% discount code and get this one. The historic sim improvements just look too good to me not to go ahead and grab it.

[Icy]

Originally Posted by Bee

I usually don't preorder anything, but I think I'll go ahead and use the 20% discount code and get this one. The historic sim improvements just look too good to me not to go ahead and grab it.

I'm really trying to not help the over hype ball to grow as it can damage every game release, but about historical leagues i'm just going to tell you that as non American who has grown surrounded by soccer instead of baseball, i never had any interest on historical leagues. I don't know a lot of the players before 1990.

However in the 2k7 beta, even not being my assignment, I'm playing a lot of historical, learning the history of baseball and enjoying it a ton comparing my simmed stats with the real historical ones. The main reason is that it's so easy to do now and the simmed stats and players development are really close to real ones thanks to the new built in modifiers, that every season re-set the players ratings to the "real" ones based on that season historical stats (this is optional).

Another cool thing is to import for example the 19XX NY team in your fictional universe, or to create an universe with the great teams from the past, imported from Lahman (I have not tried this yet myself so I can't provide a lot of details, just read about other beta members doing it).

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Icy

However in the 2k7 beta, even not being my assignment, I'm playing a lot of historical, learning the history of baseball and enjoying it a ton comparing my simmed stats with the real historical ones. The main reason is that it's so easy to do now and the simmed stats and players development are really close to real ones thanks to the new built in modifiers, that every season re-set the players ratings to the "real" ones based on that season historical stats (this is optional).

As Bucc mentioned above (I think), I don't want the game to too closely mirror real life, so I'm hoping that "X-Factor" (sorry to borrow a term from FOF) is still there, where great/HoF guys might not have that exact type of career, or journeymen sometimes turn into all-star/HoF types.

Sounds like if I don't reset the ratings every year, the game should play like it has in previous versions, as far as uncertainty of development. Is that a fair assessment?

[Icy]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

As Bucc mentioned above (I think), I don't want the game to too closely mirror real life, so I'm hoping that "X-Factor" (sorry to borrow a term from FOF) is still there, where great/HoF guys might not have that exact type of career, or journeymen sometimes turn into all-star/HoF types.

Sounds like if I don't reset the ratings every year, the game should play like it has in previous versions, as far as uncertainty of development. Is that a fair assessment?

Yes, that is why i said it's optional.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Icy

Mizzou, I wouldn't want you having too high expectations about it. High School and College leagues are not mirroring life 100%. For example, there are no redshirts, no elegibillity years, no graduations, etc. Let's say they are just leagues with a maximum age set and that act as feeders for the pool of draft players, but the rest of real HS or College features are not there yet.

The feeder leagues are cool for having real stats from your draftees and to follow them in their youth career, but don't base your purchase on the believe that you will have a full HS or College system because it's not there for this version. In the beta team we have suggested it to Markus, but maybe for 2k8 as the game new features are more or less closed now to only test bugs and functionality and i think it's a better approach than to keep adding stuff until the last day.

Thanks for the information.. does seem confusing.

[John Galt]

OOTP, like the Washington Redskins, always looks its best during the off-season. This is a definite wait-and-see for me.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Icy

Mizzou, I wouldn't want you having too high expectations about it. High School and College leagues are not mirroring life 100%. For example, there are no redshirts, no elegibillity years, no graduations, etc. Let's say they are just leagues with a maximum age set and that act as feeders for the pool of draft players, but the rest of real HS or College features are not there yet.

The feeder leagues are cool for having real stats from your draftees and to follow them in their youth career, but don't base your purchase on the believe that you will have a full HS or College system because it's not there for this version. In the beta team we have suggested it to Markus, but maybe for 2k8 as the game new features are more or less closed now to only test bugs and functionality and i think it's a better approach than to keep adding stuff until the last day.

Actually after thinking about this more, I still like the feature. I assume stats correlate to ratings once getting drafted?

[Icy]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

Actually after thinking about this more, I still like the feature. I assume stats correlate to ratings once getting drafted?

Yes they do as in any other league in the game.

[dj_morton]

I can't wait! Been buying since v4!

[JPhillips]

Marc: I own OOTP2006, but I didn't get a discount email. What can I do to get the discount? Thanks.

[Terps]

In historical leagues do the teams relocate when they're supposed to also? And move into the correct stadiums? (Or move into a new stadium when they got one in real life.)

[Brillig]

For marketing research purposes:

I was going to pass on the 2007 version, until I got the email about the 20% discount. Pre-ordered this morning. Bastards

[TigerFan1]

Originally Posted by Terps

In historical leagues do the teams relocate when they're supposed to also? And move into the correct stadiums? (Or move into a new stadium when they got one in real life.)

If you choose to enable that option, yes they do (to both the relocation and new stadium questions)

[Senator]

I bought the first version up until OOTP6. The historical relocations and expansions done for me, as well as the LDB in the game itself will have me buying this game this time.