Any OOTP 2007 preview winners here?

[y2dan]

Re: Any OOTP 2007 preview winners here?

Well, even though I'll probably need a little time to fool around with the game, I registered an account at the BLB forums. Just a heads up to get my account activated.

[Stu]

Re: Any OOTP 2007 preview winners here?

Time to expand!

You realize even if we expand, you don't retroactively win the wildcard.

y2dan... your account should be active.

[y2dan]

Re: Any OOTP 2007 preview winners here?

I haven't been able to find much information on contract negotiations... how does it work with OOTP? I'm only familar with Mogul, where a player comes to you with an offer and you basically have the choice of altering the number of years and/or yearly salary. Similar for OOTP?

On a screenshot I've seen of OOTP, I see you can even include incentive clauses into the contract. Not to mention, option years, Rule 5 drafts, etc. I can't believe the amount of depth in this game compared to Mogul.

[y2dan]

Re: Any OOTP 2007 preview winners here?

Well I'm going to take a look around the BLB web site over the next few days and (hopefully) fool around with OOTPB 2007 over the weekend. If all goes well, and BLB is still looking for an expansion team, I'll sign up on the waiting list.

[Stu]

Re: Any OOTP 2007 preview winners here?

I haven't been able to find much information on contract negotiations... how does it work with OOTP? I'm only familar with Mogul, where a player comes to you with an offer and you basically have the choice of altering the number of years and/or yearly salary. Similar for OOTP?

On a screenshot I've seen of OOTP, I see you can even include incentive clauses into the contract. Not to mention, option years, Rule 5 drafts, etc. I can't believe the amount of depth in this game compared to Mogul.

You will see the player is seeking X many years for Y amount of money. You can choose to match this, but often times the player will sign for less than what he's asking for. You have to be careful not to low ball him too much though, because he might get pissed and stop negotiating with you.

You then basically have the flexibility to construct the contract any way you want. You can edit

- the number of years
- the amount per year which can be different in every year so you can do front loaded or back loaded contracts
- make the last year of a deal a player, team or mutual option
- give incentives for winning awards or for amount of playing time (Plate appearances or Innings pitched)

[Sully]

Re: Any OOTP 2007 preview winners here?

You realize even if we expand, you don't retroactively win the wildcard.

I just want to spice things up a bit! With the new financial system, my window might be closing a lot sooner than I anticipated.

[y2dan]

Re: Any OOTP 2007 preview winners here?

You will see the player is seeking X many years for Y amount of money. You can choose to match this, but often times the player will sign for less than what he's asking for. You have to be careful not to low ball him too much though, because he might get pissed and stop negotiating with you.

You then basically have the flexibility to construct the contract any way you want. You can edit

- the number of years
- the amount per year which can be different in every year so you can do front loaded or back loaded contracts
- make the last year of a deal a player, team or mutual option
- give incentives for winning awards or for amount of playing time (Plate appearances or Innings pitched)

Very, very impressive.

One other question: how do online leagues work? Does everybody connect to a server at a specific time on a specific day and play the league that way? Or, is it similar to a fantasy sports league, whereby you set your rosters for the week and then the "commissioner" simulates the games for you? (I honestly have no idea how it works, so I'm basically looking for any information. I'm very much interested in it.)

I guess another question similar to that would be, what would be a fair amount of time to devote to an online league on a weekly basis. I don't want to commit myself to something that I don't think I can put the time into...

[Stu]

Re: Any OOTP 2007 preview winners here?

Or, is it similar to a fantasy sports league, whereby you set your rosters for the week and then the "commissioner" simulate the games for you?

That's exactly how it works. Basically each person has a copy of the game on their own PC. You make your changes and then "Export to FTP" which uploads them in a single file onto our webserver. I then download everyone's changes onto my system and simulate a week. You then go into your copy of the game and choose an option "Load Online League File" and it will grab the updated files and bring them down to your local copy of the game.

It's very easy once you get the initial league file installed. We also keep a copy of all the html reports online and they're updated after each sim. You can find them here: http://ootp.oldredboat.com/news/html/

We sim on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday at around 9pm so you have a couple days to get your changes in for each sim.

[Stu]

Re: Any OOTP 2007 preview winners here?

I guess another question similar to that would be, what would be a fair amount of time to devote to an online league on a weekly basis. I don't want to commit myself to something that I don't think I can put the time into...

My feeling is, you get out what you put in. Some people will only check their team once a week while others will make changes for every single sim. I probably spend anywhere from 30 min to 2 hours per sim on my team but you could probably get away with less. A lot of the time is spent looking at box scores, game logs and stats just to see how things played out.

The nice thing is, you don't have to be online at a specific time. As long as you make your changes before the 9pm sun-tues-thur deadline, you're all set.

[Shaver]

Re: Any OOTP 2007 preview winners here?

I think you get out exactly what you put into it... but with conditions. If you have a juggernaut team... you really don't have to dedicate much time to it and you will likely be successful anyway. If you have an average team, you can maybe squeeze a little more out of them with some time spent.

It also depends on how much time you devote to your minors. If you let the AI set your lineups and pitching staffs in the minors, it's very little time spent there.

I spend anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours per week PER SIM on my BLB team, plus time on the forums. That's part of the beauty of it. It's as deep as you want it to be.

[y2dan]

Re: Any OOTP 2007 preview winners here?

That's exactly how it works. Basically each person has a copy of the game on their own PC. You make your changes and then "Export to FTP" which uploads them in a single file onto our webserver. I then download everyone's changes onto my system and simulate a week. You then go into your copy of the game and choose an option "Load Online League File" and it will grab the updated files and bring them down to your local copy of the game.

It's very easy once you get the initial league file installed. We also keep a copy of all the html reports online and they're updated after each sim. You can find them here: http://ootp.oldredboat.com/news/html/

We sim on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday at around 9pm so you have a couple days to get your changes in for each sim.

So basically, 3 weeks of OOTP simulations for every real week? That sounds pretty good. Those HTML reports look pretty good too, almost like an actual ESPN-like web site, with player ratings, statistics, etc.

I guess a logical next question would be, how do trades and/or free agent pickups work? Let's say I sign a free agent on my version of the league file and upload it. Another GM also signs that same free agent an uploads their league file. Who gets the free agent? Same with trades. If I offer another GM a trade, that GM will see my trade offer after your simulations, right?

Since the players in BLB are all fictional, if expansion were to occur, would there be an expansion draft of some sort?

Sorry for all my questions, I'm just completely out of the loop with baseball-sim games.

[Stu]

Re: Any OOTP 2007 preview winners here?

I probably spend anywhere from 30 min to 2 hours per sim on my team but you could probably get away with less.

I spend anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours per week PER SIM on my BLB team, plus time on the forums.

Clay and I apparently work on our teams together.

[y2dan]

Re: Any OOTP 2007 preview winners here?

Well thanks for all your help, guys. You've sold me on buying OOTP 2007.

Once I have a chance to fool around with some of the features of the game, I look forward to joining an online league of some sort. I'm a big fantasy sports guy, and so this sort of things seems right up my alley. Thanks again.

[Stu]

Re: Any OOTP 2007 preview winners here?

So basically, 3 weeks of OOTP simulations for every real week? That sounds pretty good. Those HTML reports look pretty good too, almost like an actual ESPN-like web site, with player ratings, statistics, etc.

I guess a logical next question would be, how do trades and/or free agent pickups work? Let's say I sign a free agent on my version of the league file and upload it. Another GM also signs that same free agent an uploads their league file. Who gets the free agent? Same with trades. If I offer another GM a trade, that GM will see my trade offer after your simulations, right?

Since the players in BLB are all fictional, if expansion were to occur, would there be an expansion draft of some sort?

Sorry for all my questions, I'm just completely out of the loop with baseball-sim games.

Yes, we cover 3 weeks per 1 week of real life. More during the off-season. We've gotten through 3 full seasons since OOTP 2006 was released last summer.

With free agents, if two people try to sign them they will consider both offers and go with whichever one is better. Or if they are equal, there's a few other factors (chances of winning, location, etc).

Trades are not done in the game. GM's negotiate them over PM, AIM, etc and are posted on the forums. I then enter them into the game during the next sim. Check out the trade announcement forum for examples.

Yes, there would be an expansion draft. That's a new feature in OOTP 2007 and it makes it very easy to expand. Each team can protect a certain number of players and the expansion teams can choose from that list.

No problem, keep them coming. I'm sure others have the same questions.

[Shaver]

Re: Any OOTP 2007 preview winners here?

Clay and I apparently work on our teams together.

Can I tell people that I'm responsible for the Guides and you take the Colonials then?