IDK Ben, I've seen more leagues have open slots (including the IHOF which has four and CCFL has 5 openings and the GML has 6 openings.) You may have a few new guys joining, but there are plenty that are dropping like flies and these are guys that are legit proven MP players. I can recall a few short years ago that it was a lengthy wait in your leagues to get a spot. That's not the case today. Even the NAFL which is 12 years strong with a commissioner as dependable as anyone struggled to fill the vacancies they had this past offseason. This is more than I've ever seen before. Multiple longtime solid GMs have expressed frustration or lack of interest with the new game compared to previous iterations.

I really think the game is at a crossroads and I hate to say it. I'm optimistic that this merger will insert some life/new ideas into the game.

He was talking about dropouts in the recent past, not years ago. All of my leagues had more openings 3-6 months ago than they do now.

Yeah, I get that. My point was overall that interest in FOF (at least MP leagues ) has dwindled. I recall waiting months to get into CCFL and had to race to get a spot when you sent out a PM. It's just hard to believe how FOF8 turned so many people off.

One thing I know for sure is the lack of the ability to extend contracts after the start of the regular season has had a major impact on the game and MP leagues in general. I seriously hope that they fix this and make it more realistic.

I'm also seeing this

Yeah no doubt the MP community has declined. I suspect it will just end up as a survival of the fittest. The best leagues such as the CCFL, NAFL and RZB are still full. Most of the others (all even?) have vacancies. Some will fade away as time goes by if FOF9 doesn't improve over FOF8. I am optimistic FOF9 will be an improvement. FOF8 has been a pretty weak effort compared to other versions in the series.

A positive in a way as it forces commissioners to raise their game or fade away.

Update on the leagues that Ben is the commisioner;

IHOF has 8 available
GML has 9 available
CCFL has 5 available

I believe only a couple of leagues have in the FOF community have a full membership.

The fantasy universe that I run in the OSFL has 19 vacancies... Not good, really hard to recruit new GMs :(

I'm proud to say that the RZB is operating at 100% full capacity! Not only that, but our activity is off the charts. We've had 32 of 32 GMs online everyday for the past week and we've averaged 29 out of 32 GMs online everyday for the past month. It doesn't have anything to do with me running the league. It's the community that we've built that keeps things hopping.

Not bad at all when FOF is at an all-time low thanks to the shortcomings of FOF8.

We've had over 100 posts today. Pretty damn impressive :)

Actually it's very simple. As we said in the annoucement, we'll combine the FOF game engine with the OOTP code base. Priority #1 is a stable game that is fun to play to get good reviews and many happy customers and sales.

Thanks to the OOTP code base, we'll have features like Facegen, a text engine and so on and we can build up on that in the future and enhance FOF from version to version.

Online leagues are on the list, of course, but we do not want to promise if or when they will be part of the new game.

We hear you. We know that a lot of our customers want online leagues. But we need to sell a stable game first and we're only a small company with limited resources.

:ohmy:

You are kidding right, No MP to start with? Many of us MP players have been the people that have supported Jim and helped get the game on steam etc! I have zero interest in buying a game that has no MP and i would suggest a lot of MP players will be the same

I won't be buying the game until MP is a part for it. Can't imagine I will be the only one either. We will just continue with FOF8.

Any idea whether there will be a FOF8 to FOF9 conversion available for MP leagues?

If this game does not have MP out the gate, I don't know if I'll ever buy it. What a shame it would be to alienate the community that supported the game and gave a major push to get it green lighted on Steam.

Very disheartening news and IMO not a great sign moving forward. We wait months for an update and this is what we get?

This is awful news, i just have no interest in SP and like others are saying will not buy it until it has MP.

Personally will never buy a version without MP, the game is just not viable as an SP game for me. Too boring, like OOTP and FMH... the online aspect of FOF is what makes the game superior to all other sport management sims; without this, it’s just another rubbish money maker for the developer, without the best intent for those loyal buyers and followers.

Disappointing.

Agreed with MP is probably the most vital part that separates this game from many of other Sims. Limited resources are understood but someone has lost where this base of 20 years worth of fandom comes from and that is MP.

I will not be purchasing this game if it does not have MP to start with. I have played FOF since inception and this is horrible news.

Multiplayer is the sole reason I buy this game. I don’t think it’s a dying community but if you do maybe you should look at the reasons why, the game is far from perfect. Most would say FOF8 is inferior to FOF7 and I’d have to agree. And if all of Ben’s leagues are failing maybe you should look at the common denominator.

I want to echo these sentiments as well. I DO NOT play this game for single player. All about multiplayer leagues for me. Why would I buy an "update" that doesn't include that in some way out of the box when its been part of the previous versions?

And that the official statement is "if" it will ever be part of the game?? Why would that even be a question?