[Carlton_Willey]

I play many of the top sports sims out there: OOTP, BM (I like them both depending on my mood) FOF and FM. All of them get things right, all of them have problems.

They all have issues with getting the minutia of league rules and structures exactly right. FOF's problem is at one end of the scale: no customization whatsoever.

I'm not so sure I buy the 'get the details of MLB exactly right' argument. FM currently is unplayable -- if you want a longer than two years or so career at a top team in Europe-- because the top leagues in Spain and Italy are broken due to the attempt to replicate the minutia of player contracts in those leagues.

I remember times when OOTP has broken down due to the rule 5 draft, or waivers or other such things that don't add all that much to the fun factor for me.

Yes, you can turn these off in OOTP--if you know where to look. That's a huge advantage over FM where you can't.

Still, games breaking down over small items like AI teams and waivers or Italian teams and co-owned players are larger issues than getting these details right.

When adding detail breaks things, drop the details.