Quote:
Originally Posted by Peregrine
Also I recommend starting small - jumping into an entire full MLB setup and running your own team can be very intimidating. I started with a small fictional league and minimal amount of minors so you can keep things small and learn your way up. You don't even need to run your team at first, just play in commissioner mode so you can see what happens and how everything works.
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Couldn't agree with this more.
Personally, I would suggest you start with the
US Baseball League. It's a quickstart that comes with the game, so from the main page select "New Quickstart" then pick US Baseball.
The main differences between that and the MLB are:
- US Baseball has only 24 teams in the majors, MLB has 30.
- US Baseball has 5 levels of minors, MLB has 18.
At the end of the day, that means the world of US Baseball has only 144 teams, whereas MLB has 262.
Like Peregrine suggested, I would recommend you "dumb down" your game a bit. By default, you control EVERYTHING, and it can certainly be overwhelming. Some ways you can simplify include:
- Take over one team as JUST a manager, not a GM. That way you'll have control over lineups and pitching rotations, but won't have to worry about free agents, drafting, trades, and so on.
- Take over one team as JUST the GM. That way you'll deal with personnel, but won't have to worry about lineups and pitching rotations. (Personally, I would recommend managing first.)
- As Peregrine suggested, rather than joining a team, you could just play in commissioner mode without any team affiliation at first, and simulate bit by bit and look around to get your feet wet.
- Another possibility is to create your own teeny-tiny fictional league and practice with that a bit.
- You could simplify your league further by turning off financials, or the scouting/coaching systems.
- If you DO decide to manage or GM a major league club, delegate all of your minor league stuff through the manager settings.
One other benefit of starting with a fictional league / US Baseball is that playing the MLB league almost encourages bad habits. Because people know MLB players, they tend to have expectations. But OOTP is just a simulation, and while players should perform similarly to their real-world counterparts, it's not a guarantee. With real players, instead of looking at the information OOTP provides, players tend to "cheat" and think, "Well, I know so-and-so will be good, because he is in real life." Using fictional forces you to look at the information OOTP provides.
And of course, let us know if you have any questions!
Good luck!