This unique project stemmed from several observations. One was the occasional message that "my buddies would like to do an on-line league but don't know how" or "can we start a league on a PC or must there be a server". There are services which address the latter but, while cheaply priced are not free. It was never clear whether these folks got answers and got their league.
Second, was the large turnaround in leagues. In part this is because the majority of leagues are MLB based, after all the fascination of playing with today's starts is a huge draw. However, after a several seasons these are more like fictional leagues, and the new season is here anyway. so the stop and re-form with the new player set. But that takes away some from the advantages of the fictional leagues. It is the fictional leagues that have the long history. In large part because the interaction of the players but also the storylines produced. However, the community doesn't see this because these leagues are on their own servers/networks.
So what if there were an OOTP community league. Free to anyone who has already bought the game. With the interaction shared at the community level via the Dynasty reports. A showcase of possibilities. That is the opportunity here.
I am retired. I have run several leagues, and participated in many more. I've worked on the Beta team. I have my own server, left over from my business. So, I wanted to take the opportunity allow a community on-line experience. Also, I was looking for a way to pull my friends from other league together one last time. So there are some extremely experienced folks who can provide assistance.
This is a new league concept. It is intended to try a leverage the many ways OOTP online can work. First consistent with the Lords of the Realm theme, it is designed to be as challenging and realistic as possible. To that end it is a very large league. This done to fully utilize the American Feeder system. The American feeder includes all three NCAA division and a complete High School league for each state. The size of the state league is based upon number of players provided to the major leagues (e.g. California provides more than Vermont).
Players are only generated at age 15, so their complete careers are available for review prior to drafting. To accommodate that many players, the majors and minors were expanded. The theme still being the American Major Leagues. In this league each state will have at least one team, so that there will be 64 teams total. These will be broken into standalone 8 team leagues to try an accommodate “friends league” This is to help the small group that wants to play on-line but don’t know how or don’t want the hosting expense.
Objectives
The league objectives are varied as it tries to offer an environment for different type of players in the OOTP community. It is an On-line Dynasty league looking for
1) The small group of friends who want a league of their own. Here they can have their own division. All the mechanisms of an on-line league are taken care of.
2) Dynasties – Create a dynasty on a team or a state or a league, whatever. It is a league to immerse oneself as it will only sim a couple of days a week. There will always be games being played 12 months a year. Find what you like and report on the forums and the web site. A couple of unique leagues to follow would be the Michigan Rookie league for all the top rookies drafted, and the USBA Winter league for potential top prospects and future stars. Both of those leagues have one team for each ML team making them excellent predictors of the future. Might make a good dynasty report. Here is the link to the On-Line Dynasty league. We are playing solo so the league has a little history before all the human managers get on board.
http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...d.php?t=290765
3) Players looking for a challenge. – As in all of my leagues, finances are tight (but will be balanced). There will be larger markets and smaller markets but the disparity will be manageable so that any team can be made competitive. Scouting is on but no Overall/Potential ratings. Only the attribute ratings and scouting notes. Thus your judgment of the player capabilities based upon his stats in addition to his skill ratings will be the keys to your success. And the player stats will be more meaningful as players are created at age 15 and progress thru high school and college if not drafted or drafted but unsigned. Player development will be important as coaching is on. The final key is that each team will have a unique set of attributes to help create storylines for the dynasties.
4) An on-line league which is a little slower pace. – At the moment I expect to sim twice a week, Friday morning to give folks the weekend and Monday morning to give folks the week. There are no export requirements or participation requirements. Join because you want to play. It is intended to help get more people into the possibilities on on-line play. You will find friendly helpful assistance is available to you.
5) You can coach more than 1 team. – If you want to coach your HS team or college team, feel free. You will only have 1 ML team.
6) others I haven't thought of
The rest of the details are
http://hnbaleague.com/home/on-line-dynasty/
Contact me here with your e-mail address if you are interested.