I have been around these boards for the better part of twenty years and enjoyed OOTP ever since OOTP2. I have done a ton of dynasty reports, almost all of them historical with some even focusing on multiple sports in addition to baseball. One thing is consistent about pretty much all of them is I don't control a team. Instead all my writings and almost every OOTP game I have played is done in commissioner mode, with newspaper style reporting of what occurs in my game universe as that is how I enjoyed the game the most and likely why I play historical so much.
That will change with this dynasty. I dabbled in one or two online leagues in the early days of the game 15-20 years ago but didn't enjoy it as I found the ratings made it less like baseball and more like being an accountant when competing with other human GM's. We all knew who the 5-star players were and, sure there was the occasional bust or breakout guy, but it was rare. Like all other aspects of the game I am sure the scouting system in OOTP has improved greatly since those early days and I am certainly not knocking others who love online leagues (in fact I am a convert as you will soon read) but for me what I loved about OOTP (and FHM. Title Bout Boxing, Bowl Bound football, Total Pro Golf and many other games) was seeing the rich history unfold as I solo simmed through seasons. There were so many great stories waiting to be discovered in the leagues that I ran and for me, online leagues could not duplicate that...until I discovered Legendsport's Federally Aligned Baseball Leagues.
What drew me in was the rich backstory Legendsport created. You can read it
here and please do. If you like dynasty reports you will not be disappointed.
I followed along as he told the story of how the founder of baseball (in his universe) William Whitney created the Century League starting in the late 1800's. I read with great interest as in his alternate fictional history (but not too fictional that it became completely unfamiliar) unfolded with the Border Association being created and later a third major league plus various minor leagues before a merger to create the modern Federally Aligned Baseball League (FABL) was formed. Like real-life Major League Baseball, it had a deadball era, had 16 teams in two major leagues that had it's winners play for a World Championship each year. As legendsport's story evolved he announced after posting the 1909 season that owners were needed for an online league that would begin in 1925.
I looked at his
website which was very well done and started going through the html reports. I still wasn't too interested in joining as I was more focused on reading his articles to get ideas perhaps for my next solo dynasty. Then I noticed his league was going to be stats-only. No ratings. I remember in the past some great discussion on this board about stats-only and I think I tried to play one solo league that way back then but abandoned it for whatever my latest historical dynasty was at the time. Anyway, the more I looked at his league, the more I was drawn into it and I, after asking a few questions, decided to take the plunge and finally join an online league.
That was a couple of weeks ago. Our league began after the 1925 season and we are now in the middle of our rookie draft (with high school and college feeders - a must if running stats only) and I am hooked. Seems like a great group of owners - who have been very helpful and patient with an online newbie like myself - and the immersion for me in this league just keeps getting deeper and deeper as I learn about my players, the rich history of the league and 'scout' the draft pool.
A SECONDARY PURPOSE OF THIS DYNASTY
In many of my previous dynasty reports I have tried to help other discover new ways to play the game. Things like discussing how I manually added real minor leagues to the game prior to 1917 when they debut with the OOTP engine, doing a Pacific Coast League replay by adding real PCL rookies each year were some of the recent ones I did. Going back to the early versions I remember doing dynasty's focusing on how to adjust league settings and modifiers to get the best historical results (OOTP has come a long way since version 2 in that regard). I am hoping this dynasty will be the same and help other solo players learn about online leagues and the rewards and challenges of playing stats-only. Unlike my other dynasty topics I am the newcomer in this one as I struggle to learn the General Manager role and the intricacies of online league strategy so I welcome advice being posted here from any online or stats-only veterans as I stumble through my career at the helm of the Continental Association's Brooklyn Kings. I will share what I learn and hopefully along the way tell a few interesting stories about the things I see in the FABL universe. I have no idea how long I will keep this one going as it will last as long as I feel there are new and hopefully interesting things I can share. Maybe it will even convince one or two of you that are hesitant to try online play or stats-only. Just as legendsport's great baseball world and outstanding write-ups inspired me to join his league.
Anyway, this will be the story of the Brooklyn Kings of Figment League Baseball and their rookie General Manager.