[jimmysthebestcop]

Originally Posted by alpinesk

i will 100% say that i value historical play in ootp a lot. In fact, its one of the main ways that i've always played the game ever since i bought it. Its suffering though, as evidenced by my now locked thread about the trade ai in my 1989 sim. So i will give you that. But if we're going to talk about the total package there are a few things that need to be brought up:

manager / player interactions - fm is light years ahead of ootp here. My interactions with players effect not only that one player but the locker room atmosphere. Also players develop friendships and favorite teammates and coaches. Signing those players have an impact on player attitude and desire to play for your club. I rarely look at the team chemistry page in ootp. Why? Because pretty much the only way that i can impact it is by winning.

player traits and personalities - ootp's personalities are static. Fm? Dynamic. I can mentor players in fm which gives them more desirable traits that can positively or negatively effect them. Also certain players flat out won't fit well in your team and their development will stall. Ootp? You bring a "prankster" into a room filled with serious players, you dont think peer pressure is going to wear off on them a bit? Come on.

the understanding of what a rivalry is - in fm rivalries mean something to fans and players. If you're manu and you sign a chelsea player its going to be met with skepticism from the people who matter. In ootp i can play as the red sox and trade a package of players as the 2nd place team to the 1st place yankees for their #1 starter and no one blinks an eye. Ootp treats the yankees vs. The red sox the same as they would the mariners vs. The marlins.

depth in scouting - in ootp i get a few sentences. In fm i get a true fog of war. I can establish a diverse group of scouts who look beyond "he's a good contact hitter." scouting reports and scouting in general are far more deep. I've tried playing ootp in stats only mode and frankly i dont think things are nearly deep enough to make it enjoyable for me. While i havent done it, i feel that would be much more enjoyable of an undertaking with fm.

I could go deeper but i think this is good enough for now. There are some good aspects of ootp. That's why i've been playing it for almost 20 years but frankly, so many sports management franchises have passed them by, and frankly, with the increased focus on pt, i dont see that stopping. And we can make excuses about budgets and team size but the needle on a lot of the gm aspects of the game needs to start moving a lot more than it has.

+1