[Pelican]

Picking up on Syd’s comparison of OOTP to Strat and other board games, I appreciate that OOTP is far more intricate I guess is the word. Yes, options beyond just playing out games from a given historical season. SOM and APBA in card form were remarkable for the similarities to IRL they achieved with limited tools, and dice. As said, laborious to keep stats long-term. I don’t think I ever got beyond half a season or so, with pen, paper, and a primitive calculator. The big downfall of those games, for me, call it cheesing, was too much reliance on marginal players who happened to have great stats in a small sample. (Both games tried to bury penalties in those marginal cards, like double play numbers, or make those guys awful fielders and slow; but a guy who hit .340 in 100 AB would probably hit very well in 600 AB.). Every year, we quickly identified those outliers, and they became our favorites.

Playing historical seasons using OOTP, as I do, presents a different goal from what i gather about fictional players and leagues. I have, in three years play, found recent and older seasons to replay with almost maddening accuracy, despite my best efforts to change history. However, there can be exciting “what if’s”, like if Lou Gehrig never got ALS, or Babe Ruth was signed by the Federal League, or nobody went off to Korea or WWII. Playing 1981 and 1994 and 2020 without strikes or lockouts. To me, that is mixing in a dose of fictional with the historical numbers. YMMV due to after-market alterations to the vehicles.

I’m also learning that historical can veer off toward fiction, if you turn off historical trades and injuries and retirements, and base ratings on OOTP performance, rather than actual stats. Combined with some decent TCR, the season replay begins to diverge from history, as more seasons go by. I still import the actual rookies when they are ready, but again, after that first year, they may depart from their actual performances.

Circling back, OOTP seems ideally suited to the way I play, which is undoubtedly why I appreciate the game engine more than some, who understandably have other goals and expectations. I like the fact that superstars are likely to continue to HOF careers, and “duds” are unlikely to shine, but attention to player development and enlightened managing and chance may create exceptions. A huge example of manipulating history is erasing the color line. Subject to properly rating Negro League stars, very much a work in progress, there is a whole alternative universe waiting, as far back before 1947 as you want.