1st -- One of OOTP's great points is it's financial system. If they got the MLBPA rights, that would go away. Not worth it IMO.
2nd -- I don't consider HH and OOTP to be competitors. Each one caters to a different breed of baseball fan. HH is arcade, OOTP is for stat junkies.
3rd -- I used to like the idea of joining HH and OOTP. But, I've seen 3DO's awful support with HH, and I also saw them try to ruin Jumpgate (one of the best massively multiplayer online games I have ever seen). I don't want 3DO going within 100 miles of OOTP!!!!
4th -- HH and OOTP treat age differently. Have you seen the post on the boards with Bonds' internal stats?
<a href="http://pub38.ezboard.com/ftheclubhousegeneralhighheatbaseballdiscussion.sho wMessage?topicID=27817.topic" target="_blank">http://pub38.ezboard.com/ftheclubhousegeneralhighheatbaseballdiscussion.sho wMessage?topicID=27817.topic</a>
Sorry, but I like the way OOTP does it better. With age, ratings will decline. But, a 39 year old with A-A Speed and SB will still steal bases. I have no problems with this.
5th -- I haven't bought HH since 2001. My main goal is to run an on-line league. In this aspect, HH doesn't even come close. OOTP is, by far, the best sim engine for an on-line league.
Really, all this arguing about HH and OOTP is pointless. They are ENTIRELY different products, for different purposes. Personally, I think BBPro 98 was better than HH, but I would agree they would be closer in comparison than HH and OOTP.
As for the big suprise (gotta say something on topic
), I'm hoping it's the on-line simulator. I had a radio station that I broadcast games live on in my last league, but this would blow that right out of the water!!