[Pelican]

My sense over four years of play (still a newbie!) is that the improvements have been incremental - steady but not sensational. So for those who play a lot, you will see and appreciate the refinements. Depending of course on how you play. For me, the changes have been worth buying each new version. In fact, I eagerly await the changes each year.

But another way to look at it is that your purchase involves numerous new builds and bug fixes during the year. If your glass is always half-full (or for some posters, empty), you’ll call this a deficiency, as if the game should be perfect upon release. If you live in the real world, you’ll appreciate the attention to detail and the responsiveness of developers to questions and bugs and issues. It’s very much a work in progress, which for me at least is way better than a stagnant platform with annual releases that merely incorporate new statistics.

So much of what comes out in the new builds is not fixing an actual mistake, but rather “hey, here’s a better way to do this that will make the game more realistic and more fun to play”. It makes no sense to criticize the developers for making the game play better. Or for keeping a close ear to complaints and suggestions from the community. They’re good at helping with user error type issues, and also for acknowledging weaknesses that could stand a patch.

I too have noticed that these forums tend to be an echo chamber, with lots of repeats by the same posters (myself included). I miss the “New to the Game” thread, which was where I first dared to lurk and then post some questions. In return I got guidance and encouragement and cautions and sage advice. We all need to encourage new users to log on and jump in. I particularly enjoy the reports on historical and fictional seasons.

Returning to the OP, I’ve learned that one’s perspective on OOTP depends on past (and ongoing) experience with computer games. Those with a heavy background in online gaming will have a totally different view from me, with experience dating to boards and dice games through APBA computer baseball - and little else (and zero interest in the online product). I suppose that, in context, OOTP remains a sort of niche game. I can only hope that the niche is broad enough to support many thousands of users who pay it forward by purchasing the game.