The one thing I'm really hoping to see is OOTP's influence on SI's existing games. Specifically, CM/FM and EHM have little capacity for doing the kind of fictional and historical leagues like we can do in OOTP - and it's a big reason I've stayed away from those games so far.
I simply have no interest in being locked into the current structure of football or hockey, and no interest in merely recreating the teams as they exist now. I want to be able to create hockey leagues in EHM or football leagues in FM that are completely from my imagination, with whatever number of teams and league alignments and set ups I find interesting.
If EHM and FM could add to them the kind of capability to create wholly fictional leagues like as can be done in OOTP, I'd be far more likely to give those games a serious look.
While I understand that SI's bias in these games is in recreating the football and hockey leagues as they exist currently, I think SI is missing out on a large number of potential players by not having a much more robust fictional league system. As many OOTP players can attest to, being able to fully indulge one's imagination when it comes to creating leagues is really an addicting and enjoyable experience, and adds a great deal of replayability to the game.
Here's hoping that SI will learn about fictional and historical leagues from OOTP and begin seriously thinking about adding these features to their other games...
