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Old 07-25-2019, 03:02 PM   #73
Tiger Fan
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Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 9,516
My Thoughts on a First Season of Online Play

Even with the terrible run of injuries and to fall so agonizingly short of a pennant I must say this is the most fun I have ever had playing OOTP. Now, I love all of my solo historical replays and am really enjoying the fictional solo league I am presently running but this league concept, the fact that it is stats-only and a pseudo-historical league is just a perfect fit for me. The Stats-only aspect makes it so much less predictable than the average league, and a great group of owners plus a commissioner with an outstanding vision and story-creating skills to fill out this world, makes we wish I found a league like this years ago.

The fact that my Kings were competitive is a nice treat but even if we were the worst team in the league I think I would still have felt the same. I am having a great time not just running my team, but also doing all of the other things that I enjoy with my solo leagues. Things like pouring over the history of our league but now also delving pretty deeply into the current season of the college and high school feeder leagues to start a draft list not just for next year but also the two years beyond that (as I look at the 15-16 year old high schoolers and the 18 year old college freshmen).

The other great thing for me, someone who creates all kinds of different storyline concepts for my solo leagues is I now get to play in someone else's sandbox. The world created by our commissioner is similar in many ways to OOTP universe's I have created but has some differences, and I love not knowing where things are heading when it is someone else's vision. The backstories like the league history recaps and the sidestory's like the evolution of the Barrell brothers family not only adds to the great immersion level, but it also allows me to get involved by signing one of the Barrell kids to a minor league contract. Without the backstory he is just another non-descript filler player for my minor league system but with the backstory he is a player I care about and will follow, maybe even one day when I am out of the pennant race I will give him a September call-up to get some major leagaue time under his belt as a tribute to what his father did for the Stars organization. Likewise, reading the back story in the yearly recaps on Danny Goff and his contribution to Brooklyn baseball made we want to find a major league home for him instead of releasing or sending him to the minors at age 40. If it was my own story it would be too forced, but when I can play off the backstory that our commish has created it just makes these names and numbers feel more like real ballplayers.


And this league also allows me to do a few things I can't in a solo league. Such as negotiating trades with human GM's - I have made a few deals and the back and forth was great, more so I think because of the Fog of War we have in going stats-only. I think stats-only and online leagues belong together. I could not see me having anywhere the same amount of interest in my league if I knew everyone's actual and potential ratings (even if there was the uncertainty of turning the scouting system on). Instead of clearly knowing a 7 contact potential is better than a 5 contact potential when trading minor leaguers there are so many more things to look at. We start of course with his stats but even then you need to drill down so much deeper. How old is he in relation to the minor league level he is playing at? A 19 year old in A ball hitting .300 is probably a lot better prospect for me than a 24 year old hitting .350 on the same team. What position is he playing and what are his fielding numbers like? Also, what about the ballpark he is playing in. Does it favour righthanded hitters and, if so, how much do I think his numbers were aided by it or hurt if it was a pitchers park. What is his injury history like? What about his personality? What does Rube Carter, my scouting director think of him? I look at little clues like if he was drafted before human GM's took over, what round did the AI take him in. So much more than just is he a 3-star or 4-star potential prospect.

I would not think stats-only would be as important for a historical online league as the name alone gives a good indication of the player's potential but, to me, it seems to be the only way to play in a fictional player online league. Anyway, in case you can't tell - I love this league and if you enjoy this dynasty report or one of the other about the FABL started by the commissioner or other GM's I suggest you put your name on the waiting list.

Now bring on the draft!
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