Horribly annoying Simulating box!! Trivia and quotes replaced by your ads?!?

Digrdan · 04-10-2015, 11:05 PM

Are you using this game as an adversing vehicle for other products you sell? If so it should be free.
I've been a sports manager game fan for a long time and have loved this game on the p.c. and now have bought it for the iPad basically the week it has come out for the past few years.
But I'm sick of this game after just a few days playing it... And I would play the old ones an unhealthy amount of time.
I'm sick of it for one reason only... I have to stare blindly at your ads while simulating instead of reading interesting quotes/trivia/facts about baseball.

I don't get it... Why advertise to people who already buy your products... And if you do.. Why advertise in such an annoying way... The effect is making me not want to play the product I just bought, and probably worse for you, I'm getting annoyed with your brand.. A brand I've loved for a long time.
Please tell me this is only temporary, otherwise please tell me how to get a refund and I'll continue playing last years version.

McGuiser · 04-11-2015, 12:29 AM

Well, actually, there is no need to stare at the box. After a few times I stopped noticing it altogether.

Digrdan · 04-11-2015, 12:43 AM

The big white box in the center of the screen that is on all the time - Just look away or space out and ignore?

So my extreme of annoyed and starting to dislike the brand is one end of the spectrum and the other is that you just tune it out and forget it exists.. Either way that form of advertising is really not good and can't be working. I can't enjoy playing a game that I'd have to learn to ignore the screen for the majority of the time. The game is not functional when simulating so it needs something in that box, and they had an awesome thing going with trivia, quirky stories and quotes.

I think they'll address it instead of encouraging users to learn to ignore. Must be better ways to advertise.

Edster007 · 04-11-2015, 12:01 PM

You are certainly entitled to your opinion. I liked the quotes as well but after you sim enough they also become repetitive. Speaking solely for myself I am not really playing the game when a sim in progress so I judge the game for what I can do with it when I am actually engaged. Considering this is a phone/tablet app I think its outstanding. If any part of it caused me the level of frustration you are having I would simply stop playing.

Digrdan · 04-11-2015, 12:14 PM

Good points- I don't want to stop, I love the game - just don't like the motivation behind the switch.
Originally they put the quotes/facts in the sim box because the engine had the delay to sim and they thought it would be a nice to give the user something to do while simulating. Somewhere that philosophy of 'give the user a good experience' changed to 'how do we promote our other products'. That's the annoyance.
I've spent hundreds over the years on their products and consider it all money well spent on entertainment, just not happy with the shift in philosophy lately.

xepicx2729 · 04-11-2015, 12:15 PM

As I think it was Brad who said this: he said something about the engine not allowing the quotes yet but they're trying to re-implement them. Sit tight and they may return.

Digrdan · 04-11-2015, 12:23 PM

I hope so - really like the series of games. There's a lot wrong with advertising at that moment. If they continue to there's a potential conflict of interest between those working on speeding up the sim engine and those wanting to advertise within the game during the simulation. Is the minimum sim time going to be how long it takes to read the ad going forward? Not cool.

Digrdan · 04-12-2015, 11:15 PM

Simulation box is still self promotion in latest update. Anyone know for sure if this is getting addressed?

BradC · 04-13-2015, 08:16 PM

It's not about the engine not allowing them -- We had to edit the ones in OOTP 16, so they were pulled from MLBM for now, pending that review. That's done, of course, but I think maybe the guys figured the quotes wouldn't be missed. I've seen several comments about this, so I've said that it would be nice to bring them back. Markus is aware of that.

RE advertising OOTP: Our hope is to get a bit of a "halo effect" from MLB Manager and expose OOTP to many baseball fans who might not know it exists. More sales = more revenue = more improvements that can be made to all our games.

Digrdan · 04-13-2015, 11:50 PM

I really appreciate you replying Brad.. I know it s a weird small thing but it really has changed the vibe of this game for myself, and apparently a lot of users/contributors on here.
If it's a research time thing I'm sure myself and many others would love to contribute to the game and collect/edit quotes/facts/trivia to the be submitted into the game. Just let us know.
As far as the halo effect.. Many of us baseball fans love the history and the moments of the game and you guys did an amazing job of giving that vibe in previous versions. I personally forced 4 friends I know are big baseball fans to buy this game because I know they'd love it - and they did.

But the feel of the game has changed now that the facts have been replace with ootp ads.. And everytime I press 'simulate' I'm reminded that you guys are a business and not a fellow fan of the game we all love.

BradC · 04-14-2015, 10:26 PM

The quotes will definitely be back in the 2nd update, which is about to be submitted to Apple and Google.

Hopefully we'll then be your baseball-loving friends again.

IAmC · 04-14-2015, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Digrdan

...
If it's a research time thing I'm sure myself and many others would love to contribute to the game and collect/edit quotes/facts/trivia to the be submitted into the game. Just let us know...

Agreed. This could be crowdsourced, if it's practical to expand the quotes/facts beyond what is currently in iOOTP14. Not required, though.

isaacgood11 · 04-15-2015, 12:26 AM

I just enjoy the quotes so much that I can't wait for them to be back!

Digrdan · 04-16-2015, 12:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BradC

RE advertising OOTP: Our hope is to get a bit of a "halo effect" from MLB Manager and expose OOTP to many baseball fans who might not know it exists. More sales = more revenue = more improvements that can be made to all our games.

Thought a bit about this (obviously) and I think you've summed up my frustration with the quoted statement. It seems to be of a conscious decision to expose ootp with mlbm .. That's the problem.. For sure you should expose ootp to mlbm users.. Users of this game would love ootp ... But the problem is that you guys did the advertising at the expense of the user experience of this game. That's the problem I think. The feel of the game changed when the user experience was compromised for ootp exposure.

That be said, you are clearly listening to your customers which is more important than mistakes made. Thanks for taking the time.
I'll stop posting rants now

04-10-2015, 11:05 PM	#1
Digrdan Bat Boy Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 17	Horribly annoying Simulating box!! Trivia and quotes replaced by your ads?!? Are you using this game as an adversing vehicle for other products you sell? If so it should be free. I've been a sports manager game fan for a long time and have loved this game on the p.c. and now have bought it for the iPad basically the week it has come out for the past few years. But I'm sick of this game after just a few days playing it... And I would play the old ones an unhealthy amount of time. I'm sick of it for one reason only... I have to stare blindly at your ads while simulating instead of reading interesting quotes/trivia/facts about baseball. I don't get it... Why advertise to people who already buy your products... And if you do.. Why advertise in such an annoying way... The effect is making me not want to play the product I just bought, and probably worse for you, I'm getting annoyed with your brand.. A brand I've loved for a long time. Please tell me this is only temporary, otherwise please tell me how to get a refund and I'll continue playing last years version.

04-11-2015, 12:15 PM	#6
xepicx2729 Major Leagues Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: USA Posts: 390	As I think it was Brad who said this: he said something about the engine not allowing the quotes yet but they're trying to re-implement them. Sit tight and they may return. Last edited by xepicx2729; 04-11-2015 at 12:18 PM.

04-13-2015, 11:50 PM	#10
Digrdan Bat Boy Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 17	I really appreciate you replying Brad.. I know it s a weird small thing but it really has changed the vibe of this game for myself, and apparently a lot of users/contributors on here. If it's a research time thing I'm sure myself and many others would love to contribute to the game and collect/edit quotes/facts/trivia to the be submitted into the game. Just let us know. As far as the halo effect.. Many of us baseball fans love the history and the moments of the game and you guys did an amazing job of giving that vibe in previous versions. I personally forced 4 friends I know are big baseball fans to buy this game because I know they'd love it - and they did. But the feel of the game has changed now that the facts have been replace with ootp ads.. And everytime I press 'simulate' I'm reminded that you guys are a business and not a fellow fan of the game we all love. Last edited by Digrdan; 04-13-2015 at 11:51 PM.

04-11-2015, 12:29 AM	#2
McGuiser Major Leagues Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 363	Well, actually, there is no need to stare at the box. After a few times I stopped noticing it altogether.

04-11-2015, 12:43 AM	#3
Digrdan Bat Boy Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 17	The big white box in the center of the screen that is on all the time - Just look away or space out and ignore? So my extreme of annoyed and starting to dislike the brand is one end of the spectrum and the other is that you just tune it out and forget it exists.. Either way that form of advertising is really not good and can't be working. I can't enjoy playing a game that I'd have to learn to ignore the screen for the majority of the time. The game is not functional when simulating so it needs something in that box, and they had an awesome thing going with trivia, quirky stories and quotes. I think they'll address it instead of encouraging users to learn to ignore. Must be better ways to advertise.

04-11-2015, 12:01 PM	#4
Edster007 All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: New York, NY Posts: 1,768	You are certainly entitled to your opinion. I liked the quotes as well but after you sim enough they also become repetitive. Speaking solely for myself I am not really playing the game when a sim in progress so I judge the game for what I can do with it when I am actually engaged. Considering this is a phone/tablet app I think its outstanding. If any part of it caused me the level of frustration you are having I would simply stop playing.

04-11-2015, 12:14 PM	#5
Digrdan Bat Boy Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 17	Good points- I don't want to stop, I love the game - just don't like the motivation behind the switch. Originally they put the quotes/facts in the sim box because the engine had the delay to sim and they thought it would be a nice to give the user something to do while simulating. Somewhere that philosophy of 'give the user a good experience' changed to 'how do we promote our other products'. That's the annoyance. I've spent hundreds over the years on their products and consider it all money well spent on entertainment, just not happy with the shift in philosophy lately.

04-11-2015, 12:23 PM	#7
Digrdan Bat Boy Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 17	I hope so - really like the series of games. There's a lot wrong with advertising at that moment. If they continue to there's a potential conflict of interest between those working on speeding up the sim engine and those wanting to advertise within the game during the simulation. Is the minimum sim time going to be how long it takes to read the ad going forward? Not cool.

04-12-2015, 11:15 PM	#8
Digrdan Bat Boy Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 17	Simulation box is still self promotion in latest update. Anyone know for sure if this is getting addressed?

04-13-2015, 08:16 PM	#9
BradC All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: northern CA Posts: 1,874	It's not about the engine not allowing them -- We had to edit the ones in OOTP 16, so they were pulled from MLBM for now, pending that review. That's done, of course, but I think maybe the guys figured the quotes wouldn't be missed. I've seen several comments about this, so I've said that it would be nice to bring them back. Markus is aware of that. RE advertising OOTP: Our hope is to get a bit of a "halo effect" from MLB Manager and expose OOTP to many baseball fans who might not know it exists. More sales = more revenue = more improvements that can be made to all our games.

04-14-2015, 10:26 PM	#11
BradC All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: northern CA Posts: 1,874	The quotes will definitely be back in the 2nd update, which is about to be submitted to Apple and Google. Hopefully we'll then be your baseball-loving friends again.

04-15-2015, 12:26 AM	#13
isaacgood11 Bat Boy Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 16	I just enjoy the quotes so much that I can't wait for them to be back!