OOTP - For kids or not?

[battists]

Hello folks,

I'm a total newbie here, just doing some research. My son is fanatical about baseball, and is just detail-oriented enough to be interested in something like OOTP as compared to an arcade-style game.

But, he's only 9. I like to think an extraordinarily bright 9, but 9 nonetheless.

Is OOTP way out of a child's league in terms of complexity? Or are there options that let you turn off some of the more complex machinations?

Feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Steve

[andymac]

You can definately tailor the game to be less complex and suitable for child to play. I would think the bigger challenge would be getting a child interested in a game that has virtually no graphical features.

[edrooney]

If you trawl through these boards enough, you'll notice that there are a lot of kids that play this game.

[Ragin Cajun]

The game is very customizable, allowing you to turn off many of the more advanced features such as waivers, free agency, etc; which will basically allow him to complete a season with a few clicks of the mouse.

[sporr]

I would buy the game and see how it works out. It's less than you'll spend on many graphic games and should provide at least enough entertainment to be worth the money even if he decides he isn't ready for it. But, as others have said, you can turn off many options to make the game easier to get into.

[Dave Hansen]

Try out the demo for a few days risk free.

[Ben E Lou]

I got Statis Pro Major League Baseball, a dice-and-cards style baseball strategy sim, for Christmas in 1978. I had just turned 10 2 days earlier. I played that game a TON at that age, and I had been bugging my parents for a game like it or Strat-O-Matic for at least a year before they got it for me. 9 is not outside the realm of possibility to enjoy a text sim.

[markprior22]

My son is 10 and plays a ton of OOTP. I started playing the game and introduced it to him around the time of version 3 (he was 7 or so). He had questions as he started, but seems to have a good grip on it now. He too, is a baseball junkie. If your kid is really into baseball, give it a try. I would suggest downloading a real player roster file so he can relate to the players easier (rather than diving into a fictional universe).

Let us know how it goes!!

[halofan26]

Try out the demo for a few days risk free

that would be the best but i will say this, my son is almost 5 and he can understand how to PLAY it, not so much the fine tuning of the game and my 10 year old daughter knows how to play it

[Giants44]

please report back and let us know how it goes - when I was that age I was big time into Strat-o-matic and apba but times have changed.

My 6 year old is a huge baseball fan and loves to play on the XBox (MVP 04)- but as of yet hasn't shown much interest in OOTP when I am playing which is a lot, however most of the time when they are asleep.

[halofan26]

when I was that age I was big time into Strat-o-matic

lol i still have the cards from 1975-1983 and you can catch me playing it still

[phenom]

Originally Posted by SkyDog

I got Statis Pro Major League Baseball, a dice-and-cards style baseball strategy sim

me too, but I'll tell ya, I've played thousands of games of Statis Pro and never once rolled dice.

[Dan Theman]

My son is 8 and he's starting to show some interest in it, even though nothing explodes and it involves a lot of reading and math (he loves math, however).

You can turn financials off, make trades easy, and customize teams and players to make it as simple & easy or as hard & complex as you like.

Give it shot, and as was mentioned earlier in the thread, we'd all be thrilled to help both you and your son with any questions you may have.

- Dan

[Eckstein 4 Prez]

I'd have been into OOTP at 9-10. I've always been obsessed with this kind of thing.

On the other hand, my son is 11 and really likes combination arcade/strategy type games (e.g., Warcraft III, Empire Earth), but thinks OOTP "looks really boring."

[Dan Theman]

As an aside, you may notice that some people have avatars (the pictures below their names) that may not be suitable for someone his age. You can turn off the ability to see these by going to User CP (at the upper-left of your current screen) -> Edit Options (which will then be on the left hand side) -> uncheck Show Avatars (the third section of options, you'll have to scroll down a bit).

[bigdgp2]

I was 14 when I started playing this... now I'm 17. I could see myself playing this as a nine year old.

[Mr.Opinion]

Unless you introduce the game to him, he may find the "lack of action" to be quite "lackluster".

[oscarjh]

Originally Posted by sporr

I would buy the game and see how it works out. It's less than you'll spend on many graphic games and should provide at least enough entertainment to be worth the money even if he decides he isn't ready for it. But, as others have said, you can turn off many options to make the game easier to get into.

Do what Sporr says, show him the ropes and I'd bet two things will happen: he'll pick it up faster than you (US!) and you will get addicted and probably have to share it with him or buy another one for yourself!

[D Love]

MD is perhaps the most notable kid playing OOTP!

The game, with the more complex stuff turned off, should be fine. I'd say that it's the forum with all these risque avatars that is more questionable.

I, for one, was playing Micro League Baseball when I was but 10. And I don't think it was their thrilling graphical representations that did it for me.

[The Interloper]

I think the game should be adaptable to a nine year old player. Perhaps, in time, you could even use it as an educational tool to teach him about how finances work or something.