Migrating an OOTP 6.5 league to 2007... Advice?

[GIT-R-DONE]

I am getting ready to roll TheShow over to 2007. I have heard many pros and cons about running an online 2007 league that started with 6.5 rosters. We are approaching the playoffs of 2017 in our 6.5 league, starting with real rosters from around 2004. I am looking for advice on what should be done before hand to make it a smooth transition. I am sure that a lot of Commish's have made this transition already and may have found mistakes that they made or things that they have overlooked, so I would like to hear about them.

I really want to move the league to 2007 because of the much more in depth stats, rosters, minors, etc. I have heard that some leagues attempted to move to 2007 importing their 6.5 leagues over, but have then had to resort to just starting over with modern rosters. My hopes is to not have to do that.

Here is a list of things that I am doing before hand to make sure that this is a smooth transition in my league. Please feel free to add your own thoughts or ideas:

Steps taken before move:
1) Notified all owners - Most have known for about 2 seasons that this switch was going to happen.
2) Waiting for the final patch - I have read where it does fix a lot of complaints from online OOTP'ers.
3) Asking GM's for input on Coaches/Scouts/Salary Cap/Minimum Salary/etc. - Starting those discussions in our forums.
4) Site tools - I have already gotten the export tracker for 2007, as well as the player development tool and draft tool. Are there any more that will help?
5) Backing up the old league - I keep several backups already, but I have been keeping a few more to ensure that we can fall back to 6.5 if needed, or to have more to try to import from if needed.
6) Participate in 2007 leagues as an owner - I am in my 3rd season in TheBigTime and really enjoy it as an owner.

Questions about the move:
1) Do I need to import at the opening day of my 6.5 league like it was in 2006? I suppose I could read this in the manual again, but someone can save me the time. - CONFIRMED VIA MANUAL
2) Do all the leagues seem to have large amounts of ratings drops around spring training the first year? If I recall in the 2007 league that I participate in, we had an ungodly amount of players take severe hits to their ratings around spring training. For instance, on an 80 point scale, Furcal was rated an 80/80. After spring training, I think he dropped to like a 60/80.
3) We will be transitioning from a 3 minor league team system to a 5 minor league system. Does anyone foresee any issues with this?
4) Should we adjust any of our league settings before the transition? Presently we use a 1-20 point scale, $300K minimum salary, $25M max cash cap, $100M salary cap, no coaches, no scouts.
5) Do salary caps hurt online leagues? We have none in my 2007 league that I am in, and it is nice, seems to stay fair since you still have to meet an owner's budget, but I can see where it can get out of hand with a Yankees budget vs. Brewers budget.

Any other input that could help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for your time!

[GIT-R-DONE]

Com'on... I know there are many online league commish's out there that have gone through this... Help a brother out, man!

[GIT-R-DONE]

Thanks for all the help!

We are moving on, regardless. I guess I will learn as the rest of you guys did!

[rewc27]

Originally Posted by GIT-R-DONE

I am getting ready to roll TheShow over to 2007. I have heard many pros and cons about running an online 2007 league that started with 6.5 rosters. We are approaching the playoffs of 2017 in our 6.5 league, starting with real rosters from around 2004. I am looking for advice on what should be done before hand to make it a smooth transition. I am sure that a lot of Commish's have made this transition already and may have found mistakes that they made or things that they have overlooked, so I would like to hear about them.

I really want to move the league to 2007 because of the much more in depth stats, rosters, minors, etc. I have heard that some leagues attempted to move to 2007 importing their 6.5 leagues over, but have then had to resort to just starting over with modern rosters. My hopes is to not have to do that.

Here is a list of things that I am doing before hand to make sure that this is a smooth transition in my league. Please feel free to add your own thoughts or ideas:

Steps taken before move:
1) Notified all owners - Most have known for about 2 seasons that this switch was going to happen.
2) Waiting for the final patch - I have read where it does fix a lot of complaints from online OOTP'ers.
3) Asking GM's for input on Coaches/Scouts/Salary Cap/Minimum Salary/etc. - Starting those discussions in our forums.
4) Site tools - I have already gotten the export tracker for 2007, as well as the player development tool and draft tool. Are there any more that will help?
5) Backing up the old league - I keep several backups already, but I have been keeping a few more to ensure that we can fall back to 6.5 if needed, or to have more to try to import from if needed.
6) Participate in 2007 leagues as an owner - I am in my 3rd season in TheBigTime and really enjoy it as an owner.

Questions about the move:
1) Do I need to import at the opening day of my 6.5 league like it was in 2006? I suppose I could read this in the manual again, but someone can save me the time. - CONFIRMED VIA MANUAL
2) Do all the leagues seem to have large amounts of ratings drops around spring training the first year? If I recall in the 2007 league that I participate in, we had an ungodly amount of players take severe hits to their ratings around spring training. For instance, on an 80 point scale, Furcal was rated an 80/80. After spring training, I think he dropped to like a 60/80.
3) We will be transitioning from a 3 minor league team system to a 5 minor league system. Does anyone foresee any issues with this?
4) Should we adjust any of our league settings before the transition? Presently we use a 1-20 point scale, $300K minimum salary, $25M max cash cap, $100M salary cap, no coaches, no scouts.
5) Do salary caps hurt online leagues? We have none in my 2007 league that I am in, and it is nice, seems to stay fair since you still have to meet an owner's budget, but I can see where it can get out of hand with a Yankees budget vs. Brewers budget.

Any other input that could help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for your time!

I'll pass along my experience and some insight.

question 1 - already answered

Question 2 - Yes, in UMBL we had several severe rating drops which left many owners unhappy. We ended up starting over with new rosters because of this.

Question 3 - We started off with full minors. AAA, AA, two A levels, short season, and rookie ball. This overwhelmed alot of the GM's and I heard alot of complaints about it being two much. After this season we will be going to AAA, AA, A, and rookie ball.

Question 4 - I don't think you will need to change any of this.

Question 5 - My leagues never ran with a salary cap. I do find it better when online leagues use a team cash max however.

Hope this helps.

[GIT-R-DONE]

Yes, that does help alot! Thank you soo much!

Do you recall when your ratings drop was the first season? I am doing some test runs, and I am not seeing it. I am not sure if it was fixed in a patch, or I am just overlooking it.

[timlowery]

I've migrated a 6.5 league a couple of times in 2007, and it appears that with the new patch, the ratings drop isn't as severe. I was getting huge drops in the first year. I remember reading in the patch details that the speed and steal ratings migrate better now. I can't think that this is the whole answer, but it seems to be helping.

[rewc27]

Originally Posted by GIT-R-DONE

Yes, that does help alot! Thank you soo much!

Do you recall when your ratings drop was the first season? I am doing some test runs, and I am not seeing it. I am not sure if it was fixed in a patch, or I am just overlooking it.

We saw it as soon as we converted. The main thing was top prospects became minor leauge scrubs. That was before the last patch so as Tim said it may have been fixed.

[GIT-R-DONE]

I will be running another test tonight rolling over to 2007, so I will watch the top prospects list again.

Thanks for you guys' help!