Annual Immersion Post

KGAGE · 10-24-2013, 09:57 AM

All of the following requests would improve immersion into our created universes which is where I feel changes made would have the biggest impact for when I play the game. Note that I play out all of my team's games so that is where several of these ideas focus on.

Playoffs
When playing a playoff game, it doesn't feel much different that playing a regular season game. In fact with most of the rest of the league shut down, it seems quieter than a regular season game. Things like a special playoff skin, some added PBP lines (including references to past playoffs years/matches/games), maybe even a playoff rating for players which could minimally change how they play (Prince Fielder's raitings would drop) during the playoffs. Anything to make a playoff game and series seem more important would be a good addition.

Replace Out of Town Scores With a Scroll Bar
This would be similar to what ESPN usually has at the bottom of their screen. I know that there is now the real time simulation but that does not really have any use during the time that I am playing out the game. A scroll bar would not just consist of the day's scores but could also consist of the days top news, milestones reached (possibly a link to go to that game live to see if a milestone is reached), current league leaders, etc.. Allow for breaking news when something important might happen at a different game currently going on with a link to go view that game temporarily before returning to the regularyly schedule broadcast. Making the game reference the ongoing universe in a live fashion would definitely help the immersion factor.

Umpires/Ejections
Have umpires. Each umpire would have its own ratings such as temperament, strike zone size, accuracy. The umpires could be programmed to have "memories" as well which could make it easier for one manager to get tossed over another or a player to get tossed. On a related note, I liked the "Argue with the Umpire" option for a manager that was in OOTP several versions ago. While it would hardley ever change a call, it could keep your player in the game. I also liked that when the you got tossed, you could no longer manage the game. Bring that back. Player ejections (minus suspensions) seems to hardly ever happen and should be increased. Player tempers (perhaps tied to the intelligence rating?) should play in to how easily a player gets tossed. Not every ejection has to be because a player bumped an umpire. With the new manager challange coming in MLB in 2014 perhaps that option could be added.

News
Events/Team news (news about a team in general) does not seem to exist. I would like to see news about a team running up a long winning/losing streak. (would also like to see team records for streaks as well). If a team throws up 20 runs on somebody, it should be worth a mention in the news. On a related note...

Journalist
There would be local and national journalists with ratings such as honesty, looking for the big story, accuracy. Their stories about how your team is doing would appear in the news section. How they portray your team would have an impact on how the public perceives your team. Perhaps even options such as "Ban reporter from locker room" to "Grant exclusive interview" could be used to try to effect the reports coming from these journalists. All of this would tie in to the Fan Interest rating.

Season Ticket Holders
Have a stat in the front office of how many season ticket holders you have from season to season. This would be a good reflection of how many truely dedicated fans you have out there and also serves as the minimum attendance figure for any home game.

Make setting the field locations/coordinates easier
By setting the coordinates for Left Wall, Center Wall, Right Wall, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Home, the game should be able to figure out the rest. Even better would be a graphical stadium designer which would tie into all of the stadium effects such as capacity, hitter/pitcher friendly.

Fun Fact Widget Set
A fun fact widget which for each batter would pull up a current/intesting fact about the batter. This batter is batting .435 against this pitcher, this batter is 0 for his last 21, batter is the current reigning player of the week, etc.

Sound
The crowd noise still needs some work. It over and under reacts to everything. A player should not be booed if they struck out after going 4-4 earlier in the day. A large crowd should sound louder than a small crowd. A playoff game should sound much louder than a May game (example: the nuthouse that is Oakland). Sometimes I feel like reaching in to the computer and slapping the guy that shouts through the whole game "NO way! No way!" before going into a rift of simlish. Players could have intro songs when coming to bat which could be set in a field on the player profile (path name to MP3 file). Allow for us to set up custom noises for certain stadiums (train noise for Seattle, songs played for home runs by home player, firework noises, ...).

Widgets!
I love the widgets. Here some more widget ideas:
* Live standings which update when a game in the league finishes
* Live league leaders board
* Live all time leaders board
Anything that the game can track would be cool to have a widget for.

rpriske · 10-24-2013, 10:59 AM

While I am mostly indifferent to most of this (not opposed, just indifferent), I LOVE the idea of the LOOK of the screen chaning for play-off games! Yes!

10-24-2013, 09:57 AM	#1
KGAGE Minors (Single A) Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Plainwell Posts: 73	Annual Immersion Post All of the following requests would improve immersion into our created universes which is where I feel changes made would have the biggest impact for when I play the game. Note that I play out all of my team's games so that is where several of these ideas focus on. Playoffs When playing a playoff game, it doesn't feel much different that playing a regular season game. In fact with most of the rest of the league shut down, it seems quieter than a regular season game. Things like a special playoff skin, some added PBP lines (including references to past playoffs years/matches/games), maybe even a playoff rating for players which could minimally change how they play (Prince Fielder's raitings would drop) during the playoffs. Anything to make a playoff game and series seem more important would be a good addition. Replace Out of Town Scores With a Scroll Bar This would be similar to what ESPN usually has at the bottom of their screen. I know that there is now the real time simulation but that does not really have any use during the time that I am playing out the game. A scroll bar would not just consist of the day's scores but could also consist of the days top news, milestones reached (possibly a link to go to that game live to see if a milestone is reached), current league leaders, etc.. Allow for breaking news when something important might happen at a different game currently going on with a link to go view that game temporarily before returning to the regularyly schedule broadcast. Making the game reference the ongoing universe in a live fashion would definitely help the immersion factor. Umpires/Ejections Have umpires. Each umpire would have its own ratings such as temperament, strike zone size, accuracy. The umpires could be programmed to have "memories" as well which could make it easier for one manager to get tossed over another or a player to get tossed. On a related note, I liked the "Argue with the Umpire" option for a manager that was in OOTP several versions ago. While it would hardley ever change a call, it could keep your player in the game. I also liked that when the you got tossed, you could no longer manage the game. Bring that back. Player ejections (minus suspensions) seems to hardly ever happen and should be increased. Player tempers (perhaps tied to the intelligence rating?) should play in to how easily a player gets tossed. Not every ejection has to be because a player bumped an umpire. With the new manager challange coming in MLB in 2014 perhaps that option could be added. News Events/Team news (news about a team in general) does not seem to exist. I would like to see news about a team running up a long winning/losing streak. (would also like to see team records for streaks as well). If a team throws up 20 runs on somebody, it should be worth a mention in the news. On a related note... Journalist There would be local and national journalists with ratings such as honesty, looking for the big story, accuracy. Their stories about how your team is doing would appear in the news section. How they portray your team would have an impact on how the public perceives your team. Perhaps even options such as "Ban reporter from locker room" to "Grant exclusive interview" could be used to try to effect the reports coming from these journalists. All of this would tie in to the Fan Interest rating. Season Ticket Holders Have a stat in the front office of how many season ticket holders you have from season to season. This would be a good reflection of how many truely dedicated fans you have out there and also serves as the minimum attendance figure for any home game. Make setting the field locations/coordinates easier By setting the coordinates for Left Wall, Center Wall, Right Wall, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Home, the game should be able to figure out the rest. Even better would be a graphical stadium designer which would tie into all of the stadium effects such as capacity, hitter/pitcher friendly. Fun Fact Widget Set A fun fact widget which for each batter would pull up a current/intesting fact about the batter. This batter is batting .435 against this pitcher, this batter is 0 for his last 21, batter is the current reigning player of the week, etc. Sound The crowd noise still needs some work. It over and under reacts to everything. A player should not be booed if they struck out after going 4-4 earlier in the day. A large crowd should sound louder than a small crowd. A playoff game should sound much louder than a May game (example: the nuthouse that is Oakland). Sometimes I feel like reaching in to the computer and slapping the guy that shouts through the whole game "NO way! No way!" before going into a rift of simlish. Players could have intro songs when coming to bat which could be set in a field on the player profile (path name to MP3 file). Allow for us to set up custom noises for certain stadiums (train noise for Seattle, songs played for home runs by home player, firework noises, ...). Widgets! I love the widgets. Here some more widget ideas: * Live standings which update when a game in the league finishes * Live league leaders board * Live all time leaders board Anything that the game can track would be cool to have a widget for. __________________ Keith Gage

10-24-2013, 10:59 AM	#2
rpriske Hall Of Famer Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Spencerville, ON, Canada Posts: 25,832	While I am mostly indifferent to most of this (not opposed, just indifferent), I LOVE the idea of the LOOK of the screen chaning for play-off games! Yes!