Discovering OOTP long after purchase

cards2468 · 03-19-2009, 11:30 PM

I've owned OOTP9 since last summer, when I bought a license after longing for the days of playing in an online DMB league that used real MLB players. I had so much fun back then. I got into a league that was very hard to get into by taking a job as an assistant GM for a failing Pirates team. After I helped turn the team around, I was offered a GM job with the Braves. Soon I started getting very heavily involved in real life baseball, that I had to give up my spot because I felt I could not commit the time to it that it deserved.

I don't have much free time now, but when I bought OOTP9, it was so that I could once again be a GM for an online team. I caught on with a start up league looking for GM's where I handled the Cardinals. I did alright in the first year, but the league folder and I lost interest.

Recently my laptop has been sent off for repairs, and with the start of the baseball season at hand, I started feeling those craving again to be involved in an online team. I was dying for my laptop, which had OOTP9 on it, to come back so that I could play. I ended up spending my free time on my girl friend's laptop and using my blackberry to read the forums here. I always thought fictional leagues and rosters were ridiculous and that not having real names would just defeat the purpose, but I kept reading and reading about different experiences, and I started having a passion to experience what the team from back home goes through. The Florence Freedom of the Frontier League, which have very little money, and a roster that changes nearly daily as players are cut, signed, traded, and finding their way to affiliated ball. I wanted to experience relying solely on money and statistics to make decision rather than the influence of subjectiveness I experience when MLB teams and real players are at my control.

My laptop has returned, and I decided to create my own "baseball universe". I have a real MLB and affiliated teams that go along with it and many international leagues and winter leagues, plus I added the Frontier League which I designed myself to make the experience as real as possible. I started the simulation in 1993 when the Frontier League was born, and am simming up until present day to build a history in the Frontier League with the use of fictional players. With as often as rosters change in the Ftontier League, only a handful of current players do I recognize anyway, so going fictional made the creation very easy. I am excited to start my new job managing the Florence Freedom, and if I receive a new calling, possibly moving on from there. I had no idea when I bought this game that I would ever do anything like this. All I wanted was something to simulate MLB games for online use, instead I found an incredibly in depth game that is just as fun without dedicated online opponents. With my busy schedule, I can actually maintain teams by having the flexibility to control time, itself.

kq76 · 03-20-2009, 02:55 AM

Nice story. I'm glad you found OOTP again and that you're having this new found appreciation of fictional rosters. They're my favourite by far.

At first when you said Florence and was describing how the rosters changed daily I thought you may have been talking about this league in Italy I read about. "Frontier League" clued me in that it was probably American though and then I found out from googling that it's Florence, Kentucky, not Italy.

cards2468 · 03-20-2009, 08:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kq76

Nice story. I'm glad you found OOTP again and that you're having this new found appreciation of fictional rosters. They're my favourite by far.

At first when you said Florence and was describing how the rosters changed daily I thought you may have been talking about this league in Italy I read about. "Frontier League" clued me in that it was probably American though and then I found out from googling that it's Florence, Kentucky, not Italy.

lol, nope, just south of Cincinnati

I don't have the league to the date I want to play just yet, but by the afternoon I should be close, I'm excited to play.

brewertoby · 03-20-2009, 09:07 AM

It's stories like these that have made it tough for me to not buy OOTP 9 while I wait for the release of 10. Great story. I envision myself having similar experiences. One recurring day dream...had an awful day at work, come home and kids are bouncing off the walls toys scattered throughout the entire house, wife is at her wit's end, dogs are barking. Finally after cleaning everything up, settling down the dogs, and bathing the children and getting them to bed, I sit down to the calming influence of watching Brewer baseball on TV with the laptop on my lap losing myself in some league that I've created or joined and looking for the next greatest player to walk the earth.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a day dream to finish.

Raidergoo · 03-20-2009, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kq76

"Frontier League" clued me in that it was probably American though and then I found out from googling that it's Florence, Kentucky, not Italy.

That's Florence, y'all!

cards2468 · 03-20-2009, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raidergoo

That's Florence, y'all!

Heck yea it is. A couple seasons ago they had a Florence Y'all Watertower bobble head game. My parents are season ticket holders so they got a couple, they're pretty awesome.

rasnell · 03-20-2009, 02:20 PM

Glad you're loving this great game, Cards2468. I live just down the road from you in Frankfort, Ky.

cards2468 · 03-20-2009, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rasnell

Glad you're loving this great game, Cards2468. I live just down the road from you in Frankfort, Ky.

I'm in StL now going to SLU, but my parents are still in Northern Kentucky. You know, I've lived in 6 different states, a few different large cities, and yet Northern Kentucky is still my favorite out of all of them.

cards2468 · 03-22-2009, 02:06 PM

I went unemployed to speed up the simming process, and when I reached 2009, I looked at available jobs. No openings in the Frontier League, but there was a manager opening for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows that I accepted. When I was little my dad occasionally did business in Japan, and when he went on a 2 week long business trip there, he came back with a Swallows hat for me as a gift, so they instantly became my favorite Japanese team. Now with my first managerial job, I decided to try it out with an exhibition game against the rivaled Giants. I got 7 strong shutout innings out of my starter, then pulled him at 100 pitches in between innings, brought in my best righty out of the pen to take care of the 8th. I was up 3-0 going into the ninth, but having the 2-3-4 hitters up for the Giants with the 3 hitter being a strong lefty with bad vs. lhp splits and the 4 hitter being a switch hitter, I let my rhp stay in to get the first out, then went to my lefty specialist to finish off the last 2 outs. Won 3-0.

This was the first time I managed a game in OOTP9, but it was a lot of fun. The funny thing is, I've always had a strong passion for baseball, but growing up, I've never really enjoyed baseball video games. I guess the experience of hitting a ball and making a pitch in real life could never be simulated for me by clicking on buttons while staring as a screen. OOTP9 is the only way I could ever enjoy a baseball video game. It doesn't rely on me moving a joy stick to locate a fastball or click a combination of buttons to make a double play, but rather relies on my baseball intelligence and intuition to simulate baseball.

Bruin26 · 03-22-2009, 06:16 PM

brewertoby, I am in the same boat, well not the kidsd and coming home form a hard day at work. I am now disabled and with way too much time on my hands so my day dreaming comes from a different source. But it is making it hard for me to just wait for 10 and wanting just to buy 9 so I can get started.

As far as enjoying minor league baseball, that is one of my best memories from childhood as my dad had season tickets for the San Bernardino Spirit, now called the Inland Empire 66ers though. Saw a lot of great players come through the California League during that time. Including guys like Piazza that played for the Bakersfield team at that time. The best to come through San Bernardino while we had tickets was easy Ken Griffey Jr. for a half season before he moved up to AA at the Cal League All Star break. The next year he was playing center field for the Mariners. I was actually all set to have the GM get his autograph on one of the two baseball cards I had for him at the time. The day I brought it to the park so the GM could get the signature was the day he was called up and was already on his way to his AA team. As a young kid I was pretty crushed. I live in Idaho now and near by in Spokane WA there is a minor league team in a short season league, yet I have yet to make it to a game to check it out for various reasons.

Not sure why I posted all that, but it doesn't get much better than watching minor league baseball in person and watching young kids come through that turn into HOFers in the majors and getting to say you watched them back when... Playing simulated sports games brings back those memories for sure.

03-19-2009, 11:30 PM	#1
cards2468 Bat Boy Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 5	Discovering OOTP long after purchase I've owned OOTP9 since last summer, when I bought a license after longing for the days of playing in an online DMB league that used real MLB players. I had so much fun back then. I got into a league that was very hard to get into by taking a job as an assistant GM for a failing Pirates team. After I helped turn the team around, I was offered a GM job with the Braves. Soon I started getting very heavily involved in real life baseball, that I had to give up my spot because I felt I could not commit the time to it that it deserved. I don't have much free time now, but when I bought OOTP9, it was so that I could once again be a GM for an online team. I caught on with a start up league looking for GM's where I handled the Cardinals. I did alright in the first year, but the league folder and I lost interest. Recently my laptop has been sent off for repairs, and with the start of the baseball season at hand, I started feeling those craving again to be involved in an online team. I was dying for my laptop, which had OOTP9 on it, to come back so that I could play. I ended up spending my free time on my girl friend's laptop and using my blackberry to read the forums here. I always thought fictional leagues and rosters were ridiculous and that not having real names would just defeat the purpose, but I kept reading and reading about different experiences, and I started having a passion to experience what the team from back home goes through. The Florence Freedom of the Frontier League, which have very little money, and a roster that changes nearly daily as players are cut, signed, traded, and finding their way to affiliated ball. I wanted to experience relying solely on money and statistics to make decision rather than the influence of subjectiveness I experience when MLB teams and real players are at my control. My laptop has returned, and I decided to create my own "baseball universe". I have a real MLB and affiliated teams that go along with it and many international leagues and winter leagues, plus I added the Frontier League which I designed myself to make the experience as real as possible. I started the simulation in 1993 when the Frontier League was born, and am simming up until present day to build a history in the Frontier League with the use of fictional players. With as often as rosters change in the Ftontier League, only a handful of current players do I recognize anyway, so going fictional made the creation very easy. I am excited to start my new job managing the Florence Freedom, and if I receive a new calling, possibly moving on from there. I had no idea when I bought this game that I would ever do anything like this. All I wanted was something to simulate MLB games for online use, instead I found an incredibly in depth game that is just as fun without dedicated online opponents. With my busy schedule, I can actually maintain teams by having the flexibility to control time, itself. Last edited by cards2468; 03-19-2009 at 11:32 PM.

03-20-2009, 02:55 AM	#2
kq76 Global Moderator Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 12,022	Nice story. I'm glad you found OOTP again and that you're having this new found appreciation of fictional rosters. They're my favourite by far. At first when you said Florence and was describing how the rosters changed daily I thought you may have been talking about this league in Italy I read about. "Frontier League" clued me in that it was probably American though and then I found out from googling that it's Florence, Kentucky, not Italy. __________________ My OOTP Wishlist \| My FAQ List OOTP Wiki \| Your Recommended Team Nicknames, By City (A Crowdsourced Project) For Beta/Devs: Full screen (1920x1080)

03-20-2009, 09:07 AM	#4
brewertoby Minors (Double A) Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: CC Texas Posts: 138	It's stories like these that have made it tough for me to not buy OOTP 9 while I wait for the release of 10. Great story. I envision myself having similar experiences. One recurring day dream...had an awful day at work, come home and kids are bouncing off the walls toys scattered throughout the entire house, wife is at her wit's end, dogs are barking. Finally after cleaning everything up, settling down the dogs, and bathing the children and getting them to bed, I sit down to the calming influence of watching Brewer baseball on TV with the laptop on my lap losing myself in some league that I've created or joined and looking for the next greatest player to walk the earth. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a day dream to finish. __________________ Any time OOTP makes an AI mistake, I will just imagine that Ned Yost was coaching the other team.

03-20-2009, 02:20 PM	#7
rasnell Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Frankfort, Kentucky Posts: 3,746	Glad you're loving this great game, Cards2468. I live just down the road from you in Frankfort, Ky. __________________ Charlie Root won more games for the Cubs than any pitcher (201), yet was remembered for one pitch to Babe Ruth. Find out more about the 1929 World Series in my book, "Root for the Cubs: Charlie Root and the 1929 Chicago Cubs." See the web site at www.rootforthecubs.com. The book is at http://www.amazon.com/Root-Cubs-Char...t+for+the+cubs. Beta tester, OOTP 2007-2023 and iOOTP 2011-2014.

03-22-2009, 06:16 PM	#10
Bruin26 Bat Boy Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 6	brewertoby, I am in the same boat, well not the kidsd and coming home form a hard day at work. I am now disabled and with way too much time on my hands so my day dreaming comes from a different source. But it is making it hard for me to just wait for 10 and wanting just to buy 9 so I can get started. As far as enjoying minor league baseball, that is one of my best memories from childhood as my dad had season tickets for the San Bernardino Spirit, now called the Inland Empire 66ers though. Saw a lot of great players come through the California League during that time. Including guys like Piazza that played for the Bakersfield team at that time. The best to come through San Bernardino while we had tickets was easy Ken Griffey Jr. for a half season before he moved up to AA at the Cal League All Star break. The next year he was playing center field for the Mariners. I was actually all set to have the GM get his autograph on one of the two baseball cards I had for him at the time. The day I brought it to the park so the GM could get the signature was the day he was called up and was already on his way to his AA team. As a young kid I was pretty crushed. I live in Idaho now and near by in Spokane WA there is a minor league team in a short season league, yet I have yet to make it to a game to check it out for various reasons. Not sure why I posted all that, but it doesn't get much better than watching minor league baseball in person and watching young kids come through that turn into HOFers in the majors and getting to say you watched them back when... Playing simulated sports games brings back those memories for sure. Last edited by Bruin26; 03-22-2009 at 06:24 PM.

03-22-2009, 02:06 PM	#9
cards2468 Bat Boy Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 5	I went unemployed to speed up the simming process, and when I reached 2009, I looked at available jobs. No openings in the Frontier League, but there was a manager opening for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows that I accepted. When I was little my dad occasionally did business in Japan, and when he went on a 2 week long business trip there, he came back with a Swallows hat for me as a gift, so they instantly became my favorite Japanese team. Now with my first managerial job, I decided to try it out with an exhibition game against the rivaled Giants. I got 7 strong shutout innings out of my starter, then pulled him at 100 pitches in between innings, brought in my best righty out of the pen to take care of the 8th. I was up 3-0 going into the ninth, but having the 2-3-4 hitters up for the Giants with the 3 hitter being a strong lefty with bad vs. lhp splits and the 4 hitter being a switch hitter, I let my rhp stay in to get the first out, then went to my lefty specialist to finish off the last 2 outs. Won 3-0. This was the first time I managed a game in OOTP9, but it was a lot of fun. The funny thing is, I've always had a strong passion for baseball, but growing up, I've never really enjoyed baseball video games. I guess the experience of hitting a ball and making a pitch in real life could never be simulated for me by clicking on buttons while staring as a screen. OOTP9 is the only way I could ever enjoy a baseball video game. It doesn't rely on me moving a joy stick to locate a fastball or click a combination of buttons to make a double play, but rather relies on my baseball intelligence and intuition to simulate baseball.