Must Have Features of OOTPB to make it push MLB the Show

[RBPD5015]

I have decide to write this against possibly better judgment due to the fact that I feel this has been said a million times and might just go unnoticed.

This is going to be in reference to marketing and OOTP and where it stands.

I look at sports video games in these areas.
Very Easy and Casual to Very Geeky just like you wrote in your post Battists.
Lets look at the sports spectrum

Bigs (Baseball Game) – Very Arcadish – I doubt owners of these would enjoy OOTPB
MLB The Show – Arcadish and Sim Style – We could and should get these types of owners
Puresim – Since going the struggling Wolverine Studios they have given their game a face lift – maybe a bit more graphical then OOTPB
OOTPB – We all know what we got here


As baseball games go unless you want to go to a dos based txt game OOTPB is the least casual game out.


Ok my ideas that would put this game on a different level and begin to get more fans of MLB the Show.


#1) Hum vs Hum internet play, for the love of god I don’t know why this is still not in the series when Dave Koch has had it in for over 8 years. This is amazing; you are asking how to sell more copies and haven’t even touched this feature yet. Madden NFL is going to have this before you (Online Franchise that is). This would include VOIP of course.
#2) Make OOTPB a bigger community kind of like Steam did. I think you should load up the game and it becomes an icon on your desk. You then have an option to browse any of the leagues for openings, browse anyone online to try a hum vs hum series or single exhibition game. OOTPB could also have ladders and online tournaments in these lobbies. You of course would be able to easy see who is on and not on OOTPB at any time. You can add buddies IM, PM etc.
#3) I know you had inside the park baseball before. This is essentially Road to the Show in MLB the show or Road to Glory in NCAA football. You need to include it in the game and have leader boards.
#4) Browser based, so I can play on any computer at work, home or at a friend’s house. I know Tiger Woods online is trying this and it is working great. I know that this would require a lot of server space, but I feel it would be worth it in the long run.
#5) Official OOTPB leagues, where you could possible give prizes out like pay to play fantasy sports leagues do. You could charge 35 a team per year then do a fantasy draft and play the season out and Issue prizes to all playoff teams and of course World Series Champs. You could do this as a real league or single season league. Could you imagine how much you would work on your team if you could win let’s say 450 or 500 dollars on a 35 investment. You could also have different prize level leagues maybe you could find 12 guys to do 100. Then make a 12 man fantasy draft 162 game season etc.

I am not saying I don’t enjoy the new tweaks and features that you have put through each year, however I feel these are features that would put your game over the top.

Matt

[bubba22plus]

Ok, i know you're posting this as a what YOU want to see thread, and people below please do the same as i do, don't go all out flame wars. Those features would be nice, but i don't see it happening this or next version. The developers don't have as much money as you would think, Heck, they're even asking us for advertising ideas. So i would like those features, but there's many other improvements needed as well. So i would focus on them first if i were them.

Ah yes, and there's the fact that not everyone plays MLB the show.

[RBPD5015]

Bubba,
Ok I understand they dont have money for alot of stuff. Let me ask you this....

Does Dave Koch have money????? He has had Hum vs Hum play for years. This is the #1 feature that would send this game to another level. This has nothing to do about money....Maybe they dont know how to program this type of stuff. However until they add features like this it will never grow any more.

[kq76]

1) If you're asking about head to head, it's already possible.
2) I'd like to see that myself. I was thinking something like Getch's would turn into this. I was even thinking of trying to do it myself, but that's way too much for me to bite off. OOTP Online will probably go there anyway.
3) Yeah, I think including something like ITP into OOTP would definitely help. If they think not enough people would want it and would hate the idea of paying for it, then make it an optional expansion pack then.
4) I'm thinking that's where OOTP Online is probably going. Think web-based poker site. And if the gamblers give them their business then I think you can maybe kiss old OOTP goodbye.
5) See #4 except it's problematic if you're going to tie it to a modern league and charge the same to everyone. Why would someone want to pay the same to play the Pirates as the Red Sox? Hold an auction on the teams and I think it'd work.

EDIT: That said, I think some of us may be underestimating how different adding networking to a game is compared to what is already in OOTP. Think of it like asking a muralist to do a sculpture. Now it may be easy for a particular artist to go from one type of art form to another, but it's probably not so easy for others. And if Markus had difficulty with it before he may still have difficulty with it. Same thing with adding fancy graphics that show how the games play out. They just might need to get someone who's a real expert in those fields to get them into the game.

[RBPD5015]

Originally Posted by kq76

1)
5) See #4 except it's problematic if you're going to tie it to a modern league and charge the same to everyone. Why would someone want to pay the same to play the Pirates as the Red Sox? Hold an auction on the teams and I think it'd work.

Yes an Auction would work like

League Fee $15 (one time per owner) Team fee as follows

NY Yankees $35
Boston $35
Seattle $20
Kansas City $10
Pittsburgh $Free

Then if this league went into a second year you could have each team re-priced based on power rankings. 1-5 $35 6-10 $30.

Also each owner would know going into the creation of the league that if they chose Boston they most likely would be paying 30 or 35 each year.

Now if a owner quits halfway through the season his money is forfeited.




Or you could do a fantasy draft for all players so Team Names wouldn't matter.

[Bluenoser]

Originally Posted by RBPD5015

Bubba,
Ok I understand they dont have money for alot of stuff. Let me ask you this....

Does Dave Koch have money????? He has had Hum vs Hum play for years. This is the #1 feature that would send this game to another level. This has nothing to do about money....Maybe they dont know how to program this type of stuff. However until they add features like this it will never grow any more.

You're awful optimistic about that feature. I'm not knocking it at all, but I'll tell you right now it is nowhere near the #1 feature imo. This is something that I personally have zero interest in.

Just saying, good ideas, but keep an open mind. No two people think alike, and that is not going to be "The #1 feature" for a lot of people.

[bubba22plus]

Originally Posted by RBPD5015

Bubba,
Ok I understand they dont have money for alot of stuff. Let me ask you this....

Does Dave Koch have money????? He has had Hum vs Hum play for years. This is the #1 feature that would send this game to another level. This has nothing to do about money....Maybe they dont know how to program this type of stuff. However until they add features like this it will never grow any more.

I understand your reasoning, and i agree this is possible now that i consider it, but OOTP is not (at least to my knowledge) trying to be better than arcade games like MLB 09, these are two different genres we are talking here, sure it's the same sport, but that's where the resemblance ends. This game is trying to appease to a more "manager" oriented audience, if that's clear enough. No offense, but if Markus were to put in some features listed in this thread, for my own reasons i would not play OOTP. You can basically do the player mode thing if you get creative.

[RBPD5015]

Ok so you dont want to Inside the Park thing ok I understand that.

I not once said to make the game more aracdish. I just said to add certain features that would bring a bigger audience.

Matt

[Questdog]

I think all these ideas are nice and cute and all, but I want, first and foremost over anything, a baseball simulation that I can crawl in my hole and say to hades with the world and get lost in my my 'little' league (as my former wife like to call it).

Until this game makes THAT experience near perfect, it shouldn't be trying to become something new.....

[RBPD5015]

Quest,

I agree with you 100%, however there is an issue with that.

I do not believe there are enough people like you to make Markus enough money to keep the company viable.

I believe OOTPX is great I play in constantly.....However I think it has hit a wall.

I feel that without a major new feature OOTP will fail to break any sales records.

You as a long time OOTPB user should support this and understand this.

Even if this was done, I don't see Markus not adding new features also.

What people here seem to be forgetting is.....Markus is looking for new customers...Everyone who replied here Markus is not worried about he can bank on your hard earned money.

Even if you say like I did I am not getting OOTPB this year...you buy it anyways.

We need to figure out how to get gamers from other markets here.

Matt

[BMW]

If Markus is concentrating on an OOTP Online, then 1, 2, 4 and 5 are covered to some extent.

I have no interest in something that gives away "prizes" for winning. If you do that, then you are going to attract users where winning prizes is paramount. I want my money to go into generating a good product, not funding prizes. I haven't researched any online based baseball games, so I don't know if this is pie-in-the-sky though, it may be just part of the game to attract customers.

I think that setting The Show as a goalpost is dubious, but at the same time, I don't see any of those suggestions really taking something that is even close to being exclusively from The Show.

I was probably satisfied with OOTP 8. The game has continued to get better, and I wouldn't buy it if it didn't seem to have some interesting new features. But I think getting more complex must be a diminishing return.

Unless Markus gets feverishly excited by such things or has some kind of Obsessive Compulsive Baseball Disorder that compels him to program, I just don't see where the game makes any real gains from making the Waiver/Option system slightly more customizable, or providing another slightly different version of the minor league DL. But I won't deny that the folks who push for these things have been instrumental in making the game as complex and customizable as it is today.

So there may be a point where Markus needs to go in a different direction, and this may be OOTP Online.

I do hate rosters though.

[Antonin]

Originally Posted by Questdog

I think all these ideas are nice and cute and all, but I want, first and foremost over anything, a baseball simulation that I can crawl in my hole and say to hades with the world and get lost in my my 'little' league (as my former wife like to call it).

Until this game makes THAT experience near perfect, it shouldn't be trying to become something new.....

I was going to write a very long list of points responding to the fellow who started this thread, but Quest has said it perfectly. On a dreary winter day, or a rainy summer day, I like nothing more than to launch OOTP baseball and get lost in my little baseball universe. Wheeling and dealing. Bringing guys up, sending guys down. Developing prospects. Putting together killer lineups. Doing things my way, at my own pace.

If I want to 'play' with other humans, I'm in a nice little online league.

I rather like OOTP baseball the way it is and I would prefer that it continue to move in the direction it is moving.

Matt, a vast number of new customers for OOTP would be nice, but maybe the type of customers you are referring to are customers with a different demographic profile. Customers for another type of game. I really don't think OOTP should try to be like other games. People who like the sort of features found in those different-demographic games might get more out of simply playing those games.

Inside the park? Browser-based? Pay-to-play? Sorry; not my cup of tea at all.

[damientheomen3]

just saying, MLB the show is horridly bad

[RBPD5015]

The pay to play thing has some of you a bit confused. I think you are thinking I want this a pay to play game. Either I am not being clear or you are being to close minded.

Let me explain it better. The game stays the same as it is, you dont even need hum vs hum internet play to create this.

If you could go to a site and buy a ootp team just like you do in your free leagues would you do it?

You would be the owner and it would be like real Fantasy Baseball.

This would just be an additional feature. If you dont want it good for you dont use it. Problem is I bet all of you would try it eventually especially if they had numerous league entry levels. Maybe you dont want to pay 50 for a single season, but would you pay 5?

Look at online poker and sports gambling. This is one of the biggest markets in the world.

Ok so you have fun in your league thats cool, would you pay more attention if the world series brought you 500 dollars. HELL YEAH and dont say you wouldn't love it.

Problem now is although you could run a league like that how could you trust the owner of the league he would pay the winners.

Also extra money would go to Markus for continually development.

As I have been writing and defending this idea I am liking it even more and wanted to try it third party.

All you goofs would be checking the website no matter where you were on a regular basis if you were in the playoff hunt.

Matt

[RBPD5015]

30 teams $5 per team ($150 total) entry fee per season
using preseason power polls or payrolls (Whatever you think is better)
1-5 (A rated teams) ($25 per team) ($125 total)
6-15 (B) (15) (150)
16-25 (C) (10) (100)
26-30 (D) (5) (25)

Total money = $550

Money Divided (House take $50)
500 left to divide

WS Champs (250)
WS Looser (100)
Div Winner (25) each (150)

WS Champ and Looser could get both Div Winner money and WS money.

What do you guys think? Do you think this sounds interesting?

You then freeze the game after the WS until all teams pay there reentry fee.

Matt

[Bluenoser]

Nm

[RBPD5015]

Bruce,

I apologize if you think I was throwing insults. I just get frustrated that some people seem to think OOTPX is perfect. I love the game just the way it is I play it all day and night. I think that is where me and you are the same.

However it seems you are interested in keeping it just the same? I would be curious to hear what you would like to see in the next version.

This thread although it was discussing features to get a bigger audience, I think it is more important to know I was just trying to come up with ideas that could help OOTPX get bigger by targeting other big MLB audiences.

So no I am not being close minded if Markus didnt want ideas on how to target new audiences then he wouldn't have a 7 page thread about just that.

If you do not like the aspect of joining a pay league thats cool? Although I am sure you wouldnt mind it if it gave Markus more money?

If you still want to stay in solo or free leagues go ahead thats the core of the game. Once a new owner joins a pay league and gets his but smoked he will have to learn the game inside out by diving deep into the game.

The Fantasy and Gambling markets are so huge we would be ignorant not to look at them.

Matt

[Questdog]

Originally Posted by BMW

If Markus is concentrating on an OOTP Online, then 1, 2, 4 and 5 are covered to some extent.

I have no interest in something that gives away "prizes" for winning. If you do that, then you are going to attract users where winning prizes is paramount. I want my money to go into generating a good product, not funding prizes. I haven't researched any online based baseball games, so I don't know if this is pie-in-the-sky though, it may be just part of the game to attract customers.

I think that setting The Show as a goalpost is dubious, but at the same time, I don't see any of those suggestions really taking something that is even close to being exclusively from The Show.

I was probably satisfied with OOTP 8. The game has continued to get better, and I wouldn't buy it if it didn't seem to have some interesting new features. But I think getting more complex must be a diminishing return.

Unless Markus gets feverishly excited by such things or has some kind of Obsessive Compulsive Baseball Disorder that compels him to program, I just don't see where the game makes any real gains from making the Waiver/Option system slightly more customizable, or providing another slightly different version of the minor league DL. But I won't deny that the folks who push for these things have been instrumental in making the game as complex and customizable as it is today.

So there may be a point where Markus needs to go in a different direction, and this may be OOTP Online.

I do hate rosters though.

I would agree with all you say except for one small point....

OOTP is HORRIBLE at simulating real baseball and especially real baseball players!

Granted, it is better at this than any game I have ever seen and it is good enough to make me think it might someday make me forget I'm playing with a computer.....

But to say that it has even come close to all it can accomplish in the simple arena of simulating baseball behavior is far fetched.....

[kq76]

Originally Posted by RBPD5015

I do not believe there are enough people like you to make Markus enough money to keep the company viable.

If that were really true, I really don't think we would have gotten to OOTPX. Heck, we probably wouldn't have even gotten to OOTP5. The game is without a doubt viable going in the same direction it has. I've seen nothing to prove this is not the case. Are Markus and co. becoming multi-millionaires off of OOTP as it is? Eh, probably not, but if he hasn't gotten a real job by now then he's most likely at least living comfortably. They're going in this direction to make more money, plain and simple. Maybe they're hoping they can make so much money that they can hire more people to put enough resources to OOTP Online and old OOTP both, but the bottom line is it's still about making more, not just enough, money.

Originally Posted by RBPD5015

I believe OOTPX is great I play in constantly.....However I think it has hit a wall.

Browsing the suggestions from time to time, I don't agree. There are plenty of requests on people's wishlists that would get them to get OOTP11.

Originally Posted by RBPD5015

I feel that without a major new feature OOTP will fail to break any sales records.

That may or may not be true, but you don't need to break records every year to be happy in life.

Originally Posted by RBPD5015

You as a long time OOTPB user should support this and understand this.

Even if this was done, I don't see Markus not adding new features also.

What people here seem to be forgetting is.....Markus is looking for new customers...Everyone who replied here Markus is not worried about he can bank on your hard earned money.

Here's where you're the most off. Sure, there may be a decent enough chunk of people here who would be interested in OOTP Online and willing to pay the monthly fee whatever is, but there's probably a much greater % of the fanbase that would say, "forget it, I'm not interested". And for every one of us he loses he could very well get enough from new customers to easily make up for it. Personally, I have no problem with OOTP just making gobs of money. Where I do have a problem with it is if OOTP Online starts cannibalizing old OOTP and we start losing the existing community. Maybe OOTP Online will take off and they will stay committed to developing old OOTP at the same rate as it has been going, but that's only a maybe. If OOTP Online takes off they could very well just say forget about old OOTP, let's focus on this new cashcow OOTP Online. If it's only about the money then that's all well and good for them I suppose, but for a lot of us we're left with OOTPX and waiting for another game to catch up with it. For all of our gripes about the game, many of us are quite happy with it. Sure, maybe it's not that risky of a move if he forsakes us because if OOTP Online takes off it could maybe make him a lot more than what we could ever give him, but still, we're probably for the most part a different target market and if it takes off where's the incentive for him to give us customization nuts as much attention as he's given us in the past?

Originally Posted by RBPD5015

We need to figure out how to get gamers from other markets here.

Fair enough, but be careful what you wish for.

[Questdog]

Originally Posted by kq76

Fair enough, but be careful what you wish for.

Here! Here!