Completely overwhelmed, temporarily scared off. PLEASE HELP

PleaseKeepHarvey · 07-12-2015, 09:58 PM

For starters, I am an avid baseball fan and in no way am I new to baseball itself or any of its rules, stats, etc. But what I am new to is OOTP and I am scared and overwhelmed.

I bought the game today and thought, "How difficult can it be?" little did I know the answer to that was.. EXTREMELY.. or at least to begin with.

I was just wondering if there were any tips or something to get me started, I love baseball (especially sabermetrics) and really do not want to give up on this game because it seems amazing once you get into it.

Peregrine · 07-12-2015, 10:12 PM

First make sure to keep the manual handy for any specific questions - the search feature is really handy.

Out of the Park Baseball Manual

Also I recommend starting small - jumping into an entire full MLB setup and running your own team can be very intimidating. I started with a small fictional league and minimal amount of minors so you can keep things small and learn your way up. You don't even need to run your team at first, just play in commissioner mode so you can see what happens and how everything works.

Bookmarks! I found at first it took me a while to remember how to get back to a cool screen I found - that's totally fine. Any page you like, just bookmark it (with the Star icon on the top left of the screen) and you can come back to it any time even though you forgot where you accessed it from.

Cody8200 made some nice video tutorials for the game a few years ago - they apply to an earlier version of OOTP so not everything will look the same but it's a good way to look at some things from a basic level.

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...w-players.html

actionjackson · 07-12-2015, 10:25 PM

Welcome to the boards. I agree with Peregrine's starting points, and would add that you should keep asking questions, even if you think they're stupid/silly because that's the only way you can get better at this game, and there are a lot of helpful folks around here.

IsaacR · 07-12-2015, 11:22 PM

Also, don't get discouraged. Even experienced OOTPers often have losing seasons.

battists · 07-12-2015, 11:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peregrine

Also I recommend starting small - jumping into an entire full MLB setup and running your own team can be very intimidating. I started with a small fictional league and minimal amount of minors so you can keep things small and learn your way up. You don't even need to run your team at first, just play in commissioner mode so you can see what happens and how everything works.

Couldn't agree with this more.

Personally, I would suggest you start with the US Baseball League. It's a quickstart that comes with the game, so from the main page select "New Quickstart" then pick US Baseball.

The main differences between that and the MLB are:

US Baseball has only 24 teams in the majors, MLB has 30.
US Baseball has 5 levels of minors, MLB has 18.

At the end of the day, that means the world of US Baseball has only 144 teams, whereas MLB has 262.

Like Peregrine suggested, I would recommend you "dumb down" your game a bit. By default, you control EVERYTHING, and it can certainly be overwhelming. Some ways you can simplify include:

Take over one team as JUST a manager, not a GM. That way you'll have control over lineups and pitching rotations, but won't have to worry about free agents, drafting, trades, and so on.
Take over one team as JUST the GM. That way you'll deal with personnel, but won't have to worry about lineups and pitching rotations. (Personally, I would recommend managing first.)
As Peregrine suggested, rather than joining a team, you could just play in commissioner mode without any team affiliation at first, and simulate bit by bit and look around to get your feet wet.
Another possibility is to create your own teeny-tiny fictional league and practice with that a bit.
You could simplify your league further by turning off financials, or the scouting/coaching systems.
If you DO decide to manage or GM a major league club, delegate all of your minor league stuff through the manager settings.

One other benefit of starting with a fictional league / US Baseball is that playing the MLB league almost encourages bad habits. Because people know MLB players, they tend to have expectations. But OOTP is just a simulation, and while players should perform similarly to their real-world counterparts, it's not a guarantee. With real players, instead of looking at the information OOTP provides, players tend to "cheat" and think, "Well, I know so-and-so will be good, because he is in real life." Using fictional forces you to look at the information OOTP provides.

And of course, let us know if you have any questions!

Good luck!

stl jason · 07-13-2015, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IsaacR

Also, don't get discouraged. Even experienced OOTPers often have losing seasons.

and not just losing seasons, but failed leagues... I've lost count of how many leagues I've setup and then abandoned after a decade or less because I screwed up something in the setup... but (to me) that's half the fun... poking around the inner workings and seeing what a tweak here and there actually does...

TribeFanInNC · 07-13-2015, 09:25 AM

I think Peregrine and Battists have provided good sound advice. If you are going to setup your own league, keep it small and simple. Like 16 teams with 2 minor levels.

That said, I'm going to provide the exact opposite advice. I think you SHOULD start with a full MLB setup. Just take your favorite team and play through a season or two to get the hang of the game without really having to learn new players or new rules. It's just like real baseball for the most part. This advice is somewhat assuming you follow MLB and have a team you know somewhat well.

To me, the most intimidating part is league setup. It is very hard to know what all of those options are for at first. With the MLB setup, all of that is taken care of and you just have to push a button to start.

That said, if you find managing 7 different teams in your organization the most intimidating part, then take the advice given above and start small.

PleaseKeepHarvey · 07-13-2015, 04:35 PM

Just want to give big thanks to all that have replied! Just read now.. Special thanks to Battists and Peregrine for their advice.

07-12-2015, 09:58 PM	#1
PleaseKeepHarvey Bat Boy Join Date: Jul 2015 Posts: 2	Completely overwhelmed, temporarily scared off. PLEASE HELP For starters, I am an avid baseball fan and in no way am I new to baseball itself or any of its rules, stats, etc. But what I am new to is OOTP and I am scared and overwhelmed. I bought the game today and thought, "How difficult can it be?" little did I know the answer to that was.. EXTREMELY.. or at least to begin with. I was just wondering if there were any tips or something to get me started, I love baseball (especially sabermetrics) and really do not want to give up on this game because it seems amazing once you get into it.

07-12-2015, 11:22 PM	#4
IsaacR Major Leagues Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Bowie, Maryland Posts: 464	Also, don't get discouraged. Even experienced OOTPers often have losing seasons. __________________ The Oriole Way - My Dynasty as the Orioles GM Online Leagues: SBL - Colorado Rockies PATP - Montreal Royals

07-12-2015, 10:12 PM	#2
Peregrine All Star Reserve Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Cary, North Carolina Posts: 635	First make sure to keep the manual handy for any specific questions - the search feature is really handy. Out of the Park Baseball Manual Also I recommend starting small - jumping into an entire full MLB setup and running your own team can be very intimidating. I started with a small fictional league and minimal amount of minors so you can keep things small and learn your way up. You don't even need to run your team at first, just play in commissioner mode so you can see what happens and how everything works. Bookmarks! I found at first it took me a while to remember how to get back to a cool screen I found - that's totally fine. Any page you like, just bookmark it (with the Star icon on the top left of the screen) and you can come back to it any time even though you forgot where you accessed it from. Cody8200 made some nice video tutorials for the game a few years ago - they apply to an earlier version of OOTP so not everything will look the same but it's a good way to look at some things from a basic level. http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...w-players.html

07-12-2015, 10:25 PM	#3
actionjackson Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Toronto, ON Posts: 6,181	Welcome to the boards. I agree with Peregrine's starting points, and would add that you should keep asking questions, even if you think they're stupid/silly because that's the only way you can get better at this game, and there are a lot of helpful folks around here.

07-13-2015, 09:25 AM	#7
TribeFanInNC Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 4,019	I think Peregrine and Battists have provided good sound advice. If you are going to setup your own league, keep it small and simple. Like 16 teams with 2 minor levels. That said, I'm going to provide the exact opposite advice. I think you SHOULD start with a full MLB setup. Just take your favorite team and play through a season or two to get the hang of the game without really having to learn new players or new rules. It's just like real baseball for the most part. This advice is somewhat assuming you follow MLB and have a team you know somewhat well. To me, the most intimidating part is league setup. It is very hard to know what all of those options are for at first. With the MLB setup, all of that is taken care of and you just have to push a button to start. That said, if you find managing 7 different teams in your organization the most intimidating part, then take the advice given above and start small.

07-13-2015, 04:35 PM	#8
PleaseKeepHarvey Bat Boy Join Date: Jul 2015 Posts: 2	Just want to give big thanks to all that have replied! Just read now.. Special thanks to Battists and Peregrine for their advice.