Survey on How you Play

[ignats75]

So, I've been thinking about how I utilize this game. I am currently running three different saves. 2 historical and 1 Current. In the Historical Leagues I'm running as manager only (the first time I've tried this and I like it). The Modern save, is a career GM only save. So this way I get to experience all the different perspectives this game can provide. Plus I'm running 3 PTs but in all three cases without buying additional points. So I'm curious,

1. How many and what type of saves do you currently have going?
2. How many different ways have you played the game and what is your favorite?
3. What single improvement would you like to see happen?

I should add, the single biggest improvement I would like to see is the ability to print reports.

[OrangeP47]

I have 2 saves, plus PT, but I started a new job a few weeks ago and only have time for 1 right now. One save is a Dynasty where I'm GM only but crafting a story and evolving a fictional historical league from 1871-present. That's actually a lot of work since I'm in the "drivers seat" of league expansion and have to plan out how things would work and do research, but it is very rewarding too. I also have a "fun" save which was a 2020 start on OOTP21 (using full season not covid) where I also play GM only and just kinda go where things take me. My plan for it is to go as long as possible, even so far as creating new characters to replace my current one when he gets old (his children, more or less) to take over the save, and also make heavy use of the game-driven league evolution features. I really like how leagues can evolve in this game, and wish all management sims have it, it's really a feature I'd want in every kind of management sim, sports or otherwise. I know the AI driven evolution isn't perfect, though, so I do "tweak" it a little to make it a little more realistic or fix anything that's just downright bad, or conversely just go the extra mile and download some graphics for new teams etc. It's a lot less work than the other save, and I get to have fun with the game creating a story *for me* instead of me creating a story for other people (though I'm documenting the story pretty extensively just for my own notes).

I'm tempted to play as a manger, I haven't done that yet, but I just don't have the time yet, and I feel as if I'd be a disaster (even more so than I am already). If there was one thing I'd add to the game, it's probably even more screens of stats and figures, especially on the management/financial side (not necessarily the actual baseball side, though I feel some slight improvements could be made there too). I know we already have a ton in game, to the point that it can sometimes be overwhelming, and that's really great, but tbh sometimes it's just not organized the most effectively, and when it comes to business decisions (which as GM only is a lot of what I'm doing) it's really difficult be fully informed as I need to be.

[ignats75]

Yeah, its as a GM that I really want to be able to print out reports. i.e. weekly or monthly minor league stats for my minor league teams. It would be easier to do comparisons if i could lay the stats side by side. But any report worth having on the screen is worth getting a hard copy so it can be analyzed.

[OrangeP47]

Yeah, I'll preface this by saying some of the things I'm about to mention you *can* find currently, but they're hard to find and I always have to hunt around for them. I want more info on things like media contracts, market size, fan engagement, the luxury tax options, and how all these things are playing into each other. Another thing for some things are some line graphs. We have a few bar charts, and they're passable, but some line graphs for some other things would be really nice.

[KBLover]

Originally Posted by ignats75

How many and what type of saves do you currently have going?

I have four, technically, but two I focus on and are the ones I consider myself playing.

The first is one from OOTP18 that's been played and carried over each version to now. It started as a current year MLB save and is now basically fictional players with a MLB-ish setup (I leave evolution on and...there's been some changes lol)

The second is all fictional across the board with MLB 2019 stats as the initial basis.

Originally Posted by ignats75

How many different ways have you played the game and what is your favorite?

Loving the pure fictional league. I'm always curious and excited to see what talents will enter the league via the draft and IAFA, how they'll develop, etc.

But of course that means I'm basically loving both main saves equally and it's why they've dominated my team in OOTP 22.

Originally Posted by ignats75

What single improvement would you like to see happen?

Targeted/directed player development. Whether it's from coaching tendency (groundballer pitching coaches preach sinkers and forkballs while trying to lower flyball rates, finesse pitches preach change-ups and breaking balls while trying to improve command and movement, contact batting coaches try to increase line-drive rate and BABIP and lower K%, etc), or if we're allowed to do more targeted development (I want every pitcher in rookie ball to learn the knuckleball. I don't call myself "Knuckleball Lover" for nothing, dammit). That's what I want to see.

[Izz]

My favorite way is fictional and as a pure spectator, as in, I'll get the settings how I like it and just watch the league progress

[curt]

[QUOTE=ignats75;4789324]So, I've been thinking about how I utilize this game. I am currently running three different saves. 2 historical and 1 Current. In the Historical Leagues I'm running as manager only (the first time I've tried this and I like it). The Modern save, is a career GM only save. So this way I get to experience all the different perspectives this game can provide. Plus I'm running 3 PTs but in all three cases without buying additional points. So I'm curious,[LIST=1]
[*]How many and what type of saves do you currently have going?
Just one, my fictional MLB league, all MLB teams with some Canadian teams added.
[*]How many different ways have you played the game and what is your favorite?

I play PBP, every game. 3rd season now with this league
[*]What single improvement would you like to see happen?

I am content with the program as is but I would like to see the 3D animation improve since I watch every game.

[AdequateRandomGaming]

2 saves here.
One I play like you - historical Expos save as a Manager only (I started to play Manager only about 5 versions ago and will never go back - this is the most challenging way to play). I also play out all my games.

Second is a fictional universe set in 1980, 4 leagues total with Stingy Pro/Rel (only 1 up/down where applicable). Top 3 leagues are a single division with respectively 10, 12 and 18 teams. Lowest level is set exactly like Major leagues (30 teams with interleague), minus the minors (I use reserve rosters). I also play out all my games there and of course, am manager only, and have decided to let dynamic evolution on. I like to see the kind of chaos it can create to be honest.

As for improvements...I won't mince my words here - I really wish they would flesh out existing features to make them great instead of having them feel like placeholders. Example - Owner Goals need work. The idea is really good, implementation has been needing attention from the get go. Lots of other features like that could use more fleshing out.

[spike1717]

I like to play out the games but I can only handle one save at a time. Usually modern.

[The Game]

I have several saves at the moment.


EBL vs MLB - my 10 year save dating back to OOTP 11, re-imagined on 13. Started with 1999 MLB added various leagues throughout the years. Now in 2035.


ASPBL - All Sox Players Baseball League. All White Sox players ever all in one league. In season 1.


We Are The Champions - Taking various White Sox players, put them on a team and see how many rings i can win. i have a cheap Owner, so i will lose 1/2 my team to FA after this year and replace them with new Sox players.


Sox Baseball League - Sox players A-Z 12 teams filled with sox players. In year 2.
I have bot a RD that is on hold and the white Sox 2021 which i havent touched in 2 months.


I also have 2 PT teams.

[cheo25]

One current save -- 1973 in an MLB historical league that started in 1970. Real-life transactions until I get to free agency in the fall of 1976. Then every player will be eligible to become a free agent every year.

I do real-time simulation at 300 for each weekday of a season in my franchise. On Saturdays, I watch a simulated Game of the Week in 3D, and on Sundays, I watch a simulated Astros game and practice my faded broadcast skills from my college days. Somewhere down the line, I'll eventually run a team myself, but not sure whether I will in-game manage or just be GM. I've played out games years ago using 1 pitch, but I like the birds-eye view of an entire league without human interference a little more.

I'd like to see better career information for players against opponents. You can split out player info against teams, especially pitchers, in a particular year, but I'd like to see those numbers for a player's entire career.

And the in-game manager's AI can always be better.

[Bobbyraz49]

One save for me. Real MLB since 22 was released.
I check this board every morning.
Playing as GM/MGR of the Brewers. I like to take control of a mid-market team. I despise how big market teams us the other teams as a feeder system. How in the world do the Rays compete almost every year ? As a lifelong Oriole fan living in Buffalo I have to put up with Yanks fans all the time. Am hoping to get some Jays tickets while they play here in Buffalo. The tix that were available were gone in minutes. Capacity here in Buffalo is supposed to increase. So...there's hope.

[LordTC]

I keep several saves going but usually have a primary one I'm focused on. I have two different styles of play: competitive and story-telling. I don't really like online leagues because I'm sometimes free to play 8 hours in a day and other times can't play at all so they don't fit my schedule very well. I've been playing mostly story-telling leagues lately since the AI is pretty poor making competitive leagues a bit less challenging.

I like the early days of baseball a lot and find a lot of my games start in 1871 . I would like to do a grand epic that finishes all of baseball history and continues into fictional characters but I doubt I'll finish one because I'm constantly tinkering with new ideas and new storylines.

Lately I've been fascinated by creating an RPG within OOTP, using the editor on player characters. I set their potentials equal to their currents to limit the amount player development effects them. I then have their ratings go up and down using a point system based on game performance. I'm still tinkering and tuning but I think it has the makings of a really fun game. I'm starting to get some interest in my multiplayer series for this (which starts in 1997 in HS so we'll make the majors or college in 2001). I'm hoping it turns into a fun shared storytelling medium with some nice crunchy mechanics.

[jtnlange]

I have 1 save. Purely fictional. I love to create a universe starting in 1871 and slowly progress and add leagues and watch my world come alive, then sometime in the 2000's I will take a team that is underperforming and see what I can do. I usually add my father, myself and my buddies and see how we do. I would love if you could customize each individual leagues financials and have them progress each year with out having to go in and tweak them each year.


Trevor L.

PS. just hit 1979. Things are just humming along.

[eas9898]

I do one save at a time, purely GM.

I like to take a poor team and build it up over decades.

I've been playing real MLB, but only because I don't trust the fictional leagues to work correctly.

[cbbl]

Pure fictional player here -- one game (save) at a time.

I like to set my leagues in the past, and vary between wanting to direct the universe in a certain way and letting in play out and just be a spectator. (For example, I like to control which teams struggle financially early on and ultimately relocate or move, but prefer to let OOTP determine which teams will win the season).

The biggest thing I wish OOTP had was an easier way to make era-accurate names, logos, photos, cities, ballparks, etc. The engine does a mostly decent job of controlling era-appropriate statistics and finances, but the other immersion perspectives require a lot of manual editing of the database.

[BBGiovanni]

I always GM/manage so (unless a team is really bad and tanking for draft picks) I play out almost all of every game, at least via simming half-innings/until RISP.


I am playing a butterfly effect-type season starting from the OOTP 12 standard game and enjoying it. All during the pandemic I played my prom/rel setup in my sig, alongside a 2020 Mets season.



I have a couple other saves I'd like to get back to someday, one a Continental League setup where I ran an expansion team and a gigantic one with international leagues and 8-10 8 team associated American leagues. I got that imported into v.21, miraculously, but haven't picked it up again yet. It's really a writing project, so I have to really focus and take notes as I play. I don't have that kind of attention for anything these days, much less an OOTP game.

[RchW]

Long time long term Fictional MLB clones since 2009-10 real years. One has 100 seasons the other 80 seasons . Mostly sim but always play out the playoffs and select games through the season. I control my org top to bottom and use some house rules (not extensive) to handicap me.

Early on it was easy to dominate ie v10 thru v14, less so v15-v18 and very difficult v-19 and on.

Never gets boring as I may play one league for 2-3 seasons and switch to the other for a new release.

[Dark Horse]

i have a fictional world solo/dynasty save. i play in god mode; advancing slowly month to month.
i have a second fictional world league. But, i use that for testing the new version every year.
i also play in a fictional online league. And i play PT, i'm a F2Per.

if i could only play one way, i'd keep my fictional world league. i am growing fond of the players, And i have ideas for the future. And i'd like to see how it all turns out.

i'd like to see OOTP continue to work on the Ballpark Kit and continue to build up the baseball card function,

[andyhdz]

Just one save so I can invest 100% of my ootp time to it. 64 team 4 tiered promotion relegation league modeled similar to the English football system. I started with 100 teams but cut back slowly and now down to 64. I find that I'm much more invested with this smaller size. I'm in my 105th season and I have jumped around several times now.