Why Markus?

[BaseballMan]

I'm willing to trust Markus as he said
"In fact, Andreas and I will have much more time to focus on design and development work than before" and "OOTP as a studio will remain independent and we will of course continue to listen to you".

After 20 years of making a great game i think he has earned the trust
of choosing the best future for the game he created. I just don't think he would give up control unless he felt totally comfortable with the arrangement.
At this point i see no reason to doubt and trust that ootp will get better.
I know that some believe the game as run its course and yet we still have suggestions for future versions. The ballpark builder was just getting started.
I'm just not ready to throw in the towel on the future of ootp.

[Biggio509]

Originally Posted by itsmb8

100% stake? Yeah, im not getting my hopes up... Look at their current game lineup, only 2 sports games which, while are MLB games, are the arcade-y mobile type.

I have no reason to believe they have any knowledge whatsoever about realistic baseball sims. Maybe they do let Markus and co. keep control over the games development for now, but once they retire and Com2Us really takes over, I feel like we'll be looking for a new game.

Regardless, thanks for 20 years.

When a new company takes over they usually don't mess with winning products. Ok there is Bethesda and Bioware. Still OOTP's ability to be different will depend on the community supporting it and getting new users. This isn't like EA who probably wanted the IP to famous series more than they wanted the product. I actually wouldn't mind a more arcade mobile version as well if the old product stays. It is kind of Jaguar making SUVs. So the old Jaag heads hate them but those SUVs make Jaguar/Land Rover profitable enough to keep the XJ in a shrinking sedan/saloon petrol head market. Now if Jag could make it a reliable automobile instead of one of the beautiful fastest cars on the market that run sometimes and more often than not have huge repair bills after 3 years sometimes earlier. I think perfect team has bridged the markets some between mobile and old stats based gamers even if it isn't as enjoyable to me. It has been good for the game to be available to cash in on the micro transaction trend of people who will pay more money to get ahead as opposed to those of us who like a slower grind and building. It helps keep newer versions coming.

OOTP will probably never be the biggest selling game on the market but keeping a profitable base will keep it around. I am more worried about the old 80's and 90's gamers who love games like this hanging it up and the younger generation just wanting flashy graphics than the new company deciding it has to be something different immediately.

[RchW]

Markus and Co. owe me nothing. Good people with a good product sold for a good price make a business (and personal) decision in their interest and I for one am happy for them. I'm perplexed why some people react negatively to them doing as they please with their business.

[Westheim]

The amount of people that feel like they have been slighted and insulted in person by this business transaction is indeed staggering.

Even if the very worst case will come true, OOTP is not oxygen. You will continue to breathe. The sun will rise again. You will put food on the table the day after. You will be fine.

[Ty Cobb]

I'm still happy for them. This is the big payoff after 20 years of their lives. Celebrate for them, and remember how much joy they've brought all of us.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Ty Cobb

I'm still happy for them. This is the big payoff after 20 years of their lives. Celebrate for them, and remember how much joy they've brought all of us.

Very true and poignantly said. It has been quite a ride.

[BaseballMan]

Originally Posted by Biggio509

OOTP will probably never be the biggest selling game on the market but keeping a profitable base will keep it around. I am more worried about the old 80's and 90's gamers who love games like this hanging it up and the younger generation just wanting flashy graphics than the new company deciding it has to be something different immediately.

I think you will always have the gamers who are more interested in stats than graphics. I think computer sports games like ootp have taken the role of the traditional board games. A lot of us would be looking at cards if theses games went away. There's a realism that you just can't get with eye candy graphics. I mean Madden can be fun to play but i cant run historical seasons like with second and ten or action football.
MLB the show may be closer than Madden but it doesn't give you everything ootp does.
I think you will always have the crowd that just want the fancy new graphics but i don't think the other type will die out.
However i do believe developers will have to up the game if they are starting a new sports simulation game. What i mean is that where a game like ootp started at, a new sports simulation may have to start at where ootp was at say ootp6. There are things in ootp that we hoped would one day be in the game and now that they are i suppose some may expect it to be standard.

[Eugene Church]

A fact of life... all things come to an end in real life... the good and the bad.

Since August, 2002, Markus and the crew have given me 18 marvelous years of baseball pleasure... tremendous enjoyment for just 10 cents a day... it saddens me when I think that my OOTP days may be numbered, depending on the bottom line plans of the new owners... I wanted to play 100 seasons in my dynasty league, the Islandian Pro Alliance, and then let it ride off into the sunset and go to baseball heaven with the likes of Stan the Man, the Mick, Yogi, Whitey Ford, Tom Seaver, Joe Morgan and hundreds of our favorite players..

And yes, there will still be life for me after OOTPB.

I dearly loved growing up as kid in the 40s and 50s... playing baseball, softball and basketball sunup to sundown... going to see Hopalong Cassady, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers at the Saturday matinees... and helping John Wayne win World War II.
I dearly loved playing APBA (card baseball game) on rainy days when we couldn't play real baseball at the playground.
I dearly loved going to Hartwell Field to see the Mobile Bears and to Pelican Stadium in New Orleans to watch the Pelicans.
I dearly loved listening to ball games on the radio at night... the Bears, the Pels and the St. Louis Cardinals... used to listen to Harry Caray on KMOX... where I first heard of a guy named Stan Musial.
I dearly loved watching Dizzy Dean and Pee Wee Reese on TV on Saturdays and the Baseball Game of the Week.
I dearly loved being a ball boy and bat boy for the Mobile Bears in the Southern Association in the mid 50s and getting to know future major leaguers like Gary Bell, Bill Dailey, Gordy Coleman, Dick Stigman and Dick Brown... even Harmon Killebrew.
I dearly loved going to college and playing intramural and fraternity league sports.
I dearly loved playing church league softball and basketball until I was 55... would still be playing if it wasn't for bulging discs in my spine... doctors told me I could be paralyzed if continued to play.

But, lo and behold, alas, all good things eventually come to an end... and yet, can you believe it, I survived... and I'm still going strong.

And yes, I admit it, I dearly love OOTPB and this wonderful community... it allows me to still be a kid even at my advanced age.

Hopefully we will still have OOTPB for at least three years like Markus seemed to indicate... I'm hoping that with support from the new owners that Markus and the crew can make the game even better... and OOTPB can continue to flourish and bring great joy to our lives.

I hope OOTPB will be around for years and years to come... and I hope that EC is still around for years to come.

Markus, tell the new 'bottom line owners", I will be willing to pay the grand sum of 20 cents a day to play my beloved game... I would be proud to pay $79.98 per year... tell them I would even pay the full price each year... don't need no discount.

[Déjà Bru]

This ^^^ may be the most touching post that I have ever read here.

[RchW]

Nothing better than the words of EC.

[ChrisJNelson]

I'm not saying it never happens, but it would be weird to acquire a game (one that doesn't compete with your products previously) just to destroy everything that's good about it, drive away the fan base and make it lose all value. Presumably if they keep the right people in place and take a hands-off approach when appropriate, everybody wins.

[OutS|der]

If you like PT this is a big win, KBO and Nippin PT's will be added next.

PT is the future for this game, we'll always have the base game but PT will be the new main focus. PT is where the money is.

If that's a good thing or bad thing is up for you to decide

[David Watts]

OOTP16 3765.6 hours played
OOTP19 1313.8 hours played
OOTP20 1825.2 hours played
OOTP21 964 hours played

Yeah, I think I owe a huge thank you to Markus and Andreas. I wish for nothing but the best for everyone associated with the creation of what I consider one of the best hobbies a guy can possess. I love this game. I play in the mornings before heading into work. When I get home from work and my weekends are centered around OOTP. My wife loves it too, as she gets full use of the living room television while I'm in another room repeatedly pressing the space bar. So congrats to Markus and Andreas and I hope someday we are reading articles in Forbes Magazine about the great success story that it....OOTP Baseball. Okay, if that article does get written, will someone please post a link......It's not like I've ever even held a Forbes in my hand. I'm a crime fiction reader

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by David Watts

OOTP16 3765.6 hours played

Whoah, I didn't think there was still somebody with more hours in 16 than me.

That's where my Raccoons live. Only 55 hours behind though

[David Watts]

Originally Posted by Westheim

Whoah, I didn't think there was still somebody with more hours in 16 than me.

That's where my Raccoons live. Only 55 hours behind though

OOTP 17 and 18 were a headache inducing mess for this 2D Classic player. For both those versions I found myself more often than not back playing 16. 19 had issues until around August or September of it's release, but then all of a sudden all the 2D Classis issues went away.

[BaseballMan]

Not really sure why people assume its the end of the line for ootp.
I didn't get that impression from Markus's comments.
I just thought ootp was excited about getting new support.
I really didnt think much about the end of ootp until i read the doom and gloom comments. If anything i'm looking forward to see what the team at ootp can do in the future..
I hope ootp won't focus only on PT. I think there are still people like me that like historical and fictional leagues. Maybe? At least I hope there are.

I played PT once and i just couldn't get into it. Reminded me of the buying and selling on Madden and MLB the show. I would buy a season but i don't care to buy packs of players.
Thats just me. Others like PT and thats great but i don't think the backbone of the game will go away. To play PT don't you have to at least have the basic game? Like i said i've barely played it and really have no interest in it at this point.
If theres a game that might be jumping the shark i would say its Madden.
I mean we are still getting patches all the time for OOTP but Madden21 was not that great and the developers seemed to care even less than not caring at all.However its still a cash cow for now.
Like i said i'm looking forward to see what Markus and the team at ootp can do with this deal.

[bearcatbbal22]

nm

[Déjà Bru]

You know, we have been talking primarily about Markus and Andreas in this thread and others but there are many more, particularly Matt and Lukas, to thank at this point no matter where the game goes from here on:

[curt]

Well, the game could get even better. I like it now and given a wish list, I would love awesome 3D graphics added on since I play out all my games. If it goes downhill, I still have the current version which suits me just fine for a fictional league.

[bosunmate]

I agree with Eugene Church on everything he said, I'm 70 now and this game has brought me so much joy. So thank you Markus i hope you get everything you surely deserve....Bosunmate