What is everyone's favorite way to play OOTP?

[tejdog1]

I imagine myself giving press conferences where I call the prior Mets owners and GM all the four letter words.

[Rosco Peabody]

Fictional League, fictional teams, fictional universe

[mrbadguy]

Almost always start in some random minor league team, a few years before expansion. That over an expansion team and see how long it takes for WS. Not a fan of constant championships, prefer ebb and flow of real franchises.

After will take over current Jays franchise, although not as fun as WS is too near.

Tried Perfect Team....not for me.

[AESP_pres]

Every year I do the same...

Start from 1871 with real trade / lineup / injury with the real league structures, obviously the lineup option start working only in 1901. In 1969 I finally take over a team, Montreal, and I keep the real transaction / lineup / injury so I can't manipulate the game because of my advantage of knowing the future.

[mars001]

When 23 comes out I'm considering going back to fictional players on real teams, but it really bothers me when the players and league have no history. I've done the thing where I create the league 15-20 years earlier than I want to play and then sim through that, but that takes forever and still doesn't seem good enough.

[AdequateRandomGaming]

I play an historical league with the Expos that I started in 91...currently in 95. I play as Manager only and play out every single game. I also stream this endeavor. I hope for a WS before I move to Washington...but without being in control of the composition of my team, the challenge is real...

I also have a 4 league fictional universe with stingy pro/rel that took me a very, very, very long time to get right that I like to play as my Edmonton Twins. I do not stream that however...I feel there would not really be any appeal for people to watch me play out every single game with random generated players.

[BirdWatcher]

Originally Posted by AdequateRandomGaming

I also have a 4 league fictional universe with stingy pro/rel that took me a very, very, very long time to get right that I like to play as my Edmonton Twins. I do not stream that however...I feel there would not really be any appeal for people to watch me play out every single game with random generated players.

As someone who enjoys watching your YouTube videos (particularly those revolving around FHM), and someone who plays almost exclusively a fictional universe in OOTP, I would love to see some streaming or perhaps more edited content from you about your fictional universe.
Granted, watching someone playing out every game of a fictional save with fictional players might not be immediately riveting for viewers, but I personally would love to see more general videos from you about this universe, some backstory, interesting career trajectories, details about the Edmonton Twins, and then, yes, with some grounding and immersion in the universe first, watching games being played out could also be entertaining.

So, this is just to say, should you ever decide to do this, you have at least one definite and motivated viewer.

[AdequateRandomGaming]

Originally Posted by BirdWatcher

As someone who enjoys watching your YouTube videos (particularly those revolving around FHM), and someone who plays almost exclusively a fictional universe in OOTP, I would love to see some streaming or perhaps more edited content from you about your fictional universe.
Granted, watching someone playing out every game of a fictional save with fictional players might not be immediately riveting for viewers, but I would personally would love to see more general videos from you about this universe, some backstory, interesting career trajectories, details about the Edmonton Twins, and then, yes, with some grounding and immersion in the universe first, watching games being played out could also be entertaining.

So, this is just to say, should you ever decide to do this, you have at least one definite and motivated viewer.

Haha, thanks a lot ! I'll take that into consideration.

[BradG223]

Step 1. Take a few hours time to meticulously configure a new, unique baseball league.
Step 2. Simulate a hundred + years worth of time, allowing countless storylines, dynasties, tragedies, and all the beauty that baseball can allow to develop within my world
Step 3. "Huh, these home run numbers look a bit funky. Better immediately delete and start again"

I am an observe only player, and a half-rate one at that. I am a demon for how much fake baseball history I've deleted over the past 10 years.

[BrockPaperscissors]

Oakland A’s. Real players, current year. Commissioner mode.

I manage each game using the same lineups as real life. Setting up the other team’s roster/lineups before each series can be a pain.

I’ve found over the last four years, I can usually outperform the real life A’s by a coupla games.

Not expecting that much success with this year’s roster, though.

[Syd Thrift]

Originally Posted by mars001

When 23 comes out I'm considering going back to fictional players on real teams, but it really bothers me when the players and league have no history. I've done the thing where I create the league 15-20 years earlier than I want to play and then sim through that, but that takes forever and still doesn't seem good enough.

In the past I have gone so far as to create a league ~40 years before the year I want to start, sim through 20 seasons, delete all of that history, and then sim the next 20. What seems to happen for me too often is I can't help but interfere with the sims - "what's this??? Why are the Yankees so trash? The Browns shouldn't be that good!!!" - and I slowly start monkeying with stuff way before I want to. So... heh, this didn't work super well for me but YMMV.

I think the reason to sim the 20 or so seasons beforehand goes beyond just having a history, which is why I think the above is the way to go. Newly created fictional players IME tend to have a... different trajectory in terms of aging and development than players who've actually gone through the process. It's not nearly as bad as it used to be - IIRC a few versions ago there was this common issue where 20 year olds would come in with maxed-out abilities and that in turn would cause some early perennial superstars and a couple dynasties by teams who had those guys - but pre-created fictional players are still not *quite* on that same general timeline and so I at least generally find it preferable to find some way to not start directly from "scratch" as it were.

[mars001]

Originally Posted by Syd Thrift

In the past I have gone so far as to create a league ~40 years before the year I want to start, sim through 20 seasons, delete all of that history, and then sim the next 20...

Thanks. Maybe I'll try that, but I don't know that I have the patience.

[Beatles Eternally]

I love the history of baseball so I play primarily historical season replays (mainly Deadball, 20's and 30s') and I also love to create custom universes. I'm working on one now that I guess I will finish in OOTP 23 of the 30 greatest 2nd place teams for each of the 30 franchises.

Also, I have another hare-brained idea I want to try this year. I want to play the ultimate World Series Series. No, that's not a typo. I want to start in 1903. The winner of that series will play the historical winner of 1905, and, well, you get the picture, all the way up to 2021.

I'm really curious to learn what team will dominate. I do need to work out normalization at some point however if there is a wide season gap between the two competing teams. Just as an example, I may need to normalize if for some reason the 1906 Cubs have hung in somehow and are meeting the 1949 Yankees or 1971 Pirates.

Like I said, hare-brained.

[MikeS21]

Upon further thinking on this, I definitely plan to reinstate some of the rookie minor leagues that were contracted a couple years ago, as well as returning the amateur draft to the first week of June.

Is there a way to adjust difficulty levels of rookie leagues? Sometimes, college players don’t need to be placed on the lowest rookie teams, but aren’t quite ready for A level minor leagues yet.

[Kylecolletti50]

Using the creations of some of our fellow board members, I often create fictional leagues with unique logos, uniforms, and stadiums. I start fresh, or sim a few years and take over, or sim 40-50 years and jump in.

I've done a 2020 replay without covid, I've done expansions in modern baseball, realignments, you name it.

Basically, I play OOTP to control my own baseball world from above, weather that is the sky or only the GM chair. Never tried a manager-only sim, though I have thought about it.

[cbbl]

Full fictional, historic-era, semi-god mode (play the role of certain owners, but switch across the years)

[Excelcius]

I love playing with current real rosters, offline. I usually last 10 seasons then get bored and start over with a different team. However, my favorite team is the Mariners and I cannot wait to have Julio Rodriguez and Robbie Ray on my opening day roster. Excited for ootp 23!

[MrDov]

I play in modern day using all the leagues that OOTP has pre-made, but I use all fictional players because I get frustrated when OOTP players/teams don't perform like their real life counterparts. I lock all financials and league development so nothing changes year over year.

I always play as an MLB team, and each version I get I tend to alternate between playing as GM only and just simming through the season, or playing as GM+Manager and managing all games.

I used to sim out a bunch of years to establish some sort of league history and letting stuff settle, but more recently I do the starting fantasy draft myself and start from day 1 with that. It's kind of fun navigating the chaos of the beginning of a world where all leagues start with an opening fantasy draft.

[SouthernStar71]

I'm going to try to play PT and also pick a 2022 KBO team and manage it for the season. Also going to do a fictional/historical sim that starts in 1901 and really start to pay attention to it in 1921. Give it a 20 year history and then start to do monthly observations.

Really going to pay attention to whichever KBO team I choose to play as(manager only). Really going to pay attention to my best PT team. Really going to pay attention to the f/h once it gets to 1921.

Going to YT most of it. Will stream some of it. Will just have to see how things go.

https://www.twitch.tv/southernstar71 www.youtube.com/c/southernstar71

[lightgrenade07]

Fictional players, fictional teams, fictional leagues...

-I've got my "Professional Baseball Association," with some teams going as far back as the 1850s
-a Pacific Coast League that reaches major league level before merging with the majors in the 1950s
-and then El Serie del Caribe with all the Central & South American leagues
-plus a fictional "Pan-Pacific Association" with the Nippon/South Korea/Taiwan leagues, plus teams in Hong Kong/China & the Liga Pinoy (fictional league set in the Philippines) -> these are all set up so that the top x # of teams from each national league get promoted to the Pan Pacific Association-level league
-finally, the Euro Ball: a full-scale multi-tier promotion/relegation league across Europe, which is a merger of a western Euro league and the eastern/Soviet bloc-aligned "Red Star League"

I tend to focus on two teams: the Oakland Seals and the Sacramento Sluggers, with an occasional stint with the Kansas City Kings. My girlfriend typically stars as a pitcher for the Cebu Dolphins of the Liga Pinoy.