My Vision of Future GM Page

[tejdog1]

I love this idea - in theory.
In practice, I might hate it. Just like the DSL/VSL. I was super excited when it was announced, and then... it just totally falls flat for me in practice.

[dave1927p]

I like some of it, but the Radio and TV is not part of a GM job...it's more the president. Guess some GMs are presidents (or at least VPs) so guess it could be worked in. Would be very neat to have those options only attributed when your GM is hired as VP/GM. So it force you to accept a contract with another team because it allows you more control of the organization. Could be very fun, otherwise the VP/Pres is your boss. So it's another promotion.

Things like TV/Radio ratings is nice in a chart but would be better to have it all recorded neatly for every season the team played and kept track of. Or both. Either way cool idea. I love those sort of thoughts.

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by dave1927p

Things like TV/Radio ratings is nice in a chart but would be better to have it all recorded neatly for every season the team played and kept track of. Or both. Either way cool idea. I love those sort of thoughts.

The issue I have with it is a more practical one: How on Earth would one go about creating the model that would underpin the system? That is, what kind and where would one get the necessary real-world reference info upon which the game's model would be built? The same is true for the media contracts lengths and amounts. Then one has to add in the historical variances and trends. What happens to those sections of this GM screen, for instance, in the days before there was television? Or radio. for that matter?

I think in some cases it's best if certain real-life aspects are handled in a more abstract fashion by the game.

[sprague]

For me it was to acknowledge the hard work and good idea that HP put forward. Maybe it can be a part of ootp, maybe not- but everytime someone thinks out of the box and presents what something could be is a great thing, More possibility and brainstorming is never a bad thing for possible growth, even if the idea never gets used, I commend his effort in looking at something new.

[tejdog1]

This def is an amazingly well thought out idea and HP deserves alot of credit for it.
I hope Markus sees/acknowledges it, even if it's got 0/low chances.

[Honorable_Pawn]

Management Options

The new GM game play options are designed to increase the challenge of the management aspect of the game. They are designed such that each choice that you make has both an advantage and a disadvantage. It is not possible to maximize all sliders in order to achieve maximum results for every situation. You will need to carefully assess your roster, your financial situation, and the state of your current fan base in order to determine the strategy that best suits your long-term strategic vision.

Naturally, some of you only want to manage the players on the field and some of you only want to manage roster transactions. The good news is that you do not have to manage the general operations of your organization. You can hire a President of Operations that will handle these decisions for you. Lastly, if you prefer a vanilla baseball experience you can turn the new module completely off.

There are three options on the manager home page that you can choose from. The default setting is off.

1. On
2. Auto
3. Off

[Honorable_Pawn]

Originally Posted by LunchBox

I love this idea

Originally Posted by MarkInCincy

Me two

Originally Posted by The Game

Best idea by one person on here in years.

Originally Posted by HopefulCubsFan9

This looks like a great idea!

Originally Posted by r0nster

I love the idea of immersing the gamer into the game to be more personally. Would love to see owner work a contract with me and much more. This idea would be a Grand Slam. Im sure that all the ideas we come up in this area would take a period of time to implement.

Originally Posted by sprague

For me it was to acknowledge the hard work and good idea that HP put forward. Maybe it can be a part of ootp, maybe not- but everytime someone thinks out of the box and presents what something could be is a great thing, More possibility and brainstorming is never a bad thing for possible growth, even if the idea never gets used, I commend his effort in looking at something new.

Aw shucks...Thanks, Guys!!

[Honorable_Pawn]

Originally Posted by sprague

This idea has a lot of thought behind it, and already has some real good understanding laid out.
I am really looking forward to seeing more of the over all idea, and the other management screens and what not

Normally I think most new suggestions are average ideas at best
This is one of those ideas that can actually take the game up a step in GM realism

well done

I'm going to lay out all of my ideas as best I can. Hopefully you enjoy the rest. Also, please contribute thoughts that you think could improve the idea.

[Honorable_Pawn]

Originally Posted by ra7c7er

Also Casual fans tend to spend more when they do go to the ballpark because it's a once a year "mini vacation" type thing usually spent with family. Which means buying lots of souvenirs, food, programs, etc. In the course of a year that fan might not spend much but in terms of one game day that type of fan spends a LOT.

The idea behind the 3 divisions of the fan base is paper, rock, scissors. I could have just as easily named them fan base A, fan base B, and fan base C. I just tried to use names that would be more easily remembered.

[Honorable_Pawn]

Originally Posted by dave1927p

I like some of it, but the Radio and TV is not part of a GM job...it's more the president. Guess some GMs are presidents (or at least VPs) so guess it could be worked in. Would be very neat to have those options only attributed when your GM is hired as VP/GM. So it force you to accept a contract with another team because it allows you more control of the organization. Could be very fun, otherwise the VP/Pres is your boss. So it's another promotion.

Good idea. Implemented.

[Honorable_Pawn]

Radio & Television

There are 12 sliders that you can adjust. There are 6 for radio and 6 for television. Each slider has a different impact. As you adjust your sliders you will need to consider the impact that your decision makes. There is no best set of slider settings because each change creates both a benefit and a drawback. You will have to carefully balance the needs of your owner, your fan base, and your payroll.

Lastly, you will be faced with multiple media outlets that are all attempting to maximize their profit margin at your organization's expense. Moreover, each of these media outlets will have a general attitude towards you. You will need to balance being a cooperative business partner against the needs of your organization. While your GM ratings will have a major impact in the media's attitude towards you you must remain cognizant that your previous business dealings with them will also be considered. You will find it much more challenging to hammer out agreements if you have consistently challenged the legality of contracts or if have unmercifully negotiated successful terms in the past. But remember, you don't want to be a push-over either. You need those profits!



Radio



Local Radio Contract Length
In its purest sense this slider controls how long you tend to sign contracts for. For instance, if you move the slider to the far right towards “Long Term” you will tend to sign long term contracts that extend multiple years. The maximum contract length is 10 years. Whereas, if you move the slider to the far left you will tend to sign contracts that are short term in nature. The minimum contract length is month-to-month.

In most situations you will be bound by the terms of the agreement until the contract expires so you will need to be careful about signing long-term contracts if you expect ratings to improve over the short term. Also, you will need to be careful about short term contracts because if you and a radio station cannot come to an agreement you will be without radio market penetration until you are able to sign a contract with one of the stations in your market. Not having a signed contract in-place is a very bad situation that will seriously impact your relationship with your Die-hard fan base.

There are several mechanics that impact the final contract terms that are agreed upon. These include but are not limited to your negotiation ability, the state of your fan base, the number of competitors that the radio stations in your market have, marquee players on your major league team, and the overall state of your organization.

The radio station is shrewd about understanding the direction your team is heading and will negotiate fiercely to capture as high a percentage of the advertising revenue it can while attempting to defray as much of the operating costs to you as possible. There are situations where you can attempt to renegotiate but keep in mind that there will be legal fees involved. The impact of these costs will be based upon several factors such as the mood of the station, the state of your fan base, your GM ratings, and the number of competitors in the radio stations market. (See Media—The Market for additional information). For the most part, however, once you have a signed contract in place this slider will be unavailable for adjustment until the current contract has expired or if you are challenging the contract in court and/or renegotiating your current contract.

The sliders are not designed to reflect actual contracts or ownership conditions of major league teams. They are designed in the abstract in an effort to create challenging situations for the human GM. With that said, the contracts will generally yield a percentage of the revenue that the radio station earns and a percentage of the operating costs incurred. The difference between these two numbers is the amount of your monthly income/loss that you will receive.

The primary factors that increase the radio station’s total revenue are the market share of the radio station that you have contracted with, the ratings of the radio station, and the ability of the radio station to generate revenue. Each station has a hidden revenue rating. Although the rating is hidden you will be able to gather information by viewing the statistics of the station. With this information you will be in a position to make an assumption about the state of the current management ability of the station. Similarly, there are several factors that impact the total operating expenses such as production crews, length of pre-game/post-game shows, and a hidden rating of the ability of the radio station to control costs (see Media—The Market for additional information).

As a general rule you will want to focus on the largest station in your market. But you will need to conduct due diligence and inspect which station your fans are listening to. In any event, your Die-hard fan base will quickly switch over to the station that you contract with. This is generally your “ace-in-the-hole” when renegotiating especially if the market is saturated with competition.