Q&A With Daniel Evensen, winner of the iPod touch

[BradC]

I did a brief Q&A with Daniel Evensen, who won the 64GB iPod touch in our OOTP 14 pre-order giveaway, but it was so long that I don't have enough room in our next newsletter to include it.

Here it is in its entirety. I'll link to this from our next newsletter, which will also feature my interview with pro wrestler Steve Corino, who became a huge OOTP fan after discovering the game last November.

Take it away, Daniel:

1. How long have you been playing OOTP? How did you discover it?

I'm actually new to OOTP. I decided to purchase OOTP 14, particularly after the Nationals' amazing 2012 season. I thought about purchasing OOTP 13 first, but decided to wait for the newest version to come out. I've been playing baseball simulations for years, and have known about OOTP for quite some time. Every review I've read about OOTP has been very positive, and its historical simulation features in particular have me very interested. I probably first heard of OOTP around 2008 or 2009, and have finally come around to purchasing it.

I decided to order OOTP 14 last October or November or so, before it was available. I've been watching the website periodically, and placed my pre-order while on vacation in Taiwan with a few days to spare. I've been really excited to make this purchase, and can't wait for April!

2. Why do you keep playing OOTP?

Because this is my first purchase of OOTP, I'll tell you why I decided to purchase OOTP. Most of the baseball simulations I've played in the past have essentially been replay tools, designed specifically for replaying a single season. While managing a team is certainly interesting, it is extremely difficulty to accurately replicate the ups and downs an actual general manager would face through a season-based simulator. There are things like player development, scouting, budgeting, payroll rules and other important factors that are essential parts of baseball management, yet tend to be ignored in most simulators.

This is particularly a problem in historical simulations and historical draft leagues. It's easy to sign Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig when they come around in a fantasy draft league, but it's much more difficult when you don't know who the Ruth and Gehrig in your league is going to be -- and it's even more difficult when the only information you have is an incomplete, possibly inaccurate scouting report.

Counterfactual history is most interesting when you replicate the constraints that the decision makers were under at the time. After all, it's easy to make a few wild trades or miracle signings to improve the horrible Phillies teams of the late 1930s, but it's hard when you're working under the same budgetary and scouting constraints Gerald Nugent was under. Similarly, it's easy to be a sabermetric spreadsheet wizard and act as general manager from the computer screen -- but it's not quite as easy when you've got to worry about budgeting, development, player decline phases, opportunity costs and other factors.

Everything I've read about OOTP, both in message board posts and on gaming review websites, tells me that it is the best game for recreating these types of conditions.

My first adventure in the world of actual management sims was the Football Manager series, which I've played off and on for the last 7 years. I'm not really a big soccer fan, but I still find the management model presented in that game absolutely addicting. I've wanted to try a baseball game with similar capabilities for years.

I delayed buying OOTP until now for a few reasons, mostly due to lack of time and funds. I also played a competitor's product a few years ago, and was turned off by the lack of realism and hideous game engine. I've never read any such complaints about OOTP, however. In fact, every thing I've read about OOTP convinces me that it is the simulation I'm looking for. I decided to wait for OOTP 14 in part due to me wanting to try the newest version, and in part due to me wanting to play the 2013 Nationals in real time (or as close as I can get).

3. How long have you been a baseball fan? Who's your favorite team?

I've been a baseball fan for my entire life (born in 1984). My favorite team is the Washington Nationals, though I started rooting for them in 2010 when my family and I moved to the Washington D.C. area. I'm also a Seattle Mariners fan. Mostly, though, I'm a fan of the history of baseball and of the game as a whole. I can't remember there ever being a time I disliked baseball, and have distant memories of watching Cubs games on WGN when I was 4 or 5 or so. I'm also a member of SABR, and enjoy browsing various baseball message boards and reading baseball related books in my spare time. Honestly, the sport is something like a religion to me.

[Raidergoo]

Hey, Daniel, welcome aboard, you lucky duck! Hope to see you around.

[kq76]

Daniel sounds like a smart and interesting young guy. I hope we see him around too.

[Go Tribe]

I KNEW I should have preordered from Taiwan

[DaddyO]

Dan is a good man. Know him from another sim's board. Our loss is your gain, guys.