When and how did you start playing Out Of The Park Baseball?

[Habsfan18]

I'm almost embarrassed to say I hadn't even heard about OOTP until 2012. Having been a hardcore Eastside Hockey Manager 2007 player for many years, that's where all of my sports simulation time went before discovering OOTP. I was curious to know if there were any more recent in-depth sports sims out there, and I heard of a game called Out Of The Park baseball while discussing the latest MLB: The Show on another forum I've been visiting for years. I was warned though..the game is DEEP. I was told that it takes awhile to get used to all of the options and settings, etc.. Thing is, that was EXACTLY what I was looking for. None of this basic crap with no substance. I wanted a deep baseball management game where it felt like MY sports universe. I wanted the players to feel like real human beings. I wanted to feel like the decisions I was making was actually having an affect on the game world itself. And boy, did I ever get what I was looking for..

Ever since I was young, I was always hooked on the management side of the game. Whereas my friends just wanted to play the Nintendo and Playstation sports games, I was the guy taking hours upon hours making trades, scouting prospects, searching the waiver wire, hiring staff etc..They would get pretty mad. . I always loved simming 10+ seasons in and watching guys that I drafted turn into stars. I loved having all fictional players and making my own history. So you guys can only imagine my excitement when I heard about OOTP and did some research. I thought it was too good to be true. I loved EHM, but I was looking for more. More depth, more customization, more of everything really. I looked into the newly released OOTP13, and discovered I could play modern day MLB..or ANY historical season in history and go on from there...or I could create an all fictional world. My first thought? Where the hell have you been all my life? My second thought? Oh uh, the wife is not going to be impressed!

Anyways, long story short. I was instantly hooked. All the customization options make this a management gamers dream. It truly is incredible to see our OOTP universes take shape and grow over time. They really are living baseball worlds on our PC's! Here we are playing OOTP 15, and at least in my case..they have a supporter and customer for life.

I just wish I had local friends who played. My friends don't really care how my 1906 Cardinals fared, and they didn't share my excitement when Juan Ruiz won the 2031 Hank Aaron award. . But I love reading everyones experiences on here!

I'd love to know how everyone else heard about OOTP! What's your story?

[jpeters1734]

Yeah I don't know where I was this whole time. I just got it little over a month ago and have barely even touched my ps4 since. This has been what I've been looking for. I've played sport sim games in the past, mostly baseball mogul, but they never stuck with me. There was always much left to be desired. So I'd sim a bunch of seasons overnight and look at stats. I lost interest because there was no depth.

I have always wished the franchise mode in the show or Madden was deeper. I always spend more time tinkering with my team and simming than playing.

A big part that sold me on ootp is the community. It is amazing. There is always a few people on the boards to talk to and ask questions. Everyone is helpful. And nobody plays those B.S. seniority games with new players.

I married my wife after only knowing her a month so I may be an early committer, but I think I'm an ootp player for life.

[IanIachimoe]

first played OOTP 14 about 4-5 months ago & was sold immediately. bought 15 on launch day.

can't remember who made me aware of the game, but I owe that guy (more than) a few beers. might have been a simple google search for GM games, but it is EXACTLY the kind of game I have always been looking for.

same with js^ in that I haven't touched anything else since. even let my xbox live acct expire & I was a diehard madden online league guy. no intention on renewing. thanks to all involved for such an awesome game & community.

once BTS drops, I figure I'll never have to play anything other than OOTP or BTS again. everything else seems so... shallow.

[Bluenoser]

Since day 1 - proud to say I've owned every version.


Heard about it from someone I met online, knew it was something special right away.

[jpeters1734]

Originally Posted by Bluenoser

Since day 1 - proud to say I've owned every version.


Heard about it from someone I met online, knew it was something special right away.

nice. So over the years, whats has been some of the best improvement?

[Biggio509]

I think I started with the second version. That was before you could download the game. I might have the disk around somewhere!

[bigdgp2]

OOTP3 for me [2001 was so long ago]! Aye, I was merely a youngster in HS. I remember trying out the demo and only being able to play until June 1st. I practically begged my father to make the purchase.

I own every version since v3; however, I've personally been purchasing OOTP since OOTP13.

[DreamTeams]

Can't even remember where I first read about OOTP. Most likely some forum somewhere. (You can read more about my journey to the fictional league hobby and OOTP at my solo league site.) Anyway, OOTP2 was my first purchase in the series and have been here, and annually purchasing, ever since. Actually, it's the customization and graphical elements that drew me to OOTP. (Know I've said that a gazillion times but it's true.) For a text sim to have both text and visual elements was a real find at the time. Also, liked the fact that Markus seemed eager to allow the community to customize the game and has not been afraid to add switches and optional pieces so that gamers can play the game their way. This makes OOTP an absolute keeper.

[Mntwins]

Originally Posted by Bluenoser

Since day 1 - proud to say I've owned every version.


Heard about it from someone I met online, knew it was something special right away.

Same here. Still have the cd. Mogul was my fav till I stumbled upon OOTP somewhere on the web. I seen that you could import any season and was sold!

[Habsfan18]

Originally Posted by DreamTeams

Can't even remember where I first read about OOTP. Most likely some forum somewhere. (You can read more about my journey to the fictional league hobby and OOTP at my solo league site.) Anyway, OOTP2 was my first purchase in the series and have been here, and annually purchasing, ever since. Actually, it's the customization and graphical elements that drew me to OOTP. (Know I've said that a gazillion times but it's true.) For a text sim to have both text and visual elements was a real find at the time. Also, liked the fact that Markus seemed eager to allow the community to customize the game and has not been afraid to add switches and optional pieces so that gamers can play the game their way. This makes OOTP an absolute keeper.

Just browsed through your site. Looks awesome! I'll set aside more time tomorrow and thoroughly go through everything. Great job though!

[Bluenoser]

Originally Posted by Biggio509

I think I started with the second version. That was before you could download the game. I might have the disk around somewhere!

Actually ver 2 was available as a download. That's how I purchased it. Don't know about a CD, but quite possible.

[Hockey13Playa]

I believe iOOTP12 was my first Out of the park developments game, played it for like a week a lost interest. 2013 rolled around, purchased iOOTP13 and played it like a mad man then it just wasn't good enough after religiously reading these forums!

So last year around the MLB playoffs I got simulation fever along with MLB fever and I purchased OOTP14! Played that a lot and then the interest faded. Well here we are again purchased iOOTP14 for some pocket fun and fast fun. I am now fully committed to becoming an addict, junkie, user, absuer, what ever you'd like to call me. Fired back up OOTP14 and played that for a week and just purchased OOT15 during the all star sale. Have only played MLB modern day started with the New York Mets in the 2013 season. I am now in 2017.

After reading some of the fictional stuff I am so intrigued to start my own and watch the league evolve and make my own history... I am just a little overwhelmed still and I am very OCD so I would want everything customized to my liking which will involve a lot of work. Someday I hope to suck it up and just create it!

[Bluenoser]

Originally Posted by jpeters1734

nice. So over the years, whats has been some of the best improvement?

That's a loaded question, because imo almost every improvement has been awesome. There's really, there's just too many to name. Online play was awesome. More stats every year. Bigger and better reports. facegen, etc etc etc.

An amazing product that defies the laws of awesomeness

[Honorable_Pawn]

Originally Posted by Habsfan18

I'm almost embarrassed to say I hadn't even heard about OOTP until 2012. Having been a hardcore Eastside Hockey Manager 2007 player for many years, that's where all of my sports simulation time went before discovering OOTP. I was curious to know if there were any more recent in-depth sports sims out there, and I heard of a game called Out Of The Park baseball while discussing the latest MLB: The Show on another forum I've been visiting for years. I was warned though..the game is DEEP. I was told that it takes awhile to get used to all of the options and settings, etc.. Thing is, that was EXACTLY what I was looking for. None of this basic crap with no substance. I wanted a deep baseball management game where it felt like MY sports universe. I wanted the players to feel like real human beings. I wanted to feel like the decisions I was making was actually having an affect on the game world itself. And boy, did I ever get what I was looking for..

Ever since I was young, I was always hooked on the management side of the game. Whereas my friends just wanted to play the Nintendo and Playstation sports games, I was the guy taking hours upon hours making trades, scouting prospects, searching the waiver wire, hiring staff etc..They would get pretty mad. . I always loved simming 10+ seasons in and watching guys that I drafted turn into stars. I loved having all fictional players and making my own history. So you guys can only imagine my excitement when I heard about OOTP and did some research. I thought it was too good to be true. I loved EHM, but I was looking for more. More depth, more customization, more of everything really. I looked into the newly released OOTP13, and discovered I could play modern day MLB..or ANY historical season in history and go on from there...or I could create an all fictional world. My first thought? Where the hell have you been all my life? My second thought? Oh uh, the wife is not going to be impressed!

Anyways, long story short. I was instantly hooked. All the customization options make this a management gamers dream. It truly is incredible to see our OOTP universes take shape and grow over time. They really are living baseball worlds on our PC's! Here we are playing OOTP 15, and at least in my case..they have a supporter and customer for life.

I just wish I had local friends who played. My friends don't really care how my 1906 Cardinals fared, and they didn't share my excitement when Juan Ruiz won the 2031 Hank Aaron award. . But I love reading everyones experiences on here!

I'd love to know how everyone else heard about OOTP! What's your story?

Welcome to the forum. Yeah, you're wife is going to be a problem. It's best you get rid of her.

[HerbD]

I grew up palying APBA board game and was playing APBA Broadcast Blast when I found OOTP. OOTP2 was my first version and I still do have the disk.

[Honorable_Pawn]

Oh, once you get into the full swing of the game you may want to check out online leagues. The HBL is one of the best that I have seen. Nice and cozy, no writing requirements, and a great committed commish.

[damientheomen3]

Right around when OOTP X came out (which would I guess be 2009, making me 14 at the time), I was a frequenter of GoalLineBlitz, the browser based football sim thing. I went on their forum and went to the off-topic section for the first and only time (it was just a cesspool of idiots trying to act like "cool" 4chan-ers). I noticed how threads fell to the second page if they weren't posted in for about a minute and a half, so I was interested in finding a thread that had 0 replies, just for the hell of it.

I went to the last page, then the next few pages up from it, and I saw a post advertising the EPL - an OOTP league where users acted as players rather than GMs (although there were GMs as well of course). The rest is history.

[Honorable_Pawn]

Originally Posted by damientheomen3

Right around when OOTP X came out (which would I guess be 2009, making me 14 at the time), I was a frequenter of GoalLineBlitz, the browser based football sim thing. I went on their forum and went to the off-topic section for the first and only time (it was just a cesspool of idiots trying to act like "cool" 4chan-ers). I noticed how threads fell to the second page if they weren't posted in for about a minute and a half, so I was interested in finding a thread that had 0 replies, just for the hell of it.

I went to the last page, then the next few pages up from it, and I saw a post advertising the EPL - an OOTP league where users acted as players rather than GMs (although there were GMs as well of course). The rest is history.

Awesome story. LOL. Funny how stuff like that happens.

[Habsfan18]

Originally Posted by Honorable_Pawn

Welcome to the forum. Yeah, you're wife is going to be a problem. It's best you get rid of her.

I've been around for awhile, but I've found myself posting and especially browsing a lot more lately.

And thankfully my wife is understanding when it comes to my baseball managerial career.

[david limbaugh]

OOTP4 is when I started...