The multiplayer mode was overdue

[Templer]

In my opinion, the OOTP Franchise Hockey Manager franchise started with the fourth version.
For me it has always been a interessting and remarkable sport management simulator, but only in the fourth version the minimum of features were offered and the teething troubles eradicated, or at least, under control to pull us into the FHM spell.
Painful and almost unforgivable at that time was the lack of the multiplayer mode.
Many know how much fun and excitement you can find in a well-run multiplayer league.

Now here it is.
The multiplayer mode was overdue.

We now hope that the development team will continue to do serious work on stability, scope and comfort.

The multiplayer mode was necessary.

[USF]

I have a group of 24+ friends that would jump into a league once we know the feature is functional without issues. Hate to start a league and find out there are issues. Will be following along prior to purchasing and starting up a league. Looking forward to a + outcome here.

[Templer]

You know, these manager games, as good some of them are, they could become boring quite fast in single player mode.
I wonder why OOTP Dev have long waived the online feature for FHM. After all, the game demands it...

[tward13]

Originally Posted by Templer

You know, these manager games, as good some of them are, they could become boring quite fast in single player mode.
I wonder why OOTP Dev have long waived the online feature for FHM. After all, the game demands it...

OOTP's research shows that single player users far out weigh online players.

Also, they tried putting MP into an earlier version and there were issues. So the decision was made to wait on that until it could be done right. The main focus needing to be the single player mode.

[Templer]

After the first touch with the FHM5 online mode in the World Hockey Federation this mode shows very rough edges.
We hope for serious commitment by the developers.

[Alessandro]

Did you report your problems?

[Templer]

Originally Posted by Alessandro

Did you report your problems?

Yes Sir: Online League Issues

We've been waiting for an online mode for so long, and we were so happy, but then...
We are afraid, this could be the beginning of a long list.

[Alessandro]

Originally Posted by Templer

Yes Sir: Online League Issues

We've been waiting for an online mode for so long, and we were so happy, but then...
We are afraid, this could be the beginning of a long list.

The best way to get problems solved is to start with detailed explanations of the problems. I'm sure that the devs will read and keep on improving the online part.
However, you have to accept the fact that online players are a minority, thus more resources will always be allocated to the most used modes.

[Orioles1966]

Originally Posted by Templer

You know, these manager games, as good some of them are, they could become boring quite fast in single player mode.
I wonder why OOTP Dev have long waived the online feature for FHM. After all, the game demands it...

My leagues(single player mode) look like no one else so I am never bored.

I change teams around on a yearly basis so it's not boring playing the same teams playing the same opponents over and over again(see current day modern day Minor League baseball).

[ScottPoseSnag]

Originally Posted by Alessandro

However, you have to accept the fact that online players are a minority, thus more resources will always be allocated to the most used modes.

I see this axiom confidently cited often to step on anyone asking for multiple player improvements or investments. But here's the thing: If you offer people the choice of eating OPTION A or OPTION B, and OPTION A is a cheeseburger and OPTION B is a pile of smelly poop, you can't run around afterwords screaming "100% of people choose OPTION A! Nobody is interested in OPTION B!"Because, duh. People will always choose the carefully cooked cheeseburger over the pile of poop. Online in OOTP is not nearly as easy or fun to play as offline because of all the hurdles in the way. Its not too bad if you have good FTP skills, experience with an FTP client, experience with all the weird things that go wrong in online leagues with files and file transfers, if you have a commissioner willing to fund and build the league website, if you have players that are willing to deal with offline drafts, manual button pushing syncing of lineups and roster moves, and perhaps most baffeling inability to play games live. Computer and Console games stopped doing this mind numbing player base crushing stuff 15 years ago. I feel like I did an online draft in madden in 2009, and drafted fantasy baseball players through Yahoo live in 1999. And yet in 2018 OOTP online leagues feel they are still just a step beyond play by email.Edit: According to a fantasy trade association website FSTA, there were 59.3 million fantasy sports players in the USA and Canada in 2017. Most of my friends (mid career professionals) all check their teams daily if not hourly. OOTP is a lot like fantasy sports, except with much more detail, and customization in my view. Why not make it as easy as, say, yahoo fantasy to start and run/participate in a league? Seems like a lot of potential customers. Just saying.

[Alessandro]

Originally Posted by ScottPoseSnag

Why not make it as easy as, say, yahoo fantasy to start and run/participate in a league?

Maybe, just for starters, because this is not yahoo?

[tward13]

Originally Posted by ScottPoseSnag

I see this axiom confidently cited often to step on anyone asking for multiple player improvements or investments. But here's the thing: If you offer people the choice of eating OPTION A or OPTION B, and OPTION A is a cheeseburger and OPTION B is a pile of smelly poop, you can't run around afterwords screaming "100% of people choose OPTION A! Nobody is interested in OPTION B!"Because, duh. People will always choose the carefully cooked cheeseburger over the pile of poop. Online in OOTP is not nearly as easy or fun to play as offline because of all the hurdles in the way. Its not too bad if you have good FTP skills, experience with an FTP client, experience with all the weird things that go wrong in online leagues with files and file transfers, if you have a commissioner willing to fund and build the league website, if you have players that are willing to deal with offline drafts, manual button pushing syncing of lineups and roster moves, and perhaps most baffeling inability to play games live. Computer and Console games stopped doing this mind numbing player base crushing stuff 15 years ago. I feel like I did an online draft in madden in 2009, and drafted fantasy baseball players through Yahoo live in 1999. And yet in 2018 OOTP online leagues feel they are still just a step beyond play by email.Edit: According to a fantasy trade association website FSTA, there were 59.3 million fantasy sports players in the USA and Canada in 2017. Most of my friends (mid career professionals) all check their teams daily if not hourly. OOTP is a lot like fantasy sports, except with much more detail, and customization in my view. Why not make it as easy as, say, yahoo fantasy to start and run/participate in a league? Seems like a lot of potential customers. Just saying.

Yes. But OOTP has done their own research and single player is far more prevalent then multiplayer. That's in their baseball game that has been doing both successfully for a long time. They know where their focus must be. And they have said it here more than once. So depite apocryphal stories of endless potential sales to multiplayer customers, they have their reasons.

ETA: I have been playing single and multiplayer OOTP baseball for a long time. And will be joining FHM online leagues.

[ScottPoseSnag]

Originally Posted by tward13

Yes. But OOTP has done their own research and single player is far more prevalent then multiplayer. That's in their baseball game that has been doing both successfully for a long time. They know where their focus must be. And they have said it here more than once. So depite apocryphal stories of endless potential sales to multiplayer customers, they have their reasons.

ETA: I have been playing single and multiplayer OOTP baseball for a long time. And will be joining FHM online leagues.

Maybe OOTP is right. I mean Baseball Mogul Online died a long time ago. It is too bad, because OOTP is 90% there with awesome HTML reports, sim engine, and depth. Just a slight increase in user friendliness, in my opinion would change the online league participation equation. But that's just my opinion. People are used to one click joining, and live games and drafts in madden and fantasy sports. My past efforts to play with friends in small OOTP online leagues have always faltered eventually over technical hurdles to even joining the league (think hour long phone calls trying to get the first league file setup), the lack of online drafts (initial and then annual rookie), file transfer issues, and the time and expense of running a league yourself with a server and website. That is just my experience. But that previously sited 50+ million fantasy players statistic isn't made up. It came from the trade association website cited above. And every single one of my friends is in a fantasy league of some sort. So it doesn't sound crazy to me.

[Templer]

The online mode was implanted - but, as we experience now in the WHF, with a weak heart motivation.

[bjernagris]

The best way to improve the online league feature is to work together with the developers to address bugs and identify areas of improvement. By just complaining and saying that the list of problems is long, you are not going to solve much.