Baseball Sims! (Baseball Mogul and OOTP)

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Sports Argument Stadium > The Armchair Quarterback > Baseball Sims! (Baseball Mogul and OOTP)

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IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

chaoslord posted:

Went 1-2 against the Twins, giving them their only loss so far this season () in the middle game which went 10 innings.

My 162-0 dream is dead

# ¿ Dec 12, 2013 03:48

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# ¿ May 15, 2024 12:10

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

Not that I don't enjoy them but you should post your recaps in the discussion thread we have on the league forums, because lord knows that thing needs the traffic.

# ¿ Dec 13, 2013 23:21

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

We still have a bunch of open teams http://simcentral.net/forums/showthread.php/84511-SCMLB-Owners-as-of-11-7-2013

league page so you can have a look at the rosters and such http://www.rujasu.net/scmlb/news/html/leagues/league_100_home.html

# ¿ Dec 14, 2013 17:03

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

tadashi posted:

Seriously, Buane does a great job of keeping up with his leagues. We never miss sims unless there are serious technical issues (which can also be said of the other SimCentral commissioners). The Brittanica League is a great way to get started since its still in its infancy and the limits on salary and roster space provide interesting challenges. The RSL is challenging but very active and very rewarding.

Does the homepage of the RSL still cause people to go blind? Because when I was looking to join it before I ended up not because I couldn't stay on the site long enough to look at the teams.

# ¿ Dec 18, 2013 22:41

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

Tavarin posted:

It doesn't seem any worse than any other site with white on it to me.

It just seems (to me at least) that every single color is bright and attacking my eyeballs, there's nothing to mute it at all.

e: people should still join if they're interested, I've heard good things otherwise

# ¿ Dec 18, 2013 23:13

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

NiknudStunod posted:

so I get about 30 games into a season and the game crashes. This was quite a few hours of work since I was micro-managing. I figure no problem I will just load my last save. Low and behold my last save was from the first day on the job Jan 1st 2013. So now I am a bit upset but I did learn to set my game to save once a month.

If you do a lot of micro-managing you should probably set it to weekly.

# ¿ Dec 23, 2013 02:37

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

scmlb also has plenty of openings (see my post at the top of this page)

# ¿ Jan 9, 2014 03:30

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

RalphTheWonderLlama posted:

Well if someone hands me the opportunity to shamelessly to the Yankees (and in a world where Montero panned out?) I will jump at the opportunity.

Unless that would be hanging myself for some reason. I see Prince is being paid 25mm to hang out in Scranton.

It's the Yankees, even with that dead money you're still under budget! He's on the last year of his contract, too.

# ¿ Jan 10, 2014 18:22

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

RalphTheWonderLlama posted:

Seriously, gently caress this game and its injuries.

This is why I always play on commish mode.

# ¿ Jan 17, 2014 23:30

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

tadashi posted:

OOTP really likes to injure important players in the last week of the season. I recommend changing any good pitchers to designated hitters in the last week if you're headed to the playoffs.

I have determined in my few seasons in SCMLB that OOTP just likes to injure everyone frequently.

I'm pretty sure there is an entire wing of a local hospital that just belong to my team at this point.

# ¿ Jan 22, 2014 22:19

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

I like that teams can retire numbers now, I wonder how that will be handled.

# ¿ Jan 24, 2014 17:03

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

Faltese Malkin posted:

I know it's not necessarily the spirit of OOTP, but I wish they would include more financial options like merchandising, gameday promotions, and TV deals.

This was in OOTP6 and it was awesome because if you won it gave you fan interest boosts. They also had TV Deals that when they renewed increased or decreased based on fan interest and market size, I believe. I don't know when they took it out or why but I miss it.

# ¿ Jan 24, 2014 19:05

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

So, who remembers that thing I did where I created a bunch of Goons in OOTP and then got burnt out because I bit off more than I could chew since I couldn't find a place to upload stats and had to start doing them by hand?

I got bored and am simming out the years to get career stats, would you guys be interested enough in a final retrospective and history for me to make a new thread about it or should I just do some shorter info dump posts in here?

Sidenote: someone (who is still playing as I sim) is going to go down as one of the greatest players in history.

# ¿ Jan 25, 2014 08:55

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

Male. Bi. Unix. posted:

I'm definitely interested enough to see what happened, Male Biun Jr. was throwing hella fire

Your career statline is pretty great.

The final clinger on who wouldn't retire finally retired so I'll start grabbing the data I want and create the thread in a day or so.

# ¿ Jan 25, 2014 21:14

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

Do you guys want me to do a countdown of the "worst" players up through the best or just throw a few guys in each post semi-randomly?

One player is getting saved for last either way because god drat.

# ¿ Jan 28, 2014 23:46

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

SAMB0 posted:

I think either way would be good. Maybe a short excerpt on the player too. Whatever is quickest! We've waited to long!

Yeah, I plan on doing a short exerpt, although honestly a lot of players are going to be really similar.

It's taking a while because there's 55 players, I need at least four screencaps for each of them, and my method of doing so is probably terrible (print screen, paste to irfanview, crop, save, repeat).

# ¿ Jan 28, 2014 23:55

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3606358

Here's the Be a Pro retrospective thread. I'll be adding players and linking to the posts about them in the OP, starting with a few tonight.

# ¿ Feb 2, 2014 09:47

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

Monicro posted:

I'm down, should I hold off on signing up before you get me authorized or whatever?

You can't post without an authorized account :v:

I have no idea what I'm going to do in this league but it looks like fun so I can't wait.

e: I just realized OOTP 15 is less than a month away (if there are no delays) :woop:

IcePhoenix fucked around with this message at 20:51 on Mar 25, 2014

# ¿ Mar 25, 2014 20:48

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

Screen Door Slams posted:

When is OOTP 15 actually coming out?

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/ootp-15-general-discussions/241276-ootp-15-release-date.html

April 18th/21st depending on if you pre-ordered.

# ¿ Mar 31, 2014 16:46

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

OOTP has been doing a "road to release" thing this week where they preview some of the new features, and since the game comes out tomorrow (if you pre-ordered), today they did an info dump about the minor changes as well.

quote:

We know many of you love to turn on commissioner mode and modify your leagues in various ways, so every year we sprinkle in some new settings to satisfy the inner Selig (or inner anti-Selig) in you. OOTP 15 is no different - it features:
�Editable accomplishment and milestone limits
�Customizable spring training length (1-6 weeks)
�Option to set a roster size for Spring Training; together with the option to sign players to minor league contracts which include a major league option, this results in the possibility to invite free agents to Spring Training. - Non-roster invitees are now supported for Spring Training as well.
�Option to allow teams to 'post' players who are not yet FA-eligible for foreign leagues, including an editable maximum posting fee
�Option to assign a reputation level to a league, which is used in the player contract AI
�Option to set age limit rules and prohibit foreigners in minor leagues
�Option to limit contract length and prohibit contract extensions
�Option to have a non-editable ticket price
�Added a setting that prevents leagues with a disabled amateur draft to auto-generate fictional free agents (useful for independent leagues)
�Option to set a fee for which teams from other leagues may purchase contracts of players.
�The trading AI frequency no longer is a global setting, but can be set for each major league individually
�Playoff Matchup Editor allows you to directly set up the matchups you want for the playoffs.
�A new "Acquired" field in player profiles that displays the most recent trade involving a player, assuming there was one since you started the sim. Click it to view the transaction.
�The ability to offer jobs to coaches and scouts even when you have warm bodies occupying those roles.
�Improved news stories, play-by-play, AI, first-year player draft and negotiation.
�Enhanced player history tracking that includes yearly salary, grand slams, walk-off hits, 2nd and 3rd place award finishes, and more.

I am probably more excited about most of these than the 3D modeling and whatnot. I hope the posted players are actually talented, though, since I don't know if I've seen more than one or two IFAs generated that was worth signing.

# ¿ Apr 17, 2014 18:55

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

I just got my download link and am at work for another six hours :saddowns:

# ¿ Apr 18, 2014 16:16

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

Exodor posted:

The new manager's homepage is glorious

Each tile is customizable to show whatever you like.

Did you play 16 years already :stare:

# ¿ Apr 18, 2014 21:18

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

Exodor, how did you get the Manager Home Page to add more tabs?

# ¿ Apr 19, 2014 00:33

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

Exodor posted:

Increase the window size. You only get two rows at the default size but if you go to File, Settings and change the window size to 1680x1050 you'll get the third row of tabs

Awesome, thanks

# ¿ Apr 19, 2014 04:35

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

Has anyone tried out the posting system? I turned it on for the Japanese and Korean Leagues that I have in my game but I haven't seen anyone posted yet (currently in 2016). I had a few Free Agents come over during my second offseason, though.

Also, a PSA for anyone drafting: always check for pitchers that can hit and hitters that can pitch. I got a 5* shortstop in the fifth round because he was a lovely 1* potential closer.

# ¿ Apr 23, 2014 15:24

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

Infidel Castro posted:

So I decided once again to start up a Minnesota Twins franchise to see if I could duplicate my mind-boggling success of turning them from Basement dwellers in 2012 to 2014 WS Champions.

I decide Mr. Drew would be a nice addition to my team seeing how I'm trotting out the world's worst platoon of Florimon and Escobar at shortstop.

3 games in, Drew gets hurt for 6 weeks. What a wonderful start to my campaign. I suppose it could be worse...

This game is depressing sometimes.

I won 98 games in 2015 without Buxton, there's your benchmark :cool:

I lost in the LCS though

Also, OOTP15 is on steam now and you can get it for 10% off until May 1st if you didn't buy it already.

# ¿ Apr 26, 2014 18:16

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

CancerStick posted:

Does anybody ever use the "send to minors for rehab stint" in OOTP 15?

I do if I want to keep someone on the roster, and it helps me stall on sending someone down/gives me time to trade someone.

# ¿ May 14, 2014 00:02

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

Mornacale posted:

Am I mistaken, or does this still leave you needing to manually fix logos and unis etc.

You already have to do that, none of these are in by default

# ¿ May 28, 2014 00:16

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

It's like a rich man's Billy Hamilton!

# ¿ Jun 6, 2014 16:31

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

I think if you go into player strategy there's a setting to force a guy into a certain lineup spot.

# ¿ Jun 6, 2014 17:21

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

uggy posted:

Are you opposed to setting lineups yourself at all?

He might be like me and enjoy the challenge of being GM only. I haven't done one of those games yet in 15 but in OOTP14 I have a team that's had the same manager for like 15 years (I am dreading him retiring) and they always perform above expectations. I don't think it's a stretch to say the manager deserves credit for that.

# ¿ Jun 6, 2014 17:53

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

Faltese Malkin posted:

Just a heads up: MLB contacted the developers of OOTP and asked they take team nicknames out of the game, so the latest patch (3.1.something) will fix bugs, add some 3D stuff, and take out team names. Apparently this also applies to minor league teams as well.

I imagine the modding community will try to find a way to work around this, but for now you are stuck manually editing the names yourself. Some good news is that it doesn't apply to saved games, just new ones.

So I started a new league a few nights ago and was a little shocked by the teamnames because I had forgotten about it. Out of curiosity I hit the "randomize names" button a few times before starting the league just to see if there were any relly amusing names in there, and on the third randomization it randomly gave every team their real names. I started a new league again and once again, on the third randomization it just randomly gave every team their real names again.
I guess the modding community doesn't have as much work to do as we thought :v:

# ¿ Jun 12, 2014 17:47

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

bewbies posted:

So here's ol' boy after his 3rd season. He's been batting leadoff every game. The SBs are pretty funny.

He's won a couple of GGs in CF and had by far the best ZR the last two years. I have 3 more years of him in arbitration; would you offer him an extension? If he's a 4-5 WAR player that probably means at least $13-15m. Kind of tempted to trade him still.

Also I really wish there was a player like this in real life.

edit - he's wanting $12m a year for an 8 year deal, can probably get him down to $10m.

I'd be a bit iffy on signing him that long but I'd absolutely do it for that AAV. You might be able to get him for less if you scale it, a lot of times I'm able to sign a guy pre-arb for something that starts a little above what I think he'll make in arb and scales up to a little below what he initially asked for in AAV. Let me get super nerdy for you on his stats though.

A stat I like to look at is a sort of modified slugging percentage. I take total bases, add steals, subtract CS*2 (because I want to penalize it a little more and also to somewhat adjust for getting on base via walk), and divide it by AB. So if you do that for that guy his "adjusted" slugging is .459, which is pretty good considering he's playing elite defense and probably taking extra bases on pretty much every hit when he's on base. As long as he can keep his OBP around .300 he'll be well worth it, imo.

# ¿ Jun 16, 2014 15:42

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

bewbies posted:

What do you guys think of this:

I get:
20 y/o LF, .301/.368/.501 with 25 SBs and plus defense in rookie season, was #19 overall prospect year prior

I give:
Borderline all star 27 y/o 3B (.287/.365/.502, 85 rating at 3B), 2 years of arbitration remaining
#5 overall prospect, power hitting RF, 22 y/o
#68 overall prospect, good all around 21 y/o LHP
2.5* C prospect, 19 y/o

I feel like this is a fairly reasonable trade. I realize this sort of thing doesn't happen often in the real world, but how realistic is it from a value perspective?

(I have trade difficulty all the way up and "heavily favor prospects")

Epilogue:
The guy I traded for has turned into a young Bonds; two straight MVPs, two GGs, two 1.000+ OPS seasons with 30 SBs. The 3B made an all star game and is a pending FA, #5 prospect is now 24, hasn't cracked the majors yet and is looking like a major bust, the SP is doing well in AAA and looks like he'll be a 2.5-3 star SP, the C is middling in AA.

Even ignoring the humblebrag since you already did it, there's not nearly enough information to actually evaluate it at the time of the trade.

# ¿ Jun 16, 2014 18:43

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

Only 100 game score, what a scrub.

# ¿ Jun 21, 2014 17:23

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

cross-postin from the MLB n/v thread

Hey everyone, the Be A GM 2 draft and stuff finished drafting last week, and I've been setting up the lineups and stuff all week. Cleveland and Milwaukee have completely abandoned their teams and could really use someone to at least set up their lineups and pitching staff. I know it's not the same amount of fun when you didn't draft anyone but you might be able to swing a trade or something! You can also manage your team as I sim through a season, starting this week!

Just post in the thread to claim one of the teams, then you can either PM me, e-mail me, or use the google doc to set up your lineups and stuff.

# ¿ Jul 13, 2014 05:18

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

I signed up, but I can't really make my team until after work. Hopefully nobody sneaks in ahead of me, looks fun.

# ¿ Sep 23, 2014 15:30

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

I just got an e-mail hyping OOTP 16 pre-orders and stuff, including the list of new stuff.

quote:

Here are the new and revamped features you'll find in OOTP 16. As in past years, more surprise features will be added as we get closer to shipping.

2015 Opening Day Rosters
Our brand new 2015 roster sets include all Opening Day MLB rosters, as well as the complete minor league system down to the rookie leagues. All major league (and certain minor league) player ratings are based on Baseball Prospectus' industry-leading player forecasting system, PECOTA. The thousands of remaining minor league players are carefully rated by hand by our established research team.

Will San Diego's offseason frenzy pay dividends? Is this finally the year the Blue Jays return to the top of the American League East? Find out for yourself!

New International and Independent Leagues Added
Last year, we introduced 7 international leagues in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Mexico, Cuba, Italy and The Netherlands. This year, we added the Australian Baseball League to that list, along with several independent leagues in the US and Japan. All of those leagues feature real rosters, of course, with countless hours of work invested in researching realistic bio info, statistics and ratings for thousands of real players.

New Team Owner Goals
Real-life GMs may not want smarter owners, but we think you'll appreciate your new team owner, who won't just tell you to go out there and win as many games as you can. Now he'll give you short- and long-term goals, which may include: winning the World Series within X seasons; fixing a certain weakness on your roster; extending the contract of a star player; and much more. Your ability to meet those goals not only decides if you'll be fired but also determines if your contract will be extended at a higher salary, which is another new feature this year.

Improved Team Finances and Reporting
We have redesigned large chunks of the team finance system, including new season ticket sales, a team finances screen based on widgets, a new accounting screen, and much more. You'll be better at the money-related part of your job than ever before. On top of that, we have recoded and improved the entire AI related to finances, resulting in more realistic player contracts and negotiations and more stable long-term team finances.

Completely Redesigned Manager and Coaches System
One of our favorite new features this year is the redesigned coaching model. Managers and coaches now have certain personalities and special skills or preferences, which will result in plenty of interesting choices. Do you want the manager of your team (if you decide to play GM-only) to be an easy-going stathead, or do you need a veteran hard-nosed manager who is able to cope with the disgruntled players in the clubhouse? Do you want a pitching coach who is an expert in working with power pitchers, or is your staff based more on control artists who could benefit from a coach who knows how to work with finesse pitchers?

Recoded Team Strategy System
You spoke and we listened: We agreed that setting your team's in-game strategy was a tedious task, so we've completely redesigned that part of the game. Now you can quickly set your preferred strategies and move on to more important matters. Beware, though: If you play GM-only, you'll find that some managers won't let you dictate certain strategies.

Better Playoff Coverage
The race for playoff berths is the most exciting part of every baseball season, so we added a new Pennant Chase screen that displays the strength of the remaining schedule and the chance for each team to make the playoffs. We also improved the related news coverage. Who will win it all?

Improved 3D Ball Flight
Last year we introduced support for 3D stadiums and realistic 3D ball flight, which was a big step-up for the series. OOTP 16 improves on that 3D presentation and includes great-looking 3D models of all 30 MLB ballparks.

Much More
Of course, that's not all. Every year we offer many smaller features, and OOTP 16 is no exception. It includes:

New play modes (Manager only, GM only, and GM + Manager), so you can decide exactly how you'd like to run your team
An improved simulation engine that incorporates the latest research and trends, such as infield shifts and pitcher usage
Rainouts with automatic rescheduling, adding the realism that comes with rain-shortened and cancelled games. Is your bullpen strong enough to handle those late-season double-headers?
Better in-game sound
An enhanced interface, such as a player info pop-up when resting the mouse pointer over a button which links to a player, or automatic syncing between lineups and depth charts when making changes to either of them.
A great new Find-A-Player feature: Define certain criteria (ratings, stats, salary etc.) and find exactly the player you were looking for
Recoded All-Star Game features with real voting (including online league support)
Realistic OOTP Hall of Fame selection process, including simulated voting and new stats like JAWS, HoF Standards, Black & Grey Ink Tests
More player awards, for example Most Valuable Player, Playoff Series MVPs, best hitters by position and Reliever of the Year
Better playoff history tracking, including career playoff stats for all real players in the database and playoff leaderboards
Alternate currencies (Euro, Pounds Sterling, Yen, etc.)
The option to define background pictures for teams and leagues
Much more

I was really thinking of skipping this year but man, a lot of things that bothered me in the past are getting changed/fixed...

IcePhoenix fucked around with this message at 22:14 on Jan 23, 2015

# ¿ Jan 23, 2015 22:11

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

Infidel Castro posted:

Too bad nobody told Schilling about Game Dev Tycoon. He probably could have picked up a pointer or two.

And like always, I preorder OOTP16 (aka Minnesota Twins Rebuilding Simulator 2015) like a sucker.

How to rebuild the Minnesota Twins: a simple guide

step one: try your best to trade away lovely contracts (note: this does not include Joe Mauer you stupid sheep)
step two: lol you don't have to do anything else our farm is loaded

# ¿ Feb 13, 2015 06:25

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# ¿ May 15, 2024 12:10

IcePhoenix: Sep 18, 2005; Take me to your Shida

I got an e-mail this morning hyping the new GM-Only mode

quote:

Congratulations! You are the new General Manager of the Amsterdam Lions, one of the proud franchises comprising the Planetary Extreme Baseball Alliance - the preeminent baseball league in all the land! That dream job you always wanted has sailed into harbor, and the ship is yours, sir. There's nothing stopping you from steering her as you see fit. Swindle your fellow GMs! Dictate game strategies! Ruthlessly cut dead weight players! Why, you can practically get away with murder when you're the big boss!

... And you would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for that meddling owner.

Under Pressure From Above ...

Paul L. Woodward is Unhappy. Yes, with a capital U. The vein creasing his forehead throbs in time with the metal spheres clicking back and forth in the Newton's Cradle sitting on his desk.

I asked just a few simple things of you. Extend 3B Takeshi Hayashi. Boost our attendance to boost my bottom line. Shape up the roster so we can pitch the Lions as legitimate playoff contenders next season. And please, try not to suck completely this season.
How many of these simple goals have you accomplished? Nada.

Oh, I'm sorry, did you say that you let Hayashi walk because he's 38 and needs a scooter to get around since undergoing that third knee surgery? Tough beans. His #42 jersey sold like Crocs in the aughts. How are we going to get more butts in the seats if you ditch our most popular player? I told you, I want another 4,000 concession buyers filling the park each game this year. Don't gawk at me-it wouldn't be hard if you can just give people a sense that we're building toward something here.

Mr. Woodward picks a baseball up from his desk. He begins tossing it into the air, catching it on the fall.

Look, I'm a reasonable guy. I realize you're only a few months on the job. Take your time. Amsterdam is all about The Long View. I want you to make the moves you need to make to finally get us back to the playoffs. Whatever you need to do, do it. I'm here to support you in any way.

What's that? You say we need to trade our MVP for prospects and begin a five-year rebuild that's going to require a total overhaul of our moribund farm system?

The baseball smacks down into Mr. Woodward's tightening palm. His fingernails seem to be tearing into the ball's seams.

Get out of my office.

... And From Below

Lions Manager John King leans back in his chair. He folds his hands behind his head and nods toward the piece of asphalt resting in a frame on his desk.

Know why they call me "The Highway"?

I'll tell you why they don't call me "The Highway." They don't call me that 'cause I let any wet-behind-the-ears GM waltz into my office and tell me how to manage a game. I got my own ideas on how to run a railroad.

Been in this game for 28 years, son. Seen everything there is to see. Even saw that robot replica of Morganna the Kissing Bandit smooch my right fielder when we played that exhibition in Tokyo. Wish I could un-see that one.

Don't get me wrong: I'm no Luddite. Some of this newfangled technology has its uses. Time was when I had to fiddle around for hours, laying out my game strategies. Now it's a snap to prepare for each game and let the coaches know how I want things done. And I have a very particular way of wanting things done.

You don't like the sacrifice bunt? That's too bad, because my team lays down bunts like Cornelius Vanderbilt laid down railroad tracks. Yeah, that's right: my team. You may supply the bats and the arms, but once they walk into the locker room, they're mine to manage as I see fit. Don't like the way I call a game? Well then, you know what you can hit?

Manager King leans forward in his chair. He taps the asphalt in its frame.

The highway.

It's a Bottom Line Business

Assistant GM Mike Robinson appears worried. The signs are subtle, if you failed Remedial Subtlety. He tugs his starched collar and mops his brow, which is starting to resemble a waterfall after a heavy thunderstorm.

We ... uh, we have a problem.

Season ticket sales are down almost 10%. People are angry over your proposed $2 ticket hike. I know we need the cash flow to get Mr. Woodward that power arm he's been on about, but the fans aren't buying in. We're getting all kinds of angry letters. Get a load of this one: "Paying more money to watch the Lions recast the national pastime into a Stooges-esque farce is as appealing a notion as sucking the roe from a still-writhing shad." I have no idea what that means, but it sounds negative to me.

Mr. Woodward relies on those advance season ticket sales when he starts drawing up next year's budgets. Now we have no safety net. I feel like Nik Wallenda walking a wire over Niagara Falls with no safety net. Did I tell you I hate heights?

It gets worse. Tracking just came in, and fan interest for the upcoming season ... yeah, it's ugly. We're looking at a possible 40% drop in per-game attendance. The bean counters tell me we're going to burn through Mr. Woodward's allotted cash reserve by season's end. Don't take my word for it, though: all the info's on the new Accounting tab. You may want to bite down on a stick before you have a look, though.

I'm telling you, it's going to be a bloodbath if we don't do something to spike season ticket sales, and fast. I dunno ... maybe we shouldn't have let Hayashi walk, after all.

Why are you looking at me like that?

GM or Manager � Play Your Way

For the first time ever, OOTP lets you select just the role for you. Want to focus on the game-to-game details and leave the business side of baseball behind? The manager role is for you. Let someone else build the roster; you'll find a way to turn it into a winner.

Maybe you find glory in signing the big free agent, swinging the big trade, and nailing that late-round steal in the draft. If so, you were born to play as a general manager. Make the big macro-level calls, but don't think you'll be able to push the skipper around when it comes to setting lineups and strategies ... he's bound to have his own ideas.

Of course, you can still play both roles if you like. Better yet, OOTP 16 introduces new levels of customized automation. Don't want to bother with the draft? Bored with setting budgets? Confused by those international amateurs clamoring for your attention? Turn those tasks-and any other you like-over to an AI more robust than ever before.

Expanded Roles, Expanded Identities

That new AI means no two coaches will coach alike. Need a light touch with the sensitive boys in the locker room? There's a manager for that. Is it time to break out the ruler and start slapping wrists? We've got you covered there, too. Don't forget to match skills with talent. A pitching coach who specializes in squeezing every drop of talent out of power pitchers won't do much for your rotation of noodle-tossers.

Characters bring fictional leagues to life, and OOTP 16 has more character than any previous iteration in this proud series. So go ahead, play the game your way. Build your world and your baseball empire in it. Just make sure to keep Mr. Woodward happy, and remember never to cross The Highway.

Is it Friday yet?

# ¿ Mar 16, 2015 14:38

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Sports Argument Stadium > The Armchair Quarterback > Baseball Sims! (Baseball Mogul and OOTP)

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