"Going back to the question here, how much control is too much? Without more detailed feedback, I'm already passing that point. Every option has some impact on the field, but it's not always clear what impact it has."

MH: First, thanks for giving me the opportunity for this interview! The features I love the most are the new scouting system, the better AI, the revised player development and the ball animation & replay function. The new historical features are great as well, the results are now extremely realistic and the AI picks the right lineups & pitching staffs, which is great for guys who like to replay single seasons.

The major difference between OOTP8's scouting model and OOTP9's is that you no longer hire an entire scouting team. Instead you hire your scouting director, using a system much like bidding for free agents, and he assembles a theoretical team based on his attributes and preferences. So what exactly are the scouting director's attributes you ask? Good question… The scouting directors have four ratings which you are probably already familiar with, and one preference that you are not. The four ratings are Scout Major League, Scout Minor Leagues, International Scouting, and Scout Amateurs. These are all self explanatory. The new preference is what is currently called Amateur Preference (it will probably be renamed before release). This preference has five possible values: Highly Favor Ability, Favor Ability, Neutral, Favor Tools, and Highly Favor Tools. These represent not an ability of the scout, but the method the scout uses in evaluating players. A scout that highly favors ability will put more weight on what the player can currently do than what the behind the scenes "potential" rating says.