Alright boyz, here we go! OOTP 11 first impressions thread

[Galaril]

Is there a demo or will there be one?
Is there a simple MLB quick start with just a triple aaa league and the MLBs?

If so I would definitely buy.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

With the MLB All in One, are you guys sticking with the 30 round amateur draft? Is that the appropriate number of players to bring into that universe?

Yep. No issues for me.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by Galaril

Is there a demo or will there be one?
Is there a simple MLB quick start with just a triple aaa league and the MLBs?

If so I would definitely buy.

Not sure on the demo but there is an MLB quickstart with all the minors (including Rookie Ball and Short Season A Ball)

[Scoobz0202]

Originally Posted by Galaril

Is there a demo or will there be one?
Is there a simple MLB quick start with just a triple aaa league and the MLBs?

If so I would definitely buy.

I have not purchased yet but from what I have gathered there is still, unfortunately, no way to just have the A,AA, and AAA leagues without some work on your part.

[Drake]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

With the MLB All in One, are you guys sticking with the 30 round amateur draft? Is that the appropriate number of players to bring into that universe?

When I play MLB, I usually do 30 rounds for the first 5 seasons and keep an eye on the in-season FA population. When it gets upwards of 1000 players, I drop the rounds down to 20 for a few seasons. When the Rookie level starts to populate with ghost players, I bump it back up.

Generally, I prefer a 24 team fictional quickstart, and I usually aim for 10-15 rounds there (which is below the recommended limit), and that seems to work pretty well.

But then again, I'm a sucker for player stories. I like all of the created players to play for as long as possible and reach their best potential, even if they never reach the majors, so I don't like to see even the marginal guys get bumped out of the league for the "hot new 20th round draft pick".

It's sort of silly given that I don't pay a ton of attention to the career minor leaguers in my system, but it makes me happy to think I'm giving a bunch of fake ball players every opportunity possible to live out their fake dreams.

[Ksyrup]

So I ran about 5 or 6 sims of the 2010 season with the all-in-one last night and for the most part, it played out pretty realistically. I had 2 seasons where KC somehow won the AL Central, though. The biggest realism issue for me was the Nationals - with Strasburg and Wang each pitching 200+ innings, the Nats are consistently good. They pretty much challenge for the NL East title every sim. And that sucks, only because neither of those guys is going to pitch 150 innings this year.

[MizzouRah]

Love the new stadium views PadresFan!

[PadresFan104]

Thanks Mizzou!!!

[GrantDawg]

So, first time in many a moon, I bought OOTP. Advice on settings and such? I played a couple months of a trial season, and had two five star prospect from different teams have career ending injuries. Does injuries need to be turned down from default, or was that random luck? What financial tweaks do I need to do to keep things from getting silly?

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

I like it. It all does seem a bit extraneous, but...it works for me in spite of itself. At least for me it does. Your points are well taken, but...meh. It does what I need/want it to do, so...it's fine. And for all of those criticisms, you don't have to use all of the extra features it's chock full of it. The game is still very able to do a very vanilla gaming experience if someone wants that. So, while I'm a rapid critic of certain aspects of things (namely, financials since it's my pet project) I don't think the whole "you can add players from Namibia" is a fair criticism as if somehow it detracts from other aspects of the game, because well...that functionality hasn't been improved since it was added and all it does is allow someone to add a bit of color to their league if they want it.

And I like that flexibility and clearly others do as well.

I think it is fair criticism when it effects the core gameplay. I don't care about flexibility if I can run something that resembles a MLB setup. Up until maybe last version, that wasn't possible unless you went back to 6.51. I'm just saying that the Namibia Baseball League took precedent over Major League Baseball.

All I'm saying is that if I can run something that resembles the MLB, then they can do whatever the hell they want with the rest of the game and make everything as flexible as it can get. Just don't lose sight on what baseball really is.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I think it is fair criticism when it effects the core gameplay. I don't care about flexibility if I can run something that resembles a MLB setup. Up until maybe last version, that wasn't possible unless you went back to 6.51. I'm just saying that the Namibia Baseball League took precedent over Major League Baseball.

All I'm saying is that if I can run something that resembles the MLB, then they can do whatever the hell they want with the rest of the game and make everything as flexible as it can get. Just don't lose sight on what baseball really is.

You don't care, but lots of other people do. I think that's the point. It seems that there is a great bulk of the audience of that game who seem to prefer flexibility over an MLB text sim. Even if it negates "what baseball really is." There are other options out there that are more traditional in the text sim genre, though I understand where you're coming from.

I just don't think the game is going to be something other than what it is and well, lots of us on the whole like it that way. It offers that MLB experience, it doesn't affect core gameplay -- especially in this new version -- and it still allows for flexibility.

We can criticize the dude all we want and I know I do and have, but he's nothing if responsive and if there's a legit gripe with the gameplay when you play it, he'll hear you out...even if nothing changes.

But I think the criticisms of this game are bordering more on philosophical now than actually applied to people who've played it beyond 6.5. Have you tried this yet? My original point was, the game has grown leaps and bounds since then and even since version 9 it's an entirely different game.

11 is the most engrossing it's been since those early days for me, which is saying a lot.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

So, first time in many a moon, I bought OOTP. Advice on settings and such? I played a couple months of a trial season, and had two five star prospect from different teams have career ending injuries. Does injuries need to be turned down from default, or was that random luck? What financial tweaks do I need to do to keep things from getting silly?

Consensus for a while has been to lower injuries to low, fatigue to normal. As for financial tweaks, that's up to you really. Status quo, I think things are okay sans much tinkering. It's just a matter of preference. My suggestion would be to turn off revenue sharing, set a flat media amount for all teams. Playing that way even without a salary cap would at least ensure that things don't get too crazy and it has the added affect of ignoring the game's media markets which can often be a source of frustration since they don't correspond with real life.

But all of that is only if you want it to keep it somewhat constant. Otherwise, it does a pretty good job out of the box on the whole.

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

So, first time in many a moon, I bought OOTP. Advice on settings and such? I played a couple months of a trial season, and had two five star prospect from different teams have career ending injuries. Does injuries need to be turned down from default, or was that random luck? What financial tweaks do I need to do to keep things from getting silly?

Injuries = low
Average attendance = 25,000
Average ticket price = $15

Otherwise the injuries feel excessive and the small/mid market teams have too much money to spend imo.

[DaddyTorgo]

has that looked good going forward big fo?

[Big Fo]

Yeah, I've played around a decade with those settings now and things are a lot more realistic. I also moved some of the smallest market teams down 1-2 in market size but most of the difference comes from the attendance/ticket price changes.

I also play with the advanced rookie signing turned off, I don't like the top players refusing to sign unless they get double what Strasburg got. I don't mind the bonuses but some rookies would ask for $9m a year on top of the bonus when they were not good enough to play in the majors yet.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

You don't care, but lots of other people do. I think that's the point. It seems that there is a great bulk of the audience of that game who seem to prefer flexibility over an MLB text sim. Even if it negates "what baseball really is." There are other options out there that are more traditional in the text sim genre, though I understand where you're coming from.

Considering they had issues selling the game after the switch, I'd say that there were more people looking for an MLB text sim.

He built the game for the few on the boards who wanted the Female Cambodian Underhand Pitch Baseball League while alienating all those who wanted something that resembled actual baseball. He's fixed that to an extent it seems, but I think it's a fair argument.

[MizzouRah]

I'm having a blast playing out my games.. I bet LaRussa is getting pissed off.

He's probably much better than me though.. as I've started 2-5 on the young season and tried to steal 2nd base in a close game with Pujols batting and two outs. Whoops!

[Barkeep49]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

I'm having a blast playing out my games.. I bet LaRussa is getting pissed off.

He's probably much better than me though.. as I've started 2-5 on the young season and tried to steal 2nd base in a close game with Pujols batting and two outs. Whoops!

Actually this sounds just like him to me.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

I'm having a blast playing out my games.. I bet LaRussa is getting pissed off.

He's probably much better than me though.. as I've started 2-5 on the young season and tried to steal 2nd base in a close game with Pujols batting and two outs. Whoops!

I think you're playing with the Dusty Baker mod.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Barkeep49

Actually this sounds just like him to me.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

I think you're playing with the Dusty Baker mod.

With a fantasy draft, it's tougher as most of the talent in the league is spread out amoungst the teams.

[Scoobz0202]

Really small sample size, I know, but has anybody noticed an insane amount of strikeouts for pitch hitters?

In the 10 games I've managed so far I have had EVERY SINGLE pitch hitter strike out. Every one.

[Galaril]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Not sure on the demo but there is an MLB quickstart with all the minors (including Rookie Ball and Short Season A Ball)

Not what I asked. Just a simple MLB and triple AAA would be most appreciated. I have no interest in all these short leagues and a leagues running in the background.

[Galaril]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Not sure on the demo but there is an MLB quickstart with all the minors (including Rookie Ball and Short Season A Ball)

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Considering they had issues selling the game after the switch, I'd say that there were more people looking for an MLB text sim.

He built the game for the few on the boards who wanted the Female Cambodian Underhand Pitch Baseball League while alienating all those who wanted something that resembled actual baseball. He's fixed that to an extent it seems, but I think it's a fair argument.

I totally agree with you. It just goes to show Americans should stick to making the baseball games and let the Brits make the soccer games...

On a serious note I have not purchased since the first iteration after the move to SI and won't again until they bring this thing back to a realistic baseball game like being able to run a MLB and triple AAA league only. But yes there are other options and one of them PS is now moving into the top spot from what I have seen with the additions soon to come of real life manager profiles and auto transactions for historical play.Yeah.

[LionsFan10]

Silly question,

I thought I read somewhere up-thread that you could use your own picture and have the facegen tech turn it into one of the "in-game" pictures. Where and how can I accomplish this?

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Galaril

a realistic baseball game like being able to run a MLB and triple AAA league only.

You are confusing me here. Do you want a realistic baseball game, or want to only run MLB and AAA league (in an unrealistic format)?

If you are looking to play an unrealistic game that is simpler and doesn't require all of the micro-managing of a realistic game, I think you are not alone. I don't know if there are any quick starts that can do that but you should be able to pretty easily dump all of the minor leagues below AAA in one of the existing quick starts. It will throw all of the players that were in those leagues into free agency, but honestly there is no way to fit that many players into just AAA anyways so probably not a huge deal.

If I missed what you are wanting to do, then I apologize. The way I read your previous post was that you were saying just MLB and AAA only was realistic, so i figured that couldn't be right.

[Galaril]

Originally Posted by Alan T

You are confusing me here. Do you want a realistic baseball game, or want to only run MLB and AAA league (in an unrealistic format)?

If you are looking to play an unrealistic game that is simpler and doesn't require all of the micro-managing of a realistic game, I think you are not alone. I don't know if there are any quick starts that can do that but you should be able to pretty easily dump all of the minor leagues below AAA in one of the existing quick starts. It will throw all of the players that were in those leagues into free agency, but honestly there is no way to fit that many players into just AAA anyways so probably not a huge deal.

If I missed what you are wanting to do, then I apologize. The way I read your previous post was that you were saying just MLB and AAA only was realistic, so i figured that couldn't be right.

Yes, ignore the word realistic that was a poor choice. No I was hoping for just a MLB and the Triple AAA or no Triple AAA.

[Galaril]

Originally Posted by Alan T

You are confusing me here. Do you want a realistic baseball game, or want to only run MLB and AAA league (in an unrealistic format)?

If you are looking to play an unrealistic game that is simpler and doesn't require all of the micro-managing of a realistic game, I think you are not alone. I don't know if there are any quick starts that can do that but you should be able to pretty easily dump all of the minor leagues below AAA in one of the existing quick starts. It will throw all of the players that were in those leagues into free agency, but honestly there is no way to fit that many players into just AAA anyways so probably not a huge deal.

If I missed what you are wanting to do, then I apologize. The way I read your previous post was that you were saying just MLB and AAA only was realistic, so i figured that couldn't be right.

This is a problem. I like strict historical which this game I can now see will never be able to deliver. Thanks though Alan for the info.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Galaril

Yes, ignore the word realistic that was a poor choice. No I was hoping for just a MLB and the Triple AAA or no Triple AAA.

Yeah, then I think you could use the normal MLB quick start, then just delete the extra minor leagues that you don't want. Only takes 3 seconds to delete each league, so not really a chore.

The only caveat is all of those players in AA, A, Short-A or Rookie ball will end up as free agents.

I saw in the other thread you are waiting on the demo, so whenever that does come out give that a shot.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Galaril

This is a problem. I like strict historical which this game I can now see will never be able to deliver. Thanks though Alan for the info.

Puresim has a nice "strict historical" feel to it IMHO.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Galaril

I totally agree with you. It just goes to show Americans should stick to making the baseball games and let the Brits make the soccer games...

On a serious note I have not purchased since the first iteration after the move to SI and won't again until they bring this thing back to a realistic baseball game like being able to run a MLB and triple AAA league only. But yes there are other options and one of them PS is now moving into the top spot from what I have seen with the additions soon to come of real life manager profiles and auto transactions for historical play.Yeah.

All I ever worry about is my major team and let the CPU pretty much take care of my farm clubs.

You can do what Alan T said though and delete whichever leagues you do not want.

I like a typical MLB setup and have all 3 text sim baseball games, right now OOTP11 is being played non-stop due to the immersion it gives me over the other two - however, BM is great for quick simming!

[Pumpy Tudors]

I don't have the game yet, but I thought the point of all this customization was so people could create the leagues they wanted. So if you only want MLB and AAA, for instance, you can do that. If you only want Japan and Estonia, you can do that, too. As far as league setups go, I'm not understanding how people say something can't be done. I guess I'll find out for myself if/when I buy the game. I would probably just go with the MLB all-in-one myself, but I like that options are available.

[RainMaker]

Is there a quickstart that has the majors and just A, AA, and AAA?

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

I don't have the game yet, but I thought the point of all this customization was so people could create the leagues they wanted. So if you only want MLB and AAA, for instance, you can do that. If you only want Japan and Estonia, you can do that, too. As far as league setups go, I'm not understanding how people say something can't be done. I guess I'll find out for myself if/when I buy the game. I would probably just go with the MLB all-in-one myself, but I like that options are available.

The problem was that the customization made it nearly impossible to build a real MLB setup. The league transactions, development, free agency, and financials never worked out right. Not to mention it took forever to make rosters and by the time they were completed, the baseball season was over.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

The problem was that the customization made it nearly impossible to build a real MLB setup. The league transactions, development, free agency, and financials never worked out right. Not to mention it took forever to make rosters and by the time they were completed, the baseball season was over.

Yeah, that was a problem years ago. If you notice, it's not being talked about anymore on this forum because those issues have been resolved for several years now.

[molson]

Baseball is the one text sim genre where I'd never want to run a "real" league. It seems like so much work. There's so much going on. I seem to be in the heavy minority here. Small fictional leagues are pretty awesome in this game. You get a real feel for the league, everything works, total customization, great stuff.

I can understand the frustrations with the MLB setup - the more options, the more levels of reality, the more difficult for everyone who tries this game to have a "realistic experience". I mean, there's thousands and thousands of simmed seasons out there among people playing this game. There's no way any game can make all of those experiences seem realistic or satisfactory.

[Galaril]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Puresim has a nice "strict historical" feel to it IMHO.

Yeah, I recently bought the strat o matic baseball game but to be honest the price is not worth since there is alot of customizing that goes with it. For the price I could buy all three of the big three PC baseball games and still have 50 bucks left over just not worth it. I think the puresim 3 will be about as good as any of the replay games.

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

I don't have the game yet, but I thought the point of all this customization was so people could create the leagues they wanted. So if you only want MLB and AAA, for instance, you can do that.

That can be done very easily if you just delete AA, A, Rookie leagues, etc.

The problem is that if you delete all those, a lot of good prospects become free agents. So to do it right you have to turn on Commissioner Mode and manually move all of the top (and decent if you feel like) prospects onto each MLB team's AAA team. For 30 MLB teams this can take awhile, half an hour or longer.

I made myself a quick start that has my previously mentioned financial fixes and the minor league rosters already pared down to AAA/AA/A (I kept any minor leaguer with 22+ out of 80 potential) but I can understand people not wanting to bother with all that work to play a game.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by molson

Baseball is the one text sim genre where I'd never want to run a "real" league. It seems like so much work. There's so much going on. I seem to be in the heavy minority here. Small fictional leagues are pretty awesome in this game. You get a real feel for the league, everything works, total customization, great stuff.

I know I said that I'd probably do the MLB all-in-one setup if I get this game, but I agree with you here. I did this in one of the old FPS baseball games, and it was great. I think my league only had 8 teams in it, but I felt like I knew each and every one of those players after just a few weeks of game time. It was simple and fun. In a way, I'd almost like to do something similar with OOTP, but I'm not sure I'm willing to put in the time to set things up and learn the universe. I guess I feel that with all the customization available, I would want to do more than just set up 8 teams and leave it at that. That's no fault of the game, though. That's just me not knowing what I want. It would be fun to do something like that, though.

[MizzouRah]

My mlb drafted team is off to a horrible 2-9 start to the season. No hitting and no bullpen.. and I'm 0-5 at home to boot!

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

My mlb drafted team is off to a horrible 2-9 start to the season. No hitting and no bullpen.. and I'm 0-5 at home to boot!

We've secretly replaced the St. Louis Cardinals with the St. Louis Blues. Let's see if MizzouRah notices...

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

We've secretly replaced the St. Louis Cardinals with the St. Louis Blues. Let's see if MizzouRah notices...

Make that 3-13... DOH!

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Yeah, that was a problem years ago. If you notice, it's not being talked about anymore on this forum because those issues have been resolved for several years now.

Several years? I bought the game two years ago and there was no playable MLB rosters at all until like November. Most of the MLB roster makers constantly bitched about how hard it was to make them as well.

If that's all fixed, then great. I'm just pointing out the reason for the mass exodus from the series.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

I know I said that I'd probably do the MLB all-in-one setup if I get this game, but I agree with you here. I did this in one of the old FPS baseball games, and it was great. I think my league only had 8 teams in it, but I felt like I knew each and every one of those players after just a few weeks of game time. It was simple and fun. In a way, I'd almost like to do something similar with OOTP, but I'm not sure I'm willing to put in the time to set things up and learn the universe. I guess I feel that with all the customization available, I would want to do more than just set up 8 teams and leave it at that. That's no fault of the game, though. That's just me not knowing what I want. It would be fun to do something like that, though.

I started to play the all-in-one, and it was just too much. I have no interest in spending so much time trying to go through hundreds of FAs and all of those players in my system. That's one of the reasons I really don't care about having Japanese leagues, feeder leagues, etc. That's the most tedious/boring part of this game, IMO. Instead, I'm creating a 24-team fictional league with 3 levels of minors.

I haven't played this game much yet, but my #1 request in a patch is for some sort of .txt file or something that easily tracks all of the "evolving league" changes that have occurred with a league. I want to sim 40 years of history before I take over a team, and there's virtually no way of figuring out what has changed unless I watch all 40 years sim out. I'd like to be able to go to something as simple as a .txt file to see that X team moved or changed names, they added 10 games to the schedule, the DH was added in both leagues in X year, etc.

Also - and this one has been an issue for me forever - I'd really like to see the game get ALL of the historical settings correct, not just certain ones. Why I'm able to set up a game in 1921 where the AI knows to have a 9-game World Series, no all-star game, no DHs,etc., but still has the free agency default as 6 years with a luxury tax, I don't get. I'd like to see the game set up all of the correct rules for whatever year you choose to begin.

[lighthousekeeper]

Originally Posted by Scoobz0202

Really small sample size, I know, but has anybody noticed an insane amount of strikeouts for pitch hitters?

In the 10 games I've managed so far I have had EVERY SINGLE pitch hitter strike out. Every one.

This was raised on the ootp forum last year and I don't think anything was done to address it.

FWIW, studies have shown that batters tend to have higher strikeout rates when pinch hitting. But I still think it is too high in OOTP (no stats to back that up, just suspicions)

[Drake]

I haven't played this game much yet, but my #1 request in a patch is for some sort of .txt file or something that easily tracks all of the "evolving league" changes that have occurred with a league. I want to sim 40 years of history before I take over a team, and there's virtually no way of figuring out what has changed unless I watch all 40 years sim out. I'd like to be able to go to something as simple as a .txt file to see that X team moved or changed names, they added 10 games to the schedule, the DH was added in both leagues in X year, etc.

Or you could just shut off the evolving league bit before you start your 40 year auto-sim. It's right there in the league setup screen (under Rules or Options, don't remember which).

Then you could turn it on again when you're ready to play.

I usually turn off something like 60% of the evolving league options (longer DL, changes to 40 man rosters, etc...stuff I don't give a shit about).

[Ksyrup]

No - I want the league to evolve during the 40 years I sim the league's history. I only have 6-8 things on that list active, but I want the league to possibly expand during the first 40 years, not wait until I start playing. I just want to know what's happened while I quick-simmed.

[Drake]

Ah, I get you.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by lighthousekeeper

This was raised on the ootp forum last year and I don't think anything was done to address it.

FWIW, studies have shown that batters tend to have higher strikeout rates when pinch hitting. But I still think it is too high in OOTP (no stats to back that up, just suspicions)

Wouldn't it be easy to see if this was the case? Just find out the strikeout % of all pinch hitting appearances in a sim and then compare to real life MLB.

[lighthousekeeper]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Wouldn't it be easy to see if this was the case? Just find out the strikeout % of all pinch hitting appearances in a sim and then compare to real life MLB.

Yes, unless you have kids and a wife and a job and not much time budgeted for video game QAQC.