So...OOTP 15 - Anyone in?

[chemkid]

ah so. see - i'm new and naive. for now, i found ootp, thanks to you guys!
(...and lucky me, got a new topic to cheer up my wife!)

[Nefaro]

I know I will be laughed at, especially in a thread dedicated to OOTP, but lately I have been also considering playing Baseball Mogul 2015....OOTP is great and I stand by my recommendation that it is the best and most full feature baseball sim on the market, but I will have to admit at times it boggles my mind with all the options and features contained within the game.  Don't get me wrong, this makes everything realistic, but some times it might be just too much for the casual play through.

This brings me to Baseball Mogul...it has been around for a long time and often considered a light version of baseball.....which might not be bad if that is what your after.  With my limited time of playing the demo, it has the basics you would expect, but it does feel much easier to play through.  I was kind of surprised how much it actually appealed to me.  I have no idea how good the AI is for things like roster management, strategy, trading, etc., but it has been around a very long time so I am purely guessing it must be "good enough".

Here is a link to the demo.
http://www.sportsmogul.com/games/baseball2k15.html

Again, I am not suggesting to anybody they should dump OOTP, just thought I would provide this in case anyone is looking for a lighter version of a baseball sim.....

I quite enjoyed Baseball Mogul a few years ago.

I've been fenced about getting it again, in the past couple years.  Last year, it was a real mess and it sounded as if it had been left in poor condition.  This year may have been received better, but things still seemed rather chilled over there the last time I checked. 

I really did like how quickly and smoothly everything went regarding the interface and 'simming' out seasons in Baseball Mogul, however.  I do plan on getting it again sometime primarily for that reason.  The UI is much easier to navigate due to being less crowded.  Perhaps I'll check it out after the season ends and it goes on sale, or next year.  But it's been a "wait and see" situation since all the big sim engine complaints last year, some of which may still be present.

If you pick it up soon, let us know how it looks after you put in some sim time.

[Grim.Reaper]

I plan to mess around with the demo a bit, but won't buy until it gets really cheap....spending another $35 on a baseball game right now is not in the cards:)

I will let everyone know some impressions after playing some.....

[Grim.Reaper]

hhmm....so played around with the demo for awhile this morning and I have to admit, might give this game a try for next baseball season (unless gets dirt cheap before then).  It really seems to have a simplistic and "easy/fun" vibe to it where I have to admit sometimes playing OOTP feels like work.  Even though it was a demo, seemed like fun and you could still manage a baseball season without having all the detail.

Just some comments, but keep in mind I am not a baseball guru and only played this for awhile this morning, if you seriously considering, download the demo first since it allows you to play one full season.

Positives
- UI is easy and seems to work well
- Has all the features you likely would want (management, injuries, trades, free agents, drafting, etc.)
- Sim speed is pretty fast on my machine...no idea if it slows down at all after multiple seasons
- Many league start options (start in any year from 1901-2014, can even start as an expansion team)
- Seems like it has a nice balance of setup and preference options, without overwhelming
- It has the real team names
- You can download mods to add logos/pictures
- Has a simplistic minor league system (kind of like it versus having all the detail in OOTP)
- Seems pretty easy to setup lineups/batting orders/pitching rotations
- The basic reports (sortable stats, leaders, etc.) are there, but probably not at the level of OOTP
- Good player card with basic information you would expect
- Retail price is cheaper by $5 than OOTP (unless you pre order or get on sale)

Unknowns
- Since I am not a baseball expert, I can't guarantee everything about major baseball is modeled correctly, like finances
- Trading AI (got a couple of trade offers and seemed reasonable to me)
- Roster management (impossible to know this until you play it extensively)
- Multiplayer - I never play it and didn't see anything readily in the demo
= Stats (have to play more, but didn't see anything too crazy)

[JudgeDredd]

This catches me out EVERY time ...

I have a player who is DFA'd who's DFA time runs out - so it's telling me to take care of it. So I moved him to the 40 man roster (my 25 man roster is full) and he's still sitting in DFA!

WTF does this mean?

I know I've had it explained to me before - but ffs humour an old, forgetful bastard please because I cannot get out of the day (just like Groundhog Day!)!  :)

Oh yeah - the "icons" next to his name suggest he's on the 40 Man Roster (thanks for confirming) and out of Minor League options. If this means he has to go on the Active Roster - what are my other options, because he's an SP but crap

[JudgeDredd]

Seems he wasn't out of minor league options, because I moved him to AAA and I can continue?? I thought if they were out of minor league options I couldn't move them to a minor league?

[Grim.Reaper]

Seems he wasn't out of minor league options, because I moved him to AAA and I can continue?? I thought if they were out of minor league options I couldn't move them to a minor league?

Here is a section within the manual on it....

http://manuals.ootpdevelopments.com/index.php?man=ootp15&page=designated_for_assignment_dfa

[JudgeDredd]

About the manual....

What's the thing with the dialogs showing a question mark but not bringing up any help? They look like context sensitive help icons

Thanks GR

[GibbyG]

In real baseball if you DFA a player you have 10 days to do something with him.  If you don't trade him you can assign him to the minors.  If he doesn't have options left, he must go through waivers and the other teams can claim him.  If nobody claims him then you can put him in the minors.

[JudgeDredd]

He must've been waivered and DFA'd because I was able to put him on the minors

[chemkid]

About the manual....

What's the thing with the dialogs showing a question mark but not bringing up any help? They look like context sensitive help icons

Thanks GR

the questionmark isn't helping at all... but it reminds me to try F1(help-key).

[Nefaro]

This catches me out EVERY time ...

I have a player who is DFA'd who's DFA time runs out - so it's telling me to take care of it. So I moved him to the 40 man roster (my 25 man roster is full) and he's still sitting in DFA!

WTF does this mean?

I know I've had it explained to me before - but ffs humour an old, forgetful bastard please because I cannot get out of the day (just like Groundhog Day!)!  :)

Oh yeah - the "icons" next to his name suggest he's on the 40 Man Roster (thanks for confirming) and out of Minor League options. If this means he has to go on the Active Roster - what are my other options, because he's an SP but crap

JD..

The 40-Man Roster is just a wider limitation on a mixture of your Major and Minor club players.  It actually consists of both, and isn't a lone roster in itself. 

Think of it as a super set of your 25-man Major League Roster (your starters & bench) and your Minor League players who are being paid Major League salaries.  So the other 15 players on your 40-man must also be placed in one of your Minor League teams.. the 40-man roster isn't a league, just a wider ML limitation.

A couple benefits of placing those extra Minor League players on your 40-man roster:
1) You don't have to adjust their contracts when having one replace an injured player on the Majors (25) roster.  These are your immediate backups who are still (usually) playing in AAA but who can readily fill in.
2) To ensure you retain a Minors "veteran" if they are eligible for the Rule 5 Draft (aka being picked up by another team who may want to give them a Majors contract as opposed to letting the player languish in your Minors.  This is an Anti-Hoarding rule.)  The players on your 40-man roster are "protected" so they aren't eligible to be taken by another team in the Rule 5 draft every year.
3) When the primary roster expands at the end of the season, these guys can possibly get some playing time in the Majors without having to juggle them around.

Note that you'll still have to worry about their Minor League Option Years limitation, when moving them (for example) back to AAA from the Majors, after filling in for an injury.  But hopefully you don't have anyone stuck in such a perpetual depth position for more than three years;  if that's the case they probably aren't improving and should be easy to replace once the Option years are out.




The OOTP 14 manual's page on 40-man (Secondary) Roster:
http://manuals.ootpdevelopments.com/index.php?man=ootp14&page=secondary_40_man_rosters

[Nefaro]

In real baseball if you DFA a player you have 10 days to do something with him.  If you don't trade him you can assign him to the minors.  If he doesn't have options left, he must go through waivers and the other teams can claim him.  If nobody claims him then you can put him in the minors.

That's pretty much how it is in OOTP. 

I think JD just forgets that the 40-man "roster" isn't really a lone roster in itself.   Gotta remind him regularly.  ;)   >:D

[Nefaro]

hhmm....so played around with the demo for awhile this morning and I have to admit, might give this game a try for next baseball season (unless gets dirt cheap before then).  It really seems to have a simplistic and "easy/fun" vibe to it where I have to admit sometimes playing OOTP feels like work.  Even though it was a demo, seemed like fun and you could still manage a baseball season without having all the detail.

Just some comments, but keep in mind I am not a baseball guru and only played this for awhile this morning, if you seriously considering, download the demo first since it allows you to play one full season.

Positives
- UI is easy and seems to work well
- Has all the features you likely would want (management, injuries, trades, free agents, drafting, etc.)
- Sim speed is pretty fast on my machine...no idea if it slows down at all after multiple seasons
- Many league start options (start in any year from 1901-2014, can even start as an expansion team)
- Seems like it has a nice balance of setup and preference options, without overwhelming
- It has the real team names
- You can download mods to add logos/pictures
- Has a simplistic minor league system (kind of like it versus having all the detail in OOTP)
- Seems pretty easy to setup lineups/batting orders/pitching rotations
- The basic reports (sortable stats, leaders, etc.) are there, but probably not at the level of OOTP
- Good player card with basic information you would expect
- Retail price is cheaper by $5 than OOTP (unless you pre order or get on sale)

Unknowns
- Since I am not a baseball expert, I can't guarantee everything about major baseball is modeled correctly, like finances
- Trading AI (got a couple of trade offers and seemed reasonable to me)
- Roster management (impossible to know this until you play it extensively)
- Multiplayer - I never play it and didn't see anything readily in the demo
= Stats (have to play more, but didn't see anything too crazy)

My experiences, too.  As of three years ago or thereabouts. 

The complaints last year were of the new simming system and the resulting game & stat outcomes, for one.  The game calculations were all upgraded to a new system and there were some nasty kinks judging by the feedback.  I'm sure it was improved a good deal this year, as there hasn't been as much complaining.   

I'd still like to know whether the stats & general player ability goes awry as your career progresses.  Whether the sim engine outcomes are believable or whether it gets strange.  Pretty sure that was a concern with Baseball Mogul recently.  If they decent, I'll probably pick it up later this year or get the new one next year.  I had really intended to alternate them, depending on sales.

[Bison]

Ah crap it's 50% off for all star week.  Guess it looks like I don't have to force myself to play OOTP 14 any longer.  Damn Steam sales.