OOTP 14

[Brownie]

Anyone own the newest version? Really enjoying it that it's totally worth any eyerolls and comments I get from my wife.

[Slaky]

Anyone own the newest version? Really enjoying it that it's totally worth any eyerolls and comments I get from my wife.

I do.

[Brownie]

Anyone own the newest version? Really enjoying it that it's totally worth any eyerolls and comments I get from my wife.

I do.

I've just played around a little bit over the last couple weeks and was able to guide our 2013 Cubs to a 67-95 season but have positioned them well with a 2014 rotation featuring David Price and Yu Darvish.

Here's the thing I like about it in comparison to the older versions: the scouting is much more uniform. In past versions you were more likely to have one scout think a prospect is Babe Ruth Jr., while the "Scouting Service" says "meh" and another scout would say he sucks. Now, they'll take a player and they could universally laud him a la Felix Pie and he could bust, or they could universally underrate a player. But very are is it that opinions on a player differ.

Also really enjoy the detail they put into distinguishing International players (Cuban, South Korean, Japanese, Dominican, etc.) from American/Canadian players in how they enter organized baseball.



Finally, Al Yellon can take heart: for $39.99 you can learn who really owns the Cubs.

[Quality Start Machine]

Finally, Al Yellon can take heart: for $39.99 you can learn who really owns the Cubs.

Can Matt Garza field?

[Brownie]

Ask the imaginary Vin Scully. I traded Garza and Starlin Castro to the Dodgers for Yasiel Puig, Matt Wallach, Dee Gordon and Hanley Ramirez. Don't know what Garza did, but Castro won the NL batting title.

[PenFoe]

Going on three and a half hours and Morph still hasn't posted the Lobster Orc LOTR OOTP pic.

I don't even know this place anymore.

[Brownie]

Going on three and a half hours and Morph still hasn't posted the Lobster Orc LOTR OOTP pic.

I don't even know this place anymore.

?

[Bort]

Going on three and a half hours and Morph still hasn't posted the Lobster Orc LOTR OOTP pic.

I don't even know this place anymore.

?

It's a shoutbox thing mixed with a KurtEvans thing mixed with...well, that's it.

[Slaky]

Anyone own the newest version? Really enjoying it that it's totally worth any eyerolls and comments I get from my wife.

I do.

I've just played around a little bit over the last couple weeks and was able to guide our 2013 Cubs to a 67-95 season but have positioned them well with a 2014 rotation featuring David Price and Yu Darvish.

Here's the thing I like about it in comparison to the older versions: the scouting is much more uniform. In past versions you were more likely to have one scout think a prospect is Babe Ruth Jr., while the "Scouting Service" says "meh" and another scout would say he sucks. Now, they'll take a player and they could universally laud him a la Felix Pie and he could bust, or they could universally underrate a player. But very are is it that opinions on a player differ.

Also really enjoy the detail they put into distinguishing International players (Cuban, South Korean, Japanese, Dominican, etc.) from American/Canadian players in how they enter organized baseball.



Finally, Al Yellon can take heart: for $39.99 you can learn who really owns the Cubs.

I'm really early in my Cubs sim (early in 2013) but my record is worse than their real life counterparts' record. I'm in the mood to make huge trades just yet. You've got some serious virtual balls, TJ.

I will say this: in my previous OOTP version Cubs sim I couldn't get the team into the playoffs until 2016 and that was even though Rizzo flamed out in 2013 and Castro blew out his knee in 2015 leaving him bereft of speed. Waiver wire pickup Carlos Peguero turned into in-his-prime Andre Dawson though.

I never did get that stud pitcher who turned into a dominant ace. But boy did I try. Goddamn arm injuries man.

[Brownie]

Anyone own the newest version? Really enjoying it that it's totally worth any eyerolls and comments I get from my wife.

I do.

I've just played around a little bit over the last couple weeks and was able to guide our 2013 Cubs to a 67-95 season but have positioned them well with a 2014 rotation featuring David Price and Yu Darvish.

Here's the thing I like about it in comparison to the older versions: the scouting is much more uniform. In past versions you were more likely to have one scout think a prospect is Babe Ruth Jr., while the "Scouting Service" says "meh" and another scout would say he sucks. Now, they'll take a player and they could universally laud him a la Felix Pie and he could bust, or they could universally underrate a player. But very are is it that opinions on a player differ.

Also really enjoy the detail they put into distinguishing International players (Cuban, South Korean, Japanese, Dominican, etc.) from American/Canadian players in how they enter organized baseball.



Finally, Al Yellon can take heart: for $39.99 you can learn who really owns the Cubs.

I'm really early in my Cubs sim (early in 2013) but my record is worse than their real life counterparts' record. I'm in the mood to make huge trades just yet. You've got some serious virtual balls, TJ.

I will say this: in my previous OOTP version Cubs sim I couldn't get the team into the playoffs until 2016 and that was even though Rizzo flamed out in 2013 and Castro blew out his knee in 2015 leaving him bereft of speed. Waiver wire pickup Carlos Peguero turned into in-his-prime Andre Dawson though.

I never did get that stud pitcher who turned into a dominant ace. But boy did I try. Goddamn arm injuries man.

Last night I saw that Garza, who was 2-2 with a 1.something ERA when I traded him, went 3-18 with a 5-something ERA the rest of the way with the Dodgers. But his DIPS was pretty good, so just epic bad luck? Naturally, he signed a huge contract in the offseason with the White Sox.

Lacking a backup catcher, I picked up Geovanny Soto cheap via free agency. Sveum inserted him into the lineup as Castillo has a so-so 2013 and a terrible spring training in 2014. After a couple weeks, Castillo took over the starting job and has something like 7 HRs in April 2014. Arodys Vizcaino is also a stud.

[Saul Goodman]

I'm still on OOTP 12. Is this worth the upgrade?

[Brownie]

I'm still on OOTP 12. Is this worth the upgrade?

I had 11 or 12 and am happy with it. Upgraded AI makes trades a little harder and as I said the scouting reports seem to be a little more uniform. I'm not saying you don't get variation on players, but you won't go into a player draft and see a guy projected to suck by your scout go top 10 in the draft, for instance. That drove me nuts. Also, foreign players come into the league differently -- they have the international academy, for example.

As for my "virtual balls," I'l probably take this through to '15 or '16, and then restart and be more realistic about things.

[Yeti]

But his DIPS was pretty good

Thrill is the only one who can truly determine if it was good.

[Saul Goodman]

Finally got it during the Christmas sale.  I like it, but trading does seem more limited, and I wish they had a way to pull off three-team deals.  Other than that, it's great.  The Cubs are perennial contenders and I mentally burned the rooftop buildings to the ground.

[Simmer]

I also jumped in on the Christmas sale and started a historical playthrough starting in 1901 as the Philadelphia Athletics.  Just finished 1910, franchise record is 917-703 (2nd in the ML only to Pissburgh) but we're coming off an 83-79 campaign.  Letting 42-year old Cy Young go to free agency was a mistake (yes, FA didn't exist in that era, but I enabled the sonbitch anyway!). 

Nap Lajoie has been my beast mode monster, Eddie Plank has been one of those 'elite every other year, average every other year' types.  I made a ridiculous trade for Smoky Joe Wood who won the ROY and followed with a sophomore Cy Young Award (yes, an award named after an active player, and yes, Cy won the award himself in 1901 and 1905). 

Not sure how to tackle 1911.  Cut payroll and load up on draft picks?  Throw caution off a balcony and sign a couple gap power bats or eye/speed types to get on base for Nap?  Only time will tell.