I will buy this game when...

[st.cronin]

I have the ability to set lineups v. lhp and v. rhp.

[Jeff Olsen]

Don't hold your breath (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/showpost.php?p=722086&postcount=150).

In case you don't feel like clicking that link:
Originally posted by (Clay) Dreslough
I chose to leave Lefty/Righty stats out of BB2K6 for a few reasons.

1. THE HASSLE OF SETTING LINEUPS.

2. STAT AVAILABILITY. We license the Lahman Baseball Database and it doesn't have Lefty-Righty stats. This leaves us with a few options. We can pay STATS Inc. $10,000+ for the stats we want (not a realistic option). Or we can assign platoon differentials to each player. These could either be random, or "league average" (e.g. all Lefty hitters in the game would bat 6% better against Righty pitchers, with 11% more power).

I'm not too happy with either of these options. What's the point in recording megabytes of lefty-righty data if it doesn't actually tell you anything useful about the player (for example, by revealing that the player actually has a much larger platoon differential than the average).

With a few exceptions, like the fact that the Lahman Database doesn't have blown saves, the Historical and Simulated stats blend seamlessly into each other in Baseball Mogul. I'd rather you didn't start a game in 1961 only to find that the Scouting Report for Roger Maris has no Historical Lefty-Righty data, and that the Simulated data wasn't based in any way on his real-life performance.

3. DESIGN PHILOSOPHY -- to be an addictive and realistic game that is accessible to EVERYONE. There are 30 million fantasy baseball players in the United States. Between OOTP, Diamond Mind, PureSim and Baseball Mogul, we probably have less than 500,000 customers. Those other 29.5 million fantasy baseball fans SHOULD be buying sims. They certainly spend time and money on their hobby. But it's a lot easier to set your lineups in Yahoo Fantasy Basbeall than in OOTP.

I think you will find with BM2K6 that it creates a totally deep, authentic, baseball world that you cannot pull yourself away from. If I'm wrong, I'm really glad there are other games out there like OOTP that might fit you better.

[st.cronin]

*shrug*

I'll put my 20 bucks in my ira then. Baseball is far and away my favorite sport, but the text sims for it lag way behind those of football, basketball, and even hockey. I don't know why that is, but I think there's an opportunity lost here.

[wolfgangline6]

Listen - Clay gave you an option. He said that if you lefty and righty situations/lineups/etc. is the most important thing to you, go buy OOTP. They have those features in that game. Throwing a tantrum because Mogul doesn't have that is just a waste of energy.

But I can tell you this - having played OOTP, PureSim, and Mogul, the only one that I continue to buy each and every upgrade for every year is Mogul. It's simple, addictive, and fun. The others seem too much like work to me to be fun - but hey, that's just my taste.

[SkyDog]

Originally posted by wolfgangline6
Listen - Clay gave you an option. He said that if you lefty and righty situations/lineups/etc. is the most important thing to you, go buy OOTP. They have those features in that game. Throwing a tantrum because Mogul doesn't have that is just a waste of energy.

But I can tell you this - having played OOTP, PureSim, and Mogul, the only one that I continue to buy each and every upgrade for every year is Mogul. It's simple, addictive, and fun. The others seem too much like work to me to be fun - but hey, that's just my taste. st cronin, he's got a point. Unless those of us who want a deeper game start giving more input to Clay, the game is going to go in the direction that those who are giving input want. I've read these boards for awhile, and the fact of the matter is that setting L/R lineups isn't high on the agenda of those who have posted here regularly in the past.

[mooseman74]

It's ONLY 20 bucks....why not buy it so that Clay makes more money and can afford to spend the time or hire programmers to help add all the things people want?? This year's edition is the best yet....importing real rookies, more extensive leaderboards, historical expansion/relocation/name changes.

[st.cronin]

I'm not throwing a tantrum. This *is* my feedback based on the demo.

It's frustrating; baseball is far and away my favorite sport, but the only game to come up with a decent engine + interface is DMB, and of course they offer no career play. Hockey, football, and basketball all have immersive, realistic, fun to play text sims. Baseball doesn't. I think this is a lost opportunity for not just Clay, but the makers of OOTP etc. There are tons and tons of baseball fans who would spend money on a better game than this.

[mooseman74]

What is DMB? And what great games are out for Hockey?? I've yet to find one that is any good.

[Jeff Olsen]

Originally posted by mooseman74
What is DMB? Diamond Mind Baseball (http://www.diamond-mind.com/) - the most accurate baseball text sim ever! Too bad it's primarily for single-season replays. It has no finances and progressing from year to year is a lot of work.

[Lobsteve]

Speaking of hockey, there's only one management style sim out there that I've seen worth it's salt, and that is Eastside Hockey Manager.

More can be found about it at: www.fhockey.com

[mooseman74]

Yeah..I've tried that hockey game...but it's too detailed to be fun for me.....takes too long to play and you can't sim games.....way too slow....a Mogul version of Hockey would be awesome.