A world evolves around you in iOOTP
I will continue my season with the Boston Red Sox up to the All-Star Break. Along the way, I will show you the ins and outs of managing your team during the regular season.
But first, as promised last time, I will show you how deep the world of iOOTP is. The game is not just stats and ratings — it builds a world that evolves around you, just like the baseball world we all avidly follow every season. Here are a few examples:
Players get injured ...
Trades happen ...
Players get suspended ...
Various weekly and monthly awards are handed out ...
Heroic game events happen ...
and players reach milestones:
There are even more news blurbs and messages beyond those, but before I show them to you, let’s pick up my season that’s underway. I’ve simulated the month of April, so let's take a look at the standings:
As expected, it is a close race between my Red Sox and the Evil Empire. But it’s still early in the season, so I will continue the action before I start thinking about possible upgrades. So I hit "Finish Week" ...
... and get bad news: one of my key players suffered a major injury. First, I go to my lineup:
Crawford is my leadoff man, and despite his .244 batting average, he is an important part of my team. Now I have two things to do: make room on the active roster for a replacement player and then adjust the lineups. After tapping Crawford’s name, I take a closer look at his injury:
He will miss about 6 weeks, so to make room for his replacement I will put him on the Disabled List. For that I can use the Action Menu in the bottom bar (all actions concerning a player are in that menu):
Now I need a replacement to fill his role on the active roster. I open my Minor League Roster and take a look at the available options:
I need a left fielder and my only option is Josh Reddick. A closer look reveals ...
... he had two short stints in the majors with Boston in 2009 and 2010, with below average success. However, I have no other options at the moment, so I’ll give him another shot at the big leagues. His Potential (the four grey stars) is pretty good, so maybe this is his breakthrough moment.
I promote him to Boston (again, using the Action Menu) and update my lineups:
Hopefully the number 9 spot will take away some of the pressure.
Let’s continue the season!
After another month, I'm still in first place but Pedroia got hurt too, so I lost another important player for a few weeks.
And I received a personal message from J.D. Drew. Take a look:
That’s another of your between-game duties: signing new contracts with players you want to keep. Let’s take Drew as an example.
A look at his profile shows he is 35 years old and his stats are in decline, so if I sign him it has to be a short-term contract.
I have about $45 million available for contract extensions, and David Ortiz and Adrian Gonzalez are two more possible Free Agents after the season ends.
Now, just as a real General Manager does, we can meet with Drew. I tap his name in the message and open the Offer Extension Screen (as always, through the Action Menu).
Wow, he wants $17 million and 3 years (his current contract is $14 million). That's way too much in my opinion, so I lower the years to two and the money to the $14 million he gets now. I don't think he will accept that offer, but we will see. It is important to keep in mind that even if offers are declined, you can continue to negotiate with players. But be careful: some players will stop talking to you faster than others. I submit the offer to Drew and now I have to wait a few days.
Today brings with it another season highlight: the First-Year Player Draft.
Here you can draft the future of your franchise. It’s exciting to see who gets selected first and then watch the number one pick start his career in the majors, achieve his first hit, get chosen for his first All Star Team, receive awards, break records, and maybe even earn election to the Hall of Fame! Or maybe he suffers a career-ending injury during his first season. As in real life, you never know what will happen in iOOTP.
I planned to pick a starting pitcher, but with my 26th pick there are no good starter prospects left, so I change my mind and find a pretty interesting reliever: Sergio Ramirez.
He has good potential (5 stars), but his overall rating (4 stars) is what makes him interesting: he could be part of my bullpen during the season. I choose to let the CPU handle the rest of my draft picks.
After a few days, I get an update from Drew:
As I expected. He lowers his demand but insists on three years. I update my offer (again, only two years) and continue.
After a few days I get another update from Drew and this time, I'm surprised.
That gives me at least one year to find a replacement in RF. In other good news, I received word that Crawford can be reactivated from the Disabled List. That means Reddick goes back to the Minors, but this time he had a nice stint.
All is not puppies and rainbows in Red Sox land, though: one of my players is not happy with his role on the team.
I use Cameron in my starting lineup against LHP, but that doesn’t seem to be enough for him. You have to be careful with this kind of thing in iOOTP because morale is an important part of the game. As in real life, lousy morale can not only affect that player’s performance but also the entire team’s play. I make a note to think about trading Cameron at the trading deadline (this will be part of the next article).
Finally, I reach the All-Star Game and can take a look at the selected players for both leagues:
Boo, only Lackey was nominated from the American League. Something is not right at the moment.
Well, that's it for today. I made it halfway through the 2011 season and I showed you iOOTP’s deep game world and some of the duties you have as a GM. I'm now 3 games behind first place Tampa Bay, so when I continue I will take a look at my team and see what I can do to improve it at the trading deadline. Then we will finish the season, see if my first round pick makes his major league debut, and find out who wins the World Series. After that, we’ll take a look at the off-season, which has plenty for you to do before spring training starts again. Yes, just like real life.
