OOTP X

[ChubbyBanana]

Very fast loading, very nice so far. Too bad I have to leave for work in 3 minutes!

I like the speed also. I simmed the entire 1982 Season in Commish mode in like 1 minute on my laptop.

It was insanely fast.

[Ryan]

I like the speed also. I simmed the entire 1982 Season in Commish mode in like 1 minute on my laptop.

It was insanely fast.

No kidding? Wow, nice.

[Riverman]

So has anyone tried out OOTP X? Any thoughts?

I picked it up a couple of weeks ago and have simmed into the first few games of a second season. I would have favored the BLB switching after our current season before actually playing X, but I don't see much point to it now. Most of the changes just seem cosmetic with little or no point to them.

Maybe I don't understand the subtleties of the new pitching system but it doesn't seem to add much. The pitchers are still rated in stuff/movement/control as before, and I don't see any significant difference if, say, one pitcher is a 5-5-5 with a good fast ball and curve plus a middling change and slider, while a different pitcher uses a different set of pitches to get to the same 5-5-5. It all seems kind of pointless but, again, maybe I just don't understand the subltey and significance of the new system.

[Matt]

I have my offline league and another MP league that just switched over. I really like X. It's not a big change but there are some bells and whistles that make it look nice.

Things I like:

Arbitration is much improved
Minor league DL
Play by play is a lot better
It's fast as all can be
The Who's Hot, Who's Not

[Lintyfresh85]

They already have the who's hot, who's not.

It's under stats, listed as Hot and Cold.

But otherwise... it all sounds good.

[Matt]

Oh...now they have it per team on your team home page. It's much improved as well.

[Riverman]

I have my offline league and another MP league that just switched over. I really like X. It's not a big change but there are some bells and whistles that make it look nice.

Things I like:

Arbitration is much improved
Minor league DL
Play by play is a lot better
It's fast as all can be
The Who's Hot, Who's Not

Thanks for the comments.

How does the new arbitration system work? I'd heard there was something new but when I got to arbitration I wasn't prompted to do anything and I didn't see any special screen that allowed me to make offers.

On my computer the big increase in speed came with OOTP 9. I didn't notice much difference with X but maybe a little.

Meanwhile it is hard for me to get excited about play by play or Who's Hot Who's Not while the player development and/or scouting is still as bad as before. At season's end a prospect is predicted to be a budding superstar but by the start of the next season the scout doesn't understand how the same prospect has managed to still have a job in baseball. One would think that it would occur to the game designers that scouts develop their reports by, you know, watching the players play and that not much would normally change during the off season.

[Matt]

For arbitration there is a place on the main screen (where you can update league files in MP) and it says Arbitration. You can make offers to the players and the computer will make the decision.

There is also a box below where you can offer to players who are eligible for FA/Arb. I don't understand a lot about baseball but from reading the box if they decline those are the guys who you get picks for if they are signed. I have only been through 1 season so have only seen this once.

Scouting will always be a mystery. I getting suddenly depressed throughout the day when I think of Batavia's Chet Stephens who went from 8-7-7 to 5-5-5 one off-season.

[BradZ]

Any more reviews from you guys that have already purchased this and had some time to spend with it? I received an email about another $10 discount offer and was just curious if anyone had any new thoughts.