Welcome to the OOTPB Text Suggestions subforum!
What is this subforum for?
Certainly one of the aspects of OOTPB 2006 that brought out the most conversation was the quality of the text, both in articles and in play-by-play.
During 2006, there was a private "text team" consisting of about 10 people from a variety of writing, editing, OOTP, and baseball backgrounds. While the text team was very proud of their work, I think everyone involved in the launch would have enjoyed a more positive response from the customers regarding the in-game text. We took that criticism to heart, and to that end, we've taken a different approach for 2007, in the hopes of getting just such a positive response. Essentially, we are opening up the in-game text to suggestions from the entire community.
This year, instead of limiting writing to members of a select team, the private text team will consist solely of editors. The editors will work with the community in this subforum to write, edit, and add messages into the game. We're looking for text snippets that:
1. have a solid "baseball feel."
2. have correct, consistent grammar and spelling.
3. have simple, concise language.
4. meet the technical requirements of the in-game text engine.
You heard that right: OOTP Developments and SI heard your feedback, which said that the majority of the community prefers more basic baseball language. The text will not be reduced to a complete skeleton. However, there will be a much stronger focus on simplifying the text.
So, how will this work?
This forum will be used exclusively to collect text suggestions from the community. It's not our intent to turn this into another feature suggestion forum. Therefore, only moderators (and the text team editors) will be allowed to create new threads in this forum. However, all community members can reply to those threads.
Over the next month or so, editors from the text team will begin posting threads here. Each thread may discuss a particular message category in the game. For example, they might post a thread seeking ideas for the "player of the month" category. They will lay out some basic information about what data is available to be used. The process will flow like this:
1. Editors post a category thread.
2. Forum members reply with suggested text.
3. Editors review, edit, and place into the game.
There will be no confirmation whether or not certain messages were accepted. The editors will select the ones they feel match our goals best.
Quick obligatory quasi-legal statement: This work is strictly on a volunteer basis. By posting suggestions, you are agreeing to allow SI/OOTP developments to edit and use your suggestions in the game without any compensation or credit.
Welcome to the forum. I look forward to hearing your ideas!
Steve Battisti