[rob_banzai]

I logged in today after getting my OOTP 9 pre-order email and the forum shows I last visited in 2005!

When I left my frustrations with OOTP were primarily with stat corrosion. I liked to play long historical sims, beginning in the 1910s and working my way up. It seemed that in every case with each passing season ALL of my players would just get worse and worse, with their stats and ratings slowly degrading to the point of uselessness. The annual draft was my only way to bring in a player with decent stats.

Spring Training seemed useless as well, with players constantly losing skills. The scouting and minor league managing system did not seem to work.

So I might play through a few decades before getting demoralized with watching historical superstars crash and burn within their first few years in the league while no-names might blossom before the inevitable burn out.

Has this changed over the last three years or is OOTP still mostly aimed at people who enjoy the online league play and the financial model? My nostalgia for the Microleague days shows that my interest is primarily in the gameplay and player development areas.

I love drafting my own teams from the pool of historical players and then managing it through the ages but I just can't stand watching my entire team slowly but surely descend below the Mendoza line no matter how good my managing skills.

P.S. Ha! Just found my old login that goes back to 2002.