Looking for some direction for Online Leagues

[Fifa Inspected]

Good afternoon everyone.

I'm coming to you today looking for some general information pertaining online leagues. First a little background.

- I'm part of a fairly large community of online console gamers (XBOX Live) and over the last couple of years the console baseball games have taken a real nose dive. Talks have begun about pursing OOTP to satisfy our baseball sim needs.

I have purchased and played OOTP in teh past and really enjoyed the experience. That being said, I'm looking for a general overview as to how the online leagues work.

1. How are games played
2. how is the league managed (tracked)
3. are are lineups submitted
4. how user friendly is the interface (do you need to be a computer whiz to understand the process.

5. What's the current state of the online server. If the server has been hack ed and is not going to be reliable moving forward, what next? Can a league be successfully run on a non dedicated server, if yes, how.

6. Can Mac users and PC users play in the same league?

7. Is there a minimum size for online leagues? 10 teams, 20 teams etc.

8. Are there any pros or cons to using the Mac version (generally speaking?)

I'd like to thank you in advance for sharing your thoughts and comments and assisting me in getting my arms around the online potetntial for OOTP.


Dave

[Stu]

Originally Posted by Fifa Inspected

1. How are games played

Games are simmed by the commissioner on his copy of the game. Most league's do 7 days at a time in game, 2 or 3 days a week.

Originally Posted by Fifa Inspected

2. how is the league managed (tracked)

Not sure exactly what you're asking here but usually 1 person acts as the commish and takes care of all the settings, etc while the rest of the people run their individual teams. Commish's usually run a team as well but not always.

Originally Posted by Fifa Inspected

3. are are lineups submitted

Basically your owners make changes to their team and then use an in game button to export them to the ftp server specified in the settings. This is usually a web host run by the commish. Alternatively you can have owners export to a file and email that file to the commish.

Originally Posted by Fifa Inspected

4. how user friendly is the interface (do you need to be a computer whiz to understand the process.

It's easy after you get up and running. Basically the owners can export their changes in the game and when the commish sims and uploads a new league file, the owners can update their copy in the game as well. It's a little more involved for commish's but Fidel Montaya runs a great service over at www.allsimbaseball.com that can help with computer challenged commish's.

Originally Posted by Fifa Inspected

5. What's the current state of the online server. If the server has been hack ed and is not going to be reliable moving forward, what next? Can a league be successfully run on a non dedicated server, if yes, how.

Not sure, but I'd recommend running on your own server if you have the know how or by using allsimbaseball if not

Originally Posted by Fifa Inspected

6. Can Mac users and PC users play in the same league?

I believe so but not positive.

Originally Posted by Fifa Inspected

7. Is there a minimum size for online leagues? 10 teams, 20 teams etc.

Pretty much whatever you want.

Originally Posted by Fifa Inspected

8. Are there any pros or cons to using the Mac version (generally speaking?)

Can't answer this one.

[Kaitiaki]

Originally Posted by Fifa Inspected

1. How are games played

The individual games cannot be played out the way they can in solo play. For an online league, what we're really talking about is a "General Manager" sim: each owner in the league can specify lineups, rotations, make trades, adjust certain financial aspects of the team, etc., but the games themselves are simmed out by OOTP on the league Commissioner's computer. There has been talk in the past of adding a "head-to-head" feature to the game that would allow people in online leagues to actually play out their games against each other, but that has not made it into any OOTP version yet released.

2. how is the league managed (tracked)

Every time a set of games is simmed, the league's Commissioner releases a new league file, which each owner then downloads and views. From that league file the owners can make any adjustments to their own teams that they like and then submit them to the Commissioner either by FTP or e-mail. The Commissioner then imports those roster adjustments, sims the next set of games, and releases a new file. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I will mention that OOTP2006 introduced the ability for Commissioners to distribute and owners to download each new league file from within OOTP. Previously, you had to do it externally, using an archiving program of your choice (WinZip being the most popular) and an FTP client for the Commissioner to upload the created file. This feature doesn't seem to work properly with Macs, though, so if you are likely to have owners playing on Macs in your league, you may need to make sure everyone is familiar with the basics of WinZip (not everyone's had a problem, so it's worth attempting to use the in-game downloader either way; just warning you that some people have reported problems).

There is also an .html (web) export that the game can generate at any time. Most online leagues have their Commissioner generate this report with every sim and upload it to a website somewhere so the league's owners to view the goings-on of the league from work or what have you. Owners can't do anything through the web export, but it allows people to track and discuss the league even when they don't have access to their copy of OOTP.

3. are are lineups submitted

There's a handy in-game button for owners to submit their changes via FTP. If you don't have access to an FTP server to use for this, the file can be created on each owner's computer, and they would then attach it to an e-mail to the Commissioner.

4. how user friendly is the interface (do you need to be a computer whiz to understand the process.

OOTP2006's in-game interface is very user friendly. It was completely redesigned for this version of the game, and caused some adjustment pains for some of the long-timers around here, but it really is a very logically organized and powerful interface. You'll probably have less trouble learning it if you're new to OOTP than those of us who've been using the older versions for years did.

As above, the only computer skill most of your owners will need is a decent familiarity with WinZip, and even that may not be needed. The league's Commissioner can get by with very little as well, though s/he may want to have more skill depending how involved you want your league to be. Some leagues run off their own webservers, have their own forums, and have owner-created content posted on their websites to enhance the experience of the league. You can take a look at one of my leagues for an example of this. If you have thoughts of going that route, obviously you need someone with the skills to create and maintain the website.

5. What's the current state of the online server. If the server has been hack ed and is not going to be reliable moving forward, what next? Can a league be successfully run on a non dedicated server, if yes, how.

You don't have to use the webhosting being provided by the OOTP folks (I'm not even sure if they're still offering it to new leagues, but I honestly don't know about that). Any webhost will work as long as you have FTP access to upload new files to it. Within OOTP are areas to specify the server information for an online league; whatever host you decide to go with, simply enter the information server information they give you (IP, passwords, directories) into the appropriate places in the game and OOTP will do the rest.

6. Can Mac users and PC users play in the same league?

Yes, although as above a few people have mentioned problems using the in-game league file downloader when using playing on a Mac.

7. Is there a minimum size for online leagues? 10 teams, 20 teams etc.

No, any league that you can create in OOTP can be played as an online league. The bigger concern would be a maximum size: there isn't one, but the more teams/leagues you have in your world, the larger your league files and web reports are going to get, requiring more time to upload/download with each sim.

8. Are there any pros or cons to using the Mac version (generally speaking?)

Never used it, but as far as I know it's the exact same game as the PC version, so not really, no.

- Kai

[kq76]

I don't have much to add to the already great responses, but I'd like to wish you and your group a hearty welcome! I hope you try OOTP out and love it.

A few things though:

Originally Posted by Stu

I believe so but not positive.

I haven't tried it myself, but I could swear I saw someone post that they had and it worked (re: mac and PC users in the same league).

Originally Posted by Stu

Pretty much whatever you want.

I'm pretty sure I remember there being some teams per league limit, but IINM it's so many that not many would want it.

Originally Posted by Kaitiaki

I will mention that OOTP2006 introduced the ability for Commissioners to distribute and owners to download each new league file from within OOTP. Previously, you had to do it externally, using an archiving program of your choice (WinZip being the most popular) and an FTP client for the Commissioner to upload the created file. This feature doesn't seem to work properly with Macs, though, so if you are likely to have owners playing on Macs in your league, you may need to make sure everyone is familiar with the basics of WinZip (not everyone's had a problem, so it's worth attempting to use the in-game downloader either way; just warning you that some people have reported problems).

I should add that I've had problems with the in-game download using a PC in the beta test league too. Whether it's more of a server issue or a game issue I don't know, but I have been able to download the file manually when not being able to in-game.

Originally Posted by Kaitiaki

OOTP2006's in-game interface is very user friendly. It was completely redesigned for this version of the game, and caused some adjustment pains for some of the long-timers around here, but it really is a very logically organized and powerful interface. You'll probably have less trouble learning it if you're new to OOTP than those of us who've been using the older versions for years did.

This is a contentious issue for some, but I agree with Kai on all the points in this snippet especially the part that it's probably easier for people completely new to the game.

Originally Posted by Kaitiaki

As above, the only computer skill most of your owners will need is a decent familiarity with WinZip, and even that may not be needed.

Just in case it's not clear, you don't need Winzip. There's plenty of other compression programs out there and some are probably even easier than Winzip.

Originally Posted by Kaitiaki

The league's Commissioner can get by with very little as well, though s/he may want to have more skill depending how involved you want your league to be. Some leagues run off their own webservers, have their own forums, and have owner-created content posted on their websites to enhance the experience of the league. You can take a look at one of my leagues for an example of this. If you have thoughts of going that route, obviously you need someone with the skills to create and maintain the website.

While this is true that a commish doesn't have to have much skill to run a league, I cringe whenever I see it. IMO, a commish really should have a decent amount of not only computer skill but OOTP skill as well. There's a lot of other things that go into being a good commish, but if you don't even have those two down then I don't think you should even consider commishing yet. At the very least, get involved for a short time with an existing league that has a great reputation so you can get a decent idea of what happens.

Originally Posted by Kaitiaki

You don't have to use the webhosting being provided by the OOTP folks (I'm not even sure if they're still offering it to new leagues, but I honestly don't know about that). Any webhost will work as long as you have FTP access to upload new files to it.

Perhaps any webhost will work, but what deal you get probably matters, even moreso than it did before 2006. I don't know how much space and all that you need now, but you should really get that info before you start counting on a specific deal.

Originally Posted by Kaitiaki

No, any league that you can create in OOTP can be played as an online league. The bigger concern would be a maximum size: there isn't one, but the more teams/leagues you have in your world, the larger your league files and web reports are going to get, requiring more time to upload/download with each sim.

Excellent point that I don't think is stressed enough. A huge league might sound like a cool idea, but it won't seem so hot of an idea once you have to upload everything and users have to download everything. The bigger the league, also the more people and their issues you have to deal with. Some people like the huge leagues, but a lot of people actually prefer the smaller ones.

[robster1225]

Although I'm not a commish, I am a very experienced GM in online leagues, and one thing I would like to add is that the main ingredient for an online league to be successful is a dedicated group of owners. This starts with the commish and trickles down. It seems like you may have that with your friends, but if you don't I recommend some sort of screening process, so that you can try to weed through the bad apples. Other than that, I think that everything was covered thoroughly in the replies above, good info guys!

[Fifa Inspected]

Originally Posted by robster1225

Although I'm not a commish, I am a very experienced GM in online leagues, and one thing I would like to add is that the main ingredient for an online league to be successful is a dedicated group of owners. This starts with the commish and trickles down. It seems like you may have that with your friends, but if you don't I recommend some sort of screening process, so that you can try to weed through the bad apples. Other than that, I think that everything was covered thoroughly in the replies above, good info guys!

Great point! Over the last 2.5 years we've figured this one out. We now have a very solid, mature group of like minded gamers. Leagues are now smaller with a proven group of owners.


Thanks to everyone who has responded to this question. I really appreciate the feedback!


Dave