Using the web forms

[John]

With our first sim complete, it's clear that working with the web forms is going to be cumbersome for owners as well as myself. The web forms are made by a 3rd party; they are not a part of the OOTP game itself. Basically they're one step up from just sending an email with all your moves. And of course the biggest problem with the forms is that they don't even come close to covering all the options you have in-game.

While I would love to explain all the things you can do with your team within OOTP, there's so much to cover that it'd just take too long. If you're playing through the web and unsure about what all you can and can't do with your team, the first thing you should do is download the OOTP manual=http://ootp2007.ootpdevfile ... manual.pdf and focus your attention on Chapter 5: Important Game Concepts. You won't need to read all of this (you can skip the Manager Career sub-chapter, for instance), but in general reading through this chapter will put you way ahead of the curve. And it will help you understand two of the most important concepts for PEBA play: free agents and scouting.

Free agent business should be handled through your Front Office Tools form. When you've targeted a FA you're interested in through the HTML reports, the first thing you're going to need to do is find out what kind of contract he's asking for. In the box labaled "Offer Contract Extension To:" boxes, type this: "Checking on contract demands. In the box directly below (labeled "Enter Multiple Offers:"), type the name(s) of the player(s) you're interested in. Send the form off to me and I'll send you back and email with the info you need.

Once you've decided on which players you'd like to extend an offer to, return to your Front Office Tools. Type "Offering free agent contract" in the first box. In the second box, type the name of the player and the full list of contract details. This includes whether it's a major/minor league contract, the number of years to offer, salaries for each year you're offering, bonuses/incentives, etc. Repeat that in the boxes below for each FA you want to offer a contract to.

The Manager Tools are fairly straightforward, allowing you to set your lineups and rotation. At the bottom of this form is a box labeled "Additional Instructions". Use this box as a catch-all: anything you want to do that's outside the scope of the forms should be entered in here. This is also the place to post your scouting assignments. Make sure you provide the name of each scout you're assigning and what task they're to be assigned to.

In general, it's better to err on the side of providing too much information through your forms. Giving me more detailed instructions makes my job easier and makes it less likely I won't be able to execute your desired tasks because I'm unsure what you want. I also want to remind owners to fill in their team's name at the top of each form so I know who to make the moves for!

One last note about playing through the web: I'm aware that my predecessor made a point in his recruitment that owners could easily play without a copy of OOTP. While he was technically right that they you can play without a copy, I'd hardly call it easy. The truth is, if you don't own OOTP then you are not getting the full PEBA experience! What's more, each owner who uses the web rather than the game to export is inadvertently increasing the time it takes me to conduct sims (since I can't enter in all those moves until right at the moment the sim is to occur).

We're going to go through our 2007 season with the setup we have. At the conclusion of this season, if you're having a good time and wanting to get even more into PEBA, I'm going to ask that owners without the game look into making the purchase. I can't stress enough how much more you'll be enjoying your experience, and I'll be thankful to you for reducing my workload. Talk to one of our owners who have recently purchased OOTP and they'll vouch for what an amazing program it is. Believe me, this is $35 well spent!

[Coqui]

I'll second this one. I tried using the web forms for a bit and then sucked it up and split the game with a brother, parting with an entire $17. I can promise it is worth it. It makes play 10 times easier and considerably more fun. All you need to find is another owner without the game and then take advantage of the fact that two download licenses are issued. It is well worth it.