The Recycle Bin

I may going into a more detailed off topic (“Stuffs”) post over the weekend discussing what I have been up to and how I spent my time during my recent sabbatical … er Spring Break.

The PS3 has not been on except for some Blu-ray goodness, and the PSP has been stowed away since my last business trip the first week in March.

I have been play OOTPX/OOTP10 (online league) and have been getting familiar with the new OOTP11. I never would have guessed that a PC “game” would carry me during a down gaming cycle, but the OOTP series has legs. After taking a few versions off from the series, I have really enjoyed OOTP10 and I believe that OOTP11 may be the most exciting version since OOTP6.5.

When I have some time I will post some comments on OOTP11; or maybe at least see if there is a review or two that cover most of my opinions on the game. Believe it or not, I have not even looked for a review, jumped on any forums, or done any research on OOTP11. Strange times indeed.

I decided to preorder Out of the Park Baseball 11 (OOTP 11) while it was $15 off. Getting OOTP 11 for $24.99 is actually $5 cheaper than I paid for OOTP 10 back in November!

It has been my experience that OOTP typically goes on sale for $10 off throughout the year, and maybe drops to $15 off at some point towards the end of the year (or at some point before the next version is released). I am not sure if I have seen the upcoming version this cheap. While I am really just getting into OOTP 10, having recently joined an online league for the first time in ages, I just decided that I could not leave well enough alone. I guess the addiction is back in earnest!

There were several items in the preorder announcement that caught my attention.

A Player Comparison screen, in which you can compare two players side-by-side

I know this is not much of a “feature” however it is about gosh darn time this is included. I guess by this point in the franchise the developers should concentrate on refinements.

More customizable news subscriptions, so you can get just the news you want in your inbox

Another one in the category of small nuances; I hate having to shift thorough all those messages and news items.

A handy comparison tab, where you can compare your simulated results with the actual real-world results from that season

This should be a fun way to see how bad I muck up Braves seasons!

Truth be told, I could have been perfectly content with OOTP 10, but OOTP 11 should be worth the money, especially considering I am getting it at a near bargain basement price.

I have been posting and posting and posting, for a long time. Maybe too long; maybe not long enough. For better or worse, I have thrown up daily content for something akin to 7+ months, which is a pretty nice achievement, but I am going to have to end this run sooner or later. But not today.

I considered not posting today. It would have been a good day to end my streak because the 6 hour marathon called the 2010 Daytona 500 was rather draining. So it would have been easily excusable. The Daytona 500 had a great ending, so I figured I had to at least go down swinging. Congrats to Jamie McMurray.

Sunday Gaming
I got in some quality time with Out of the Park Baseball 10 (recently joined an online league), and of course continued my assault on the surprising good White Knight Chronicles: International.

If you have been sitting on the fence thinking about purchasing OOTP X, now is the perfect time as the game is $15 off to close out 2009.

It’s a perfect time to buy OOTP Developments games, because from now through December 31st, we’re offering discounts on THREE different OOTP Dev games: $15 off of Out of the Park Baseball 10, $10 off of Inside the Park Baseball, and $15 off of Title Bout Championship Boxing!

Baseball season may be over, and OOTP 11 may be in development, but $24.99 is a great deal if you are looking for some hot stove action to hold you over until spring (or the next OOTP release).

I have been attempting to get into OOTP Baseball 10, which I purchased on sale for $29.99 a few hours after the 2009 World Series ended. I say attempting, because the game in damn complicated. Maybe insanely in-depth is a better description.

I skipped the last couple of iterations of OOTP. Going back a few years, OOTP 6.5 and to a lesser extent OOTP 2006 were the last versions I played extensively. I have not played any version of OOTP in the last 18 months (probably longer). After being away from the game for an extended break, OOTP 10 is different, much different than the versions I used to play (that night vs. day thing), but at the same time sort of a welcome home experience. My biggest issue is just finding the time to really concentrate on learning the game.

Simple things can often be a chore, but for now we can chalk it up as user error. For example, during one of my games I received a message that one of my pitchers had been suspended for two games by the commissioner. Why? I clicked on the message, but that did not give me much info. After clicking around for a while I finally found what I was looking for under the player’s history section. Apparently he was a key figure in a bench clearing brawl.

OK, so the above example has nothing really to do with the game, but that is sort of the point. OOTP 10 is deep. Lots to do, lots to learn, and I have not even scratched the surface. Hopefully I will have some time over the next week or so (Thanksgiving) to really plug in deeper.

Right now I am just messing around with a Quick Start league with the 2009 MLB rosters, but I would like to start a season directly after the 2009 season (or at least with rosters more current than the start of the 2009 season) and play around with managing the Braves, just controlling the line ups, depth charts, and pitching. Of course this means that I have to find new rosters, and then figure out how to switch the game to use the new database. All of this use to be old hat, but assuming I can get a little free time, I am sure I can figure it out.

Before game six of last night’s World Series I was torn between spending $29.99 on OOTP 10 (or OOTP X) or waiting for a while (i.e. until the next installment in 2010). I finally decided to download the game, went to order a license, and then pulled the plug. I figured if the Phillies pushed for a Game Seven, then I world order.

As circumstances would have it, I had to be at work very early this morning, so around 3AM I checked the OOTP site and the game was still listed at $29.99. So I figured what the heck, no time like the present; ordered a license. Timing is everything I guess because the game is back to its regular price of $39.99.

I started not to get the game because I have lived this long without the game, and I am not sure if I can get my money’s worth before the next installment. Then I started thinking that if nothing else, I could use OOTP 10 for some hot stove excitement. Hope springs eternal.

Today is a slow news day; nothing new, exciting, or interesting to report from the various happening across the interwebs. I didn’t get to any of the topics that I wanted to address last weekend, so I have some catching up to do over the next few days. I do have a couple of PC gaming tidbits.

Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited
I downloaded Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited
(D&D Online) last night, but will probably not get a change to check it out for a couple of days. I figured it is free and it is Dungeons & Dragons, so why not check it out. Plus I wanted a chance to get some Eberron flavoring; I am not really familiar with this new’ish D&D product setting.

I am not sure what the angle is for this one; free seems strange for a major title, but maybe the previous D&D game got lost in the shuffle (or shadow) of all the other MMORPG, including of course WoW. Maybe this one is free to play, but you have to pay for extras? I am not really sure, but one of the reasons I never seem to stick with WoW is because of the monthly subscription fee. I rarely get my money’s worth, but with D&D Online that should not be an issue.

I just home my computer can actually run this one have way decently. I probably just need to bite the bullet and get a new computer, one more gaming centric, for Christmas.

OOTP 10 is $10 off
I missed the last couple of sales, but plan to cash in on this one. OOTP 10 is once again $10 off:

The World Series is about to start, and those of you who are rooting for the Yankees or Phillies are probably having a great time! But even if your favorite team has been eliminated, there’s still some good news: through the last day of the World Series, OOTP 10 is now $10 off! This will probably be your last chance to get a discounted copy of the game about which GameShark said, “Every single facet of building and running a complete baseball universe is included in this game. It produces believable results while giving you an unprecedented amount of statistical and player development information. The revamped pitching system is tops. This is the single best baseball management sim available!”

This is where I end up biting off more than I can chew. As always seems to be the case, I have a huge backlog of games. FIFA 10, Demon’s Souls, and D&D Online. I guess we are heading into winter, so that may help me find some gaming time!

In case you missed the last couple of $10 off sales, and you are still interested in giving OOTP10 a try, a full-featured demo has been released.

A demo version of OOTP 10 is now available, so now you truly have no excuse not to give us a try! The demo version is valid for 7 real-world days, one-and-a-half seasons of fictional play, or one-half season of historical play. Aside from these limitations, the demo version is fully functional. No features are limited in our demo!

I actually missed the first two sales, so I hope to have time to give the demo a try. I enjoyed past versions of the game, but for whatever reason have not committed to this one.