MLB: Front Office Manager - First Impressions Thread

[Capes]

We know the "experts" are giving MLB FOM a hard time, but we also know they have never played a baseball simulation.

That being said, lets get some USER reviews from our hardcore fan base ASAP as there are a lot of people on the fence about the buying the game. Please be as detailed as you can about whatever areas you'd like to highlight!

Please stay on topic!

[joejccva7112]

Ok guys let's hear the first impressions. :)

[eastcoastcrushr]

I work midnights.....about to goto sleep and pick game up at around 6pm est tonight. I'll be looking for this thread when I wake up to hear some actual reviews. Lets get those reviews in boys! If I dont like what I hear, i'll probably pick up Out of the park 9.

[DurantPwnsYou]

I'll b gettting it around 1130

[WhiteSoxfan79]

i will be getting it around noon

[uharchmajor]

I work midnights.....about to goto sleep and pick game up at around 6pm est tonight. I'll be looking for this thread when I wake up to hear some actual reviews. Lets get those reviews in boys! If I dont like what I hear, i'll probably pick up Out of the park 9.

I'd suggest still picking up OOTP no matter what.
Great game, and lots of options. More about dat then graphics, as I'm sure you've seen from the screenshots.

[DurantPwnsYou]

I just called my gamestop and the dude was a douche. I wanted to make sure they'd get it in and he said he didn't know which sucks because it's snowing pretty bad.

[GhostRider]

I'd suggest still picking up OOTP no matter what.
Great game, and lots of options. More about dat then graphics, as I'm sure you've seen from the screenshots.


Text games are ok, but also more boring than being alive.....

A game that combines simulation, coaching, and graphics is going to sell way more than a text only game if done properly.

Since management games are going to be more boring than a 'control' type game by their very nature of relative inactivity, it is paramount that they be exciting visually in order to register some of that heartpounding that other games do.

[johndango]

Text games are ok, but also more boring than being alive.....

A game that combines simulation, coaching, and graphics is going to sell way more than a text only game if done properly.

Since management games are going to be more boring than a 'control' type game by their very nature of relative inactivity, it is paramount that they be exciting visually in order to register some of that heartpounding that other games do.

You must not have been playing OOTP right then because If I was trapped on desserted island with only one game, it'd be OOTP.

[poodski]

You must not have been playing OOTP right then because If I was trapped on desserted island with only one game, it'd be OOTP.

I would have to agree OOTP leagues rule.

I still use 6.5 though.

[Campion]

You must not have been playing OOTP right then because If I was trapped on desserted island with only one game, it'd be OOTP.

His point, methinks, is that all the great strategy involved with a text game would be awesome if there was a visible showcase of the game with correct unis, player models, logos, ball parks, etc..

The graphics would add to the experience, as long as the fundamental strategy and core gameplay of the text simulator remained intact. I don't see how anyone would not want the added fun of 'seeing' the game as long as the rest of the parts remained in place.

That's what MLB Front Officer Manager is supposed to be. Hopefully it will pan out.

[WhiteSoxfan79]

Well I live in Florida, and nobody has the game due to bad weather. Thier shipment did not come in today but should tomorrow.

[DurantPwnsYou]

gamestop is ****, didn't have it. The guy was on his ipod and taking his good old time opening the packages, i dont think he even looked. Went to Walmart they didn't have it. I'm going to call game crazy but I won't be able to go there till later tonight if they have it which they might be sold out by.

I called around and no one has it, so wtf. Places got shipment here too so whats the deal

[d32123]

I've pre-ordered from Amazon when do you guys think I'll get it?

[btrostelsc]

I tried that last week and they gave me an estimated ship date of Feb. 2nd.

[kevinorris]

Ok guys let's hear the first impressions. :)

I just got the game an hour ago for Xbox 360 at Best Buy. So far, I've just played around a bit, but I'm going to be honest- it's not what I expected. I've played OOTP and Baseball Mogul and they are much better than this.

The only cool thing in this so far is being able to watch the games and manager your team during them, the free agency is very unrealistic. Chipper Jones wanted 25 million a year for 7 years and he is 36 years old- so I had to release him, when in real life, his contract did not expire this off-season.

For baseball enthusiasts, you will be disappointed when you find out the rosters and contracts situations, but I've only played it for an hour so I don't want to be too quick to judge.

[kevinorris]

I just got the game an hour ago for Xbox 360 at Best Buy. So far, I've just played around a bit, but I'm going to be honest- it's not what I expected. I've played OOTP and Baseball Mogul and they are much better than this.

The only cool thing in this so far is being able to watch the games and manager your team during them, the free agency is very unrealistic. Chipper Jones wanted 25 million a year for 7 years and he is 36 years old- so I had to release him, when in real life, his contract did not expire this off-season.

For baseball enthusiasts, you will be disappointed when you find out the rosters and contracts situations, but I've only played it for an hour so I don't want to be too quick to judge.

[rdogg1026]

I just got the game an hour ago for Xbox 360 at Best Buy. So far, I've just played around a bit, but I'm going to be honest- it's not what I expected. I've played OOTP and Baseball Mogul and they are much better than this.

The only cool thing in this so far is being able to watch the games and manager your team during them, the free agency is very unrealistic. Chipper Jones wanted 25 million a year for 7 years and he is 36 years old- so I had to release him, when in real life, his contract did not expire this off-season.

For baseball enthusiasts, you will be disappointed when you find out the rosters and contracts situations, but I've only played it for an hour so I don't want to be too quick to judge.

Outrageous demands by Free Agents. The contracts are very off, but I hope the new update fixes all of that.

So far it is alright.

[b-Dub]

Merged the two review/impression threads into one. And stickied it.

[d32123]

I tried that last week and they gave me an estimated ship date of Feb. 2nd.

Actually, my dad just looked it up (he's paying for it) and it's supposed to be here on the 30th. I'm getting the PC version if that makes any difference. Maybe other versions come out a few days later?

[GhostRider]

You must not have been playing OOTP right then because If I was trapped on desserted island with only one game, it'd be OOTP.


I played that and Mogul...For me, it was only interesting using teams of years past.....

After a bit it's like, "okay now, I should probably go ahead with my suicide plans since my life has become so worthless that I am vicariously living my life inside of a text management SIM"...Or something like that


They are fun, but it is impossible for me to play them as something more than a distraction.That is why I love Coach Modes...You still get the joys of management, but also the thrill of an actual game.

So far I would say that NBA2k9 and The Show have done this best.Head Coach2 is a distant third.


I am curious if this will even rise to the level of the manager mode in The Show(and by that I mean graphics & gameplay)...If it does not then there is a problem since this is a dedicated manager game.

[joejccva7112]

Umm first of all ...I created this thread, not whoever the person is that sabotaged it.

Second of all, I have the game and it is HORRIBLE. The menu's don't even bother me, it's the gameplay and the features. Even the options you have while watching your players play is just horrendous. You have HIT, BUNT, BULLPEN, and 1 or 2 other useless options.

I should have rented first, but this game is a complete letdown. The game is a stale brick as it has absolutely ZERO commentary or speech in the game at all. I mean cmon atleast have fake commentary in there, SOMETHING...not just mind boggling crap.

You guys will see. Rent it first, trust me.

[GhostRider]

Umm first of all ...I created this thread, not whoever the person is that sabotaged it.

Second of all, I have the game and it is HORRIBLE. The menu's don't even bother me, it's the gameplay and the features. Even the options you have while watching your players play is just horrendous. You have HIT, BUNT, BULLPEN, and 1 or 2 other useless options.

I should have rented first, but this game is a complete letdown. The game is a stale brick as it has absolutely ZERO commentary or speech in the game at all. I mean cmon atleast have fake commentary in there, SOMETHING...not just mind boggling crap.

You guys will see. Rent it first, trust me.


Wellllll...

That is the whole fun of it!...Doing your own commentary!


A swing and a miss!...


Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

[joejccva7112]

ROFL dude cmon. Try the game and tell me what you think.....I don't really like it at all. Maybe I can learn to like it though, but first impressions are not good.

[mlbrow5]

I really don't see how anyone could expect color commentary in a simulation game...I mean that would be another reason for them to charge more for the game...I mean seriously were you expecting a game in which the options for in-game play were swing, think about swinging, swing only if def strike, take pitch, take pitch if def ball, bunt, slap bunt, swinging bunt, automatic homerun....Let me guess you are 14 and was expecting a baseball game not a simulation game..

[b-Dub]

Umm first of all ...I created this thread, not whoever the person is that sabotaged it.


When threads are merged, the mod can choose between the titles of each thread as the title of the newly merged thread. Posts are then merged based on when they were actually made. I liked your title better, so I used it, but the other guy actually created his thread quite a few hours before yours, so his post is first.

[Holbrook41101]

I've been playing around with this game since noon..not really what i was expecting.
the free agents want way more than you'd think.. I suppose in the economic crisis and since we're all pretty much baseball fans, we realize that there are "bargain deals"..well..not in this game.
chipper asks for over 25M for over 5 years..
you can't sign Manny for under 23/year for 4 years
Vlad is asking for 18 or more for 5 years
CC is getting @ 26/year for over 5 years.

just crazy stuff.

the hardest thing is to get a trade accepted. I'm using the Mets, and the Reds offered me Bronson A, Billy Bray and Alex (their SS) for Reyes... that's the closest thing to a decent deal i've seen.

I offered 3 young arms for Carlos Pena of TB and it got rejected..so trades are next to near impossible.

i will say after playing around for a few hours, the KEY TO THIS GAME IS MIDDLE RELIEF PITCHING, if you're going to play/manage the games...

but overall, i'm more excited about playing in an online league than anything..

hope you all enjoy.

[d32123]

Better too hard to trade than too easy imo.

[Heater4112]

Sorry I did not post earlier but I have been playing since 6 pm est. From boot up until I finally put it away at 12:15 AM all I can say is that I am very impressed for the most part. Being a hardcore sim gamer and after hearing the early reviews I was apprehensive when I purchased my copy. GLAD I DID!

I have only worked my way through the 2nd pre-season game but all in all if you are a fan of OOTP, Strat-o-Matic or even baseball mogul then this game is a no brainer buy!

I started off as the GM of the New York Mets. My 1st order of business was to look over my roster and check out my players, attributes, salaries, etc. They seem to have left lots of room for players to grow as Johan Santana is rated an 80, as is CC Sabathia. After grasping what becomes an average attribute for players I moved on to find that the players do not have the same contracts as they do in real life. I didn't see this is a biggie because I cannot tell you the contract status of my favorite Minnesota Twins players so 2K gets a pass here. The one thing I was suprised about however was the salaries and years players were asking for or they become free agents. Delgado wants 4 years at over 13 mil a year plus a signing bonus, Pedro wants 2 years at 12 mil per plus a bonus, etc. So, I did what any smart GM would do and parted ways with them. Delgado was a class "A" type free agent so I receive the 1st round pick of the team that signs him. Gm's seem to leave an early mark on their team and I did to mine....If you wanted a lot of money or years beyond what you were worth I said bye bye! Gone were Delgado, Pedro, Oliver Perez and others. I also dealt high priced Luis Castillo and Scott Schoenweis along with Aaron Heilman to Toronto for Adam Lind. Heilman for Lind could be considered fair but I gave up the extra talent to rid myself of the cash. After letting go of other spare parts, ala Luis Ayala and others, re-signing some younger talent and checking my arbitration eligible players I moved on to scouting.

I received 50 million to put into my scouting budget. I am not sure if all teams are the same but this is what the New York Mets received. I kept out of the Japan posting for 30 mil and instead spent my money in the western usa, southeastern usa, puerto rico and the dominican republic. We'll see how that turns out down the road as I have seen no results as of the 2nd pre-season game though I didn't expect to.

With my scouting over, the free agency period started and WOH, the free agents wanted cash! Manny wants 24 mil for 4 years (Cincinnati gave it to him), Sabathia wants 26 for 6 (and the Tigers delivered), Lackey wants 21 for 5 (he gets it from the Cubs) and Chipper, don't call me Larry, Jones wants 6 years and 26 mil? Where does Chipper sign? Minnesota!!! Enough said there! Free agent salaries, years, and who gives it to them are the only complaint I have to this point. What about me? Who do I sign? I cash in on a few young 19-23 year olds with minor league contracts to fill my farm system. It's not like I didn't have bids in on these players, I did...for rational money! At this point I am not happy with my catcher, have no 1B or 2B, am weak in the corner outfield spots and only have 3 starting pitchers. Thank goodness there were no injury carry overs as I would be looking for a closer too. A special thanks to 2K for keeping Billy Wagner healthy! As free agency rolls along I do manage to sign Mike Sweeney to a 1 year 600k deal in case I cannot land another 1st baseman. YEAH!

It's now time for the rule 5 draft and damn I have holes! With my 1st round pick I take Tony Abreu from the Dodgers. 2B,SS and 3B positioning and under 25 years of age with a good upside; he could be my starting 2B! In round 2 I select Mat Gamel from Milwaukee. Gamel reminds me of Kevin Kouzmanoff and I think with his potential I can find a home all season for him. I then pass on the remaining rounds.

Things keep moving along and I keep losing free agents. Carlos Delgado gets a 2 year deal with 13 mil per from some sucker. I cannot even land the flakey Oliver Perez who's demands keep changing. First he wants 8.2 mil a year for 3 years, a 7 mil signing bonus and performance bonuses. I come close and offer 7.5 mil per year, a 3 mil signing bonus and his performance bonuses. He turns me down and when I go back he NOW WANTS 14.2 mil per year for 3 years, a 4 mil bonus and his incentives!! Did I pi$$ him off? Oh well.... LOL.

The next process is the 3-5 year arbitration eligable players. I offer no one arbitration so I don't get to play this game. :) However, during this process something strange happens. It seems others don't want to play either and match demands of players. I go to the free agent list and find the likes of Ervin Santana, Russell Martin, Casey Kotchman, Rickie Weeks, Corey Hart, and a few others. I start to think..was I smart for waiting? What do these guys want? What they want are 1 year deals so they can test the waters next year. Well, I place my bids and wait and wait and wait. :) Finally, news in my mailbox! Ervin Santana wanted more than I offered and someone else gave it to him..UGH..Mark another pitcher off the board. Then, something wonderful..I finally have players seeing the light and I get Justin Duscherer for 4 mil for 1 year, Rickie Weeks for 4.5 for 1 year, Casey Kotchman for 4 mil for 1 year, Russell martin for 9 mil for 3 years and Corey hart for 5 mil for 1 year! That's 26. 5 million dollars and I have solved my 1B, 2B, C, 1 corner OF and 1 starting pitcher spot!!!! Take that Mr.Ramirez!! I know know I will have Ryan Church and Endy Chavez battle it out for the 3rd OF spot and unless something better comes along, Jonathan Niese will be my 5th starter. My budget for the season is 179 million and I have only spent 129 mil! 50 mil under budget if this is a winning team and the owners should be ecstatic. How do these guys gel? It's about time to find out.

The pre-season is here and in game one Johan Santana goes 5 scoreless while 4 other pitches throw a scoreless inning each to defeat St.Louis 7-0. Not a bad start. Just before game 2 it seems another arbitration loss becomes my gain as Mike Gonzalez comes aboard for 1 year at 2.5 mil! In my 2nd pre-season game John Maine matches up against Toronto's AJ Burnett (He re-signed with the Jays for 5 years and 21+ million dollars). I let Maine go 5 innings but he gives up 6 runs on 4 homers! I'm sure Luis Castillo and the boys had fun in the locker room with this one as Toronto wins 7-1. My only bright spot was a David Wright homerun in the 9th. You might be thinking wow, 5 homers in a game. Nah..game 1 had 2 extra base hits and no home runs. So far, the playable sim seems pretty well on.

I now save my game and head here to post and cannot wait to get back into it tomorrow night!

My view.....8.0/10 and if they can patch the salaries somehow it could be a no-brainer 9 out of 10!

Now, if you are looking for intricate manager modes or a 2K7/8 style game this is NOT for you. However, if you are looking for a great GM based game that will keep you entranced for hours then buy Front Office Manager! I'm glad I did!

....The author is a 43 year old male, married with 2 children and resides in Long Island, New York.

[chad0034]

Heater, that was a great post. Fantastic job on the review. I really appreciate it when people do more than just jump to conclusions about things. This guy sat down, played the game, and wrote a FULL review. Thats what im talking about. A lot of people here will thank you, and im sure everyone at 2K also thanks you for that.

[Owls]

Yes, thank you Heater for helping me realize how inaccurate the games transaction rules and AI apparently are.

Mat Gamel in the AA stage of Rule 5 draft??? LOL. What? Would never ever happen. Not to mention this would mean he has to remain on AAA reserve rosters and not the 25-man roster. It has that wrong too?

A big handful of good controllable years players are non-tendered...??

Arroyo, Bray and Gonzalez for Jose Reyes is the "closest thing to a decent trade" you found??? Yikes.

[poodski]

Here are probably my top issues with the game thus far. Maybe some of them are in the game but I got frustrated and quit a couple times.

1. The ratings are only out of what? 80? I think that was the first thing that got me. I take over the Cubs and D-Lee is only like a 65. Which seems kind of crazy that a player of his magnitude would only be a 65. Now when I did an online draft later I find out the Pujols is only an 80. So either the game is out of 80 (which is dumb) or its out of 100? And Pujols is only 80% of a capable player.

2. Some rediculous contracts. Rafael Furcal got 12 million over 9 years. Nine years? To a player who played in just 36 games last year and put up a 76 OSP+ the year before. 12 million is okay I suppose but 9 years? Thats over 100 million dollars to a well average SS.

3. Rule V draft. I like that they put in the Rule V draft but why not tell me which players can be taken. Can all of them be taken? I am sure if I went through each player and saw which ones had 3 years of pro service I could tell, but why not just say hey these are the players we stand a chance to lose. You dont think GMs have people that do this for them? I mean cmon he doesn't just have a list of players then is forced to flip see player info to see when he started in the minors.

4. Platoons. As far as I can tell a player just is a 50 contact. A 50 contact vs what? LHP? RHP? A Pitching machine? That really got to me because from OOTP I usually have 2 platoons in the game at all time. I have no clue what my players can do in this game.

5. Defense. Green means they know the positions. Wow. Really? So assuming that 2K put each players primary position as green this means that if I put Adam Dunn in LF he will be as good as Carl Crawford. Is this a joke. I was looking forward to making a studly defense much like the Mariners outfield and trying to do something that way. But apparently I would be just as good putting out Adam Dunn in LF as I would be putting Willie Harris. Even though Harris is worth about 50 more plays in the OF per season than Dunn would be, and he costs about 10% of what Dunn would cost me. So much for the money ball aspect of the game eh? Money ball does not mean OBP and discipline. Money ball means getting what is cheap out there to win.

6. Rosters. I completely understand that you cant put in any player that has not played in the majors. I get that. Not upset my game didn't come with Josh Vitters. But haven't you learned anything from EA Sports? NCAA Football cant have player names either, but guess what? One guy puts all their names in and he posts his roster under his gamer tag and I can DL it right from there. Now I can have Nate Davis passing to Darius Hill when I lead Ball State to a national championship. Instead all I can do is DL take 2's roster set. Did you guys even go though and try to make decent players in the minors that would at least reflect what the prospects would be? Doesn't look like it.

Maybe I am missing some things, but those are my first impressions. I was hoping it would be similar to OOTP but on the XBox.

[uharchmajor]

1. The ratings are only out of what? 80? I think that was the first thing that got me. I take over the Cubs and D-Lee is only like a 65. Which seems kind of crazy that a player of his magnitude would only be a 65. Now when I did an online draft later I find out the Pujols is only an 80. So either the game is out of 80 (which is dumb) or its out of 100? And Pujols is only 80% of a capable player.
Maybe it leaves room for growth? Which I have no problem with. If Pujols is an 80, 65 seems about right for D.Lee. I can think of a few 1Bs, I'd rather have then Lee....Berkman, Morneau, Cabrera, Howard, and Fielder.

2. Some rediculous contracts. Rafael Furcal got 12 million over 9 years. Nine years? To a player who played in just 36 games last year and put up a 76 OSP+ the year before. 12 million is okay I suppose but 9 years? Thats over 100 million dollars to a well average SS.
agreed!!!

3. Rule V draft. I like that they put in the Rule V draft but why not tell me which players can be taken. Can all of them be taken? I am sure if I went through each player and saw which ones had 3 years of pro service I could tell, but why not just say hey these are the players we stand a chance to lose. You dont think GMs have people that do this for them? I mean cmon he doesn't just have a list of players then is forced to flip see player info to see when he started in the minors.
Agreed, OOTP did this nicely. On one of the roster pages, the players who options were up and up for Rule V had a star next to them so you knew if you had to put them onyour 40 man or let then be drafted.

5. Defense. Green means they know the positions. Wow. Really? So assuming that 2K put each players primary position as green this means that if I put Adam Dunn in LF he will be as good as Carl Crawford. Is this a joke. I was looking forward to making a studly defense much like the Mariners outfield and trying to do something that way. But apparently I would be just as good putting out Adam Dunn in LF as I would be putting Willie Harris. Even though Harris is worth about 50 more plays in the OF per season than Dunn would be, and he costs about 10% of what Dunn would cost me. So much for the money ball aspect of the game eh? Money ball does not mean OBP and discipline. Money ball means getting what is cheap out there to win.
Couldn't agree more. I was looking forward to deciding if the price for the offense was worth the price to pay for less offense but more defense. But then again, I'll have to get into the game to really get a feel for this, but it's hard to believe they would just set so many players equal. Surely poood is missing something.

6. Rosters. I completely understand that you cant put in any player that has not played in the majors. I get that. Not upset my game didn't come with Josh Vitters. But haven't you learned anything from EA Sports? NCAA Football cant have player names either, but guess what? One guy puts all their names in and he posts his roster under his gamer tag and I can DL it right from there. Now I can have Nate Davis passing to Darius Hill when I lead Ball State to a national championship. Instead all I can do is DL take 2's roster set. Did you guys even go though and try to make decent players in the minors that would at least reflect what the prospects would be? Doesn't look like it.
This is sad to hear, because they said the stats would be similar to the real minor leaguers just with different names.

[...Amazin86er...]

Here are probably my top issues with the game thus far. Maybe some of them are in the game but I got frustrated and quit a couple times.

1. The ratings are only out of what? 80? I think that was the first thing that got me. I take over the Cubs and D-Lee is only like a 65. Which seems kind of crazy that a player of his magnitude would only be a 65. Now when I did an online draft later I find out the Pujols is only an 80. So either the game is out of 80 (which is dumb) or its out of 100? And Pujols is only 80% of a capable player.


The professional rating system for scouts is based off of a scale that only goes up to 80.

[Spring Chicken]

I heard somewhere that they do rate defense, its under the "glove" category

[rajin]

There is a serious problem at the end of a season.
I spent almost all of my money for 2009 on my team, and then in November, I had to resign all my pre-arb players again, using 2009 funds. I didn't have any more money in 2009 but contracts are due in November, so my owner recinded all the contract offers (for 2010, where there still was money) and all my rookies became free agents. That was a waste of a few hours for that bug and I'll have to start fresh with a new team.

[sandmanmullet]

game is very accurate, it leaves some of theplayers negotiations, and the minor league areas to the owner, and as far as the players vs lefties and rightiies, that is for you the GM to figure out through spring training andf tinkering with the lineup, you can check all there stats vs lefties righties through the stats option, like i said it leaves things up to you to figure out over time, especially through spring training, simply awesome game for the type of game it is, remember what this game is about, not what other previous games are about, this really leaves alot of things for the gm to figure out over time, if everything was set in slate, the game would be very boring, love the aspect of figuring things out over a period of time, just like in real scouting situations and in the Big leagues, you never really quite know until lots of time spent on players and figuring out there strong points and weak points, just figure these things out yourself, instead of relying on just a straight forward this is what the guy has

good luck and have fun, bottom line

[GhostRider]

The professional rating system for scouts is based off of a scale that only goes up to 80.


No kidding!?!

Thanks for the info:thumbsup:(not being sarcastic)

[Dreamsh0t]

Jon Lieber went from his default 60 to a 75 after spring training. Holy.

[Heater4112]

There is a serious problem at the end of a season.
I spent almost all of my money for 2009 on my team, and then in November, I had to resign all my pre-arb players again, using 2009 funds. I didn't have any more money in 2009 but contracts are due in November, so my owner recinded all the contract offers (for 2010, where there still was money) and all my rookies became free agents. That was a waste of a few hours for that bug and I'll have to start fresh with a new team.

That's not a bug..that's poor management. :-)

[rajin]

That's not a bug..that's poor management. :-)
Probably, and I won't make the mistake of using all my money each year now, but it is still really counterintuitive that the budgets start over on January 1st instead of when the next baseball year starts.

If the a real team spent 150 million dollars during a season out of a 152 million dollar budget, and had 70 million in expiring contracts, I would expect to have 72 million available for signing players in the offseason. Not 2, then another 70 million in January after all the free agents have signed in December.

[Spring Chicken]

Can anyone tell me how the simulations look? When the batter hits the ball can you see the fielders reacting to it and making the plays?

[zotzotpadre]

the simulations are one of the best parts. you can see the fielders react.... im playing games at 2x speed so they go fast and dont look 100% realistic, but i'd rather have a game finish in 10 minutes than 20.

i have to say I HATE THE MENUS - the call up/send down and roster adjustment menus are impossible to navigate. i hate having to negotiate contracts with every minor leaguer every year.

[hilge9]

has anyone with the game tried out any of the online leagues? seems like that would be fun once everyone is done just playing the computers the entire time. if so how are the online leagues and are there many of them? i haven't gotten the game yet think i will on my way home tonight. are there a lot of leagues forming at all? i think the toughest part will be finding dedicated players that will play regardless of winning and losing.

[Spring Chicken]

Do you have to warm up pitchers in the bullpen or just bring them in?

[zotzotpadre]

Do you have to warm up pitchers in the bullpen or just bring them in?

there's a bullpen, and i've been using it.

[GhostRider]

So is the 'outfielders can't throw out runners' thing true?

[zotzotpadre]

noticed some silly fundamentals:

a single is hit to left and the baserunner tries to stretch it into a double. my left fielder throws to second and the runner is about halfway there... no tag, he just slides in - easy double. seems like the cpu always puts in thte same reliever, so i've been paying attention to conttrol the bullpen activity and who comes in for relief.

[zotzotpadre]

So is the 'outfielders can't throw out runners' thing true?

looks that way so far - though i'm answering this question based on a small sample.

[oxfrat1665]

Guys you do realize that players are scouted on a 1 to 80 basis in real life. 80 is therefore the best that you can be

[GhostRider]

looks that way so far - though i'm answering this question based on a small sample.


That sucks then...Is it 2009 or 1992?...I get confused sometimes with how these games are working(or not) these days.......

[DurantPwnsYou]

first impressions, that it was a little weird..players disappearing and not totally understanding it all.

I like manage mode for the most part, although sometimes when a player rounds 3rd off a hit to the outfield the outfielder holds the ball instead of throwing it home, that ****ed me off because I lost a game because of that.

It's a little confusing at first but once you get used to it, it's pretty good.

[pumps78]

I got the game last night at my local Game Stop and spent about 3 hours with it.
Some if the animations while managing a game are a bit off.
I clearly gunned down a runner at 2nd with Vlad Guerrero and after arriving a good 1 count later the runner was called safe. I saw that happen once in 3 complete games. By the way Vlad Guerrero is now a SF Giant seeing how the Angels didn't sign him and I couldn't get Manny Ramirez to join my club.

Giants really needed a bat so I signed 32 yr old Guerrero for 8 years in what were the last few days before Spring Training. I think it was for almost 24 million a year with incentives for all star and LCS/WCS MVP's.

I really like the game so far. If you enjoy baseball like I do and have time to put into the game I think you will have a good experience with it.

[pumps78]

looks that way so far - though i'm answering this question based on a small sample.

I've seen it happen once where my OF Vlad Guerrero did throw the ball and clearly beat the runner and the runner was called safe. MY OF's have almost always made the throw when appropriate.

I've stolen bases a few times in game and the calls have been correct both when safe and out.
These calls can be close even in real baseball

[pumps78]

5. Defense. Green means they know the positions. Wow. Really? So assuming that 2K put each players primary position as green this means that if I put Adam Dunn in LF he will be as good as Carl Crawford. Is this a joke. I was looking forward to making a studly defense much like the Mariners outfield and trying to do something that way. But apparently I would be just as good putting out Adam Dunn in LF as I would be putting Willie Harris. Even though Harris is worth about 50 more plays in the OF per season than Dunn would be, and he costs about 10% of what Dunn would cost me. So much for the money ball aspect of the game eh? Money ball does not mean OBP and discipline. Money ball means getting what is cheap out there to win.

I think you are interpreting this incorrectly.
Green means that is "a" position they know well/best...as in a primary position.

You need to look at their overall ability (out of 80) and then review their individual abilities like arm, glove, etc. I think you will find a difference if you view it that way. I'm saying a rookie with a green for RF and overall of 40 is not as good as a veteran with green for RF and overall of 65.

[dingus4ever12]

Biggest problems;

Menu sorting. I, like someone earlier, hate that I sort them, view a player, come back and have to resort.

Swinging on 3-0?

But the biggest bug I have seen;

Wins being given to a pitcher who was not eligable for the win.

For instance;

Pitcher goes 6.2 IP

Leaves game losing.

Team wins from runs scored in the 9th. Pitcher picks u win that should have been allocated to one of the relievers.


That bug is unforgivable. Stats being misappropriated in a freaking stats game? UGG! I was hoping for OOTP with live 3D. Some features really are nice. Contracts seem odd. Teams releasing 20 somethings who should not be released (Ervin Santana?)

Things frustrate me and I hope 2K fixes it or they may have a dead series on their hands which could have been massive.

[dingus4ever12]

Also, I may not see this feature, but it would be nice to;

- Mark emails as read or not
- Delete emails

If that does exist it'd be nice to know.

But again I hope that 2K addresses the major issues (incorrect stat tracking being the biggest with menus a close second and contracts in at 3rd) but I am afraid they won't be very quickly. I would love for quick minor patches to solve the issues faster instead of doing a big one... doubt it. Any word on patches? (I am on the 360 version)

[Bobby420]

First impression:
WTF are the controls? It would be nice to be able to play the game! I can't view the players' info so i can't set up my rosters to even start playing.

[ChicagoBear]

First impression:
WTF are the controls? It would be nice to be able to play the game! I can't view the players' info so i can't set up my rosters to even start playing.

Highlight the players name with the mouse (left click) then right click the mouse.

[mraka79]

My initial assesment: It's not for the average baseball fan, those people need to wait for 2K9. That being said, I love it. It is more in depth than 2k9 as far as the baseball operations go. It is complicated at first to navigate some of the menu's, but once you get the hang of it, its fun. I have heard some say that it's not that realistic. A couple of move's were not (Pena getting traded to Cincinnati, and Edmonds wanting a 3 year deal at 7.8 per)
A previous knowledge of how baseball contracts work really helps, I read how some were complaining about guys only wanting one year deals, thats because they have less than 3 years service, those players can be played low and they have no say until they are arbitration eligible.
I personally love the game, but that's because I love baseball.....

[Semaj]

I just picked up FOM from my local gamestop. It is funny I was in a bestbuy to see if they had it, The guy on the computer told me they didn't have it because it wasn't going to be in until 2011. I went to the website and sure enough it is on preorder for a January 26 2011 release. I got around to start playing it yesterday when I got off work. I have the PC version so After I got it installed on my Steam Client. I started to play it. I'm a die hard Dodgers fan so I pick the Dodgers as my team to GM. After i got my feet wet and started to look around the game I started to check on my team. i noticed Manny Ramirez was not signed as well as other Dodgers just like in real life. So I went ahead and started to offer salaries. to who needed them When i got To Manny he wanted like 24 million a year for like 6 years. i thought this was a long time but since it was a game and most likely he won't degrade in the game I offered him the contract he wanted. Now this is the contract he wanted. The next day I get a e-mail that he laughed at my offer and is now going to test the free agent market. If I give someone what he wants, shouldn't he be happy enough to accept it. Anyways. Now a few more Game days went bye and now people are free agents. i'm like if he didn't want to sign with me then i'll pick up another great player to replace him. I go to the free agent tab and go through the whole list and can't find a single MLB person to sign. So I give it a game day because maybe I'm off or something like that. Well the next day i get a bunch of E-mails about all of these major league players signing contracts. Sabithia,Texieria, Sheets, Rodriguez, etc who signed with there teams, and Manny Ramirez who signed with the Cubs. So i go back and click on Free Agents and all i get are these fake players and I still can't find any real players to sign. I tried to use the search function and that doesn't seem to help either. The free agent section needs to be improved or sectioned off to make it easier to find the players we are looking for better. So now I'm stuck with a outfield or Andrew Jones, Andre Either and Mat Kemp. For some reason Matt Kemp keeps getting upset with Andre Either 2 altercations in Spring Training. and Juan Pierre who is on the bench is happy and content unlike Danny Ardoin who wants more playing time. Which I find funny. SO Far I find the game fun and exciting, I'm happy to be a Dodgers GM and hopfully be able to bring a Championship to Los Angeles. But please find a way to fix the Free Agent portion of the game.

Thank you

Semaj

[italian4212]

Highlight the players name with the mouse (left click) then right click the mouse.

...or, if it's xbox360, take a gander at the lower right corner and push the yellow button.

[kallop12]

the instruction guide mentioned www.2ksports.com/mlbmanager as a site for the advanced manuel. That site does not work. Any help here would be greatly appreciated.

[LordGarth999]

1st Impression? Well I read some of the problems here, thought "most problems are usually user error" ran out and bought it because it looked like it would be Baseball Mougal on steriods. Have to say, most of the problems are spot on. First I tried to install it on my laptop, video card not supported. Not to worry, installed it on my desktop. I get artifacts in the video (random geometric shapes flash across my screen). Looked through the manual on controls, was refered to a web page. Went to that page, it did not exist. Went into the game to see if I could figure it out. Big A's fan so I took over the A's. Wanted to waive Frank Thomas. Could not figure out how to waive him. After some trial and error was finally able to release him outright. Next I tried to pull off the same trade that Billy Beane did this year with Colorado. Picked the same players as in the real world. Got an E-mail from Colorado that the trade was too one sided. One of the great things about simulations that I have played in the past is that most are set up that if they are historical and you do nothing, the game plays out the historical outcome. Not with this game. Next I went after Jason Giambi. Well he signed with Toronto. I then threw 2 no name prospects at Toronto for Giambi and they went for it. I find that trade to be highly unlikely in the real world. Tried another Free Agent, shaved 100K off his requested salery, the only thing I changed. He came back with the base salery being too low. I did win 2 arbitration hearings. Got to spring training. Justin Ducherer can't win and has double digit ERA. Also, the manage mode is unbearably slow.

My first impression is that after being excited about this game, I should have saved my money and waited for Baseball Mogal 2009 unless they can fix all of the problems of controls (still don't know how to waive a player, can't seem to always be able to make roster moves, and why is my #5 depth chart fielder the starter and why can't I change it). Too bad Best Buy won't take open games for refund.

[uharchmajor]

Too bad Best Buy won't take open games for refund.

Well maybe this is the reason why the local Best Buy for me says the game isn't coming out until 2011. They assume that is when it will actually work right...when the rosters are outdated by 2 years.

[mike360]

What the hell is 2KSports thinkin' ? This game won't net them anything. Nobody will buy this game for the PC. It's terrible. This is what 2kSports thinks is gonna sell ? Why didn't they just port MLB 2k9 to the PC ? WHY !? Why this piece of **** ?? It doesn't recognize my wireless xbox 360 controller. WTF ? The options while you manage a game are so weak for a simulation game, it's pathetic. MVP Baseball 2005 had more options as a manager and that game wasn't based around being a manager. * shakes head *, it's an abortion. I mean, I'm mad, because this company has the rights to release an official MLB licensed PC baseball game and this is the one they choose to release.. they gotta be kiddin'. They would definately make more money just porting over MLB 2k9. Like this is what the PC needs - another baseball sim. That market is already taken care of. Why not take care of the baseball game market that hasn't been taken care of since MVP Baseball '05 !?

After all I just said though, I'm playing it, because there's nothing else to play on the PC when it comes to baseball. It's not terrible like I said above, but, it isn't something that is gonna make them money. The baseball sim market is saturated for the PC already and console gamers aren't interested in something like this if they have MLB The Show or MLB 2k9.

[1sillivan]

Thanks for taking the time to explain the way this game plays out. I am on the fence about buying it. Your post really help me in my decision making. I think i now have a better grasp on the game.
thanks.

[mayers91112]

the decision is ?????????????????????????

yes or no buy

[uharchmajor]

I'm holding off until I hear about bug fixes.

[mayers91112]

yes me too

[gamblin7912]

I'm holding off until I hear about bug fixes.


No point in buying this game with all the bugs that are being encountered. If the list of bugs such as losses going to the wrong pitcher, on field animation not matching sim results, unexplainable player drops in skill before season, etc.... are fixed, I will run out and buy the game. Waiting even has a second positive attribute, drop in price. =)

[Dreamsh0t]

I honestly wouldn't expect a patch right away. 2K waited about 8 weeks to patch NBA 2K9, one of their top games. This game has two things going against it. It was $40, and it really isn't known.

[DaddyDunc]

patch. seriously. who the hell plays these games before they get released? Im actually still enjoying FOM at this point. I didnt set my expectations all that high in the first place, maybe that's why. But damn, it's like this with every sports game that comes out now. Dont some of these guys play their own game? I would. Hey, i just made this. Let's see how good it is. ****, i suck. Well, wrap it up and ship it. Maybe we'll get to fix it later. Maybe not. I guess there's no pride involved anymore, just deadlines to meet and paychecks to collect.

I mean i respect that alot of hard work went into getting these games to the point they are when we receive them. I couldn't do it, but it's frustrating when it seems that the problems we so quickly pinpoint aren't somehow addressed before sending the product out the door.

[uharchmajor]

I can't believe Billy Beane and Brian Cashman are linked to this game. I wish the MLB would revoke their agreement and let somebody who cares about the quality of a game make games that represent the MLB

[The_Godfather]

patch. seriously. who the hell plays these games before they get released?
I mean i respect that alot of hard work went into getting these games to the point they are when we receive them. I couldn't do it, but it's frustrating when it seems that the problems we so quickly pinpoint aren't somehow addressed before sending the product out the door.

I never understand this either. Some of the issues are just so easy and common that anyone can point them out. Futhermore the people who they use as "testers" have to be friends who don't really care about the product just a paycheck. Like someone brought up this was suppose to be Sports Mogul on steroids. Unfortunately it reminds me of the very first NFL Head Coach. With the tedious interface problems and inability to do multiple things on one menu. However like the first Head Coach there are alot of positive things that can come out of this that will make the next one in 2010 or '11 very good. Also with a patch they can salvage this game too.

[deversm]

This game is a giant pile of excrement. After learning about it on MLBTradeRumors.com, I'd been looking forward to it for about two weeks. What a let down. It's going straight back to Best Buy tomorrow where I'll exchange it for anything.... ANYTHING. I hope 2K has learned a lesson with this release.

[d32123]

This game is a giant pile of excrement. After learning about it on MLBTradeRumors.com, I'd been looking forward to it for about two weeks. What a let down. It's going straight back to Best Buy tomorrow where I'll exchange it for anything.... ANYTHING. I hope 2K has learned a lesson with this release.

Dude wait until the patch.

[mike360]

Dude wait until the patch.


Why should he ? He just spent money on a game that should be out of it's beta stage and it obviously isn't.

[uharchmajor]

Why should he ? He just spent money on a game that should be out of it's beta stage and it obviously isn't.

besides who says a patch is coming anytime soon. I haven't read anything from any 2K sports employee. Maybe they don't care about the game and don't plan on patching it for months.

[Jpripper88]

Sorry I did not post earlier but I have been playing since 6 pm est. From boot up until I finally put it away at 12:15 AM all I can say is that I am very impressed for the most part. Being a hardcore sim gamer and after hearing the early reviews I was apprehensive when I purchased my copy. GLAD I DID!

I have only worked my way through the 2nd pre-season game but all in all if you are a fan of OOTP, Strat-o-Matic or even baseball mogul then this game is a no brainer buy!

I started off as the GM of the New York Mets. My 1st order of business was to look over my roster and check out my players, attributes, salaries, etc. They seem to have left lots of room for players to grow as Johan Santana is rated an 80, as is CC Sabathia. After grasping what becomes an average attribute for players I moved on to find that the players do not have the same contracts as they do in real life. I didn't see this is a biggie because I cannot tell you the contract status of my favorite Minnesota Twins players so 2K gets a pass here. The one thing I was suprised about however was the salaries and years players were asking for or they become free agents. Delgado wants 4 years at over 13 mil a year plus a signing bonus, Pedro wants 2 years at 12 mil per plus a bonus, etc. So, I did what any smart GM would do and parted ways with them. Delgado was a class "A" type free agent so I receive the 1st round pick of the team that signs him. Gm's seem to leave an early mark on their team and I did to mine....If you wanted a lot of money or years beyond what you were worth I said bye bye! Gone were Delgado, Pedro, Oliver Perez and others. I also dealt high priced Luis Castillo and Scott Schoenweis along with Aaron Heilman to Toronto for Adam Lind. Heilman for Lind could be considered fair but I gave up the extra talent to rid myself of the cash. After letting go of other spare parts, ala Luis Ayala and others, re-signing some younger talent and checking my arbitration eligible players I moved on to scouting.

I received 50 million to put into my scouting budget. I am not sure if all teams are the same but this is what the New York Mets received. I kept out of the Japan posting for 30 mil and instead spent my money in the western usa, southeastern usa, puerto rico and the dominican republic. We'll see how that turns out down the road as I have seen no results as of the 2nd pre-season game though I didn't expect to.

With my scouting over, the free agency period started and WOH, the free agents wanted cash! Manny wants 24 mil for 4 years (Cincinnati gave it to him), Sabathia wants 26 for 6 (and the Tigers delivered), Lackey wants 21 for 5 (he gets it from the Cubs) and Chipper, don't call me Larry, Jones wants 6 years and 26 mil? Where does Chipper sign? Minnesota!!! Enough said there! Free agent salaries, years, and who gives it to them are the only complaint I have to this point. What about me? Who do I sign? I cash in on a few young 19-23 year olds with minor league contracts to fill my farm system. It's not like I didn't have bids in on these players, I did...for rational money! At this point I am not happy with my catcher, have no 1B or 2B, am weak in the corner outfield spots and only have 3 starting pitchers. Thank goodness there were no injury carry overs as I would be looking for a closer too. A special thanks to 2K for keeping Billy Wagner healthy! As free agency rolls along I do manage to sign Mike Sweeney to a 1 year 600k deal in case I cannot land another 1st baseman. YEAH!

It's now time for the rule 5 draft and damn I have holes! With my 1st round pick I take Tony Abreu from the Dodgers. 2B,SS and 3B positioning and under 25 years of age with a good upside; he could be my starting 2B! In round 2 I select Mat Gamel from Milwaukee. Gamel reminds me of Kevin Kouzmanoff and I think with his potential I can find a home all season for him. I then pass on the remaining rounds.

Things keep moving along and I keep losing free agents. Carlos Delgado gets a 2 year deal with 13 mil per from some sucker. I cannot even land the flakey Oliver Perez who's demands keep changing. First he wants 8.2 mil a year for 3 years, a 7 mil signing bonus and performance bonuses. I come close and offer 7.5 mil per year, a 3 mil signing bonus and his performance bonuses. He turns me down and when I go back he NOW WANTS 14.2 mil per year for 3 years, a 4 mil bonus and his incentives!! Did I pi$$ him off? Oh well.... LOL.

The next process is the 3-5 year arbitration eligable players. I offer no one arbitration so I don't get to play this game. :) However, during this process something strange happens. It seems others don't want to play either and match demands of players. I go to the free agent list and find the likes of Ervin Santana, Russell Martin, Casey Kotchman, Rickie Weeks, Corey Hart, and a few others. I start to think..was I smart for waiting? What do these guys want? What they want are 1 year deals so they can test the waters next year. Well, I place my bids and wait and wait and wait. :) Finally, news in my mailbox! Ervin Santana wanted more than I offered and someone else gave it to him..UGH..Mark another pitcher off the board. Then, something wonderful..I finally have players seeing the light and I get Justin Duscherer for 4 mil for 1 year, Rickie Weeks for 4.5 for 1 year, Casey Kotchman for 4 mil for 1 year, Russell martin for 9 mil for 3 years and Corey hart for 5 mil for 1 year! That's 26. 5 million dollars and I have solved my 1B, 2B, C, 1 corner OF and 1 starting pitcher spot!!!! Take that Mr.Ramirez!! I know know I will have Ryan Church and Endy Chavez battle it out for the 3rd OF spot and unless something better comes along, Jonathan Niese will be my 5th starter. My budget for the season is 179 million and I have only spent 129 mil! 50 mil under budget if this is a winning team and the owners should be ecstatic. How do these guys gel? It's about time to find out.

The pre-season is here and in game one Johan Santana goes 5 scoreless while 4 other pitches throw a scoreless inning each to defeat St.Louis 7-0. Not a bad start. Just before game 2 it seems another arbitration loss becomes my gain as Mike Gonzalez comes aboard for 1 year at 2.5 mil! In my 2nd pre-season game John Maine matches up against Toronto's AJ Burnett (He re-signed with the Jays for 5 years and 21+ million dollars). I let Maine go 5 innings but he gives up 6 runs on 4 homers! I'm sure Luis Castillo and the boys had fun in the locker room with this one as Toronto wins 7-1. My only bright spot was a David Wright homerun in the 9th. You might be thinking wow, 5 homers in a game. Nah..game 1 had 2 extra base hits and no home runs. So far, the playable sim seems pretty well on.

I now save my game and head here to post and cannot wait to get back into it tomorrow night!

My view.....8.0/10 and if they can patch the salaries somehow it could be a no-brainer 9 out of 10!

Now, if you are looking for intricate manager modes or a 2K7/8 style game this is NOT for you. However, if you are looking for a great GM based game that will keep you entranced for hours then buy Front Office Manager! I'm glad I did!

....The author is a 43 year old male, married with 2 children and resides in Long Island, New York.

All the things you touched on are why it is a terrible GM game. Everything is off base and unrealistic. A game that is strictly about being a GM and building a team and they get contracts wrong? Teams letting Prince Fielder, Andre Either, Ervin Santana, etc. just walk? The contract demands are ludicris. The scouting is actually a step back from previous games. There are floods of prospect FAs that have major league ready ratings. The arbitration process (which they harped on as a selling point) is meaningless and is just throwing out a number. The Free Agency is just making a bid and hoping they take it. There is no negotiation if they get a better offer, you just lose, and you can't make the offers with a timetable or contingency based with the chance another player would be offered. Most of the time with free agents you wait to hear back, but by the time you do the 2nd and 3rd options have already been signed. There are players who just won't sign (even after the season starts) despite the fact they are in the prime of their careers and unsigned because teams are not meeting their stupid demands. Trades cannot be countered at all and there is no way to judge the feelings of the other team on your offer. Beyond all the ridiculousness that is the General Management aspect the game simulation is terrible. You have no options when pitching or hitting (just hit, no approach control and just pitch, with no strategy), stamina seems to be equal or at least represented the same for all pitchers (my SPs are out of stamina after 50 pitches, but the RPs are the same) so you can't tell by that when to take them out, and even when approaching the lineup (should you walk a player to get to the next hitter with 1B open?) you cannot see who is due up.

I honestly think this is the worst video game I have ever purchased. I am going to start another thread to see if anyone has ever tried to send a game back to 2K. I have never even thought about doing this, but it is the worst game I have ever got and it is not even playable.

[flamarlins21]

I got the game and it was way too 'confusing". Not that I don't understand it, I understand it all, it's the whole player movement is different. Putting guys on the 40 (when I was pretty sure I didn't have room left). I am kinda sad I spent the money but at least it was a little taste of what MLB 09: The Show will be so I got my baseball itch gone for the moment.

[electro cute]

i registered just to ***** about this game... i bought the game for pc, and controls were all messed up. after deleting that pad stuff from controls folder i could finally play the game. first of all this game lacks a tutorial or a guide. that a's fellow explains things in general, but he doesn't explain how to do things - move guys from 40 man roster to 25 man roster for instance.

but you figure it out after some trial and error. i like all the details in the game, rule V draft and all the other stuff, but the menus are terrible. for instance, you're on your 40 man roster page, and you wan't to send a guy to minors - you can't do it from there, you have to go to the other menu. endless navigation...

and i still haven't figured this out - i want to start say kevin youkilis at third instead of lowell for one game. i can't do it before the game, there's no option to do it, i have to change complete batting rotation?!?! wtf?!

the thing that bothers me the most are rosters. there are just a couple of categories for each player, and they go up and down by 5 points? in a baseball sim? how lame is that? and a weird thing happened to me - i signed mark teixera in free agency. he's 75 overall, with 75 hitting, and 65 in power. new year comes and he drops to 60 overall, and his hitting and power drops to 50!!! and half the team loses points too! youk is now 50 overall, lowell is 45, matsuzaka is 45, and in my new career fielder is 50 after new year! wtf?! did they all get drunk and had a bizzare accident?! anyone has the same problem and maybe a solution?

btw you guys said it all bout poor simulation options and gameplay not matching the results.

[yankees102412]

Alright. Just got this game. I am very excited and started playing briefly. First impression: kinda overwhelmed Not familiar with everything but having fun.
PROBLEMS:
1. Are you guys like having ALL the Premier free agents signing Arbitration with their current teams before free agency starts? I am the Yankees and was ****ed to find out that Tex, CC and Burnett and Manny and all the top fleet free agents resigned arbitration w/their teams
2. I took the former scout as the GM and invested into a few foreign programs including the Japanese League, Peutro Rico, Dominican Republic and others. When i go to Scouting, no players are there for prospects, Japanse bidding or the other thing.
3. How do you resign your own players to arbitration? I lost my whole team because i didnt sign any of them???

PLEASEEE PLEASEE PLEASEE ANSWER ALL 3 QUESTION

[Ash 0f Darkness]

1) Im not too upset about that. Sure it's not entirely like real life but would the Yankee's cry in real life if those guys signed right away saying they didn't get a chance. You can't control what moves the other teams do all you can do is counter them.
2) The prospects don't pop up till a little into the season like June 1st I think. You have to give them time to scout them.
3)In payroll you go over the players that say type A or B, 6yrs, or the 3-5 guys and offer them arbitration... I forget the button you hit but I believe it says it on the bottom.

For the guys that have a dash are players that don't have a contract but have yet to meet arbitration years. In real life these guys have to take what the team offers them. Usually the team gives them the min at 1 yr but can give them more money as a sign of good faith to the player. You can also sign these guys long term which a player does not have to accept. So try to extend them or offer 1 year at the lowest price which is 400k i believe and they have to accept.

EX: In real life Ryan Braun was in his 2nd yr and had yet to reach arbitration. Brewers could either offer the 1 year at any price or extend him. They offered him an 8yr deal that he accepted. Prince was offered a long term deal and turned it down so he could test free agency in the future. So the Brewers just renewed his contract at 1 year at the min. Prince was upset cause he wanted them to give him more as good will and the Brewers were upset he turned down there deal but Prince is stuck.

It's checks and balances in a way.
A)Brewers are happy cause they get a good player at the min. (Prince his 1st three years)
B)Prince is happy once he reaches arbitration cause he now gets more money than he would have in the long term deal (Prince in his 3 to 5)
C)Brewers and player are happy cause he accepts the long term deal which gets the player more money early and saves the team more money later. (Ryan Braun for the next 7 years)

[d32123]

I just played the game for five hours straight and I love it. Obviously there are bugs, but for a baseball-starved PC user this is heaven. I'm the Yankees and I signed Sabathia and Teixeira to long term deals, and brought in Jeff Franceour (sp) to play right field.

[uharchmajor]

and brought in Jeff Franceour (sp) to play right field.

Why did you do that? ;)

[d32123]

Why did you do that? ;)

He's actually doing okay in spring training. Crawford had a bust up with a teammate so I might try adding him in to improve defense. I'll see if I can get him without giving up a top prospect.

EDIT: Oh yeah and I got Joe Thatcher in a trade with San Diego, as I needed another lefty in the pen. He gave up a three-run homer on his third pitch! Luckily he just redeemed himself by going three innings of shutout ball.

[Jpripper88]

I just played the game for five hours straight and I love it. Obviously there are bugs, but for a baseball-starved PC user this is heaven. I'm the Yankees and I signed Sabathia and Teixeira to long term deals, and brought in Jeff Franceour (sp) to play right field.

What do you actually like about it and think they did that is new and innovative? I seem a few people saying they like the game despite the bugs, but it sounds like most of them are not only not real big baseball sim/business fans AND they can't name anything that makes the game good and more realistic than any of the other games that hae been produced.

[d32123]

What do you actually like about it and think they did that is new and innovative? I seem a few people saying they like the game despite the bugs, but it sounds like most of them are not only not real big baseball sim/business fans AND they can't name anything that makes the game good and more realistic than any of the other games that hae been produced.

It's the only baseball sim with real graphics as far as I know.

[unmasked]

Seems a lot of us early buyers are Mets fans. Here are some obervations.

1. I'm disappointed with the lack of sorting options.
2. I'm disappointed with the lack of certain info on various screens.
3. A lot of the actions are not intuitive, such as how to waive/release players.
4. As Met GM I used an ex-scout and received a $159.9MM budget rather than 179.9MM - interesting.
5. Carlos Delgado's contract correctly had a team option which I could exercise
6. Unfortunately it was the wrong amount ($16MM) instead of the actual $8MM (or maybe $12MM?)
7. The Yankees resigned Giambi Mussina and Petite (1 out of 3 ain't bad). Teixera signed with the Os.
8. I got CC and Price Fielder became available for a cheap 1 yr contract. :)
9. I updated the rosters but found no way to use them.
10. The game crashed a couple of times on me (Windows XP). It can really use an autosave.
11. You almost exactly matched my scout budget.

My main concern is that the game can be made much more user friendly. I chose ex-scout as I believe in building a club with high potential youth. I could look at players and find their potential, There are a lot of hidden gems in the FA pool and I would sign as many as I could with 55+ potential to minor league contracts (ie free) while releasing anyone on my roster with under 40 potential. I don't know if this is a cheat or what the game expects an ex-scout GM to do. In any case, this process is extremely tedious and time consuming (hence the big need for an autosave). In most screens I just don't have the information to make decisions that I should, for example depth chart and pitching rotation.

After offering loads of contracts, I had a hard time planning my roster. The game needs to keep track of my contract offers somewhere so I can review what positions I have and what positions I've offered contracts to. It does fine with respect to the budget but not the roster.

In some bizarre situation I wound up with half my team as DFA. I had no idea what to do as I could not put them on any roster. That prompted a restart from me because the game offered me no help in trying to figure out what to do from there or at least I didn't find any information.

There are a lot of issues like this but to me these are the only serious issues I found that requires immediate attention. Of course the strange signings and contracts is another issue but that's not a killer I guess.



Sorry I did not post earlier but I have been playing since 6 pm est. From boot up until I finally put it away at 12:15 AM all I can say is that I am very impressed for the most part. Being a hardcore sim gamer and after hearing the early reviews I was apprehensive when I purchased my copy. GLAD I DID!

I have only worked my way through the 2nd pre-season game but all in all if you are a fan of OOTP, Strat-o-Matic or even baseball mogul then this game is a no brainer buy!

I started off as the GM of the New York Mets. My 1st order of business was to look over my roster and check out my players, attributes, salaries, etc. They seem to have left lots of room for players to grow as Johan Santana is rated an 80, as is CC Sabathia. After grasping what becomes an average attribute for players I moved on to find that the players do not have the same contracts as they do in real life. I didn't see this is a biggie because I cannot tell you the contract status of my favorite Minnesota Twins players so 2K gets a pass here. The one thing I was suprised about however was the salaries and years players were asking for or they become free agents. Delgado wants 4 years at over 13 mil a year plus a signing bonus, Pedro wants 2 years at 12 mil per plus a bonus, etc. So, I did what any smart GM would do and parted ways with them. Delgado was a class "A" type free agent so I receive the 1st round pick of the team that signs him. Gm's seem to leave an early mark on their team and I did to mine....If you wanted a lot of money or years beyond what you were worth I said bye bye! Gone were Delgado, Pedro, Oliver Perez and others. I also dealt high priced Luis Castillo and Scott Schoenweis along with Aaron Heilman to Toronto for Adam Lind. Heilman for Lind could be considered fair but I gave up the extra talent to rid myself of the cash. After letting go of other spare parts, ala Luis Ayala and others, re-signing some younger talent and checking my arbitration eligible players I moved on to scouting.

I received 50 million to put into my scouting budget. I am not sure if all teams are the same but this is what the New York Mets received. I kept out of the Japan posting for 30 mil and instead spent my money in the western usa, southeastern usa, puerto rico and the dominican republic. We'll see how that turns out down the road as I have seen no results as of the 2nd pre-season game though I didn't expect to.

With my scouting over, the free agency period started and WOH, the free agents wanted cash! Manny wants 24 mil for 4 years (Cincinnati gave it to him), Sabathia wants 26 for 6 (and the Tigers delivered), Lackey wants 21 for 5 (he gets it from the Cubs) and Chipper, don't call me Larry, Jones wants 6 years and 26 mil? Where does Chipper sign? Minnesota!!! Enough said there! Free agent salaries, years, and who gives it to them are the only complaint I have to this point. What about me? Who do I sign? I cash in on a few young 19-23 year olds with minor league contracts to fill my farm system. It's not like I didn't have bids in on these players, I did...for rational money! At this point I am not happy with my catcher, have no 1B or 2B, am weak in the corner outfield spots and only have 3 starting pitchers. Thank goodness there were no injury carry overs as I would be looking for a closer too. A special thanks to 2K for keeping Billy Wagner healthy! As free agency rolls along I do manage to sign Mike Sweeney to a 1 year 600k deal in case I cannot land another 1st baseman. YEAH!

It's now time for the rule 5 draft and damn I have holes! With my 1st round pick I take Tony Abreu from the Dodgers. 2B,SS and 3B positioning and under 25 years of age with a good upside; he could be my starting 2B! In round 2 I select Mat Gamel from Milwaukee. Gamel reminds me of Kevin Kouzmanoff and I think with his potential I can find a home all season for him. I then pass on the remaining rounds.

Things keep moving along and I keep losing free agents. Carlos Delgado gets a 2 year deal with 13 mil per from some sucker. I cannot even land the flakey Oliver Perez who's demands keep changing. First he wants 8.2 mil a year for 3 years, a 7 mil signing bonus and performance bonuses. I come close and offer 7.5 mil per year, a 3 mil signing bonus and his performance bonuses. He turns me down and when I go back he NOW WANTS 14.2 mil per year for 3 years, a 4 mil bonus and his incentives!! Did I pi$$ him off? Oh well.... LOL.

The next process is the 3-5 year arbitration eligable players. I offer no one arbitration so I don't get to play this game. :) However, during this process something strange happens. It seems others don't want to play either and match demands of players. I go to the free agent list and find the likes of Ervin Santana, Russell Martin, Casey Kotchman, Rickie Weeks, Corey Hart, and a few others. I start to think..was I smart for waiting? What do these guys want? What they want are 1 year deals so they can test the waters next year. Well, I place my bids and wait and wait and wait. :) Finally, news in my mailbox! Ervin Santana wanted more than I offered and someone else gave it to him..UGH..Mark another pitcher off the board. Then, something wonderful..I finally have players seeing the light and I get Justin Duscherer for 4 mil for 1 year, Rickie Weeks for 4.5 for 1 year, Casey Kotchman for 4 mil for 1 year, Russell martin for 9 mil for 3 years and Corey hart for 5 mil for 1 year! That's 26. 5 million dollars and I have solved my 1B, 2B, C, 1 corner OF and 1 starting pitcher spot!!!! Take that Mr.Ramirez!! I know know I will have Ryan Church and Endy Chavez battle it out for the 3rd OF spot and unless something better comes along, Jonathan Niese will be my 5th starter. My budget for the season is 179 million and I have only spent 129 mil! 50 mil under budget if this is a winning team and the owners should be ecstatic. How do these guys gel? It's about time to find out.

The pre-season is here and in game one Johan Santana goes 5 scoreless while 4 other pitches throw a scoreless inning each to defeat St.Louis 7-0. Not a bad start. Just before game 2 it seems another arbitration loss becomes my gain as Mike Gonzalez comes aboard for 1 year at 2.5 mil! In my 2nd pre-season game John Maine matches up against Toronto's AJ Burnett (He re-signed with the Jays for 5 years and 21+ million dollars). I let Maine go 5 innings but he gives up 6 runs on 4 homers! I'm sure Luis Castillo and the boys had fun in the locker room with this one as Toronto wins 7-1. My only bright spot was a David Wright homerun in the 9th. You might be thinking wow, 5 homers in a game. Nah..game 1 had 2 extra base hits and no home runs. So far, the playable sim seems pretty well on.

I now save my game and head here to post and cannot wait to get back into it tomorrow night!

My view.....8.0/10 and if they can patch the salaries somehow it could be a no-brainer 9 out of 10!

Now, if you are looking for intricate manager modes or a 2K7/8 style game this is NOT for you. However, if you are looking for a great GM based game that will keep you entranced for hours then buy Front Office Manager! I'm glad I did!

....The author is a 43 year old male, married with 2 children and resides in Long Island, New York.

[grumpykore12]

Everyone's is bashing the game..but heah is baseball and sure plays an ok game so far out of the box, at least it did for me. I was in the same boat this afternoon when i rushed to Gamestop to purchase it. I have read hours of people saying stay away, but i needed something so i gave it a shot.

Ran downstairs to pop this in and away I went. I got way confused from the start and picked the M's..dont know why but I did. Noticed first thing is they updated some player portraits and I was like Hummmm...thats cool for starts, hopefully they will make it into the MLB2k9 lets hope. anyways I just wanted to try it out so I simmed to the spring training. wait...i thought let me see if I can get these FA's I'm reading about this last few days. Noticed right off the bat all the top FA's Signed back with the teams.
At that point i said this is only a test run for me. Spring training game 1....my roster was jacked but i proceeded anyways. long story shot i like the interface......didnt seem to give me fits at least not yet?
Menu's looked ok to me. since i'm playing on a 47"...just the right size text.

People are saying that there is no stats...but I found if you press I think it is RB you can scroll through other dialogs.

Overall i only played a quick game to see i'm going to stay interested in this title or was this another waste of money until 2k9 comes out? Hit a Grand Slammie with Jojima..and stole a base with Ichiro.

I'll play some more tonight when my son is down....hopefully a can be happy for a few weeks?

Thanks, those were my impressions

[hobbitrjw]

Well I am still on the fence about buying this game for the PC,for two reasons one is all the bugs and problems listed,and secondly I'm not entirely confident the 3-D graphics will work on my PC ( don't even ask,I'm not sure of all my specs) and 2K chose to only release the game for two other specific consoles when this could have been a good game for the PS2 or even the PSP,and that is really the main reason that 2K has not got my money for this game just yet.

[Marin3rs]

i hit homeruns with morse not johjima ;)

[FrozenRope44]

I couldn't get it for the PC..so i bought it for xbox,and so far I'm enjoying it. The menus are a bit clunky and the roster.FA and financial are kinda whacked...but the actually management of games is fun and I love the random situations that pop up during the course of the season ..ie...a couple of players in Oakland are not getting along so one may be traded :D. I also saw a bean ball last night which was cool. Funny stuff......now all we need is a charging the mound animation and I'll be set :D.
All in all I'm satisfied with the playability,but then again I'M not well versed in running a team :D

[NYteamsports09]

Why do my pitchers get lit up every time they pitch

1.They can't go more than 5 innings

2.they are always tired

3.the nationals are beating me 16-5 every time i play them


CC is 2-10

Johan is 4-11

Ben Sheets is 0-9

the pitchers can't win

btw K-Rod has 16.00 era and 1 save in 20 games and the bullpen is just as bad

you should be able to update the rosters too!

[Blackened25]

Ok, so i've been playing the computer version of this game for about a week, and thought i'd chime in with my impressions. First, the good:
1. play by play. I love the visual play by play, I don't generally play games out with Out Of The Park Baseball, as text play by play doesn't hold my interest. Front office manager offers in my opinion an industry beating play by play experience, and i'm not sure how it could be improved upon.

2. Contracts: I like the vast array of bonuses, and how arbitration is modeled.

3. Career Mode: I like the premise behind career mode. gaining points as you go along kinda gives the game a roleplaying feel, and i think if that's harnessed in a possible sequel and maybe expanded, it would make this game vastly different from the rest of the industry. I liked the idea behind the various ingame interviews, but this an area that needs much more variety and needs to be greatly expanded. Random events occuring during the season would be interesting. I enjoyed the use of advanced stats as well, it's refreshing to see a mainstream game that goes beyond batting average and counting stats.

Unfortunately, the bad outweighs the good.
1. The interface: This is, bar none, the worst interface in a game i've ever seen. I feel sorry for everyone trying to play it on console, i can't imagine navigating this game with a gamepad. This type of game REQUIRES drag and drop, and i can't believe this wasn't implemented in the pc version. Instead, 2k rushed out an exact clone copy of the console version, and that's frankly sad since this game had a ton of potential. The interface needs to be streamlined. I should be able to release players from the lineup screen or roster screens via a right click menu, not having to hunt for the specific menu to do it in. Setting up the minor leagues was a nightmare. A right click menu would save a ton of time, allowing you to perform various actions without needing to physically go to a new menu screen.

2. Vastly improbable stats: Pitching dominated my game. At the end of each year, i found that the top 5 pitchers all had ERA's under 2! In addition, i felt that homeruns were too low. The league leader came in with 42 i believe one year, and that's frankly the highest i saw. While not terrible, it should be possible to have 50+ years.
3. Contracts and Valuation: I began play with the Braves. My first dilemma was to re-sign chipper jones or not. I wanted to, but upon checking his desired contract, he wanted 8 years at 24 million each! the man's in his late 30's! What was funny to me was some team did indeed give him exactly 8 years at 24 mil. That's frankly all wrong. The worst gm alive today would reognize his skills were due to fade, and chipper would not be worth anything near this much. Each year, the top 10 or so free agents all got similiar deals, regardless of their age. Highly unrealistic, and makes playing a small market team extremely difficult, moreso than it should be. Medium level stars also often demanded far more money than they were worth, and at the beginning of the game, you can forget bargaining with players until you have points in that ability. This is the one thing i disliked about career mode. Players should have some give in their demands, even at the lowest level of gm skill.

4. No sense of history: I get that the game is about leveling the gm. However, it could be alot more. Where are the all time leader boards? Where's the hall of fame? Maybe a way to rank your team against all time great teams? I play baseball sims to develop young players and watch them reach the lofty heights of history and records, and i'm sure i'm not alone in that. There's no point in developing or getting attached to a young short stop that hits over 700 homeruns in his career, if he's just going to dissapear into nothing.
5. Game length: From what i've read, there's a 30 year limit to career mode. i can see why, but at the end of the 30 years, there should be an option to keep playing. i've ran the same game in out of the park for over 100 years of game time now, there's no reason why that can't happen. if i'm wrong about the 30 year limit, disregard.
6. Auto Set up of rosters: The game's auto fix of rosters and lineups is fairly limited. It needs to be much more robust, for players who don't want to micromanage their minor or major leagues every time there's an injury.

Yes, this is a long post, but hopefully it's been constrcutive. I doubt there's a way to save this year's edition unless you release a comprehensive patch with a great number of changes, but if you make a version next year, i hope you'll keep these things in mind. I really wanted to like this game, but unfortunately the frustration level got to me. I'd have to say anyone considering this should give it a pass, and hope that next year the offering is better. There's better baseball sims for computer out on the market right now, so the pain and suffering you'll endure with this isn't worth it.

[dj_morton12]

Good review.

[pittstlrs95]

4. No sense of history: I get that the game is about leveling the gm. However, it could be alot more. Where are the all time leader boards? Where's the hall of fame? Maybe a way to rank your team against all time great teams? I play baseball sims to develop young players and watch them reach the lofty heights of history and records, and i'm sure i'm not alone in that. There's no point in developing or getting attached to a young short stop that hits over 700 homeruns in his career, if he's just going to dissapear into nothing.

I don't have the game yet, thinking of picking it up this weekend. Does the game keep track of career stats? About the All-Time Leaderboard and Hall of Fame, does it keep track from when you start in the 2009 season and just not have anything before that? If I play for 20 years I would like to at least know where my guys stack up in that time period.

Thanks

[Blackened25]

I don't have the game yet, thinking of picking it up this weekend. Does the game keep track of career stats? About the All-Time Leaderboard and Hall of Fame, does it keep track from when you start in the 2009 season and just not have anything before that? If I play for 20 years I would like to at least know where my guys stack up in that time period.

Thanks

It's very difficult to compare players with others to see who stacks up. The game does keep track of previous years, but you'll have to be willing to look at each individual player to make your own comparisons, there's no easy way to do it. There is a top 5 leaderboard in I believe about 6 or 8 total categories, but limited to only show that year's leaders, so that's not much help. The game doesn't appear to keep track of players once they retire, it's as if they're simply deleted. There doesn't appear to be any hall of fame or all time leaderboard listings at all, so you're likely to be dissapointed if you really care about histories and accumulating stats for the hall of fame.

[hackfin]

I have never been so excited about a release for a game as I was this one. After 24 hours of play or 1 full season I have the following thoughts:

I am finished playing this game. It is terrible and should not have been released in this condition. Do you ever beta your games?

The first bug I noticed was during the change to the new year. I was managing the Astros and made a couple of moves that would get us started into the new season. However, as soon as January 1 rolled around, almost every player on the team had their overall ratings wacked. Berkman went from a 75 to a 55 just because he had a bad 2008 season and only hit .312 with 29hr and 106 RBI. That surely justifies the drop. It was also nice to see that the players I had just traded for had all of their ratings wacked too. Needless to say, my first season was terrible. I also figured out that it is easier and more productive if you go out a sign free agent rookies and swap them out with the stars. They seem to out perform the stars in every case.

About the statistics of the game, are there statistics?

Kudos on the graphics, they are great.

If you want to produce a baseball simulation, I suggest you get some ideas from the best baseball simulations on the market today; Out of the Park Baseball and Baseball Mogul. If you could reproduce just 50% of the details those games include, you would have a winner. I am going back to Out of the Park even though I can't stand the fact that it's graphics are negligible.

My Rating: 4 stars out of 10

[asamford23]

I had high hopes for this game and was really excited to get it. I even upgraded my video card just so I would be able to run this game. Unfortunately, this game is a massive letdown. There are way too many gamebreaking bugs such as the fact that the centerfielder will never make a put out (because there are never any balls hit up the middle, on the ground or in the air), there are no outfield assists, if the ball is hit in play to the outfield, your runner will be safe, always, even if the graphical representation shows that he is out by a mile. You cannot double switch a player that you have used as a pinch hitter. If you play without the DH rule, a player disappears off your bench, leaving you with essentially a 24 man roster in the NL. The contract demands are ridiculous. (Mike Mussina wants a 6 year deal. And will accept NOTHING less!). The player ratings are nowhere near realistic. The menus are clunky and difficult to navigate. Career stats and achievements are not kept up with. Basically everything that could have gone wrong with this game has gone wrong. It is playable, barely, but the negatives are extremely hard to ignore. If you want the best possible simulation of the game of baseball (albeit, still flawed as well), please check out Out Of The Park Baseball.

[Avanties]

So i picked up my copy of MLB FOM and i have to say i am pleased with it despite the learning curve. They throw you into the start of pre-season with Arbitration period quickly approaching and only a couple of emails to let you know that it is coming without really explaining what to do. Beyond that i love the RPG aspect of managing a ball club and having fun with it. The games are fun to manage and i love the scouting aspect of it.

To bad my copy of the game got banned from my computer for having been on steriods!

Hope to see ya'll in fantasy leagues.

~Avanties

[mcphale]

So, I am trying to stick with this game. Despite my CF having the easiest job this side of being a backup QB for Indy, despite there never being a failed sacrifice bunt attempt, and despite of all the other graphical errors when it comes to hits, put outs, etc....I was enjoying my career as the Nats GM. I had even managed to gain 30 wins at the All Star break! Not too shabby and probably more than the real life Nats will have.

I started looking through the transactions list over the all star break. The names of the released...David Wright, Jonathan Papelbon, and K-Rod were all on the free agent list. It gets better...Okajima, Clay Buchholz, Fausto Carmona among others were all claimed on waivers.

Now, I can overlook the nuisances listed above, and I can even get past the statistical errors (I mean, Nick Swisher obviously can have 30 HR's at the break, right?), but this just knocked the wind out of my sails for this game. I don't get it. If the whole idea of the game is to rebuild a team or keep a formidable team on the field if you take over an established team doesn't it take some of the challenge away if you have all star after all star being released?

I'm not completely writing this game off just yet. I don't know I'll play it until this mythical patch comes out and addresses alot of the issues that have been posted over and over again in the forum. At least their are alternatives out there for the games like this although they are mostly text based. I was just hoping to get a console version as well.

Any idea how long the 2k has the license agreement with MLB?

[kgharryman]

is there anyway that you can get the edited roster (saved roster) into the Career mode?

thanks
kh

[aabar4518]

nope, only in fantasy mode

[lynnlove0220]

i have a way around the missing bench player. start a game with no dh. notice which player is missing. exit game and go to the extended roster. find that name( usually the 9th player on the list. replace that player with a starting pitcher. you will need someone on the extended roster to make the switch. now go back and start another game. use that starting pitcher. notice which player is missing again. repeat the other steps to replace that spot on extended roster. if done correctly, the only player that will be missing is a starting pitcher who you probably will not need until his turn in rotation. then the other starter will be the one missing.

[somuchfun]

Due to all that i have read, i did not buy the game but decided to rent it to see.I actually loved it and waiting for a patch to actually buy it. The menus are horrible but it only makes all actions longer than they should be. The stamina getting low after 2 or 3 innings makes the game unplayable. Fix it and i`m buying.

[pauman8112]

sighs at people that still buy 2k games....when will people ever get a clue. RENT THE GAME BEFORE YOU BUY IT. you want to know why 2k sports games are crappy and buggy. because people still buy their games, and sit and wait for patches like it will make it all better. got news for you guys, a patch from 2k is like a bandaid on a broken leg. might make it look a little less severe, but underneath its still the same broken mess. wise up guys, the more of you that stop rushing out to buy their games, the faster these guys will go out of business and someone else can have a shot to make good sports games. if they cant get their act together after YEARS of bad games, let the next company in line get their crack at it.

[Mrsandman]

I've been up in the air on this game and decided to come here and see. I'm glad I did. I'm an enthusiast and have been playing OOTP for several years. It's fun but FOM has some features I've been wanting from OOTP for some time. However, I think I'll wait for the bugs to get ironed out and stick with what I know is fun.

Thank you all for honest thoughts and opinions. In this economy many of us just can't spend money on hope. :)

[pjtw]

i am currently living in singapore, just wondering when is front office manager coming out in singapore?

[asamford23]

sighs at people that still buy 2k games....when will people ever get a clue. RENT THE GAME BEFORE YOU BUY IT. you want to know why 2k sports games are crappy and buggy. because people still buy their games, and sit and wait for patches like it will make it all better. got news for you guys, a patch from 2k is like a bandaid on a broken leg. might make it look a little less severe, but underneath its still the same broken mess. wise up guys, the more of you that stop rushing out to buy their games, the faster these guys will go out of business and someone else can have a shot to make good sports games. if they cant get their act together after YEARS of bad games, let the next company in line get their crack at it.


well this is the first time I ever bought a game made by 2K sports. I've certainly learned my lesson!

[montyk]

I have been playing baseball simulation games for over 40 years and this is the worst experience I've ever had. I have the PC version and tried to play the White Sox but half thier players disappeared iin spring training. I tried playing two innings in a game to see if the players would reappear. They didn't. I really miss High Heat Baseball 2003. It in one game was what you folks try to do in two. I very disappointed that you would release a title like this without doing much debugging at all. I'm returning the game for my money.

[mrs844224]

I must be the exception, because I really liked the game, and I think it's a good baseball sim. The game does get unbalanced pretty quickly, though, when you get a lot of points into hitting coach and pitching coach. There are some problems, but I do expect a patch will come out sooner or later.

[Spartan]

First, good game. Well thought out and very entertaining.
Now, some questions or ideas for patches.
I am on my 6th year, and have been adding points in the Career mode on Player Development. As of yet, I have yet to see any added player development information that is any different than on Day 1. Can you tell me, am I missing something, or, is the "additional information" located somewhere that I am not looking?
Second. the email system is becoming redundant and time consuming. And lately on the Hub it is telling me I have email, and when I go there the screen says "All Mail" (3) for example and it has already deposited itself into one of the several catagories, of which in turn you have to go looking for. Is there any way to upgrade this, or add some filters, so that I can choose which email catagory or topic I deem important, and which ones I want to perhaps even auto delete? I don't really find it vitally important to receive an email that someone on another team is having issues with someone else. or that they are "skating on thin ice" or another GM "REALLY WANTS TO BEAT" another upcoming team...or the like.
There seems to be almost a stop watch as to when certain (and the same) players each year get injured.
I have yet to see a brush back or batter hit. Do I have an exceptional pitching staff?
Any way to be notified when a player decides he wants to retire? I lost Big Papi from my line-up, looked everywhere and my guess is that is what happened.
Again, exceptional game to play!

[mrs844224]

I'm hoping adding points to Player Development allows your players to develop more quickly. I've got it maxed out, so I hope I see the results next year.

[mrbaseball12]

Ok guys let's hear the first impressions. :)

How can you trade a draft choice or money to another team for a player(s)?

[mrs844224]

How can you trade a draft choice or money to another team for a player(s)?

You can't trade the pick; you can trade the player you sign through the draft. I find it's generally better to let a team go through the process of giving a good draft choice the signing bonus, and then trade for the player. It's a lot better than giving a 4 million signing bonus to 1 player.

[chicagocubs18]

It is awesome!!!!!!!

[bonaccorso]

I'm very disappointed with FOM. There are just some strange things. First, when playing the game as manager no batter ever hits the ball up the middle or to center field. And I mean NEVER. The interfaces for conducting roster moves is very difficult and confusing. That can certainly be fixed. And so far I am only in Spring Training but the wrong pitcher is getting the wins and loses. It doesn't make sense. How does the starter get the win on a walk off homerun and he's been out of the game since the 4th inning?

[bonaccorso]

By the way, the best and easiest baseball simulation I ever played was Microleague way back in the 80s. Granted that there was not much to it, but if today's graphics and dynamics can be applied to that game's simplicity -- fun will be had by all.

[michajam]

Does anyone have answers to why when you sim a game about 70 percent you lose but when you manage its 70 percent win. I know I am not an all star manager because I usually press hit everytime

[T-980]

After reading this thread, I think its safe to say that I will be staying away from this game. I really do wanna buy it...but if a stat game has wrong stats, whats the point?

[rjmfigurelli]

Front Office Manager
Dose anyone have the conversion from fake players to real players.
Close one is a guy name Friese on Toronto who is Millar IB DH. However you can not change the name when you try to edit.
Also 2k should change the way you go through FA List.
What is the best way to set up CAP for plyers.
rjmf

[Marin3rs]

no more updates for this game. This was release, see what happens, bad reception, abandon all hope, make something else. Thats what happened

[rjmfigurelli]

Need Help:
How do you assure to keep the original 40 Man roster after all the activities are done?
That is calender day FA, Draft and etc.
Reason why I ask the question I loos player once the all the activities are done.

Thankyou for any help on this.
rjmf