ANNOUNCEMENT: Strat-O-Matic.com to be taking over SOM Online

[bernieh]

Hey everyone! Big news!

Three months ago, I made a major announcement that I was embarking on a [url=http://forums.sportingnews.com/viewtopic.php?t=627198]huge rebuild of the Strat-O-Matic Baseball Online site[/url], constructing it on a more modern technology platform in order to open it up to a huge frontier of growth possibilities. This project represents a deep investment in the future of the game, and a vital step towards seeing it reach the next level.

I left out one key piece of information because details were still being worked out, but we're finally clear to let the cat out of the bag.

[size=14:fbd3589a8c][b:fbd3589a8c]This spring, Strat-O-Matic Baseball Online will be moving from SportingNews.com to Strat-O-Matic.com. Strat-O-Matic Media will officially own and operate all aspects of the game going forward.[/b:fbd3589a8c][/size:fbd3589a8c]

On top of that, I'm thrilled to say that I'll be a big part of the transition. In fact, I've been an official Strat-O-Matic employee since the beginning of the year! ;)

Before explaining some of the new features and benefits of switching the game over to Strat-O-Matic's website, and how the whole transition will work, I'd first like to acknowledge and thank everyone at Sporting News who's helped contribute to making the game such a big hit for the past 10 years. There are so many people at Sporting News working behind the scenes that have helped in one way or another to make SOM Baseball Online the great game that it is, and I can't thank them enough.

With that being said, I'm also very excited to begin working with Strat-O-Matic and continuing to improve the game. For those keeping tabs on the Company, you probably have noticed that Strat-O-Matic has significantly expanded its marketing, technology and product development in the past few years, and I fully expect this trend to continue with SOM Baseball Online!

Strat-O-Matic has already demonstrated its long-term commitment to SOM Baseball Online, opting for an expensive rebuild from scratch, rather than a quickie port held together by duct tape. In addition, they've also hired some extra programming resources to help ensure that a smooth transition between the two sites will take place. Having had several meetings and phone calls with the Company already, it's already become evident that there'll be a great deal of commitment and enthusiasm for SOM Baseball Online for many years to come.

So how does this affect your day-to-day experience with the site right now? It doesn't... yet. We haven't yet pinned down an exact date for the switchover to the new site, so you'll have to stay tuned for that announcement, but I can confirm that the transition will take place in the spring. There are several items we can tell you at this point, though.

[b:fbd3589a8c]- All games on our main SOM site (ATG, 2007-2010, 1999, 1986, '90s), along with The '70s Game and Back to the '80s, will continue uninterrupted through the switchover to the new site.[/b:fbd3589a8c]

The '70s Game and Back to the '80s will immediately gain all of the site enhancements they've been missing for all these years. In addition, we plan to offer updated salaries for these games at some point in the future.

[b:fbd3589a8c]- To prepare for the switchover, the following older games will be CLOSED for NEW TEAM REGISTRATION on Friday, February 10 at 10pm ET: 1969, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and FantaSim.[/b:fbd3589a8c]

Existing full leagues in those games with an Opening Day of [b:fbd3589a8c]Monday, February 13[/b:fbd3589a8c] or earlier will play through to completion on the existing site, so it's "last call" for any new teams/leagues - if you fill up any leagues by Friday night, you can play them out starting the following Monday. All teams not in a full league by then will be credited back to you. Shutting down new registration for these games temporarily is necessary to make our switch over to the new site as smooth as possible, as well as to prepare each of those games for eventual retooling, rebooting, and relaunching (with updated player salaries and all of the new features) on the new site. I'll keep you all posted as soon as we have a better idea as to when those games will be relaunched.

Some other things to note:

- All existing team credits will transfer over to Strat-O-Matic.com.

- For those of you who currently have a Strat-O-Matic account with the same registered email address as the one on your Sporting News account, all team credits will automatically transfer over to the Strat-O-Matic account as soon as the game is launched on Strat-O-Matic.com. Those who don't already own a Strat-O-Matic account (or listed a different email address for their Sporting News account and existing SOM account) must create a new Strat-O-Matic account online using the same email address as their Sporting News account, and all existing credits will then transfer over.

You don't have to do anything [i:fbd3589a8c]now[/i:fbd3589a8c]; we'll fill you in on more details later.

- We'll be building a brand new and improved Live Draft app that will include the oft-requested support for salary caps, but unfortunately, this feature may not be fully ready at the switchover time. I am going to see what I can do to make a temporary workaround available so that you can continue having your live drafts, but if the new app is not ready for the initial launch, I'll work extremely hard to make sure that every measure is taken to implement the new draft as soon as possible.

Although my first priority will be simply replicating our current site's functionality on the new site with minimal disruption to you, there's a great list of new features and improvements that I almost can't help but add to the game as I go along, and I'm happy to say that you’ll get to start enjoying them on Day One of the new site! The list looks like this so far (with more to be unveiled over the coming months!):

• Improved player search (for drafting, and free agents)
-- More filters, sorts
-- Name autocomplete
• Stats explosion
-- Defense (putouts, assists, X-chart chances, catcher SB/CS against, throwing errors)
-- Situational (clutch, bases loaded)
-- Baserunning
-- Board game info (ballpark single/HR rolls, hitter/pitcher card roll distribution)
• Improved stats on lineup overview screen
• Improved trade proposal interface
• Improved sharing of team and league links
• List drafting
-- Adding players to your draft list: pops up a confirmation dialog, instead of going all the way back to draft list each time
-- Ranking your selections - new drag n' drop interface
-- Choosing your ballpark - on-the-fly sorting of table columns
• Better login/registration flow/experience
• '70s/'80s updated with all main site features

Strat-O-Matic will be making another announcement some time in the next few months that reveals a lot more exciting news and information. In the meantime, please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns about the switch, and I'll be sure to answer them to the best of my ability.

ROCK ON EVERYONE

[SteadyEddie33]

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

The hits keep coming, lol. Hardcore jollies over here seeing such commitment to the game. A lot of old school SOM guys I played the board game with have been slow to migrate here. Looks like you'll be making them offers they can't refuse, lol.. Good stuff

Is TSN going to have any connection with the game at all moving forward? If only just for marketing?

[JOSEPHKENDALL]

Any idea how the pricing of the games will be? Will the older games have the same cost as the newer ones?

[keyzick]

Will the message boards, in some form, transfer over as well?

Many of the keeper leagues rely on ongoing threads, especially in the Individual Leagues site, to track and maintain their leagues.

[Knerrpool]

I think this is great news. Thanks, Bernie.

[bernieh]

[quote:6a6b6b4f14="keyzick"]Will the message boards, in some form, transfer over as well?[/quote:6a6b6b4f14]
Yup!

[supertyphoon]

Sounds great Bernie,

I only hope the word gets out to the many, many people who've left over the years and never came back. Maybe a new host with vested interest in sustained growth for the business, willing to support improved features and functionality, will be enough to entice some of them to come back.

[Salty]

Bernie-

...now this part is super important-

WILL I BE ABLE TO USE HERBIE HANCOCK as my manager?


[size=18:60cecf445f][b:60cecf445f]BUT more seriously B- What does this mean in terms of getting new managers involved in the game???[/b:60cecf445f][/size:60cecf445f]

...and do you enivision some different game options- such as head to head? (no hancock joke here please)

[Valen]

Excited about the new features but mixed feelings about strat-o-matic taking over. My first thought is remembering how the game company has cheated me out of hundreds. It is not an ethical company.

On the positive side Bernie being a direct employee of strato hopefully means game company is more likely to listen to us and the suggestions for improvement many here could make in the cdrom game itself.

[mrharryc]

This sounds like more dirt hitting the lid on the TSN coffin; magazine shrinkage, SOM out-the-door, et al.