Strat-O-Matic Baseball 365

Dear SOM Fan,

In many of my posts I have made the assumption that strat online is a substitute. That it is a 2nd class replacement for the board game. It does have its own merits, but overall it is something strat players come to because they either a) have the time to play the board game, but cant find enough players to play against, or b) don't have the time needed because of jobs and families. There are probably a few other reasons as well, but the two points I have given most likely cover most online strat players (another assumption I hope doesn't make me an ass).

Anyway, to put it more succinctly, The assumption I made is: If online strat players had the time and a good amount of opponents to play against, they would choose the board game over online strat every time.

Because of this assumption, I then went on to argue that strat, if they could set up an online version of the game, that better reflects the game-play you get when you are playing the board game, it would be a large improvement over its current version. That if strat had a visual graphic environment that looked and behaved similar to when you are face-to-face with an opponent at a table (as they do with poker tables and other games), every online strat player would prefer it (even if it was just to watch rather than participate, if one chooses to do only that).

I explained the concept in more detail in other posts, but to put it simply, an online version of strat that has a structure which allows you to interact with others in and out of game rooms, that allows the creation of leagues, or individual game play, allows games to be played by computer or human being, tracks statistics and ranks managers, and when you do play the games, a graphical interface similar to the board game (which then can be watched afterward).

It seems like a huge project, but it is standard across all gaming on the internet and therefore can't be seen as insurmountable even for smaller organizations.

These ideas I assumed were universal, and here is where I made an ass of myself. There seems to be many people who enjoy online strat just the way it is. That there criticisms about improving the game had nothing to do with the structure and set up of the game itself, but that there were not enough options or cards available. In other words, keep the game as it is, where hal plays all the games, but give us better choices, like "no stealing third base" or "do not bunt with this player" and give us more cards and seasons to play with.

Whenever I come across resistance and argument to something I thought was more universal, I usually am at a loss. As a good and open-minded person, I then must find out why. I ask myself, "Am I that clueless about my fellow human beings?" So this is me asking the online strat community:

Are you of the opinion that strat is great the way it is, and improvements made should be on giving more options, seasons, and cards? And if so, what is it that satisfies your needs better than the graphical/games rooms proposal I mentioned?

I like playing online strat the way it is structured presently, and will continue to play it. It's fun. But it will probably be only one season at a time as that is what I think it is worth spending 20.00 a pop to do. Now if my proposal were to bear fruit, I could see myself buying yearly subscriptions and getting a lot more enjoyment out of it.

I won't assume others agree with me, unless they state they do, and hopefully I will make less of an ass of myself in the future.

Thank you for reading my post and I would sincerely appreciate any answer you give (damn now I'm sounding like a politician )

Scott.

Good job of clarifying. You mostly have good ideas. My belief is however that Strat is somewhat of a niche market and there would be insufficient customers to spend the money needed to develop some of what you proposed and make a profit. Unless a businessman thinks he can turn a profit on something he is not going to invest.

Both your assumptions "a" and "b" apply to me. But regarding online strat what I want is entire seasons played out with team managed for the most part the way I would. I do not actually have time to spend rolling the dice and playing out individual games. So need the computer to play the games for me. But I want the computer to use the cards I am familar with as transparently and faithfully as possible. If all it does is arrange for me to play against others but is not faithful to the board game then might as well be just any other online baseball simulation.

Speaking of assumptions I think there is another that many make here. Not you personally understand. And that is that Strat can take the online game anywhere it wants. Technically that is true because they own it. But the online game really is just a front end for the computer cdrom game. It essentially uses that back end software to play the games. With some exceptions improvements in online strat have to be made with that in mind. If the feature does not exist in the cdrom game it is difficult to add to the online game because it must first be added to the cdrom game. And that means incremental improvements with the annual version of that produced.

Of course we all have to keep in mind these discussions are just exercises for our entertainment. These boards are not followed closely by the game company so what we say here is of limited value beyond the fun we have talking about it. I kind of compare it to discussions I have in other places about how I would run the Rangers if I owned and ran the team. Fun discussions but they are not likely to listen to any of my opinions. Kind of like the company I work for but we will not go there.

Dont you think Valen, that they could just write the software to make game rooms and live chat with other players then just teak the cdrom software to put it online? That way you dont need to go through all the hassle of finding a netplay league and figure out port forwarding etc for net play as everyone would be online at the same site as you are?

It would simplify everything to an extent that strat players would return to the game in the 1000s i think. But as i always say on things im not "in the know" about, i could be wrong.

Scott.

Scott,
I may be in the minority, but I agree with you 100%.
Paolo

Many years ago, when I first got into the online game (2001 cards), I assumed the "game" was an actual board game somehow played online.

I fully expected to be playing an opponent online just like I would be playing face to face.

I was somewhat disappointed when I learned it wasn't.

While I do love playing this online game, I would prefer a graphical interface that simulates playing the actual board game.

The fact is... while there has been work on this online version, it's essentially the same game we've had since 2001. Yes, there are new additions, but the game hasn't changed.

Valen is right. There is a limited niche market for this game. I think if this game were more popular, gamers wouldn't put up with the interface or lack thereof. While MOST video games get better with each new version, this online game really doesn't. I think back to the original Madden NFL game I played on my Playstation. I look at what the latest version of the Madden game looks like now. It's night and day.

I love the game as is.
I love it when I have runners on 1st and 2nd and Aparicio grounds into a DP.
I love it than even though I have the bunt more box checked, Hal will decide that the above situation does not fall into the more scenario.

It's because HAL thinks Aparicio is a helluva DP hitter...

As long as the individual games come out with reasonably credible statistical results, I find sports replay games like Strat satisfying. I guess it is why I come back with the issuance of a new season each spring, and disappear when football season gets going for real.

I wonder what the costs to have a more interactive online experience would compare to the revenue. It wouldn't surprise me if the costs for what seems like such a niche application (other than this site, I have not run into a Strat fan since college 20+ years ago) would outpace the usage. Perhaps a "meeting" room that would allow for a pickup game when the mood hits, as well as having a HAL opponent available if no one is online or interested would prompt me to play all year on a subscription model, with some additional charge for a league like we have now.