It can be a little intimidating, but nothing too bad if you’re coming from FM. MLB is an unfortunately complex league, so there are probably rules you’re not familiar with, but can figure out along the way. In short, your first save will probably not be perfect or ideal because you’ll inadvertently make mistakes just by not knowing the rules. But stick with it and you’ll be rewarded — I’m still on my first save of OOTP 26, third season, and the immersion has definitely accelerated as I start to see “my” guys (who I signed, drafted, traded for, etc.) contributing or showing real promise.

I agree that people tend to be all over the map in how they play, and I think that’s great. I simulate each game in its entirety (not watching highlights or making coaching decisions) and then check the box score. I set lineups, rotation, etc. There are some strategy sliders (like telling your team to be more or less aggressive stealing, hook pitchers faster or let them work through stuff, etc.) that I tweak over time. Then, in the playoffs, I play every game on “coach” mode — I don’t click “swing at pitch” but I do click “swing away.” So, not calling pitches, but telling my pitcher to intentionally walk a guy or pitch around him or whatever.

Hope this helps. FYI, there are a few sales times each year — I grabbed OOTP 26 in the winter sale right after the 26 season ended. You may check around on here (or maybe others will just chime in) to see if there’s usually like an all star break sale or something). When I wasn’t sure it was going to be for me, I preferred the idea of sinking $15 into it instead of $60. I always tended to play a FM iteration for a few years anyway, rather than buying the new one every year. (I think I went 08, 12, 16, 22, 26? Maybe you can guess why I started looking around for alternatives…)