2 Out Rally Player's Guide

One thing we know for sure: Fifteen years is a long time in this industry, in this game, in this age. In that time, we've seen video games go from simple graphical entertainment to achievements of worldwide communication and photo realism. We've seen portable phones go from car battery draining behemoths to postage stamps with the power and speed our computers once had. And speaking of the computer, well, the world's gotten a lot smaller and more connected in the past decade and a half. And like high end sports cars, the smaller computers are, the faster they go.

That's why there will always be naysayers out there. Too expensive, they will claim. Too much competition, they will say. They'll say that you can't reclaim youth, that the World Baseball League is dead and buried, and that it would be impossible to recreate what once was. And our response is "Good." Because that will not, and cannot, be our intent. The WBL is not about recapturing its youth. It is not the fancy of aging and desperate men. The WBL is not about rehashing tired cliches or symbolically retreading the history of America. The WBL is about pushing a stale industry unaccustomed to competition ... about a world with limited outlets for expression becoming increasingly interested in baseball ... and about providing those opportunities that our competitors have declined. The WBL is sports and entertainment for the digital age of communication and, as such, is shockingly overdue.

WBL Commissioner Corey Whitehead
Chicago Hyatt, Jan. 8, 2010

This is 2 Out Rally, the most advanced and statistically balanced sports role-playing game in existence today. This guide will introduce you to the history of the World Baseball League, basic concepts behind player and team creation, training, game results, and a powerful weapon at your disposal known as Gamechangers. It will also show you how your decisions on and off the field can affect the careers of your players, your teams, and even your league. And if you need additional help, this guide will tell you how to find it.

Account Creation (Creating Your Scout)

Registration is simple, free, and required in order to play 2 Out Rally. By registering, you create a "scout" (your username) who will recruit players, run teams, and organize leagues. Having more than one Scout under your control is against the Terms of Use agreement; please refer to that section for further information.

Influence is the currency of your scout and gives him the ability to change events of the world in all sorts of ways, either through Gamechangers, finding new players, purchasing boosts for his players in either experience or cash, or starting new teams. Influence can be acquired in a number of ways.

1. Completing hidden in-game accomplishments either during a game, over the course of a season, or for the length of a career.
2. Winning special tournaments or participating in community events throughout the year.
3. Providing articles or content to build 2 Out Rally's story.
4. Serving as a Tester, Administrator, or Forum Moderator for 2 Out Rally.
5. Purchased from our store or other participating vendors.

Every scout will have a variety of communication tools to talk strategy with his or her teammates or team owners, talk a little smack against rival teams, interact with the emerging story of the WBL, or just converse with likeminded players.

1. A Personal Messaging system on the home page used to directly and privately communicate with other players, review and negotiate free agent offers, or receive offers to general manager for another owner's team.
2. A multilayered forum system with forums about everything from game strategy to individual teams, troubleshooting and bug reporting, and even off topic discussions.
3. A player guided Wiki to cover advanced topics of study regarding character and team strategy.

They say that you can't create a man at a lab to make the perfect baseball player. But hey, that was before they laid their eyes on me. And being handsome is just the cherry on top.

Michael Glenn
Shortstop, Los Angeles Knights, 1992

Once you've started your scout's career there are a number of ways you can create a player.

1. The Free Player baseball card.
2. The Create Player baseball card.
3. The Use Influence page.

Once you've made it to the Player Creator, the first thing you'll want to do is choose a position. In 2 Out Rally a designated hitter is used, this means that pitchers never have to bat, and hitters and pitchers have completely different skill sets.

The three elements that will comprise your character design are Attributes, Skills, and Biographical elements. Here's what each of these means.

Attributes are the primary ability sets for your player and represent strength in a general area of the game. If you've played an RPG before, you're probably familiar with these, but if not, don't worry; it will make perfect sense. The point value of an attribute is the sum of all points in its Skill tree (see below). When a player has associated a majority of points into one attribute, that attribute is known as the Primary Attribute or Focus. Aside from indicating what your player's strengths are on the field, player focus can help influence batter and pitcher match-ups.

Skills are four abilities within each attribute. These skills represent pieces of the player's abilities and allow for more specific customization to the player. For example, the Speed skill is a part of the Athleticism attribute. Adding one point to the Speed skill will add a point to the overall Athleticism Attribute.

Biographical elements are those related to your player's physical size, background, and personality type.

Name
This should be pretty simple. Everybody needs a name, right? Be creative, but stay in good taste and you'll probably want to avoid too much silliness. Remember that your name could be in the Hall of Legends one day, and you don't want it to be embarrassing. This one won't affect your starting attributes at all, of course.

Hometown
Where does your player hail from?

Height
Anywhere from short to towering, from 5'4" to 6'10".

Weight
Anywhere from thin to thick, and (depending on your height) from 140 to 300 lbs.

Background
Your character will begin his career at 18 years old, just graduated from school. But which school and where will determine some initial starting factors. Here's a breakdown of what the various backgrounds mean:

Quarterback
The All American athlete, this player didn't put as much dedicated time into baseball as some other candidates, but the year round work outs and leadership under pressure will certainly go a long way. There's a long history of former QB's making a big splash in baseball, and his universal appeal makes him easy to get along with.

Prep School
A spoiled rich kid, sure. But this player had access to the best indoor training facilities, equipment, and instructors available and has a polished professional game right out of the gate. His sheltered background and prissy demeanor can be off-putting to those from different backgrounds.

Japanese High School
This player is a graduate of one of the elite, hyper-competitive Japanese leagues. Already used to intense scrutiny, constant pressure, and a grueling workout schedule, this player's nerves have been hardened. An emphasis on playing the game a certain way to the detriment of skills valued in the American game could be an impediment.

Street Player
A rough, unrefined game defines the Street Player. Coming from loosely organized leagues, usually in the bigger cities of America, the Street Player is self taught and extremely motivated. Rather than having specialized training, he played a variety of different sports and brings elements of all of them to the table.

Track and Field
Running and throwing, just taken into a different context, defines the Track and Field star. His intense athleticism needs some fine tuning with some baseball instincts, but with good instruction and motivation, he often turns into a game changing player.

Latin American Academy
A graduate of one of the highly specialized high schools intended only for the creation of baseball players, this player has lived and breathed baseball most of his life. His instincts are honed to perfection, and his game is potentially unlimited.

Personality
Now that you have an idea of your player's size and where he's from, it's time to determine what he's like on the field, in the dugout, in the clubhouse, and in his personal life. As before, these will affect your starting attributes, but also a lot more of your gameplay in ways that may not be immediately apparent. Your team manager will have to keep a balance of personality types to maintain a happy, focused, and productive clubhouse, and your decision in this section will determine how you play into that dynamic.

The Dude
Laid back and likable, perhaps to a fault, the Dude is passive and tends not to get overly excited about anything. The fans like him, his teammates like him, and he's a calming influence, but don't count on him being a team leader or bearing down in a big spot.

The Showboat
The Showboat is a great player, and wants everyone to know about it. He dazzles with the theatrical. He plays to the crowd. A fan favorite, the showboat is also overly dramatic and tends to pout when things don't go his way. His teammates tend to be put off by his "Me First" attitude, and they won't follow his lead, but he does come through big in the biggest moments. After all, that's when everyone's watching.

The Hothead
Only a certain type of fan could love this guy, and there aren't many of them. Abrasive and temperamental, he's wildly competitive and refuses to be beaten in any situation, no matter how dire. He'll also whip his team into shape, even if it's begrudgingly. Don't expect any charity work or too many endorsements (he hates being on camera), but he's being paid to win, and he won't let you forget it.

The Captain
The Captain is a dry, neutral character that doesn't really inspire strong feelings one way or another. He cares about his teammates first and foremost and gives lousy, dull interviews that would never betray his organization or his dugout peers. But his team trusts him wholeheartedly and would follow his lead - just never in an impassioned way.

The Professional
The Professional goes to work each and every day. He realizes that he's in the entertainment business and will give his attention to that side of the game as necessary. He can smile for the camera and sign some autographs if he needs to. But he also recognizes the importantance of connecting with his teammates and leading by example when the time comes. Adding a Professional may not help a team much, but it will never, ever hurt.

The Surly
Oooh, boy. Actually, this guy isn't as bad as he sounds. The Surly player has a live and let live policy. He will do his job, and he would prefer not to be bothered about it. He's hyper competitive (he always has something to prove and improves his game with anger), but unlike the Hothead, will not fire up his squad. He tends to be a popular figure (if not a loved one) as his interviews are frank and produce fine entertainment.

The Whiz Kid
The newest archetype of player, born from the statistical revolution, the Whiz Kid is sharp and uses an advanced understanding of the information available to make him and his teammates better. He's kind and articulate, and his teammates will follow his lead and enjoy his company; however, he lacks competitive fire, and his nerdy charm doesn't play well on TV.

As soon as you've selected either a pitcher or position player, there will be 3 attributes referenced with each selection you make, and every decision you make will alter them in some way. There are countless possibilities, so don't be afraid to experiment.

As well as indicating general strengths on the field, your player's focus plays a critical role in the at bat match-up between the batter and pitcher. Using the age old concepts of rock-paper-scissors you can use the charts below to determine which sort of batter or pitcher your player will have a skill point bonus against. The player that wins the match-up receives a 15% bonus to all skills at the time of the at bat. Here's a quick guide to the attributes and how they will affect your player's overall game:

Batter Attributes

Vision
Keen eyesight and hand-eye coordination for strong fundamental hitting. High batting averages, on base percentages, and error free defense depend on this attribute.
Strong vs Movement
Weak vs Control

Muscle
Pure physical strength for home run power and rocket throwing arms.
Strong vs Velocity
Weak vs Movement

Athleticism
Nimble, quick movement for highlight reel defense and baserunning.
Strong vs Control
Weak vs Velocity

Pitcher Attributes

Control
Pinpoint placement of your pitches, a must for inducing weak contact, preventing walks and lasting later into games.
Strong vs Vision
Weak vs Athleticism

Movement
The ability to make a pitch move after release, for knee-bending curveballs and terrifying sliders.
Strong vs Muscle
Weak vs Vision

Velocity
Bringing the ball faster to the plate tests a batter's timing and reaction and disrupts the running game.
Strong vs Athleticism
Weak vs Muscle

Now you're starting to flesh out your character. You've made all the decisions that are going to affect the beginning of your career, but it's still up to you to fine-tune your decisions by applying your starting skill points. Suppose that your character is looking something like this:

Name:	Joe Young
Position:	Right Fielder
Hometown:	Kansas City, MO
Height:	6'5"
Weight:	230 lbs
Background:	Prep School
Personality:	The Surly
Vision:	+2
Muscle:	+8
Athleticism:	+6

When we go to apply Joe's initial skill points, he will have 2 points to dedicate to Vision skills, 8 to muscle skills, and 6 to Athletic skills. These are his "dedicated" skill points. When this is complete, he also receives 3 skill points that all starting characters receive. He can apply these skill points to any skill he pleases, just by applying them to the appropriate attribute, then distributing them like normal.

So just what are these skills?

Vision Skills (VIS)

Line Drive (LND)
Hit frozen ropes that have the best chance of falling in for a base hit.
Primary: Hit linedrives
Secondary: none

Reaction (RCT)
Improve hand-eye coordination to adjust quickly to balls in the field or out of a pitcher's hand.
Primary: Avoid catching errors
Secondary: Hit Flyballs, Plate blocking, Avoid strikeouts

Discipline (DIS)
Improve patience at the plate and on the basepaths, drawing walks, increasing pitch counts, and picking better stealing opportunities.
Primary: Walk
Secondary: Base running

Bat Control (BCT)
Fight off tough pitches to avoid strikeouts, and make solid contact to all fields.
Primary: Avoid strikeouts
Secondary: Linedrive power

Muscle Skills (MUS)

Fly Ball (FBL)
Hit the ball in the air for extra bases, including home runs.
Primary: Hit flyballs
Secondary: Flyball power

Lower Body (LRB)
Increase lower body strength for a better stance: both behind the plate as a catcher and in the batter's box.
Primary: Plate blocking
Secondary: Avoid catching errors, Walk

Pull (PUL)
Hit the ball more powerfully, and use the strong side of the field more.
Primary: Flyball power
Secondary: Hit linedrives

Arm Strength (ARM)
Build muscle in the arms, wrist, and torso, for powerful throwing arms and hitting balls higher in the strike zone.
Primary: Throwing strength, Linedrive power
Secondary: none

Athleticism Skills

Speed (SPD)
Become faster in the field and on the bases, and leg out more groundball base hits.
Primary: Base running
Secondary: Hit groundballs, Defensive range

Grace (GRC)
Become more nimble and efficient of movement, taking better paths to the ball and exhibiting better overall defensive form.
Primary: Defensive range
Secondary: Avoid catching errors, Throwing strength

Ground Ball (GBL)
Effectively place ground balls to beat the defense and move runners, while concentrating on making contact.
Primary: Hit groundballs
Secondary: Avoid strikeouts

Accuracy (ACC)
Learn to be on target with your throws in the field, and your swing in the batter's box.
Primary: Throwing accuracy
Secondary: Hit linedrives

Control Skills (CON)

Stamina (STA)
Throw more pitches in an outing without losing effectiveness.
Primary: Pitches per outing
Secondary: none

Mechanics (MCH)
Consistently repeat your windup and stretch, reducing mistakes.
Primary: Avoid wild pitches
Secondary: Avoid walks

Paint Corner (PTC)
Hit the corners of the strikezone, encouraging patient batters to swing and make weak contact.
Primary: Avoid walks
Secondary: Avoid linedrives

Induce Grounder (IGR)
Force bigger sluggers and line drive hitters to hit weak ground balls instead.
Primary: Avoid flyballs
Secondary: Avoid linedrives

Movement Skills (MOV)

Vertical Break (VBK)
Get downward movement on pitches like sinkers and curveballs, drawing swings and misses and burying bad pitches in the dirt rather than the back screen.
Primary: none
Secondary: Strikeouts, Avoid wild pitches

Release (REL)
Hide your release point, preventing a hitter from hitting an effective groundball or taking a free pass.
Primary: Avoid groundballs
Secondary: Avoid walks

Horizontal Break (HBK)
Get sideways movement on pitches like sliders and curves, preventing solid contact.
Primary: Avoid linedrives
Secondary: none

Induce Popup (IPU)
Fool the batter into a power swing that induces a weak fly ball instead.
Primary: Popups
Secondary: Weakens flyballs

Velocity Skills (VEL)

Power (POW)
Throw pitches faster, throwing off the batter's timing and inducing strikeouts.
Primary: Strikeouts
Secondary: none

Delivery (DEL)
Improve follow through on a pitch for stronger defensive positioning, helping prevent hits up the middle, and covering bases more effectively.
Primary: Pitcher defense
Secondary: none

Explosiveness (EXP)
Throw deceptive pitches that break late, throwing off a batter's timing, inducing more strikeouts while preventing well-placed ground balls.
Primary: none
Secondary: Strikeouts

Pickoff (PKO)
Keep baserunners honest with a quick move towards a runner on base, hindering their ability to steal as well as throwing out a player caught napping.
Primary: Prevent stealing
Secondary: none

As soon as you've signed a contract, be it D Tier, A Tier, CPU, human, wherever, you've noticed a change on your player's skill page - a succotash of color where a yellow bar is now transposed with your green ones. This bar reflects the average skill of all of the players in the league, sorted by type (so pitchers don't get averaged in with position players, and vice versa). Ostensibly, this gives you an idea of where your player sits versus the rest of the league, and this is very true. However, it's so much more than that.

Why does the League Average matter?
Have you ever played a similar sports game where it took you seasons upon seasons of play before your character even became mobile? Or could hit the ball out of the infield? And then once he got to that point, the game became completely out of hand and didn't resemble realism in the slightest? 2 Out Rally has a system built in place to counter that. It enables your players to become superstars quickly, and play the way you want them to almost immediately, without later becoming so overly effective that the game becomes a farce.

Your abilities are rated against the league in which you play, not against the entire potential skill bar. This means that you will reach your maximum efficiency in a skill more rapidly with fewer skill points against a lower level league. Paying attention to the league average means you can take advantage of under-utilized skills or abilities, as your opponents won't have you as easily scouted.

What does this mean for character building?
It mostly means that simply racing to 100 in one ability is a bad idea. Once you've gotten to about twice the league average, you'll be extremely effective in that ability (that's good!) but continuing to build that ability will be subject to extreme diminishing returns (that's bad). Meaning, once you've far outpaced your league in one ability, your points are better spent elsewhere. Look at successful character builds from around the game, and this is no surprise. The game rewards specializing, but penalizes overspecializing. It's one of the things we hated from other games and wanted to improve on. So far, we think it's been a success.

The other bad idea is having 0 skill points in anything. Whether league average for that skill is 1 or 50 or 75, a zero will always be a zero, and you will be the least effective you can possibly be in that skill. Spreading some points around at least gives you a chance, and in an underutilized skill can give you a big boost with minimal investment, even if you don't want to specialize in that ability.

This is why "per skill point" valuations are elusive in this game, as the game is dynamic, changing every day with how people choose to play it. The "most valuable" skill can change every single time someone levels up, and we like it that way. What we are working so hard to avoid is there being one precise "right" way to build as there are in so many games, where going off the beaten path at all kills your experience because you've severely weakened your player. While that's still possible here (the examples listed above), it closes two doors and opens ten more. And they are ones that are rarely, if ever, used in games.

The ESR Graph
The ESR Graph found on your player's skill page gives you a visual representation of your player's skills normalized to the league. If the league average for a skill is 12 and you've put 24 points into the skill your ESR rating should show 100% for that skill. Additionally, the ESR Graph will show you how many of the other aspects of the game (Moxie, Gamechangers, Focus, Handedness, etc) influence your player's effectiveness on the field.

Every new level one character will have a couple of options available to them right away, so they can make some money, earn some experience, and start down the road to superstardom.

Computer controlled teams
If this is your first time playing, this may be the option you want to consider. In your message inbox, you will have offers from 4 different teams, from several different league types (see below). These teams are run by CPU AI and are a great way to introduce yourself to the concepts of 2 Out Rally without feeling completely overwhelmed. Simply accept one of these offers and the others will be declined for you. If you'd prefer to play for a human owned and run franchise (which are a lot more competitive), read on.

Hot Stove
The Hot Stove section of 2 Out Rally is where the wheeling and dealing of the free agents and trade markets take place, the bazaar of available talent.

Free Agents
This is where the resumes of all available talent will be found (including those who are currently on CPU controlled teams.) It includes a breakdown of your skills, age, handedness, position, background, and personality, so that a GM or owner can make the decision about whether a player is a good fit for his club.

Trade Block
This is for GMs and Owners who are looking to add that missing piece, dump payroll, or simply get rid of a malcontent. As a first time player, this won't be of much use to you.

Trading & Free Agent Forums
This subsection of the forums contains areas for players and teams to play matchmaker and get a deal done without using the automated systems.

Your newly created player will have his services advertised in the "Free Agents" section. If you're impatient, you can go to the Trading & Free Agent Forums and chat directly with team owners to try to get a deal done.

Play hard, or go home, they always said, but this is baseball. I think you'd like to do both.

Gene Torelli, Second Baseman, Chicago Gulls, 1939

Now that you've created your player and gotten him a place to play, his hard work really begins: the training and development regimen he'll need to become a superstar. Along the way, you'll put him through grueling workouts, be rewarded with endorsements and sponsorships as he builds his fame and reputation, and refine his approach so that he'll be exactly the type of player you anticipated (or perhaps not).

Experience Points
During your first few levels, this will be the only real development option probably available to you - earning valuable game experience. There are a few ways to earn experience in 2 Out Rally:

1. Playing in Games (a static reward for being on a team that plays games)
2. Winning, an increased experience bonus for every time your team achieves victory.
3. Moving up a League Tier, which will vastly increase the amount of experience you gain. Abusing lower leveled competition isn't going to get you to the big leagues.
4. Rushing Your Player, where your scout expends Influence to get extra training and immediately advance in level.

Every time you earn a set amount of experience, you will advance in level, which will give you 5 more skill points to spend on your development. As you advance in level, you will become eligible to compete in bigger and better leagues, before hopefully taking the stage of the WBL (coming soon) itself. The experience required will increase greatly with each advancing level, so advancing will become more and more difficult as you try to reach the apex of your career.

Each day your player can train and develop in 3 different categories. If you're on a team that has training upgrades, you're allowed one free training session each day at that corresponding training level. If you have a Croco-drink you can recharge your player for additional training in a given field. You may do this as long as you have energy drinks available and the requisite cash to afford the training.

Rep/Charity
Rep is the level of renown your character has earned throughout his career. This is a combination of how well regarded he is by his teammates, club management, and the general public. High Rep is achieved by spending a character's money heavily in the Charitable Actions menu. Rewards for a high Rep are various awards, honors, and sponsorships. The Captain personality type enjoys being thought of as a "good guy" and gets the biggest Rep bonus.

Celebrity
Celebrity is a measure of your own personal stardom, beyond your character as a baseball player. It's a measure of who he calls friends, what parties he gets invited to, and what clubs he frequents. A flashy Lifestyle is the key to increasing your Celebrity, which will lead to big sponsorships and increased fame. The Showboat personality enjoys living large and gets the biggest bonus to Celebrity.

Fitness
Fitness is a measure of your character's work ethic, regimen, and general physical prowess. Hitting the cage, the gym, or the video room will all contribute toward a high Fitness score, which will directly impact your performance on the field. Each level in Fitness gives your character 1 skill point to assign. The Hothead gets the biggest bonus to a strong Fitness routine.

Moxie
Moxie represents the general morale of your player, based on his actions on and off the field. Team success and various Gamechangers combine to fill up this meter. All players default to 50 at the beginning of each season, which is considered neutral moxie. Unhappy or uncomfortable players will have a lower moxie, which will hurt their on field performance, with the opposite true for happy and content players. Moxie is an important factor to the success of your team on the field! Training can also positively affect moxie if your player has a good day.

Moxie also helps govern the likelihood your player will receive jackpot prizes during training. Jackpots can give your player a variety of rewards through training. Prizes include cash rewards, additional training points, moxie points, and Croco-drinks. A low moxie rating gives an increased chance at winning a jackpot while a high moxie rating has a reduced chance.

Croco-drinks
Croco-drinks are the official sports drink of the WBL. After your player has trained for the day he can refuel with a sports drink to unlock additional training. Croco-drinks can also be given to friends who don't have any. If the team you're on has a Croco-drink contract you can receive free energy drinks from team management just by being online at the same time.

Once you've mastered the art of playing the game, you may want to try owning and running your own team. To successfully manage a team, you'll have to balance different personality types, different players of different types and primary attributes, the handedness of your players, and an array of Gamechangers. If you feel you're ready for this challenge, these are the steps required. You can reserve a team for next season or buy one immediately at a reduced rate from the Influence Page. Once purchased, teams can be renewed for additional seasons at a reduced rate.

Business Management
There are no evil empires in this game .... the WBL has a strictly enforced salary cap measure. If you run a level 20 team, don't expect to be able to sign all your players at exactly level 20, even if they take the minimum salary. You'll need some youngsters (close to the bottom of the level cap) to level up to replace the higher level players who graduate on to tougher leagues, and putting yourself in a financial bind with too much invested in a few players will lead to trouble with the league and the union. If you exceed the cap, you won't be able to make trades or sign players until you find yourself on the right side of it.

There are other factors in play for managing the business side of your baseball team besides talent evaluation and acquisition - maintaining high scores in intangibles and playing winning baseball will earn you corporate sponsorships and advertising. You can also buy training equipment, media rooms, publicity firms, and a number of other facilities to increase the bonuses your players get to Celebrity, Rep, and Fitness, as well as increased team income and improved strategy options.

Strategy
The most important strategic component to 2 Out Rally is proper lineup balance and maintenance. Your main default depth chart will determine the starters, but you can set up to 6 individual lineups, based on the handedness and primary attribute of the pitcher. If a pitcher is "balanced", than the default starting lineup will be used. There's no reason you should have unused players on your roster. If you do, your team probably isn't operating at full strength.

Gamechangers
Just as with players, there are team gamechangers, both for an entire season or a single series of games, and they can effectively shape the direction and identity of your team in otherwise impossible ways. Some specific examples of team gamechangers include weather effects for individual series, or cards that affect all of your home games, like different types of turf or a large foul territory. Using your forum with your team to communicate effectively and have cohesive strategy will go a long way toward team success.

Sending Offers
Once you've got your team you'll want to begin filling your roster. You can do this manually from the Hot Stove, a comprehensive search engine for players in 2 Out Rally. Or, from your team's offer page you can click the position name you want to fill to perform an automatic player search that will find players eligible to play at that position. Once you've found the player that you want you can fill out a contract offer form to make them an offer.

You may send as many contract offers out for a given position as you like. The first player to accept the offer will be awarded the contract while all other offers for that position will be withdrawn. After signing the contract the player immediately takes his place on the team's roster, is placed in the appropriate lineup or rotation order, will have access to the team forum and training facilities.

Although the contracts are organized by position, you may sign any fielder you like to any position you like. The only restriction is that you cannot sign pitchers into hitter roles. Furthermore, with exception to the designated hitter, players playing out of position will receive a 15% penalty to all skills unless equipped with the Utility Player Gamechanger card.

Contracts
Once players have signed to your team you can review their contracts from you team's Contracts page. From here you can renegotiate the contract terms or even release the player from your team. If a player is released from your team the original CPU player will automatically fill the position until you're able to find a human player replacement. Don't be complacent with your CPU fillers though: they don't train, they don't level up, and on average they're 25% less effective than human players on the field.

Intangibles
One of the toughest tasks that any team owner / manager will have is putting together a proper mix of the personality types. Each of the personality types has a rating in four areas: Chemistry, Charisma, Competitiveness, and Leadership. Keeping each of these as high as possible is the key to having a successful team, so pay careful attention to what players you sign. The wrong player in your clubhouse could hurt your onfield performance if he doesn't fit your team. As a general rule, get Dudes and Whiz Kids for Chemistry, Showboats for Charisma, Surlies and Hotheads for Competitiveness, and Captains for Leadership. Professionals provide a bit of everything, but not as much in any one thing as the other types.

A properly balanced team can give up to a five point bonus to all player skills. A poorly balanced team can have the opposite effect.

Every team starts in Tier D (levels 1-10), but every team is eligible to move up to the next tier of competition if you've purchased the requisite upgrades for that tier.

Level	Tier	Cost
Bronze	C	$100,000
Silver	B	$300,000
Gold	A	$900,000
Platinum	WBL	$7,200,000

Lifestyle Upgrades

Locker Room Catering (Bronze)
A free meal provided before each game. Unlocks free level 1 Celebrity training.

Car Service (Silver)
A vehicle available at players' disposal. Unlocks free level 2 Celebrity training.

Luxury Hotels (Gold)
Posh road accommodations to satisfy any taste. Unlocks free level 3 Celebrity training.

Luxury Clubhouse (Platinum)
Top of the line facilities and services. Unlocks free level 4 Celebrity training.

Fitness Upgrades

Batting / Pitching Cage (Bronze)
Enough to warm up the arm or take practice swings. Unlocks free level 1 Fitness training.

Fundamentals Coach (Silver)
He'll keep your players focused and their form sharp. Unlocks free level 2 Fitness training.

Indoor Training Facilities (Gold)
A lap pool and exercise equipment with all the bells and whistles. Unlocks free level 3 Fitness training.

TV Video Room (Platinum)
State of the art video equipment to maximize training efforts. Unlocks free level 4 Fitness training.

Charity Upgrades

Community Outreach (Bronze)
Programs that associate your players with good causes, raising their profile. Unlocks free level 1 Charity training.

Non-Profit Organization (Silver)
A team owned and operated charity where your players can volunteer. Unlocks free level 2 Charity training.

Press Room (Gold)
A room to make announcements and directly get your message out in an effective manner. Unlocks free level 3 Charity training.

PR Firm (Platinum)
A group of professionals dedicated to putting your organization in the best light possible. Unlocks free level 4 Charity training.

Strategy Upgrades

Opposition Scout (Bronze)
A grizzled veteran who watches all of your upcoming opponent's games, learning tendencies. Unlocks 2 additional gambit slots.

Position Coaches (Silver)
A staff to provide guidance and instruction to each part of your roster. Unlocks 4 additional gambit slots.

Statisticians (Gold)
A group of number-crunchers to help guide on-field decisions in a sound manner. Unlocks 6 additional gambit slots.

Veteran Manager (Platinum)
An experienced captain at the helm who knows his way out of a tough spot. Unlocks 8 additional gambit slots.

Financial Upgrades

Specialized Concessions (Bronze)
A better quality of food increases sales, fan interest, and therefore income. Team income increased by 10%.

Team Merchandise (Silver)
Jerseys, caps, and cups with your logo will give your fans something to take home with them. Team income increased by 20%.

Added Seating Capacity (Gold)
Additional capacity brings more fans, more ticket and merchandise sales, and more money. Team income increased by 30%.

Luxury Boxes (Platinum)
Posh private enclaves within your stadium for your richest corporate clients, this is where the big money is. Team income increased by 40%.

From your team's Lineup page you can access tools that will let you set your pitching rotation, up to eight batting lineups, and strategy rules that will govern things like pitching relief.

Rotation Tool
From this page you can assign your pitchers' roles. Although you may have signed a certain pitcher as your CP, if you've found that he's not cutting it you can always make him an LR and move a better pitcher into the CP slot. There's no penalty for reassigning your pitching roles. Just drag the pitcher to match the role you'd like him to play.

Lineups Tool
This is where you'll pick which players take the field and what order they bat in. You can set up to eight lineups: two lineups for handedness for each of the four pitcher foci (Control, Movement, Velocity, and Balanced). With exception of the DH, players playing out of position who have not equipped the Utility Player card will receive a skill point penalty. If you make good use of your bench, you should be able to stack your lineups with the opposing batter focus giving you a strategic edge.

To change the batting order drag the batters on the right to match the numbers on the left. Then drag the position button to set which position that player will take on the field.

What is a Gambit?
A gambit, defined most simply, is a rule. That rule defines the situation in which a change in your game strategy will be made. They address matchup favorability, situation, and exhaustion. They can be widely general, casting a wide net, or highly specialized. The choice is entirely up to you, as team owner, and other players that you designate as manager. The system is designed for ease of use, but bears with it a lot of power. Reading through your choices very carefully will be key in not making a gambit you regret.

The word gambit actually refers to a chess strategy in which you make a move that causes the sacrifice of a piece in order to capture another piece. In general, it's a reference to a strategic execution based on factors presented, which makes sense considering the context. In short, you are given powerful control over influencing the game AI. As far as we know, this has never been done in a sports game before.

Default Gambits
The gambits set in the system when you acquire your team (or starting in season 14 as the system launched) are intended to be a basic, generic representation of how a Major League team would use their bullpens. The system has low priority rules for when a starting pitcher gets blown up and a game is out of hand (Shelled Starting Pitcher rule), middle reliever use for an exhausted pitcher who's still potentially in the game (Game Close, Game in Reach, and Game Losing Reach rules), and a basic 7th, 8th, and 9th inning bridge for middle relievers, setup men, and closers, respectively, in games that are competitive. These won't make you Tony LaRussa if you're really into fine tuning, but it will do a reasonable job of getting your players into the game and resembling real baseball.

If at any point, you've discovered that you've damaged your gambits beyond repair and have no idea what you've gotten yourself into, you can restore to these defaults and start over at any time.

Gambit Criteria
The criteria that you select in these gambit categories will determine when these rules activate, so be careful. It's important to note that every criteria must be met for a rule to be called, not just any of the above. If you select a situation with 2 outs and a man on 3rd in the 9th inning or later facing a left handed vision focused player, don't expect that to be called terribly often. We hope to soon add a "test" function where you can see precisely what situations in a game would cause a rule to become active, and the change to be made. In the meantime, consider each option, and remember, "Ignore" is a perfectly reasonable option. Often, the best one.

Rule Name
Whatever you want this to be. Helps you label your creation so you know what it's intended to do. Just type over and save. Has no effect on the rule itself. The TOS rules still apply here, of course, so try to keep it clean, folks.

Relief Reason
This is why the player is being replaced. Situational relief means that the current game state calls for a better pitcher, regardless of what he's done or how much he's got left in the tank. Exhaustion refers to a pitcher who has tired on the mound, and Runs Allowed is a more specific measure of just that .... if your pitcher has allowed that minimum number of runs. For example, if you want your starting pitcher to be pulled when he's allowed five runs, choose the 5+ RA option.

Sub
What player you want to put in the game when this rule is activated.

Backup Sub
Important distinction here. One of the changes we made to Two Out Rally to discourage gambit and substitution abuse was to make pitchers available every other game. Appearing in a game requires a day of rest. Putting a player here means that if the primary choice isn't available, a secondary choice will come into the game. If neither player is available, the gambit will not activate.

Leverage
The leverage section is easily the most important part of the system, and will go a long way in determining how your players will be used. These are based on the clever Leverage Index by Tom Tango, which evaluates how much of the game's outcome relies on the result of the following at bat, taking into account the score, the inning, the men on base, and the number of outs. Sometimes as much as 40% of the game relies on the outcome of a single event, so using these options allows the condition of the game to make intelligent choices for your bullpen usage without having to specify every exact possibility. Mastering the leverage index will give you a huge advantage.

There are also more concrete options, in terms of run differential. In these cases, this refers to your score compared to the score of your opponents. While you can use these settings (along with outs, base configuration, etc) don't be surprised if this defines rules that are too strict to cover a satisfactory gamut of situations.

Inning
The minimum inning in which you want the gambit to take effect. Useful if you don't want a specific reliever to come out too early.

On Base
The number of men currently on base and what base they occupy. Not terribly useful for pitching substitutions, but will prove to be much more valuable when the gambit system is expanded.

Outs
Number of outs currently in the half inning. Again, more intended for future use.

Focus
The focus of the opposing batter at the plate. Useful for strict situational matchups in crucial situations.

Handedness
What hand the batter bats as. Again, intended for specialized substitutions to gain an advantage in a big moment.

We recommend that you not change your gambits right away. This will give you an opportunity to see how the defaults work. You might be surprised at just how effective the default logic can be.

Gamechangers are the X-Factor element in 2 Out Rally. Some are intended for individual players, some are for teams. Some have one time effects before expiring, others provide passive bonuses for an entire season. When used properly, Gamechangers will define your players and teams in ways otherwise impossible. Like a collectible card game, gamechangers are acquired, and a scout can keep or trade as many Gamechanger cards as he wishes.
How do I acquire Gamechangers?

1. Accomplish certain hidden criteria tied to a certain Gamechanger. These are the "Easter Egg" Gamechangers, ones that will be related to what your player did on the field for an entire season. Some are very challenging to get, but also very powerful, while others are trivial.
2. Participate in special event tournaments or holiday events hosted by the community.
3. Your Scout can purchase packs of random Gamechangers from the store by using his Influence. 50% of Gamechangers received will be common in variety, 25% uncommon, 17% rare and 8% very rare.

Passive Gamechangers (Approach)
These can either be Individual Approach or Team Approach, and they last until the end of a season before expiring. While not nearly as powerful as Impact Gamechangers, their effect over an entire season can be far greater, especially when the very rarest cards are used on the right team.

Active Gamechangers (Impact)
These can either impact one player's performance or can affect an entire team greatly. These are coming soon. Unfortunately, they can only be used once. Some may only activate if certain criteria are met (if these criteria are not met, the card is not expended).

Finally, it's time to play some baseball! Most days during the season, your player will play a five game series against the same opponent. (Occasionally a team will have a night off to account for scheduling discrepancies.) The Gamecast Replay and play-by-play results of this game will be visible on your player page under the Report tab or from the team schedule.

Recording Results
As soon as the games are complete, your stats will update on your main player page, from the well-known to the somewhat more obscure. If you need definitions for what these mean, check out our Statistical Glossary.
Experience Points

Your experience for the day will be received as soon as your games are played. If you have enough points to level up, you'll be taken directly to that part of your player's page to attribute those points. Remember, you can only "bank" so many points, and there's no benefit to saving them, so invest them as quickly as you can.

If you need additional assistance after consulting this guide, please try the Player Forums, where a plethora of helpful players and admins will be there to answer any questions you might have. So welcome to the game, and we'll see you all out on the field!