Before we get things started (housekeeping/reminders)

Wassup fellas.  I will be sending out the League invites tomorrow as planned (probably tomorrow night when I get home from work) but I wanted to highlight some rules/issues/etc to make this Dynasty run smooth and be a good time for all.

Scheduling Games

Please make sure you schedule your user games early in the advance rather than waiting for the last minute.  Don't forget to utilize the Weekly Scheduling Forum as it is the only way for me to know who is making an honest effort and who isn't.  If your opponent isn't making an effort to play I can set them to auto-pilot so you can play the CPU but I can't do it if I can't see the effort you've made because you only text or use PSN.

Avoid Flaming Users

We're all adults here.  We all take this serious and we've all been pissed off playing the game.  If an opponent breaks the rules or is playing unsim, etc don't race to your PC to start calling out the user and trying to start a message board war.  Nobody has the time or patience for that.  If you have an issue, try to work it out amongst yourselves like adults behind the scenes (text, PM, PSN, etc).  If there are rules violations then contact me behind the scenes (PM or PSN).

Quitting Games vs the CPU

We all know that playing the CPU can be frustrating at times but the majority of our games will be vs the CPU and the sliders were set in a way to make the game challenging.  Quitting vs the CPU because you are losing is not acceptable, ever.  Its not fair to the rest of the league, especially those users that lose a game vs the CPU and just accept it.  I know that things come up at times (Family/friends visit, you have to leave the house, crappy EA servers, etc).  If you do have to quit for a legit reason, just do so but at least let me know why you had to quit when you have an opportunity.  I'm going to take your word for it but if it becomes a habit we'll have to address it then.

Quitting Games vs Users

If something comes up and you have to stop in the middle of a game, then let your opponent know and agree on a time to play again.  Other than that, it is unacceptable and quitting against a user will result in being booted from the league.

Mixing up the Play-Calling

We all know that there are plays that work better than others and everyone has favorite plays/formations but this is a sim league not the East Room for random play nows.  College football is different from NFL football so its not unrealistic to see a team call every play out of Shotgun, or run 80% (or vice versa), or run with the QB 15-20 times a game.  However, just because you run shotgun 100% of the time you're still expect to mix up your formations.  Don't come out in the same Shotgun formation all game.  You can run 85% of the time, but don't run the exact same run play all game long.

Defensively this means making an attempt to match up personnel.  If your opponent comes out in 3 and 4WR sets, don't continuously come out in a base 4-3 set (try to match up with Nickel, Dime, etc sets).  There will be times when you anticipate that your opponent is going to run despite the 3 and 4WR so you call a base defense but don't always come out in it.  The same goes for the reverse if your opponent comes out in a 2TE, 2WR, 1RB set.  You should not be coming out in Dime and Quarters sets.  Obviously, things are different when you on the goalline or if you opponent is pinned on their goalline as that will change your mindset, but be smart about it.  Everyone should know what mixing it up and matching personnel is.

Being Active on the Message Board

As I state every year, this is not mandatory but it certainly adds to the fun of the Dynasty when people participate (even if its just a post game write-up).  The more people contribute, the better the Dynasty is.  Again, not mandatory but it will enhance the experience for all.

Other than that, make sure you read the rules and let's have some fun.

Steel Pitt wrote:
Quitting Games vs the CPU
I know that things come up at times (Family/friends visit, you have to leave the house, crappy EA servers, etc).

In the test dynasty I had my internet drop. I finished the game and it let me sign into EA Servers and post game results.

I also haven't had any "custom highlights" get hung up trying to upload to the servers.

just wanted to bump this as we get set for Week 1.