Recommendations for Changes and Improvements

Mon Aug 15, 2016 9:23 pm

TEST LEAGUE: Search AALoATest or ask me for an invite. Password to join is Check12.

Since almost all of the returning vets have logged on in recent days, I'm open ears for any ideas to enhance the league. I'm working on the rules to simplify them as much as possible.

Recommendation: GroupMe
Mission8 recommended we use GroupMe for communication. I despise the app personally since I use it all day at work, and think that a combo of the PS Messenger App and forum should allow easy enough contact (plus text messages for those that shared their numbers). But I'm open ears for discussion.

Discussion Point: Fake Punts/FGs
Pitt brought up questions on whether we should restrict the user of Special Teams plays. I haven't seen them be overpowered. But if you have other experiences, let's hammer out the details.

Recommendation: Lower QB accuracy / Lower WR Catches
WR Catch ratings are tough as drops are already apparent and I can't tell the game to lower Aggressive catches versus Possession catches. But I believe we need lower QB accuracy to help distinguish between an elite QB and lower tier QB, as well as separate the mobile QBs with strong arms from those that are clearly accurate throwers.

Exclamation

Recommendation: Remove Kicking / Punting Arc
I planned to remove this. It's no longer a visual option as I see in the Test franchise settings. If you can find it great. But it appears we're stuck with it. If things get too easy, I'll be lowering accuracy. But lag is a known concern of a few users that has to be taken into account.

Sat Aug 20, 2016 7:16 pm

Removal of the kick arc would be another suggestion but I go here its alot tougher to kick this year

Sat Aug 20, 2016 8:47 pm

mission8 wrote:Removal of the kick arc would be another suggestion but I go here its alot tougher to kick this year

I agree with the removal of the arc. Coffin corner punts shouldn't be so easy.

Sun Aug 21, 2016 12:35 pm

Agree with the punting arc

Personally I like groupme but I'm not too overly concerned with whether we use it or not

Wed Aug 24, 2016 6:16 pm

I've played 4 user games thus far, going 3-1, and having a disconnect with Pitt (stupid tornadoes) last night. The most glaring weakness thus far in the game is QB accuracy being too high. I don't know how much I can affect this without destroying the game, but if you guys play practice mode or mess with an offline franchise, I'd love to hear what Accuracy sliders you use and your experiences so far.

In years mast, I've left User sliders alone at stock 50, and increased CPU sliders to add difficulty. That will likely have to change. Carson Wentz, Jay Cutler, Blake Bortles, all were just as accurate as Ben Roethlisberger in my games thus far.

Wed Aug 24, 2016 11:03 pm

I agree as well. I feel like WRs make a lot of incredible catches in tight coverage too. I've already seen some "how did he catch that" moments several times a game, mainly catches deep in traffic with a DB draped on the WR.

Obviously will take more games to get a more accurate feel but I do agree after playing like 3-4 games

Sun Aug 28, 2016 2:00 pm

This isn't necessarily a suggestion, more of a question whether there needs to be a change or further clarification. Each year the EA Developers try to add something new to the game and usually there is a flaw or exploitation that they neglect the first time around. This year, one of those changes was the emphasis on Special Teams, in particular blocks and tricks plays (fakes). With that said:

1. Has anyone done any extensive practicing on these ... both blocking kicks and trying the special teams trick plays? (I haven't) Do we know if there are any glaring errors or gimmicky aspects? Is the success rate too high? Can it be "east room lobby-ish"?

2. Assuming the trick plays and fakes aren't gimmicky and have an unusually high success rate, do we need to adjust how we interpret the 4th down rules? If the fakes work (when run correctly and at the right time) but can be stopped if you call kick safe type plays, etc ... it would be a shame to just ignore the feature.

Thoughts?

Sun Aug 28, 2016 7:21 pm

Steel Pitt wrote:This isn't necessarily a suggestion, more of a question whether there needs to be a change or further clarification. Each year the EA Developers try to add something new to the game and usually there is a flaw or exploitation that they neglect the first time around. This year, one of those changes was the emphasis on Special Teams, in particular blocks and tricks plays (fakes). With that said:

1. Has anyone done any extensive practicing on these ... both blocking kicks and trying the special teams trick plays? (I haven't) Do we know if there are any glaring errors or gimmicky aspects? Is the success rate too high? Can it be "east room lobby-ish"?

2. Assuming the trick plays and fakes aren't gimmicky and have an unusually high success rate, do we need to adjust how we interpret the 4th down rules? If the fakes work (when run correctly and at the right time) but can be stopped if you call kick safe type plays, etc ... it would be a shame to just ignore the feature.

Thoughts?

I've yet to see a blocked kick in game. I know Commando's had one. In the skills trainer, I would whiff or commit a penalty for running into the kicker. I've had less than a 33% success rate when I've called the fake punt/FGs in game just messing around with friends. If a safe return/block was called, I think it might be even lower.

I think there would be an adverse affect on putting additional restrictions on calling fakes outside of the standard rules we have (past the 50/35/etc). If we were to say, only 1 fake per game is allowed, then it tips off whether a defense can go all out for the block since they know whether the offense has already used their fake.

I'm really liking how balanced the game feels this year, and I've been stripping rules out of the rules thread since it plays balanced enough. You can't nano a LB or Safety up the A-gap anymore, and if you manually move a Dlinemen, their assignment won't change, so you're only hurting yourself.

Mon Aug 29, 2016 9:30 pm

Test league game 1 vs CPU Houston Texans
Stock playbooks used.
The screen overlay at the bottom is awesome. I just don't understand how some scores can be final or in action between CPU games. Carolina destroying Denver in a shutout? Cool to see, but feels forced, and I wonder if those scores will be correct after advance.

Two injuries early for Houston was a bummer to see. Especially when both were RBs and both were Shoulder Tears knocking them out for 5 weeks.

Penalties were weird. A tad high. Or maybe JJ Watt is just a dirty player trying to rip heads off? Maybe he was getting revenge for the 3 Texans injuries (Osweiler was one play)?

Two balanced teams 77 vs 80 overalls I think? The stats looked very balanced between us. I will be simming to a week versus a stronger team for comparison next.

I had 85 combined snaps between runs/passes. The game did not record Punts in my stats after I exited the game.

First Half Drive Summaries:

Halftime

Bears 21, Houston 0

136 Total Offense 112

119 Pass Yards 69

17 Rush Yards 43

6 First Downs 5

1 (+1) Turnovers 2 (-1)

1-10 Penalties 4-64

5:20 Possession 8:44

Second Half Drive Summaries:

27	Score	8
188	Yards	178
53	Rush Yds	42
135	Pass Yds	136
9	First Downs	9
1 (+1)	Turnovers	2 (-1)
2-8 (25%)	3rd Down Conv	3-10 (30%)
	4th Down Conv	0-1 (0%)
2-25	Penalties	6-84
13:18	Time of Poss	14:42

Passing		QBR	Comp	Att	Yds	Comp%	TD	INT	Long
HOU	B Osweiler	50.2	15	29	155	51%	1	2	37
HOU	R Griffin	118.8	1	1	13	100%			13
CHI	J Cutler	60.8	9	20	122	45%	1	1	32

Rushing		Rush	Yds	Avg	TD	Fumb	BTK	20+	Long
HOU	J Grimes	6	15	2.5					8
HOU	A Blue	5	26	5.2			1		8
HOU	L Miller	4	1	0.2					18
CHI	J Langford	17	45	2.6	1		2		2
CHI	K Carey	2	6	3					5

Receiving		Catch	Yds	Avg	TD
HOU	C Fiedorowicz	5	65	13
HOU	W Fuller V	3	22	7.3	1
HOU	C Shorts III	3	18	6
HOU	D Hopkins	2	51	25.5
CHI	K White	2	29	14.5
CHI	A Jeffery	2	38	19	1
CHI	Z Miller	2	33	16.5
CHI	K Lee	1	5	5

Defense		Sack	INT
CHI	L Floyd	1
CHI	J Bullard	0.5
CHI	P McPhee	0.5
CHI	H Jones-Quartey		1
CHI	B Callahan		1
HOU	A Allen		1

Mon Aug 29, 2016 9:38 pm

the_EDJ wrote:Test league game 1 vs CPU Houston Texans

27 Score 8
188 Yards 178
53 Rush Yds 42
135 Pass Yds 136
9 First Downs 9
1 (+1) Turnovers 2 (-1)
2-8 (25%) 3rd Down Conv 3-10 (30%)
4th Down Conv 0-1 (0%)
2-25 Penalties 6-84
13:18 Time of Poss 14:42
Passing QBR Comp Att Yds Comp% TD INT Long
HOU B Osweiler 50.2 15 29 155 51% 1 2 37
HOU R Griffin 118.8 1 1 13 100% 13
CHI J Cutler 60.8 9 20 122 45% 1 1 32
Rushing Rush Yds Avg TD Fumb BTK 20+ Long
HOU J Grimes 6 15 2.5 8
HOU A Blue 5 26 5.2 1 8
HOU L Miller 4 1 0.2 18
CHI J Langford 17 45 2.6 1 2 2
CHI K Carey 2 6 3 5
Receiving Catch Yds Avg TD
HOU C Fiedorowicz 5 65 13
HOU W Fuller V 3 22 7.3 1
HOU C Shorts III 3 18 6
HOU D Hopkins 2 51 25.5
CHI K White 2 29 14.5
CHI A Jeffery 2 38 19 1
CHI Z Miller 2 33 16.5
CHI K Lee 1 5 5
Defense Sack INT
CHI L Floyd 1
CHI J Bullard 0.5
CHI P McPhee 0.5
CHI H Jones-Quartey 1
CHI B Callahan 1
HOU A Allen 1

In terms of getting realistic stats it looks like you were able to run 39 plays while the CPU ran 45.

How many minutes per quarter were you using?
How long in actual time did the game take?

Mon Aug 29, 2016 9:57 pm

Steel Pitt wrote:

the_EDJ wrote:Blah blah blah. My stats from Test Game 1.

In terms of getting realistic stats it looks like you were able to run 39 plays while the CPU ran 45.

How many minutes per quarter were you using?
How long in actual time did the game take?

I used 7 minute Quarters.
Accelerated Clock set to 25 seconds.

I don't know how long the game took. I was multi-tasking and paused a few times. Maybe 1 hour, 15 minutes or so?

- - - - - -

Injuries might be a tad high. Teams had between 1 and 6 injuries (Saints) and they varied from short term to almost a year (41 week injuries). I stopped at week 3 to check... I want more injuries, but by Week 5 more than 6 teams had 5-9 injuries. Building team DEPTH is just as important as those that are top heavy. Not to mention we have the Practice Squad for more than just development.

- - - - - -

Scouting looks the same as last year. I think it worked well enough last year to hold up this year.

Wed Aug 31, 2016 10:03 am

I played a game last night in the test league. I didn't track the stats as I super simmed from the middle of the third quarter on. A couple of things I did notice though:

- The CPU offense was terrible, although that could be because it was the 49ers led by Blaine Gabbert and they were 0-6 coming into the game.

- Jameis Winston was super accurate (I was the Bucs) as I was about 17/18 before I just decided to sim to the end of game. AGain, it could just be a result of playing a poor 49ers team.

- In 2 and a half quarters I had about 6 block in the back penalties called. Could just be random and could just be the lack of randomness in the calls by the AI although penalties in general are needed for realism.

Wed Aug 31, 2016 6:12 pm

Playing an elite team was pretty frustrating. Especially when the Madden Gods are against me. There was 1 drop in the game by my RB.
Aaron Rodgers didn't miss a single pass. He had one bad fumble on a screen pass.
CPU DBs were too good at jumping routes, even when I made good reads and had hands of glue. GB MLB Bradford was running step for step with Kevin White in zone coverage somehow.

No injuries whatsoever compared to three in the first game.

I don't know how easy it will be to balance the bottom feeder teams with the uber teams this year.

1st Half Drive Summaries:

Half time

Bears 3, Packers 24

82 Total Offense 131

19 Rush Yds 13

63 Pass Yds 118

5 First Downs 8

3 (-2) Turnovers 1 (+2)

3-30 Penalties 3-52

4:40 Possession Time 9:20

13 Offensive Snaps 24

2nd Half Drive Summaries:

17	Score	38
271	Yards	284
40	Rush Yds	76
231	Pass Yds	208
15	First Downs	14
5 (-4)	Turnovers	1 (+4)
2-5 (40%)	3rd Down Conv	3-5 (60%)
1-1 (100%)	4th Down Conv	0-0 (0%)
4-45	Penalties	7-76
12:21	Time of Poss	15:39
38	Off Snaps	43

Passing		QBR	Comp	Att	Yds	Comp%	TD	INT	Long
GB	A Rodgers	149.6	20	20	208	100%	3		31
GB	B Hundley	118.8	1	1	21	100%			21
CHI	J Cutler	53.5	15	27	210	55%	1	4	35

Rushing		Rush	Yds	Avg	TD	Fumb	BTK	20+	Long
GB	E Lacy	19	89	4.6	1	1	1	1	35
CHI	J Langford	9	33	3.6	1		2		12
CHI	K Carey	1	0	0					0
CHI	J Cutler	1	7	7					7

Receiving		Catch	Yds	Avg	TD
GB	J Cook	7	59	8.4	2
GB	R Cob	4	53	13.2	1
GB	J Nelson	4	66	16.5
GB	E Lacy	3	34	11.3
CHI	K White	3	46	15.3
CHI	A Jeffery	3	53	17.6	1
CHI	Z Miller	3	42	14
CHI	E Royal	2	41	20.5

Defense		Sack	INT	Frc Fum	Fum Rec
GB	C Bradford		2	1
GB	Q Rollins		1
GB	H Clinton-Dix		1
GB	C Banjo				1
CHI	D Trevathan			1	1

Wed Aug 31, 2016 7:12 pm

Are you playing with sliders in the test league right now, or is it on default?

Wed Aug 31, 2016 8:45 pm

MeanMrMustard wrote:Are you playing with sliders in the test league right now, or is it on default?

With sliders. EA servers are wonky.

But I essentially did stock users settings at 50. QB Accuracy was dropped. CPU got bumps to 55 for each stat. CPU Accuracy was kept at 50 or dropped. Can't remember.

Wed Aug 31, 2016 9:21 pm

Gotcha. I played a game with the Armor and Swords slider set on OS the other day, and it felt pretty good. Small sample size and all that, though, so grain of salt.

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Mon Sep 05, 2016 1:01 am

the_EDJ wrote:

Steel Pitt wrote:

the_EDJ wrote:Blah blah blah. My stats from Test Game 1.

In terms of getting realistic stats it looks like you were able to run 39 plays while the CPU ran 45.

How many minutes per quarter were you using?
How long in actual time did the game take?

I used 7 minute Quarters.
Accelerated Clock set to 25 seconds.

3rd test game, penalties were still a bit high. I'm going to set Block in the Back to default. I've yet to see a pass interference. But it's nice to see Defensive Holding called.

With the 7 minute quarters and 25 seconds for play clock, my game took 65 minutes to complete.

92 snaps were called (not including punts/FGs), which seems much higher than past games.

Tue Sep 06, 2016 7:30 pm

Only played a few games, but has anyone been able to run the ball decently? I know I havent, and the exception of two broken runs against me, my opponents havent either. Maybe that could get a bump? hen again, I'm playing as Jacksonville.

As far as group stuff, I played last year in a league that used Slack and it worked pretty damn well.

Recommendations for Changes and Improvements

Recommendations for Changes and Improvements

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