2016 Settings, Sliders, etc.

Please use this thread to discuss any potential changes, balance tweaks, etc.  Some changes I'm definitely making. Others I'll be open to discussion. This is meant for discussion and not arguments. I fully expect disagreements. But don't get upset if any number of us disagree.

Settings:
Setting used to be an individual player's choice. The Madden patch earlier this year actually forced the Franchise settings to be the same for everyone. Let me know what you think of the listed settings.

Potential Changes:

Sliders

All open to discussion:

I think the biggest weakness on sliders are QBs being automatic. Rodgers, Brees, Brady are absolute headaches to face, like they should be. But getting dissected by Foles, Palmer, etc is rough.  QB's are always the hardest thing to balance. Do we drop accuracy further? Or let them hit the throws, but force CPU receivers to drop a lot more passes and lower that slider?  In the past, the QB wouldn't throw a ball if his accuracy was too low. Let me know.

I'm also wanting to raise the fumbles slider to happen more. Especially if we take the Auto-Strafe/Heat Seeker setting off to allow more skill and risk-reward mechanics to take place.  NFL average was 1.3 fumbles per game last season. NFL teams ranged from .6 to 1.9 fumbles per game (almost 9 to 32 for the season). User teams in AALoA only ranged from 0-6 Fumbles lost for the entire year (CPU Teams only ranged from 1-8 ). The Carry rating of RBs should matter more. I'm thinking 55+ for the fumble slider.

Penalties

Your favorite topic. Current Settings:

User Penalty Stats:

I agree with the biggest complaint. Block in the Back and Roughing the Passer happen often, and at the worst weirdest times. Sometimes at snap, sometimes right before the whistle blows. And everything in between. Holding barely happens. False Start/Offsides never happen.  But penalties aren't happening too often in my opinion. I think it's a matter of how/when/what is happening. The biggest opponent of the current penalty settings, Hippo, had the 8th fewest penalties on the year. Plusch, you were 4th fewest. Two people who also weighed in and were ok with the situation, Pitt and Ken, were 6th and 11th fewest in penalties. Cape, Posky, and Commando had the worst of it. I was the least penalized, so obviously I have a different perspective than others.

NFL Average is 12-13 penalties per 60 minutes. We're at 3-5 penalties per 32 minutes. Well below "realistic" but still enough to influence a game.

I am fine with all except lowering qb accuracy. Unless there is a way to just have cpu qb less accurate. Not having a top qb already hinders teams. Putting accuracy any lower could make game near unplayable for avg teams.

mission8 wrote:I am fine with all except lowering qb accuracy. Unless there is a way to just have cpu qb less accurate. Not having a top qb already hinders teams. Putting accuracy any lower could make game near unplayable for avg teams.

Yes, CPU and Users have separate QB accuracy settings. Users set at 50 (default). CPU at 52.

A couple of thoughts ...

Quarter Length: I like where we are right now with 8 min.  I feel its a good balance between getting a good number of plays, long enough to where one bonehead mistake or big play doe' kill you, long enough that you have to open up your playbook yet still around an hour of real time.  I agree though that I don't think we should reduce the number.  I haven't played a 9 minute Qtr game yet but I think the biggest downside to that would be how long does it take to complete in real time?

Sliders:  I'll defer to you guys on the Auto slider stuff. I do agree with you on the Kick Arc.  As much as I love pinning teams inside the 20, it is too easy to do so.

Penalties:  As mentioned, I didn't really have an issue with the number of penalties as I thought it just felt like a lot because we've never really had to deal with more than 1 penalty per game in the past.  My only gripe or the only thing I found annoying was the fact that 90% of my penalties were Roughing the Passer.  I felt like I had the most undisciplined team in history due to getting at least 3-4 per game, lol.  I don't know I there is a way to keep the frequency but vary the types, however if there is then I'd be in favor of that.

I would also like to suggest limiting or eliminating the fake snap. Some owners use it just about every snap, which is pretty annoying and if i do jump, it locks me on that player and gives me the bad view. But if everyone thinks fake snaps are ok, I can deal with it and use them too.

mission8 wrote:I would also like to suggest limiting or eliminating the fake snap. Some owners use it just about every snap, which is pretty annoying and if i do jump, it locks me on that player and gives me the bad view. But if everyone thinks fake snaps are ok, I can deal with it and use them too.

It's hard to eliminate the feature in the game. It seems the snap count is working if you're hitting your controller that hard.

Penalty sliders can/should fix that to make it a greater risk to draw your own team offsides.  We can raise the false start/offsides up further.  But the balance comes in to play, because people are already weary of how many penalties are called as is.

Say 55 for False Start/Offsides to begin with?

I think raising slider for false start/offsides is good idea. I dont have problem with amount of penalties but (as you stated earlier) the timing of penalties. Seem like if I get 1 on a drive, it will be followed by at least 2 more that drive.

I'm sure I'm in the minority here but I'd like to bring up the idea of changing the Time structure we use. The accel clock is awful. I use 6 minute Quarters w/ no accel and those games are comparable to our games here of 8 min Q's w/ accel. 

Anyone can melt an entire quarter of 8 mins here just by running a long successful drive of 8-10 plays that are runs & completed passes. It can be pretty frustrating sometimes but we've been using this setup for years so I'm sure we're all used to it now

Plusch24 wrote:I'm sure I'm in the minority here but I'd like to bring up the idea of changing the Time structure we use. The accel clock is awful. I use 6 minute Quarters w/ no accel and those games are comparable to our games here of 8 min Q's w/ accel. 

Anyone can melt an entire quarter of 8 mins here just by running a long successful drive of 8-10 plays that are runs & completed passes. It can be pretty frustrating sometimes but we've been using this setup for years so I'm sure we're all used to it now

I'm all for a setting that allows for a realistic number of plays per team, enough time that one bad play or a two score deficit doesn't seem like the end of the world all while getting the real time around an hour.  I think when we first started these leagues we used to actually play on 6 min quarters which makes me think the Acc Clock was off.

However, I think the downside, which may be why we switched is if you come across a player that's very deliberate and picks his play relatively early but let's the play clock wind down over and over again it can be extremely frustrating and boring to play against.  I also think, correct me if I'm wrong, but we added the Accelerated Clock to avoid having guys call a generic play and then have the time to come out and make 20 audibles and hot routes at the line which is also very frustrating and boring to play against.

Please lower roughing the passer penalty. I had a ridiculous amount called on me this year.

mission8 wrote:I also think a 24 hr rule for playoff games should be implemented. No reason why 4 games should take any longer 

I'd be hesitant about implementing something like that.  Although its just 4 games and 8 users we're still talking about 8 different personal lives, 8 different family obligations, 8 different work/school obligations, potentially different time zones, etc.

I'm sure we've had instances this season where there were only 4 user/user games or less and we didn't try to implement a 24 hour rule for that.  I think its just highlighted now because these are the ONLY games going on and the rest of the league is just in a holding pattern.

I will say that I don't think the normal advance period shouldn't be extended though just because its the playoffs, but a 24 hour rule may be a stretch.  jmo

I'm fine with the accelerated clock. I think it should be frustrating if the other team stays on the field and most of the quarter is gone.

I feel like a few sliders could be changed for better balance, but I may be having a completely different experiencing than other people. I would like to lower the catching for users. I had a lot of worthless receivers but they rarely dropped a pass, and DeAndre Hopkins caught almost every lob and aggressive catch I threw his way. Blocking could also be lowered. It seems like in this year's game, you aren't really penalized for sending a RB out on a pass. I think if we increased the pass rush/lowered blocking, we would have to weigh whether we needed the extra blocking or no. And maybe if we increased the defensive reaction time, that would help limit the outside runs.

I use these All-Madden sliders in my personal franchise with a few other people. I think they have worked well. 
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YtBalla wrote:I think if we increased the pass rush/lowered blocking, we would have to weigh whether we needed the extra blocking or no. 

I also like the idea of the lower blocking/raise pass rush as I think that could stand to be increased.  I don't know what the final sack numbers looked like around the league but it felt in my games that pass rush didn't play a big enough role on either side.

capeman wrote:Please lower roughing the passer penalty. I had a ridiculous amount called on me this year.

Agreed. And penalties seem to come at the worst times, if you finally break a play, or get a roughing on a 3rd down stop, so fustrating. Id like to see pass rush raised and perhaps the run game upped a bit? Its rough to know cuz i have a garbage team, maybe itll be different if I get some weapons.

Running was pretty easy for me. My backs averaged over 4 ypc.

I was too at the beginning of the year, but towards the end I couldnt move the ball on the ground at all.

Ken wrote:Running was pretty easy for me. My backs averaged over 4 ypc.

King_Hippo72 wrote:I was too at the beginning of the year, but towards the end I couldnt move the ball on the ground at all.

Run game is proving to ugh to balance. Outside runs were too strong, I felt inside runs were balanced.

I've adjusted the sliders that I intend to start the year with. False Start/Offsides is up, along with other normal penalties. Roughing the Passer is still at 51 instead of 50. But I'm hoping the greater pass rush means getting to the QB sooner instead of half a step late resulting in RTP.

Gameplay sliders like accuracy are adjusted as well, including gameplay items like removing the kick arc.

I would like to suggest a set time for advancement of final FA stage. Everyone should have a chance for last second bids and be aware the advance, so they can keep an eye on their bids if they really covet a player.

Thats a terrible idea, if you cant be on at the final minute your targets get sniped, random time is more fair for all involved

I disagree, if someone comes in late before the "random" time, your guy will get sniped anyway. If we set a time where the majority can be there, everyone has a chance to counter.