Random Fake UNFA's invading Franchise

[infemous]

Wow, this issue is ridiculous.

I can't help but ask this question, WHO ON EARTH tests for EA?
The amount of bugs like this are ridiculous, and to see them shipped, even with a delayed release date is entirely shambolic.

Anyway, I see the issue, and it isn't a new one. I have always found in offline franchise that the logic is skewed, especially with FAs. It seems that the CPU is unable to identify any FA below 75 OVR as having any worth, which is wrong. They need to be set so that they actively look for low OVR players to fill out rosters. If the Rams' backup OLB gets injured, they don't sign the highest OVR FA out there, they sign someone of the same level. If the starter is not hurt, why pay that extra dollar for a better player?
When they do this, (say 75 OVR OLB is hurt, they sign old 81 OVR FA and the starter is 84 OVR) often that younger 75 OVR player will be cut, and the older higher OVR player will stay, or they cut both and draft a lower OVR player.

It's hard to describe but I'm sure you can kind of understand my point. Basically, CPU teams don't have FA Logic, and always tend to weaken their rosters through AI stupidity, than improve it.

What I'd like to know, is, do teams sign like 4 starter quality players in FA if they need 4 WRs to fulfill the depth chart requirements?
Say the Texans only have 3 WRs on the roster, the starters are established... they need 2 more to fulfill depth chart requirements. In FA they'll sign the 80 OVR FA WR to mega bucks, and ignore the cheap 65 ovr backups which are necessary. Now the Texans have a tonne of money invested in WR and none in the secondary, and the top 3 or 4 WRs will be the only ones to see action anyway.
It seems now that with this cut day feature, instead of using overpriced FA to fill roster gaps, they are using rubbish UDFAs that don't even exist.

What EA need to do is fix the FA logic so that old vets with low OVR actually make rosters and get signed.

Now can this be done by a patch? I'm not sure, I hope.

What is funny about this though, is that it proves why online franchise is the future, because in a 32 team league, your not dependant on CPU AI to have a competitive league... each team is run by a human, and as such, make human decisions.

The only issue with Online Franchise (should it be improved to include ALL offline features) is with the scheduling of matches, and the gameplay bugs that make the game worse.

Player ratings are key contributors to the online problems... they're too high. OLBs should not require more Block shed than DEs to beat O Linemen... it should be the same. This'd remove the superpowered OLBs at DE issues etc.

Once they balance ratings and fully integrate Offline Franchise features into Online Franchise, there will not be a bad word to say about it. It is the future.

PS.
Buckeye, please let us know how many players you can create, and if it works.
I'll be using generated draft classes and changing the players' names (which causes it's own problems...) but I can imagine this issue isn't specific to imported classes. Can someone let me know if imaginary UDFAs populate general rosters too?

Also. Post this in the bugs/glitches thread so that the EA dev team can see it. They need to be notified, it's a really problematic bug!

[buckeye02]

Quote: Originally Posted by jerwoods

buckeye i understand u worry but u can edit over the fake player name for a real UNFA and just keep the guys u edit utnail after w 1 of the season

You can't edit height and weight. Even if you do find someone who's close to the height and weight of the real player.....it would be pointless if the team released that player. Thus the player disappearing. Easier to create players to make sure they go to the FA list when they get cut.

[Simile000]

I honestly wish I had seen this thread before buying the game myself. Now I am regretting the $60 I spent on a game that has flaws that cripple my favorite parts of the game.

[buckeye02]

Its not really a bug or glitch, its just bad AI preseason cut logic added together with the stupid idea of making random no name UDFAs appear on rosters.

My guess is that someone on the development team learned that a few players that go undrafted and make it big, they thought this was amazing and tried to add it into the game. But they overdid, now about 300 UDFAs are making it big. Instead of the maybe 25 in the league total. There are more UDFAs making on NFL rosters in one season of this game, that there are in the whole NFL in real life.

Kind of makes me wish you could turn the Preseason off now. The EA team is aware of Imported Draft Classes and year after year, they have done little to make this feature as good as it could be. They know that people use the draft classes to help with realism, yet now they are adding all these fake players whether you use draft classes or not.

We need to be able to create our own draft classes from scratch that contain enough players to be left over for preseason signings. Period. Bottom line. That and/or the ability to edit every SINGLE thing about a player, or the ability to edit an NCAA draft class on the Madden game before loading it into the season. And of course bring more players over in the classes from NCAA.

[oneamongthefence]

Teams just have bad cut logic it sounds like. And they don't make many roster moves which prevents them from seeing that there are better players in the FA pool. The only time the cpu signs someone, its to fill roster space requirements.

[HammerOfGod]

Quote: Originally Posted by Thisismytemporaryusername

Teams just have bad cut logic it sounds like. And they don't make many roster moves which prevents them from seeing that there are better players in the FA pool. The only time the cpu signs someone, its to fill roster space requirements.

Yeah, this is part of the issue, but to me the largest part of the problem is making the fake players in the first place. Simply should have just doubled the amount of players available in NCAA draft classes. Maybe add a few more in after that. I mean, honestly, how many draft eligible seniors alone are there every year in the draft?

And we only get what, 300 guys tops to choose from?

[rckabillyRaider]

So its fair to say that EA, in an attempt to make the franchise we all been waiting for just totally messed it up. Frustrating indeed, especially since I am strictly an offline player. I guess i'll just make do with what we got but I really hope they can fix most of the franchise issues in a patch though.

[Tweeg]

Quote: Originally Posted by Manning2Harrison

I understand it just fine. But the problem is not irreparable. And since we have the ability to do something about it, there's a point beyond which it's senseless to continue complaining instead of just biting the bullet and making the fix. Let the developers know what the issue is and even suggest some fixes, such has having the NCAA draft classes include all of the seniors and players who left early- because it appears that the NCAA draft classes don't bring in enough players to support the expanded rosters. But don't continue to beat a dead horse. A large part of this problem is that from what I've been reading, the CPU is worse than ever when it comes to releasing players instead re-signing them, creating a lot of roster holes which it then fills with these scrub fakes. That's not a problem for me, because I've been doing 32 team control for years. I'm strictly offline franchise, so I would have given up on Madden long ago if there was not a 32 team control option. I re-sign players for all teams. I go through the list and determine who the team should try to keep. Using a random number generator, I determine who re-signs and who opts for free agency, then use the franchise tag to keep one of the guys going FA if his OVR merits it. I skip the FA bidding wars. Instead, I make a list of FA's, then determine which teams would be targeting them. Back to the random number generator. High number gets the player, and the team that gets him eliminates other players at that position from its list- no oversigning at a position in my franchises. I draft for each team according to its needs for at least three rounds before autodrafting for the other 3 teams. I try to improve all the teams. I trade picks to ensure that teams have picks traded to them in the past, and I rotate the order for teams with the same record by trading the picks (i.e. a 2-14 team picks first, and second and third are a couple of 3-13 teams are 2nd and 3rd. In round 2, the team with the third overall pick will be picking second. That's a lot of extra work, I know, but I wouldn't do an offline franchise without it. Should I HAVE to do it to improve franchise? No, the game should be better than that, and I let EA know every year. But since I have the option of doing those things, SHOULD I do them instead of letting the CPU do wonky stuff. For me it's either yes, or skip the game entirely. I actually enjoy doing my offseasons this way, as it keeps me familiar with who is on each team. On the subject of player acquisition, another advantage to 32 team control is getting front 7 players that are appropriate to a team's defensive scheme, such as DT-sized DE's for 3-4 teams. Other things I can do in 32 team control are set the RB carry splits for each team, which actually worked for sim stats lats year, set the coaching tendencies to generate accurate season stats, and give return duties to a backup player instead of a star WR/RB Your work load with 32 team control doesn't have to be nearly as heavy as mine. You can reset signing, drafting, etc. to CPU and intervene as much or as little as you see fit. Don't see 32 team control as an inconvenience. See it as a tool to enhance your franchise experience. What will I do in year 2 when a bunch of fake players show up? I'll go here: http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/p...s?&start_row=0 -which has a list of 750 prospects for the 2012 draft, and change the names and schools. As has been the case for me in the past with Madden-generated classes, you should be able to find a player who is within a few pounds on weight and an inch in height. I even use real life names from the scouting services for the first 2-3 seasons after 5 classes of NCAA exports. Ratings too high for UDFA's? Edit them. As I mentioned before, another option is re-rating the fakes to 0 and cutting them. By the time the regular season starts, they will have disappeared from the FA pool. In a nutshell, 32 team control makes this a non-issue, and the old expression "tempest in a teapot" comes to mind.

I truly admire your dedication to your 32 team franchise. I too am running a 32 teamer this year...a much slimmer version than you though. Honestly...I wish I had a friend like you.