How do you commit to a dynasty?
 

I suppose this is kind of a tough question to answer, but it's been something that's been weighing on my mind. Through the past four years of playing NCAA 14, I've had a shamefully large amount of failed dynasties. With the one exception being a 8-ish year Washington State dynasty, it seems that all I can do is start a dynasty, run for 1-3 years, then stop. It varies from time to time whether I'm no longer having fun playing that dynasty, or whether I'm having some sort of existential crisis where I attempt to find which NCAA game I like most, only to wind back up at 14.

I suppose all this is to ask what suggestions do you have to help stick with a dynasty?

Re: How do you commit to a dynasty?
 

As for your case, do you stop playing it because you become too successful? Did you stop playing because you found it too difficult?

For me, I enjoy a good challenge. When I started my first NCAA 14 dynasty, I took over as OC as FAU and started working with them. After a few seasons, I became bored because I was able to recruit pretty easily and beat powerhouse schools like Florida State and Florida (I always schedule P5 schools as my out-of-conference games). It no longer became a challenge.

So, I made some changes. I stopped playing and started calling the plays. I adjusted the sliders. I limited my recruiting with some of the House Rules found here on OS. I even created a spreadsheet where my players would attend class, and their class/study time affected the amount of time they would spend preparing for the game (and affecting their AWR). Then, I would have to cut players if they "flunked" out.

The biggest thing for you is, what do you want from this game? There are some great ideas in these forums to change it up. Even the Relegation System is another option for you.

Maybe your biggest thrill is starting up in the dynasty, lasting a few years, and then starting a new dynasty. There's nothing wrong with that. If that's what makes the game enjoyable for you, then keep doing it.

Re: How do you commit to a dynasty?
 

Mainly too successful. With Washington State, I was on a 40-50 game win streak around the time I stopped. I had a short South Alabama dynasty where I ran off back-to-back 10+ win seasons in my first two years. Other times I just have to put the game down because it frustrates me sometimes :P but believe me, I want to be challenged.

I know there's not necessarily anything wrong with that, but it feels like the true joy in dynasties is getting super deep, watching teams, including your own, rise and fall, etc, but I can't seem to shake this third-year burnout that plagues my dynasties. You can only go through the first two years seeing the same things over and over again so many times...

Re: How do you commit to a dynasty?
 

I'll offer my $.02 for extended dynasties. All help, in no particular order:

#1) I find, in the past, my only way to commit to multiple seasons is with a team I am passionate about, or the end goal of becoming that team. I could play seasons on seasons with Boise State, they're my team!! I also find it perfectly fun to work my way up to earning the job at Boise State, which I think took 4 years last time I ran with them.

#2) To combat RIDICULOUS success rates, you NEED NEED NEED house rules. Not just in terms of gameplay, but also in recruiting. Read through the "Dynasty House Rules Ideas" thread below:

http://forums.operationsports.com/fo...ule-ideas.html

It's long, but it will do wonders in keeping the game difficult. Change your sliders, curb high end recruiting, try to recruits "true to the team" if you will. a 2* program getting 4-5* recruits is not only unrealistic, it leads to failed dynasties because its too easy. Force yourself to use your OC's playbook, not your own. Limit how many times you call "money plays"...force yourself to open up that playbook! (both offensive and defensive). It creates a much more difficult time, which is more realistic.

Sliders do amazing things to make this game harder, btw.

House rules and sliders are HUGE. I'm entering 2020 with Sonoma State and have not won a title yet (lost it last season 38-31 in my BCS championship debut). I've never had it take this long, it feels so much more organic, and way more fun.

#3) Document your dynasty, in some way. Keep track of each season: opponents, scores, key players from each game (on both sides), your stats, etc.

This gives you a way to look back and remember past seasons. It can create more storylines to keep you interested. IE "ok were playing Boise State, last year we lost 31-10 when Kellen Moore shedded us...can we keep him in check this year? (or maybe he graduated, do you have a chance now that he is gone?)" just stuff like that. For me, I start to waver in dynasties when I no longer remember how past seasons played out. It helped me a lot to start a dynasty thread on OS. You don't need to make a novel or thread, but even just a word document/spreadsheet where you keep info will breathe life into years 4, 5, 6 and so on when you lose interest. I'm in 2020 for my teambuilder Sonoma State...furthest I've ever been. A big part is because I can tap into my thread and see how games went, how last meetings with teams went, who won the bowl games, etc etc etc.

#4) Don't be afraid to change directions in your dynasty. Maybe you're 3 years in, and doing well with Idaho...but you get offered a new HC spot at struggling bottom feeder Washington State (or another power 5 program that has struggled a lot)? Take the job! Be a real coach, and move up the ranks. That can refresh things for you.

#5) Make stuff up! Doing a bit too well? Ok, your QB just got kicked off the team for a drinking escapade. Your star running back hurt himself in practice...etc. Find ways to bring realism to it, get guys off the field. Hold guys out for "injuries" since NCAA has way too few of them. If it feels real, you will like it more.


Hope these help!

Re: How do you commit to a dynasty?
 

What's weird is I've used all kinds of different slider sets but yet I can't remember the last time I've had a season where I won less than 10 games... I appreciate the tips though!

Re: How do you commit to a dynasty?
 

Definitely documenting it was a big thing for me

Using pocketscouts webpage creator

Re: How do you commit to a dynasty?
 

I still regularly get 10 win seasons, they're just tougher wins. 2-3 one score victories, a couple comeback wins, etc.

Curbing the money plays is probably the toughest "in game" change I made. IE can't call any play more than 3-5 times total. It really made me branch out and explore the playbooks more, use more strategy. It became apparent that plays I always though "didn't work" were much more situational, as opposed to those that always work somehow. It made moving the ball much tougher.

Re: How do you commit to a dynasty?
 

Here's what I do:

1) Eliminate plays I become reliant on. I take them right out of my playbook.

2) Limit your recruiting. I do this in a couple of ways. I have a 300 mile radius from the city of my school that I can recruit in. That's not a huge deal for most schools. However, I was an OC at Wyoming in my current dynasty for five years and I loved recruiting there because it limited me to like 4-6 states (can't remember the exact amount) but many of them only have 5-8 players in each state. So I'm choosing from about 50 kids to fill my roster. That left me very thin in many spots, and when I missed in recruiting, I couldn't just recruit someone else simply because there wasn't anyone else to recruit. I've since taken the HC job at Old Dominion in my dynasty, but I'm going back to Wyoming as soon as I get the chance to be the HC there; it just never was offered to me.

3) Hardest schedule you can give yourself

4) Avoid coaching in Florida, Texas or California because the recruiting grounds are too good. Ohio, too, to a lesser extent.

5) Document your recruiting and your stats. It's nice to have the record books update in game, but I get as much joy seeing a RB reach, say, fourth all time in rushing at my school as I do getting the notification that a RB has broken the school record.

6) I employ a different progression system than what's in game. In game, players gain basically +5 on average every offseason. I run a random number generator and get a work ethic for each player on my roster and I use that to adjust their ratings in each pre-season. This allows more fluidity in my depth chart, where as when I rely on the game for my players training, my best players are always my best players and they don't really get unseated. By controlling it in this manner, I get more variation.

7) I just have fun how I like to have fun. As someone said, if it's most fun for you in years 1-3, then play years 1-3 in a bunch of different dynasties and enjoy it. Everyone is different, so do what you like.