brza37's Blog
The league will be fully run and managed through xtreme-football.net. Thanks to the additions the guys at XFN have made we will have full player contracts, free agency, draft and stat-tracking for the entire course of the franchise. If you're not familiar with XFN you can find out more here:
http://xtreme-football.net/smle
In the future we will be using the forums at league manager for all league matters. Until that time you can sign-up by PMing me your PSN ID, country and your team choice(s) here. Below are the settings and league rules:
Difficulty: All-Pro
Quarter Length: 8 min
Accelerated Clock: 20 seconds
Injuries: On
Advance Schedule: Every 3 Days
This is a sim league, so play realistically. That means don't try to cheat the game's AI as a strategy, and if you don't see NFL teams making those types of playcalls, moves or tactics every week then you shouldn't be using them here either. Yes, there are exceptions to almost every rule and certain situations where something out of the ordinary is acceptable, just make sure it is justifiable and doesn't become the norm.
These rules are for games against Humans and the CPU too. If you're looking for a league where you can have 200 receptions with your RB, pad your stats by blowing out the CPU or get 30 sacks by playing your 95 speed S at OLB then this isn't the league for you.
So, now to the rules.
Audibles: When calling an audible, you must allow the defense to adjust and be set for at least one second before snapping the ball.
Mixing up the Playcalling: Varying your playcalling on both offense and defense is a requirement of sim play. On offense, be sure to show your opponent different formations and different plays out of each.
It is understandable (and acceptable) for a team that is down by a lot to become one dimensional, needing to throw the ball. By the same token, a team that is up by a lot is permitted to become one dimensional running the ball to keep the clock running. As long as the game is close, we expect all box scores to reflect a concerted effort at reasonable play calling. This means that no game should end with a run/pass ratio of 75/25 or vice versa.
On defense, be sure to mix up coverages, blitzes, and the like. Showing blitz should be used sparingly, but can be an option to mix it up. Sitting in Cover 3 or DE Contain all game, for example, is prohibited. In addition to making games more sim, mixing up your playcalling makes you a more lethal weapon as a coach. The more versatile you are on either side of the ball, the more you will be able to play mind games and set up plays against your opponent. The only exception to this goes along with offenses becoming one dimensional. If your opponent is forced to become one dimensional due to the score, you will be permitted to do so on defense.
When making adjustments on the field pre-snap, be sure that you are not making the exact same adjustments on every play. Constant press coverage, constant line stunts, shifting the DL and linebackers in the same manner every play and the like falls under the category of not mixing up play calling, and is frowned upon. In addition, moving anyone other than the player you will control is prohibited.
Special Formations
- Goal line offensive formations may be used on inside either 10 yard line.
- Outside the 10 yard lines, you may not use goaline for anything other than short yardage situations on 3rd and 4th down. It must be no more than 3 yards.
- Goal line defense may only be used as follows: defending goal line offense, defensive situations inside your own 10 yard line, and on 3rd or 4th and less than 4.
- Hail Mary formations are to be used for instances requiring a hail mary e.g. limited time on the clock, needing a score to win, tie or to put yourself in position to have a better chance at winning at the end of either half.
- Punt Block and Punt Return are to block punts and return them, respectively. Under no circumstances should these plays be ran other than for those purposes. The same applies to FG defenses
Position Changes - only the following positions are interchangeable:
OLB-MLB
DE-DT
OT-OG-OC
K-P
CB-FS-SS
FB-TE
Dual Halfback is allowed in Shotgun Formations and Split Formation
OFFENSE
Going on 4th Down: We encourage straight play in this league, however, we do not want to limit players to the point where they cannot play aggressively. With that in mind, there will be a simple rule on 4th downs:
* Whenever you are past the 50 yard line with 1 yard or less to go, you are permitted to go for it on 4th down.
* If you are not up by more than one score and between your opponents' 35 and 50 with less than 5 to go, you are permitted to go for it on 4th down.
* If you are behind by two touchdowns or more in the second half, you can go for it whenever you like.
* If you are the losing team in the 4th quarter, you can go for it whenever you like.
Motioning: Motioning by backs and receivers is allowed. However manually motioning your WR's before the snap should be kept to a realistic minimum. Snapping the ball when a motioned WR is inside the tackle box is not allowed unless the playart calls for it.
Hurry Up Offense: All teams are allowed to run the "hurry up" offense in both two minute drill situations. Any team losing in the 4th quarter is permitted to hurry up as often as they like. When using the hurry up offense, please allow your opponent to set their defense before snapping the ball. Purposely trying to cause offsides penalties or taking advantage of defensive AI is not allowed.
Playclock: We're all here to play football. Keep in mind we play anywhere from 8 minute quarters here; not 15 like the NFL. So please choose your plays as quickly as possible on offense and make every effort to do so before the play clock gets close to running out. We do realize, however, that certain situations in the game may require some extra time when choosing a play. You may run the game clock with under 3 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter. Or if your trying to prevent another possession before the half.
Play Action: Keep in mind it is unrealistic to call a PA Pass when it is 3rd down and more than 10. You may call a designed PA play and audible your RB to block or go into a pattern to stop the Playaction. Playaction should not be "over utilized" when you have not established the running game. Plain drop backs or shotgun formations should be the main passing formation for throwing the ball. Playaction is used to catch a defense off guard when you've been successful and pounding the rock during the drive or game. Be prudent in it's use.
QB Scrambling: Unrealistic QB scrambling/sprinting is frowned upon on pass plays, including screens. Constantly dancing from sideline to sideline, running straight backwards or well behind the line of scrimmage without being under pressure is not realistic. This does not include designed QB runs or broken/pressured play situations. And please no sprinting back in one direction and throwing back in the other direction. That stuff works in Madden but is impossible in real life.
QB Dropback: Purposefully dropping back 10 yards or more in the pocket during regular passing plays is not allowed. You are NEVER allowed to sprint straight back or out after the snap.
Running Up the Score: Good sportsmanship is mandatory of this league, so running up the score on opponents will not be tolerated. This includes both User and CPU games. Please use good judgment when leading by a large margin. There isn't a reason to see multiple 70-80 point scoring games.
There are things you should do when on the positive end of a blow out. Removing your starters, punting, running the ball and chewing the clock should be staples of your gameplan. Starters should not be scoring when up by four scores. Late scoring will also not be tolerated. When up big, there should not be a reason to score a TD in the closing seconds of the game.
Spreading the Ball Around: WR's should be the main target for passing plays. HB's should be checkdown receivers and not primary targets. HB receptions should not get out of hand or be a primary aspect of an offensive gameplan.
Excessive offensive audibles and hot routes (changing formations): Calling audibles at the line of scrimmage is commonplace in every level of football. However, these audibles are almost always to plays in the same formation, or to flip the side of the play. Audibles to a completely different formation should rarely be seen outside of no-huddle periods. Audibles to a different play in the same formation, or to flip the personnel to the other side of the field to run the same play is permitted. Calling an audible to change the formation circumvents personnel rules (I.E. WR at TE, WR at FB, HB at FB), and is not allowed.
DEFENSE
Moving Players: On defense, shifting linebackers, defensive backs and the defensive line is permitted. However, if you move a individual defensive player manually before the snap you must control that player at the snap of the ball. This includes moving a player to cover an assignment.
You are NOT allowed to move a DL or LBer far outside the tackle box for blitzing purposes.
Constantly spreading or pinching your DL or LBs and 'showing blitz' falls under the rules for mixing up your playcalling. If for some reason one of your players doesn't line up correctly, you can move him to where he needs to be and make an additional switch and move. This is easy to spot from the offenses point of view and rarely happens (maybe once in every couple games).
Blitzing: While blitzing is certainly a part of the game, please be realistic when doing so, and do not use it excessively. Any attempt to confuse the AI when blitzing is prohibited (ie. spreading your defensive line then shifting your LB's to create AI holes). This also falls under the rules for mixing up playcalling.
Defensive Playcalling: Please call realistic defensive plays for the proper situation. There are formations in these games that allow for unrealistic results. Using the 3-3-5 or 1-5-5 as your base defense, however effective it may be, will not be tolerated. There are OL AI problems with these formations that make them super-effective against heavy run sets.
Defensive Subs: OLB are not suppose to play DE, Safeties are not suppose to play LB, etc in any package or formation, even if it's a game based package. It is just too much of an AI headache. Keep players in their original positions at all times.
Playing the Position: Safeties do not normally play close to the line of scrimmage. Defensive linemen do not play in the secondary. Regardless of what player you are controlling, make sure you are playing that position. Controlling a safety and crashing him straight towards the line of scrimmage is not sim. A safety's first step is NEVER towards the line of scrimmage. Note that nickel DBs and SS (rovers) in a 4-2-5 can also be easily abused. Use sim judgment in the way you control players on defense.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Fake Punts and FGs: Any fake punt or field goal must follow the same rule used when going for it on fourth down. If you are allowed to go for it on 4th down in that situation, you can also fake the punt or field goal. Faking a FG or punt is part of the game and provides "the element of surprise," but please be realistic. You are only allowed one fake punt or fg per game.
Onside Kicks: Onside kicks are permitted at any time by the losing team in the 4th quarter only.
Punt & Kickoff Returns: No manually moving an extra blocker in place. In other words no dropping back (manually) an extra player on punt returns and no controlling an up man on the kickoff and moving him back as a lead blocker. Doing so creates easy special teams TD’s and is cheesy.
WEEKLY GAMEPLAY
Pausing: Madden allows a limited number of pauses during the game, so please keep that in mind. If it's ever necessary to pause the game, please provide a quick explanation to your opponent if your not utilizing your headset at that time. Pausing the game to show poor sportsmanship will not be tolerated. Please do not start a game if you know something will interfere with your playing time.
Most game's pauses operate on a timer. If you select 'Resume' it will put your opponent on a timer before it auto resumes the game. Please take note that if you do not see a timer on your screen, your opponent has not selected 'Resume'.
Disconnects: Games will disconnect from time to time for various reasons (and usually have nothing to do with either user's setup). It will be up to the players involved to figure out a resolution; with the choices being to either replay the game from the beginning or simulate for an obvious winner. If you cannot reach a resolution, contact the commish. I expect all owners to have a reliable, high-speed ISP. If you are having any type of Internet trouble, please do not start the game until the problem is resolved.
Quitting a Game: - Please do not start a game if there's a chance you will not be able to finish it. In the case of an emergency situation where you are forced to leave the game, an agreement should be made between both players as to whether the game will be replayed from the start, finished against the CPU or simulated in the opposing teams favor.
Scheduling: We all have busy lives and missing games may be necessary at times. I simply asks that you make every effort to schedule and play your own games by utilizing the message boards. ALL GAMES MUST BE SCHEDULED ON THE FORUM (the forum will be set up at a later date). If a problem arises with your game and it is not scheduled between both parties on the forums, it will result in a sim. If one party attempts to schedule a game and his opponent doesn't respond then the opponent will be booted from the franchise to allow a game versus the CPU. In the unfortunate event that you are unable to schedule a game, we ask that you do the following:
-- Notify your opponent via email and message board as early in the week as possible.
-- Notify the commissioner that your opponent will need to play the CPU or that your CPU game will need to be simmed.
The first failure to follow these guidelines will result in a Warning.
After 2 failures without an excuse you could be booted permanently.
Restarts: There will be NO restarts for user vs. cpu games. In the unlikely event that you experience a problem/emergency during your game, notify the commissioner immediately. Failure to instantly notify the commissioner will result in a sim. If restarts become a trend you will be dismissed from the franchise.
Trade Rules:
CPU Trades are not allowed.
Each team is allowed a maximum of 4 trades per league year (After the Superbowl a new league year will start with FA and trades)
Each trade may involve up to 4 players/picks per side
The trade deadline is Week 6 during the season. Trades will then be allowed again after the Superbowl
There will be a trade committee that must approve of a trade before it will be officially allowed
The trade committee must vote with 2/3 of the vote allowing the trade in order for it to be accepted
In order for a trade to be reviewed by the committee all team owners involved must post and accept the trade in the proper Trade forum.
Free Agency:
We have a salary cap and free agents will go to the highest bidder. There will be two free agency periods.
The first FA period will start sometime after the Super Bowl and before the Draft. All owners will be able to bid on any FA through XFN as long as the total amount of bids doesn't exceed your available cap room. After 12 hours of inactivity on a particular FA the free agent will go to the highest bidder. This FA period will last for 3 days. At the end of the 3 days any remaining bids go to the highest bidder.
After that we'll have the draft. Then after the draft the second free agency period starts which basically lasts the rest of the year until the Super Bowl again. This FA period is also run through XFN bidding and is basically just for filling out your roster or replacing injured players. FAs won't be awarded until 48 hours of inactivity though so other owners don't have to check the forum daily to keep up with free agents. All owners have to stay under the cap at all times but XFN will control that so it won't be difficult to keep up with.
EDIT: Our Franchise is still going strong
If you are a Madden 12 player who lives in Europe and either haven't joined an online franchise yet, your other league is slowing down or you just can't get enough of Madden online franchise we'd be happy to have you join us.
We're heading into our fifth season soon on PS3 and looking to add a few new members. Its a great time to join the league so you can build your team the way you want with the draft and free agency coming up this weekend. Joining now will also help you secure a spot in our league before Madden 13 comes out.
We play realistic nfl-style football (ie. sim-style, no money plays, no going for it every fourth down or running up the score) and have players of various skill-levels. Most importantly we practice good sportsmanship so that no matter the skill level everyone can have fun.
We advance every 3 days and have an active forum with chatbox, weekly roundups of all the action, stat-tracking and awards for the league's top performers. We also use Xtreme Football Network for all roster transactions (player contracts, salary cap, adds, drops, draft and trades). You can take a look at that here:
http://xtreme-football.net/SMLE
If you're interested just register on our forum below and let us know which team you'd like in the Sign-Up thread:
http://sml-europe.forumocean.com/
# 2
infemous @ Aug 10
this is gonna be sa - weeeeeet! Love the rules! Now let's get some more owners!
# 4
brza37 @ Aug 12
Yup. Up to 16 teams now with 3 weeks to go before European release. Lets get that NFC West and the AFC filled out now.
# 6
brza37 @ Aug 18
We're up to 19 Owners now! We could really use someone in the AFC East though so we've got competition in every division.
# 7
Nev @ Aug 18
On the position changes rule. Players make the switch between DE and OLB all the time. Most 3-4 OLBs played DE in college.
Elvis Dumervil was drafted as DE, moved to OLB 2 seasons ago and now is back at DE. Super Mario is a prototype 4-3 DE that will make the switch to 3-4 OLB.
What I'm trying to say is I like playing a 3-4 and when I go to nickel I sub my OLBs (pass rushers) to DE.
Elvis Dumervil was drafted as DE, moved to OLB 2 seasons ago and now is back at DE. Super Mario is a prototype 4-3 DE that will make the switch to 3-4 OLB.
What I'm trying to say is I like playing a 3-4 and when I go to nickel I sub my OLBs (pass rushers) to DE.
# 8
brza37 @ Aug 18
Yeah, I know what you mean. I had a hard time with this one since it does happen irl with teams switching from 4-3 to 3-4 or vice versa. But the negative side is that I've been in a couple of leagues where guys were drafting these freak 90SPD LBs that are abundant in every Madden draft the past couple years and putting them at DE and getting ridiculous amounts of sacks. I want to avoid that type of exploit. I've also seen leagues where they allow it but have weight requirements for the switch. We could possibly do that. I just need to see how that will work out.
# 9
brza37 @ Aug 18
Also the problem is the ratings. OLBs in Madden generally have much higher Block Shed and Speed ratings than DEs and when they get put at DE they usually jump by at least 10 points in their overall.
# 10
infemous @ Aug 18
Easy way to overcome the OLB issue is to put it to the trade committe, or have it voted on by the league.
You get lax about one rule and then everything else loosens up like a 'wizened sleeve' haha
Fact is, is OLBs at DE is an exploit due to donny Moore being a ****** and EA not putting carre into finer elements of the game.
You get lax about one rule and then everything else loosens up like a 'wizened sleeve' haha
Fact is, is OLBs at DE is an exploit due to donny Moore being a ****** and EA not putting carre into finer elements of the game.
# 11
infemous @ Aug 18
When I say put it to the committee I mean elect one OLB per team to be moved to DE. You must provide weight, height and attributes as well as in real players history of playing at the DE position and their effectiveness there.
That suggestion could then be left to either the trade committee to vote on, or the entire league.
Example.
I'm texans and want the 4-3 back. I put Mario up for vote back to DE citing size and history at the position. He should be approved.
A way to balance this could be that you can only have one OLB to DE conversion per team, so say I draft a beast OLB who'd be nasty at DE, I'd have to move Mario back to OLB to have this new OLB at DE.
What do you make of this brza? I think Nev makes a valid point, but in Madden terms needs control.
That suggestion could then be left to either the trade committee to vote on, or the entire league.
Example.
I'm texans and want the 4-3 back. I put Mario up for vote back to DE citing size and history at the position. He should be approved.
A way to balance this could be that you can only have one OLB to DE conversion per team, so say I draft a beast OLB who'd be nasty at DE, I'd have to move Mario back to OLB to have this new OLB at DE.
What do you make of this brza? I think Nev makes a valid point, but in Madden terms needs control.
# 13
Nev @ Aug 19
Has a website been sorted out yet?
Its just I know a guy who might be able to sort one out. Can't promise anything but I could ask him.
Its just I know a guy who might be able to sort one out. Can't promise anything but I could ask him.
# 14
brza37 @ Aug 19
Yeah, I've been in contact with the guys from myleaguemanager.net and we will definitely be using it for the team and league management features as well as for the forum so that we have everything in one place. The LM developer told me that it was supposed to be finished last week but apparently its still not ready yet. Hopefully it should all be finished soon so we can move everything there and get league discussion going. I'll let everyone know as soon as that happens. Thanks for asking though.
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