Newbie / Small Question Thread

[jaygr]

I hope it is okay for a thread like this. I figured it may be beneficial for any new players or players who haven't played in a very long time such as myself.

I'd like to start out with some questions I have:

1) When I am searching free agents, what does it mean when their name is green? what about blue? Why do some of the free agents have a team listed for them instead of Free Agent?

2) Any general advice on contracts? This is where I am really struggling. I just hosed my team a bit with some bad deals. I don't need a detailed guide (unless you want to), but just looking for some general guidance. How do I know what to offer? Is their demand usually at least reasonable, a good starting point? Or can it vary? Any tips of finding the averages, ex. what is the going rate for a decent tight end?

3) What does performing interviews do for me before the draft? I know some of the bar changes to an orange, does that mean that there is a pretty good idea those values are correct? In general, how much should I trust what I am seeing for the gray and blue bars for the draftees?

4) I noticed on the injury history for some players, there is an (X) next to the injury. What does that mean?

[QuikSand]

I hope it is okay for a thread like this. I figured it may be beneficial for any new players or players who haven't played in a very long time such as myself.

I'd like to start out with some questions I have:

1) When I am searching free agents, what does it mean when their name is green? what about blue? Why do some of the free agents have a team listed for them instead of Free Agent?

2) Any general advice on contracts? This is where I am really struggling. I just hosed my team a bit with some bad deals. I don't need a detailed guide (unless you want to), but just looking for some general guidance. How do I know what to offer? Is their demand usually at least reasonable, a good starting point? Or can it vary? Any tips of finding the averages, ex. what is the going rate for a decent tight end?

3) What does performing interviews do for me before the draft? I know some of the bar changes to an orange, does that mean that there is a pretty good idea those values are correct? In general, how much should I trust what I am seeing for the gray and blue bars for the draftees?

4) I noticed on the injury history for some players, there is an (X) next to the injury. What does that mean?

Briefly:

1) Green - player joining your team would create an affinity - a good chemistry effect within his player group

2) Very complicated question, FOF veterans will be sifting through this a lot... in general, the biggest way to get into serious contract trouble is by backloading deals - so if possible try to keep the salary amounts flat, or close to it... frex don't squeeze in a guy on a contract that costs you 3-12-13-14 if you can't handle the out years

3) details from the nex game pending, but overall - interviews give you a more refined guess on the player's eventual ratings, and some added insight into his prospects... also an area where many veterans are going to really be combing through to see how this works differently now

4) injury with an (x) means he aggravated an existing injury and got hurt again

[jaygr]

Thanks for the reply, Quiksand.

I thought of another question that came up. I know in the game plan settings for defense there is an option to switch between 34 and 43.

Is there a similar way to go with a style on offense or is it just determined by the details of each attribute on the game plan? For example is there a quick selection I could make if, say, I wanted to be a smash-mouth run team that would tailor my game plan that way? Or would I need to adjust each setting myself to tailor it that way?

[Pyser]

i havent tried myself yet but i believe bens gameplan library from the last version of the game is still compatible with this version. that would be a good place to start, and you can tweak yourself from there

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

Is there any way of seeing what other teams have offered during free agency? During the stages, I double click on the player and click view contract. On that screen there is a window that says other offers. Usually I only see my team as having made an offer. Yet when I end the stage that player has signed with some other team for a lot more money.

If there isn't a way to see what other teams are offering, what strategy do you use for top players so you don't get blindsided with having your offer rejected

[jaygr]

How does one get a cap violation penalty? I seem to have lost a 3rd round pick because of one.

Also, the only reason I knew about this was because I happened to be looking for something else in the transactions log and saw it.

Wouldn't you think something like having a cap violation and losing a 3rd round pick would be something worth getting an email about?

[nflchampion]

How do you call your own plays? I've always done sim-and-watch style FOF games, but I wanted to play around with the coach-mode play calling stuff and I can't figure out how to trigger it.

Edit: Figured it out. For anyone as dense as I am, turn on the scoreboard and you will have a box to click to call your own plays

[Karim]

Does the application remember its size and position, or is it just me? Every time I start the application, it starts almost maximized and I have to resize it.

It also doesn't remember which dialogs you had open, although it remembers the position within the application.

A bit annoying to have to do this every time you start the game.