Ratings Questions

[Ajaxab]

I was wondering if anyone had any insight about the 'courage' rating for wide receivers. The draft file creator defines it as "ability to hang in there on routes planned across the middle of the field." So when exactly does this rating go into effect for gameplanning purposes since we can't dictate when routes across the middle occur? It would seem that short, medium or long routes could go across the middle.

I'm also a bit unsure about the 'reading the defense' rating as well. Again, the draft file creator defines it as "ability to adjust to effective defensive pass coverages." The key term seems to be 'effective' here. How does one know whether a defensive pass coverage is/has been effective? One could look at the stats for dbs, but how does one know if a solid passes defensed stat comes from the pass coverage skills of the defense or a defense that has played against poor/average quarterbacks, poor/average receivers or some combination of the three? Sure you can look at the opponents over the course of the year, but the number of variables make it difficult to discern what is really going on.

I guess this rating ambiguity flows into my broader frustration with FOF2K7. A good game provides its players with the ability to discern outcomes that have come from their decisions. I'm not ready to say FOF isn't a good game, but there are a lot of times where it's extremely difficult to tell whether any decision I've made has resulted in any kind of difference. Unfortunately, this seems to be poor design. Having to theorize about what some game features mean (see other threads about key run blocks, whether dbs are in bump 'n run or zone in certain coverages, the earlier ratings confusion about scouted vs. actual, etc.) seems unnecessary to me. Without knowledge of what some game features mean and how they work, it's hard to discern what is going on. I'm not asking to know how they work together, but I am asking to know what some of these things mean.

Do I want a simple game? Not at all. But I do wish there was a better way to discern what was going on. This ability to discern is that much more crucial when we can't see plays unfolding graphically. It was difficult to figure out what was really going on in FOF2K4 and has become that much more difficult in 2K7. I'm not ready to give up on the game yet and I want to like it, but it is beginning to feel more like work than play as I try to make some sense of all of this ambiguity and the frustration grows.

[RedKingGold]

I was wondering if anyone had any insight about the 'courage' rating for wide receivers. The draft file creator defines it as "ability to hang in there on routes planned across the middle of the field." So when exactly does this rating go into effect for gameplanning purposes since we can't dictate when routes across the middle occur? It would seem that short, medium or long routes could go across the middle.

Not entirely sure, but I believe a good key about when this rating is used is when you see "the receiver ran his route right over the middle of the field" in the game-log for the effect in coverage. What I don't know is whether players with higher ratings in coverage are more likely to run their route across the field or whether the courage rating only applies when such an opportunity is called. I believe this is likely the latter, but I have no empirical evidence either way.

I'm also a bit unsure about the 'reading the defense' rating as well. Again, the draft file creator defines it as "ability to adjust to effective defensive pass coverages." The key term seems to be 'effective' here. How does one know whether a defensive pass coverage is/has been effective? One could look at the stats for dbs, but how does one know if a solid passes defensed stat comes from the pass coverage skills of the defense or a defense that has played against poor/average quarterbacks, poor/average receivers or some combination of the three? Sure you can look at the opponents over the course of the year, but the number of variables make it difficult to discern what is really going on.

Again, not terribly sure, but I believe this rating helps when you start seeing the "defense looked very familiar with that play" starting to creep up. IRL, it appears to represent the ability of a QB to audible plays at the line to change the play from what was called. I think when looking at all of these ratings, its impossible to look at a singular player in a vaccuum as different players act differently in front of different defense. So, whereas a read defense QB might have a slight advantage over a defense lacking in play diagnosis in key positions, that advantage obviously disappears when both ratings are similar. Just like in real life, it's hard for the GM to be the puppet master on the field and control if and when a player will perform as he is supposed to.

I guess this rating ambiguity flows into my broader frustration with FOF2K7. A good game provides its players with the ability to discern outcomes that have come from their decisions. I'm not ready to say FOF isn't a good game, but there are a lot of times where it's extremely difficult to tell whether any decision I've made has resulted in any kind of difference. Unfortunately, this seems to be poor design. Having to theorize about what some game features mean (see other threads about key run blocks, whether dbs are in bump 'n run or zone in certain coverages, the earlier ratings confusion about scouted vs. actual, etc.) seems unnecessary to me. Without knowledge of what some game features mean and how they work, it's hard to discern what is going on. I'm not asking to know how they work together, but I am asking to know what some of these things mean.

I know that this issue as been beaten up more than that Barbaro funeral photo that's been surfacing among FOFC for weeks. However, to sum it up, some people get frustrated and aggravated by having the ball hidden from them, while others find the fun in not knowing all the answers. I fall in the latter category b/c I simply see football as a game where there are no right or wrong answers. Even great dynsaties in NFL history (Steelers, 49er's, Patriots) all lost games they probably should have one because they had simply more talent than the other team. Also, FOF is similar to the NFL in that it's easy to say that, for example, Troy Brown was a very underrated player for the Patriot's dynasty. But how do we quantify his value? That's the hard part. But we know, and the Patriots have known that he's a valuble player to keep around for whatever reason.

Do I want a simple game? Not at all. But I do wish there was a better way to discern what was going on. This ability to discern is that much more crucial when we can't see plays unfolding graphically. It was difficult to figure out what was really going on in FOF2K4 and has become that much more difficult in 2K7. I'm not ready to give up on the game yet and I want to like it, but it is beginning to feel more like work than play as I try to make some sense of all of this ambiguity and the frustration grows.

All I can say is that I hope you do find some enjoyment in the game. I think the hardest thing about FOF2K7 is that we're being forced to break some old habits. We're so programmed to be focused on the ratings of a particular player that we put his statistics out on the backburner. Similarly, we expect to know the exact impact of red flag players and cohesion, etc, etc. However, we cannot see these changes in our own eyes. Now, you might say that in the "real" NFL, we'd be able to see the talent with our own eyes. But can we really? QB Tom Brady was a 6th round draft pick. WR Troy Brown was an undersized receiver who was too slow to make an impact. OLB Mike Vrabel was a tweener who was too small to make it as a lineman and too big as a linebacker. Yet, all of these players (and many other examples) combined to become the greatest dynasty in the NFL's salary cap era. The moral of this story = the key to winning in FOF2K7 is to tailor your gameplan to your team's specific strengths and weaknesses. Just like any other strategy game, you can beat the odds and become a consistent success with a simple plan. However, don't expect the road to gold to be laid out for you. If it was in real life, Bill Belichek would still be the head coach of the Cleveland Browns who would never have moved to Baltimore after winning a couple of Super Bowls.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

The moral of this story = the key to winning in FOF2K7 is to tailor your gameplan to your team's specific strengths and weaknesses.

Of course, when it is sometimes impossible to know what the gameplan does, tailoring it is impossible. Coverage for safeties is the perfect example. And since there is a lack of feedback, it is possible we will never know how to tailor the gameplan for many things.