Small Sample Size, No Idea If It Will Be A Pattern, But Still Refreshing To See

[Ben E Lou]

WOOF's first season with 6.3/6.3a will be completed tomorrow morning with Doggie Bowl XV. Both participants graded better league-wide in rushing offense and defense than they did in passing offense. One of the Bowl teams in particular can be characterized in no other way as a "strong running game, good defense, game manager at QB" kind of team. Their numbers...

<center>
<center><table style="border-collapse: collapse;" border="2" bordercolor="#004481" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="595"> <tbody><tr> <td colspan="2" bgcolor="#ed1c24">
</td> </tr></tbody></table><center><table style="border-collapse: collapse;" border="1" bordercolor="#ed1c24" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" width="595"><tbody><tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#93d2ff" width="168">#8 SCORING OFFENSE
(23.3 ppg)</td></tr><tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#93d2ff" width="168">#13 TOTAL OFFENSE
(333.2 ypg)</td></tr><tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#93d2ff" width="168">#26 PASSING OFFENSE
(192.0 ypg)</td></tr><tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#93d2ff" width="168">#2 RUSHING OFFENSE
(149.3 ypg)</td></tr></tbody></table> <center><table style="border-collapse: collapse;" border="2" bordercolor="#004481" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="595"> <tbody><tr> <td colspan="2" bgcolor="#ed1c24">
</td> </tr></tbody></table><center><table style="border-collapse: collapse;" border="1" bordercolor="#ed1c24" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" width="595"><tbody><tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#93d2ff" width="168">#2 SCORING DEFENSE
(13.9 ppg)</td></tr><tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#93d2ff" width="168">#7 TOTAL DEFENSE
(309.1 ypg)</td></tr><tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#93d2ff" width="168">#17 PASSING DEFENSE
(222.1 ypg)</td></tr><tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#93d2ff" width="168">#6 RUSHING DEFENSE
(104.6 ypg)</td></tr></tbody></table><center>
</center></center></center></center></center></center>...and their roster:

WOOF: Raleigh Recalcitrants Roster (http://www.younglifenorthdekalb.com/woof/ben/teampageroster.php?teamid=19)

Ain't no QB-WR-WR there, boyz.

[redfox000]

Well that is refreshing to see.

[gstelmack]

Go Raleigh! That formula was how we won our first Doggie Bowl, glad to see the new owner is keeping the tradition alive...

[Dutch]

WOOF: Raleigh Recalcitrants Roster (http://www.younglifenorthdekalb.com/woof/ben/teampageroster.php?teamid=19)

I really need to pay attention to more of the pages that Ben's created...that one is awesome. I love the little number next to the position denoting pro-bowl appearances.

[Front Office Midget]

It's been really revealing to see all the assumptions about FOF that I was completely unaware of.

I feel like I play FOF maybe as it was... meant to be played? I've played less than 30 seasons of FOF2k7, and only about half of those were in a real multiplayer league. When you speak of 6.3a as a game changer, you're referring to assumptions I never had. I never realized that I should have been gameplanning to the game's glitches rather than my team's strengths. In the eNFL, I had the best QB and WR for 5 seasons (amazing DE as well) and got 0 Championships, and wondered how other teams were coming close to matching our production. I didn't realize I was supposed to ignore very short and screen passing, never run inside, throw longer than a real team would, etc. I tried to manage my team realistically, and while we ended up with great stats, they weren't that great compared to other FOF teams, which confused me a lot.

Up until those 5 seasons, I had never had a great QB/great WR on FOF, and didn't know how to play it. It was a learning curve that I never perfected. I feel like everyone else runs/reads a bunch of tests to try to figure out how to play the game. Weird.

Anyway, I've been thinking about this for a while, and didn't know a fresh place to post it. It's just fascinating that there are all these assumptions everyone had about the game, that I had never figured out as a casual observer who assumed it worked more or less like real football.

That's all.

[Ben E Lou]

I didn't realize I was supposed to ignore very short and screen passing, never run inside, throw longer than a real team would, etc.I don't think you were "supposed" to do these things. The reality of multiplayer in *any* computer game, though, is that people will, whether by testing or observation, start to realize what does and doesn't work well, and will adjust accordingly, and often in unrealistic manners. For example, when the new stats of FOF2K7 came out, quite a few people noticed very quickly that inside running was yielding *far* less yards per carry than outside running. Some tested, some experimented in SP, and others probably just experimented in MP until they concluded that outside running was just far more effective, consistent, etc. than inside running. The teams that did best at inside running were generally the temas that did it the least.

This sort of thing will always exist in online play. The latest version certainly seems to model NFL football more closely than anything we've seen to date, but no matter what, in any online gaming environment, the people who play to "the system" will always have at least some advantage over the people who play straight "realistic." The hope is that as the game evolves (be it FOF or anything else), the amount of advantage can be lessened considerably. I feel like 6.3a was a big step forward in this area.

[redfox000]

Anyway, I've been thinking about this for a while, and didn't know a fresh place to post it. It's just fascinating that there are all these assumptions everyone had about the game, that I had never figured out as a casual observer who assumed it worked more or less like real football.

That's all.

I agree with you, which is why I like SP better than MP. I play as if my team is a real life team and try to all around manage it the way I would manage a team in the NFL. For example, I am a huge Bears fan and have been since 4th or 5th grade. As such, most of my SP teams (but certainly not all as I am no dummy and can take advantage of roster strengths) tend to be like the original post - strong running game, strong defense, game manager at QB with average WR's.

[Front Office Midget]

I don't think you were "supposed" to do these things. The reality of multiplayer in *any* computer game, though, is that people will, whether by testing or observation, start to realize what does and doesn't work well, and will adjust accordingly, and often in unrealistic manners. For example, when the new stats of FOF2K7 came out, quite a few people noticed very quickly that inside running was yielding *far* less yards per carry than outside running. Some tested, some experimented in SP, and others probably just experimented in MP until they concluded that outside running was just far more effective, consistent, etc. than inside running. The teams that did best at inside running were generally the temas that did it the least.

This sort of thing will always exist in online play. The latest version certainly seems to model NFL football more closely than anything we've seen to date, but no matter what, in any online gaming environment, the people who play to "the system" will always have at least some advantage over the people who play straight "realistic." The hope is that as the game evolves (be it FOF or anything else), the amount of advantage can be lessened considerably. I feel like 6.3a was a big step forward in this area.

I guess what I'm saying is... things I discover about the game are still new and exciting to me. I remember when I realized, after about 15 seasons (about 2 real life years) of playing, how efficient passing in the redzone was.

I guess I have a ton of fun playing it in moderation, and have never had any complaints, because I never really discovered any of the game's super-weaknesses before. Only when I started losing to teams worse than mine, consistently, did I realize something was awry. Oh well.

Just when I finally figured out the "common sense" things about 6.3... 6.3a comes along. Ha.