FOF2K7: Lots more mentors???
 

Is it just me, or are there significantly more mentors in this version?

I've perceived the same thing but I never studied it before so it could be just a perception.

I think there are. It was my understanding that a combo of leadership and intelligence resulted in mentors in 2K4. That doesn't seem to be the (sole?) case now as I see many rated in the 40's in the categories as mentors. Maybe a bug, maybe intentional, only Jim can say for sure.

I haven't done a comparison, but I had the same impression.

If there are, I'm wondering what the reasoning behind this is. I know that some players in MP leagues stick around solely because they are mentors. It seems like an increase in mentors would lead to this [unrealistic] practice becoming a bit rarer. It might also spur on the development of young players, which I think may have also been a topic of discussion at some point (though that might have been in the preseason debate). And if a larger portion of the league is middling where it comes to ratings, I could see teams overall getting younger quicker, while vets cycle through at a slightly faster rate.

Or, there might not be a change and I might just be throwing out nonsense theories. :D

More mentors to cancel out the red flag players. Maybe.

I felt there should be more mentors, for exactly the reason cuervo specified. I found I signed three guys in IHOF solely for their mentor status. While making more of them won't change this behavior, it will end the practice of trading guys just to use as mentors, which seems very unrealistic.

Question: Is the effect of mentors constant, or are some players better mentors than others?

Thank you!

What you talkin 'bout Willis?


Everytime I start a new league there are not any mentors anywhere? Someone in my MP league said you have to wait until year 2 to start seeing mentors. Why no Mentors in the first year?

Is this a 'bug'?

No bug - FOF2k4 was that way too.

What's odd is that the overall talent has decreased (as per your other thread SD) but thr number of mentors has increased. Perhaps the usefulness of mentors has been reudced in this version as well?

Why? Some kind of Flaw?

Nope, Mentors do not appear in a new league file until during the first off-season free agency.

Well, in that case then, yes there is a flaw. Why should there be no mentors in the first year and then suddenly a whole bunch show up in the second year? It doesn't make any sense. Hardly a show-stopper or anything worth fixing but still a flaw. Presumably there should be a mentor status flag in the initial player file.

I'd call it a design decision, or, if you must, likely a game-architecture limitation. We know that mentor status kicks in at the beginning of FA1. My guess is that since we don't start the game until the Preseason stage, that algorithm doesn't get a chance to get called in the first season.

This makes the start of the game even Stupider then.:mad:

I am already upset about having a GM sim where you are forced to start in the middle of an NFL "GM" season. Most NFL head coaches and GMs are hired after the Super Bowl, not after Training Camp is complete. Now, you tell me that because the creator makes you start after Free Agency is complete there are no mentors in the first year? That is just Stupid!!


Why can't the game be started after the Super Bowl like EA's Head Coach to avoid all these problems?

That was my guess as well. I'm not offering a criticism or saying that it should be "fixed", just pointing out that it is illogical viewed from within the game and, as such, a flaw.

If this bothers you THAT much, I suggest quick-simming year 1 and starting at the beginning of year 2. That being said, my personal preference would be that you just stick with EA Head Coach, and find a board where there's lots of talk about that game to post at.

Yes, I know this is the 2nd time I have been told on this board to sim ahead a year to fix a problem I had with this game.

Sheesh..... A little Touchy Feely arent we? The start date for this type of game is wrong! I guess since you can't defend your position it is just easier to make fun of people.:p

Better yet, sim ahead 10 or 20 years so the talent pool evens out and you get a whole new universe.

I don't have a position to defend. Having no mentors for one year (a year in which I have no rookie draftees, to boot) is pretty much a non-issue to me. I don't care. What I find alternately humorous and annoying is that you've got your panties in such a wad over a non-issue that it warrants a mad-face, multiple "THIS IS STUPID!!!" rants, comparisons to NFL Head Coach, and what appears to be a flat-out lie:

http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/...9&postcount=31

http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/...30&postcount=3

Fascinating.

The best way to go with ALL text sims, in my opinion.

I respectfully disagree. Complaining about the startpoint and the lack of mentors in year one and two is like saying, "Hey guys, great job with Mt. Rushmore, but I gotta tell ya, Teddy Roosevelt's left nostril is 5 inches too big."

While these two "issues" may not be what you hoped, when you actually play the game, you'll see that the depth and thought that went into the design blows the doors off of every other football simulation out there.

Btw, in the context of your writing, you mean "touchy" not "touchy feely". They mean two entirely different things.

This is "My" first FOF. Meaning this is the first time I owned an FOF game on "My" computer.

I have briefly played FOF2004 on a friends Laptop, but since I don't like text sims in general I never did buy it, or really got into it. My friend loves this game and is just like you in trying to defend the start date. After playing EA's NFL Head Coach I wanted to give this game another try and finally got around to purchasing it. I am hoping FOF multi player may change my mind about text sims. It sounds like I might of been better of starting with FM2007.

That still doesn't explain the idiotic start date of the game though.



***Shydog, I do not understand why you claim your team does not have any Rookies that need Mentors the first year?

Is that you, jbmagic? Can you READ??? I'm not trying to defend it. I just don't CARE about when it is, since I'm quicksimming the starts to my careers anyway. As Craig said, it has VERY little impact, so I see no need to defend it or attack it. I just find the venom you have for such a tiny thing to be alternately funny and sad. [Morgado]shurg[/Morgado]

I guess I am going to need to know what you are referring to here? The only thing I said about EA's Head Coach was that it started after the Super Bowl. I also said that this is the time when most Head Coaches and General Managers begin their careers. Where is this flat-out lie: you are referring to?


And, I still don't have a clue as to why you claim your team does not have any drafted rookies when you start your career? My teams always have the rookies that were drafted in the 2006 draft.

aaaaaaaand......

I'm spent.

You also made a comment about the draft in it.

YIt certainly appeared that in one place, you said that you didn't own FOF2K4, and in another, you said that you did. ou dismissed it as having played FOF2K4 on someone else's machine. Fair enough.


I don't use default rosters. The guys on my team that are rookies aren't players that I drafted.

Yeah...that's SkyDog in a nutshell. Touchy Feely. :D

I wasn't even gonna go there. :p

WOW, you must of read every post I have ever made here. I think you are confusing my posts in this thread with a post I made in another thread about EA's Head Coach and how I liked the "Live" draft feel of Head Coach.



This ends my rant on FOF's idiotic Start Date.

I guess I don't understand. What makes the start date "idiotic"? It's a design choice. You can say it's "poor" or even "ill-conceived", but I think using the term "idiotic" says more about you than the game.

I do, however, love your use of "must of". I'm going to have to use that one more often.

They kind of stand out.

I must of thought you might of been a troll, so I must of checked you out.

Nevermind the fact that coaches do develop in FOF2k4. They usually get better up until a point, and then they go to pot when they get old.