iOS/Android College Football - RivalStars

[Arles]

I got a 3-star CB and have leveled him 6 times. I'm taking I only want to level 2-3 star guys (and focus on the 3 stars first)? Given how powerful pass D is in this game - having an elite CB seems to be a nice plus.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

See post #40 above. Tough to get a 3-star guy to legend status, but each star increment has value to your team prestige. So, yes, some.

Yeah, I saw that. Seems like there is no reason to develop them until the guy in front of them is maxed, at least. Well, maybe until I get to diminishing returns I guess. I have yet to duplicate a player, so I'm stuck on 1 star for everyone thus far.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by Arles

I got a 3-star CB and have leveled him 6 times. I'm taking I only want to level 2-3 star guys (and focus on the 3 stars first)? Given how powerful pass D is in this game - having an elite CB seems to be a nice plus.

Leveling (and subsequently turning into Legends) your 1-star guys seems to be important for Prestige, which will in turn amplify your returns on victories.

My takeaway thus far:

• Leveling your 2+ star players is how you make your team perform better.
• Leveling your 1 star players won't demonstrably improve the team on the field, but is (one of) the quicker ways to improve your prestige, which will increase the returns on wins and allow you to develop faster.

Seems like a nice balance.

[QuikSand]

Once you get run over with tons of red whistles (training points), I think it makes sense to start maxing out your 1-star guys where you have more than one card. Get them to legend status, it gives the position group a small bump and boosts your program prestige. I think that's basically the game with the roster chaff.

[Radii]

So I think we figured out that the recruit "exclusive offers" are the same for everyone of the same prestige. My middle offer, the one for stadium currency (the silver), was a 1* CB recruit for 50,000. I have like 900k and nothing to do with it. Buy that 1* for 50k, buy the duplicate for 75k, upgrade him, easy legend.

[Arles]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

Leveling (and subsequently turning into Legends) your 1-star guys seems to be important for Prestige, which will in turn amplify your returns on victories.

My takeaway thus far:

• Leveling your 2+ star players is how you make your team perform better.
• Leveling your 1 star players won't demonstrably improve the team on the field, but is (one of) the quicker ways to improve your prestige, which will increase the returns on wins and allow you to develop faster.

Seems like a nice balance.

True, but there's no point in leveling 1-stars that you only have one card of.

My team is heavy on long pass and outside run on offense and long pass/short pass on D (with outside run third). I basically don't even worry about defending the inside run or increasing/prioritizing my inside run on offense. Even if you have a great result - it's 3-6 yards in most case. If you can shut down the long pass, I don't see how people score very much. At best, you are making extremely long drives and get screwed with a sack (somewhat likely if you are bad on long passes). Given the play rotations, you either need to go all in on runs/short passes (bad when down more than a TD) or be forced to use a LP and risk a loss/turnover.

On offense, my bread and butter running plays are the end around WR run and the QB sneak (both can get 6-11 yard). After that, I use my long passes with a high % short pass for 3rd and 5. If I hit a couple long passes early, it's usually a route (even again teams 5-10 ratings above me).

[QuikSand]

I'm wondering what this means...I'm still at prestige 6, despite having my team rating up around 75. Most of the opponents I see in the 70-90 range have much higher prestige.

I feel like I'm missing something, or else there are just massively diminishing returns from here out.

I should win 2,000 gold from this accursed tournament, so that should fuel some improvements. Still don't see how to get any of my guys up to the 150 plus range like I'm facing sometimes.

[Neuqua]

I can't even get duplicates enough to fill out my 3 stars. I'm not trying to spend any money, there's something really obvious I'm missing isn't there.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by Neuqua

I can't even get duplicates enough to fill out my 3 stars. I'm not trying to spend any money, there's something really obvious I'm missing isn't there.

I've only gotten a duplicate for a starter one time, a 2* that I got up to level 20. All of my other starters are level 10 and waiting on duplicates. I've lucked into two 1* duplicates and gotten them to legend status, and maybe I have a duplicate of a 2* sitting on my bench that i'm ignoring. They don't seem to come terribly easy.

I'm not sure if any of us are spending money. I'm just grabbing the free recruits on cooldown, and keeping an eye on the exclusive offers, the one for stadium revenue (the silver), and hoarding gold/coins until I get to 1000 for the big player pack.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

I'm wondering what this means...I'm still at prestige 6, despite having my team rating up around 75. Most of the opponents I see in the 70-90 range have much higher prestige.

Isn't prestige completely related to legends/stars and stuff, nothing to do with rating? My team is still rated 43 or so and I'm prestige 2, I played a team rated 45 or so that was prestige 11 in the tournament earlier today, but there seemed nothing at all special about them, so are they doing some weird strategy like spending all their gold coins on refreshing local recruiting for 1*'s... or just failing to comprehend the game and not upgrading? I'm not sure either.

[cartman]

I'm hoarding for the player pack too. In a little more than an hour we should get our Alliance bonus for being in the Top 100. Also the single player tourney rewards will drop at that time as well.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by Radii

Isn't prestige completely related to legends/stars and stuff, nothing to do with rating? My team is still rated 43 or so and I'm prestige 2, I played a team rated 45 or so that was prestige 11 in the tournament earlier today, but there seemed nothing at all special about them, so are they doing some weird strategy like spending all their gold coins on refreshing local recruiting for 1*'s... or just failing to comprehend the game and not upgrading? I'm not sure either.

Although I seem to remember it mentioning stars had something to do with Prestige, after getting level 1 prestige I have only seen a gain in prestige from making a guy a Legend...and that only got me about a third of the way to level 2, so I have a ways to go.

[CU Tiger]

I got the 1000 pack bonus yesterday. Nice but not overwhelming. Think I got 3 starters out of it

[Radii]

With about an hour to go in the tournament, refreshes to play more games are very cheap (6 gold when the time is at max). I fell from 30ish to 71st today due to a busy day at work and losing a few games that i auto'd. I'm keeping a close eye on it to make sure others don't go crazy and drop me down closer to 100. Spending some gold to secure the extra 500 that is the difference between 100th and 101st will of course be a no brainer if necessary.

[Neon_Chaos]

So is it worth getting 5 two star recruits or 2 3 star recruits with the recruit points?

[Vince, Pt. II]

It's fun getting up in the top 10 early in the Weekend Tournament even if I'm never going to stay there.

[Radii]

Out of the pack of 10 I got 4 4* players, two of them are VERY clear starters on defense and really really help my defense, which was kinda bad at OR and SP both. I got a 4* C that I think will start as well. 4* WR is great at SP but the rest of my offense can't support a switch to short passing, so he's on the bench for now.

I have very good LP offense, but none of the other three categories are that good. All my RB's are trash, a good RB pull could change my strategy quite a bit.

[vex]

Brown Bombers have applied.

QS, you might change the title of this thread as this is also available on Android.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by Neon_Chaos

So is it worth getting 5 two star recruits or 2 3 star recruits with the recruit points?

I think you'll load up on 2* recruits quickly enough via the regular cooldown on local recruits + using your gold/coins rewards for packs of guarenteed 2* or better recruits that spending a more valuable currency on them is a complete waste.

I think the question is more whether you want 3* or 4* recruits with those points. Playing through the regular seasons you will also get some recruiting points. 25, 50, and 75 if you win all your "bowl games" through level 8. So once you get to that point you could either have a ton of 3* recruits, or 1 4* with some progress made towards another. that's a tougher decision for me currently.

[thesloppy]

This is one of those games that I'm not even sure I'm enjoying, as I play 4 hours in a row. I guess that sums up mobile gaming in it's entirety.

[cartman]

vex rounds out our max of 20

[Neon_Chaos]

Ok, finally got the 1000 gold pack. Holy crap. That was a flood of three stars and a five star.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

This is one of those games that I'm not even sure I'm enjoying, as I play 4 hours in a row. I guess that sums up mobile gaming in it's entirety.

Me, too, basically... and I'm fairly deep in and I started the damned thread.

[digamma]

This does have the potential to burn bright and then out like a comet. I managed to pick up a pretty QB in the 1000 gold pack last night, so will play him through the weekend at least.

[JAG]

Oh for sure. I can't imagine trying to grind out 10 copies of 10 5 star players or however many copies it would take. But I'm enjoying it for now and happen to have some free time so it works.

[Arles]

I got a 5-star corner in my 1000 pack and spent some money for the first time to get a duplicate. I figured it was worth it as the odds I get another 5-star of him are pretty slim. Without the 2nd, he would just be a really nice 1-star guy (now I see their business model). He's a pretty big piece of my D as I also upgraded him to level 20 with the whistles I got in the flash sale pack. He has a 26 IR, 65 OR, 72 SP and 78 LP rating and a cool skill that cuts their success rate if we are winning in the last two minutes.

I've also adjusted my above theory a bit since I got a 3-star QB in the pack (and then a duplicate with my 25 recruit points). Now that I have a QB with a 90 SP, WR with a 65 SP and a center with a 72 SP, I can see the appeal of short passes. I also found two plays that get you 12.5 (double hitch) and 15.5 (Spot) yards as short passes (the Spot is perfect for me as it uses QB, WR and C ratings). I can usually drive my morale up fairly quick with my D and these short passes/outside runs. After that, it's game over unless I'm facing a very good team (10+ above). Even then, I can still usually pull it out.

Unless you want to pump a lot of money in, I think the best strategy to be better is to pump up your duplicate 2 star guys that fit your plays. But, once you get a few duplicate 3-stars, they can really boost (especially with a good skill). Don't make the mistake I did where I got a single 3-star and spent my whistles to get him to level 10 - only realizing he wasn't as good as my level 15 2-star I already had starting

Just keep building your maxed two-star guys and you should be pretty competitive. I would also save recruit points for 3-stars and only buy the 1000 pack with coins (after you have a good base). I have gotten a few duplicate 3-stars and they can help down the road. Don't forget to check the exclusive offer page for the coin guy. I've gotten duplicates for both 1-star (50K) and 2-star (100K) guys and the price is pretty cheap (you should have plenty of silver coins after a while). Finally, I always watch the ad videos to get double the training whistles.

[JAG]

Arles, my starting CB is 2 of 3 stars and is rated 50/50/100/100 for IR/OR/SP/LP. I don't understand why my guy has much better stats than your leveled up 5 star player (there is a 2% legend boost that I assume is factored in also, but that's only a couple points).

[rjolley]

Does the alliance work with the Android version? If so, I'm in.

[cartman]

Unfortunately we are at the max allowed in an alliance right now.

[rjolley]

Ah well. Interesting game. I'll probably keep it for a bit and check out the basketball version as well.

[QuikSand]

We're likely to have some deadweight to clear out of the alliance in time.

[QuikSand]

I do have this lingering suspicion that something is fishy in the game, overall.

My team has gotten fairly advanced after a couple weeks of play. I'm currently rated about 75 overan in average skill, and am at prestige level 6.

My typical opponent in the most recent tournament was maybe 80-90 skill, and 7-15 prestige. Similar for the games in my "seasons," I think I'm in Season 14 on that side, and for the championship game of my daily knockout tournament.

I am winning way more than 2/3 of these games, h/t old school reference , even when I set my in-game play to the AI.

That doesn't make a lot of sense. Much higher prestige and meaningfully higher skill seems like I ought to be in deep trouble. But I am rarely outclassed. So, how does that make sense?

1. I am either smart or lucky, and have managed to get my skill ratings aligned better than most other teams... such that my 75 is better than another team's 85.

2. I am either smart or lucky, and my gameplan is superior (either overall or just in using my player's skill sets) and even when the plays are called semi-randomly, I just have an advantage there.

3. There is some sort of active-player bias at work in the game, because someone realized that people prefer winning to losing.

4. Other things I am not considering at the moment.

...or some combination of any of the above, of course.

Im fearful of #3. Not that it's inherently wrong, I guess, I just don't like it in concept. I don't like the idea of JAG playing against me and he kicks my ass, then I play against him and I kick his ass, just because the deck is always stacked in favor of the guy deciding to feed the machine.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by JAG

Arles, my starting CB is 2 of 3 stars and is rated 50/50/100/100 for IR/OR/SP/LP. I don't understand why my guy has much better stats than your leveled up 5 star player (there is a 2% legend boost that I assume is factored in also, but that's only a couple points).

Wow, I'd love a guy like that. My best players are on offense, admittedly, but I'm slogging along with a Level 10 3* CB Roman rated 19-23-77-30. We are getting torched on long passes way too often. I have another guy Level 20 2* Hess rated 28-23-37-89 and I am flipping between them a bit, but neither guy is "the answer" for certain.

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

3. There is some sort of active-player bias at work in the game, because someone realized that people prefer winning to losing.

I get this feeling as well. I see the odds on each play that is called. I feel like I'm getting un-Bobble-like good luck in this game and getting more interceptions and breakaways than I think I have a right to. Just my perception right now.

[Arles]

Originally Posted by JAG

Arles, my starting CB is 2 of 3 stars and is rated 50/50/100/100 for IR/OR/SP/LP. I don't understand why my guy has much better stats than your leveled up 5 star player (there is a 2% legend boost that I assume is factored in also, but that's only a couple points).

Like Quik said, that's a really good guy for level 20. I *think* the main difference between 3 and 5 star is the skill they get and the long term potential. I'm not sure how likely it will be to get another copy of this 5-star guy, but if I lucked into one I'm guessing he could end up with an extremely high value. I do love my 5-star's skill though. I got it to level 2 and it's called "Nail in the Coffin". It's cuts down the opponent's rating in the final two minutes if I'm leading. There's been a few games against 10+ ratings above where I'm up something like 10-7 in the 4th and that skill really cuts down the green in his pie chance.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by Bobble

I feel like I'm getting un-Bobble-like good luck in this game

love that phrasing

[Arles]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

I do have this lingering suspicion that something is fishy in the game, overall.

My team has gotten fairly advanced after a couple weeks of play. I'm currently rated about 75 overan in average skill, and am at prestige level 6.

My typical opponent in the most recent tournament was maybe 80-90 skill, and 7-15 prestige. Similar for the games in my "seasons," I think I'm in Season 14 on that side, and for the championship game of my daily knockout tournament.

I am winning way more than 2/3 of these games, h/t old school reference , even when I set my in-game play to the AI.

That doesn't make a lot of sense. Much higher prestige and meaningfully higher skill seems like I ought to be in deep trouble. But I am rarely outclassed. So, how does that make sense?

1. I am either smart or lucky, and have managed to get my skill ratings aligned better than most other teams... such that my 75 is better than another team's 85.

2. I am either smart or lucky, and my gameplan is superior (either overall or just in using my player's skill sets) and even when the plays are called semi-randomly, I just have an advantage there.

3. There is some sort of active-player bias at work in the game, because someone realized that people prefer winning to losing.

4. Other things I am not considering at the moment.

...or some combination of any of the above, of course.

Im fearful of #3. Not that it's inherently wrong, I guess, I just don't like it in concept. I don't like the idea of JAG playing against me and he kicks my ass, then I play against him and I kick his ass, just because the deck is always stacked in favor of the guy deciding to feed the machine.

3 is definitely the answer IMO. I've played a few FOFC guys in the tourney over the past couple days (NeonChaos, Rio Grandes and Rabid Javelina). All were at or above my rating and I beat each like 21-0 (and ran auto for the 4th in a few). The AI basically calls balanced D a lot in the first drive - which often ends in a TD for the player (and higher morale). Then, they go for it on 4th early in the game and do some odd play calls later (used an IR play on 3rd and 9 that maxes at 5-6 yards, then punted on 4th and 3 at midfield). Once you get the morale train going, it's hard to lose if you have a good team/gameplan.

I think you could setup your team to have a better AI winning percentage. Things like having fewer low yardage IR plays and lottery passes (ie, Hail Mary) in your gameplan would help. I also think having players with passive skills and not active ones would help (I've never seen the AI "enable" a skill in game). The most annoying gameplan for me to face is someone with a ton of longer runs (ie, that go 6-9 yards) and a very tailored short pass team. I usually just play Pass D and those teams can chew up the clock. The problem is if the AI goes with a long pass play early that gets stopped for a loss or I get out to a big lead, they are in trouble. If you were super competitive and worried about your ranking, it might be worth having an "AI gameplan" that you leave when you are offline - but I doubt it's worth the effort (it would only impact if people played your team - and they could always pass and play another team ranked near you in the tourney).

[QuikSand]

So, I'm sitting on my 2000 gold from the last tournament (the first time I committed enough time to cash in meaningfully there), and am hoping to do so until I see an "exclusive offer" comes along that fits my needs. The 1000 gold Nationwide search is fine, but I'm not getting a ton of value out of the various 2* and 3* guys that come with it (well, I got lucky with my last one, and duplicated my starting WR letting me level him up to 20).

What I really need on my roster is a big time CB, MLB or OLB. That dude from JAG's team, even as a 3-star guy, would be just the tonic for us.

[Radii]

I think there is a mix of #3 in quik's post + truly horrible AI.

I just started up a "friendly game" from the alliance menu against Quik's team, with a 20 point differential between our teams (78.8-55.7) and I was able to win, but only with playcalling. With the shitty defensive AI there's no way I win otto. If he had one really good LP defender I couldn't even win with playcalling.

20 points is a big gap though. I usually get more 10 point gaps in tournament games, not the bigger ones like that, and I do win more of my fair share of them, though I feel like I have to play-call more frequently myself.

[JAG]

How the AI?

I agree it's terrible. I was beating teams that outclassed me by 25 points last tournament, even occasionally kneeling rather than calling a low-percent play that would lower morale, just by playing ultra-conservatively. Going for it on 4th and 10 deep in their own territory and calling an inside run, calling for a FG down a TD in OT or late in the game, and so on.

[digamma]

Originally Posted by Arles

I think you could setup your team to have a better AI winning percentage.

You never see this though, right? The only "consequence" of losing, if there is one, is that the winner gets points in the standings. Right?

[JAG]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

So, I'm sitting on my 2000 gold from the last tournament (the first time I committed enough time to cash in meaningfully there), and am hoping to do so until I see an "exclusive offer" comes along that fits my needs. The 1000 gold Nationwide search is fine, but I'm not getting a ton of value out of the various 2* and 3* guys that come with it (well, I got lucky with my last one, and duplicated my starting WR letting me level him up to 20).

What I really need on my roster is a big time CB, MLB or OLB. That dude from JAG's team, even as a 3-star guy, would be just the tonic for us.

I would think over time this would be the way to go, wait for a good player, or even better a good player you have you can level up. I think I'm still at where I'd rather just accumulate a bunch of players and try to pick up some plays I don't have. Some of those 2*/3* guys seem far better than they should be though. Apart from the CB I mentioned earlier, my 2* starting center is 75/75/75/75.

[rjolley]

So, do the players "graduate" (retire) or do you have them forever?

[Arles]

Originally Posted by digamma

You never see this though, right? The only "consequence" of losing, if there is one, is that the winner gets points in the standings. Right?

Well, in theory, if you are sitting in the top 10-15, the only way for teams to pass you would be to beat you (or another top 10 team). So, if your team was tough to beat, it would prevent teams from leapfrogging you. But, this would only matter if you were ranked really high.

Maybe it's sample size, but I've had two tough games against teams with ratings only 5-10 above me. I'm currently ranked #28 and been facing teams in the top 10 - but it seems like the luck/AI shifted in these games. I had three turnovers in one game and noticed the AI using the team's active skills pretty well (goes against my prior comment that it didn't). Granted, these teams were pretty good and I won both (11-8 and 14-7) - but it was much more of a struggle than I'm used to. The 4th ranked team I beat 11-8 had a WR with a rating of 139 for SP What's weird is he was a 4-star guy but only had the first star filled. So these last two games were a lot more fun, I even felt a little "Madden catchup" by the AI when he literally picked my offensive play 7 times in a row (and I was mixing it up pretty good). Having my CB's 4th quarter lead protection skill really saved my bacon.

[QuikSand]

I'm starting to wonder whether the best play with my 70+ recruiting points is just to blow it on 2* guys hoping to dupe and legend them. Or maybe get luck with a good C like JAG has... (grrrrr)

[Radii]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

I'm starting to wonder whether the best play with my 70+ recruiting points is just to blow it on 2* guys hoping to dupe and legend them. Or maybe get luck with a good C like JAG has... (grrrrr)

I did that today with 3*'s and 180'ish points. I still have a 1* (RB, no less, I seriously need an upgrade there) and two 2* starters that don't really fit great, hoping to replace them, and get dupes for my other 3* starters. I haven't seriously considered doing it with 2*'s yet, but... maybe?

[vex]

I'm calling it quits. The gameplay AI is so bad that it makes the game too easy and boring IMO. I dropped out of the alliance so that I'm not taking up a spot.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

What I really need on my roster is a big time CB, MLB or OLB. That dude from JAG's team, even as a 3-star guy, would be just the tonic for us.

While I am significantly behind you in terms of talent on the field, I'm in the same boat with regards to needing one specific player; I have 20+ players and more than one at every position...except TE, where I'm stuck with the original guy. Who is a steaming pile of garbage.

I also have two different 3* QBs, but I don't like either of them; one is great at Outside Running and super mediocre at everything else, the other is a Long Pass guy but mediocre at everything else. I don't even know if I want to bother leveling the Long Pass guy because my first one, despite being a level 10 guy, is not very good at anything other than outside running; while my team is much more geared toward long passes, if he has the same crappy secondary ratings at level 10, I will just end up replacing him with the next thing that comes along anyway, so I'm just not sure what to do with him.

[QuikSand]

Yeah, this is basically bad for the soul.

[AlexB]

Yeah, it reminded me of the Tap Football game, which I played to death for about two weeks and then suddenly realised it wasn't fun and there was no point to it.

Glad I got out early!