Business of football-Random thoughts

[Ronmun29]

I have played dozens of seasons since purchasing this game in the spring...a "benefit" of pandemic has been a great deal of free time, that reminds me of the old Twilight Zone episode "Time enough at last"...though, thankfully, I didnt break reading glasses...or computer lol...when I finally got the time to play.

Most of my seasons began the first year that the real me became a football fan, as a young boy in 1983 learning to love Plunkett and the eventual champion Raiders.

Quiksand and a few others here, have commented that using real players does not really give the game its true value...for myself, I very respectfully disagree...but it does have its drawbacks.

Has anyone else played with real players, and found themselves too loyal to a childhood...or adult...idol? lol... I certainly stuck with the pixel -Plunkett lol, too far because of idolizing him as a boy...and did the same with Allen..it was strange that I could not bring myself to release Plunkett, and he happily kept playing until his 18th season...the same would have happened with Allen but for a injury that brought retirement in 1995 - 13 seasons.
It was not until the modern era from 2017- that I made decisions not with my heart.
Has anyone else experienced that?

[MIJB#19]

I'm already having trouble to release fictional players as it is from my multiplayer team, so I can certainly understand how it would work if you go through the decades with 'real' players and end up drafting any of your favorites.

[QuikSand]

Just or the record, I think one can hold both points of view at the same time here:

(1) playing with real or historical players can add some feelings or emotion to the game play that can be fun, and an added part of the experience that will suite some FOF gamers a good deal; and yet

(2) the FOF game really isn't suited ideally to play as a historical sim, nor really even as a current league sim, so using it that way inevitably gets you caught up in dings and dents of an imperfect fit



I have played historical sims with roster sets posted here over the years, and while there are real problems with that setup, it has been fun to notice real players from days gone by as they become standouts for my team or for others.

[Young Drachma]

Part of why I prefer fictional is how difficult it is to watch my favorite -- or just really good players IRL -- not be able to perform as they do in reality. As MIJB said, I too cannot bring myself to release even fictional favorites letting them hang around for too long if I can afford it. So I can imagine why it'd be hard to let go of an old favorite, especially if he earned his keep

[Ronmun29]

Yes...it sort of goes to what Quiksand mentioned in one of my posts this summer, regarding not entirely being able to replicate what makes a real life star...so you can have Brady for example, and the data usage and laws of mathematics using that data will *usually* make him excellent in the simulation, but the "weirdness" that can occur in real life, is hard to mimic in a simulation unless you are willing to allow that weirdness to happen more often...so perhaps he can average a 90 passer rating each season of a 20 year career...but not likely...and even less likely that he would stray far above or below...so the odds in a mathematical sim, that among a handful of 90 rating seasons he could have either a poorm or a standout, year fall apart in the same mathematical rules needed to keep the "average" realistic.

I have also fallen into the traditional AL Davis role of trying to find gems covered in dust and thrown away by other teams...which also does not work as well in this game...although I did pull a RT ou of the trash bin and he bacame a star, but that is my one success.

Still fun trying though haha

[Mota]

Usually when you go looking through the trash heap, you will find trash. Although it is great to find a hidden gem once in a while!
I'm definitely guilty of hanging onto my all-time greats for too long, especially if they make it into the career leaderboards. I'll ride them as long as I can to get a couple of spots higher on the list. And it feels terrible to see them drop in performance as their careers wind down. Isn't that a human feeling? It's one of the great things about these career sims.

[Ronmun29]

Yeah most times this far, just trash there.
It is my favorite part of these career sims...I think it must be either very difficult for real life owners and GMs, or sometimes just require a real SOB in the job...to shove aside someone who has had some great seasons for you but now can't quite keep up...it's hard in pixel worlds lol...it must really be tough when it's a real guy you've really known.

[Libra]

Originally Posted by Ronmun29

Has anyone else played with real players, and found themselves too loyal to a childhood...or adult...idol?

For me it's Matt Stafford. I'm in the same boat as you, I bought this game in the spring and have had a lot of time to play it. I start about half of my careers with the Lions and I always keep Stafford and keep him way too long. He's never done well for me but I keep him anyway just because maybe someday he'll win a ring with the Lions even if it is just a cyber ring. I've done this enough by now to know it won't end well but I just can't bring myself to get rid of him.