Size - The forgotten element

[Phobia]

I pretty much fell of the wagon of posting here in the ncaa forum. The topics have became stale and repetive. It has turned into a dae ja vu or ground hog day rings a bell.

I would like to try and point something out we are seeing in the real NCAA right now. Ol Alabama has climbed to the top not by the standards that we are use to with our beloved football game, SPEED! They have clawed tooth and nail with POWER.

In our great past time of what is known as NCAA Football. Speed is the greatest advantage you can have in the video game. Now speed is one skill you can't train in the real world and is a great advantage in the real world as well.

Where the problem comes is how power can't combat speed in the current state of Ncaa. Having a huge powerful back that can pound the rock all day beating the defense into a slow sluggish submission over the course of a game is not available Or having big tall wideouts who might not have that break away speed BUT the power and size to go up and snatch a ball out the sky.

Now those things can be debated that they are in the current game, just in a more subtle way. I disagree because we can clearly see in the blocking game that a 5'8" 190lb HB can brick wall a 6'8" 300lb lineman. This should be damn near impossible. Until the developers take notice that body weight, strength, size, and agility also play a HUGE role in the outcome of play to play football. We will never have a football game that breaks it down into the chess match we watch on thursdays to sundays.

My ultimate goal would be to get the developers to take notice of a thread like this. The problem is this has been mentioned to Ian & Adam until we all turned blue in the face. Lets all hope 2010 makes some nice jumps forward with how the gameplay is handled on the field.

Everyone is always talking about dynasty, atmosphere, presentation, uniforms, shoe color, hair length and all these petty additions. Yet we still don't have a football experience we can break down to the X's and O's. Speed is king.

[deadlyCane]

I agree, it's not all about speed. You should be able to win on size and power as well. But of course, speed will always rule supreme.

[pjpants]

this is totally true. one of the huge problems with football video games is that they are all glitz and glory. the reality of football as im sure everyone who has ever played knows, is that the game is won on the line. i dont think a game would survive if it show cased what football really was. people get lazy or over aggressive and miss assignments or take plays off. a kid who is a 78 isnt always playing like a 78. kids can run a 4.24 forty time and his speed may not translate to success on the field. at times it just makes him faster to the wrong assignment. he may have a lower speed rating in the game so that you cant just own people in the game. video games are moving away from techmo to try and be sim however it is miles from that. i love this game and play it non stop, it doesnt mean i am going to be blind to its flaws. just imagine were games will be in 10 years... i cant wait. but i hope that
eventually ill be able to play a game were i can just man up with a bunch of slow ulgy guys and mudd you to death, instead of having to line up in the spread and throw the ball around the field.
i tried to do that in all-pro football and it was cheesing to use earl campbell, so i pick up gold gaurds and they run around lost on toss sweeps. man. it may happen some day. i hope soon but ill just keep running the lousy spread untill then.

[dkrause1971]

I fully agree with you post but i don't' really think EA is going to change this really. First off its harder to run inside on this game because the OL/DL inaction is horrible. You should have more room between the guard and tackle to run with your PJ Hill and Shonne Greene when you have a real pocket.

Next, With QB that generally at least hit someone with the pass- their guy or your guy- just more reason to pass. More passes have to hit the dirt to make running more desirable. Plus crap pursuit angles make the Raineys and Harvins even easier to run with.

Lastly, and this really might be the crux of it- its not fun to have someone power the ball down your throat. Also, alot of people will not think its fun to have a 14 play- 75 yard drive with a bunch of 3-5 yard runs. I frankly love it but i have been in leagues where people put Bama to the spread offense.

I get wide open gameplay but let us have sliders, modes, whatever to play football closer to real life.

[N51_rob]

I would love if weight mattered more in this game. Like the OP said. I hate to see little RB hip tossing 300 lb linemen with ease. I wish there was a way to make weight matter more in collisions like in NHL 09 (post patch). Do I think that I will see it. No, but I do agree 100% that it weight and for that matter size should matter. I do though see my taller WR jumping to catch balls that sail a bit on slants and routes of that nature.

[rudyjuly2]

The power Alabama displays though is in the lines, not so much at the skill positions. NCAA needs to do a much better job of factoring in the weight of players in the game. Small players can be converted to positions they would never play in real life without much penalty if you desire.

However, I think people tend to wail too much about speed being too important in NCAA. Speed IS absolutely crucial in college football and particularly at the skill positions. Look at how many small and speedy backs have excelled in NCAA. Reggie Bush was dynamite. Forsett was great and an after thought in the NFL. The little freshman from Oregon St has been great (sue me for PAC 10 examples). Speed at the skill positions is more important than power or size in the NCAA imo.

Fast teams are dangerous in college football and I don't think NCAA '09 is that broken with regards to that. I do think that the offensive players, specifically RBs when compared to LBs in coverage, get a speed boost when running patterns that needs to be fixed. But I do think a fast RB in NCAA is probably better than a power back irl.

[Phobia]

Quote: Originally Posted by rudyjuly2

The power Alabama displays though is in the lines, not so much at the skill positions. NCAA needs to do a much better job of factoring in the weight of players in the game. Small players can be converted to positions they would never play in real life without much penalty if you desire.

Oh yea, Alabama's line is the reason. But the problem is we can't recreate this in NCAA 2009. I could put the entire receiving core as the offensive line and stand a decent chance of still passing for 200 yards with alot of time to throw the ball.

It is just flat out broken in that reguard

[ftball11]

Quote: Originally Posted by Phobia

Oh yea, Alabama's line is the reason. But the problem is we can't recreate this in NCAA 2009. I could put the entire receiving core as the offensive line and stand a decent chance of still passing for 200 yards with alot of time to throw the ball. It is just flat out broken in that reguard

Agreed. In this game, a 5'11 240lb center will have the same success as a 6'5 325lb center, which does not translate into "real-world" action. Size and strength play a huge part in the game of football and should in the game as well. That is the one aspect of the real game I miss when playing video games. It is also the most basic principle of the game, which leaves me wondering how game developers miss this aspect of the game. Even with the skilled positions this aspect of the game is missing. A 6'7 245lb TE should be able to muscle the ball away from most DBs and run with some sense of power. The one part of the game I do like is, when a DB is going against a TE described above, the DB does try to go low and take the legs out - which is pretty realistic.