The Official "Plea to EA to remove visibility of 'points' in recruiting" thread

[mr janny]

Quote: Originally Posted by santeria49

I think we need to hear finer details of how this works before we get up in arms. It could be that, according to your coach's recruiting skill or your relationship with the player or something, you could have a more (or less) accurate view of your point standing with a player. It could be that leading for a prospect in points doesn't guarantee that he picks you on Signing Day. There could still be a lot of things that would make the points more palatable. I think we need more information to make that determination.

100 times THIS.

No need for folks to get their panties in a bunch before they even know how it really works.

[Buckeyes_Doc]

Quote: Originally Posted by Deegeezy

The meter was a lot more ambiguous. Showing points is too transparent. I don't think Nick Saban sits in his office doing mathematics to try to figure out what a player thinks about him and his school. I could excuse having "points" to try to figure out how hard you go after a certain player because this can be related to time/minutes spent recruiting a player. But points as a basis of a recruit's intent is taking things a little too far.

And I don't think Nick Saban sits in his office and presses X to recruit a player either.

[FAIRDALE_KINGS]

I voted for option 1: Yes, This makes recruiting feel even less realistic.

I've been playing this game for years and I believe that I'm pretty good at recruiting. I've been playing in two pretty competitive online dynasty leagues for NCAA '10 on Heisman with default sliders. In the Alabama dynasty we are currently in year 12. I have won 3 National Championships, played in 5 BCS title games and won the SEC title eleven years in a row. Routinely I sign 13-15 players a year (I average 6 five star players annually.) My best year I signed nine five star players.

As a contrast I also play in a one-star dynasty. I began the dynasty with San Jose State. Currently we are in year four. My first season I won the WAC (11-2) and won the Hawai'i Bowl. That first team graduated 27 seniors. Recruiting was a challenge because my school had terrible pitches and I had holes everywhere. That season I signed seventeen players highlighted by 8 four star players and 9 three stars. I concentrated on building some depth and recruited a few players that would contribute right away. From this class I started seven true freshman on defense. My second season I won the WAC (12-1) and earned a BCS bid defeating Maryland in the Orange Bowl. Once again I graduated a lot of players but my pitches were becoming a little better. I signed twenty players adding 9 four star recruits and 11 three star players. This class was highlighted by a three-star running back with 4.30 speed and a 6'5 four-star WR from Florida that ran a 4.36 forty. Now I had some real weapons on offense. Both of those guys started as true freshman and were both All-Americans. In year three I was went undefeated winning the WAC (13-0) and played in another BCS game (Sugar Bowl) beating Louisville. I finished the year ranked #2 in the nation after the final polls were released. That year I signed thirteen players adding 4 five-star players, 5 four-star players and 4 three-star players. I actually signed the #1 player WR Jay Byrd (4.34 forty) during the regular season recruiting process and the #1 overall player T Jerome Burgess (90 overall).

Finally after three years of recruiting I have built some depth at San Jose State and have the luxury of redshirting most of the freshman players. I have also seen in increase in my program pitches across the board. Entering year four I am now a FOUR-star program.

Now with that as some perspective for my logic...

To be a good recruiter in this game takes a little time and dedication. Routinely my teams at Alabama are A+ in every category from Overall, Offense, Defense and Special Teams. For the past five years I have had 30 or more players rated 90+ overall on my roster. Conversely my counterparts are A, A-, B+ teams with anywhere from 15-20 players rated over 90+ overall. Usually I sign the fourth or fifth best recruiting class compared to the other guys that sign more five * players and larger classes. My peers usually over-recruit players and every year the Oklahoma coach is cutting ten players. I NEVER cut players. NEVER! My recruiting strategy is to recruit the amount of players graduating + 3. This allows me to re-load for any possible players that enter the Pro Draft or transfer.

Because of my unique recruiting strategy I have built depth and allow my players to grow by redshirting the majority of players. I may start one or two true freshman but only if they have gamebreaking abilities. I usually spend two to three hours the very first week of the recruiting process as I comb through the recruiting board and decide my own needs and wants based on my current roster.

Now for some insight... Recently I have been adding only 10 players to my board. This allows me to talk to each player for ONE hour each. In contrast my peers have anywhere from 15-35 players on their board. It is hard to dedicate enough time equally to 35 players. I had a formula once to talk to that many players but it wasn't very effective to recruit in a competive league. Currently in week six of my Alabama dynasty I have already signed 6 five-star players. I only have four recruits on my board and I am talking to each player for 2 1/2 hours per week. At this rate I will have signed these four players after their visit against rival Tennessee in week eight. Then I can jump on any other players that fancy my eye.

With the new recruiting system I believe that we are not allowed to be on the phone with any particular player for longer than one hour. As a coach and a recruiter I feel that I am being punished because I have more time and resources to dedicate to players. In the past I could be finished with recruiting by week ten and sit idle until off-season recruiting. I sign only the players that I am really interested in. Because my in-season recruiting is usually complete by week ten I am able to dedicate all my time to the best players that appear in the off-season. And I usually sign two or three of the new players every year, too. Currently we have the bar that shows our progress as we recruit. Like many others... I know that X amount of points will sign a player. But that number is ambiguous right now. We have green bars, yellow bars and red bars. Why do we need to know that the #9 team is 360 points behind #1 Alabama.

If we are limited to one hour phone calls per athlete... it will not really matter. The teams that are the favorite going in will lock-up those players by talking the maximum of one hour per week. I know how the current system works as I've figured it out.

I initially HARD PITCH everything. You receive +18 for a new pitch if it is Most, Very High, High, Above Average. I will pitch +18 for one hour or until the pitch unlocks. The next week that same pitch will give you +16. The next week +14. I will take +16 and +14 every day as I pitch only my Very High and Most pitches. Those points accumulate. I also know that if I offer a scholarship that I receive a bonus between +150 to +200 points.

As I perceive the new recruiting system it will be a lot harder for teams outside the top five schools to advance up the ladder if every team in the top five is dedicating a maximum of one hour. This will be a major factor in competitive ONLINE dynasty leagues. Yeah I'm sure that some people will continue to add twenty players to their boards and talk to each player for 30 minutes each. But I will be on the other end of the spectrum adding only ten players and recruiting those players for one hour each. If I sign a player... I will add another player to fill his spot and talk to him for one hour.

What I don't need is points to let me know that I'm X amount of points behind Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, USC and Penn State. I love how recruiting right now is ambiguous. It allows for recruiting to be dynamic from week to week. Now the only strategy is do I add 10 players and discuss pitches with them for one hour or do I add 20 players and talk to them for 30 minutes.

If I want to have five players on my board and talk to them for two hours I should be allowed to "sweet talk" those players.

[UCFTirade]

Quote: Originally Posted by santeria49

I think we need to hear finer details of how this works before we get up in arms. It could be that, according to your coach's recruiting skill or your relationship with the player or something, you could have a more (or less) accurate view of your point standing with a player. It could be that leading for a prospect in points doesn't guarantee that he picks you on Signing Day. There could still be a lot of things that would make the points more palatable. I think we need more information to make that determination.

Exactly, don't get your panties in a bunch too fast here guys . The third blog hasn't been released, let alone any info that could come from E3, and on top of that you guys haven't even tried it out yet.

[moylan1234]

Just relax and play the game first before you rush to any judgements

[da ThRONe]

Quote: Originally Posted by moylan

Just relax and play the game first before you rush to any judgements

By then wouldnt it be some what late? I understand that they have patches. But if the third blog doesnt address this I have no problem with people wanting it out.

[moylan1234]

Quote: Originally Posted by da ThRONe

By then wouldnt it be some what late? I understand that they have patches. But if the third blog doesnt address this I have no problem with people wanting it out.

They could do five blogs on it and you still wouldn't know exactly how it feels in the game until you've played it. You never know it might be something people like once they've played or at the very least can tolerate. This thread should be put on hold until at least August.

[Deegeezy]

Quote: Originally Posted by moylan

Just relax and play the game first before you rush to any judgements

With all due respect, I have been playing video games long enough to know how I am going to feel about something when it comes to something cosmetic like this. This isn't something I have to "test out" to know if I will like it or not.