Win with what you have

[jmik58]

I've seen a lot of talk about team ratings, player ratings, recruit ratings, player rating progression, and the list goes on.

If you're a guy that sims all of your season games, I feel your pain.

But assuming that most of us play the games I think it's time to take a step back from Utopia and enjoy one of the real world nuances of football at any level. Whatever you have, you've got to win with it.

As far as ratings go, everything is relative anyways. If you're playing in a game where the best players are rated in the low 90's, the "curve" puts them as the best in the game, or "high 90's" in another language.

No players are rated in the 20's or 30's in the game, or anything below that. If 90 is the new 95, then 35 is the new 40. And who the heck can tell the difference between a 35 and a 40?

Therefore, the ratings aren't a problem because they affect every single player the exact same way.

But once again, it all boils down to doing the best with what you have and taking pride in it.

Right now, in my offline dynasty, I'm playing on All-American with 8 minute quarters with Louisville. I went 10-2 in year one, won the Big East, and miraculously came back to beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. I won 5 or 6 games by an average of three or four points.

In year two I went undefeated and was lucky enough to play in the national championship versus Alabama. I lost the title game 27-17 but I was proud of the fact I made it that far and put up a fight against a team that was way better on paper than mine. My offense was a B, defense a C-, and overall a C+.

I try to and pride myself in outplaying the other team and overcoming ratings deficits. It's not exploiting, it's getting the ball to the guys who are my best players. It's out-scheming the other team. It's also luck. My last five regular season games were won by four points or less in year two.

I'm now finishing up the recruiting prior to year three and have broken through finally and am starting to sign some 4* guys and build up a team with some bigger profile players. This is something I look forward to because I want to reap the rewards of overcoming deficits to finally field a team that is on par with nearly any team in the nation. How I long to know what it feels like to still win a game while being able to take a few chances and make a few mistakes that don't ruin my chances against a top 15 team.

But until that happens, nothing excites me more than fighting through a season knowing that I'm playing my team to their potential and possibly beyond what is thought to be normal.

The greatest thing about building up a powerhouse isn't the point when you've won back to back championships with juggernaut teams. Instead, the highlight is the memory of the seasons you climbed the ladder and fought for recognition and tradition.

It's about winning with what you have.

[Tweeg]

Thanks. I really want to continue to play this game because on the field it is so much fun. The findings with recruit ratings was really getting me down, and I was considering playing more PC games until this all got fixed. I was worried that by the time it was fixed I would be playing Madden and loose out on this whole experience.

I think I am gonna say F it and just get back into my South Carolina dynasty. Someday I will claim that first ever SEC title!

[dan_457]

Honestly, User rating differentials and winning with bad teams, isn't what people are worried about, it's that the bad CPU teams can do it. I can take terrible teams and have NC championship years, practically at will, so winning with what i have was never an issue. The CPU on other hand, gets JV quality players at smaller programs, and there are almost no hidden gems, and because of that, 50% of the teams in the sink to D/D- range. This is ridiculous, as the overall quality of the game slips, along with the ratings, and there are more issues with terrible recruits than at first meets the eye.

[Special27K]

The issue for me isn't that I can win or not, its just the fact at how poorly it plays and the fact that the CPU just doesn't stand a chance

[Oil Nation]

I enjoy the nerfed ratings this year actually. When you get a recruit who blows up you notice him because he actually dominates on the field the way big time players do in real life.

It also makes me appreciate guys who can fill a specific role on the team, in one or two different formations, instead of just putting out the players with the highest OVR.

[Special27K]

Quote: Originally Posted by Oil Nation

I enjoy the nerfed ratings this year actually. When you get a recruit who blows up you notice him because he actually dominates on the field the way big time players do in real life. It also makes me appreciate guys who can fill a specific role on the team, in one or two different formations, instead of just putting out the players with the highest OVR.

Personally I don't value OVR much, I hope there's an option to hide players OVR in the future. I just hate how terrible the kickers and how poor specific skills are in general. WR's spin like tackles and TE's it affects the game.

[Mtneer08]

Quote: Originally Posted by Oil Nation

I enjoy the nerfed ratings this year actually. When you get a recruit who blows up you notice him because he actually dominates on the field the way big time players do in real life. It also makes me appreciate guys who can fill a specific role on the team, in one or two different formations, instead of just putting out the players with the highest OVR.

Same here. The only problem I see is the low juke and elusivness ratings for WR's but I can still enjoy my dynasty even with that.

[adembroski]

The initial ratings aren't a problem. Having most players packed near the middle is more realistic, honestly.

The problem comes about after the first year. Yes, it's that quick.

I finished my first season with Notre Dame 8-4 and won the Armed Forces Bowl. I had some upsets (Michigan) and was upset (Stanford).

The great thing about it is I was also spending a lot of time observing the game... watching a ton of replays to see if ratings were playing out properly. I am happy to report that on virtually every big play that occurred throughout the season, the key events that led to them were perfectly realistic ratings wise (using PMs varsity sliders, for the record).

For instance, if a team broke off a big run, I'd go back and look at the replay. I'd identify the key blocks and check the ratings. Rarely did I see an inferior lineman beat someone they shouldn't. If they did, I'd monitor that match up, and in the end, the superior player would almost always win out in the long run.

In other words, I like the default rosters, and I like the way the ratings play out in-game, and I love the fact that they were able to balance that and make the game unpredictable. I really feel like anything can happen on any given Saturday, and more than that I win when I'm prepared. When I pay attention to individual attributes at key positions, create matchup advantages, attack my opponent where I own the greatest advantage. When I go in and call plays willy-nilly and play the way I played '10, I lose, often decisively.

But...

As any Notre Dame player knows, the roster gets pretty thin after the first team, and in year two you find yourself concerned. You're down to one really good player on the front seven (Te'o), two marginal safeties, and while you've still got solid corners and a pretty good receiving corp, your star HBs are gone, and your offensive line still stinks.

Yet I went 11-1 and finished the season #2 in the nation with a squad that was appreciably inferior to my year 1 squad. Why? Because every other contending team in the nation got worse by a greater degree than mine.

Why? Because the problem isn't progression alone (or perhaps even at all); the problem is teams without kickers, with 5 star players burried on the depth chart at their prioritized positions, and walk-ons at their non-priority positions. I beat 4 ranked teams in that 2nd season, and finished second only because I was half-asleep when I played Michigan in the Big House and wasn't able to catch Oklahoma and Alabama (who played for the Nat'l Championship).

This with a B+ offense, and a B- defense. I beat USC (#15), Boise State (#6), Stanford (#2), and Pittsburgh (#25). All of them but Pitt were rated higher than me.

Due to this fact, I have set the game aside until EA can patch dynasty mode. I'm not angry; I know the difficulties that come with game design. I know they'll address it. They'd hate to see the new recruiting system, which has been getting rave reviews from the community, destroyed due to lack of CPU logic. They'll fix it. I'll be ready to dive head on again once they do.