Should we REALLY have to adjust sliders to enjoy these games??

[inkcil]

Yeah, I kinda feel like I'm cheating too when I change the sliders around.
My franchise is with the Chargers and the WR just CANNOT catch. Even when wide open, they manage to fumble the pass and drop balls. I've gotten pretty good at defense, and I can't tell you how frustrating it is to lose games 14-6 and 17-7 over and over again b/c my receivers always drop passes. MY WR coprs average 10 drops a game.

So I tried adjusting the catch slider and they started catching a lot better. The difference was me winning games. And I jsut felt like it was the Sliders winning the games and not me.

[HMcCoy]

Great points all around.

As many of you know, I'm an adjusta-holic. Its cool though because I enjoy it, so its not a bad or laborious process...The "high" I feel when everything works out is worth the price of admission.

The reason why all these adjustables are good are:

1. Unlike 10 years ago, there is a MUCH broader range of skilled players. For example, back in the day, games weren't sophisticated enough to bring in non-gamer adults. We were all 15-20 year-olds playing it with freinds, the games lacked the depth to really solidify a "hardcore segment". Nowadays, the level of game quality has attracted a new generation of casual gamers, and the off-the field depth has created us OS types...HARDCORE to the bone guys. Thats a big disparity in game skill. It is literally impossible w/ todays technology to create a game that can satisfy both ends of the spectrum, right out of the box. If these games were designed with the strict realism we hardcores crave...the casual gamer would be overwhelmed, and conversely, the candy-corn gameplay required to satisfy a pick-up-and-play consumer would have us types LIVID. Sliders are the companies saving grace.

2. With the sports game market so competitive, the developers are trying to do more and more, in less and less time. That leaves less time for the subtle balancing that we would sometimes like to see. This results in gameplay that can be horrendously unbalanced(see 2k4 run game, Live 03 freestyle, etc) and still rushed to market. Again, sliders are a Godsend.

Personally, I find the constant tweaking tedious sometimes, but the alternative would probably make me stop plying these games.

sidenote: While ASB didn't have sliders, it certainly had an eqivalent in the 80 different combinations of pitch speeds, cam views, and batting styles you could use...along with the standard difficulty levels ASB allowed nearly the same ammount of custimization, without using a "slider" interface..

[RedsFan75]

Quote: Originally Posted by HMcCoy

Great points all around. sidenote: While ASB didn't have sliders, it certainly had an eqivalent in the 80 different combinations of pitch speeds, cam views, and batting styles you could use...along with the standard difficulty levels ASB allowed nearly the same ammount of custimization, without using a "slider" interface..

I never really looked at it that way, but you are correct. It very adjustable, just without the 'slider' interface. I suppose the difference is with sliders you save them and don't adjust them until you want to, but in ASB I have to make the same adjustments virtually evey game.

In Baseball games I fall into the Hard-core category you mentioned in the first point. In Football, I'm in the mid-range, Part hard-core in some areas, casual gamer in others. In Hockey, closer to casual gamer, in basketball, VERY casual gamer.

My challenge is finding the right sliders for my level. In the sliders posted here, I try playing on some of the more hard-core settings and I get destroyed! but yet I play on the default All-Pro settings I give up too many "Big" plays. Offense is solid but defense sucks (and not just when I play as the Bengals either!)

So my challenge is finding the right balance of sliders for this game!

Anyone got a good set the give us semi-hardcore types good games?

[OhioBlitz]

Quote: Originally Posted by HMcCoy

Great points all around. As many of you know, I'm an adjusta-holic. Its cool though because I enjoy it, so its not a bad or laborious process...The "high" I feel when everything works out is worth the price of admission. The reason why all these adjustables are good are: 1. Unlike 10 years ago, there is a MUCH broader range of skilled players. For example, back in the day, games weren't sophisticated enough to bring in non-gamer adults. We were all 15-20 year-olds playing it with freinds, the games lacked the depth to really solidify a "hardcore segment". Nowadays, the level of game quality has attracted a new generation of casual gamers, and the off-the field depth has created us OS types...HARDCORE to the bone guys. Thats a big disparity in game skill. It is literally impossible w/ todays technology to create a game that can satisfy both ends of the spectrum, right out of the box. If these games were designed with the strict realism we hardcores crave...the casual gamer would be overwhelmed, and conversely, the candy-corn gameplay required to satisfy a pick-up-and-play consumer would have us types LIVID. Sliders are the companies saving grace. 2. With the sports game market so competitive, the developers are trying to do more and more, in less and less time. That leaves less time for the subtle balancing that we would sometimes like to see. This results in gameplay that can be horrendously unbalanced(see 2k4 run game, Live 03 freestyle, etc) and still rushed to market. Again, sliders are a Godsend. Personally, I find the constant tweaking tedious sometimes, but the alternative would probably make me stop plying these games. sidenote: While ASB didn't have sliders, it certainly had an eqivalent in the 80 different combinations of pitch speeds, cam views, and batting styles you could use...along with the standard difficulty levels ASB allowed nearly the same ammount of custimization, without using a "slider" interface..

I respectfully disagree with this, although I totally understand where you're coming from in respect to hardcore and casual gamer skill levels.

I feel that the default skill levels can accomodate every person, that's why they're there. For instance, a casual gamer who's not very good can start out on Rookie, get better, and move up to Pro. The hardcore gamer can start out on All-Pro, get better and move up to Legend.

The developers just need to work on the gameplay realism for each level. It's not too difficult to check out some real-life stats of a team in a given year and program their tendencies and play ratios into the virtual world. It seems like EA and ESPN are working so hard on new animations and stupid perks (like Tony Bruno and getting a phone call in the Crib) that they don't allot enough time in a given developmental year to focus on what really matters: gameplay realism.

Sliders give me such a headache...You do a casual search for some solid sliders, and then before you know it you're overwhelmed by all of the options and suggestions out there. So you tweak, think you have it, find out you don't, tweak again, see plays happen that you find to be unbelievable, question the sliders, research again, tweak again...

ENOUGH ALREADY! I just want to have fun with it, which is why we call it a GAME!

Thank you. I'll get off of my soap box now.