One Regular Season Down, and pretty happy! (Analysis/Long!)

[pokerplaya]

Re: One Regular Season Down, and pretty happy! (Analysis/Long!)

Cool write up, good read. Thanks.

I'm not a Lions fan but started playing them because they're a young team with of course one of the best young WR's and QB's that's going to be fun to build around. I just started my 2nd go around with them in CCM with the new rosters and patch. But my 1st was some of the most fun I've had in a video game in a long time. Went 8-7 my first year, just missed out on the playoffs by 1 game.

2nd year signed Danarilo Alexander as a 2nd top WR, and dominated the NFC, getting 2nd only missing out with the Saints for top NFC spot in a tie breaker. Won some blowouts to make it to the Super Bowl where I barely beat the Colts 17-10 I believe. 2 of my TE's were injured so I picked up a free agent TE the last few weeks of the season and he was Super Bowl MVP with over 150 yards and 2 TD's. Johnson got top receiver and Stafford went to the Pro Bowl.

3rd year go a few nice draft picks and had to sign a replacement RE for the retired Vanden Bosch who went out on top with a ring for his last year. Today I decided to hang up the towel on that CCM and just started a new one, week 1 here I come! Right now I'm practicing and simming pre-season to get XP points and planning what I'm going to do to replace the aging offense and defensive lines. It was kind of a mess my last franchise mode having to shell out big money for a RE.

Jahvid Best is on the PUP list, so are you sure the Lions don't expect him to play this year? I started him season 2 and he was a solid small quick back, a great combo with Smith

RE: Jahvid Best

My thoughts on Best come from being a native Detroiter and hearing talk radio and other chatter, but mostly from sources around the team and obviously just observation of the whole situation. He's been out with that concussion since last October, after obviously having concussions screw his career at Cal, ending his final season.

So, he's got ANOTHER concussion from last October, and he was still PUP at this point... we here in Detroit figure the chances of him coming back are slim-to-none, with Slim quickly inching towards the door... when the questions start becoming "OK, if he comes back -- is this going to affect his quality of life later on" its time to hang them up -- and we've been asking this since about December.

Great read on your season, I'll be looking to get a new person in Burleson's spot as well, but Titus Young has been doing a great job for me so far, and is having an amazing Playoffs thus far. (I'll be finishing the writeup, but I stopped playing after making the Super Bowl last night.)

[pokerplaya]

Re: One Regular Season Down, and pretty happy! (Analysis/Long!)

Aren't the names and stories randomly generated?

No, they aren't. When you get the draft class (There are 30) is randomly determined, but the draft classes are set. Since everyone knows the name already, for example -- Jordan Parks is always considered like the most amazing QB ever, and there's always a draft with two twin corners, one of which will usually switch positions.

So, the names and stories aren't randomly generated, just when you get which class is random.

[pokerplaya]

Re: One Regular Season Down, and pretty happy! (Analysis/Long!)

Don't worry, it sounds like player draft stories are dynamic....how the stories progress can be different from franchise to franchise.

While that is true, I was keeping the spoilers just so people didn't get the names of Storyline players, but trying to keep those names quiet on a Madden forum is an exercise in futility.

[pokerplaya]

Re: One Regular Season Down, and pretty happy! (Analysis/Long!)

Your stats looks good but how did other teams stats look against u.. Especially the run game lol

I *was* #1 against both the run and the pass, but it wasn't like no one could move the ball on me. I think I had a total of 3 or maybe 4 100 yard rushers against me all year.

Arian Foster, Cedric Benson, Adrian Peterson and Marshawn Lynch all had 100 yard games against me. I felt the CPU run game was always solid, I just obviously have an amazing front seven.

I'm sure it could be tweaked, and I'll be looking at all my numbers and also my snap numbers to see if I can make things better for next season. Default All-Pro was definitely a great base to tweak from, though -- definitely still had to account for the CPU run game.

Thanks for the question!

[pokerplaya]

Re: One Regular Season Down, and pretty happy! (Analysis/Long!)

My two playoff games so far really show the difference in games you can get, even with a basically un-slidered All Pro!

Demolition in the Divisional Round, my Lions ROLLED 61-3, had a 38-3 at the half to where I sat Stafford and Calvin the entire second half to get Kellen Moore some playing time in a playoff game. He did pretty well to where I even decided to let Shaun Hill play some. My defense was just DOMINANT, forcing six turnovers, including four interceptions. Two by Bill Bentley, including one for a TD, shows his development and his Pro Bowl selection is no fluke.

The second game had me on pins and needles till late in the fourth quarter, Packers at home -- we advance to the Super Bowl 20-6, where we will face the Texans, who took out the Ravens in the AFC Title Game.

Also wanted to point out that I've already purchased the "Expert Scout Package", as it was very expensive with me being a Strategist coach... now I'll be able to work on XP Boosts all of the next season. Loving the progression, and after this Super Bowl, I can't wait for this draft. Hoping I can move up a bit and select the cornerback I've been targeting mid-to-late first round.

[pokerplaya]

Re: One Regular Season Down, and pretty happy! (Analysis/Long!)

Just like to thank those of you who have helped rate this thread back up to 4 stars... I was quite upset by that juvenile who made it look like this was a worthless thread. Good discussion going here, and I'll keep updating as I move along to help give a people an idea of what to expect during their CC's...

They have GOT to fix the fair catch bug it did rear its head in the NFC Championship, although luckily it didn't affect the game situation.

Thank you voters, and thanks for a great chat to all.

[js3512]

Re: One Regular Season Down, and pretty happy! (Analysis/Long!)

My one issue with this ccm is that u turned ints down to 25. This years game does not cheat to get ints other than the cpu closing on the ball too quickly. If u want a more realistic experience ive found that if u turn reaction time down to 25 but leave ints at 50 the cpu wont close as quickly but youll still pay for it if u throw a ball into coverage.

[thebizarrojerry]

Re: One Regular Season Down, and pretty happy! (Analysis/Long!)

RE: Jahvid Best

My thoughts on Best come from being a native Detroiter and hearing talk radio and other chatter, but mostly from sources around the team and obviously just observation of the whole situation. He's been out with that concussion since last October, after obviously having concussions screw his career at Cal, ending his final season.

So, he's got ANOTHER concussion from last October, and he was still PUP at this point... we here in Detroit figure the chances of him coming back are slim-to-none, with Slim quickly inching towards the door... when the questions start becoming "OK, if he comes back -- is this going to affect his quality of life later on" its time to hang them up -- and we've been asking this since about December.

Great read on your season, I'll be looking to get a new person in Burleson's spot as well, but Titus Young has been doing a great job for me so far, and is having an amazing Playoffs thus far. (I'll be finishing the writeup, but I stopped playing after making the Super Bowl last night.)

Well that' disappointing about Best. Guess I will just keep him on the roster but not assigned for this season at least. By week 6 in real life when he can come back I guess we will know what happens.

Young is a great WR, but too short for me to be 1st or 2nd, so I put him in the slot with Johnson and a tall good 2 receiver. Thinking about drafting one with my first pick if there aren't any quality RE's in the 2013 draft.

[thebizarrojerry]

Re: One Regular Season Down, and pretty happy! (Analysis/Long!)

My two playoff games so far really show the difference in games you can get, even with a basically un-slidered All Pro!

Demolition in the Divisional Round, my Lions ROLLED 61-3, had a 38-3 at the half to where I sat Stafford and Calvin the entire second half to get Kellen Moore some playing time in a playoff game. He did pretty well to where I even decided to let Shaun Hill play some. My defense was just DOMINANT, forcing six turnovers, including four interceptions. Two by Bill Bentley, including one for a TD, shows his development and his Pro Bowl selection is no fluke.

The second game had me on pins and needles till late in the fourth quarter, Packers at home -- we advance to the Super Bowl 20-6, where we will face the Texans, who took out the Ravens in the AFC Title Game.

Also wanted to point out that I've already purchased the "Expert Scout Package", as it was very expensive with me being a Strategist coach... now I'll be able to work on XP Boosts all of the next season. Loving the progression, and after this Super Bowl, I can't wait for this draft. Hoping I can move up a bit and select the cornerback I've been targeting mid-to-late first round.

First XP packs that I got was the CB, then WR. Mainly because for the money, they add XP to important skill positions and 3-4 players at once. When all the others only add XP to one player.

After I won the super bowl and got a bunch of coach XP I got the QB, LB, HB packs.

[thebizarrojerry]

Re: One Regular Season Down, and pretty happy! (Analysis/Long!)

Just like to thank those of you who have helped rate this thread back up to 4 stars... I was quite upset by that juvenile who made it look like this was a worthless thread. Good discussion going here, and I'll keep updating as I move along to help give a people an idea of what to expect during their CC's...

They have GOT to fix the fair catch bug it did rear its head in the NFC Championship, although luckily it didn't affect the game situation.

Thank you voters, and thanks for a great chat to all.

What fair catch bug? Do you mean the guy running away from the ball just before he catches it? If so then just HOLD the triangle button until the ball is in his hands, I believe it forces him to stick to catching it.

[erich20012001]

Re: One Regular Season Down, and pretty happy! (Analysis/Long!)

No, they aren't. When you get the draft class (There are 30) is randomly determined, but the draft classes are set. Since everyone knows the name already, for example -- Jordan Parks is always considered like the most amazing QB ever, and there's always a draft with two twin corners, one of which will usually switch positions.

So, the names and stories aren't randomly generated, just when you get which class is random.

Actually the stories have different branches which are random. In one draft class, a storyline QB may have a career year and be the #1 pick, or he can get get injured and fall in the class. (that was just a broad example). So although the names might be the same, the story still might possibly be different.

[bsantos_5]

Re: One Regular Season Down, and pretty happy! (Analysis/Long!)

What fair catch bug? Do you mean the guy running away from the ball just before he catches it? If so then just HOLD the triangle button until the ball is in his hands, I believe it forces him to stick to catching it.

I've seen it a couple times. The guy will call a fair catch, then catch it and proceed with returning the kick as if he didn't call a fair catch.

[pokerplaya]

Re: One Regular Season Down, and pretty happy! (Analysis/Long!)

My one issue with this ccm is that u turned ints down to 25. This years game does not cheat to get ints other than the cpu closing on the ball too quickly. If u want a more realistic experience ive found that if u turn reaction time down to 25 but leave ints at 50 the cpu wont close as quickly but youll still pay for it if u throw a ball into coverage.

I still had 19 INT's, and things felt right to me. At 50, you'd never see a dropped interception. With it at 25, if I'm hitting a defender in the chest, he's catching it... and generally when it should just be knocked down or "dropped" -- it's doing so.

Definitely not looking to downgrade what you see however, I'm sure both ways would work well and perhaps I'll look into that for next season. I'm going to do a major statistical study of my season and see about quarter lengths, and what I'm going to move for the sliders... Nothing will be moving for me more than 5 points, though... the game played a very good game of football, and as I said previously, there were quite a few games that could have went either way, even with me going 15-1.

[thebizarrojerry]

Re: One Regular Season Down, and pretty happy! (Analysis/Long!)

So I'm still in Season 1 of my online CCM Lions franchise with the latest rosters and the patch. I've kept Best out and plan to for the rest of the year, had to dump a CB and WR to keep roster room while signing a center for an injury. But I've leveled up Smith at HB and he is a BEAST. I was going to draft a HB but not anymore. My plan was to draft a RE with my first pick, but there are no high enough rated guys. So right now my plan is 1st pick, a RG, 2nd pick, C, 3rd pick a WR. I have 2 5 rounders so I'm going to pick up a P and K.

I'm really enjoying playing as the Lions, so far I'm 8-3 even though I lost the first 3 games of the season. Part of me wishes to lose the rest of the games and get better draft picks

[pokerplaya]

Re: One Regular Season Down, and pretty happy! (Analysis/Long!)

What fair catch bug? Do you mean the guy running away from the ball just before he catches it? If so then just HOLD the triangle button until the ball is in his hands, I believe it forces him to stick to catching it.

No, I mean the one where you clearly catch the ball, you hear a "muff/fumble" commentary, and your dude either gets blasted or runs past the coverage and turns a fair catch into a 15 yard return.