I have received feedback from many players & leagues that my sliders were the most realistic set they'd ever experienced for User v User games. There were several leagues here on OpSports & around the community running this slider set or basing theirs on it. I will be updating this again for M18!
The Methodology:
Click here to see M17 sliders thread.
Dating back to M15, I've been measuring our league's User v User game stats & benchmarking against the NFL using per-play success metrics (e.g. Pts per play, Yds per rush attempt, Yds per pass attempt, Sacks & INTs per 100 dropbacks/attempts, just to name a few) to balance our sliders.
This means hard data from 32 humans across hundreds of games are what dictate my slider adjustments, NOT the subjective judgment by the slider creator on how they think they should be performing. So if I'm personally having a hard time running the ball, but the league as a whole is tracking great vs NFL run success...the run game goes untouched. Without this visibility into league-wide stats in USER games only, there is no honest & objective way to balance a 32-man league.
And again, this is all benchmarked against NFL median per-play success, not just game-end point & yardage totals. Sim leagues who run 6-minute quarters where each team snaps 35-45 plays/game might end up with realistic looking 34-24 type scores, 280 yds passing by QBs, 90 yds rushing from RBs...but that's off 21 pass attempts and 13 rushes. Despite calling themselves "sim leagues," their actual gameplay is incredibly arcadey. Scoring is MUCH easier in these leagues. Scoring in the NFL is tough, teams have to punt often, and our sliders are designed to reflect this.
If you run this set, to succeed you will have to:
- Stop throwing it into the middle of soft coverage. Hardest thing for most Madden players to learn. NFL QBs don't force it, and they don't try to thread tight needles 15 yards downfield at a huge risk of INT. Madden players tend to force it downfield into coverage no matter what then complain about INTs. NFL QBs check down & live to fight another day--even if it means punting.
- Get the ball out quick. Pass rush can come quickly. You better actually read Ds & have a progression. The "drop back 10+ yds and wait for someone to come open" age-old video game approach won't work.
- ID & adjust to possible blitzes. All the pass block sliders in the world won't make your 5 blockers protect against 6 rushers. In the NFL, 5 man pressure vs 5 blockers reaches the QB in 2.5 seconds or less about half the time. 4 man rushes vs 5 blockers reach the QB in 3 seconds or less about half the time. Better have your "hot" read ready when the D dials up a blitz.
- Get in 3rd & manageable. 3rd & long is just really really tough on these sliders, as it is in the NFL. Don't anticipate converting a whole lot of 3rd & 8+ on these sliders.
- Stop assuming a route will always get open because it always got open in M16/M17. E.g. corner routes are no longer automatic wins on these sliders. (But they can still be highly effective vs the right coverages with the right matchups!)
tldr; Good defense + limiting turnovers + field position = winning, with these sliders.
In short, this will be the slider set for online leagues who want their gameplay to be as realistic as Madden will allow.
What the passing game on these sliders looks like, in a few cool screenshots capturing animations you'll see more of:
How this set is benchmarking statistically vs the NFL in our league:
SEASON ONE
SEASON THREE
SEASON FIVE
Last update: Jan 17
Game Options
Game mode: Simulation
Difficulty: All Madden
Speed: Slow
Quarter Length: 12 min
Runoff: 20 sec
Target Goal: 118-120 snaps/gm, ~1:10 realtime length
Injury: 22
Fatigue: 62
SPD Disparity: 85
User Sliders
QB Acc: 43
Pass Blk: 100 (CPU PBK: 65... this is important)
WR Catch: 80
Run Blk: 61
Fumble: 77
Pass D React: 100
INT: 33
Pass Cov: 100
Tackle: 80
FG Power: 45
FG Acc: 100
Punt Power: 53
Punt Acc: 45
Kickoff Power: 51
Penalties
Offsides: 57
False Start: 53
Off Holding: 67
Def Holding: 85
Facemask: 50
Def Pass Int: 65
Off Pass Int: ON
Illegal Blk: 50
Roughing: 50
XP Sliders (Based on tdawg's 10-year sim data and balanced down for 32 humans running primarily Gold training & swapping player positions instead of 31 CPUs running Bronze.)
QB: 90
HB: 100
FB: 30
WR: 70
TE: 90
OT: 80
OG: 80
C: 80
DT: 100
DE: 100
OLB: 100
MLB: 100
CB: 100
FS: 100
SS: 100
K: 100
P: 100
Comment