Drafting Frustration

[Robrain]

Quote: Originally Posted by josefrees

The computer knows which players are trash. Which is why taking a guy who has fallen in the draft is pretty much wasting your pick. I have never had the computer reach more than a round and a half for a guy though, which is where i try to grab a guy.

A round and a half is kind of huge though. It turns a mid-4th rounder into a technical 2nd rounder.

More importantly though, I have seen projected 5th and 6th rounders getting taken in the 2nd and 3rd if I've scouted them.

[SamIam13]

Wow. I NEED to try this tonight or tomorrow. It makes sense why the computer reaches 2+ rounds on me a bunch. I guess I'll start using Lotus' draft guide for some speed numbers and just burn the points on other categories.

[Trick13]

Quote: Originally Posted by JaymeeAwesome

I don't see that as an issue. I see that as being awesome. It means that the CPU scouts attributes and not projected round. They saw the same talents you did. This madden game is headed in the right direction.

It is only awesome if the CPU develops those players (which it can't do because they get no practice XP) or starts them or at least finds a "role" for them on the field which we all know they don't do.


I get what you are saying, but EA screwed this whole thing up - the offseason isn't fun anymore - it is a dang chore. And even with high levels of time/effort/scouting points you still get whacky crap going on.


If they were going to have players taken way above (or below) their "projection" then they should have made the projections "dynamic" - meaning they should change as Users and the CPU "scout".


Which once again brings me to "my draft board" where I can rank players according to where I think they have value (potentially influencing their projections) and where I can remove/blacklist a player - whether he just stinks or doesn't fit my scheme or I don't like his stupid fictitious name. Think of NCAA's "recruiting board" with some tweaks.


Although, none of any of that matters if we don't get some custom "created or edited" classes because I am not buying another Madden where my only option for draft classes has 80+ speed DTs, 7'4" anythings, 6'7" players with 97 speed - I mean child please...What is this? Blitz? EA letting their 11 year old kids create draft classes?

[PaulChildres]

That also makes sense when you think about it.... since the CPU won't upgrade their players correctly, they want guys with decent enough skillset in those key areas (speed, catch ect)

You got to admit this is BETTER then if they just let you draft whoever you wanted whenever you wanted. In fact I would be pissed if I were you if the CPU let you wait until the projected round and let you have that "late round stud" in his respective projected round. Wouldn't that make it too easy for you?

Swallow your pride. If you really want these "jewels" then draft them in the first/second rounds. The way I do it is trade my first round pick to the worst team the previous season. Try to help out the weakest team to make things a tad more competitive.

[DSThom]

Quote: Originally Posted by PaulChildres

Swallow your pride.

Don't think he can. It's his hobby horse, you see, and if he gets off it he'd be utterly lost for something to say.

[Robrain]

Quote: Originally Posted by PaulChildres

That also makes sense when you think about it.... since the CPU won't upgrade their players correctly, they want guys with decent enough skillset in those key areas (speed, catch ect) You got to admit this is BETTER then if they just let you draft whoever you wanted whenever you wanted. In fact I would be pissed if I were you if the CPU let you wait until the projected round and let you have that "late round stud" in his respective projected round. Wouldn't that make it too easy for you?

I would imagine that a mix of the two would be the ideal. You could wait, and see if they fell, but taking the risk that they might be gone before your pick. Or you could trade up or take them with one of your earlier draft picks.

It should ideally be risk vs. reward. Right now it's not even risk, more like a guarantee that they will not be there.

My biggest wish is that picks outside the 1st and 2nd rounds actually mattered. Otherwise there's no reason to keep your 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th round draft picks. Just package them together and trade them away for an extra 1st and 2nd (which is stupid and cheesy). Making the majority of draft picks useless dulls the NFL Draft experience drastically. I don't want a dull game.

[moylan1234]

I feel your pain OP I've had similar things happen, but agree with others it actually makes the the draft feel more alive and fresh to me.

My approach to counter it is to basically ignore the projected rounds for anything below a 3rd rounder or even a 2nd if it's a low pick. I base my picks solely on the attributes I've scouted and my team needs. Of course every now and then you'll end up with a misfire, but again that just makes it more real to me and as we know with this game you can basically build anyone up so the draft and draft position are almost irrelevant.

[Robrain]

Quote: Originally Posted by Robrain

Also, small other note, I once read someone post on here that when they scouted one of the storyline players during the season, one of those fake in-game tweets or news headlines said something like "Team X appears to be showing heavy interest in X player." I think he was in an online CFM, so he was pretty pissed because then all of his friends in that league knew he wanted to draft that player. I do all of my scouting at the end of the season right before the draft, so I can't verify this. But it would be confirmation that the game is definitely programmed to take advantage of the specific players that you actually scout, making my above suggested scouting strategies a viable counter to that.

Confirmation from an online CFM I recently participated in:



I'm not sure if it does it at a specific time during the season/offseason. This news headline occurred just prior to the draft happening in that league.

It seems to select a random player that was scouted by a random team to post to the main news section. Not sure if this could happen more than once per season - it could be a once-a-season news event.