Why are the default rosters SO bad?

[Hey_Rebby]

Ok, I get the Keller case, but if EA Sports was really worried about athletes suing, then why didn't they make all of the rosters generic? It's clear there are some teams they focused on getting "right" and some teams they bothered to touch.

I remember, back in the PS1 days and the early PS2 days, the rosters used to be pretty decent. And that was back when the information on rosters and players wasn't as easily obtainable.

Disappointing.

[DaTwolves21]

Things could be worse and we could have generic rosters, why complain, it is what it is. If they look out for some and not all, be happy with what we out given. I'd rather have this then generic rosters we couldn't even edit.

[12]

Quote: Originally Posted by Hey_Rebby

Ok, I get the Keller case, but if EA Sports was really worried about athletes suing, then why didn't they make all of the rosters generic? It's clear there are some teams they focused on getting "right" and some teams they bothered to touch. I remember, back in the PS1 days and the early PS2 days, the rosters used to be pretty decent. And that was back when the information on rosters and players wasn't as easily obtainable. Disappointing.

I don't think it has anything at all to do with Keller's case. If it did, there would not be likeness found anywhere. You wouldn't see QB #10 for Washington being a 6'3" 226 pound RS-SR who has Jake Locker's real attributes. Likeness is all over this game. With the big name players, it seems that they never miss on them.

I don't know if they cherry pick which teams they spend more time on, but I am sure they are a little more focused on getting at least the top 25 somewhat correct.

What it all boils down to, IMO, is that EA doesn't spend a whole lot of time and resources on updating rosters. It's a shame but that's what I think the problem is. I know the rosters on some teams are bad, but they could be worse. The game has roughly 8,400 players, so it's expected that EA is going to make a lot of mistakes. Keep in mind too that some schools don't even really release updated spring rosters with incoming freshmen on them. I think if the schools got the information out there and made it readily available, EA could be more accurate on roster construction. I'm not defending EA here but I can see why it would be such a daunting task to get rosters to be dead on. I think when looking at the big picture (8,400 players) EA gets more right than they do wrong.

Player ratings are always a hot topic but at the end of the day, a player rating is merely an opinion. Again, I think this just comes down to resources. Their roster team might only consist of three people. Who knows? If that's the case, a lot of ratings will seem off because not all these guys have seen each of the player's play. I am just glad that they give us the ability to edit the player so we can get a more realistic portrayal of real-life rosters. Without roster editing, it would be a nightmare. MLB 2K9 sure was when they took a lot of their editing features away. So while it's bad, at least we have the option/ability to fix it.

We're lucky we got great roster editors.

[12]

Quote: Originally Posted by DaTwolves21

Things could be worse and we could have generic rosters, why complain, it is what it is. If they look out for some and not all, be happy with what we out given. I'd rather have this then generic rosters we couldn't even edit.

My thoughts exactly. EA could have said, "We're done, all rosters will be completely random and we're not letting the consumer edit the rosters." That seems extreme but if you look at what they stand to lose in the Keller trial, it's not that far-fetched. I even questioned if rosters would be accurate at all this year. Like I said, while they're not perfect, at least EA got more right than they did wrong.

I fear the day when the above scenario comes to fruition... I don't think it will but it wouldn't surprise me if it does. I think if that happens, EA knows that this title will probably meet the same demise as their college basketball game did, so they'll fight tooth and nail to beat the Keller case.

[12]

Thinking more on this, I am 100 percent convinced that the inaccuracy of this year's rosters (though I don't think they are all that inaccurate - ratings maybe, but the rosters are decent considering the number of players in the game) has nothing at all to do with the Keller lawsuit. If EA were worried about this, there would not be one single player who resembled a real-life player. They wouldn't roll the dice on which players to portray and hope they don't sue, therefore the whole roster set would be completely generic, but it's not.

So again, at least for this year, Sam Keller has nothing to do with the roster issues. I could be wrong but I really doubt it.

[Hey_Rebby]

Quote: Originally Posted by KingFelix

My thoughts exactly. EA could have said, "We're done, all rosters will be completely random and we're not letting the consumer edit the rosters." That seems extreme but if you look at what they stand to lose in the Keller trial, it's not that far-fetched. I even questioned if rosters would be accurate at all this year. Like I said, while they're not perfect, at least EA got more right than they did wrong. I fear the day when the above scenario comes to fruition... I don't think it will but it wouldn't surprise me if it does. I think if that happens, EA knows that this title will probably meet the same demise as their college basketball game did, so they'll fight tooth and nail to beat the Keller case.

Agree, things could be worse, like the scenario you described.