My NCAA 14 UT final thoughts/hopes for next edition

[malowry]

Ultimate Team was one of the things I was most excited for in this year's game. My first experience with something like it was NBA 2K13's MyTeam, and I fell in love with it. What could be better than my favorite new(ish) game mode combined with my favorite sport? I even pre-ordered NCAA 14 from Walmart specifically so I could get the Big 12 bonus pack. After a long and tumultuous year, here are my thoughts on it.

1. H2H games are too short, which almost breaks the game mode. Three-minute quarters are a travesty IMO. There are so many ripple effects from this decision. Most players feel forced to go for it on fourth down every single time, because if they punt and come up empty on a drive, they might be done for the half. If you want to run a more run-focused offense, and you succeed, your opponent gets screwed over every time. That's not fun. Instead, games devolve into a contest of who can hit the same unstoppable passing route over and over again until they're in the end zone.

You feel so incredibly stressed on both sides of the ball, because one mistake can lead to a blowout either way. You throw a pass and your opponent's 99-rated lineman/linebacker/defensive back/pet goldfish makes a diving, one-handed catch behind his back? You'd better start praying to the based NFUT gods, because otherwise your opponent will leave you in the dust. There's no time for adjustments, for momentum shifts, for any truly meaningful games to take place.

2. EA didn't do a great job with the cards. You've probably heard this one before: too many skill position players, not enough linemen and special teams players. This leads to you seeing the same players in almost every team. This is boring.

There are way too many versions of the same players. For example, there do not need to be four Michael Vick cards. He's got a silver, a freshman gold, a regular gold, and a HH version. And I think I'm missing one. He's not the only guy like this either. Make one or two, MAYBE three versions of players. Then move on to someone else. Diversify the market.

There are too many incredibly highly-rated players. 99 ratings need to be reserved for players like Epic Bo, Earl Campbell, etc. Instead, EA kept adding these ridiculous cards, which murdered the rest of the market. The Cover Vote and Position MVP collections in particular drove up prices for every card in the auction house. You used to be able to build a presentable team with, say, 10k-15k coins. People ask that much now for single bronzes or silvers because they're in these collections. Even if EA hadn't crippled the mode by removing the store, it would be incredibly difficult for new players to get started now because almost every card is way out of their price range.

3. Miscellaneous: EA really could've done a lot more with solo challenges and collections. There are so many good ideas that I've seen for both that would make UT much more fun.

Menus are clunky and often don't load properly. The process of moving players between your roster and your reserves is extremely tedious, especially since that is one of NFUT's core elements.

The auction house is iffy at best. Bids fail to go through seemingly on a whim, and lag can kill auctions.

The way EA communicated with us at the end could've been a lot better. Early in the year, we started getting less and less news/info on what was coming to UT. It seemed like they were releasing new cards/collections at random times. Then they released all of the remaining Position MVPs/Fantasy players at once, with the whole controversy over "faceless" players and simply not being able to pull certain guys. And then, without warning, EA delivers the death blow by pulling the packs off of the store. No notification. Nothing. We're left in the dark to pretty much declare the game dead ourselves.

Whew. Had a lot to get off my mind.

That may seem like a nitpicky, endless rant, but I'm still generally happy with my experience. My greatest hope is that if EA (or somebody else) can get this franchise back on track, they'll try again with Ultimate Team and make serious improvements. Heck, I think this mode would've been great in NCAA 15 if EA had been given another year to tinker with it. Now we'll just have to wait and see.

[UMich97]

Yeah, this was really a great mode for NCAA. It's a lot more fun that MUT IMO. With that said, I agree, 4 or 5 minute quarters would have been better and they could have added a lot more content. If there ever is another NFUT, I'd love to see a few tweaks.

1. Instead of having to select a 99 Shaun Alexander or Ricky Williams as my HB, I'd prefer to be able to upgrade a HB from my favorite school to reach 99, or at least have a 99 at every position for my school (so long as that school has a player that warrants it). Or, maybe make it cheaper to upgrade say Ricky Williams to 99 than it would be to make Tyrone Wheatley a 99.
2. For the Big Schools, there should be at least a 90+ player at every position, so that you could field a legitimate team full of players from your school.
3. Agree with the position MVP's. It just makes it, so you have to have the exact same team as everyone to compete at the highest level.

None the less, it's sad to see NCAA disappear and NFUT along with it. It was the start of a great mode.

With that said, I'm saving a boatload now that I have no reason to buy a Xbox One or PS4.

[mrcannon35555]

i have ps4 and madden 25 but cannot get into madden like i do nfut.i am stuck with 99 team and million 800 thousand and no one i really wanna buy.it seems as though there are only few 99 teams left playing.i only play friends now mostly since i cut play playing time.the nfut was very addictive and way better than madden imo as well.i have played ncaa football games as far back as i can remember.this year is the first pro football game i played since tecmo bowl way back when but with no ncaa next year ill probably get more into madden 15 when it comes out

[herropreese]

PLEASE let us make our own uniforms via teambuilder. I would even pay for the option. Throw in stadiums too (along with the main dynasty mode) and I would love playing NUT.