A few ?'s

[twl221]

When do you hire replacement coaches, trainers and Gms?
What is the most important special skill for Gms?
In the draft, do you have the option of seeing where a player is going to be drafted, or do you just wing it?
What is the best kind of running back to have for your runner if you pass a lot?
How important are intangebles and athleticism?
Are Special Skills more important than regular skills?
Thanks if you respond.

[mattlanta]

Quote: Originally Posted by twl221

When do you hire replacement coaches, trainers and Gms? What is the most important special skill for Gms? In the draft, do you have the option of seeing where a player is going to be drafted, or do you just wing it? Thanks if you respond.

I always wondered about this also. I figured the mock draft would be a key indicator of the first two rounds, but I've seen the mock draft miss very badly on many of their predictions also.

I think the most important special skill for a GM has to be contract negotiations or trade negotiations.

[Mike3207]

Quote: Originally Posted by twl221

When do you hire replacement coaches, trainers and Gms? What is the most important special skill for Gms? In the draft, do you have the option of seeing where a player is going to be drafted, or do you just wing it? What is the best kind of running back to have for your runner if you pass a lot? How important are intangebles and athleticism? Are Special Skills more important than regular skills? Thanks if you respond.

1. You hire replacement coaches, trainers and Gms in the offseason, after the regular season is over. Teams that don't make the playoffs get first choice at hiring coaches.

2. I think it's the small, middle, and large school scouting skill. You start with the rookie's strengths, weaknesses, and player comparison unlocked. You get all 3, you get them for the entire draft class.

3. Mock draft gives you an idea, and also the player's overall. You can plan where to draft your players from that.Teams will usually draft a player based on what their overall is when you scout the player to 79%. For example, Patrick Boma with a overall of 68 can expect to go in the 3rd or 4th round.

4. Receiving HB if you plan on having your back catch a lot of passes, Balanced HB otherwise. Balanced philosophy will give you the best all-around back. The Balanced philosphy will usually give you a well-rounded player, so I use that unless I need a different philosophy for my scheme.

5. Most player start with high physical development scores, so developing intangible ratings are very important. You also want a player with a good athletic score.

6. Your co-ordinators and assistant coaches can focus on regular skills, I'd go with special skills the first year. The Seminars, Playbook Training, Charm, Charisma, Leadership, and Ambition(hope you got that starting out). Get Performance to level 3, Team Chemistry and Strategy to level 3 if you play the games, and Playcalling to level 3 if you- supersim the games. I really don't think you need your HC to focus on player devolopment the first year.Performance affects how you players play on the field,so I'd max it out as soon as possible.

[cutter73]

A couple thing about a couple questions that hasn't already been answered:

2. If you really want to take the drama and guesswork in a draft, build up to the GM skill that allows you to view the all the information, including potential ratings, from every player slated to go in the first round of the draft. But, it kinda takes the fun out of the draft, so be warned.

3. The Mock Draft is notoriosly unreliable. Instead, during the draft, use the Pick the Pick option as every team comes up to the board. This allows you to see a list of the players each team is considering drafting, and is a better guage for figuring when a player is going to come of the board. Don't worry about making a move to get him most of the time until he starts moving up that list for other teams.

5. (BASED SOLEY ON MY EXPERIENCES) Intangibles are extremely important. It seems as if they can impact other skills as well. I had a HB who had a high rating in ball carrying, but he seemed to fumble a lot, especially in the fourth quarter. He had a low intangible rating, I bumped it up, and he fumbled a lot less. I'm thinking intangibles affects situational play to some extent like that. Also seems to affect penaltiy frequency to some extent.

6. Special Skills are very effective. A lot of players have limited using them in order to keep the game challanging. The impact they can have on your team can actually make the game so easy as to be unplayable, at least in my and some other peoples opinions.

Also some postitions need more attention in regular skills than others. Linemen seem to progress quickly regardless of skill level, but positions like CB and TE are more difficult to raise. Especially if you play the games instead of simming them.

[twl221]

Another one:
Can you see the potential for intangibles? Like Arm Strength or Awareness.

[Mike3207]

Quote: Originally Posted by twl221

Another one: Can you see the potential for intangibles? Like Arm Strength or Awareness.

Not until you sign the player at least, and that's assuming you scouted him enough. You make actually have to wait until training camp or even the preseason to see some of the ratings. Until then, you'll only see the present intangible ratings. You can unlock the overall potential grade with a personal workout.

[ebongreen]

Actually, there's a "bug" I've discovered: leading up to the draft, you can see a lot of information about highly-rated picks in the Team Gameplan screen. Just as you can see the ratings for free agents & your own players there, if you've scouted well you can get pretty full profiles on draftees-to-be at every position. On the PS3, use the R3 button.

It's a little odd, but darn helpful.

[KBLover]

Quote: Originally Posted by twl221

When do you hire replacement coaches, trainers and Gms?

When a better one is out there. For example, after year one, I hired a lot of new coaches because the ones the Ravens come with largely suck.

That trainer in particular just had to go.

Quote: Originally Posted by twl221

What is the most important special skill for Gms?

I like the negotiation skills (though not sure how much impact they really have - negotiations feel the same to me - other teams will try to make you overpay and will try to low ball you on deals no matter who your GM is it seems) and the draft skills.

Quote: Originally Posted by twl221

In the draft, do you have the option of seeing where a player is going to be drafted, or do you just wing it?

Wing it. I just think about who I want and try for guys other teams might not be looking at but I've scouted to be high potential. For guys I don't have their potentials unlocked, I look at OVR and NFL comparison for who to target when.

Quote: Originally Posted by twl221

What is the best kind of running back to have for your runner if you pass a lot?

Depends on your back's role in that kind of offense. If he's just going to run a lot, power or speed (your preference). If he's going to be involved in the passing game, receiving.

Quote: Originally Posted by twl221

How important are intangebles and athleticism?

I don't know about athleticism, but intagibles seem to include LRN and AWR and those both seem very important. Learning helps players learn your system and AWR is always important in Madden.

Quote: Originally Posted by twl221

Are Special Skills more important than regular skills?

I wouldn't say MORE important, but they are important. I would try to get the regular development skills to level 3 as they can help players develop in areas, as well as performance to level 3 (not sure if it helps, but it SOUNDS like it's important to avoid underachievers). Most "bought" coaches are level 3 and beyond, though, so focus on their special skills.

I haven't had them make the game too easy. My team struggles for every win they get. Maybe I don't have enough of them yet *shrug*