Lesser exploits/sound advice to enjoy this game
 

I wrote this up a lil more than a year ago, but I was only on gamefaqs back then. Seeing as this game is finally gaining some ground amongst real football fans again, I thought I'd share it here as well.
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FOR THOSE WHO DIDNT KNOW, ALWAYS start a new coach with ambition then charm and THATS IT. Then when you have enough points, GET MOTIVATOR AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, NOTHING ELSE. If you play preseason the way I do(starters all game), you should be able to win by 21 point lead EVERY pre-season game(at least wih enough retries). By the end of preseason, you should have it, if not, the end of the first 2 weeks in the regular season latest. But you should be trying to win every preseason game by 21+.

The difference is ungodly, people play much closer to their potential and all players stats go up as well as their stats potentials. Once you have motivator, go after charisma and leadership. The rest is up to you skill/special skill wise.

Im not a big fan of cheating myself, so I dont change players positions to resign them cheaper or what not. However I have changed many players positions to get the most out of them, always looking for the best potential. I just have found my own ways to make the game "play better".

For those having trouble installing new systems... Play EACH preseason game until you can steal plays and then quit them(unless you're winning by 21 points or more, making around 2500 points a game for the hc). If you are not winning by then, its ACTUALLY good to quit and restart. When you restart the game, any play you picked in the previous attempt will KEEP THE PLAY KNOWLEDGE previously earned. EVEN THOUGH THAT GAME DOESNT EXIST ANYMORE, you quit it...

MEANING, Even though injuries are reset, the plays played still retain experience. Just remember to save before you turn off the game if you're stuck on one game or gotta leave and havent saved in a while, otherwise you lose the progress since your last save.

You could literally play the first game of preseason until you had half your playbook(o and d) mastered then trounce everyone else(havent gone that far myself)...


emoal
Posted 10/16/2010 3:36:31 AM
For drafting, its time consuming but there are two ways to always get good picks.

1 save when you get your first individual workout and then just reload when you run out until you've scouted everyone you wanted to. Its best to go from position to position as not to lose where you are and write down the ones to draft. When you go through the FINAL run through to actually get to the draft DONT SCOUT ANYONE YOU WANT.

OR

2. Go through each draft 2 or 3 times paying close attention to teams like the eagles, colts, pats, chargers, and really any team that has a GREAT GM. They almost never miss. Even if a player they picked doesnt have great potential in your philosophy, they usually over perform their stats and gain them through producing.

2008 draft STUDS
LG branden albert(played right you can get him as late as 21 but after 15 is a gamble)
SS Kenny phillips (before 27)
DE Calais Campbell(anywhere from 40-50)
WR Eddie Royal/Malcom Kelly/Pierre Garcon(in the slot)
MLB Tavares Gooden(hell of an olb pass rusher, early mid 3rd)
RB Ray Rice EARLY THIRD

I ALWAYS GET Carl stewart/Alexis serna/Tony bake(on a 4 dl defense) during the 6th(so as to sign them for 3 years and then use them as rfas for picks or resign them)

Most picks should be made from 3rd round to end of 6th, so as to take advantage of Rfas being signed away. Easy to pick up 2nds and 1sts for people who might not even start if they werent traded cause I always pick up the best talent every year at every position possible. If theres no clear cut choice trade down, ESPECIALLY EARLY ON. NEVER MAKE A PICK INSIDE THE TOP 10 UNLESS they are on of the 10 people you want to pay, everyone else gets picked from 12- on really at a MUCH MORE REASONABLE PRICE.

When to draft who
1st rd STUD/FRANCHISE PLAYER/HOF HOPEFUL(should resign unless too old or wants too much for something someone else can do(HB WR LB F/SS are replaceable parts, ol dl shutdown corners and qbs are keepers unless injury prone)
2nd ROUND STARTER/Pro BROWLER but not long term, trade them in 4th year or franchise them and trade them that franchised year
3-6 SOLID STARTERS AND SLEEPERS, only resign people who are young enough/injury proof to compete for 5 more years, otherwise lower the tender if you have to but get a pick for them and let someone else pay them
7th backups and steals
emoal
Posted 10/16/2010 3:37:00 AM
Hiring staff
So you won the superbowl but you hate someone who's just dog sh*t right? or one just wont resign no matter how many times you restart a save file. Okay, well you get to that position and the first person pops up, the guy just sucks, how do you fix this problem? EASY, you're gonna have a save file before you hire anyone, right after you've gotten everyone back that you can.

Now you signed the first guy(whether you wanted to or not) but he sucks, so reload and join the bidding for him again..... BUT AS SOON AS YOU DO, press B or circle to get the back out message and back out before you win the bidding. A different coach will pop up now, Sometimes there are 3 or 4 more people YOU COULD HAVE LOOKED AT, but they werent going to show you them unless you turned down the first one(or couple). You can find stopgaps and sometimes some decent coaches after the first one who was just horrible. This trick applies to anytime you're signing coaches, wether you won the superbowl or not.

Finally, INJURIES ARE GOOD. Wait, what? No way, shut up now. No seriously though, they are. Because without them, your trainers never progress, and you will have to hope(restart till) you can resign aaron lee or jeremy phillips after a couple years(EVERY YEAR), or like one other really good trainer,cant remember the name). You want injury prone players too, because they can be some of the best. And once you have a "perfect" trainer, peoples injuries return to 100% so they can play a lot more years...
emoal
Posted 10/16/2010 4:41:53 PM
Easiest to hardest philosophies to draft(not playing at the moment but heres the ones I remember at least)

QB- strong arm tools, pure passer, mobile/speed, field general, balanced
HB Speed, moves, receiving, power, balanced, workhorse
FB- blocking, ball carrier, receiving, balanced,
WR- Speed, Tall/td, quick route, strong/block
TE- Playmaker, H-back, run blocking, balanced
OL- Size strength, run spec, pass spec, balanced, zone blocking
FRONT 7(dl &LB) PROTOTYPE(I dont even bother with the rest anymore unless in a 4-3 cover 2 system)
CB-man coverage ball hawk, zone cover, strong press, balanced, cover 2
FS- Zone, man, balanced, center fielder
SS- Zone, man, strong press, balanced, smart productive
K/P power, accurate, balanced

Just because they're the easiest philosophies to draft, doesnt mean they play the best, just more people fit them then not. It also depends on what kind of system you want to run. Mobile qbs dont always have the strongest of arms so you dont really want to use them on vertical passing systems unless you want them to scramble. It all depends on how you want to play call, that should decide what you expect out of your players(their philosophies)

Re: Lesser exploits/sound advice to enjoy this game
 

why would you want to use motivator that quickly? So far as I am aware, motivator is a one-time deal. It doesn't affect anybody you draft after you use it. so if you're using it during year 1, you don't get to benefit any of the players you draft over the next few season, and are giving bonus potential points to a bunch of guys you were going to cut anyway.

I usually wait until year 2 or 3 minimum, sometimes longer. Basically until at least 90% of my roster is worth a damn.

Re: Lesser exploits/sound advice to enjoy this game
 

It works for the rest of your career, the sooner the better. While you may not see the difference in stats down the line, I assure you, players will have better ratings and rating potentials playing for you then someone who doesnt have motivator. You can trade them and see the difference if I remember correctly.

Re: Lesser exploits/sound advice to enjoy this game
 

Motivator-You need really good player development to make use of Motivator. It helps with potential, but you need good development from coaches to make them reach that potential. I'd suggest Level 5 dev with all coaches. The training tree up to Innovator with HC and coordinators also, and Speed Training and Strength Training for position coaches.

As far as I know, it has no effect on player performance-Performance does that.It's why I would recommend against getting Motivator the 1st year, you need time to build up player development with your coaches.There's a good chance you'll switch out coaches after the 1st year.

Re: Lesser exploits/sound advice to enjoy this game
 

Listen, I wouldnt tell you to do this if I thought it was a bad idea. Ive done this with EVERY TEAM. What happens is your players play better, because they're being motivated to give more effort. Its really simple, the coaches who get the most out of their players are motivators. If you dont want to take my advice, dont. But dont come on here to discredit it. Especially when you're all doing such a piss poor job of it.

TRY ONE CAREER LIKE THIS. If it doesnt work out like I said it will, dont ever do it again. But I didnt need to give you this TESTED information. I gave it to the community because I love this game and have played it since it came with the collectors edition of madden.

If you've never tried to do it this way though, maybe you should try before you knock it.

Re: Lesser exploits/sound advice to enjoy this game
 

WRONG, Your theories are nice but they're theories. WHY WOULD I SAY IT DOES SOMETHING IT DOESNT? YOU'RE THAT DUMB. START A CAREER LIKE THIS< SAVE IT BEFORE YOU ACTUALLY USE MOTIVATOR ON A SEPERATE FILE. WRITE SOME NUMBERS DOWN FOR SOME PLAYERS ON YOUR TEAM, THEN USE MOTIVATOR, SEE HOW HIGH THE NUMBERS ARE NOW< ESPECIALLY ON POTENTIAL?

Listen, whats the only thing your other coaches cant learn that you can so early in the game?

THE HEAD COACH SKILLS, YOU MORON. AKA CHARM, CHARISMA, MOTIVATOR, AND LEADERSHIP. WHY WOULD YOU LEARN SOMETHING SOME OTHER POSITION COACH OR COORDINATOR COULD LEARN WITH YOUR COACH FIRST? ITS JUST ASININE!

AND YOU ACT LIKE YOU'VE DONE THIS BEFORE AND IT DIDNT WORK. IVE DONE THIS WITH ALL 32 teams and IT DOES WORK. WHY TRY TO DISCREDIT SOMEONE WHO'S PLAYED THE GAME SINCE BEFORE IT RETAILED BY ITSELF? I DIDNT EVEN PLAY MADDEN THAT YEAR BECAUSE COACH WAS 10X BETTER.

YES, IM MAD, but only cause you're ignorant.

Re: Lesser exploits/sound advice to enjoy this game
 

algoody- You probably won't get very far on here calling other posters moron, dumb and ignorant, no matter what they think of your theories!

Happy Thanksgiving all.

Re: Lesser exploits/sound advice to enjoy this game
 

I understand your pov bonethrower, I get it, its thanksgiving, lets all be nice(when we're celebrating a holiday that ended up killing millions of indians and stealing most of their native land, except for tiny reservations in ****ty states).

But seriously, who discredits what someone else writes up, and wrote up a year ago, look at the dates. Here's the link. http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/94511...ch-09/56772918
My brother and I figured this **** out a year ago!

Like, I dont see the reason of coming on my post trying to discredit my information, when THEY'VE NEVER EVEN TRIED IT. They didn't even read the description of the skills. Ones that limit to one time effect only are CLEARLY STATED. They're much farther into the special skill tree and will take 5 years at least to get to usually(unless you go straight for one of them from the start)

They're basing it on their own experiences and lack of experience to look into this path, at least once. Don't give any credit for figuring it out, just say, well "AS FAR AS I KNOW". AS FAR AS I KNOW, that's the definition of ignorant. At that point terms like moron and dumb, come into play because they DESCRIBE THE PERSON. I cant help that they're asinine. I could be nicer. I just wont be... to people like that.

Now, if someone wants to try it out, and then tell me, without a shadow of a doubt(so finish the first season up at least) that my method is way worse. That it doesnt work or Isnt what I said it would be. When someone does that, cool. I'll take that and research it... Until then!