For those of you who were using my sliders, here are the latest (and probably final) settings plus the franchise house rules I'm using.
Here are the settings:
First value is Human setting, second value is CPU setting:
Blocking: 16,40
Passing: 0,40
Running: 16,40
Catching: 40,40
Coverage:4,28
Pursuit: 4,10
Tackling: 0,8
Kicking: 0,40
Fatigue: 4,4
Injury: 20
Fumbles: 28
Interceptions: 0
I've played about a dozen games with these settings, and I am really, really pleased with them. Most importantly, the interception problem that has plagued us is gone. Here's why: 'pursuit' is a misleading label for the slider. It's not pursuit, it's 'defensive speed,' which is not the same thing. With the slider at four, players in the secondary can't close on routes as quickly as they could before. I have a 90+ rated defense, and in the last 10 games I've averaged under two interceptions a game. Plus only two quarterbacks have been below 50% completion percentage.
The other important thing that a low pursuit setting does is allow big plays on offense. If it's in the fifteen range or higher, it's going to be extremely difficult to ever have big plays. This will also open up the kicking game. I lost the AFC championship on a punt return for a touchdown, which I had never seen before.
Also, I've developed some Franchise house rules that make Franchise mode very challenging (at least for me). My goal was that every opportunity had to come with some kind of associated risk.
1. Max out the salary slider, pay 10% more in bonus than the player requests, and nothing longer than 6-year deals.
2. Max out the trade slider. Don’t trade away guys in the last year of their contracts, and don’t trade for rookies. If a guy is rated below 70, you can release him but not trade him.
3. You can’t trade for a team’s starting QB or trade for/away kickers/punters.
4. No more than 10 draft choices a draft and no more than 2 per round.
I tried to keep the rules as simple as possible but still compensate for A.I. weaknesses. The CPU doesn't value rookies, starting quarterbacks, or kickers highly enough. It's also too willing to trade for players in the last year of their contract. As far as individual salaries, players are too willing to accept no bonus in return for only slightly more money, which makes salary cap management too easy.
Here's where risk comes in. With the 10% bonus kicker over what the player requests, you're taking on quite a bit of guaranteed money (NFL average is almost 50% now, so that's actually pretty realistic). So when guys don't pan out, it's not so easy to get rid of them--you've got a big bonus hit attached. It comes so difficult to manage the cap that you'll actually need to use different contract types to be effective.
I've been able to put together strong teams, but not great ones. And there are always question marks on my roster, because you just can't fill every hole. I think these rules make Franchise play much more realistically and with a pretty high level of difficulty.
Here are the settings:
First value is Human setting, second value is CPU setting:
Blocking: 16,40
Passing: 0,40
Running: 16,40
Catching: 40,40
Coverage:4,28
Pursuit: 4,10
Tackling: 0,8
Kicking: 0,40
Fatigue: 4,4
Injury: 20
Fumbles: 28
Interceptions: 0
I've played about a dozen games with these settings, and I am really, really pleased with them. Most importantly, the interception problem that has plagued us is gone. Here's why: 'pursuit' is a misleading label for the slider. It's not pursuit, it's 'defensive speed,' which is not the same thing. With the slider at four, players in the secondary can't close on routes as quickly as they could before. I have a 90+ rated defense, and in the last 10 games I've averaged under two interceptions a game. Plus only two quarterbacks have been below 50% completion percentage.
The other important thing that a low pursuit setting does is allow big plays on offense. If it's in the fifteen range or higher, it's going to be extremely difficult to ever have big plays. This will also open up the kicking game. I lost the AFC championship on a punt return for a touchdown, which I had never seen before.
Also, I've developed some Franchise house rules that make Franchise mode very challenging (at least for me). My goal was that every opportunity had to come with some kind of associated risk.
1. Max out the salary slider, pay 10% more in bonus than the player requests, and nothing longer than 6-year deals.
2. Max out the trade slider. Don’t trade away guys in the last year of their contracts, and don’t trade for rookies. If a guy is rated below 70, you can release him but not trade him.
3. You can’t trade for a team’s starting QB or trade for/away kickers/punters.
4. No more than 10 draft choices a draft and no more than 2 per round.
I tried to keep the rules as simple as possible but still compensate for A.I. weaknesses. The CPU doesn't value rookies, starting quarterbacks, or kickers highly enough. It's also too willing to trade for players in the last year of their contract. As far as individual salaries, players are too willing to accept no bonus in return for only slightly more money, which makes salary cap management too easy.
Here's where risk comes in. With the 10% bonus kicker over what the player requests, you're taking on quite a bit of guaranteed money (NFL average is almost 50% now, so that's actually pretty realistic). So when guys don't pan out, it's not so easy to get rid of them--you've got a big bonus hit attached. It comes so difficult to manage the cap that you'll actually need to use different contract types to be effective.
I've been able to put together strong teams, but not great ones. And there are always question marks on my roster, because you just can't fill every hole. I think these rules make Franchise play much more realistically and with a pretty high level of difficulty.
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