 |
Quote: |
 |
|
|
 |
Originally Posted by JoshC1977 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I debated on sharing this, but I plan on streaming some games so I wanted to share what I was up to.
Playing a more "traditional" franchise in M20 has run its course for me. I've probably run around 15 full seasons in various franchises this iteration, by far a record for me. I wanted to go for one last hurrah with the game, and with roughly 2 months before M21 drops, this feels like a good time. I'm going to shoot for something rather different, eschewing a number of "conventions" that I normally follow when I play CFM. It isn't "Realistic" by any means; it isn't supposed to be...I think it will be fun and isn't that the whole point?
The biggest thing is that I REALLY wanted a chance to do a franchise with a fantasy draft. But man, the resulting league is so bleh when it comes out. Players are signed to "stock" deals and the majority of teams have scads of money left over. It just has a very bland feel and it'd be very easy to use that cash to really build up your team fast. It's also easy in a traditional CFM format to just draft young guys and build up. So...the idea began to take form.
I'm going to do what I'm dubbing a 'Franchise Draft Challenge' for franchise. The basic premise is that you coach a team owned by a miserly owner. He doesn't want to spend money unless he's making it but he demands results and demands them now. He expects you to build through the draft because it's cheaper and he will heavily reduce your spending ability. As coach/GM, you are expected to produce a contender every season - no rebuilds (winners make money, not losers). So basically, using a series of owner-mandated restrictions, you have to keep winning. The mission: how far can you get? If you're fired, it's "Game Over". (Note: if your coach retires, you MAY take over for his replacement.)
The general layout goes like this:
1. Start a new franchise with fantasy draft and turn coach firing to "on".
2. You MUST set a goal of making the Playoffs (or winning the Super Bowl) each season.
3. Must use 'stock' draft classes.
4. I'll be running with the OP setup on the fully patched game.
Restrictions - Trading:
1. No trades; however, draft day trading picks for picks is permissible.
Restrictions - Player re-signing
1. You may re-sign ANY players below 70 OVR, but you can not exceed his requested contract duration.
2. You may re-sign ONE player with a 70+ OVR each season. (choose wisely)
Restrictions - Free Agency
1. You may NOT exercise the 5th yr option for any player eligible (too expensive).
2. You may sign ANY free agent below 70 OVR but you can not exceed his requested contract duration.
3. You may NOT sign ANY free agent with a 70+ OVR at any time, with the following exception:
a) If you commit to win the Super Bowl as your goal and do so, the owner will be very pleased and will allow you to sign a 70+ FA off another team OR use it to re-sign an additional player from your own squad. The obvious downside is you run a greater risk of being fired if you fail.
Restrictions - Gameplay
1. While a "challenge mode" setup, the expectation of playing realistically is still present.
When you have a real 'pressure to perform' without an infinite timeline, it really 'colors' how you approach things. You'll have to think strategically about your personnel choices as you'll have a lot more roster turnover. With a fantasy draft franchise, you will lose a lot of key players within the first two seasons. Your roster WILL crap-out a bit and you'll be forced to improvise. Low-end draft picks will still have value for you and you'll want to think carefully about who you place on the practice squad and/or re-call from it.
I have NO idea if anyone else will find this interesting or not, but I wanted to share just in case 
(Note: no, this will not be my "new way" of playing franchise in the future...just something I'm doing to close out the cycle)
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
Right on my man... Have spent the quarantine with a similar set-up. Frankly, it gave a new life to this Madden franchise for me. While I have not been as active in posting as in years past, you basically identified most of the valuable "easter eggs" regarding slider tuning for this years Madden title, to achieve a balanced, sim experience, where ratings matter.
Just as an FYI, since I had the time, I actually re-rated the ENTIRE EA roster and changed the appropriate attributes (ie get rid of power hit trait on a lot players that had no business having it and took away a lot of X-factor players that EA's roster had). What I can share with you is that if you were to re-rate the players properly, not only is your slider set up the way to go, the PARITY of play is OFF the damn chart. I believe my highest rated QB was Russel Wilson at 85 and Mahomes was a close second at 83. For comparison, Dak was at 72. Most of the starting QB's fell in the 66 to 71 range and backups were in the mid to high 50's range, elite backup's in the low to mid sixties. Play was PHENOMENAL. Everything excelled and even penalties showed up to the party, I had plenty of games where I scored 10 pts or less. Tough defenses played like a tough defense should, and talented offenses shredded my rear. Of note, there was a statistical discernible difference between playing in the standard screen window on offense, and the "zoom" window on offense. Dunno, cannot explain why, but the zoom window delivered a DISCERNIBLE statistical difference in stats and overall game play. Also, I had a steadfast rule of only playing DT on defense and never taking control of the offensive ball handler after a hand-off or catch, just let the ratings of the player take over. The roster re-rate, the aforementioned tweaks and your baseline recommendations, combined, are pure magic. Finally, since I had time, I also messed with penalty sliders. Used a generic EA Madden roster and my re-rate roster. A bit of noticeable wonkiness when applied to the EA Madden roster, but a discernible difference when applied to the re-rate roster. True story, less PI calls during the season overall, but come playoffs, hooooly smokes, had one game that had 3 legit calls. It was against the Ravens I believe, and they were on my wide outs like flies on trash.
This year more than ever, has proven to me that balanced sliders are the way to probably always go and strive for, but having PROPER ROSTERS is finally making an impact on Madden's game engine, just not quite to the level of how a solid roster changes Sony's "the Show" game play completely.
Enjoy your adventure and share your observations at your convenience.
Da Wiz