Just how dated is UFC 3’s roster 2 years later?

[sdpdude9]

I think many agreed that UFC 3’s roster was dated at the time of release missing several key fighters. But I wanted to look at it today to see just how dated the current UFC game is. Fighters were last added a little over a year ago.

Over the next 8 UFC cards (through UFC 249) there are 93 fights currently announced. Of those 93 fights, you could only simulate 12 of them or 12.9%. In fact, of the 186 fighters competing on those cards, only 45 are playable or 24%.

It is also missing 57/156 ranked fighters (not counting WFLW) or 36.5% including 2 champions.

Yes, I know looking at the roster 2 years after release isn’t exactly fair, but it just shows how out of touch the most current game in the franchise is. It also, to me, shows just how important having a deep roster is for a game that’s only released biannually. Also, shows the need for a deep CAF mode with many slots to allow dedicated fans to keep the roster up to date. Sharing these fighters should also be allowed.

[That Ragdoll Guy]

Creating fighters in CAF mode can be really time-consuming for the creator.

EA could sell community created CAFs and share the money with the creator. Lets say there is an in-game EA store and you search for Fedor... 200 created Fedors in the list(upvote/downvote system). Cost = $2.99 for each fighter. Creator gets paid by EA, a Dollar for a sold CAF. Im not greedy I just know how much time a perfectly created fighter takes... It is really time consuming.

Thats a high selling microtransaction move, that has nothing to do with pay to win.

Cant believe this isnt a thing yet.

[aholbert32]

Quote: Originally Posted by That Ragdoll Guy

Creating fighters in CAF mode can be really time-consuming for the creator. EA could sell community created CAFs and share the money with the creator. Lets say there is an in-game EA store and you search for Fedor... 200 created Fedors in the list(upvote/downvote system). Cost = $2.99 for each fighter. Creator gets paid by EA, a Dollar for a sold CAF. Im not greedy I just know how much time a perfectly created fighter takes... It is really time consuming. Thats a high selling microtransaction move, that has nothing to do with pay to win. Cant believe this isnt a thing yet.

That would be a lawsuit waiting to happen. Ea doesn’t have Fedor’s rights but would be profiting from selling his likeness rights. That’s an open and shut case


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[ragreynolds]

Quote: Originally Posted by That Ragdoll Guy

Creating fighters in CAF mode can be really time-consuming for the creator. EA could sell community created CAFs and share the money with the creator. Lets say there is an in-game EA store and you search for Fedor... 200 created Fedors in the list(upvote/downvote system). Cost = $2.99 for each fighter. Creator gets paid by EA, a Dollar for a sold CAF. Im not greedy I just know how much time a perfectly created fighter takes... It is really time consuming. Thats a high selling microtransaction move, that has nothing to do with pay to win. Cant believe this isnt a thing yet.

Even without the legal issues that Aholbert pointed out, I think it's just an annoying and money grabbing move.

Why not just allow us to fighter share for free, just like they did with EA MMA, or how the WWE games do. The way the current CAF system is, I don't really care for fighter sharing honestly. But if they improve on it in any big way, then it's something I'd love to see.

[aholbert32]

Quote: Originally Posted by sdpdude9

I think many agreed that UFC 3’s roster was dated at the time of release missing several key fighters. But I wanted to look at it today to see just how dated the current UFC game is. Fighters were last added a little over a year ago. Over the next 8 UFC cards (through UFC 249) there are 93 fights currently announced. Of those 93 fights, you could only simulate 12 of them or 12.9%. In fact, of the 186 fighters competing on those cards, only 45 are playable or 24%. It is also missing 57/156 ranked fighters (not counting WFLW) or 36.5% including 2 champions. Yes, I know looking at the roster 2 years after release isn’t exactly fair, but it just shows how out of touch the most current game in the franchise is. It also, to me, shows just how important having a deep roster is for a game that’s only released biannually. Also, shows the need for a deep CAF mode with many slots to allow dedicated fans to keep the roster up to date. Sharing these fighters should also be allowed.

Good post.

A blown out CAF feature is the likely answer to this given the amount of time it takes to make each fighter and the lack of consistent resources when it comes to the art team.

One issue I have with your data is that it doesnt factor in fighters who wouldve likely been added vs ones who wouldnt. Based on my experience, EA doesnt like adding fighters who either have very few fights at the time rosters are locked, who have no high profile fights or who are within a loss or 2 of being cut.

An example is Emil Meek. When we were doing rosters for UFC 3, Meek was on the list of potential fighters. I even did stats for him. He was coming off a win outside of the UFC over Rousimar Palhares and a win over Jordan Mein in the UFC. He was scheduled to fight right before roster lock but he pulled out the fight. He then lost 2 in a row...and he fell off the potential fighters list. If he loses to Matthews this weekend, he is likely cut.

You know that I would prefer that they add every fighter but knowing what I know, I doubt that will ever happen. The primary reason is most players (specifically online) dont give a **** about fighters outside of the top 10. It frustrates me so much to see people here talk about online and they only really reference the top 10 fighters.

Also looking at a card like the Hooker/Felder card, I see maybe 3 fighters that would be added (Kara France, Xoianan, maybe Crute or Michel O). On the flip side, on the Norfolk card, I see 7 who fit the description of people who EA would add (Figuerdo, Spencer, Anderson, Skelly, Cutalaba, Pena and Tybura).

Finally, EA has a ****load of fighters to replace because of retirements and defections so I'm hoping that we will see a UFC 2 like number of added fighters instead of the smaller UFC 3 number.

[sdpdude9]

Quote: Originally Posted by aholbert32

Good post. A blown out CAF feature is the likely answer to this given the amount of time it takes to make each fighter and the lack of consistent resources when it comes to the art team. One issue I have with your data is that it doesnt factor in fighters who wouldve likely been added vs ones who wouldnt. Based on my experience, EA doesnt like adding fighters who either have very few fights at the time rosters are locked, who have no high profile fights or who are within a loss or 2 of being cut. An example is Emil Meek. When we were doing rosters for UFC 3, Meek was on the list of potential fighters. I even did stats for him. He was coming off a win outside of the UFC over Rousimar Palhares and a win over Jordan Mein in the UFC. He was scheduled to fight right before roster lock but he pulled out the fight. He then lost 2 in a row...and he fell off the potential fighters list. If he loses to Matthews this weekend, he is likely cut. You know that I would prefer that they add every fighter but knowing what I know, I doubt that will ever happen. The primary reason is most players (specifically online) dont give a **** about fighters outside of the top 10. It frustrates me so much to see people here talk about online and they only really reference the top 10 fighters. Also looking at a card like the Hooker/Felder card, I see maybe 3 fighters that would be added (Kara France, Xoianan, maybe Crute or Michel O). On the flip side, on the Norfolk card, I see 7 who fit the description of people who EA would add (Figuerdo, Spencer, Anderson, Skelly, Cutalaba, Pena and Tybura). Finally, EA has a ****load of fighters to replace because of retirements and defections so I'm hoping that we will see a UFC 2 like number of added fighters instead of the smaller UFC 3 number.

I went through the cards and came up with what I would consider “viable” to be added. All of these fights have at least 4 fights in the UFC, have a winning record, and are not currently on a losing streak and/or in danger of getting cut soon.

Yan Xiaonan (4-0)
Magomed Mustafaev (3-1)
Zubaira Tukhugov (3-1-1)
Kai-Kara France (3-1)
Song Kenan (3-1)
Deivison Figueiredo (6-1)
Ion Cutelaba (4-3)
Magomed Ankaliev (3-1)
Luis Pena (3-2)
Weili Zhang (4-0)
Edmen Shahbazyan (4-0)
Li Jingliang (9-3)
Jose Alberto Quiñónez (5-2)
Drakkar Klose (5-1)
Elizeu Zaleski Dos Santos (7-2)
Johnny Walker (3-1)
Rani Yahya (11-4, 1 NC)
Francisco Trinaldo (14-6)
Jon Makdessi (10-6)
Kevin Holland (3-2)
Marvin Vettori (4-2-1)
Gabriel Benitez (5-3)
Molly McCann (3-1)
Aspen Ladd (5-1)
Cody Stamann (4-1-1)
Raoni Barcelos (4-0)
Walt Harris (6-4, 1 NC)
Vicente Luque (10-3)
Randy Brown (6-3)
Niko Price (6-3, 1 NC)
Muslim Salikhov (4-1)
Calvin Kattar (4-2)
Karl Roberson (3-2)
Shamil Abdurakhimov (5-3)
Lyman Good (3-2)
Belal Muhammad (7-3)

That’s 36 fighters that fit the bill, only 9 less than are already in the game during this time period. And that’s under fairly strict rules, you could definitely argue for probably at least 10 others that don’t fit this criteria. Of course, some of these may not be big names or lack marquee wins but if EA were to focus on a robust roster, all of these should be considered imo.

But you’re right, a strong CAF feature would go a long way. I’m just hoping we don’t get a repeat of 3 where there’s several top fighters missing and I hope we get some of those lesser names. I’m not banking on that, though. Maybe we’ll see a universe mode, again not holding my breath, and that would necessitate a large roster imo.

[Reinfarcements]

The CAF system really needs two major things:

1. Fighter Share

2. ALL assets in the game should be available in CAF mode (besides real fighters' heads, not really needed and could be weird). So this means every single body type in the game, hair style, unique strike animations, unique movement animations, ect. All of these used on the real fighter roster should be added to the CAF mode to be utilized.

^ This combined with the old Ultimate Team mode where it was all CAF vs CAF could be HUGE.

[MacGowan]

If they keep the same workflow as UFC3 the roster will be outdated within a year. Names come and go real fast in the UFC, and fighters go from title-fights to being cut in the blink of an eye. Israel burst on the scene. Zhang had 4 fights before becoming champion. They won't be able to foresee these fighters. Not to mention these guys change haircuts and get new tattoos every week.

Personally I think outsourcing it would be better. Perhaps buying in the best UFC CAFs. letting us edit all fighters. with a strong CAF system. If they don't add a share feature then at least we can upload the fighter stats here (if they get gameface to work properly).

Of course that's not gonna happen. Because all they need is a few cinematic trailers of smooth Conor and Diaz models with some glossy lights and who actually gives a **** about Deron Winn? right?

Can't wait to unpack Darth Vader in the new UT.