Why does EA need to patch in the new playoff system?

Well, it’s the biggest change in college football since the implementation of the BCS. And the shadow of the playoff will be hanging over the college football season. If it’s not in the game, then EA is failing to deliver the most accurate product possible.

No, we won’t have the playoff this year, and EA might use that as the justification for not including it in the game. But a lot of people play Dynasty Mode, and some of us even make it to the third year. If I hit 2014 in my dynasty and don’t see a playoff system, it just won’t be the same. The NCAA football series is ostensibly a simulation of real college football, and that’s why we need the playoff system patched in. We may not know all the details of how the system will work, but if EA can patch in even a reasonable facsimile of the playoff system, that should be good enough.

But patching the playoff system into the game isn’t just about accuracy, it’s about sending a message to gamers that we matter once the product is pushed out the door. Perhaps I’m just projecting my own feelings onto those of the sports gaming community, but it feels like sports gamers don’t trust developers the way we used to. Patching in a working playoff system, in my opinion, would go a long way toward restoring some trust. Regarding the NCAA football playoffs, I can’t recall such a fundamental change to a major sport in recent years, especially not one that was announced so close to a game’s release date. And that’s why it’s such an important development for the gaming world, as well as the sports world. The way EA handles the playoff situation might just be the blueprint for how issues like this are resolved in the future, and because of that, it’s important for EA to get this one right.

That’s not to say, though, that some mechanical issues won’t stand in the way. It’s easy for me to recommend a patch without understanding the mechanics of how it would work. Now, if the FIFA team can patch in the Euro 2012 mode with all of its unique rules, it’s hard for me to imagine that a college football playoff couldn’t be patched in. But NCAA Football and FIFA are different games with different coding, and we need to acknowledge that it might not be as easy as it sounds.

On some level, it’s amazing that this is even a conversation we can have. This console generation has seen a revolution in content delivery that allows us access to updates and features that were unheard of ten years ago. We no longer have to spend hours manually naming the rosters of our favorite team, broken gameplay can be tuned, and if there’s a fundamental change in the way a sport determines its champion, we don’t have to just assume we’ll see it in next year’s game. If EA doesn’t patch in the playoff system I’ll be very disappointed. And that disappointment will be a testament to how far we’ve come.

Whenever playoffs make it into an NCAA Football game, I’d like to see some flexibility. Personally, I favored a six-team playoff, with the top two ranked teams receiving a bye into the semifinals and the higher-seeded teams playing home-site games until the championship game (credit for my support of this plan goes to Brian Cook). That plan would make seeding something to work for during the season. Unfortunately, it’s not going to work that way. But imagine the goodwill EA would create if they allowed gamers to use not just the four-team playoff, but their favorite model as well.

What do you think, OS readers? Can we expect to see EA patch in the playoff this year? Will the playoff patch (or lack thereof) affect your decision to buy the game?