FOF2K4 - Too much of a good thing

[thesloppy]

The following is extremely long-winded, with very little payoff. Don't say I didn't warn you. If you're allergic to run-on sentences, then you should call your doctor immediately.



I've been playing FOF (on Wall Street difficulty) since the first edition, and for pretty much the entirety of that time my approach to free agency and the draft has been rather uninspired, to say the least. I'm kind of a fast-simmer, spending 2-3 hours per season, and up until recently resigning my old players was always my first priority, as my main goal (aside from winning the FOF bowl) was to keep my players for as long as possible, through multiple bouts in FA, in an attempt to get my superstars career records at their applicable positions. I was used to starting every season with ~40 players under contract, and free agency to me was a 2-3 week affair in which I could maybe pick up another star or two, but I rarely spent more than 15-20 minutes exploring my options each season. My approach to the draft was similarly vanilla, pretty much trying to get the best player available at the given position, only rarely trading up or down in the first round. Although the design was rather unspectacular, the results were always grand, as I seem to always end up in the playoffs, and probably take home the championship trophy once out of every 6-7 years....about what you'd expect from someone who has played 8 years or so of FOF and is too greedy to deal with house rules.

Well about 5-6 seasons ago in my most recent FOF2K4 dynasty I had to face the prospect of an honest-to-goodness rebuilding for the first time I can actually remember. The FOF2K4 financial engine had finally caught up with me and my vanilla, star-hoarding ways, and I was a good 35 million above the cap. For once I faced the prospect of having to cut a LARGE chunk of my roster and apparently I was going to have to actually pay attention during free agency and the draft to make sure I didn't have to go through the same thing the following year.

The prospect of clearing out my roster and dealing with a year or two of underperforming scrubs whilst I negotiated through salary-cap hell left me bristling....I wasn't happy at the thought of changing my playing style and I was sure that my enjoyment would take a turn for the worse as well, if I could ever get out from the 35 million dollar rock I was under. As a result I stopped playing my dynasty for a couple weeks, only to return out of sheer boredom. With heavy hand and heart I traded away my superstar QB and RB for draft picks 2 years in the future, in the hopes that by that time I would have the free cash to sign the picks and I could start the rebuilding process to get me back to my initial, conventional playing style. I was sure I was in for hours of micro-management dullness, and afraid that I'd lose some affection for the game in the process.

Boy was I wrong! I decided to buckle down and actually scour my roster for who was worth keeping and who was just chewing up cash, especially looking for who was getting paid way too much for potential that someone else would undoubtedly end up harvesting after I payed a premium for their development. I shrugged off my previous Jerry Jones/Daniel Snyder approach of just tossing dollars at my players and decided to go for a Belichick-like strategy of filling my roster with above average players carrying below average price tags. I traded or cut everybody on my roster who was making over $6 million a season that didn't have a current rating of 60 or above. I began scouring the free agent market for players with 5-8 years experience who were fully developed with decent ratings, yet certainly not in the superstar category. I discovered that with a lot of shopping I could sign well-performing, above average players for $2-$3 million a year for 3 years, with almost no signing bonus, and a final season at $8 million which would allow me to either cut/trade or resign them with almost no financial risk to me. Soon I realised that I was spending 2-3 hours sculpting my roster and fishing for free agents...and I was LOVING IT!! The activities that I was initially dreading turned out to actually make the game so much more fun than I was having before, and I would've never even know what I was missing if the FOF2K4 financial engine hadn't finally wised up to my ways. Admittedly, I was still abusing the AI and having a rather easy time of it, but I was way mre immersed in my team and enjoying the hell out of it.

My approach to the draft took a similar turn as I tried to streamline costs. As I mentioned above, it seemed to me that I spent a lot of time and money developing first-round talent that I couldn't afford when it came time to renew their contracts. Often I paid guys $6-$8 million a year to sit on the pine for a couple years, only getting to reap the benefits for maybe a year before their outrageous demands usually resulted in me trading the new superstars to someone else's squad. I realised that I'd pretty much been wasting money on draft picks for years and years when I compared their output to my new favorite free agent pick-ups who would have better ratings for half their contracts at a fraction of the cost. I decided that there were usually only 1-2 picks in each draft that could actually play worth a first-round contract, and so I began targeting these players with the picks I'd gained from trading away my stars, and if I couldn't get the blue-chippers I'd trade the pick away fopr a first rounder in the follwing year, waiting for the occasional bumper-crop draft. Again, my draft took on a whole different face than I had grown used to, and I found myself spending another hour or two preparing for each draft when it used to take 5-10 minutes. Suddenly the draft was so much more of a concern, and so much more enjoyable.

So, now we come to the payoff. Although the time I spent in free agency and the draft suddenly meant I was taking 5-6 hours per season, I still ran through the actual season sim pretty much as I had before, only the new level of immersion made me much more interested in individual players performances come game-day. I got lucky and really only had to deal with one year out of the playoffs after shifting my approach. I now have a different star QB and RB, but better fiscal management means I can keep them and their enormous salaries under contract. Currently I just completed my first 19-0 season, running undefeated through everybody who dared get in my way. In the past, a run like that would almost guarantee a battle with the cap, and 7 rounds of sub-par 32nd draft picks. However, my days as Trader Bob with a tight wallet have left me $20 million under the cap (not counting draftees) and a draft board that looks like this:





Now, my aforementioned greed, and aversion to handicapping myself in any way, means that I'm never going to give these picks up...but I'm never going to use enough of them to make a dent, and I seem to pick up a couple more every year through trades. I imagine that in 3-4 years I will have the entire first round on dibs. I can't wait to see what my available 'cash for new player' looks like then. I'm considering branching this off into a seperate 'nonsense' game, and maybe fielding a team of all rookies one year, or drafting every good player I can and then not signing a single one of them to see what kind of clusterfuck the next yeras draft turns into. As much as I love to hoard the picks I simply HAVE to get rid of them soon, as a good portion of my offseason has turned into Joe-Bob's Pick Swap, where I just swap this year's picks for next in an effort to bring my expected draft cost back to earth.

If only the REAL Lions had such 'problems'.

[LionsFan10]

This sounds like an infomercial in the beginning, then turns into "how I whip the AI every year!" in the end. Good job, though ... I've never come close to owning 18 of the first 32 picks in RND 1.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by LionsFan10

This sounds like an infomercial in the beginning.

Did I mention that I did it all from my one bedroom apartment by placing THOUSANDS of tiny classified ads?

[Karim]

I feel obliged to post because I read the whole thing but I don't what to say!

Seriously though, I guess any game can be AI-abused if you put your mind to it. The question is how much onus is put on the gamer "not to try X, Y, Z" as opposed to limitations in programming and design.

[thesloppy]

Too true, Karim.

I really didn't set out to abuse the AI...mostly I just HAD to cut quality players to stay fiscally viable, and I didn't want to come away with nothing so I would of course try and get the best value out of trade. Hardly seemed like abuse at first, but I suppose it's hard for me to claim innocense once I had 5+ first rounders.

The beauty of FOF2K4 is that even though it APPEARS I've abused the system in the worst way, exactly what am I getting out of it? Those 18 picks are only there because I've failed to use them year after year, and even if I wanted to there's probably no way for me to fit more than 5 top draft picks under the cap and I'd still be on the hook for their massive contracts, which is exactly what I was trying to avoid in the first place.

Basically all my work and futzing with the AI has allowed me to shuffle the draft order around and the ability to pick the 1 or 2 best players (according to my scout) every year...a large advantage for sure, but thanks to busts and the huge 1st pick bonuses that effectively marry you to a player, it's not nearly the advantage it appears. Afterall, it was the crappy, cheap free agents (and a lot of luck) that got me to 19-0 while the draft picks continue to collect dust on the shelf. In a way, it's a testament to FOF's financial AI that I beat the hell out of it, but I'm unable to really take advantage of it.

[korme]

i play like your old style

i keep my crappy vets around til they retire, it's sad to cut loyal players

[Darkiller]

Well, I've recently found myself in a rather difficult position in my main FOF2 career. And that, without adding other house rules or anything. Just the game itself playing better.

As a matter of fact, over the past 8-10 year, the other teams in my division (aka the former NFC West with the Rams, Saints, Falcons, Panthers...and even the Texans) have reloaded their rosters in a very unusual way : they did so cleverly.

With that, I mean that for once, my arch-rivals have drafted wisely and didn't spend foolish money on sub-par Free agents and therefore, have become very, very competitives over the last few years.

The best example of that is that over the past four seasons, at least 3 teams in the NFC West made the Playoffs all at once (and twice, it was 4 teams at once). The other example to illustrate that unbelievable turnaround in the division is the fact that in the past 5 seasons, my record Vs NFC west teams is a meger .450 while it has always been around .700 or .800 for the rest of my career.

I was used to DOMINATE my NFC West opponents and run away with the division title pretty much EVERY seasons...but now, they are my fiercest opponents and I can really envision going 10-6 on the season...worth 4th place in the NFC West. Yes, this division is now THAT good.

This is challenging and very cool, I like the fact that -even in a game like FOF- there are "eras" where at some point your team will dominate the world and win 3 championships over a 4-year span...and then other eras where -because of a number of factors (salary cap, aging/underachieving players, other teams reloading etc.)- you will find yourself not winning nearly as much as you were used to, and that for 5-8 seasons in a row.

[strait8]

I use a similar system I also call the Belichek system. I also look for free agents with less than 8 years experience and high future development with salaries under 1,5 mill Normally these are guys who are subs behind stars who are not resigned by their teams. I get a lot of starters.

My own house rule is only to trade my last year contract starters for a max total of 3 #1 choices. After that I have to trade for players. The AI is much tougher in giving value for players than draft choices. It makes the game more real than having 18 #1 choices. Also having so many #1's guarantees earning the wrath of the owner as you will lose 100 mill on player bonus signing and within two years you will be in cap hell you wont be able to trade out of.

Even if you have a 99000 seat stadium maxed out in boxes and club seats you will lose money with so many #1's on the roster

[QuikSand]

Another alternative way to play the game is to build for yourself a series of house rules that results in some actual "leakage" from your team -- good players you can't afford re-sign, valuable players you actually have to cut (not trade for top value), and so forth.

It's really a "suit yourself" situation. Play the game as you like it.

[albionmoonlight]

I like your idea of making every first round pick one year and then signing no one. It will be interesting to see the draft board the year after that.