NCAA 14 Roster Overhaul Wishlist

[TheBadOwl]

I feel like it's about time to overhaul the roster system, in more ways than one. The current system just seems flawed to me. So, here are the main things I want to see in NCAA 14 (or more likely, NCAA 15, if EA ever actually sees this), regarding the roster system.

1) 85-Man rosters

This one is a commonly sought-after feature that has been noticeably absent for quite some time now. But as long as we have a 25-man cap on recruiting classes, an 85-man roster is ABSOLUTELY necessary. I can't even begin to explain how much time I've spent on recruiting, trying to fill up my class to 25 each year, just to have to cut 10-15 players every year. Often, I'll end up cutting players who I had just redshirted the year before. This would make dynasty mode more authentic, immersive and fun.

The counter-argument that I've heard is regarding disc space and load times. There are a few solutions that I've thought of regarding that. The first one is to have a second disc with the rosters on it. That way, you could install the rosters from the second disc onto a hard drive or memory unit, much like the extra tracks on Forza 3. That option may be impractical, which brings me to my second point, which will help with memory issues and (hopefully) overall gameplay

2) Simplified attribute system

Given what we've seen lately in Madden, this may seem counter-intuitive. But as it is, the game feels like literally the only attribute that matters at all is speed. Fewer attribute categories could possibly offset the additional space with 85-man rosters, if space is that much of an issue.

3) Scheme-specific/advanced depth charts

The actual roster positions could be very similar or the same, except there are a few things I think could simplify it. Side-specific position designations could be removed from the roster. Instead of having left and right tackles, etc., you could just have Tackles, Guards, Centers, Defensive Ends, OLBs, ILBs, and Safeties.

This makes scheme-specific depth charts feasible.

Here's an example for a 4-3 defensive depth chart the way I think it should be:

Line:
Strongside End
Defensive Tackle
Nose Tackle (typically bigger than the DT)
Weakside End (usually a smaller, faster end)

Linebackers:
SAM (strong-side backer)
MIKE (middle)
WILL (weak-side)

**Strong and Weak are different than Left and Right OLB's.

Secondary:
Left Corner
Left Safety
Right Safety
Right Corner
Nickel (different position on the depth chart than corner)

On offense, you could then differentiate between the X receiver, the Y receiver, and the Z (slot) receiver.

This is how real schemes and depth charts work. This one may be a bit harder to implement, but it's something that adds to the authenticity, and would be something you could use to market the game with.

4) Offensive/Defensive number sets.

This one is a big one for me, and for a lot of hardcore gamers out there. It's something that every team utilizes in real life. Default rosters have duplicate numbers, but the ability to manually make duplicate numbers is something the community has been asking for for a LONG time. I can't imagine that it would be that hard to put in some code forbidding two players with the same number from being on the field at the same time. And if it's online exploits that EA is worried about, they could just not allow any defensive players on the offensive side of the ball during online play.

Well, that's really all I have for now, but if anyone else has anything they want to add, I'd like to hear it.

[Go Blue 26]

I would just like to add to the scheme specific part. I run the spread/spread option, which usually means that I'm in a four wide formation. The slot receivers are not interchangeable for the spread, what I mean by that is you want speedsters in the slot for quick route running, jet sweeps, etc. A tall possession wide receiver generally will not play slot in real life, but in the NCAA series, if he's the third or fourth best wide receiver on my team, by default he will. An easy fix is to just make two wide receiver positions on the depth chart, wideout and slot receiver. I would appreciate this little detail so much just because it adds the depth that makes a sports game truly great.

[GeneralMike]

As far as the scheme specific depth charts go, this is something I've wanted for a long time, but I think I'd like to see even less position designations. Instead of having Tackles, guards and centers, you'd have just OL, and there would be ratings for snapping, shotgun snapping and long snapping which would have to be considered when setting a lineup and when recruiting. Same thing on defense. You'd have just LBs and DBs.

I'd also like to see more versatility when it comes to recruiting. A lot of guys play both ways in HS, especially at smaller schools. Maybe every player has an ideal position, but if you have a lot of depth at WR, maybe you take your 7th WR and convert him to CB or S or even OLB and it's an easy transition unlike the current process.

[TheBadOwl]

Quote: Originally Posted by GeneralMike

As far as the scheme specific depth charts go, this is something I've wanted for a long time, but I think I'd like to see even less position designations. Instead of having Tackles, guards and centers, you'd have just OL, and there would be ratings for snapping, shotgun snapping and long snapping which would have to be considered when setting a lineup and when recruiting. Same thing on defense. You'd have just LBs and DBs. I'd also like to see more versatility when it comes to recruiting. A lot of guys play both ways in HS, especially at smaller schools. Maybe every player has an ideal position, but if you have a lot of depth at WR, maybe you take your 7th WR and convert him to CB or S or even OLB and it's an easy transition unlike the current process.

That sounds much better than what I had proposed.

So, the rosters would look like this:
Quarterbacks
Running backs
Receivers
H-Backs (TE's and FB's)
Offensive Linemen
Defensive linemen
Linebackers
Secondary
Specialists (Kickers and Punters)

As opposed to QB/RB/FB/WR/TE/LT/LG/C/RG/RT/LE/RE/DT/LOLB/MLB/ROLB/CB/FS/SS/K/P

Scheme-specific depth charts would be so awesome, too. This would especially excite me with regards to OSU's defense. It's a base 4-3, but there are some hybrid positions, like STAR (a linebacker/safety hybrid) and VIPER (a linebacker/end hybrid).

[GeneralMike]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheBadOwl

That sounds much better than what I had proposed. So, the rosters would look like this: Quarterbacks Running backs Receivers H-Backs (TE's and FB's) Offensive Linemen Defensive linemen Linebackers Secondary Specialists (Kickers and Punters) As opposed to QB/RB/FB/WR/TE/LT/LG/C/RG/RT/LE/RE/DT/LOLB/MLB/ROLB/CB/FS/SS/K/P Scheme-specific depth charts would be so awesome, too. This would especially excite me with regards to OSU's defense. It's a base 4-3, but there are some hybrid positions, like STAR (a linebacker/safety hybrid) and VIPER (a linebacker/end hybrid).

Expanding on my previous post, I think the way I'd break down the positions for recruiting would be as follows:
QBs
Backs - HBs and FBs
Receivers - WRs, Slots, TEs, H-Backs
Offensive Lineman - OTs, OGs and Cs
Interior D Linemen - 3-4 DE/ 3-4 NT and 4-3 DTs
Pass Rushers - 3-4 OLB and 4-3 DE
LBs - 4-3 OLBs, 4-3 MLBs and 3-4 ILBs
DBs - CBs, SS and FS
Specialists
Athletes

As far as the rating system goes, I'd like to see more of an explanation of what different ratings mean before I say what I want to see changed, besides the addition of snapping ratings for all OL, and a long snapping rating for all players.

Definitely agree with the scheme specific depth charts, but I don't even know if you need to go that far, you'd just need to explain each position more. For example, there was a pair of text based football games about 5 years back or so that had depth charts like this:
QB
RB
FB
TE 1
TE 2
Flanker
Split End
WR #3
WR #4
LT
LG
C
RG
RT
3rd Down Back
Short Yardage Back
Wildcat QB

Left End
Right End
DT1 (3-4 NT)
DT2 (4-3 only)
Sam LB
ILB #1 (4-3 MLB)
ILB #2 (3-4 only)
Will LB
CB 1
CB 2
FS
SS
Nickel LB 1
Nickel LB 2
Nickel DB
Dime LB
Dime DB
Kicker
Punter

With 85 man rosters hopefully you could get 4 spots at each position.

[moose1234]

The Naming system is the most flawed part. see College Hoops 2K8 they did it right

[xedia]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheBadOwl

1) 85-Man rosters This one is a commonly sought-after feature that has been noticeably absent for quite some time now. But as long as we have a 25-man cap on recruiting classes, an 85-man roster is ABSOLUTELY necessary. I can't even begin to explain how much time I've spent on recruiting, trying to fill up my class to 25 each year, just to have to cut 10-15 players every year. Often, I'll end up cutting players who I had just redshirted the year before. This would make dynasty mode more authentic, immersive and fun. The counter-argument that I've heard is regarding disc space and load times. There are a few solutions that I've thought of regarding that. The first one is to have a second disc with the rosters on it. That way, you could install the rosters from the second disc onto a hard drive or memory unit, much like the extra tracks on Forza 3. That option may be impractical, which brings me to my second point, which will help with memory issues and (hopefully) overall gameplay

For the past 4 years, there is one issue that has kept me from buying the NCAA game, and that is the roster size. They used to have the catchphase "if its in the game, its in the game" but every year 15 scholarship players from every school are most definately NOT in the game. This destroys my immersion into the game, and totally breaks my favorite game mode, dynasty. In fact, its not even an 85 man roster that bothers me, its 105. Coming out of fall camp, teams are allowed to have 105 players (85 scholarship, 20 walk-ons).

Add a level of immersion to dynasty by allowing the coach to recruit just like the real coaches do. Add the concept of walk-ons into NCAA14. For anybody that's seen the movie Rudy, they should know that just being "on the team" means more than playing on saturday. My school is San Jose St. and we get walk-ons just like every other FBS school, some of them turn out to be scholarship worthy down the road, others dont pan out at all. In fact, a search on the 'net shows some examples of walk-ons making the all american lists. Even if they dont pan out or see the field at all, these are also the guys over and above the 70 player gameday limit that comprise the scout teams, an underrated and under-appreciated factor of teambuilding. Also, having the scout team "in the game" demystifies HOW redshirted players develop over the course of a year. Treat the scout team like the practice time that was part of the road to glory style of play.

Every year EA adds new features and millions of new lines of code, so I still dont buy the disk space and loading time naysayers. But even if that part is true, the rumored expectations of PS4 (Orbis?), Xbox720, and Wii U in 2013 should be a monumental step forward in hardware, allowing features such as this to finally be "in the game".

[toysoldier_00]

I don't know about the second and third things, as i do think the current way the positions are is better in terms of the roster.

Maybe something where the depth chart changes depending on your defensive playbook.

For example a 3-4 would go SSDE/WSDE/NG/SLB/ILB1/ILB2/WLB/CB1/CB2/FS/SS

but that doesn't really bother me because you can manipulate your depth chart and formation subs to get what you want.

THE BIGGEST THING IS 85 MAN ROSTERS. PERIOD.

although i would enjoy having the ability to put a # on 2 different guys offense/defense.