Rookie
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I don't know if any of these have been posted before but here are my wishes:
1. Tone down the speed (or even eliminate turbo if need be). I played too many games in my online dynasty in which the team with the faster WRs won. It doesn't matter if you have a double team on, if you’re playing off the WR, or if you have safety help over the top, (or any combination of these things), if a person has a WR (RB in the slot/out wide) that has a speed rating of +5 of the man/men covering him, it’s a score. Now I realize speed kills in real football, but there are ALWAYS ways to slow it down/not get killed by it. To get beat deep here and there due to bad play calling is one thing, but when the scheme is in place, a WR should not continually beat a defense long. It's one thing to catch a pass underneath, make a man miss and out run safeties taking bad angles, but to just run past people on fly routes every time is absurd. This needs to be addressed, badly. In correlation with this, a 96+ speed RB is the most dangerous weapon in the game, even if his rating is only in the 70s. This isn’t right. Again, speed is arguably the most important attribute, but it should be able to be overcome, especially if the speedy player ISN’T that good. In ’09, a 90+ back with 80’s speed was completely inferior to a 70-rated back with 96+ speed. That isn’t football. If it was, Ron Dayne wouldn’t hold the career rushing record, and Napoleon Kauffman would be the greatest RB in the sports history.
2. In direct relation to the speed, INCREASE the pass rush. Part of the reason the speed of the WRs is so prevalent is due to the lack of a pass rush. If you have a good front 4, you should be able to create some semblance of a pass rush. And with a pass rush, the WR does not have time to simply out run the DBs. These two things go hand in hand, IMO. I shouldn't have to blitz EVERY PLAY just to get a pass rush, leaving myself susceptible in the secondary, ESPECIALLY when I have all high 80's-90's DLs.
3. Accuracy of the QBs. I know this has been addressed by the world, but to be perfectly honest, the accuracy didn't bother too much most of the times. A good QB can squeeze the ball into tight windows, especially when he has time in the pocket. (Granted, maybe not as frequently as in 09, but that is not too far off.) The accuracy that bothers me is when the QB is moving, throwing off his back foot, or throwing the ball under duress. Too many times in the game you see a QB rolling out, throwing an ABSOLUTE laser in between two defenders... 20+ yards downfield. I'm sorry, this simply doesn't happen in the NFL, let alone with college kids. The accuracy in general on the deep ball needs to be addressed, more overthrows and underthrows. Very few college QBs, (i.e. Matt Stafford, Sam Bradford) can make the deep ball throws with accuracy, and even they will miss the occasional target. Finally, when a a QB is getting pressured (especially up the middle) he is less accurate. It takes a special breed to stand in and take a shot and still deliver a strike. For every Tim Tebow who can do it (although his accuracy is nothing to write home about, haha), there are 15 Juice Williamses/Chris Cranes who can't. So fix this. I'm fine with more separation in play from the high 90's to low 90's if it leads to more a more accurate football sim.
4. More advanced OL/DL play. As a former HS Offensive and Defensive Linemen, I know there is more that goes on in the trenches than swim moves and bulrushes. This needs to be addressed. It should be FUN and even REWARDING to play with a good DT or DE. But instead, if you don’t beat your man off the edge, it’s seemingly impossible to create consistent pressure. I want more DL moves. I want to be able to battle through the OL and work my way to the QB with well timed moves, not just line up wide and use speed. And same goes with a DT. If I have a dominant DT, I want him to clog the middle and force two men to account for him every time they attempt to run it up the gut. And offensively, it would be AMAZING if I could have more OL options than simply sliding-protection. If a DE is abusing me (hopefully with a combination of well-timed and newly added moves), I want to be able to assign a double team. I want to have my TE crack down on him before he enters his route. If I want to run middle versus a dominant DT, I want to MAKE SURE I have a double team on him, even if it frees up a LB for a potential tackle. I want CONTROL of my offensive line calls. There is way more to it than a simple slide of protection.
5. Penalize cheesers for putting a speedy RB at FB or a fast WR at TE. Again, what I continue to come back to is speed. Being the dominant force in the game, cheesers found new ways to utilize the speed advantages. I’m sorry, if you are going to line up a WR at TE, I should be able to blow up your run game. Same goes for the fullback. If you are going to throw swings to a speedy RB (lined up a FB) in the wide side flats, there should be repercussions in other aspects of the game. There are real reasons why (pro-style) teams have FBs and TEs, and it is not for their speed. Force gamers to use players the correct way, not just plug in the 5 fastest players on the field at any position and still be able to run the ball with effectiveness.
6. Improve the CPU AI. Though we know there will always be ways to take advantage of the game, if the game smartens up, you would at least have to mix up these advantages. As of now, if you have a 96+ speed player (again, I’m back to the speed factor, haha), you can run wide side tosses to him (out of I-form Twins) every play, and win the game. Legitimately. If the CPU comes out in a man, you have the entire sidelines to yourself. You hit the corner and its generally a first down, if not a touchdown. So the CPU should realize this and adapt. Shade their DE/LBs to the wide side. Have the LBs make it a priority to take away the corner rather. Make the safeties recognize these plays and tendencies and punish me for overusing plays. I want the CPU to force me to stop doing something that is working WAY too well, not me forcing myself to stop because it is unrealistic. I know I will stop doing that every play because I want to play a football sim. But there are too many people who won’t stop doing it (some of my best friends included, haha), so force them to stop.
7. Related to CPU AI, the angles defensive players take is atrocious. Again, speed can be overcome (or at least slowed down) by smarts. I shouldn’t be able to run at a defender, time my cut, and then run parallel for 5 steps with the defender next to me. He should come up and meet me, or at least dive at me when in range. CBs should be in position to make a play on a ball carrier getting to the second level with good angles, not running to a spot 10 yards behind where I currently am. When a LB is coming to from the edge, trying to take away the corner, the deeper he tries to take the angle, the more steps he has to take, and the more my speed advantage is going to make him pay. The game needs to realize this and adapt, and simply take better angles. This is absolutely ESSENTIAL.
Dynasty Wishes
8. When taking a team from the outhouse to the penthouse, the program’s improvement should show in its own stadium/facilities. Allow for stadium construction. If I take UL-Lafayette from a Sun Belt doormat to an SEC power in 15 years, I want an SEC caliber stadium to go with it. This would be so cool, and ultimately, more realistic.
9. Improve scheduling. Using UL-Lafayette, I should not be able to just “pick” 5 out of conference games. Let’s see, I’m bringing USC, UF, Georgia, Penn St, and Texas to Lafayette this year. NO! I believe the 2k CBB series had something along the lines of prestige mattering in the schedule process. I’d settle for that. But imagine if there were 2 (or more) year home-and-home contracts, big schools paying little schools to come to town to take a beating, etc. These things would be an AWESOME and realistic addition. Make schools like UF offer my Ragin’ Cajuns a contract to play them at the Swamp for a sum (which could then be used to improve the facilities/towards a new stadium/better the weight room or even the academic facilities.) I know the latter is probably to wishful, but AT THE VERY LEAST factor in prestige in the scheduling process.
10. Early enrollment for some freshman (so they can attend the Spring Practices and therefore get an extra year of training boosts).
11. Bring back Disciplinary Action. One of my favorite (and ironically, most frustrating) things about the old PS2 versions was when one of my star players “Skipped a class to play NCAA Football 04” and I had to suspend him or face consequences from the NCAA. Why did this disappear? It is part of college football. They could even take it a step further and add a “Character Rating” to each player, leading to the lower rated players getting into trouble more frequently. Maybe you don’t recruit that 5-star RB who has an F in character over the 4-star RB with A+ character. (Even a step further, these good character guys should positively influence the team more than poor character guys if named captians, etc.)
12. Allow me to cheat! Allow me to call a player when I’m not supposed to, all in an effort to boost my chances in recruiting. Allow me to send txt messages when I can’t. Allow me (or my boosters) to pay a player to come to my school, or put him up in a no-show job with pay (hello Rhett Bomar, haha). I assume the latter two would never be allowed by the NCAA, but the first two should be. Let me teeter between bending rules and cheating, all in the name of getting ahead. But if the NCAA comes a calling, MAKE ME PAY for my transgressions. Loss of scholarships, player transfers, exclusion from bowl games, even loss of my job. This would make recruiting THAT much better, just like the Disciplinary Action did back in the day.
13. CPU Job Movement. Besides my own coaching moves, everyone else stays in place! There should be constant firings and hirings. If a big school like Clemson underachieves for a few years, their coach should get canned. It’s part of the college football. Also, add coordinators to the game (a la Madden) to fill voids. I want to lose my hot shot OC to a big time head coaching gig. I don’t care if they are fictional (as long as I can manually edit [or download] their names/appearance/philosophies/etc.) but they should exist. Maybe Urban Meyer disappears to take a job in the NFL. This happens ALL THE TIME in college football, it should in the game. And maybe that gig doesn’t work out, and he is re-available for hire 3 seasons later. This would add so much realism and fun to the game
Quick Hitters
14. Better presentation.
15. Team specific entrances. (i.e. Clemson touching Howard’s Rock and coming down the hill, etc.)
16. Team specific mascot traditions (i.e. the Buffs leading Ralphie onto the field, FSU’s Chief Osceola riding a horse and sticking the flaming tomahawk in the field, the Ohio State ‘dotting of the i’, etc.) College football is so tradition rich, let’s celebrate them! It is what differentiates the NFL from the NCAA.
17. Taunting/Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalties (and the ability to perform the celebrations to solicit the penalties.)
18. Tackling (and fumble) pile-ups.
19. Full-fledged Create-a-school (a la APF2K8) and 1-AA schools.
20. More neutral site options/team specific endzones in bowl games.
21. Viewing of the actual uniforms (a la NHL 09), rather than text explaining them
22. More uniform choices (perhaps even downloadable uniform packages, like throwbacks, for a small fee).
23. More helmet models, more facemasks, more accessories for the players, more cleat brands/models (i.e. undershirt sleeves to the elbow [like Michael Crabtree], one sleeve [like Stafford], eyeblack, big mouth piece, towels, handwarmers, etc.)
24. On the field referees.
25. Head coaches on the sidelines (and the ability to edit coaches to look like their real life counterparts).
If you have read this far, I assume you too are passionate about both the sport of college football, and the NCAA Football game. It may seem like I am bashing the game at times, but I’m not. There are certain things that bothered me about the past edition, but in all, I thought it was a fantastic game. If they could simply improve in some areas and add some of my suggestions, it could only make the game better. I know some of my wishes are pipedreams, but who knows. It never hurts to wish.
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