BCS Will Continue as the Postseason Format For All Years of Dynasty in NCAA Football

[cmilner2]

It's probably just as disappointing to us as it is to EA to not have playoffs in the game. Hopefully once all of the details of the playoff system are set, EA will provide a playoff DLC

[Colt45]

Quote: Originally Posted by CM Hooe

And then they have to most assuredly redo it for the next game once the parameters for choosing playoff teams are more clear. You surely understand how that - duplicating work - is a disaster from an operational standpoint, not just for Tiburon but for any company. It shouldn't be surprising that Tiburon chose not to go this route.

How hard could it possibly be to take the Top 4 ranked in their current BCS and make three games out of it? It can't be so much work that it is not worth it.

[ACardAttack]

Quote: Originally Posted by Colt45

How hard could it possibly be to take the Top 4 ranked in their current BCS and make three games out of it? It can't be so much work that it is not worth it.

And on top of that, they could improve upon the code for next season instead and make sure there are no bugs

[Hooe]

Quote: Originally Posted by Colt45

How hard could it possibly be to take the Top 4 ranked in their current BCS and make three games out of it? It can't be so much work that it is not worth it.

In isolation, no, it isn't hard.

In the context of a ten million line long code base and a AAA video game project where any additional feature requires weeks of planning and preparation, it suddenly becomes a much taller order to add any sort of tournament to the game in a bug-free manner, particularly given the extra variable of swapping between postseason formats midstream.

Making games is hard. It is Tiburon's job to make games, yes, but it is also Tiburon's job to manage their resources effectively.

[DorianDonP]

Quote: Originally Posted by CM Hooe

In isolation, no, it isn't hard. In the context of a ten million line long code base and a AAA video game project where any additional feature requires weeks of planning and preparation, it suddenly becomes a much taller order to add any sort of tournament to the game in a bug-free manner, particularly given the extra variable of swapping between postseason formats midstream. Making games is hard. It is Tiburon's job to make games, yes, but it is also Tiburon's job to manage their resources effectively.

Respect your position, but again, I don't buy the "its too hard to do" angle. Certainly don't buy that this would be a mismanage of resources. Not from EA, a company that openly admits that they have a history of putting something in and taking it right back out the next year. Nope.

This is something that will be in college football for the foreseeable future. Getting started on it early isn't mismanaging resources, even if the first implementation has bugs. CC and studio updates had bugs. That doesn't mean you don't do them. All it means is you continue working to get it right. Work is part of the job.

I'll just put this out there that I know EA didn't have to put this in. They are not obligated. They have built in excuses for why they can hold off on it. But that's partly why it disappoints me to not see them go out of the way for the fans.

That type of stuff builds equity with the fanbase. The company that doesn't "HAVE" to do it, but does it anyway because they want to make the best game possible. When Madden put in the Texans, the expansion draft, and the new divisions a year BEFORE they had to, it was something the fans could cheer about. I'm sure it wasn't easy to make the game switch to new divisions in franchise midstream along with a new team, but guess what? EA did it anyway and people were thankful for it.

What's more, the franchise mode also takes into consideration the Houston Texans entering the league, enabling you to take over that franchise after the first year and taking part in the expansion draft or even import a created team into the league at that time. And if that's not enough painstaking details for you, Madden 2002 is the only football game that we know of this year that'll actually have the new division alignment that'll take place next year, so that there's an AFC North, South, East, and West and an NFL North, South, East and, West.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2001/08/...den-nfl-2002-7


Back when the company wanted to separate themselves from the pack, they went out of their way to give fans a great game. They could STILL do that with the little things that go a long way. Even if I think the gameplay is stale right now and can't be fixed until next gen, I would have appreciated the effort EA made by putting in the playoffs even though they don't technically have to do it. As of now, I doubt I'd be able to be immersed in a dynasty mode, because after year one, I'll be annoyed playing every other year with a BCS instead of what is really going on in the college football future.

As I said, EA could be building equity with the community instead of just doing enough to get by. The effort in the past gen was noticed. And on the flip, it's also noticed when they don't make the effort because "its too hard" or "we can do it next year" or whatever excuse is littered in this thread.

Sure they didn't have to do it. But that is obviously missing the point.

[ACardAttack]

Quote: Originally Posted by CM Hooe

In isolation, no, it isn't hard. In the context of a ten million line long code base and a AAA video game project where any additional feature requires weeks of planning and preparation, it suddenly becomes a much taller order to add any sort of tournament to the game in a bug-free manner, particularly given the extra variable of swapping between postseason formats midstream. Making games is hard. It is Tiburon's job to make games, yes, but it is also Tiburon's job to manage their resources effectively.

They have to do it next year, might as well start on it and see how well it works out

[Hooe]

Quote: Originally Posted by DorianDonP

As I said, EA could be building equity with the community instead of just doing enough to get by. The effort in the past gen was noticed. And on the flip, it's also noticed when they don't make the effort because "its too hard" or "we can do it next year" or whatever excuse is littered in this thread. Sure they didn't have to do it. But that is obviously missing the point.

It is my opinion that Tiburon working to build an enjoyable and detailed game for their target audience - doing fan service - and adding a playoff into the game are not mutually exclusive outcomes. Personally, the lack of a playoff in NCAA will not be a factor in my evaluation of it because there currently is no playoff.

I'm sorry if it ruins the game for you. You aren't obligated to buy it, and Tiburon isn't obligated to cater to every potential customer's demands and requests, however unreasonable or disruptive to their internal processes.

[Hooe]

Quote: Originally Posted by ACardAttack

They have to do it next year, might as well start on it and see how well it works out

This is absolutely terrible software development practice. You don't throw stuff at a wall and hope something sticks. You plan it out, you do it once, and you do it right.