Do penalty sliders effect gameplay?

[TON1C]

Seems to be a pretty even split amongst the community with some believing that penalty sliders effect gameplay and others believing it’s all placebo and they just effect the frequency of those penalties happening or being called.

I’ve been doing some testing in practice mode but am curious to get others thoughts.

Do you believe that penalty sliders effect gameplay or do you think it’s placebo?

If so, what did you see and how did you test or replicate it?

[jello1717]

Affects gameplay in what way? Do you mean something like INT slider changes QB completion percentage or something like that?

[TON1C]

Quote: Originally Posted by jello1717

Affects gameplay in what way? Do you mean something like INT slider changes QB completion percentage or something like that?

Moreso things I’ve heard referenced around here like holding effecting how long blocks are engaged, offsides/false start giving the respective line a better jump, facemask effecting big hits versus more wrap up tackles, etc.

It seems to be a big line in the sand but haven’t seen any discussion about it outside of some slider threads.

[tyler28]

Sort answer... yes? What exactly they impact is a debate amongst us. Sim gaming network has a good YouTube video on it. Check out his slider thread as well.

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[canes21]

I haven't done this test in this game, but I've done it in multiple Maddens including last year's release.

The test was playing multiple seasons on one slider set. The difference would be 1 or 2 seasons would be with sliders at or near 0 and then 1 or 2 seasons with the penalties at or near 100.

I'd track all my usual stats. Each time I've done the test, the numbers were identical. The numbers have led me to not believe the idea that things like holding at 100 make the OL block better.

If that were the case, the numbers would reflect that. Playing a season with holding at 0 and then at 100 would show the 100 having better yards per play stats, but that's not been the case anytime I've done this.

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[Shaffer26]

Quote: Originally Posted by tyler28

Sort answer... yes? What exactly they impact is a debate amongst us. Sim gaming network has a good YouTube video on it. Check out his slider thread as well. Sent from my SM-A156U using Tapatalk

This. I specifically remember him saying turning the facemasks penalty side down reduced the number of big, over the top hit animations, which was much needed.

[Funkycorm]

This can be a divisive topic.

But for me, the answer is no.

[sherrane]

Quote: Originally Posted by TON1C

Seems to be a pretty even split amongst the community with some believing that penalty sliders effect gameplay and others believing it’s all placebo and they just effect the frequency of those penalties happening or being called. I’ve been doing some testing in practice mode but am curious to get others thoughts. Do you believe that penalty sliders effect gameplay or do you think it’s placebo? If so, what did you see and how did you test or replicate it?

I have Illegal Contact turned off because it is not a penalty in college football. That has not changed the game, just that defenders contacting receivers downfield is no longer a penalty. Defenders still contact receivers. What would have been called still happens but is no longer penalized.


I didn't perform a formal test. I learned the game had Illegal Contact when I played a game where the CPU and I combined for 4 of them. What appeared to draw the flag happened one time in the next game after turning it off. I have continued to see this happen in most games and I believe a flag would have thrown on the play.


I have not increased or decreased other sliders to change the frequency of the fouls, so others may have different experiences.