Franchise mode killer: Generated rookies

[msdm27]

Well, I've been a rabbid offline franchise player for years and I have to say the one factor that has taken the fun out of franchise mode in Madden12 is the custom made rookie classes. Here's why:

Player heights and characteristics are not realistic at all.
1) QB's that are 6'1 or shorter
2) MLB & OLB's that are 6'0 or shorter
3) WR's that are 5'9 or 5'8 (projected in the 1st round)
4) An excess of DE's over 300lbs (Most 3-4 DE are between 285-299lbs)

In this day and age is quite rare to find propsects under 6'0 and Madden consistently creates these types of rookies... After a couple of years in franchise mode it gets messed up.

Please give some thoughts

[mjhyankees]

Quote: Originally Posted by msdm27

Well, I've been a rabbid offline franchise player for years and I have to say the one factor that has taken the fun out of franchise mode in Madden12 is the custom made rookie classes. Here's why: Player heights and characteristics are not realistic at all. 1) QB's that are 6'1 or shorter 2) MLB & OLB's that are 6'0 or shorter 3) WR's that are 5'9 or 5'8 (projected in the 1st round) 4) An excess of DE's over 300lbs (Most 3-4 DE are between 285-299lbs) In this day and age is quite rare to find propsects under 6'0 and Madden consistently creates these types of rookies... After a couple of years in franchise mode it gets messed up. Please give some thoughts

I approach it in the following way:

1. I tend not to bother looking at height and weight...it seems to have no bearing on gameplay anyway (although i wish we could edit this).

2. I edit ridiculously low rookies when i need to:
ie: I needed extra fullbacks and the only ones left were rookies with below 50 ovr. I'd edit them (usually just the awareness is enough....) to get them over 60.

You are right with everything on the list. But in the game, can you really tell if the guy is 5'11" or 6'2"?

[msdm27]

I agree that the difference in height & weight is barely noticeable in-game but, when they're supposed to be adding realism to the draft process and stuff, they should at least have the right player prototypes.

This makes a difference specially when talking about schemes and stuff. Granted, schemes are hard to distinguish in-game as well

My whole point is, is not like this is something random... EA, just go study the prospects for the last 5-10 years and you'll get a proper estimate on player heights and weights.

JUST MAKE AN EFFORT! This is not a coding issue

[xblake16x]

I actually only look at receivers who are at least 6'2" 200 lbs, and cornerbacks at least 6 feet tall. I don't know why, maybe its Pete Carroll's ideology that has stuck with me, I don't know. I do notice a difference though for some reason, it could just be in my mind though.

[baller7345]

Quote: Originally Posted by xblake16x

I actually only look at receivers who are at least 6'2" 200 lbs, and cornerbacks at least 6 feet tall. I don't know why, maybe its Pete Carroll's ideology that has stuck with me, I don't know. I do notice a difference though for some reason, it could just be in my mind though.

No height definitely matters. Its almost to the point that height trumps pretty much ever attribute. You can turn guys like Jared Cook Jr. into the most unstoppable force in the league because he is relatively tall and has decent quickness.

[RedZoneD25]

Quote: Originally Posted by baller7345

No height definitely matters. Its almost to the point that height trumps pretty much ever attribute. You can turn guys like Jared Cook Jr. into the most unstoppable force in the league because he is relatively tall and has decent quickness.

I'm not saying you're wrong, because as it stands there is an element of truth that height and speed seem to take precedence to other attributes, but that's more of a Madden's gameplay and ratings issue than Franchise Mode, which is an entirely different discussion for another thread.

To OP, I don't think generated rookies are that bad. At first I thought this was a UDFA thread which I could definitely get behind and agree with. I could see why (as a couch GM myself) that you could be hard pressed to find the correct players for your scheme (I'm having a tough time finding capable 3-4 OLBs since most of the ones that are in the game are more 4-3 sized and DEs don't convert too well in Madden NFL 12), but by and large there are a fair amount of sizes to pick from.

I see tall CB, S, QB, RB, TE, OL, DL in my draft classes quite often. It's the LB and WR positions that seem to suffer most from "unrealistic" height, which even then is a questionable argument given that we have seen players come in and light it up (or fail) in all sizes.

[imskykid]

If you look at the draft class spreadsheet that's posted in one of the threads here, you can get a good look at the top prospects for every class and their height and weight. One thing that is concerning to me is that there are ZERO linebackers over 6'3". Aldon Smith and Martez Wilson are just two examples who are 6'4" and were drafted last year. How in 32 classes do you not have one linebacker over 6'3"?

Also, as pointed out, converting DEs to 3-4 OLB is pretty much pointless and teams don't draft based on scheme. If a 6'4" 255 lb DE gets drafted by a 3-4 team, they will keep him at the 5-technique when IRL he would be moved to OLB ala Aldon Smith, DWare, etc.

You can find players with decent measurables, but like the OP said, a lot of the 1st rounders have unrealistic heights/weights. I'm not saying smaller players can't be great (Steve Smith and DeSean Jackson are 5'9") but teams never draft them in the first round, much less the top 10 like they are slated in the pre-made classes.

[mondaymorningowner]

They need to do a complete overhaul on the progression system in Madden. The way so many guys get to 99 in attributes is ridiculous.