FWIW, I believe at the end of the run when number 5 stops, that was the player HA was controlling (something people often forget in these videos is that a lot of the "glitches" are just human mistakes such as a human clicking over to control someone in the secondary and inadvertantly pulling him out of coverage). As a side note, I enjoyed the mascot behind the endzone looking all sad during the long run following the catch.

I'm going to go ahead and recant my "HA will never beat me" line from earlier. He played a good game, and is better than I expected he'd be. It was also a breath of fresh air to play guys who actually ran a variety of plays and didn't resort to cheese. Both games were a blast last night, and my games last week against SirFozzie were a blast as well. I'm very excited about this game and our leagues at this point.

Bad things I've noticed so far: Kick coverage is terrible, so you usually start out around the 40. On the play that set up the video, HA had 4th and inches, and I sent in a regular defense expecting him to go for it. Instead, he punted and it rolled out around my 4 yard line. Then he had the box stacked and I saw my WR singled up in coverage, so that's where I went with the ball. I think, outside of that play, HA was moving the ball better than I was in general.

I'll be back on tonight for sure.

I'm still playing on a standard-def TV. Our buying a house last winter short-circuited my new TV plans. At least it's a 36-inch screen, so it's not as bad as it could be. :(

ummmm...excuse me - he held on to the ball. this was gonna be the highlight i posted, i wanted to show the determination and steely reserve of my players and their willingness to sacrifice their bodies and wellbeing for the betterment of my team.


i was pissed that my play-action pass td ON 4TH DOWN didn't show up as one of the highlights. i couldn't find it. now THAT'S balls.

fun game. it was 0-0 after the 1st quarter. we both played very realistically (except for me going on 4th down. fortunately it came out in my favor. i was down 14-0 and by that point the game had shown scoring wasn't going to be quick and easy in this matchup, i had to go for it). the playbook i had didn't have enough option plays in it, or else i'd have a ton more highlights to show all the good little boys and girls.

Played two good online games (My NC State Wolfpack) vs. KingNeb (Kentucky) and EF27 (Washington) last night. The first game got out of hand early with KingNeb picking 2 passes and taking them to the house and returning a fumble to the house. I switched to my freshman QB (Mike Glennon) and was able to make a valiant comeback to nearly get within one score at the 2:30 mark but he finally succumbed to his freshman ways and through a pick of his own... Only a few hiccups during that game online. My game with EF27 was good as well and went to double OT.

So far I am pleased with this years game:
The graphic representation of the game is great.
I am getting some pressure on the QB with some consistency (though probably not quite enough)
Offline and online I have been pleased with gameplay so far
It does feel that my defensive players are stuck in mud sometimes

Agreed with Kodos. Both guys (DeToxRox, and BigDPW) I played last night played good sim style football. Likewise, I tried not to run with Locker too much. Last night was very enjoyable, and I'm looking forward to playing some of you this weekend.

My point is - the outcome was likely "real;" what you are objecting to is the way it showed itself on the field. On the comebacker, the DB got burned. Just because he didn't react exactly like YOU expect a real player to, doesn't mean it isn't "real." The DB turned around when the receiver did and the ball went past him. That happens quite often in real football. When the catch was made, he turned in pursuit. That's the essence of what you saw. What is wrong with that?

I'm disappointed that I didn't get a game in last night. Kodos contacted me to play at 10:30 or 10:45 and I was just about to log off and go to bed, so I declined. I was just beat yesterday, but I should be on and ready to lose tonight.

:)

Given the past issues with EA's AI, I seriously doubt that kind of logic is 'in the game'. I mentioned the possibility of intelligence rating possibilities.

Also, it should be mentioned that it may have been a player control issue, but I don't know who the player was controlling at that point.

I only got in half a game yesterday, so my impressions are minimal at this point (although it was awesome to see Rutgers WR Kenny Britt absolutely destroy a LB with a crackback block that sprung FB Jack Corcoran for a TD)...

But holy shit I'm an idiot. After starting the game I went back to the 360 Dashboard because I wanted to make sure I was logged in with my Live account (there's a 2nd stupid story there, but anyway...). So I'm looking around in the settings and it turns out my 360 is set to display in 480p instead of any of the HD settings (1080i would be best for my set). So for the past 10 months, I've been playing all my games on my beautiful plasma without the best picture. I'm pretty sure it's because when I first got my 360, it was hooked up to an old tube TV, and I just never changed it. What a difference though. The fields look insane.

'MBBF' is to 'NCAA'
as
'People saying you can't have fun because they aren't real instruments' is to 'Rock Band/Guitar Hero'

I said "decleater", not "deballer". :)


Did you check the right quarter for your PA TD? That's the only reason I can think of as to why it wouldn't have shown up. You have to scroll through the quarters with your bumper buttons.

As for the 4th down -- you had to go for it, I agree. A field goal wasn't going to help you much with the amount of time we had left.

I only got to play one game last night, but was happy with what I saw in that short test.

I played BYU vs Utah St, 5 minute qtrs on AA. This should be a mismatch and it was, as I won 42-7.

They scored on a pick that went off my receivers hands in the flat, it was the only int I threw and the CPU threw 1 as well. I did record 3 sacks and several hurries, but there were at least 2 occasions their QB had 6 seconds to sit back and throw. The pass rush is inconsistent, but I can live with those numbers. I sure it will get worse against a better team though.

The return game needs a lot of work as everyone knows.

I didn't have any issues with defenders taking bizarre pursuit angles, but BYU's back are power runners so there was not too much juking.

One thing that really impressed me was how much more pronounced the skill disparities stand out in isolated matchups. I had a PA pass called, with both outside receivers running vertical routes. Utah St lined up in a cover one and the safety bit on the fake leaving one on one matchups outside. It was awesome to see my best receiver (Collie) actually get separation on the CB while the ball was on the air and haul in the TD pass 40 plus yards later.

I wasn't able to get much pressure on the QBs with my front four. I wasn't blitzing very much.

Are you saying ratings don't factor into the game? A DB with a 62 overall rating isn't going to misplay a pass to the point where a superior WR is going to be able to make an easy catch on him, turn, and burn down the field for a score?

in my case - Kodos' WR clearly had the td. i tried to keep up with him with my 1st DB and dove for the ankles, that didn't work so it was basically off to the races. i don't like burning energy unnecessarily - i also wasn't sure who i had returning kicks/punts. rather than just have the guy waste energy on a foregone conclusion i always (once the td is all but assured) will stop running. you think in real life if a WR is 10 yards away from the nearest DB that that particular DB is still going to run full steam ahead? there's a whole game left to be played, no one is going to run that hard. sure, they'll give the impression they're still running out the play, but with the receiver so far ahead you can tell when the DBs take their foot off the gas. its senseless to waste so much energy.

it was very refreshing to play against a like-minded opponent. large selection of plays, no cheesiness - online dynasties are going to be such a breath of fresh air into this game, having a steady stream of people from FOFC to play against. i don't think i can go back to playing just random strangers who are gonna cheese me.

I think the quote in my signature block from Subby is very fitting for some of the EA hate out there.

My wife has some meeting tonight so I'll be online to play around 7:00 if anyone wants to play. I'm way out of practice so it will probably be a win if that helps you.

Yeah -- the non-cheesiness is a huge boost to the fun level.

When I get home tonight I'm just going to jump straight into an online game with one of you guys...even though I really should get some play in with the computer first.

XBL handle is RBS05. Saw a few friend requests yesterday of people that I assume are from around here.

I'm going to add people from FOFC to my friends list at http://www.easportsworld.com. It lets you see who is online without having to log in to Xbox live (which is nice, because I have to run a wire across my living room when I sign in to Xbox live).

Here's some wii impressions:
http://www.ncaastrategies.com/utopia...ad.php?t=59324

I haven't purchased the game yet, and probably won't be able to until this weekend. (60-week work weeks are wonderful).

Sixty weeks in one week? Wow, that is impressive! ;)

AAARGH!!! i didn't know about scrolling through the quarters. :banghead:

was it always like that? i don't recall having to do that last year - it seemed (at least as far as i can remember) all the game's highlights were on the same screen and you just needed to scroll up or down. i sooo wanted to post that highlight here. it was executed to perfection and just a huge play, with it being on 4th down in your redzone.

one thing i kept laughing at was everytime the AI would suggest i go for it on 4th down with some type of gimmick play, i would try to find just a "punt" or "field goal" play and i knew that you would think i was going to go for it on 4th downs and i was correct, everytime i went to punt you wouldn't have your special teams unit out which was how i was able to punt it to underneath the 10 yard line twice. unfortunately you burnt me for a 96 yard td, or else that punt that ended up on your 4 yard line would've been more beneficial for me.

unfortunately, the highlights don't show you when the human actually took over the DB. i wouldn't place too much blame on the AI - these highlights can be rather deceptive cuz you don't know who's controlling what. call it what you want - the DB got beat. it was realistic - i was expecting short yardage plays and Kodos called for a pass that turned into a big play. that very well could've turned into an INT for a TD. the football gods giveth, and they taketh away. i don't have any qualms about that. its a game - someone has to win and someone to lose. as long as its fun and the other guy plays realistic that's all i care about.

If I didn't suck so bad I'd love to play against you guys.

I believe it was like that for 2008 too. Not positive though.

Yeah, any time on 4th down, if someone takes their time choosing a play, it makes me suspicious, and I send out some sort of regular defense instead of the punt return unit. I was really surprised that you opted to punt on 4th and inches.

I sure wouldn't let that stop me if I were you. Football is a blast if you play another human. And it's always more fun competing with a real person instead of the computer. :) Get online, son!

Yes, it was like that in 2008 as well with the use of the tab via the shoulder buttons to switch quarters for highlights.

I also become suspicious if anyone takes their time picking a punt. Also, with the kicking coverage issues, anyone who is smart is going to angle the punts out of bounds. So, I don't think it is bad to pick a regular defense if I'm suspicious of them going for it.

I tried doing high punts to allow my coverage time to get downfield. Worked sometimes, not so much other times. I did have one against HA where I got there right after he caught it and nailed him on the spot. No fumble though. :)

does anyone know if your record against humans in an online dynasty count towards your overall online record? or is it kept separate? just asking, cuz i'm expecting a lot of great matchups and games, seems like everyone here plays non-cheesy so i'd like to have my record tally my online matchups in my dynasty so i'm not forced to have to play strangers and risk getting frustrated over their non-style of play.

Oh, and it's nice that fumbles aren't an issue this year. I think there was only one in two games. They may have gone too far in the other direction, as far as fumbles go.

It's such a small sample size, but I think the fumbles are going to be close to on the money (close enough for me anyway.) I had one game (my one offline game) where between us there were 4 fumbles. Other games with 1 (or maybe 2) and 0.

It looks like it breaks games out under your profile in game as Play Now/Online/Dynasty because I checked out my profile last night after the games. I don't know the answer to whether online dynasty results count toward your record or not. http://www.easportsworld.com/en_US/profile does show who you played with what team and the result.

I think they are going to be separate because unranked games are counted differently as well. Any game with sliders adjustments is going to automatically be unranked and I'm sure NOFL will be using some sliders.

Honestly, I don't care one bit about my "official" online record and I won't play strangers just to get ranked games in.

It's more "MBBF" is to "video gaming", ect....

Yeah, my profile record is way down the priorities list. It's nice to know, but not crucial. I imagine I'll probably play a lot of FOFC games outside of the leagues if people remain interested in the game.

A few thoughts:

1) How much is home field advantage a factor?

2) How are you enjoying the playbooks? I've only played with Mississippi State, and it was a rather conservative one. Any playbooks that are loaded with trick plays and interesting formations?

Must...resist urge...to comment....

ever since the creation of the internet porn i haven't had much need.


as far as playbooks are concerned, i used Duke's playbook and Nebraska's and i found only a handful - at best - of option plays, which is a big part of my arsenal. my option plays open up my downfield passing.

Wow...I can't believe I just wrote that. I have no idea of where I mind was.

Edited....

Coulda been worse. Coulda written "playgirls".

We know where you mind was.

Any PS3 impressions? I know most of you guys have the 360 version, I'm just wondering if it's a shoddy port or not.

True indeed.

The only post I've seen here from a PS3 player was Shorty, er.. korme, and he was having some freezing issues that he apparently was able to solve.

Where's the roster issue at at this point? I didn't bother to grab them yesterday because of the various problems people seemed to be having.

What about playbooks like West Virginia and Virginia Tech? I wonder if you still have the array of trick plays from last year's games (and more).

There definitely seem to be more plays this season.

HA, they probably have a non-team specific option playbook available that you might want to check out.

My impressions were on the PS3 version. I'm greatly enjoying the game. I've only done campus legend so far. It's difficult for a freshman QB, as it should be. I've made plenty of mistakes...some I was able to get away from, some not so much.

I'm playing it on my ViewSonic 20" LCD monitor so I can use the HD. It looks absolutely fantastic...way better than on my standard TV.