And the patches didn't address issues with poor player distribution in recruiting classes (few high quality guards, centers, or MLBs) or the OD issues where you can't convince players to stay.

It's been a fun game online, but without online leagues, this game probably would have been on the shelf a long time ago.

I'd probably be willing to boot DeToxRox out of the RFL to clear some space for you. :D

I think EBFL might have one slot open.

No way, DOOD! MORe alterNate UNIS! BoWl Patchez!

The uniform people drive me nuts. "Their socks are slightly wrong color of blue! GAMEKILLER!"

There are literally 2 Centers in the top 1500 recruits in my Clemson dynasty. Uh, great.

Almost as bad as some of the rating nazis.

"The 3rd string RG is a 73 in strength but he should be a 78. GOD EA SUCKS AT RATINGS SO BAD!"

But at least teams can load up on quarterbacks! We need 17 of 'em. Can never have enough QBs in the stable!

I recruited a bunch of Athletes last year... and I ended up with about 9 safeties by the end of preseason and had to cut a few.

I'm in my third season with Mizzou and we are #3 in the nation at (8-0), some really close games so far as I really picked harder teams to play in our non-conference schedule this year.

North Carolina comes in and I get my butt handed to me 72-32, the worst loss ever since I started playing. Of course it didn't help I threw a career high 9 - yes 9! interceptions.. all my fault of course.

NC has 3 really good CB's this year and not of my passing plays would work.

That's why this game has me coming back for more... I had NC hopes this season, but it looks like that is over with. :(

For some reason the gameplay never grew on me, I think because it seems all that matters is speed.

This is the GREATEST game ever made!!!

#1 Football game in my book

I actually downloaded the patch finally on the weekend and gave this game another shot. It's pretty good fun, but stuff like the pursuit angles really kill it for me, and though I didn't experience it the lack of talented recruits at certain positions (the very same problem that made next-gen Madden drafts suck) is another game killer for me.

CH 2K8 is still the greatest sports game IMO.

I'm not much on basketball... but you're not alone in your choice GH.

I will agree about the pursuit angles.. but there is no football game that gives me the satisfaction when I beat a good team.

Last night I'm #11 in the country at 10-1 (Maclin's last year) and we play #2 Georgia Tech who is 11-0 and a W here would put them against Ohio St. for the National Championship.

They play a very conservative game due to the fact that their #1 QB is out for the season and their #1 RB Jonathan Dwyer has a broken hand.. I decide to start our highly recruited freshman RB this game due to the fact he's been a beast in limited mop up duty and our #1 RB has not been good.

It's a great game and we manage a 28-16 win.. but it was VERY close and when GT pounced on the onside kick with about 4 mins left.. I was getting worried. We did manage to block a FG early in the game which was really big!!

The thing that's so tough about playing NCAA 09 is that one loss pretty much ends that quest for a NC. I still cringe when I think about the mistake I made by putting North Carolina on our schedule this year.

So, with the patch and pursuit angles issue, is 09 the one to get, or is 08 better to get for < $10 and wait for NCAA10? Same comparison for Madden.

The plan is to get one or the other to last until the new versions come out in the fall. If 09 is not worth it, I'd rather pay $20 for the 08 versions and wait until the fall.

I never played 08, but from what I've read you're definitely better of getting 09 as it's a big jump in quality.

I don't know when 10 is slated to come out, but It might be better just waiting for that at this stage - assuming it's an improvement on 09. Of course, this is EA we are talking about, so that's certainly not a safe assumption. ;)

I'd definitely go for 09 over 08 if for no other reason than to join an online league. However, the gameplay is also better in 09, still far from perfect, but a step up from 08. The next version should be out in mid July as that has been the release window for years now.

IMO 08 was garbage.. in fact, 09 is the first NCAA FB game I've really played since 2004 (I think that was the version on the ps2 I loved)

I like 09. Every version has its warts, but I've probably played this one more than any other because Madden is so bad this year and because of the online league in NCAA.

So, the pursuit angle issue is overblown?

I rented 09 on Saturday and just got a chance to put it in (couldn't put down my latest NBA2k8 dynasty). So far, it's been fun. I'm going through the challenges to get a feel for the controls. I'll dive into a game sometime tonight or tomorrow (Lost is on tonight, so I'm guessing tomorrow) and see if it's worth the $40+.

Thanks for the responses.

No not at all, unless you don't mind being escorted to the end zone by the defense. It doesn't happen all the time but it happens way to much.

I'd grab NCAA 09 over Madden. I returned Madden because it just wasn't enjoyable for me. And NCAA 09 is superior to 08. But it still has warts. Speed is the only attribute that matters much. But it is fun to play online. If you only want to play solo, you might be better off just waiting for 2010.

I disagree Kodos.. although speed is a huge factor (like it should be), I find that agility is a big factor as well.

Bottom line for me, is it fun? Hell yes it is!

Yeah, I think I'm going to pass on '10 unless there is something in it that wows me. 09 has been a blast.

Agility may matter some, but speed is by far king of this game - quite a bit too much imo.

Heh, check out the EBFL, I had a freshman RB that was rated 76 OVR, nothing special at all anywhere but he had 99 SPD. He ran for 500 yards in his first game against a cupcake, broke 1000 yards in game 3, ran for 250ish against an extremely highly rated Florida State, broke Barry Sanders single season yardage and TD records with 2 or 3 games to go, etc etc etc.

Speed is ridiculous in this game.

That's not to say I wouldn't recommend NCAA09. I'm having a blast playing, and it took quite awhile before any of the flaws became so so obvious to me. I don't play in single player anymore but I am still loving the online dynasties and hope they keep going strong until '10 comes out.

Wow.. I have a 99 rated WR (Maclin) and although he has broken a few records, some games he's non-exsistant. I don't schedule cupcakes though.. always top 25 teams - because I agree, I can really rack up yardage against those teams.

I'm just about done with season 3 and about to see what life is without J Mac.. still no National Championships either.

I think fixing the pursuit angles will alleviate issues such as that. I mean, when players like J Mac get into the open field, he should go the distance, but I agree, even players close to him speed wise, don't have a chance sometimes.

I do notice teams do not kickoff to him anymore, which is a nice touch..

The good thing is, I don't think there is that much that needs fixed, just some overall gameplay issues.

I apologize if this was mentioned but I'm way too tired today to read through 35 pages! :) Does anyone know how to download some rosters for the 360 version? I bought a 1 month card to see if I could do it.

Posts #1690, 1691, and 1692 in this thread has the gamer tag for a couple of sets that seem to be the preferred options. I could find 'em easily because I had the exact same question less than a month ago myself.

FWIW, I'm using the extreme gamer ones and which I had tried the fairdale king ones instead. (check those posts for the correct spelling of their gamer tags). Something really seemed wrong with GT's Jonathan Dwyer being a little used fullback throughout his career while Roddy Jones spent quite a bit of time leading the NCAA in rushing for a couple of seasons.

Thanks a lot. I'll check those out. Itching to get a dynasty going.

Yeah Jones seems a bit overrated out of the box, but Dwyer still has more speed and was a much better runner for me. I just ended up bumping Dwyer up to #1 on my depth chart and had a couple great seasons with him.

Once (or if) I get pretty decent at this I'm going to try running another dynasty with GT & this roster set just to see if I can improve on what I saw for Dwyer while I was busy getting my butt kicked at MTSU.

Well, first of all, thanks Eaglesfan27...I ended up downloading your rosters, it wouldn't let me get the ones from Fairdale Kings.

I've only played a few games on this, mostly messed around with Campus Legend since I got this game about 2 weeks ago. Decided to play some games online last night.

First game, I was Indiana facing Notre Dame. I was losing 28-7 at halftime. I could not stop the deep pass. The guy asked if I wanted a mercy out, I said no...and played much better in the 2nd half. He never ran, so I went exclusively to a quarter defense. I ended up losing 43-28.

The 2nd game I was Ole Miss facing Miami. What a difference a team with some talent makes. I won by 12 going back to my usual run/short passing game combo that works well in Madden.

In game 3, I ran against Florida. I had Texas. This was my favorite game of the night. I was down early 14-0, came back to take a 3 point led at halftime. Started the 2nd half with a horrible interception and gave up a quick TD. We traded TDs after that and I had the ball, 3 minutes left down 29-35. I ended up getting first and goal on the one with 50 seconds left. Florida had 2 timeouts. I knelt on the first play to make him blow a timeout. I was worried about doing it again (should have) and ended up scoring on the next play. I'm up 36-35. He ends up completing a deep pass on 3rd and long (again, couldn't stop the deep ball because I shouldn't have switched to the CB) and he wins on a TD with 20 seconds or so left. I lost, but really enjoyed that game. Whoever he was, he was a great challenge.

The last game was USC (me) vs. Florida again. Both Tebow and Sanchez get hurt in the first half and I'm leading 13-10. Tebow comes back in the 3rd...Sanchez does not. Whoever USC's backup is was horrible on accuracy. 3 2nd half INTs and I'm down now 31-16. I end up with a purist drive (2 passes, the rest runs) to score at the end to make it a respectable 31-22.

Overall, a fun night. Thanks again for pointing out the rosters. I'll be starting a dynasty with someone tonight.

Regarding the downloadable rosters, does anyone know if there is a set that has been updated now that the season is over, so that the players can reflect how they actually performed, rather than how they were projected to perform? I did a search, and if this was already answered, I must have missed it.

Finally won the Big 12 Championship last night.. what a game it was against Texas!!!

The game was back an forth all night.. Maclin ran a kickoff back to the house, then on the ensuing kickoff to Texas, Vondrell McGee takes it to the house.

Missouri CB Robert Steeples picked off two passes and ran one back for a TD... sealing the game late in the 3rd quarter..

Maclin also wins the Heisman!!

Next we face TCU in the Fiesta Bowl.. should be an interesting game.

Just to be clear, they aren't mine. They were done by Fairdale Kings. I just uploaded them to my username after downloading them from FK because some people were having trouble downloading from his tag and I wanted to make it easy for fellow FOFC players to get them.

Get your name in the game! - Operation Sports Forums

This is pretty cool. You can submit your last name so that Brad Nessler will say your name in NCAA 2010.

I bet this will be the #1 "added feature" for 2010 :lol:

Yay! Yet another addition to the game that does nothing to address the issues with the previous edition's gameplay. And they wonder why sales numbers keep declining......

**sigh**

I wonder why EA doesn't use the same name Library for all games. My last name isn't said in any of the EA franchises except NHL, and that's because there is an NHL player with the same last name, same pronunciation. It's cool when you play the be a pro mode and they actually say your name when you score a goal.

I've always wondered that. Seems like they would do the database once and just update it. But, I guess some people would complain when the announcer says "Jordan scores" the same way this year as he did 5 years ago. I think it's much cooler to hear my name in the game or to see random players created with my last name. By now, they should be able to do that reasonably well.

Okay, that was ... different.

Upstart MTSU playing as a big underdog against #22 UCF in the C-USA title game, down 14-0 in the first 30 seconds after enduring a 98 yd KOR touchdown followed by fumbling the ensuing kickoff and having it run back 38 yds for a score as well.

Somehow the scrappy little team that could had fought back to a 31-28 lead and was seconds away from an unlikely conference title. With the ball inside the UCF 5 & the Knights out of time outs still the clock didn't really favor just taking a knee when the inside running game is so reliable. Figure to hand it to the fullback one more time, he's a senior that doesn't fumble, a score puts it on ice or gets the clock down to where a 4th down knee would run out the clock, not a problem.

He fumbles and yep, you guessed it, UCF d-lineman rumbles 98 yards for the game winner. An entire nation of blue simply sat in stunned silence, except for one man.

A head coach who was being restrained from committing a major felony with some zebras as the intended victims. Finally in exasperation he launches a desperation heave ... of his challenge flag. And, after further review, the runner's knee was down before he lost possession, the call on the field is reversed.

It felt scripted as all hell, the fumble, the DL outrunning all my backs & receivers, would-be tacklers simply bouncing off the guy as he lumbered down the sideline, all of it. Even my son, sitting beside me on the coach, watching in a mix of horror & awe repeating with increasing volume "Oh ... My ... God. Are you kidding me? Are you KIDDING me? Oh ... my ... God" was a well defined "Dad sucks at this" moment.

But given my level of general suckitude with button mashers, I'll take the win and the conference title that goes with it thank you very much.

Naturally I still only receive the bid for the #4 team in the conference overall (Texas Bowl vs the Longhorns) instead of the Liberty Bowl berth that goes to the #1 team from C-USA but hey ... at least I'm bowling and for a third straight year at that.

If you win the conference, why don't you go to the Liberty Bowl? Is it done by standings in real life too?

I just attributed it to one of those "the bowl gets first pick, not bound to champion" deals. Ain't like there's shit I could do about it anyway, easier to swallow by kayfabing it that way in my head.

You want to rethink that?

According to NPD, NCAA Football sold similar numbers for the 2008 and 2009 versions.

2008: Gamasutra - NPD: Console Sales Up 140% In July Led By Wii, DS
2009: NPD: NCAA Football sacks July - News at GameSpot

I really have to say this year's version of the game is truly solid. Over half a year later I am still participating in 2 online leagues. I even recently picked up my solo dynasty again after finding some challenging but fair enough sliders for Heisman.

What are the Heisman settings/sliders you are using? I would like to see if I can get the solo dynasty engaging again.

Thanks

I haven't yet got to the point where the solo dynasty is too easy. I'm in year 2 with Wisconsin using the same setup as the EBFL and am current 3-3. This game does a good job of making it tough to beat teams you shouldn't beat.

If I remember correctly I had found these over at OS. Not sure who's they were though.

Heisman Difficulty
7 minute quarters

All penalty sliders at 95

Human/CPU

QB Accuracy - 40/45
Pass Blocking - 0/0
WR Catching - 10/0
RB Ability - 45/65
Run Blocking - 0/100

Awareness - 0/75
Knockdowns - 95/95
Interceptions - 0/45
Break Block - 50/75
Tackle - 50/50

FG Power - 0/0
FG Accuracy - 0/0
Punt Power - 50/50
Punt Accuracy - 0/50
Kickoffs - 65/65


I am pretty deep into dynasty mode at this point (season 2017 I believe) and have moved up the coaching ladder to FSU. We have a good team and get challenging games from the mid-level ACC teams. The better teams like Clemson and Virginia Tech are very tough.

I will say that I thought they sucked the first couple of games I played them. After giving them another shot they are pretty fair I think. Running is tough but very rewarding. CPU tailbacks can be tough to bring down but not to the point where I ever get frustrated.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks, I'll give these a try.

C'mon Cartman. You usually do a good job of researching your posts, but you really dropped the ball on this one using outdated data. Those numbers were only the first month sales.

This year's sales of NCAA Football 09 have dropped a staggering 26% on the Xbox 360, which is a record freefall for an EA football franchise. Here's the numbers for this franchise over the past three years.........

NCAA 07 Xbox 360 - 820,000
NCAA 08 Xbox 360 - 810,000
NCAA 09 Xbox 360 - 600,000

That's an unmitigated financial disaster when you're dealing with the fixed development costs that EA has. Even worse, the Wii version couldn't outsell the PS3, PS2, or 360 versions of the game despite having a clear lead in regards to installed base.

Both Madden and NCAA are announcing features for the next version (much earlier than previous years.) One interesting change is that they are going to use a much wider spectrum of ratings with some guys being rated as low as 40 overall and only elite players getting ratings in the 90's. EA has also really focused on more community feedback (primarily on OS but also other places), so whatever the cause, they are making some significant changes. They have also started promoting their "procedural awareness" of players.

Hey, MBBF, think you can give Bill Abner the common courtesy of at least a link when presenting his data that came out yesterday? The data I presented was the only public data available for the sales of NCAA at the time I made the post.

Not only that, but he ignored some other interesting data in Bill's blog. MLB 2k8 outsold MLB 08: The Show. Seems like a condemnation of how poorly the PS3 is doing with their attach rates.

So you'd like me to present information not related to this thread in this thread? Your assertion is very faulty, but I won't debate it here.

I didn't realize it was on his blog. I could ask him, but I'm sure he didn't mind me posting it since he sent it to me via e-mail.

So you called me out on figures that you thought were disseminated via email, not publicly? What a tool.

Yes, this discussion should go well now that it's reduced to namecalling. Have a good weekend.

You have offended MBBF's delicate sensibilities! Apologize at once, you fiend!

EF...where did you find the info on the new features?

:D

Operation Sports. They have been posting new features (for both Madden and NCAA Football) and the first NCAA screen shot for about 2-3 weeks. They are supposed to reveal a new "feature" every week or two until release.

Excellent...tnx

So, going back to the actual game...anybody ever recover an on-side kick? I've only had to try it 2 or 3 times, but I haven't come close to recovering one even though the CPU has recovered 2 on me. Any suggestions on how to do the kick to at least give me a chance at a recovery?

I have recovered one before, but it was in a live game, not one against the CPU. I try to kick the ball like in real life, aim for the very top of the ball, and hit just above the minimum strength. This will usually get the big first bounce that is key to recovering an onsides kick.

I was wondering about kick strength. I figured that the top of the ball would be the right spot, but I had been trying for a full-power kick to make the bounce. Next opportunity I'll try minimum-power and see how that goes. Thanks for the tip.

I've actually had decent luck recovering onsides kicks. I probably recover about 20-25% of the time...

Don't be too impressed, folks. He's saying that he recovers 20-25% of the onside kicks where he is the receiving team.

Here is one I recovered against the CPU in my OD.

Yeah, but how many onside kicks have you recovered when you weren't losing by 5+ TD's?

LOL....I'm reading one of the wishlist threads over on OS. I hope the designers don't take what's in that thread to heart. Here's two posts from one person back-to-back:


Yes....better have those NFL stadiums available....

LOL....I'm reading one of the wishlist threads over on OS. I hope the designers don't take what's in that thread to heart. Here's two posts from one person back-to-back:


Yes....better have those NFL stadiums available....

You can say that again!

Actually, I won that game on a long pass to Scott Allen.

No mention of socks or shoelaces? They're slipping!

So how did you kick this one? Was it top of the ball, minimum power? From the video, it almost looks like bottom of the ball, though they probably don't have that many different animations.

I have had pretty good success recovering onside kicks. With right footed kickers I aim for the upper right part of the ball and nail it into the ground at full power. It should hit the ground and bounce into the air giving you a shot to recover.

FWIW, I'd like to see them bring back the I-AA teams.

I personally can't fathom why the 1-AA teams keep getting held out of this game despite being in the other versions of the game for nearly a decade. That and the bowl logos on the field are the only two things I think on his list are valid.

Yeah, I agree that the 1aa teams are a reasonable request. Some of this uniform stuff is hilarious though.

As a HUGE I-AA fan, I totally understand why it is not in here. For one, the way the implemented really wasn't that great. For two, I can't imagine a very large percentage of their buyers used the I-AA teams (I was one, fwiw).

Just about every FBS school has an FCS school on their schedule. I think that alone would help with the realism. Not to mention there are a lot of people who went to those schools that would love playing with them. I don't need accurate rosters or anything as I'm sure someone would put them together.

I guess it irks me because this was a feature in the game a decade ago. I don't understand how a game made 10 years ago can have more features than one made now.

It was probably the top of the ball, lowish power.

Again, the old versions of the game weren't implemented as you state here.

You still played NorthEastWest FCS in your schedule. The only way the I-AA schools got into a dynasty was if they REPLACED an FBS school.

So, what you say woudl be great - but it would be an upgrade from previous versions.

The previous versions were a half-assed attempt to appease those like me that would love to have FCS schools.

If they did a full-blown FCS system, yeah, that would be awesome - but an improvement from the past and very unlikely.

On the older versions you would play the FCS schools in season if they were in the game. I've still got NCAA 07 on PS2, just played Tennessee State the other day in my dynasty.

In the old versions you would play the actual FCS school that was on your schedule. I remember scheduling Mississippi Valley State every year in mine. You could play as a FCS school but you'd have to replace a FBS school with them. But you were able to schedule any of the teams.

Does anyone play with any house rules in solo dynasty to help keep the playing field competitive?

I am about to start a new dynasty and in particular I want to limit the disparity in team speed that occurs. I am thinking of disallowing myself the ability to recruit any player with "A-" and higher speed unless I specifically start the year in their top 10. I am still debating whether to restrict recruiting "A" and higher speed players to only players where I start the year in their top 3.

My in game rules before i quit my last solo dynasty:

1. No running the option - WAY too easy to exploit the edges and bat pursuit angles that defenders take with option plays.

2. I required myself to maintain a reasonable run/pass ratio.

3. Tone down clock management abilities. Playing 7 minute quarters, up by 7 points against a better team, its tempting to run the play clock down to 1 second with 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter. But that's really the ~10 minute mark in a full scale game, that doesn't really happen. And most importantly, the CPU won't take advantage of that against you if they're up 7 in the 4th. No stalling until the final 2 or 2:30 of the game.

The only recruiting limitation I put on myself was that I wouldn't allow myself to scour the recruit lists late in the season to look for good recruits that no one else has gone after. I set up my initial contact list and the only time I ever added to it was if I lost out on recruits at positions where I was going to have a shortage the next season.


When I quit I'd won two national titles in a row and it was becoming obvious that I was going to need more house rules beyond that to keep it competitive.

Thanks for your thoughts. With the right sliders I think the on the field game can remain competitive. It's in recruiting where a human analysis and strategy will always crush and unbalance the game over time. Speed in the EA Sports games has always been king. Placing some limits around them will help keep it more competitive as the CPU teams will never draft on pure speed.

I started a new dynasty earlier today with Eastern Michigan using the Heisman sliders that I had been playing with. Michigan State whooped my ass by a final score of 51-0. That was with Javon Ringer hurt most of the game. Next game was against Toledo and we had a close shootout that could have gone either way. Should remain fun and challenging as long as recruiting doesn't get out of hand.

I think I am going to start with these house rules:
* No recruiting of "A" rated speed players unless I begin the year in their top 3.
* No recruiting of "A-" rated speed players unless I begin the year in their top 10
* After Week 10 of the season any new recruits I add to my board must be from the state my college is in or the states that immediately touch it's borders
* Due to generally poor kickoff coverage the maximum speed I will allow for a return man will be 90

I've never landed a single player that didn't start the year in my top 10. I doubt this one would slow you down much?

At least at the larger schools I haven't had a problem recruiting outside the initial Top 10. What I will generally do is put a "feeler" out there by making a scholarship offer. If the scholarship offer jumps me into the top 10 then there is a good shot to land them. In these instances I imagine I was probably somewhere in the 11 to 20 range on their initial list and the scholarship offer pushed me into the top 10. You can sort of check this by gauging their interest in you on the Prospect Database screen against the other colleges that are displayed in the Top 10.

If I remain outside of the recruit's top 10 after the initial scholarship offer there is really very little chance to land them. Typically I will just drop these players and look for another recruit.

Ahh, that's solid info. I'll definitely have to make use of that in the EBFL/RFL next season, nice.

http://insideblog.easports.com/archi...-position.aspx

Nice improvents to QB's and the passing game for Madden and NCAA!

Great stuff - I've been hoping for those changes for the past few years.

SOB!!!

:mad: :mad: :mad:

In the middle of a campus legend career and in mys sophmore season at Penn State. We're #3 5-0 and hosting #1 Ohio State (5-0). The game is tightly contested and we tie it at 20 with 2 seconds left and it goes to OT.

First overtime we get the ball first and after a few plays I score with a dive over the top from the 1 to put us up 27-20. Ohio State answers with a touchdown of their own to tie it at 27.

We hold them to a field goal to start the 2nd OT and then I wonder why I am not in on the next play when it comes up so I hit X to watch the play and what do I see... Ohio State with the ball. We held them to a field goal and lose 33-27 thanks to them getting the ball twice in the same overtime.

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

I guess you should have played defense.

I ran into lots of OT bugs in my various 2008 careers as well. It was very frustrating and the sort of thing (since it's basic football rules) that should be solid as all get-out. Disappointed to here that 2009 had similar issues.

I'm catching up in my OS reading as the day winds down and this annoys me:

The new QB ratings for short, midrange, long passing accuracy, Play Action, etc are exclusive to Madden and when Ian posted that blog it was a "misunderstanding" when he posted that they will be in NCAA 2010. Only the layered blending will be 2010.

Hey at least they told us before they released the game! :lol:

I'd be shocked if they implement those ratings properly and they have a drastic effect on gameplay anyway.