Improvements for More Realistic game play

[litangel]

These are some suggestions for more realistic game play. I have one suggestion over all, and the rest are for playing, not sim-ing individual games.
Overall, I think the teams are too unpredictable, the range of how many games a team wins or loses in a particular run through of a year is too large to be realistic. I began noticing this and then ran 10 2011 seasons. These are some the maximum and minimum wins per season of different teams. ATL 13,3 NO 13,6 TB 10,2 CHI 12,4 GB 15,8 AZ 10,3 HOU 13,6 DEN 11,2
I could see these kind of ranges if I played 50 seasons maybe, but 10? I would like 20% more predictability.

Now for individual games, as background I have played Stratomatic which has wonderful in game play, and that influences what I would like to see.
First of all, something I like, seeing the visual for each play is great!
What I want - I want more information on exactly how my play calls affect the result. I want to know which each offensive plays, which of my player ratings will be involved to what degree (and which of the defensive teams player ratings) and I want to know more specifically how this play will fare against certain defenses of types of defenses.
For example, HOVER - QB accuracy 25%, QB control 10% #1 WR 25%, #2 WR 10%, HB, 5%, Pass Rush vs. Pass Blocking 5%, OLB, 15%, CB 10%, SS 5%
+20 vs. Full Blitz, +10 % vs Zone Blitz, -15% vs Dime, (etc, etc)
What is behi8nd this request is wanting to understand my strategic choices more completely. In Stratomtic, it is all out front, I can see what I am choosing, and I like that.
Now for some specific play results I think are off.
Running plays against pass defenses without blitzes do not succeed as consistently as they should.
I frequently get sacked, and not on full blitzes throwing short passes. How often does a QB get sacked throwing a 3-yard pass from the gun?
In terms of the play descriptions, there are too many almost interceptions, and not enough "he threw it behind the receiver"

I think this game has a lot of potential, these are just some suggestions to make it better.

[litangel]

In addition, as I continue to play, there are far too many interceptions, and not just on plays with perfect coverage, (I'm using mostly Aaron Rodgers, who does not have high INT numbers) and also I find that on D often I play perfect coverage, and there is still a big gain against me in passing situations. For instance, if I am playing dime against a medium pass, with an excellent pass defense, I would expect that the pass would be incomplete 70% of the time, I think the actual number has been under 50%. The only way I can affect that number appreciably is by doing an all out blitz.

[Jayeburgh]

Well said.

[Nefaro]

I've come to nearly the same conclusions.

Notably that passes are being completed too often. Nearly all the individual games are turning into passing shootouts, while runs are often stuffed. It's a good sign that the AI is choosing what works best, but the passing numbers are going crazy. I don't know if it's due to the universally high Accuracy & Receiving ratings of players, or just not enough chance of a straight incompletion, but the incompletes are just too rare right now, and completions are by far the norm. That's the only big complaint I have, the passing situation.

I don't know if you guys are planning on updating this version anytime soon, but my interest has been piqued. I've not played any football management game in a very long time and I'm still enjoying it, despite the current lopsidedness. You've won over another regular customer in future Football Moguls if such issues are regularly addressed.

Edit: I'd also like to add that injuries resulting in multiple missed games seem to happen a lot. In my first regular season, it's unusual if I get less than two+ per game. I suppose this is part of what's making the teams' records fluctuate so much, too.

These issues aren't massively out of whack, but some small adjustments would go a long way.

[Nefaro]

There also seems to be a constant shortage of Tackles, and especially Guards. So there are far fewer decent linemen to be had by all the teams, and that is probably part of the reason for the Sacks being on the high side (and perhaps inside runs being stuffed quite a bit, too).

The list is growing.

[Nefaro]

Does the game difficulty setting have an effect on basic pass completion rates? Seems like it somewhat drops a bit on higher difficulty settings. Not much, but a bit perhaps.

I had forgot I was playing on the easy difficulty my first go, and started a new one in Coach difficulty. Haven't really noticed much of a difference in them thus far, other than having a lower possible income ceiling - and perhaps an occasional extra incompletion?

[Nefaro]

I just realized the extent to which turnovers are way above normal after starting a 1991 game and playing a few years, then checking some of the older player's stats compared to pre-game start simulated runs.

RB fumbles and especially QB interceptions increase by multiples. I hope some of these things mentioned in the thread get looked at for .. the next one?

[Jayeburgh]

Yeah, int/fumble rates are a big gripe. That's why I'd like to see a "era stat" slider or something to that effect.

[Nefaro]

I suppose the excessive chances for turnovers is what adds to the seeming randomness of game results, too.

[Jayeburgh]

Agreed.

While I don't mind some starting QB's tossing 15+ ints or even 20+. I don't think 6 of the top 10 qbs having 20+ ints is very realistic/fun.

I spend lots of time adjusting predicted stats pre-dynasty start and after each draft. It works out alright.

[winstonthecat]

I think the injuries are ridiculous. I just played a game where I have an A+ medical staff, and 1st in spending on medical staff, and I had 7 injuries in one game, all but two were for multiple games, and two season ending injuries that knocked 10 points off the players rating. I think there should be some variation in injuries where they lose some skill points temporarily while nursing an injury, but there seems to be way too many long term injuries.

[richardlee]

You can turn down the injuries in the league editor box.