Dear EASports,
I'm writing this to vent my frustration with your NCAA College Football franchise and what it has become. NCAA College Football has become a sad sack, watered down version of the Madden NFL Football franchise. You're motto is, "EASports, if it's in the game, it's in the game." This statement couldn't be further from the truth unless it was a career politician but I digress terribly. What follows is a numbered list of my frustrations with the various segments of your game, both in regular and dynasty mode. I will then follow up with proposed solutions with the number correlating to the frustration in hopes that you will take heed of the discontent wrought by the game your company sells.
Keep in mind I play on the PS2 platform and so that is the basis for what follows.
Frustrations
1. The playbooks. For the love of God could you please drastically update the plays in the playbooks on both sides of the ball? We've been running the same plays for four years. The little tweaks you give the offensive plays aren't enough.
2. The rosters. A cap of 70 players. Really?
3. Position changes. A 78 rated RB should be able to be switched to LB and not drop to a 44 rating. A 76 rated QB should be able to move to WR, TE or DB without dropping to a 40 rating.
4. Hot routes. These are old, boring, stale and there's not enough variety.
5. Audibes, especially on the road. Have you ever heard of hand signals? Teams use these in loud stadiums to communicate. Speed of changing plays, formations, etc is a joke. You change from one formation to another with 20 seconds on the play clock and by the time your players are set you have maybe 3 seconds left.
6a. Recruiting, Potential/Discipline. I've lost track of how many 80, 82, and in one case 86 rated true freshman I've had to cut from my roster because they all seemingly have poor discipline and/or potential.
6b. Recruiting ratings. I'm currently in dynasty mode and I recently recruited a :star LB from Nebraska, George Guidry. The information the game gave about him was as follows:
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 217
40 Yard Dash: 4.56
Bench: 345 bench
Squat: 470 squat
Awareness: A+
Hands: B
So I scouted him...All categories were as good as they were listed and...
Potential: Good
Discipline: Good
So I recruited him, signed him and when I saw him on the roster he was rated at 52. 52! With those type of attributes, are you kidding me?
6c. Recruiting stats: The top rated offensive linemen: OT, OG and OC's in the nation each allows anywhere from 9-17 sacks in a season-of 10 games? Really? I highly doubt the nation's top rated linemen allow that many sacks. Get real.
7. Turnovers. I have had games, both in regular and dynasty mode where I routinely will turn the ball over 4-6 times a game. One regular game I played, I was Nebraska and the computer opponent was Texas A&M and I kid you not I turned the ball over 12 f'ing times! For the game I went -7 in turnovers. Are you bleeping serious with this stuff?!
8. Summer drills. Mostly pointless exercises. When you're running a drill where other team members are involved like with the DB man or zone drill, or the defending the option drill why are those computer controlled players there? They are absolutely worthless because they don't do anything except get in your way and slow you down. Why is it that when I'm on offense and my player drops the ball scores are taken away while when I'm on defense and I cause they offensive player to drop the pass I lose points as well? What gives?
9. Redshirting. Also pointless. There's almost no improvement or benefit to redshirting a player. It rarely increases their awareness, strength, etc.
10a. Blocking. Could you guys please stop with the swinging gate method of blocking along the offensive line? I've lost track of how many times the computer has rushed three, dropped 8 into coverage and I have about 1 second to find a receiver before I'm sacked. I kid you not I've been in situations were I've kept both backs in to block, as well as the TE for a total of 8 blockers against three rushers and what happens is my OL won't block anyone or they'll get knocked back 5 yards at the snap.
10b. Tackling. The physics behind the tackling is absurd to say the least. If my player is running with the ball and he's tackled by someone chasing him from behind he's not going to be thrown backwards. And the QB dodging/avoiding three sacks...get real. Missouri's Chase Daniel is notorious for this.
11. Motion. One player can go in motion and only in a direction or manner you choose.
And I'm not even going to get into the sheer stupidity of how one computer controlled defender can, on an option play: 1) force the pitch and then 2) chase down and tackle the pitch man.
Proposed Solutions
1. Consult with real coaches. Talk to Urban Meyer about getting the spread option/zone read right. Talk to Tom Osborne about getting the power running game/option right. Talk to Bob Stoops, Pete Carroll, Bo Pelini, etc about getting defenses right. The defenses on this game are a joke. They have more holes than a slice of swiss cheese.
And also, could you please fix the way the defense lines up? Proper spacing, alignment and placing need serious upgrading.
2. The NCAA allows for 85 scholarships, the roster for your game should allow 85 total players.
3. Make changing a players position easier. For example, RB's many times become LB's. QB's beome WR's. WR's become DB's, etc. If I have a 76 rated RB and I want to move him to LB then certainly a slight drop in ratings is to be expected. But going from a 76 to a 44 is patently absurd. How about making a 76 running back, when switched to LB drop a 74 or even a 72? Hell if you really want to get nuts how about a 76 rated running back becomes a 78 or 80 rated LB?
The point is there needs to be much more flexibility in switching players positions.
4. Keep the up, down, left, right, r1 l1 hot routes as is but expand them. For example, push the triangle to start the hot route process, push the icon which corresponds to the player and then have 6 different routes, represented by circle, triangle, square, R1, etc that you could change the WR/TE/RB's route to. It's the same principle as the stored audibles for offensive plays.
5. Is it difficult to play on the road? Sure but the sheer ridiculousness of trying to audible has reached it's apex. Teams use hand signals to communicate. I don't care how loud a stadium is, hand signals aren't affected and most teams can audible just fine. Also, make the players move faster when calling an aubile, especially if a player has to change his position say from one side to the other of the formation. And if a formation change is called make the whole team move faster.
6a. Recruiting...news flash not every player has poor discipline and average potential. I always find it amusing that 80+% of the :star :star :star :star and :star :star :star :star :star rated player have average to poor discipline and/or potential.
6b. In the example I gave above, with those types of numbers, George Guidry should've been rated a 74 at the minimum. My point is: a :star or :star :star rated player, with attributes like Guidry shouldn't be a rated at 52.
6c. The stats for RB's are okay but the stats on defense need to be more tuned into reality. For example, a middle LB will probably have 75+ tackles in a season-not 15.
Also, would it kill you to say if the recruit plays other sports? Baseball, basketball, track, etc?
7. Just make it a tad harder for the computer to intercept passes.
8. Either make the summer drills better or scrap them entirely. For example make you computer controlled teammates more effective in doing that they're supposed to.
9. Redshirting is, in real life, an invaluable process. It allows a player to get bigger, faster, stronger and more aware while preserving a year of eligibilty and your reshirt process should reflect that.
10. Just get the basic physics right.
11. If I motion the TE across the formation, why can't I then send a second guy in motion, especially if I still have time on the play clock?
Anyone else has any comments, suggestions or ideas on how to make the game better, starting with the '10 edition?
I'm writing this to vent my frustration with your NCAA College Football franchise and what it has become. NCAA College Football has become a sad sack, watered down version of the Madden NFL Football franchise. You're motto is, "EASports, if it's in the game, it's in the game." This statement couldn't be further from the truth unless it was a career politician but I digress terribly. What follows is a numbered list of my frustrations with the various segments of your game, both in regular and dynasty mode. I will then follow up with proposed solutions with the number correlating to the frustration in hopes that you will take heed of the discontent wrought by the game your company sells.
Keep in mind I play on the PS2 platform and so that is the basis for what follows.
Frustrations
1. The playbooks. For the love of God could you please drastically update the plays in the playbooks on both sides of the ball? We've been running the same plays for four years. The little tweaks you give the offensive plays aren't enough.
2. The rosters. A cap of 70 players. Really?
3. Position changes. A 78 rated RB should be able to be switched to LB and not drop to a 44 rating. A 76 rated QB should be able to move to WR, TE or DB without dropping to a 40 rating.
4. Hot routes. These are old, boring, stale and there's not enough variety.
5. Audibes, especially on the road. Have you ever heard of hand signals? Teams use these in loud stadiums to communicate. Speed of changing plays, formations, etc is a joke. You change from one formation to another with 20 seconds on the play clock and by the time your players are set you have maybe 3 seconds left.
6a. Recruiting, Potential/Discipline. I've lost track of how many 80, 82, and in one case 86 rated true freshman I've had to cut from my roster because they all seemingly have poor discipline and/or potential.
6b. Recruiting ratings. I'm currently in dynasty mode and I recently recruited a :star LB from Nebraska, George Guidry. The information the game gave about him was as follows:
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 217
40 Yard Dash: 4.56
Bench: 345 bench
Squat: 470 squat
Awareness: A+
Hands: B
So I scouted him...All categories were as good as they were listed and...
Potential: Good
Discipline: Good
So I recruited him, signed him and when I saw him on the roster he was rated at 52. 52! With those type of attributes, are you kidding me?
6c. Recruiting stats: The top rated offensive linemen: OT, OG and OC's in the nation each allows anywhere from 9-17 sacks in a season-of 10 games? Really? I highly doubt the nation's top rated linemen allow that many sacks. Get real.
7. Turnovers. I have had games, both in regular and dynasty mode where I routinely will turn the ball over 4-6 times a game. One regular game I played, I was Nebraska and the computer opponent was Texas A&M and I kid you not I turned the ball over 12 f'ing times! For the game I went -7 in turnovers. Are you bleeping serious with this stuff?!
8. Summer drills. Mostly pointless exercises. When you're running a drill where other team members are involved like with the DB man or zone drill, or the defending the option drill why are those computer controlled players there? They are absolutely worthless because they don't do anything except get in your way and slow you down. Why is it that when I'm on offense and my player drops the ball scores are taken away while when I'm on defense and I cause they offensive player to drop the pass I lose points as well? What gives?
9. Redshirting. Also pointless. There's almost no improvement or benefit to redshirting a player. It rarely increases their awareness, strength, etc.
10a. Blocking. Could you guys please stop with the swinging gate method of blocking along the offensive line? I've lost track of how many times the computer has rushed three, dropped 8 into coverage and I have about 1 second to find a receiver before I'm sacked. I kid you not I've been in situations were I've kept both backs in to block, as well as the TE for a total of 8 blockers against three rushers and what happens is my OL won't block anyone or they'll get knocked back 5 yards at the snap.
10b. Tackling. The physics behind the tackling is absurd to say the least. If my player is running with the ball and he's tackled by someone chasing him from behind he's not going to be thrown backwards. And the QB dodging/avoiding three sacks...get real. Missouri's Chase Daniel is notorious for this.
11. Motion. One player can go in motion and only in a direction or manner you choose.
And I'm not even going to get into the sheer stupidity of how one computer controlled defender can, on an option play: 1) force the pitch and then 2) chase down and tackle the pitch man.
Proposed Solutions
1. Consult with real coaches. Talk to Urban Meyer about getting the spread option/zone read right. Talk to Tom Osborne about getting the power running game/option right. Talk to Bob Stoops, Pete Carroll, Bo Pelini, etc about getting defenses right. The defenses on this game are a joke. They have more holes than a slice of swiss cheese.
And also, could you please fix the way the defense lines up? Proper spacing, alignment and placing need serious upgrading.
2. The NCAA allows for 85 scholarships, the roster for your game should allow 85 total players.
3. Make changing a players position easier. For example, RB's many times become LB's. QB's beome WR's. WR's become DB's, etc. If I have a 76 rated RB and I want to move him to LB then certainly a slight drop in ratings is to be expected. But going from a 76 to a 44 is patently absurd. How about making a 76 running back, when switched to LB drop a 74 or even a 72? Hell if you really want to get nuts how about a 76 rated running back becomes a 78 or 80 rated LB?
The point is there needs to be much more flexibility in switching players positions.
4. Keep the up, down, left, right, r1 l1 hot routes as is but expand them. For example, push the triangle to start the hot route process, push the icon which corresponds to the player and then have 6 different routes, represented by circle, triangle, square, R1, etc that you could change the WR/TE/RB's route to. It's the same principle as the stored audibles for offensive plays.
5. Is it difficult to play on the road? Sure but the sheer ridiculousness of trying to audible has reached it's apex. Teams use hand signals to communicate. I don't care how loud a stadium is, hand signals aren't affected and most teams can audible just fine. Also, make the players move faster when calling an aubile, especially if a player has to change his position say from one side to the other of the formation. And if a formation change is called make the whole team move faster.
6a. Recruiting...news flash not every player has poor discipline and average potential. I always find it amusing that 80+% of the :star :star :star :star and :star :star :star :star :star rated player have average to poor discipline and/or potential.
6b. In the example I gave above, with those types of numbers, George Guidry should've been rated a 74 at the minimum. My point is: a :star or :star :star rated player, with attributes like Guidry shouldn't be a rated at 52.
6c. The stats for RB's are okay but the stats on defense need to be more tuned into reality. For example, a middle LB will probably have 75+ tackles in a season-not 15.
Also, would it kill you to say if the recruit plays other sports? Baseball, basketball, track, etc?
7. Just make it a tad harder for the computer to intercept passes.
8. Either make the summer drills better or scrap them entirely. For example make you computer controlled teammates more effective in doing that they're supposed to.
9. Redshirting is, in real life, an invaluable process. It allows a player to get bigger, faster, stronger and more aware while preserving a year of eligibilty and your reshirt process should reflect that.
10. Just get the basic physics right.
11. If I motion the TE across the formation, why can't I then send a second guy in motion, especially if I still have time on the play clock?
Anyone else has any comments, suggestions or ideas on how to make the game better, starting with the '10 edition?
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