Last Chance to have input on our initial draft of Universal SIM RULES

In order to have a SIM football experience, rules must be implemented (afterall its no fun playing a clown who runs the same play over and over, taking advantage of a bogus play that MAY have a glitch attached to it and you havent yet discovered the counter to the glitch play) - that is why we had a rule last year that elliminated repetitive play caling....

The governing Council will finalize the INITIAL rules for our group (and they will be enforced by all LGs within our group) - this makes it easier for our groups members to remeber the rules... Remember this rule book will evolve - as SIM football inadaquacies present themselves through-out the season, rules will be made to limit their affect on SIM football experience

There will be some rules from last season that are obvious "carry over" rules to this season (Rule #3 - Punt rule and Rule #1 - Repetitive play-calling rule are obvious examples)... see poist below for list of last year rules

WELL HERE IS YOUR CHANCE! Give us feedback on our rules! What rules did you like or dislike last season? Are there any rules you would like to see in this seasons game that we did not have last year?

THIS IS AN IMPORTANT ISSUE (and we have illustrated its importance by assigning its own "heading") - click the link below to directly view Madden 10 rules and post your thoughts about rules for Madden 11!

the Madden Group`s UNIVERSAL RULES FOR MADDEN 10

1) No single offensive play or same type of play different formation can compose no more than 20% of your play calls... (if u have 50 plays in a game - u cant run the same play more than 10 times in the entire game) - defense has no such restriction

2) No Goaline Offense - except for short yardage situations (3rd/4th and less than 3 yards) or inside your opponents 5 yard line

3) If u are inside your 40 yard line and its 4th and greater than 1 - U MUST PUNT THE BALL

4) On extra points or field goals inside 31 yards - u r noyt allowed to user control block kicks! - there r well establised glitches to block kicks and block kicks rarely occur at this distance - so this will not be permitted

5) No HB direct snaps out of shot-gun formation ... wildcats r permitted!!! but r subject to the 20% play call restriction like every other play

6) Lg advances every 48 hours - this is refferred to as the playing period (if particpation rate is less than 80% - in this situation an extra 24 hours is granted to play games)

7) If u are away for 32+ consecutive hours - your opponent has the right to request a CPU game (on day 2 after 2pm of the playing period)- u will be temporarily dropped from the lg - so your opponent can play the CPU - this allows a player who is available to play his schduled game to minimize his exposure to potential simulated losses - when u r temporarily dropped u r expected to rejoin ASAP - if this occurs 3 times - your status in the lg will be re-evaluated

8. If you schedule a game - both players r to message commish with the playing time... If your opponet is a `no-show`(after 15 minutes of the agreed time) - message the commish explaining he isnt around (this is time stamped)- he will not be able to send a the commish a message béc he is not there - the commish will award you a CPU game right than or when he come online

9) You are not allowed to play the a CPU gm unless u have the commish's permission... WE RUN AT FULL CAPACITY ALL THE TIME (with a managed wait list)! if u r facing a CPU player - your opponent has likely been dropped TEMPORARILY under the 32 hour rule (rule 7)! or the scheduled game rule (rule ! (He will be rejoining shortly)... If that player has been booted or quit for some other reason - HE WILL BE REPLACED QUICKLY (from our established wait list system)

10) Any blitz that tackles the QB b4 an exchange with a RB will be deemed illegal - i understand these sort of blitzes can happen inadvertainly from time to time... each player will be given 8 incidents of this nature without sanction (over a 17 week season)... Episodes beyond 8 will be taxed... the tax will be draft pics (TBD by commish) given to the weekest roster team - this rule allow us to target players who 'gameplan' for this sort of blitz and not penalize a player that does it inadvertainly

11) All trades must be posted on lg website

12) if you trade a draft pic and fail to attend the rookie draft and honour the trade - your trading partner has the choice of voiding the trade or taking the player that was drafted in that slot and receiving the same draft pic in the following rookie draft - BOTTOM LINE HONOUR YOUR TRADED DRAFT PIC DEALS!

13) Trade deadline is week 12

14) no player is allowed to do more than 8 transactions in a row - this tactic is used to hide suspicous trades on the transaction history screen - also it is a "fishing" tactic guys ue to find the potential of free agents - either situation is unacceptable - hence the rule

15) when the lg is advanced you are to message your opponent - tell him when u plan on being online or respond to his message that he has sent to you

16) Do not run up the score unnecessarily - (accumulating stats for your rookies is not a valid reason to run the score up on a weaker opponent - PLAY NICE! and DONT BE A STAT SLUT!)

17) No Squib kicks unless in the final minute of the half or the 4th quarter

18) Do not quit your game - it is acceptable to concede the game - but to do so - u must message your opponent and inform him u would like to concede - if he accepts this - u are allowed to quit

19) If your opponent breaks any rule - save the footage in the pst game recap - hilight vault - tell the commish of the incident and post the footage of your opponent breaking rules on the lg website - ALL CHEATERS WILL BE EXPOSED

20) U can only manually move (joystick move) 1 player that rushes the QB - U can shift as many pass rushers u want using the `shift` system with L1 or R1... player that manually move more than 1 player that pass rush the QB, could be tryn to confuse the a.i. of the Offensive Line - so this practice is outlawed!

21) B4 the snap - U cannot move a defensive lineman form his `Line of Scrimage`area - U can shift him using L1 as much as u like - and u can move him manually (with the joystick) - along the `Line of scrimage` - but moving him back - like he is a LB is outlawed... this confuses the a.i. of the offensive lineman and can cause `Nano` blitzes
EXCEPTION: when your opponent is lined up in a punt formation and you suspect that he is Faking the punt (with a run) - u can move him into a better position to make a play on this fake

22) U cannot bring an extra blocker back on punts b4 the snap...

23) when a player challenges a play - DO NOT HIT ANY BUTTTONS - let the the replays play through - pushn X causes the replay challenge to fail

24) If a player INADVERTAINLY loses a connection in the game:

- If he was behind and wishes to restart the game - his opponent has the right (BUT NOT THE OBLIGATION) to restart the game... He can insist the game be continued with the same scoring differential and with the time clock in the same position or he can concede the game and allow his opponent to finish the game vs the CPU and complete the EZ win.... Use your judgement - if the game is out of reach - finish vs the CPU - If the game is contestable restart BUT BE SURE TO AGREE ON THE PARAMETERS B4 YOU EXIT THE CPU GAME!

- If he was ahead - his opponent DOESNT HAVE TO RESTORE SCORING DIFFERENTIALS AND THE TIMECLOCK (but would advise that it to be ethical to offer to do so)... If the score differential is greater than 10 - I would suggest that half the score be reawarded to the player (This will give a player a penalty for a "bad" connection and still his opponent (who did no wrong) interested in the game!)... If the player is up less than 10 points - score differentials and times should be re-established...

25) U can run the 1-5-5 as much as u want when its 3rd or 4th and 6 yards (or more to a 1st down) - (i.e passing situations) - in addition u can use the 1-5-5 IN 3 OTHER SITUATIONS OUTSIDE OF THE 1 LISTED ABOVE in the entire game...
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I believe that most of these rules can be carried over into Madden 11 - WITH THE FOLLOWING EXCEPTIONS:

Rule 4 - regarding blocking field goals and extra points - after player learned this glitch in they were able to block kicks at an unprecidented rate...

Rule 5- No HB direct snaps out of shotgun - this was a key play in a series of plays that was a `glitch`offense - taking away this play made the rest of the series inconsequential - ty to jmojsoski for recognizing this deficiency last season!

Rule 10 - Tackiling the QB b4 he makes an exchange with a RB - THIS GOES AGAINST GENERALLY ACCEPTED FOOTBALL FUNDEMENTALS AT ANY LEVEL - my hope is that the improved run blocking AI in this year game will make this rule unnecessary!

Rule 20 and 21 - Rules preventing so called `nano`blitzes - Once again i am hopeful that improved programming will award well planned blitzes but illiminate `gimmick`style blitzes that have little if any counter

Rule 23 - pushing X during replays - I hope they fixed this obvious glitch - I HATE STUFF LIKE THAT!


** THE ABOVE RULES WERE SPECIFIC TO MADDEN 10 - I AM HOPEFUL THAT THESE DIFFCIENCIES WILL BE ILLIMINATED WITH NEW PROGRAMING FOR MADDEN 11...

Last year rules give us a place to start (which is fantastic because last season we had to make the rules as went along) -

I do understand that when the game comes out - and we have the benefit of experience - THIS RULE BOOK WILL EVOLVE to fit the details of Madden 11 - my hopes is that the Governing Council will be able to delivery the best SIM football experience as possible - and the best tool to do this is well thought out rules!

we can add a strategy to the rules like onside kicks .. you only get 1 per game and 1 in the last minute of the game... regardless of score... this could be used like sean payton in the superbowl... high risk and the reward isn't huge with players who struggle to score and that's just 1 and then the player has to wait until the last minute of the game to try and get the ball if the player is losing

meanwhile a player who didnt use the onside kick at any point can end the game using it in the 4th to catch up if he is down or finish the game off if he is up ...

and by allowing only 2 you cant abuse it ...as 1 onside is only allowed in the last minute so truely you cannot rely on that 1 at all and every can prepare themselves for it as it may be obvious to expect...

the other onside isnt cheap because some ppl will use it and not get it and cost themselves field position , others won't use it at all and no1 has to worry about that being abused


... I only suggest this rule if onside kicks aren't easily recovered like some glitch since there's a new kick system..

are onside kicks being recoverd at an inflated rate? These are kind of rules that are best inplemented on "as needed" basis - particularily if their is a flaw in programming where onside kicks are recovered at higher rate than they should be...

Sometimes we can have too many rules - and the best DETERRENT can be the player's foolish actions... If a player wants to play like a GOOF and do dumb onside kicks (as long as their are defended at the appropriate rate) - I say let survival of the fittest sort these fools out - they will fail at this and give a short field to opponents over and over - and eventually learn their lesson - u would hope - but maybe i have more faithe in Darwins theorey - and joker is right - what u guys think?

should be up for debate .. not b/c i offered it but I've played games where every kick is onside and it just gets annonying and it's obviously not sim as that wouldnt be a normal play for any team

but 1 per game jus for strategy and to keep ppl on their toes more than to actually use it unless your down in the 4th n you'll have 2 shots if you're gettin beat in the 4th to make a come back 1 is your 1 onside kick you hopefully saved 1 in those last minute/s ( w/e you guys feel is right) and could change the outcome of a close game .. more excitement


but I feel this is a rule to make before we need to ... darwins theory is nice but it's a video game and if a guy is 4-9 he may just give up and mess around in games where he wont get kicked out of the league but he will be a pain in the @ss to play against just out of being annoying ..

and all that will do is annoy our true sim gamers ... u install this rule u add strategy and prevent idiocracy ...


just a thought..I can live without it but I figured I'd thrown in what came to mind

If a player chooses to onside kick over and over again then he is not playing sim. Therefore, does not belong in the league.

agreed I just figure to have a rule in place for that .. i know its common sense but common sense can get a rule every now and then ..and it adds strategy b/c now you'll also have comfort in kicking an onside kick without feeling cheap b/c teams do kick them just not more than twice in an entire game and that's if they're down

or once for shock like the superbowl

1 of the teams I coach against in highschool football - does Onside kicks exclusively (and every1 knows it is coming but, they remain quite preficient at recovering the onside kicks - and to our detrement, they take valuable practice time away from us gameplanning our offense and defense - so that we can defend the onside kick - unique strategy when you consider that fact) - Nevertheless; The game is called Madden NFL not Madden Highschool LOL!...

I think both joker and plague have valid points - but maybe some ort of rule regarding onside kicks would be appropriate to ensure clarity in our SIM rules - i will propose your option on the sheet - and maybe come up with 1 or 2 other alternatives - and we can vote on the best to proceed...

sounds good and actually they had a guy from the high school team on talking about that how the odds and percentages actually favor doing the onside kicks and if the other team scores you saved time anyway ...

I dont see that working in the nfl but hey he did his research cant hate a man for wanting to win in real life ..cause thats his job n all lol

There is a GENUINE highschool football strategy that says U SHOULD NEVER PUNT - the premise is that highschool punters and punt coverage teams are sooo weak - that any advantage you get from punting the ball is less than the advantage you would receive for particpating in 4th down gambles 100% of the time... Kinda makes sense - dont know how many times I have a weak punter anD I net 10 yards on a punt - and i think back - and relaize it would have been more beneficial to just go for it - BUT AGAIN THATS HIGHSCHOOL - NFL IS OBVIOUSLY DIFFERENT SITUATION...

oh def NFL you're lucky to convert a 4th down in your season lol

highschool you may not even reach 4th down in a game ..or might never make it past your own 20 the whole game haha

highschools absolutely different I was just sharing what I've heard seeing if it benefits you , you ever try not punting or is that something you feel would neglect your players on special teams and since it's high school ..it's a lil messed up unless they're playing other positions ( happens)

How'd you end up coaching ? I know you played and all but I'm curious as I am trying to pursue being a recruiter/scout as I dream of being a gm (sales pitch helps that , knowledge of actual football helps scout and I plan for accounting schooling so that helps with the cap and signing contracts..)

I know highschools sometimes take back former players who know what they're doing but I'm still curious lol