Discussion on Preseason

Hey everybody just throwing this out there for discussion. Unlike in online franchise last year, in CC this year you have the 4 preseason games to play. I have a recommendation on this. Here is the backdrop:

In real life, teams generally use preseason to: (1) help starters shake off the rust by running plays against real opposition; (2) resolve position battles to figure out the depth chart and who will make the team and who will get cut. Although the occasional standout performance can help a guy move up the depth chart (see, Russell Wilson), generally the stats compiled in preseason games are mostly meaningless. And, players do not generally "get better," in terms of their skill set, over the course of the 4 preseason weeks. It's more about the coaches getting players back in the groove of competition and assessing talent.

Unlike the real life aspects of preseason described above, in CC mode it's all about the stat generation. Your players don't get XP just from game experience, they only get XP if they get enough good stats. You could play your second stringers for an entire preseason game, giving them a lot of reps and playing experience, and they will get nothing out of it unless they pile up enough numbers.

What this means is that users who are satisfied with the attributes of their bench players, and want to maximize the preseason progression of their starters, could play the starters for the whole game, or most of the game. Those users would then force their user opponents into a crappy choice: (a) at some point put the second stringers in against the other team's starters, which gives the second string little chance of getting good enough stats to earn XP (making the option a waste of time); or (b) do the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" approach, and play his starters the rest of the game too, which would certainly be unrealistic for a preseason game. Either option is, well, kinda dumb.

There are other weird situations that can result. Say that your second stringers aren't very good. Or, as you're playing a preseason game, you're just getting your ass kicked by the other guy's second stringers. You have a choice: (a) continue playing your own second stringers, despite the fact that they will just continue getting their ass kicked and will earn no XP from the experience, making the entire game a waste of time; or (b) put your starters in so you can at least get SOME xp benefit to the game. Again, a weird choice.

And then you have another possible result: both users play their second string for most of the game, per a gentlemen's agreement perhaps, but the game is closely contested and a ho-hum game in terms of statistical performances. You just spent 40 minutes to an hour playing a game that will get you almost no XP for your players, will have zero effect on your regular season W-L, and was just a chance for guys to get injured. Worth it?

For the reasons above, and largely because the XP system doesn't really jive with how real life preseason works, I would recommend that we sim through the preseason and stick to regular season games, just like last year's online franchise. The benefits:

1. You can set your depth chart in a way where players will still earn XP from the simmed preseason games, which you can allocate just like you normally would. Even when you play the preseason games, the amount of XP you can get is pretty small. So, at least this way, you're getting the XP without having to invest any actual time into playing a game where the win or loss doesn't matter.

2. You could turn injuries off for the simmed preseason so that no one gets pissed about a guy getting hurt during a game that he didn't actually play.

3. We get shit moving and get right into playing games where the result matters!

Chime in with your thoughts. I'm willing to go along with whatever General decides on this, but it's good to get a discussion going on it to feel people out.

JW

The thoughts I had were that the preseason could be used to practice basic user skills and game adjustments without worrying about a win loss record.

Also, allowing users to enjoy the tough decisions real NFL coaches have to make which is how long to leave starters in to get them ready for the season without risking injury.

Leave them in all game to amass heavy XP in preseason, you risk losing them to injury. One example is Jake Locker playing all half in the last preseason game of the year despite every other team resting their starters completely or giving them 1 series.

After reading JWallace's breakdown however, it looks like we can accomplish developing younger players ANYWAY by simming, without having to play the entire game. This factor is important and why I agree with the idea of getting things moving along.

As of right now I plan to sim the pre-season after allowing time for everyone to set their depth chart knowing the CPU will automatically put in your backups after the first quarter (or is it half, it's one of those two).

This is also a point where realism can add more stress than it's worth by having injuries on.

Any thoughts before this becomes final? I don't want to drag this out since this isn't the main factor in enjoying this league. Speak now as you please.

Good post Jwallace.

I'm fine with simming it with injuries off.. would suck if peoples main starters all got hurt from sims.

Injuries OFF are a must - and although injuries definetly happen in preseason - they are far less - THERE IS AN UNWRITTEN CODE BETWEEN PLAYERS - u dont give any cheap shots during games that dont matter - cut blocks are looked down on and blind side hits are less... therefore injuries should be off to reflect this...

If we did do the preseason - maybe we could have a 24 hour advance cycle so we get through it a lot quicker!

i vote sim preseason