2018 Offseason Discussion

[markc]

I'm not liking this stage very much. Newark outbid me for my DC in period 1. In period 2, the DC I offered a contract to signed for less money (but more years) with WIC. Now, in period 3, my owner will only shell out a million less than in the previous periods. So, I cant offer any of the few decent DCs close to what they are asking. So what happens when I fail to get a DC in period 3??? Just not play defense? At this point, maybe i should just sign the crappiest coaches and give away all my good players so the team will be "profitable" despite going 0-16 for the next 5 yrs. The game system may work decently in single player mode but it doesn't seem to work in multiplayer. AFAIK, it is very rare for an NFL team not to make a profit - let alone all these teams in the IFL losing tens of millions yearly. And coaching talent in the NFL doesn't automatically go to the richest teams.

I know coaching is just a small part of the game and it looks like Montreal went to the championship without having a great HC or OC - so maybe it's not a big deal - but it's still frustrating how it plays out.

[BOSS]

It's time for a new rule. Everyone seems to like Tarcs suggestion.

[Mike17]

This is really a case of the haves vs the have nots. People that have really taken the time to get good at this game and can do fairly well even with mediocre talent are the ones who will have the most profit.

This means that the best gms will also have the best coaches, making the gap even bigger and causing your casual player to be unable to compete.

In the interest of fairness, allowing teams a shot to resign their coaches would at least level the playing field a bit for people that don't have the time/desire to really figure out the game.

[Argot]

I'm not sure how I feel on this one. But if we made that rule I think we would have to say that the rehire would have to be at least 5-10% per year more than the previous contract. Otherwise the temptation to low-ball your own coaches and scouts could occur and should not a coach deserve a raise if he stays with your team instead of going to a place that could pay him more? But then it becomes a policing nightmare.

[Kobeck]

First I like the suggestion at having a shot to retain your staff. As for Argot concern I say either offer at least what was requested or max what owner will allow would take care of that.

Steve I think Houston has "Indianapolis" old stadium. I think Murfreesboro got "Houston" and Louisiana got "Tennessee" leaving the Cards with "Jacksonville"

[Matt]

In the RNFL I have Jacksonville. This team was one of the worst economic situations to start a team. I lost money year after year, and in turn lost some of my good coaches. It made me look hard at other coaches and young coaches. Eventuallly after winning seasons, I was able to get a new stadium and because of me winning, I was able to draw a crowd. Even today, we are the worst ranked in economy. In the past 5 years we've averaged $71 mil in profit.

In the IFL I was fortunate to be in one of the best starting situations. I'd like to think our success on the field has kept us up on top of that list. Attmitidly, I did not have to try as hard in the "coaching" aspect. Early on however, I was victim of losing my coaches.



At the end of the day there is a strategy involved in this stage. If you know you aren't at the top of the list, make an offer to another coach. The fact that I tried to warn everyone that I was going after Poston, should have scared off all other teams not named Tulsa. Strategically, you should have put your bids elsewhere if you needed a HC. Tulsa was the only other team that had a shot at him. In stead there were 8 offers on the guy. What I did in the RNFL was find a coach that wasn't top notch, but really good. I'd let the other teams fight over their big name dude while I took a very respectable coach at a decent rate.

oh, and Argot brings up some very good points. I'm not against voting on a new rule, I personally just think the in game system is fine.

[Matt]

per Ben's work

STAFF HIRING
Based on the in-game documentation, public comments from Jim in past Q&As, conversations with several FOF experts, and many years of playing this game, here’s my best take on what the staff attributes affect.


SCOUTS

• Positional Ratings—For veterans, this helps nailing down the exact ratings. Quite often, for players in year 10ish and older, there’s as much as a 15ish% discrepancy in overall scouted rating between a player on your own team with an Excellent scout and a player on another team. In other words, if I have an Excellent scout, I may see that my aging QB is 75/75, while the rest of the league has him in the mid 60s. For rookies, this helps with the accuracy of the “Underrated/Overrated” assessments from interviews. The better your scout at that position, the more likely the interview assessment will be the correct one. (But no matter how good he is, there’s a chance that he can be just plain dead wrong.)
• Young Talent Rating—Determines the amount of the blue-bar range for rookies. The better the scout at Young Talent, the more narrow the range of possible ratings will be.

COORDINATORS
Ignore what these guys do in real life. In FOF, their only role is to act as development accelerators. The positional ratings determine how well they develop that group, and the young talent rating how well they develop youngsters overall.

HEAD COACHES
Only the five bottom (highlighted in red) attributes matter for them. A combination of Discipline and years with the team determines how often your team is penalized. If injuries are high in your league, then injury avoidance crucial. If they're at 100 or lower, that attribute isn't terribly important.

As far as how to approach these three stages:

• You should never, ever, ever offer anything less than the maximum amount that your owner will allow. (Again, the financials are imbalanced.) The difference between the most expensive staff and least expensive is trivial compared to the profit/loss potential in this game.
• If your league is one that allows you to see who has exported, PAY ATTENTION! If there’s a stud new staff member available and the guy who was #1 in profit last year turned in an export, don’t bother bidding on the stud. Unless he’s a dummy (and if he’s #1 in finances, he’s probably not), he will beat you. Similarly, if you’re near the bottom in finances, don’t bother with going after the top-tier staff in the first stage. You’re better off going after the next tier before people start going after them. (To see where you stand against the rest of the league in profit, check every team’s “Income Statement” screen, or an easier look, if you’re in a league that uses my php code, is to browse to the profitlastyear.php page: http://www.younglifenorthdekalb.com/...itlastyear.php is an example.)
• What attributes are most important depends on your league’s setup. If you’re in a league with a higher injury setting, “Avoid Injury” is crucial for Head Coaches. If it’s down around 100, the other four are far more important. For Scouts, consider switching scouts out each year based on what position groups are important to you in the upcoming draft. Young Talent is the most important rating for Coordinators.
• It’s worth noting again that years of service for the Head Coach plays a big part in penalties. Don’t hire a new Head Coach if the guy you’re going after is only marginally better than your existing one.
• In order to sign a guy away from the team who had him last year, it takes significantly more money, so if you’re in the middle of the pack financially and your coach/scout/coordinator is a “free agent,” you might be able to sign him even over the top-tier financial teams.

[Kobeck]

What are "team preferences"? I have looked around and found nothing. I thought maybe FAs had TPs, or somthing on one of the team pages. Found nothing. Probably huge and obvious but I still can't find anything.

[Hoosier]

No new rules..I'm getting old, memory is swiss cheese, and I know I'll be one of those dudes that screws it up after it's implemented...

[Jave]

I wish coaches had personalities. I wish they also ran certain "scheme". Like, a coach is great but he's a west coast guy. Or, this coach sucks but he's a 100 running the "run and shoot". That would make coaches such a cool, important part of the game. You could define your entire team by your coach.
There's a ton of no names out there, but like....Gruden is a west coast guy, Parcells is a conservative, run heavy, long pass guy, Bellicek is a heavy pass, qb/wr/wr guy......etc....

[Matt]

What are "team preferences"? I have looked around and found nothing. I thought maybe FAs had TPs, or somthing on one of the team pages. Found nothing. Probably huge and obvious but I still can't find anything.

i'm not sure what you mean?

[Kobeck]

Added a 2010 player file, team preferences and schedule.


it was mentioned as one of the changes. I am sure it is obvious but I don't know what Jim is referencing.

[Matt]

oh, gotcha

maybe the offensive and defensive gameplans?

[Argot]

I wish coaches had personalities. I wish they also ran certain "scheme". Like, a coach is great but he's a west coast guy. Or, this coach sucks but he's a 100 running the "run and shoot". That would make coaches such a cool, important part of the game. You could define your entire team by your coach.
There's a ton of no names out there, but like....Gruden is a west coast guy, Parcells is a conservative, run heavy, long pass guy, Bellicek is a heavy pass, qb/wr/wr guy......etc....

i agree Jave...we can only dream right?

[Chris Rex]

This is really a case of the haves vs the have nots. People that have really taken the time to get good at this game and can do fairly well even with mediocre talent are the ones who will have the most profit.

This means that the best gms will also have the best coaches, making the gap even bigger and causing your casual player to be unable to compete.

In the interest of fairness, allowing teams a shot to resign their coaches would at least level the playing field a bit for people that don't have the time/desire to really figure out the game.

I agree with this. It does frustrate me that because I inherited a team that cannot even sell out a playoff game, I will never ever be able to get one of the top 5 coaches every year.


Is there any way to 'turn off financials' to level the playing field or something? It just seems like the same 10 teams will always have a shot out the top 5 coaches, and the other 20 are destined to be stuck in the lower tier forever.

NOT fun if youre in that lower tier.