NCAA Football 11 Catch-All

Stele wrote:

So I go into any exhibition game with him knowing I'm going to lose, and just taking comfort in the times I manage to score, or any drives I manage to stop him. Those little victories are enough.

Yeah, this is what I expect to do when I play Spy. For example, I lost the game, but I _did_ win the second half.

I'm going to play with UCF. I'll save John Brantley's Heisman campaign for offline mode.

Just played all 4 games of the demo. It left me kinda meh.

Grumpicus wrote:

Just played all 4 games of the demo. It left me kinda meh.

I just focused on the UF-FSU game, but I came away with a blasé feeling about it. Not sure how this is different from NCAA09 or Madden10 gameplay-wise. Once I relearned Florida's playbook the same plays that I relied on in 09 worked far too well.

The only draw for me right now would be a GWJ online dynasty.

I can't necessarily put my finger on it, but I didn't care much for the lat two editions of NCAA at all. Both of those were games I had oped would be better becasue Kansas was actually a decent team those years.

It does feel a bit like Madden 10, but it also feels like it has been cleaned up a bit. I like the lack of turbo in the run game in particular.

I think I will have a more realistic view of the game after it ships and I can play full length quarters.

I just ordered the game through dell.com. The 360 version is just 39.99 with free shipping. Not a bad deal. It is not guaranteed to show up until 7/22, but I can wait for a $20 discount.

How many teams can join the dynasty? I'd love a shot a bringing the Wolverines back to relevance virtually, since I don't think it's going to happen in reality any time soon.

How does the game scheduling work? Do you have set times that you have to be online or is it just kinda of scramble serving whenever your opponents are online?

I'd be looking forward to the off-season recruiting. That's always been one of my favorite parts of the NCAA games.

From my recollection of past seasons I've run with relatives / friends the schedule can be modified by the person who runs the league. So you basically you ask for changes or we talk about a certain amount of head to head games to schedule and modify the schedule to fit that. Generally you can only do this with bye weeks or with D1-AA games. Feel free to correct me if that's wrong. Last year the max was 12 players. We'll see what it is this year. I plan on getting this day 1 and figuring this stuff out.

I'll take the Terps out of Maryland.....FEAR THE TURTLE!

aimlessagent77 wrote:

I'll take the Terps out of Maryland.....FEAR THE TURTLE!

Aimless is a buddy of mine from work. He's a good seed. If he needs vouching as a coffee grinder in order to get into the league, I do hereby so voucheth. Or something.

bighoppa wrote:
aimlessagent77 wrote:

I'll take the Terps out of Maryland.....FEAR THE TURTLE!

Aimless is a buddy of mine from work. He's a good seed. If he needs vouching as a coffee grinder in order to get into the league, I do hereby so voucheth. Or something.

I'm going to say we probably won't have room for your friend. We have 11 right now, and I'd prefer to save the last slot for guys that are more invested into the forum.

I played the demo some more. I'm definitely not getting this unless Madden flops harder.

Edit: No wait. Saint Brees is on the cover. I have to get Madden this year. I'm out.

Jayhawker wrote:

Personally, I liked the demo even more than Madden 10, which I liked quite a bit. But I will probably end up with both. In addition to this, I am hoping tun run a GWJ Madden league that is a bit more Goodjer centric.

I believe there already is a GWJ Madden league that is Goodjer centric.

Grumpicus wrote:

I played the demo some more. I'm definitely not getting this unless Madden flops harder.

I'm not worried. Even if we have to get Mr. Green, you will conform one way or another.

Personally, I liked the demo even more than Madden 10, which I liked quite a bit. But I will probably end up with both. In addition to this, I am hoping to run a GWJ Madden league that is a bit more Goodjer centric.

But I think EA has finally got their football games to a point to where I can be as excited for the new season as i was back in the NFL 2K days.

I am curious about what is rubbing you the wrong way in regards to the NCAA demo.

Kush15 wrote:
Jayhawker wrote:

Personally, I liked the demo even more than Madden 10, which I liked quite a bit. But I will probably end up with both. In addition to this, I am hoping tun run a GWJ Madden league that is a bit more Goodjer centric.

I believe there already is a GWJ Madden league that is Goodjer centric.

Yep. But I said more Goodjer centric.

More goodjer-centric than a league full of goodjers? WTH is your criteria for a proper GWJ member, Jayhawker?

bighoppa wrote:

More goodjer-centric than a league full of goodjers? WTH is your criteria for a proper GWJ member, Jayhawker?

When the Madden league opened last year a number of people piled in who were completely new to GWJ. Now, we're not an old boys' network. Ask anyone who has played in the 2k league. Plenty of people vouched for friends and played in the leagues I ran and everyone worked out great. I, myself, have only been on the board for a few years now and I've been generously welcomed into games of Gears, Halo, whatever.

However, part of what makes GWJ special is that we try really hard to maintain a high standard of respect and sportsmanship that you don't find on the general gaming world online, especially on Live. Certis sets those standards on the message boards. He sets a tone. And those of us who have been around here for a long time have appreciated what setting a tone like this means. It means we can generally expect that someone who has been around the message boards for a while is probably the kind of person we'll enjoy playing with online.

Now last year when the Madden league started up there were a large number of grinders who showed up to play in the league. Many have stayed and become part of the community. That's great. Some haven't. I think what Jayhawker may be referring to is that a large number of people were let into the league who no one knew and, as we found out later, some of them ended up being rude or otherwise not at the same standard of comport that we have come to expect here. So I think what Jayhawker means, and I back him on this, is that we would rather save a place in line for the people we know.

As I am the one forming this league I reserve the right to be a bit of a hard-a** about this. Once again, everyone is free to create their own league. I won't take offense. But when I've run leagues in the past I've tried my best to run them with the best in mind for everyone in the league. And given my experience with Madden last year I'm inclined to wait for a couple of old friends before letting grinders into the league. Regardless of who vouches for them. I want to help facilitate a league where everyone will have fun. So I reserve the right to weigh a little heavy on choices like asking members of the league not to cheese, telling grinders to wait their turn and overall trying to make sure that this is about friends getting together to have fun and not just random guys on the Internet trying to beat each other's heads in online.

I hope you can respect why I'm trying to do that and why, in that spirit, I back what Jayhawker is saying. I want to run an Online Dynasty where the participants have fun. If it turns out my league is boring or isn't working I'm the first person to take advice. But right now I have a couple guiding principles and I'm sticking to them.

Can totally see that. Like most of the guys that play L4D(2) around here. If one team is rolling the other in vs after 1-2 maps, we will trade up players for the final couple maps and try to even things up or even tilt things in favor. There's something about keeping the game fun and competitive, not rage quitting, and delicately choosing who to trade to the other team without trying to say "you suck."

Or maybe it should be compared to the summer TF2 tournament. There were a lot of guys that signed up that hadn't played TF2 in a while, and thought the tournament would get them back into it or whatever. There were a few people that signed up as alternates that knew they couldn't make the time commitment. But there were some no-shows overall, some people that quit before a game even, and lots of the teams ended up short members. I think this is probably the more likely scenario that Jayhawker is trying to avoid. If people have been around just a couple of months and played some various games then at least you can semi count on them showing up. And bringing the right attitude to the game as well.

I understand the limited space in the NCAA league and I'm not complaining about that. I've been telling Aimless about GWJ for about six months now, but he only just signed up. Not anybody's fault. My consternation was more towards Jayhawker's comment. Since I don't play online very often, I haven't run into the pubtard phenomenon yet. I know we had a lot of attrition from the Madden 10 league and we didn't even have a full league to begin with. I had no problems with anyone I played, but I also didn't use my headset for 3/4 of my games. Being even more exclusive might make keeping a league together a little harder.

Apologies to Jayhawker for being snippy. I just didn't want it to turn into a 'you can't play with us unless you're tagged' league or something.

Nah. I've taken grinders into leagues I've run before. I think Bean and Maxox were in that boat back when. The Madden experience made me more cautious. And either way I'd give priority to friends I'd played with forever. But we'll see how it shakes out, what the cap is, who's in after trying the full game out for a few days. That's the other mistake I'm not repeating. Starting a league on a game no one is sure if they like. Going to give it a few days to a week before signup.

bighoppa wrote:

Apologies to Jayhawker for being snippy. I just didn't want it to turn into a 'you can't play with us unless you're tagged' league or something.

More than half the guys in that Madden league do not participate in GWJ other than to post in the Madden League forums. I'm not saying that makes them bad, but they certainly don't have any actual ties to GWJ.

Because of the kind of people GWJ attracts, I don't have to worry about some guy showing up with gamertag of Smoke40ozDrinkWeed. I certainly wouldn't have that guy on my friends list. But somehow, that became okay. Worse, one guy posted a long racist joke that he thought was a hoot. These are guys that don't mingle with anyone else on the site. But because the belief that more players equaled more fun, some guys I would never play with, and don't fit in, became a part of that league.

I'm not saying your buddy aimless is a bad guy. But if he was posting enough to move beyond Grinder, I would feel more comfortable. I definitely feel better about a guy that was recommended by someone like you. But I'd still prefer to keep room open for guys that have spent more time here.

That's what I meant when I said a more Goodjer-centric league.

So what he's saying is that aimless needs to spam the forums and gain a reputation. A good place to start is P & C.

Here's what I mean about it being a fine line. I saw this video posted lat year, and it had some great info on how to read safeties and make smart decisions.

But these same guys produced this:

Suddenly they have made the leap to breaking the code, and do it in such a way that the average user has no idea how the AI is being broken. And really, if you spend enough time breaking down plays, you may not even view this as cheese, as thee guys claim to not produce any money plays. But as I went through their videos, the fist one is the only one I thought didn't exploit how the AI code worked.

But there is a segment of players that can use those kinds of tips and play competitively with each other. My experience is that those guys are not here. So if I spent my time mastering these techniques, I would no longer feel comfortable playing in leagues on GWJ. I'd rather avoid learning what SpyNavy knows, so that I still have a group of friends to play in which we were all competitive. Most everyone I play here plays football secondary to everything else. It's fun to play, but we actually spend much more time playing other games.

In the Madden league, one of the main complaints was just how quick spyNavy got pressure on the QB. When it is a breakdown of the OL, that's part of the game. When it is a way of placing your players on the field that causes the OL to blow off blitzers, it's not cool in league full of guys that have no idea how to combat that.

And I don't think most of us want to learn how to beat the 1-5-5 Nano Blitz. Because the game quickly becomes rock/paper/scissors as the ways that the Nano blitz can be beat produces other weaknesses. Again, this is fun in a group of guys that want to play at that level. But it kind of blows in a group of casual football gamers.

It's not just football. Every game has its flaws. If I could shoot -20 on Tiger woods, I sure wouldn't be trying to set-up a GWJ Tourney just to show off. There are a group of guys that enjoy that kind of golf, and that's who I should be playing with. Of course, I just shot an +14 for an 84 in my last tourney. So I'm safe for now. In fact, I will never leaned the ins and outs of shooting that well, because it would ruin the game for me.

I am interested in playing in the league and would take Pittsburgh or Air Force as my team. I am just not sure if I fit the "criteria" that Jayhawker and DSGamer have established. I am certainly no grinder, but I mainly posted to the Madden threads because I was in those leagues. I have wondered and looked at other threads but never posted in them. Is that wrong? I guess I am just a little confused and rather not deal with little schoolyard antics and who is better than another because that's the way they feel it should be.

shag, slinging around phrases like "schoolyard antics" raises the discourse how? I think I've been very fair, transparent and honest. I'm not sure how much more plain and simple I can make this. I'm starting a league. I'd like the league to include individuals who play fair and who are established in the community to the extent that I can expect them to respectful. It's really basic and I don't think it's asking for much.

While I enjoyed both Madden Leagues that were set up last year I do understand what DS and Jayhawker are saying. There are a few people in the bigger league that I wouldn't vouch for from that league, but save for maybe 3 or 4 other players what I saw and heard everyone else was pretty respectful, etc.

And while it would be nice to join a league where everyone has posted in multiple threads my big concern is commitment and getting games in. Say what you will about the big Madden League, but I'd have to say it is doing pretty well. I can vouch for more than a few people that only post in the Madden threads and I know they will get their games, aren't asshats, and will be there two months from now when the next latest greatest game has come out. At the moment I can't vouch for myself being in this league past mid-September due to the great unknown of having my first kid

I came up against this attitude when I initially inquired about the APF league. I wasn't really a fan of the attitude then and ironically I tried having that attitude for last year's sim league (which was supposed to have been off board and private). Having been on both sides of the fence I'd just like to politely ask to tone down the attitude a bit. I am getting the sense that a few people are feeling alienated before the game is even released and that shouldn't be what GWJ is about.

I am not asking for immediate consideration for Coffee Grinders, but possibly just a more positive attitude. You never know who is out there lurking

GWJ definitely isn't about alienating people. But it's also about creating a community that's unique in that people feel free to game with each other without being exposed to the usual cheesing and ass-hattery out there on the Internet. I'm simply trying to hold that standard and be clear that that is the standard in light of some things I saw last year. Nothing more. How I accomplish that is going to be fluid and grinders may or may not be involved. There is always the option for someone else to start a different league.

Created a thread for the league I am forming so we can move that discussion out of here. Anyone (grinders, SpyNavy, whomever) is welcome to come and express interest, lay claim to teams, etc. That's the thread for figuring out rules such as quarter lengths, how long we take to let games get in, etc. As we get an idea of how NCAA 11 really is we'll figure out how much space we have, who is in, etc.

http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/50883

Alright, I'm in. Just need to find a good price on a gold live subscription.

I think I'll join DS in the PAC-10 and take Washington.

I'll be back from vacation on August 2nd, so I couldn't start before then.

DSGamer, maybe using "schoolyard antics" was a little harsh. I thank you for you honesty and transparentcy with forming this league. You have every right to run this league how you see fit. I was more taken back by Jayhawkers comments about grinders and people who have only posted to Madden threads. That struck a cord with me because I feel that those comments were directed towards me. It seemed that those comments were elitist or saying that I am better than you since I have been here longer and have posted to different threads. I understand that grinders must prove themselves, but how can they if they aren't allowed into leagues with established goodjers.

Again, I am interested in playing in this league since as far as I can see, it is the only one in GWJ. Am I in consideration or am I wasting your and my time?