When I last left the game, one of the major issues with it was erratic and inconsistent QB and line play. When I saw a new update had been posted addressing these two issues I was excited, but so far from what I've seen it's somehow only exacerbated these problems.
Primary Issues:
Speed Kills: I just wrote a breakdown of the issues at various positions, but I found in each instance it comes down to this: Speed is by far the most important attribute for every non-kicking position (even QB!) simply because every other attribute is so inconsistent. For example: bad d-line so frequently blow up great o-linemen that speed is the only important attribute there, since it better translates that broken block into a sack. In short, attributes needs to be increased in value and RNG windows need to be tightened. Additionally, strength especially needs to be more important in more areas, and weight needs to be measured into this to a greater extent. Unrealistic position swapping is too rewarding.
Other issues:
Play/Formation Success Rate: As every vet of the sim with multiple teams knows, there are certain plays that
always work, and certain plays/formations that will never work, no matter your personnel. You can have a hundred rated player at every position but you'll still struggle to succeed out of certain sets. This is a more challenging issue to solve, but it's a big one I feel. Not only does it severely disadvantage new players who don't know the 'correct' plays, but it also limits system diversity and play calling/personnel options.
Salary: I realize that a new update has been implemented and it'll take some time to see if it works or not, but having just gone through an allocation draft, one small adjustment would be to decrease the starting cap space. Most teams seem to have finished with around $30M under cap, but half this should be sufficient. Just a thought.
Non-Issues:
Trading: A lot folks seem to really focus in on the trading 'problem' but the reality is that the community can police itself just fine, and has mostly done so. Yes there are lopsided trades, yes it can be frustrating to see the top teams having 2-4 first round selections every season, but as long as trading is an option this is going to be the unavoidable reality. That said, so long as there
is a trade bar, however, I'd like to see draft selections upped in value, and age decrease value a little more sharply. I (and I suspect other players 'notorious' for hoarding draft picks) would be quite happy shelling out for a star older players on occasion, but it's currently just not sensible to do so given the current limitations of the system. Whereas trading off our older players can net a huge haul of draft value, which is now more valuable than ever given volatility disclosure.
Anyhow, I realize what a vast undertaking it is to create a functional model of such a complex sport, and with so many working parts beneath the hood it's exceedingly difficult to tinker with it. That said, from my observations, these are the primary culprits.
Last edited at 9/22/2016 1:39 pm