Cipher 8's Online Dynasty

Cipher 8's Online Dynasty - (Xbox 360)

I'm just gauging interest for another online dynasty. This league will be my main dynasty alongside the TGT Coach Mode one I'm in but not hosting. I may host a second Coach Mode Online Dynasty League if there's enough interest as well as a Private dynasty I have with just one friend of mine but I plan on purchasing the Commissioner Bundle DLC for $6.99 therfore I can host up to five Online Dynasties as well as access to Week Advance Anywhere and receive the ability to SuperSim on the Web.

I would like this online dynasty to be public yet invite only to specific players who are similarly skilled and like-minded to the type of player I am.

If your a similar type of player then your welcome to join...

I could just say - Sim Style - No Cheese - yadda yadda yadda but I actually want to describe what I mean in detail. If you have read this far already it’s likely because you’re really interested in a dynasty that fits you rather than just join the average OD that you find in the lobbies that usually don't last a season. I'm not looking for the average player that just wants to get in a dynasty now and then a month down the road will quit out because he's bored with the game. I'm also not looking for the ultra competitive Madden Nation type gamers who wants to test his skills out against everyone with tons of user matches. Ultimately the game is meant to be fun but what's fun for one person is not fun for another so I would like to go into more detail via a short Q&A. If you can manage to get through the rest of this thread then you might just be a great match.

To determine if this is the right league for you here are some basic questions to see if you meet the criteria; See Spoilers for explanations of what I mean.

What is your normal difficulty? Do you usually play on All American or Heisman?

Spoiler: show
I normally play on All American. I realize the majority of NCAA players play on Heisman that's why if you are use to the difficulty on Heisman and/or if you find All American too easy then this league is simply not for you. Sorry. Now I might come to find out myself that All American has changed from NCAA Football 11 to NCAA Football 12 but if that's the case we'll use sliders. Basically I'm just trying to find likewise skilled players to join my league. I generally find Heisman to be too difficult or the AI to be too perfect, not make any mistakes, etc.

Is user games a focus of yours?

Spoiler: show

Normally in Online Dynasties there is this tendency to focus on user matches against other members. I may be in the minority here but personally I never played much versus in this game. I don't really care for the whole versus component of the NCAA Football games to be honest. I'm talking about User Games. To a lot of players the user games are the most fun and enjoyable not to mention most competitive part of an Online Dynasty. I can see why some players feel this way and must have user vs user matches yearly in their OD.

I'm not really looking for and don't really care to play with those ultra-competitive players who are all competition focused and don't really care for the finer details such as recruiting and the challenge of building a team though. The players who are elite on the sticks and play a lot of competitive matches online might not like this league. So right off the bat if you consider yourself fairly competitive in the world of players, you might not be right for this league. Not that there's anything wrong with that but those are just not the type of players who I'm trying to match up with. I'de prefer not to have those "competitive player" types like Madden Nation type players in my online dynasty. While there’s nothing wrong with being that type of player that's not who I'm looking for. I'm not afraid of a little smack talk but I don't want obnoxious gloating like the guys you see on TV playing in the Madden Nation, yelling in each other’s faces about how much they dominate and practicing to find money plays and nano blitzes to exploit the game and be a cheeser. I think those type of guys know who they are so just make good judgement on whether you think this applies to you or not.

While I want everyone to have fun and compete in this online dynasty I don't think you need to focus on a lot of user matches to have fun and have competition.

If you like to do a lot of user matches in your Online Dynasties, or like to have all the user teams be in the same conference, like to change the custom schedules around to face other users then this league is not for you. If you think your too good and would go undefeated every year facing majorly computer opponents that are not a challenge for you then this league is not for you.

I try to get casual people who really take recruiting serious and are not focused on user vs user competition as much because not only would they just crush the computers and go undefeated every year but usually those types of guys don't care about recruiting and just grab anyone that's interested in them and just zip through the process each week to get back to their next game. Which is fine if that's what you like to do but I look forward to the recruiting more then my next game. That being said, there’s nothing wrong with a little competition and I want to make it clear, I DO NOT wish to imply that I don't want ANY user vs user matches to happen. Because I do... I'm all for the occasional user match. If we meet in a bowl game or at the Conference Championship or even if another player is in your division and you meet yearly that's alright. What i don't want though is the majority of my schedule to be user vs user matches. I know a lot of dynasties schedule user vs user matches for out of conference, I won't. I like to keep the schedules at default so it doesn't mess up the other NPC teams schedules. Sometimes I'll take out a FCS team by request but I won't necessarily change your schedule just so you can face your friend or another user. I like to think Online Dynasty is not set up to be the exact same experience as Online Ranked Matches. It's more than just getting in and playing games.

There's more to competition than just the games. I like the team management competition stuff more than the versus competition aspects of NCAA. You can still compete for the standings in the top 25 and competing for better bowl games. Competing for player awards too without abusing the stats though. That type of stuff is the kind of competition I crave in these NCAA games. Also don't forget recruiting is often a battle itself. I honestly take treat recruiting with the same approach most treat the games. I can take hour(s) at the beginning of the year to select my recruits because I touch all bases when looking for a player. I analyze and break down my rosters to know who I need to recruit ahead of time. When I'm searching for recruits I spend a fair amount of time and thought on selecting the right guys. I look at their skills important to their positions and compare and contrast between recruits. I judge whether I have a realistic chance of landing them or not and all that before I even add them to my board. I don't just jump in and add a handful of the green dots from the top 100 list and quick call them or spend 60 minutes on the same handful of guys each week. I really prospect them and their stats and try to balance my time between the 35 prospects that I can have on my board, yes I add all 35... The battling for recruits is ultimately what makes NCAA Football fun for me. The RPG-elements with building your team up, managing your players and watching them progress, and all that team management and team building side of it is my favorite part of the game and ultimately why I like NCAA Football.

Now I know what you may be initially thinking. He don't like competition, right? No that's not it at all. Don't take this as I don't like competition. It's not that I want a easy road or don't want a challenge, it's that I actually do struggle against the computer controlled teams find the computer challenging. I do actually lose games vs the CPU and when I win I don't just blow them out of the water always. A lot of my games vs the CPU come down to OT or a field goal, usually a one score difference. If I'm a mediocre team and facing a top prestige team like say Arizona vs USC I usually do not win, only upsetting them once in awhile, if ever. To be honest I never got ranked high enough to even play for a BCS Championship because I was losing anywhere from 2-5 games a year usually. I guess this comes down to your skill level again...

It all depends on how similar we are as players though. If we can have good user vs user matches I may change my mind on how I want to treat this this year but for the most part the computer matches are not going to be a problem if the users in the dynasty are similarly skilled and don't find the computers too easy. Obviously if you play tons of ranked matches and really delve into what plays are money and what not then you'll just crush the computer and this dynasty won't be a challenge. If your like that or you find any of this unappealing to your tastes then this dynasty is not for you.

Do you care about player stats or no?

Spoiler: show
I do care about stats. I like to see stats that are in-line with real life. Key word "in line" I'm looking for the type of player who focuses on mimicking real life as much as we can while accepting NCAA Football 12 is still a game and it has some limitations to how realistic it can truly be. I realize it's a game and sometimes stats will be skewed and unrealistic. Now that doesn't mean I think you should be exploiting the game for higher stats and to get awards with your star players but at the same time I don't want you to have to slow down and not break your school record if you are having a tremendous game. I want players to be able to give your best effort every game and have fun and not have to worry about this sorta thing and risk losing. Basically just don't exploit the game for the sake of stats and you'll be fine.

I just don't want players who continually abuses one player or one play. For example: Throwing to your HB in the flats constantly in order to make him by far the leading receiver on your team and boost his stats for the Heisman or any other reward. Just play the game and try to win not try to pad your stats. If attacking the flats is effective against the opponents defense then by all means go ahead and do it but don't abuse a money play or something like that just for the sake of stats and easy cheesy play. Anyone can call the same money play 40 times a game and rack up 500 yards of rushing but how is that fun or competitive? That's just cheesing and that will get you warned and ultimately kicked out of this dynasty.

On the other side of it though I don’t want people who continually complain about minor things after every single game saying so and so cheated because there’s no way that he is averaging 120 yards on the ground or he's feeding his halfback carries. If somebody wants to focus on the run or feature a star receiver and get him involved in their offense then they have all the rights to do so.

That being said, there is a fine line between focusing on getting a player involved in the offense and exploiting them to pad their stats. I expect players to run a balanced offense or at least if they do focus more on the passing game or running game one way or the other they are not constantly gaining unbelievable stats every game. I guess this kind of goes back to the difficulty question. If it's too easy and you're the type of player that gets really unbelievably good stats week in and week out on AA then this league isn't for you.

What minute quarters do you normally play with? 5, 6, 7, 8, 9+?

Spoiler: show
I usually play on 8 minute QTRs. I find 5 minutes is too short. This also goes hand to hand with the stats thing. If you are use to playing on five minute QTRs and think that your stats would be inflated on 8 Min. QTRs this league may not be for you either. So just make good judgement if you think this league is for you or not I guess.

I understand people have lifes and wives and what not but if you cannot devote time to this dynasty, with games that take upwards of an hour not to mention time to do recruiting, then it may not be for you. If your time is limited or you have too many other dynasties then this may not be for you. Due to time constraints people may have I would like this dynasty to be one you focus on. I wouldn't necessarily discourage anyone who has multiple dynasties from joining but I would want this to be your main or secondary not your fifth or sixth dynasty. Ideally the goal is to have a group that stays together, not a revolving door. If your on xbox live and you haven't played your game or done your recruiting yet you'll be expected to attempt to get on and do that before going on another game. I understand there are other games people will be playing and everybody has a busy life outside of games but I don't want anyone who just wants to play NCAA Football on the side or as a quick fix in between games of Call of Duty or something. This is only so we can keep the dynasty alive and thriving. If your not going to focus on this game and this dynasty, then it may not be for you.

What teams do you normally like to choose for Online Dynasty?

Spoiler: show
I like to do mediocre schools (:3star: or :4star:) and I prefer and encourage everyone to spread out and choose teams in separate conferences or at least separate divisions usually. I won't say no if you want to join the same conference though. One thing I usually do restrict though is I don't allow my users to take the elite teams in conferences usually. That way it's not too easy for them to run the tables and go undefeated every year. By leaving the elite teams (:6star: top recruiting schools) as computer controlled there's still a challenge when facing the computer. Since I prefer to do a lot of user vs computer matches the difficulty would be gone if all the elite teams were user controlled and you were facing the lesser teams and always winning and going undefeated. I'm not saying you can't take a team and go undefeated and win a national championship but to be doing it every year is a little ridiculous because it obviously not a challenge then. Very few teams should actually go undefeated if any in a year.

Now with coaching carousel I may have to rethink or come up with some guidelines/restrictions on how I want to treat this this year. I obviously want the player to be able to work his way up the ranks and get new jobs but I don't want all the elite schools to end up as user controlled either. Generally I would like to stick to :5star: and under schools in the dynasty but we may just do :4star: and under with keeping in mind you can build the schools up to that 5 and 6 star levels.
If any of this is a problem for you though then this dynasty probably isn't for you.

I don't want to sound too demanding because honestly I'm not that hard to get along with and have fun with in an online dynasty. I just want good sportsmanship. Quality guys who lose with dignity and win with it as well.

I'm not trying to be overly picky. I'm just looking for the right like-minded players, similarly skilled, so we can run the type of dynasty we're all looking for. Does that make sense? I hope so.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. If you have any questions at all just ask them, I'll try to explain anything further and help you understand what I mean.

If your interested and think this league is a right fit for you then join up while there’s still room! Please post; Your Gamertag and your Age. There's is no Age restrictions but it's just nice to know. I'm 22 btw. Also you don't have to but maybe your Location or at least timezone, so we know for any scheduling of user games and if you feel like it a little bit about yourself and your gaming habits/tastes. One of the best things about these Online Dynasties is the social aspects so don't be shy.

Once we start getting some members in we can start discussing more of the finer rules or guidelines, which I want the whole league to be able to decide on not just the host. Stuff like;

Coaching Carousel and Team Change rules and guidelines. I don't wish to restrict you too much if you get a job offer you should be able to take it but I also do wish to have some guidelines to keep things fair and balanced. We'll likely all start out at low caliber schools, possibly as coordinators, and work up to the better gigs. I'm thinking :3star: and under but that's up for discussion. If you want more of a challenge we could all do :2star: starting out for example. We only want these guidelines/rules in place to make the dynasty as competitive and long lasting as possible, not to restrict how much fun you can have.

Also up for discussion is what types of Sliders, if any, should we use. steelerfan has already started his slider preparation for All American settings. We want the sliders to fit us and give us all a challenge especially with the majority of the games being against the computer. Again if you're use to Heisman this probably isn't the dynasty for you as it'll be based on All American with possible slider changes to make things more challenging/realistic.

The advance rate. Something like 2-4 days for each game and this shouldn't be a problem with most not being user games you can play it at any time and not have to schedule to be online at the same time as another user. Of course I’ll always move the week ahead if everyone is done playing their games early so if we get a good active group together we could advance daily. Also since we probably won't fill this up fully with 12 members, more like a handful (5 or so) it should go bye fairly quickly but we're not here to rush anyone.

Is there any other sites that I don't know of that I should be posting this on to try to get it out there? Or should i just wait and it'll fill up. It's just hard to find similar skilled/like minded players.

Cipher I'm up for this. And personally I'd prefer to start as coordinators but it's not a game breaker and I'm cool with setting alma maters as schools with less than 5-6 stars (I'd probably pick one of the west schools that I like to watch such as BYU or Nevada).

What is your normal difficulty? Do you usually play on All American or Heisman?
I've only ever played AA in ODs but I play some AA and some Heisman offline (been more AA the last couple of versions)

Is user games a focus of yours?
I like h2h games but I also enjoy the other aspects of the game (recruiting, dynasty stories, etc.)

Do you care about player stats or no?
Yes. I don't need 100% accuracy but seeing HBs with 100 catches(frequently) or teams who have 5000 passing and 3000 rushing yards sucks.

What minute quarters do you normally play with? 5, 6, 7, 8, 9+?
7-8, less than that stats aren't right, more than that and it starts to take too long to get through a season.

What teams do you normally like to choose for Online Dynasty?
2-3 star, semi local teams or 2-3 star user created teams (the two dynasties I've been in that lasted the longest I was Marshall and Ohio U).

I'm fine with starting as coordinators but I must say it upsets me a little that user vs user matches you get all head coach controls no matter what but yeah we can start as coords. It might just be you and I by the way but we'll give it a week after launch to get the rosters and all that and see if anyone joins. I do have a friend who will join after he gets the game sometime later this month if that's alright.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cipher 8

I'm fine with starting as coordinators but I must say it upsets me a little that user vs user matches you get all head coach controls no matter what but yeah we can start as coords. It might just be you and I by the way but we'll give it a week after launch to get the rosters and all that and see if anyone joins. I do have a friend who will join after he gets the game sometime later this month if that's alright.

I agree that it would work better as partial control h2h but it should also slow the progression down a bit in the user vs cpu match ups. I'll definitely run a custom 4-2-5 DC so with a team that has a poor offense it should take a while to move up.

One house rule to consider is that maybe we should have to stick to our contracts... that would help slow the rank climb and give a more even progression around the OD. Just an idea.

This sounds ideal for me. I play AA w/ sliders mainly based to achieve sim-style play.

I'm 25, my 360gt: THATZ TURRIBLE. central time. I'll have the game tomorrow on the release date.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thatz Turrible

This sounds ideal for me. I play AA w/ sliders mainly based to achieve sim-style play.

I'm 25, my 360gt: THATZ TURRIBLE. central time. I'll have the game tomorrow on the release date.

Alright I'll hit you guys up and we'll get this thing going as soon as we can decide on which roster file to use. I'de sorta like a named, and updated, file but I don't know which ones are best, any ideas?

i've always played with just auto-names. whatever we go with is fine by me.

fairdale kings is the one I've used for a couple of years now and they are very good (names not ratings updates).

i like the idea cipher if u dont mind if i join .
1.What is your normal difficulty? Do you usually play on All American or Heisman?
AA just defalut sliders

Is user games a focus of yours?
i like them but i like balance computer games and other aspects of the game ect

Do you care about player stats or no?
i care about them but they dont gotta be perfect ect

What minute quarters do you normally play with? 5, 6, 7, 8, 9+?
7-8 depends on my mood mostly 8 though

What teams do you normally like to choose for Online Dynasty?
i dont mind the smaller schools like a colardo or ect

if u want to play with me hit me up with a friend inv Pirate1997 i am really 18 my lil cousin put it and i havent felt like putting 500 microsoft points just to change it so yea but i will be a loyal member

Alright well I've heard good things about Fairdale Kings but I also thought guys like T. Pryor should be out and the new QB for Wisconsin in so i was thinking about using a roster file that had that but we can do whatever you guys think is best with roster names/updates.

Cweed we would be glad to have ya.

When do you guys want to get this started?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cipher 8

T. Pryor should be out and the new QB for Wisconsin

Those guys will only be in the game one season so it doesn't make that big a deal to me. I'm ready to start as soon as you guys are :) FDK's rosters are supposedly going to be finished around noon today so that's pretty awesome.

I've been using default sliders so far (not bad but pass rush versus cpu is way too easy) has anyone here tried steelers sliders and if so should we use them in the OD?

I haven't messed with any sliders yet I've just been doing a dynasty with my brother and messing around with my playbooks but yeah if you guys want to run a slider set post it up and I'll try it out. More than likely we'll start this on Saturday. So are we using F.K's rosters?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cipher 8

I haven't messed with any sliders yet I've just been doing a dynasty with my brother and messing around with my playbooks but yeah if you guys want to run a slider set post it up and I'll try it out. More than likely we'll start this on Saturday. So are we using F.K's rosters?

Best choice unless we wait on one that has ratings edits and coaches (both things I don't need for an OD personally).

Well I'm hosting two online dynasties already and my time is stretched thin so I'll make one more and you guys are welcome to join this one, same "sim style" All American set up except a little bit better teams starting out. You can choose from 4 star coordinators or 3 star head coaches but you can only move up +1 star when accepting new coach offers. I'll send you all invites over xbox live.

I sent out the invites but everybody is filling it up fast if you don't get in I'm sorry but I don't think I can do more than 3 OD's and be active and committed to them all.

Sounds good. Getting myself set up right now.