Impact Players

[Rudy]

NCAA '06 introduced the concept of impact players. This was controversial because many felt the ratings should just take care of themselves. Many also felt that impact players were overdone when first introduced as they tended to play well beyond their ratings. Well I must say that I really liked the feature when it first came out. I loved the fear that it gave me when playing against an impact RB on offense or even an impact FS on defense who seemed to pick me off all the time. It seems now like the impact player feature is pretty much neutered and only displays the best players on the field with a star underneath them. Do they even need this feature anymore? I wish they would exagerate it more like it was in the past. I'd also love to see the matchup stick return since it made it really easy to spot the good/bad matchups on the field without going through the entire depth chart.

[Solidice]

I felt it was overpowered on '06, at least with impact HBs. That was the year Taurean Henderson was on Texas Tech and he was an impact player. I still remember being able to run all over every team once he got "in the zone". I didn't play '06 online, so I have no clue if it was like that in user vs. user games.

now, I don't think there is any difference when a player is an impact player, but usually the player that the game selects to be my impact player is one of my best players(ratings and performance wise).

[AustinWolv]

Impact players - I think the ratings should stand for themselves. The impact players should be just that.....an impact rating that is basically how much of a playmaker a guy is, such that two guys with equal other ratings will be separated by that intangible clutch playmaking that separates a great player from the truly once-in-10-years player who changes games. Thus, I don't think an in-game ratings boost should take over, but do keep the star denoting what guys are the impact players. And then that impact rating would not be a raw number, but rather a 'chance' multiplier that is applied to a position-specific skill (like big catch for receivers or break tackle or juke for running backs). The impact rating doesn't just automatically boost that rating, but treat it like a lottery in which you have more balls in the draw.....a higher impact rating means a higher chance of that big catch or that broken tackle, but it isn't a sure thing.

Matchup stick - really liked this in the past, such that you could see realtime which units were hurting in confidence and might give up a play when attacking a defense or need to adjust playcalling to compensate for them until they got settled back in, like a young receiver or a DL that was getting smashed.

[texacotea]

In the zone really was overdone, anytime anyone got there it was a definite that they were getting the ball. I also would like to see the matchup stick back, this is one feature that I did like and felt like it was done well.

Impact players now I think are done well, I think they still have an edge but not to the extent that once the get the ball they are definte breaking one tackle or outrunning everyone.

[Rudy]

I forgot about the "in the zone" stuff. That WAS over the top.

Maybe some of the CD guys can remind the dev team how loved the matchup stick was. I think a bigger problem is how much stuff they have mapped to the buttons already pre-snap. It was still a great thing.

[AustinWolv]

Hmm, I think I was mixing ITZ and impact players.

[Flav]

Whats this ITZ you guys speak of

[texacotea]

Hmm, I think I was mixing ITZ and impact players.

Impact players became "in the zone" when they had a few good plays or an opportune time

Whats this ITZ you guys speak of

In the zone...I cant find a video but the players icon under them began flashing when they are ready to become beast mode

[AustinWolv]

In the Zone - when players would get that ratings boost for a short time when they made plays, you fed them the ball, etc. See above.

Impact players became "in the zone" when they had a few good plays or an opportune time

Yep, but I believe they also kept impact players the following year, but dropped the 'in the zone' feature.

[BlindRedBaron]

It sure would be nice to have that matchup stick back... Especially with the addition of formation subs this year. Having a way to create and actually notice mismatches would be clutch.

However, my guess is, if we haven't seen it yet (since it's somewhat of a gameplay feature), we won't be seeing it this year... But here's to next year!

[rhombic21]

I never really liked the impact players feature. It didn't make sense that you could have two players, equally rated, and one of them would somehow play better in the game simply by virtue of being an "impact" player. It also ended up giving significant bonuses to certain teams based on what positions they had impact players. Impact receivers, runningbacks, and mobile QBs were much more powerful than defensive players or pocket passers. And teams with highly rated offensive linemen didn't get any real bonus because those players couldn't be impact players no matter how highly rated they were. And then if you had an impact kicker or punter it was just pointless.

I like the way it works now, where it's a visual cue to see who the playmakers are, but nothing more.

[steelerfan]

I like the way it works now, where it's a visual cue to see who the playmakers are, but nothing more.

Agreed. I think any boost to super-human levels is ridiculous and arcadish. I think the other inherent flaw is that each team has 3 regardless. Why should CMU's 78 OVR HB be able to go apeshit from time to time when my 90 OVR HB can't? That's lame.

I do like the visual aspect of it, I often run away from an Impact DE or throw away from an Impact CB. However, if it's only visual, I'd rather have a system that allowed me to see everyone's OVR either in a color-coded system or with an actual numeric value at the touch of a button and without sifting through the depth chart (think Matchup Stick).

[JeffHCross]

I think the Matchup stick was too unrealistic. You might be able to know a certain player is hot or cold ... but knowing every player on the other side of the field? Meh.

Impact Players does need to be a little more enhanced, and perhaps a little more reliant on "Clutch" situations. When it's 3rd and 1, I should feel confident that my Impact HB will get the yards because that's what he's there for. I should expect that my Impact WR will catch a 3rd and 5 as long as I put the ball on his fingertips.

But, as you guys have said, they're really no different than any similarly rated player. I don't want them to be superhuman levels, and NOTHING like NCAA 06 was. But just a little more 'clutch' would be nice. 4th quarter, 3rd down, etc.

[Coachdenz]

my 1st online league was in 06 and I played with San Diego State and let me tell you the running back for SDSU would run wild being a impact back and on even teams mode... those were the days...but yeah impact players where way over done in those days.

[steelerfan]

I think the Matchup stick was too unrealistic. You might be able to know a certain player is hot or cold ... but knowing every player on the other side of the field? Meh.

To clarify what I meant, I don't want Matchup Stick back. Simply a similar function that would show me the opponent's ratings without having to reference the depth chart.

[JeffHCross]

Wasn't responding you steeler, just the thread in general. I agreed with what you said.

[JBHuskers]

For me, I would be just as happy if the impact player has no additional bearing than what their rating suggests. I like the fact that I know who my impact players are, but didn't like the overpowering abilities of them when it was first implemented.

[Jayrah]

I think the Matchup stick was too unrealistic. You might be able to know a certain player is hot or cold ... but knowing every player on the other side of the field? Meh.

Impact Players does need to be a little more enhanced, and perhaps a little more reliant on "Clutch" situations. When it's 3rd and 1, I should feel confident that my Impact HB will get the yards because that's what he's there for. I should expect that my Impact WR will catch a 3rd and 5 as long as I put the ball on his fingertips.

But, as you guys have said, they're really no different than any similarly rated player. I don't want them to be superhuman levels, and NOTHING like NCAA 06 was. But just a little more 'clutch' would be nice. 4th quarter, 3rd down, etc.

Matchup Stick: I think what Jeff said here is pretty much right on from my angle. Except, if you happen to have a highly aware, Impact QB, he should be able to pick out a mismatch and somehow they should let the user know. Maybe the QB starts pointing on the way to the line (like they do to pick out LB's and blitzers IRL), and as a user you get the 1 or 2 matchups that are best suited to be mismatches. If you have a highly aware WR, he should be able to pick out his matchup and you should be able to see it. Not necessarily every play, but on certain plays throughout the game.

Defense should work the same way with an Impact MLB or CB doing the same thing with their matchups, so that you can compensate with an audible.

Impact Players: I like how they are. The ratings make the player. I just want to know the players I need to avoid. Impact players STILL make more plays if you run or throw at them. However, maybe they should add 2 or 3 impact ratings, I don't know what they'd be, maybe a "clutch" rating, like Jeff thought.

[jaymo76]

NCAA '06 introduced the concept of impact players. This was controversial because many felt the ratings should just take care of themselves. Many also felt that impact players were overdone when first introduced as they tended to play well beyond their ratings. Well I must say that I really liked the feature when it first came out. I loved the fear that it gave me when playing against an impact RB on offense or even an impact FS on defense who seemed to pick me off all the time. It seems now like the impact player feature is pretty much neutered and only displays the best players on the field with a star underneath them. Do they even need this feature anymore? I wish they would exagerate it more like it was in the past. I'd also love to see the matchup stick return since it made it really easy to spot the good/bad matchups on the field without going through the entire depth chart.

As far as I am concerned, the matchup stick was the best ever feature in the NCAA series... I loved it and I would be thrilled to see it return ala 06 style.

[Flav]

Just saw from the screenshot that Tate Forcier is an impact player.