Share Your Impressions of NCAA Football 11

[gschwendt]

With the TGT admins able to talk about the game starting tomorrow at noon eastern and with others planning to receive the game tomorrow, it's time for impressions. There will be two threads... one for simple Q&A along with discussion, another will be for full impression posts which will basically only be for those that have the game to actually post in.

This thread is strictly for impression posts only from those that have the game. If you have the game early, please provide proof in some manner. Those that have the game may use this thread to make diatribe postings or just simply "ooh, that was neat" posts. However though, limit it to useful information and not discussion.

This thread will remain locked until tomorrow at noon eastern.

[JBHuskers]

This thread is now open.

[gschwendt]

A few notes that I have...

First, regarding Online Dynasty and Dynasty Wire, we've started four separate Online Dynasties but unfortunately each of them have been wiped out due to server maintenance by EA. This is strictly related to pre-release but due to that, we don't really have anything to showcase. I plan to restart a single player OD this weekend and will share that with you once I have something for you to look at.

Speaking of Online Dynasty, there are some changes this year... some good, some bad, some I'm undecided on:
1. You can't save an offline copy of an Online Dynasty
Meaning you can't start an OD, save an offline copy, and then run through the dynasty on your own. This is mostly good because there were some exploits that some could use such as simming ahead to see what offseason recruits would be, seeing what non QBs throwing abilities were, etc. The only down side to this is that means that EA has the only copy of your dynasty. Hopefully it won't be an issue this year but I know in the past there have been reasons to restart an OD based on an offline copy.

2. You can't tell who has restarted an OD game (at least not that I can tell so far).
In the past, you could tell who has restarted an OD game (ie losing late in the 4th, quit and try again). I've only been the commissioner of a single player dynasty thus far but I'm not sure how you would be able to tell.

3. There are some bugs that we've come across in the Dynasty Wire app.
These bugs are particularly in the recruiting aspect and losing call time due to a bug. One very important tip, don't open the Dynasty Wire in multiple tabs... it doesn't like that. My recommendation for now is to do your actual recruiting calls from the console unless you have to. However, I believe I read somewhere that they are still working on the app prior to release and plan to have an updated version this weekend.

4. Dynasty Wire itself is awesome and easy
As I assume most of you have already ran through and looked at the Dynasty Wire and various ODs that are out there, you probably already know what it's capable of. However, what you don't know is that it is really easy and quite intuitive. Granted there are some things that I would like added and/or different but on the whole, it's great. News stories and articles that appear automatically are genius. The only downside is for the lazy ones out there, they'll have to wait a couple of minutes after an OD game in order for pictures & videos to upload to the site. You can always cancel out of it... the story will still be created, you just won't have any pictures or videos associated with it.



In regards to recruiting, here are a couple of notes
1. Recruiting even on Varsity is definitely more difficult than in years past.
For one, I was always the guy that after week 4 or 5, I would go out and find the guys just above my reach that haven't received an offer yet. I would offer them and a lot of times end up signing them. However this year, it seems as though the moment you offer that player, the CPU will be alerted to it and start going after that player the next week; not always, but certainly more than in the past.

2. Recruiting Pipelines are much more valuable
In the past, I rarely paid attention to pipelines... that was just a way for me know which states I'm recruiting heavily in already. However, this year, you get a bonus for each pitch in a call to a player that is in your pipeline. That becomes huge for you because you can get as much as a 20 point bonus (on a really great pitch) just from the pipeline. 100 points is the most you can get from a single call but with the bonus, you can obviously get as much as 120 points. Can make all the difference in the world when competing for a player.




I'll keep posting in here as I think of them off the top of my head.

[Rudy]

I like the sound of recruiting but I'm definitely concerned about the bugs of dynasty wire and having a dynasty get lost or wiped out by EA. I may just stick to an offline dynasty. Not sure yet.

[JBHuskers]

I like the sound of recruiting but I'm definitely concerned about the bugs of dynasty wire and having a dynasty get lost or wiped out by EA. I may just stick to an offline dynasty. Not sure yet.

It was wiped out because they were doing pre-release maitenence. Standard procedure for getting rid of a lot of test things a week or two before release. Don't expect them to be wiped out post-release.

[gschwendt]

Just an FYI but after comments sit out there a bit, I'll go through and delete them just so that this thread is dedicated to information.

One thing I just remembered:
Seemingly ALL dynasty games have Nessler & Herbstreit. Take your opinion of that but personally I didn't like it because as Arkansas State, it didn't make the small games fell small. Granted almost all games anymore have some sort of broadcast to them in real life whether it be TV or online so for them to have a broadcast crew for every one is not that disturbing.

[Coachdenz]

I'm happey for #1, even though I liked the idea of downloading the Dynasty, but I felt that feature was getting abused in a Dynasty that I played in with NCAA 10....

How have the online games played so far? About like last years version, Better or worse?

Thanks

[JBHuskers]

I'm happey for #1, even though I liked the idea of downloading the Dynasty, but I felt that feature was getting abused in a Dynasty that I played in with NCAA 10....

How have the online games played so far? About like last years version, Better or worse?

Thanks

Kinda hard to gauge. Tommy and I would get disconnected towards the end of a couple of games, but there wasn't any lag at all. There was the one night we decided to play with 24000 bots going in and out of rooms and games constantly that night. The play there was pretty choppy, but other than that it was solid. That is something that we can't truly answer until it's released to the public.

[gschwendt]

In Online Dynasties, you can pass off ownership to a member of your OD at any time. I haven't actually messed with this so far but the option is there. That way, if the commissioner has to go out of town for a period of time, he can hand it off to a #2 guy who will handle the commissioner duties in his absence.

[psusnoop]

Not being able to save offline will effect the scheduling of the next season for a few dynasties. Not a huge deal, but more of an incovience so to speak.

[gschwendt]

Not being able to save offline will effect the scheduling of the next season for a few dynasties. Not a huge deal, but more of an incovience so to speak.

Actually, players can see their schedules for the upcoming season on the Dynasty Wire site even during preseason.

[razorback44]

In Online Dynasties, you can pass off ownership to a member of your OD at any time. I haven't actually messed with this so far but the option is there. That way, if the commissioner has to go out of town for a period of time, he can hand it off to a #2 guy who will handle the commissioner duties in his absence.

That's a huge plus. I'm actually suprised it didn't get in last year because it is such a pain to switch commisioners the way it is currently.

[gschwendt]

About formation subs... you're limited to 50 total subs per team. Meaning if you put your HB at FB in Shotgun - Split, that's one sub. If you put your HB at FB in Shotgun - Split Slot, that's two subs. While 50 seems like a lot, it can be, but it also means you can't go subbing everyone everywhere. When you can, you'll be best off making subs either via packages or depth chart unless it's just one that you can't get in there no other way (ie 3rd String QB at Wildcat). Today's tip of the day brought to you by Blue Coast Burrito.

[psusnoop]

OK cool to know about formation subs. I just got the game and I'm loving it. Only played one game but very very good.

Thanks for the heads up about the dynasty wire. Nice to see we can still see the upcoming schedule

[Solidice]

About formation subs... you're limited to 50 total subs per team. Meaning if you put your HB at FB in Shotgun - Split, that's one sub. If you put your HB at FB in Shotgun - Split Slot, that's two subs. While 50 seems like a lot, it can be, but it also means you can't go subbing everyone everywhere. When you can, you'll be best off making subs either via packages or depth chart unless it's just one that you can't get in there no other way (ie 3rd String QB at Wildcat). Today's tip of the day brought to you by Blue Coast Burrito.

50 seems like enough to me I think. I'll have to get the game and try it out to be sure. the main reason I liked Formations subs was to insert an 'athlete' in a few formations, and to order my special teams better, mostly kickoff team.

[Rudy]

50 seems like a lot. I still don't know where the package subs are in the demo.

[gschwendt]

50 seems like a lot. I still don't know where the package subs are in the demo.

At the formation selection screen, they're above the formation art and changed with the right stick. You can't change them at the play selection screen.

[Rudy]

That makes sense. I'm pretty sure I used to do that at the play selection screen in the past. No wonder I can't see it.

[gschwendt]

Just played an online matchup against psusnoop; me as Georgia Tech and him as Penn State. The good guys ultimately won 31-14 but it was fun chatting with him and since I've been playing for nearly two weeks longer, it's not to be unexpected.

A couple of notes, I had a lot of fun messing with him while I was running the triple option. There's several good fake out plays with the motion man confusing the HUM players especially. I think I ended up running for over 250 yards on the ground with only 2 of my 5 attempted passes completed.

Also, you can now see your opponents uniform changes online.

[Solidice]

Also, you can now see your opponents uniform changes online.

awesome

It'll come in handy in the ODs I'm in as TTU and Maryland as both have a lot of options.