Sliders: Recruiting Difficulty

[steelerfan]

I have always played the game on AA with Slider adjustments as needed to get as realistic statistics as possible. This year, before I got the game, I figured I'd probably have the Recruiting Difficulty set to AA as well. So to test things out, I've started a Dynasty in which I'm simming all the games and just doing recruiting and the like by hand.

I decided to start by testing things out with Penn State to see how difficult it would be to recruit with a team that is highly a rated program but isn't consistently in the National Championship picture. I've been shocked at the results so far and I will continue to update my results here. I'm hoping that some of you guys will add some input from your experiences so that we can get a good idea of how the different settings play out for Dynasty purposes.

[steelerfan]

I'll get things started by giving the results of the teams I play/sim with here.

Penn State
2010: Record 8-5 , 4-4 (won Gator Bowl), Class Rank 27 (didn't note specifics)
2011: Record 11-2, 7-1 (won Fiesta Bowl), Class Rank 87 (2 5*, 7 3*)
2012: Record 11-2, 6-2 (won Rose Bowl), Class Rank 36 (4 4*, 14 3*)

[Rudy]

I'm not going to start a dynasty until I get about 10-12 games in. I want to have a good feel for the game and the sliders I want to use first. But I'd love to hear how your recruiting is going with PSU. Do you think AA is hard enough? Anyone out there try Heisman difficulty yet? I have a feeling that the difference between Heisman and AA won't be as big for a big school as it will be for the smaller schools. On Heisman you can only change the topic a recruit brings up once. That's a much bigger penalty for a crappy school with limited positive things compared to a big program.

[jaymo76]

AA difficulty: Right now with Arizona St I am 9-1 and ranked #7 (bcs and coaches) and #8 by the media. I started at 56th!!! My first player I recruited (3 star) signed by the end of my first session and I thought this would be too easy. The next week I also had a four star sign so I was amazed how easy recruiting was. Well to make a long story short, since I have signed ONE other player and have a soft commit for a two star punter. I am currently ranked for 108th in recruiting. Bottom line, for ASU recruiting is EXTREMELY difficult. I have a ton of seniors this year and thay are not being replaced so next year I expect to see my team skill drop significantly.

The recruit against feature is great..... unless of course you are going up against BCS talent in which case your school will be weaker and you will not be able to recruit against. Right now I am only recruiting PIPLENE PLAYERS because of the bonus you get. Also, I am constantly clearing my board because I am down 1-2 thousand points after a few weeks if I don't recruit them for six topics.

I will say it though... I love recruiting this year as it's actually fun, but boy it sure takes a LONG time to do it properly each week. Now playing one game and recruiting will take me almost TWO hours... needless to say my wife is NOT impressed

[steelerfan]

Yeah, so far I'm finding AA recruiting to be very difficult. I'm seeing that if you lose out on a guy at midseason you'll be so far behind that it's next to impossible to rebound and put an equal caliber player back on your board. At the end of season 2, I only had two 3* players signed and was #117! I've made some headway in the offseason, but this is looking to be a painfully craptastic class for PSU. I was shocked enough to be #27 in season 1.

The main thing I'm noticing is that you have to know when to "cut-bait". When a recruit says he's narrowed it to 3, 5 or 8 schools he means it! You can talk till you're blue in the face but you won't weasel your way onto his short list.

My best advice so far is to forget what you know about recruiting. Gone are the days of hopping on top talent late in the year. If a player says "Top 3" and you're #4, move on.

[steelerfan]

Yeah, umm...wow! #87 in year 2. I have a lotta work to do to figure out the new brand of recruiting.

[Rudy]

Wow. That's great news about how hard recruiting is. I love the fact you really have to maximize your efforts and focus on players you can get which means more 3* players, even for top notch programs.

[jaymo76]

Finished my first season... MY RECRUITING RANK WAS #86. I had zero fives and only three fours and a handful of twos. Plus, I only had one out of pipeline player. Toughest recruiting year ever!

[steelerfan]

I'm thinking that most people will want to use a lower difficulty than AA in single player Dynasties. After 3 years, PSU's roster has been decimated. For those who haven't done a "dry run" with recruiting, I'd suggest you do so. It's an eye opener!

[jaymo76]

I have changed my philosophy. 12 PLAYERS MAX on my board... most pipeline and 3 or 4 stars. I am also looking for insatant commits. If they have you at #1 preseason they are pretty much an instant commit if you offer a scholy.

[steelerfan]

I haven't had a lot of luck with instant commits. About 15% (without knowing the actual numbers) seems to be what I get. I'm filling my board with guys who have me high on their list, not just on it.

[jaymo76]

So in year two my SunDevils are ranked #1 after 7 games yet I am ranked 118 in recruiting... maybe AA is too tough???

[Rudy]

So in year two my SunDevils are ranked #1 after 7 games yet I am ranked 118 in recruiting... maybe AA is too tough???

Maybe your kung fu is weak.

[jaymo76]

Maybe your kung fu is weak.

Maybe lol

[morsdraconis]

Screw Heisman recruiting.

With WVU, I'm absolutely KILLING recruiting each week (getting 350+ points per week) have them come to a rivalry game and get an A- visit and STILL I'm 4th on his list and lost ground on the three schools in front of me. That's just retarded...

[AustinWolv]

Not if you don't have the items he is looking for, perhaps.

[morsdraconis]

Not if you don't have the items he is looking for, perhaps.

I most certainly did. I had B+ or better on all of his high+ interests. The computer just straight cheated. There's no damn way that the CPU should be MORE ahead of me after an A- visit.

[AustinWolv]

Did he visit the other schools? What if those schools had A or A+ visits and/or they had A and higher ratings in his very high interests?

[steelerfan]

Did he visit the other schools? What if those schools had A or A+ visits and/or they had A and higher ratings in his very high interests?

I think mors specifically means he lost ground (the week of his visit) despite havind a great phone call and an A- visit.

[morsdraconis]

I think mors specifically means he lost ground (the week of his visit) despite havind a great phone call and an A- visit.

Exactly. And it wasn't just ONE great phone call. I had been killing on the phone with the guy the whole time. Never below 300 and one of them was 600 something and then I had an A- visit at a rivalry game where WVU blew out Maryland and I was still 4th. I mean, jesus christ, what do you have to do!? I'm just supposed to give up on the guy? That's bullshit.