"Coach Mode" Xbox 360 OD anyone?

Great feedback guys, again this is a democracy and not a dictatorship so everyone here has a say. I may have started the thread but by no means am I the final or only say on anything. I will have access to a computer pretty much day and night all hours so it'll be easy for me to advance whenever necessary either from the console or online since that is an option now.

Welcome HawkFan, I'm sure the Lobos fortunes are looking up with you on board.

As far as advancement goes, I agree we want to move as fast as we can but not a breakneck pace that leaves anyone feeling hurried. I'm hoping the excitement of things will keep us going pretty good for quite some time and then that momentum will just keep on going once we get some history behind us.

HC or OC or DC is certainly fine, whatever you guys want to start as I'm good with that.

Man I can't wait for the 12th.

:dunno: Aww shucks... I don't want to pass up the opportunity to play in a active and well run Coach Mode Online Dynasty so I want to cover myself for the possibility that nobody replies to my thread and I cannot get my league going. With yours only having two more spots left I feel I should at least sign up and reserve a spot now, pick my team, and then I'll decide whether or not I'm in for sure the closer it gets to release. If others start to view this forum more and sign up in my thread I'll back out but if not (and it's not looking good at the moment) I'll be in this one. Don't take this unsureness as a concern because if I'm in I'll be one of the most active members and you won't have any problems with me. I can guarantee you that+.

Red = Taken
Blue = Reserved
Team | OVR | OFF | DEF | SPT | Conference

Is Cody even playing and what team? He has one post (total) and never came back... I think you might have 3 open spots to fill actually.

Also who is SmoothPancakes taking for sure?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SmoothPancakes

Alright, I've decided and I'll go ahead and join. I'm not sure yet who my team is going to be. I've got it down to between going with the "local" (as in located in Ohio) team in Kent State, or going the rivalry route and pairing up against natcret and taking Florida International.

---

I don't want to deter anyone else from joining because I picked their team so I made a list as I don't really have a preference and can't decide.

I'de like to reserve;

1a. Tulane
1b. UAB
3. Arkansas State
4. San Jose State (Become the next Bill Walsh?)
5. Utah State

I would've liked to been able to choose a team where I'm in my own conference but that's okay the only two Wash. St. and New Mexico are really not interesting enough to me anyways and I don't like army's offense style.

I think we all want this to fill up with 12 teams so I'm trying to be respectful to other potential members since I'm just reserving a spot and not making it official as of yet, more than likely I will though. I guess if it comes down to it though there's really no reason why I can't be in two Coach Mode Dynasties. As long as I'm active and I will be.

What do you guys think about an Alma Mater Restriction? Instead of everybody just picking a :6star: school to get a edge and ultimately end up there we could set restrictions on which teams you can pick for your Alma Mater so it's harder for you to actually get that dream job offer at the top elite schools. Personally I think a :4star: and under Alma Mater would work. The Alma Mater should be like a stepping stone. Like going from a :1star: beginner school to your second job then potentially to your Alma Mater. Do good with your Alma Mater team and the :5star: and :6star: teams might notice and offer you a job. Just throwing this out there. More then likely nobody will agree with me, what's new? ;)

Well, my Alma Mater is gonna be WVU so my team choice is a :4star: already.

I figured I would just have my real alma mater as my alma mater.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SmoothPancakes

Alright, I've decided and I'll go ahead and join. I'm not sure yet who my team is going to be. I've got it down to between going with the "local" (as in located in Ohio) team in Kent State, or going the rivalry route and pairing up against natcret and taking Florida International.

---

:FAU: vs :FIU:

Florida showdown!

Assuming nothing changes in the rankings once the game is released, here is a quick breakdon of the 120 schools to add to the conversation:

:6star: - 10 schools
:5star: - 11 schools
:4star: - 14 schools
:3star: - 32 schools
:2star: - 31 schools
:1star: - 22 Schools

Maybe we could decide based on the numbers above. For example:

Season 1: coord position based on what is planned :1star:
Season 2: new coord position :2star:
Season 3: HC position :3star:
Season 4: Coord position :4star:, :5star:, and :6star: combined
Season 5: HC position :4star:, :5star:, and :6star: combined


I also have a question related to coach mode in general: do the AI schools figure into the mix in terms of the league? If so, do their rankings increase or decrease over time which could affect how a school is chosen when moving up to anther position? The reason I ask this is that you might be coaching a two star team that you want to stay with because they are actually getting better. Do I have to accept a new position or keep working with my team? I am also assuming that lower-tierd teams will always stay lower-tiered due to how the game lloks at the powerhouse programs...or does it?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by natcret

Assuming nothing changes in the rankings once the game is released, here is a quick breakdon of the 120 schools to add to the conversation:

:6star: - 10 schools
:5star: - 11 schools
:4star: - 14 schools
:3star: - 32 schools
:2star: - 31 schools
:1star: - 22 Schools

Maybe we could decide based on the numbers above. For example:

Season 1: coord position based on what is planned :1star:
Season 2: new coord position :2star:
Season 3: HC position :3star:
Season 4: Coord position :4star:, :5star:, and :6star: combined
Season 5: HC position :4star:, :5star:, and :6star: combined


I also have a question related to coach mode in general: do the AI schools figure into the mix in terms of the league? If so, do their rankings increase or decrease over time which could affect how a school is chosen when moving up to anther position? The reason I ask this is that you might be coaching a two star team that you want to stay with because they are actually getting better. Do I have to accept a new position or keep working with my team? I am also assuming that lower-tierd teams will always stay lower-tiered due to how the game lloks at the powerhouse programs...or does it?

---

Do AI schools figure into the mix? Unless you mean the Art Institute schools then yes they do. :p
Do their rankings increase and decrease? I can't remember if a school's prestige star rating changed on NCAA Football 11's online dynasties or not but if they do in 12 I would imagine we would still go by the +:2star: increase if you don't change position or +:1star: if you did rule. If your school raises it's prestige I think it should go by what it was when you got there, so if you raise a :1star: school to a :2star: school you still can only go up 2 stars to :3star: not to :4star:.
Do you have to accept a new position or keep working with my team? No, you can stay at your school as long as they keep offering you a contract extension. If you want to play as FAU forever you could or if you wanted to jump to a :4star: school and you like it there you don't have to ever leave assuming you can meet your goals and they don't fire your ass :p
Low-tiered teams always stay lower-tiered? Pretty much, if they do change which i don't know if they do, it would only probably be a star or two at best.

As for the season 1-5 thing I'de rather not have restrictions other than the +:2star:/+:1star: thing we already got. I think if you are offered a job you should be able to take it but know there are repercussions if you constantly leave and jump from school to school, coach loyalty rating for recruiting and what not.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by morsdraconis

Well, my Alma Mater is gonna be WVU so my team choice is a :4star: already.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JBHuskers

I figured I would just have my real alma mater as my alma mater.

---

So your saying you would be fine with that or no you don't want that? I'm just fearing if we all choose :6star: teams as our Alma Mater that it'll be too easy to go up the ranks but if we are restricted from choosing the top elite tier teams then it would make getting a job offer from them rarer and honestly that's how it should be. You should really have to shine with a 3 or 4 star team to get an offer to coach the big boys.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cipher 8

As for the season 1-5 thing I'de rather not have restrictions. I think if you are offered a job you should be able to take it but know there are repercussions if you constantly leave and jump from school to school, coach loyalty rating for recruiting and what not.

---

The restrictions are simple:

Start as a :1star: school (coordinator or head coach, doesn't matter) and not be able to jump anymore than :2star: s at a time each season, no matter who offers you what. It's HIGHLY unrealistic for a head coach from a crappy school that has a one hit wonder season to immediately jump to even a BCS middle team, much less have the ability to get offers from anywhere and be able to jump to that school.

As for the stars of the school factoring into the ability to jump from a school, the starting prestige ranking of the school (so, for us, :1star: ) should be the only factor and no additional prestige garnered from doing well should factor into the process of moving to another school. I don't give a shit if I make Army a :3star: school, if I decide to jump ship, it should be to a :3star: school based on what Army's prestige rating was when I took them over and not on the fact that I was able to take advantage of shitty schedules to luck my way into two 7-6 seasons and two bowl games against shitty schools. No coach that barely makes it into a bowl game two years in a row but pulls off two wins against shitty schools is gonna get an offer from an elite :5star: school. That just doesn't make any sense at any level.

As for limiting the choices of the Alma Mater, absolutely not. I completely disagree with limiting Alma Mater choices. Just because you have a team as your Alma Mater doesn't mean that you're going to automatically get that spot when it opens up or that you're going to get it anytime soon. A :6star: prestige team has to be on a major downswing for them to fire their coach to begin with, which, most likely means that they aren't a :6star: prestige team anymore. Limiting Alma Mater choices is just silly in my opinion. They're Alma Mater choices to help you have a prayer of getting the job. It doesn't mean that you're going to automatically get it when it becomes open. Hell, you might not even have a chance at the HC job if the team continues to do well and never fires their coach. You might have to wait and only get the OC or DC job there instead of getting the HC job.

As for the prestige of schools, they absolutely change and can have pretty drastic changes with some luck with recruits and such.

I like everything said here. I know I want my alma mater to be Iowa but I will guarantee you that I will never be Iowa. It frustrates me to no end to play as them on this game and it takes all the fun out of it. I do think with the game getting so close to being released get a list of rules in a nice format to post here or even possibly in a new thread to make it easy to navigate for everyone. Maybe we can start a new thread or even get a spot in the donater dynasty section, hell I would be willing to chip in to get us a forum there.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by morsdraconis

The restrictions are simple:

---

Calm down... I know the restrictions but he was implying

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by natcret

Maybe we could decide based on the numbers above. For example:

Season 1: coord position based on what is planned :1star:
Season 2: new coord position :2star:
Season 3: HC position :3star:
Season 4: Coord position :4star:, :5star:, and :6star: combined
Season 5: HC position :4star:, :5star:, and :6star: combined

---

Which is what I was replying to there...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cipher 8

As for the season 1-5 thing I'de rather not have restrictions other than the +:2star:/+:1star: thing we already got. I think if you are offered a job you should be able to take it but know there are repercussions if you constantly leave and jump from school to school, coach loyalty rating for recruiting and what not.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by morsdraconis

As for limiting the choices of the Alma Mater, absolutely not. I completely disagree with limiting Alma Mater choices.

---

I don't know what you have against my ideas but whatever...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by morsdraconis

Just because you have a team as your Alma Mater doesn't mean that you're going to automatically get that spot when it opens up or that you're going to get it anytime soon.

---

Choosing a school as your Alma Mater does have an big impact though. It's already been said that if you choose that school at some point their likely to offer you a job if it's open, they weight things such as one of their own over just your coach prestige rating. You saw NC State hire their offensive coord. or whatever over the other more prestigious out of school coaches they could choose from.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by morsdraconis

A :6star: prestige team has to be on a major downswing for them to fire their coach to begin with, which, most likely means that they aren't a :6star: prestige team anymore.

---

Not really... All they have to do is fail to meat certain goals with :3redarrow:/:4redarrow:/:5redarrow: and it can happen pretty quickly. Not every team can meet their goals.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by morsdraconis

Limiting Alma Mater choices is just silly in my opinion. They're Alma Mater choices to help you have a prayer of getting the job. It doesn't mean that you're going to automatically get it when it becomes open. Hell, you might not even have a chance at the HC job if the team continues to do well and never fires their coach. You might have to wait and only get the OC or DC job there instead of getting the HC job.

---

If you don't want the challenge then fine lets not do it but I only suggested it as it'll be more challenging to get to those elite schools if your unable to make them your Alma Mater. Period. That was my thought process behind it.

I realize some people will want to choose their actual Alma Mater like JBHuskers said and any restrictions could affect that but I'de guess that most of us haven't gone to a college with DIV-1A football that's that prestigious so for the rest of us we'll just select any school, probably the best ones, or their favorite school.

I really don't see any difference in having this restrictions/guidelines. It's not different than the +:2star:/+:1star: rule which if you really want to get down to it is more restricting than anything I've suggested.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cipher 8

I don't know what you have against my ideas but whatever...

---

I have nothing against you personally man. I just disagree with limiting Alma Maters as what's the point of playing in a dynasty if you can't have a goal of being the team that you absolutely want to be?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cipher 8

Choosing a school as your Alma Mater does have an big impact though. It's already been said that if you choose that school at some point their likely to offer you a job if it's open, they weight things such as one of their own over just your coach prestige rating. You saw NC State hire their offensive coord. or whatever over the other more prestigious out of school coaches they could choose from.

---

Alma Mater isn't a guarantee that you're going to get a job at the school you choose, but so what if it is? We want the ability to get to the big programs and be able to be there right? So what if someone chooses Alabama as their Alma Mater so that they have a chance to go to Alabama and be cheesy as hell with their ridiculous ability to get recruits easily? You theoretically have the exact same amount of ability to get to that school or one just as good as they do if you're truly worried about it. It's been said that it's a factor in a team choosing it's coaches and, sure, if could be the deciding factor between someone with the team as an Alma Mater and someone without them, but it's certainly not the only thing that the teams use to determine who goes where.

What would be the point of playing if we can't choose what school is our dream job? Personally, I wouldn't care if WVU was a :2star: school, they'd still be my dream job because they're my team, and I would want to play with them down the road after taking my lashes somewhere else. Not giving someone the ability to choose what school is their dream job is going to limit the amount of interest that person might have in this dynasty, and that's the last thing we want. With my eye on the ability to possibly be the HC at WVU sometime down the road, I'm that much more interested in this dynasty and, once I get the job, I'll be that much more committed to making this dynasty the best I can make it. That's the beauty of the Alma Mater setup. It's the carrot on the stick. It's the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It's what ever coach in real life is striving to achieve.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cipher 8

Not really... All they have to do is fail to meet certain goals with :3redarrow:/:4redarrow:/:5redarrow: and it can happen pretty quickly. Not every team can meet their goals.

---

But, in doing that, you're most likely losing 2+ games in a year and, since it's highly unlikely that a :6star: team isn't going to have aspirations of National Championships, at the very most 1 loss seasons, and Conference Championships (if applicable). In a season where you don't meet some of the contract requirements for your job, it's highly unlikely that you'll still be going undefeated or meeting the normal school aspirations of a :6star: program and thus, the likelihood of staying at the :6star: prestige level isn't very high if you are doing bad enough to get fired.

I would be very interested to see some simmed seasons showing contracts of coaches on the hot seat that don't get fired because they haven't failed enough and seeing what happened to the school's prestige level the following year. I'd be willing to beat the number of :5star: and :6star: prestige teams fluctuates more than you think it does because of "failure" seasons by not winning a National Championship or, at the very least, a Conference Championship.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cipher 8

If you don't want the challenge then fine lets not do it but I only suggested it as it'll be more challenging to get to those elite schools if your unable to make them your Alma Mater. Period. That was my thought process behind it.

---

I'm curious to know why you think it should be more challenging to get to the jobs that we covet? As I pointed out earlier, we'll be lucky to finish season 4 of this even at a normal OD rate (3 games every two weeks), so, really, why do you feel that it should be made even more difficult to get to the programs that we want to work our way up to? It's already highly unlikely that anyone will get to their Alma Mater before the start of season 3. If this was a dynasty that was able to knock out 5 games in two weeks (pretty damn fast) on a consistent basis, so that we had a chance at 6+ seasons in this dynasty, I'd be all for making it more difficult to get to the big programs and making the program climb take longer, but, that's highly unlikely considering Coach Mode is really for those people that have more things on their plate than just video games and such.

Believe me, I plan on doing a coach carousel dynasty where, like Smooth was talking about before, I'll be lucky to sniff my first coaching job by season 6 much less a good job by season 10. I'm all for it taking a realistic amount of time to progress to other schools from another job and such, but, I also have to be realistic when it comes to the goals that we all seem to want for this OD to be interesting and I think that means not making it take 5+ years to even have a chance at sniffing our dream jobs, much less making it even harder to land them by forcing some people to choose an Alma Mater that isn't a power school.

I get your side of it now and I can understand that

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by morsdraconis

I'm curious to know why you think it should be more challenging to get to the jobs that we covet?

---

What I meant by challenge is less likely to get the job offer. If you pick an Alma Mater it's more likely they'll choose you if you have the credentials to even be considered in the first place.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by morsdraconis

As I pointed out earlier, we'll be lucky to finish season 4 of this even at a normal OD rate (3 games every two weeks), so, really, why do you feel that it should be made even more difficult to get to the programs that we want to work our way up to? It's already highly unlikely that anyone will get to their Alma Mater before the start of season 3. If this was a dynasty that was able to knock out 5 games in two weeks (pretty damn fast) on a consistent basis, so that we had a chance at 6+ seasons in this dynasty,

---

I'm curious as to why you believe we won't even get that far in this dynasty? I was under the notion this was going to be active and well run?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by morsdraconis

I'd be all for making it more difficult to get to the big programs and making the program climb take longer, but, that's highly unlikely considering Coach Mode is really for those people that have more things on their plate than just video games and such.

---

I disagree. While some of those people may be attracted to this mode I still think a lot of gamers will be attracted to it for the strategy elements and just layback enjoyment of it. Watch a game play out. There's a lot of tactical/strategic gamers out there that want nothing to do with the quick twitch games that young adults and teens usually covet. Personally, those are the games, and in this case game modes, that I look for. I love recruiting and that's why I play NCAA not because the gameplay is great. I like the team management side of it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by morsdraconis

Believe me, I plan on doing a coach carousel dynasty where, like Smooth was talking about before, I'll be lucky to sniff my first coaching job by season 6 much less a good job by season 10. I'm all for it taking a realistic amount of time to progress to other schools from another job and such, but, I also have to be realistic when it comes to the goals that we all seem to want for this OD to be interesting and I think that means not making it take 5+ years to even have a chance at sniffing our dream jobs, much less making it even harder to land them by forcing some people to choose an Alma Mater that isn't a power school.

---

Yeah I guess it makes sense but I really hope the member in this don't have the attitude you're describing here. Not your own attitude but the whole, I don't plan to do this for 5+ seasons view. I hope we can make this a active and long lasting dynasty. Otherwise I simply will start one that is and be more selective on who I allow in.

Guys, let's just take a breather here. We have a lot of time to gather ideas and hash things out.
It's a week away from release now and really the main thing for us to focus on now is our first team and the rules by which we play this first season. We can discuss all the movement rules and such as we go. They don't have to be set in stone right off the bat.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Coach Kernzy

Guys, let's just take a breather here. We have a lot of time to gather ideas and hash things out.
It's a week away from release now and really the main thing for us to focus on now is our first team and the rules by which we play this first season. We can discuss all the movement rules and such as we go. They don't have to be set in stone right off the bat.

---

Yeah we're cool we're just discussing it, to be honest it helps pass the time, at least for me. I wish I had the game already and it sucks having traded in last years game for Brink of all games. -_- I'm still trying to decide if I want to play as Tulane or Arkansas State. I'm starting to lean towards Arkansas State but I know little about them. Where is gschwendt when you need him ;)

Here's where we sit on owners and teams as of now.

North Texas - AustinWolv
Army - morsdraconis
Idaho - NavyKnight
Western Michigan - Coach Kernzy
FAU - natcret
? - Cody
Memphis - Underdog
Washington St - JBHuskers
FIU - SmoothPancakes
New Mexico - HawkFan

Not sure about Cody, haven't heard anything more on him so who knows there.

I say PM cody and see what's going on there but I would like to reserve Arkansas State/Tulane and I'll try to decide in the next couple of days, before the league starts for sure. I'm guessing that's okay since SmoothPancakes did the same thing.

Sure