They are things to think about for potential future rule changes, but why they are the way they are now...RebelFan wrote:One interesting thing to look at on that 49 yard play by the RB, is whether he should actually get it in the sim with such a dramatic disadvantage in the trenches.
Another thing I think we should take a look at is removing the .15 cap on grade disadvantages so that the full difference in opposing units can be realized in the sim.
Ie - 7.8 F7 vs. 5.6 oline would get .22 advantage rather than .15 max.
Not sure if that has ever been discussed before but I'm for it.
- We didn't have big plays originally. That data wasn't part of the update. It was just pure averages for a couple seasons. Then we added the big play data. We didn't adjust the big play figure for grades because it was felt it reflected bringing in the individual talent to some degree (which was why we added it). Maybe Adrian Peterson is on a team with mediocre talent around him (or some youngster with game breaking speed), but if they make a big play in reality it's likely due to their INDIVIDUAL game breaking ability. We don't want to be grades are the only thing that matters. Individual talent matters too. If you have an elite game breaker, you don't lose his speed just because he's on a bad team. Adrian Peterson's on a bad team. If he breaks a TD run for 80 yards in reality, we don't say our sim team can't have that if they have bad grades. His team has bad grades in reality too. He has the individual big play talent to bust loose so we respect that individual talent. Grades matter a lot in this game, but we give individuals their play making ability also, for at least that one play a game we have data for longest play.
- We cap the maximum advantages for both rushing and passing because of the extreme nature of our teams and the aim to have realistic outcomes. We tend to have teams loaded up to win now with huge grades and the other extreme of teams with horrible grades trying to tank it. We don't want unrealistic 120-0 scores, which could happen if we don't cap things. The idea is it's capped high enough so that grades really matter to the outcome (as I think they do), but also don't push it too far to super unrealistic proportions of scores and individual stats to where it's silly stats super inflated by grade advantages pushing individually far far far beyond their real stats. We want to keep them somewhat AROUND their real stats within some bump up or down based upon different sim supporting casts, but not so much that the grades matter more than real results. We want a mix of both mattering. If it wasn't capped then any team with great grades could NEVER have any bad games ever. That's unrealistic also, even if desired by teams with good grades. Individual performances from week to week matter also by design. Poor play can't be totally overcome by just buying great grades. They can help or hurt some, but real performance is key. That's why it's part simulation and part fantasy (fanulation). It's not ignore real performance and we'll simulate a completely different outcome totally independently. We want reality. What we see in the NFL we want to see here. If a player struggles badly in NFL, we want them to struggle here to some degree (plus or minus some range based upon supporting staff difference). We want that unpredictability of real life performance mattering from week to week, not that the season is predetermined before the NFL games start based upon who has the best grades. I hate that about the baseball sim leagues I'm in with their pre-season projections everything's based on ahead of time, and set out to have reality matter in the simulation here as a season develops with it's real happenings mattering. An unexpected player emerges and it matters. A former stud stinks it up in reality and it matters. Reality matters and keeps everyone in the game even if they didn't think they'd have the best team to start the year because things happen. Even rebuilding teams can sometimes jump into the playoff picture unexpectedly if a rookie emerges as an elite talent. Andrew Luck takes a 2-win team to the playoff the next year in reality too. Real individual talent emerging needs to matter here too by design, not just the grades before the season starts.
Overall, those things are there for balance. To have some alternative environment (different roster grades) and some real individual result both mattering. To have some checks to maintain that desired realism. There aren't 95-0 NFL games. I don't think we want a handful of QBs throwing 100% of their passes each week because we don't cap how much we can increase their percentage. I don't think we want Adrian Peterson rushing for 2 or 3 times his real numbers going for an insane 4,000 yards and 10+ yards every carry for an entire year if his sim team happens to built the best sim line ever. We don't want silly space outcomes. We don't want to be an arcade game. We want to be fairly real, as if we were in NFL front offices for real with realistic outcomes. We want things that look like the NFL we see each Sunday. Our teams are more extreme between the good and the bad, but there are the haves/havenots in NFL also. We'll be a little more extreme, but don't want to be a lot. We want to be realistic more than anything.