I'm legit taking lessons on FOF7

[Nemesis]

Hit me up, cuz I have no fucking clue how to win in this game. What type of players does it take to do what, ect? Cuz the game doesn't make sense to me.

For those who think I'm posting this jokingly, I'm not.. I'm serious.

[Aston]

I kind of haven't changed very much. Nowadays, I value BPR a lot less. I like my WRs to have RR and GD. The OL, I value run blockers more, because they seem necessary. The OL as a whole seems pretty important.

Gameplan wise, I take different approaches because I feel that

a) Passing frequently no longer gets penalized to the same extent. Or at least, if it does, it can still be better than balanced -- run game could be a disaster.

b) Passing long does not pay. It's risk/reward, so of course you should (and have to) do it sometimes, but just moving the chains is nice.

This has been "tips for how to play from your friendly neighborhood 5-6 GM".

[Guest]

A QB.

[Sharkn20]

Stud RB and, strong OL and hugh pass rush, I think Camden got it very quick in how to win in FOF7, we try to do the same, but unfortunately there is not very good OLs falling to the bottom of the 1st round or in the Free Agency, so we´re in the middle of nowhere fighting every year with -3 points initially against the big fishes out there!

[Guest]

I gotta agree with Shark that O-Line is key. I focused on drafting O-line a season or two before the new version of the game came out and I think it has really helped us. The run game is much more important in FOF7 than it was in the previous version.

[IrishGuy65]

I think there are many different ways to win. Look at different teams in different leagues.

On offense, some use the run, some use the pass, both use a mix, generally more run than pass. But, again, I think teams won with different types of offenses.

On defense, I've basically seen two major types of defense. The Tampa Two style, where you focus on the run early, playing mostly zone defense, then mix it up a little on 2nd and more on 3rd, using more zone or man/zone than anything else. And a pass focused defense, often playing nickel/dime a majority of the time.

These are the basic strategies I've seen used. I think, strategically, there are two things you need to think about. First is what you presently have. You need to gameplan based on your roster. Second is what your ultimate goal for offense and defense is, and draft, trade, and sign FAs based on this offensive or defensive scheme you have in mind.

Stelmack has a utility called Game Plan Analyzer. You can run this in any league you are in and look at the game plan of a certain team. In this league, watching perennial playoff teams year after year will give you different ideas and maybe help hone your gameplanning skills. Remember that the biggest key is playing within your players' abilities. Having a great running back and throwing the ball 70% of the time is bad, just like having no O-line or RB and running 70% of the time. Same with defense.. playing a zone style defense with man to man CBs is going to cause you some pain.

Finally, TEST! In different leagues, test different things. Move the numbers around in the base gameplan. Change coverage styles or where you run or pass the ball. And play single player, testing different strategies and see which ones work best. IMO, you have to put a lot of effort in, both studying and testing, to become a good FOF GM. Although, there are a few people who either lucked into a foolproof gameplan or found a long time great GM who basically gave away gameplans and explained things. I suggest you put the effort in yourself. Others can tell you all kinds of stuff, but unless you are getting specific gameplans along with strategy advice on roster building for those gameplans, you will need to do it yourself.

[Nemesis]

There's literally nothing I haven't tested in this game. I'll rephrase that, there's nothing that I haven't tested in this game that you can reasonably test without jumping through 8 million hoops.

Every single thing that I have tested proved to work well in SP. The moment I transport it to MP, the whole thing flips. SP and MP aren't that much different, testing in SP, I didn't do any of the "gaming the system" type things that were done in FOF2k7 gameplans. My shit worked well in SP, the moment I bring a relatively balanced GP into MP, my running game goes from 5+ ypc to under 3.1 ypc Everywhere, so I scratched running the ball 50% of the time (like that should fucking matter). I run the ball a bit less, and my RB here fucking sucks. My RB in CCFL, fucking sucks, my RB in CYFL, fucking sucks, my RB's fucking suck everywhere, and it's not like I'm loading up with a mega pass blocking line that can't run. Look at my OL here, pretty much run oriented guys, and we still can't fucking run.

The part that pisses me off the most is that I do put a fuckton of effort into it, know alot of the why's and why nots, but literally NOTHING translates to MP play. I mean, I know stupid shit like when the game adjustments kick in in the 2nd half at where the "how many scores down" level. I know these things, and it just doesn't fuckin matter.

[Aston]

To some extent you just have to sit back and play the game. You can't dominate every season only by knowing the ins and outs. Every team will get their day ... and also their comeuppance.

Firefly in the CFL is probably the best GM this game has ever known, but his string of 20-something playoff seasons has come to a crashing end of late. My "day" is coming soon probably, unless I can get some really sweet drafts and find a new QB in the coming years.

You can "know how things work" (or have a good guess) and "know how to draft players" and "have a good management plan" but sometimes, for this or that or a combination of reasons, it's just another team's time in the sun and not your own.

I've had a hell of a time getting a running game going myself. Vinny Stewart was such a FA coup for us at the time with the deal he signed ... but in the last year of his 4 year contract, I'm not sure he's earned that $16M paycheck in any of those years. I feel it's my line, personally. Pretty solid, have gotten better over the years, but largely nothing to write home about. But I don't know.

Either way, we find ourselves often having to rely on our raw, struggling QB to try to put up yards and points. It's scary, but them's the breaks. You go into the season and have to adjust the best you can to how things are going.

Anyway, that's football and that's FOF. In a lot of ways, it's what I have wanted for this game. You put your best foot forward but it doesn't guarantee all that much, and at the end of the day, you say "Good game" and carry on.

[IrishGuy65]

There's more to testing than just trying something to see if it works. In SP, it's easy because the AI isn't nearly as advanced as real humans are. So, when testing in SP, you can't test if something works, you have to test HOW WELL it works. There's a big difference. And, unfortunately, 8 million hoops is what it may take.

Also, what you know about how the game works doesn't necessarily translate into how to gameplan and how to win.

Not only do you need to test a lot, but you also need to test properly. If you can't do well in SP, then you won't do well in MP. If you do OK in SP, you probably won't do well in MP. Etc. etc. You have to find what works better than everything else. You also have to, again, adapt to your players. Or, make major adjustments to adapt your team to your schemes.

I personally start an SP league, save it, then put in a game plan on offense and defense and run the season to see how I do. I do this many times to get an idea of how well it works. I also have injuries off, which adds consistency. Then, if I want to test for offense, I put in the offense I want and do it all again, then compare it to the baseline I had from the first set of runs. Keep the same defense, which also adds consistency. You can also use a gameplan and try different players in it and see how they change the results. Maybe some guys work better than others, even if their ratings are lower or bars aren't as good or whatever. Until you do the proper testing, you'll never know.

Again, and I can't stress this enough... use gameplan analyzer. I know you are in many leagues. Check the teams that do well year after year. See how they change their gameplans over the years to adapt to their players. See what kind of players they have. See how it all fits together. The best way to learn is look what others who have consistent success do, then test it yourself and see how you do with that. I did this for FOF2k7 a lot, and I came up with a defense no one else used or thought to use, that worked for me in many leagues for many years. I was almost always in the top 10 defenses, no matter how bad the team or offense was. That defense isn't as effective in FOF7, and I haven't been able to replace that yet, because I haven't had the time to test as much as I actually need to.

Anyway, you always have people telling you things. Like, last season, after garion beat me in the playoffs, he told me I should throw more long passes. I didn't test it, and changed my offense this season to include more long passing. I'm 5-6, after being 12-4. I should have tested first. Don't ignore advice, but test it. Gameplan Analyzer, and testing. No specific advice is going to necessarily work for you, unless it includes gameplans AND roster building to support the gameplans. You really, ultimately, have to do the work yourself. And, you have to test properly, not just randomly.

[Sharkn20]

And then there is also the world-wide known "The Garion's factor"... If something can be wrong during the season it will go 100% of the times.

I would send you the gameplans that I use for my teams if you want and explain to you what kind of players I search for in draft / FA. Then you can adjust them based on your personal preferences. I don't mind :)

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

[Aston]

There are a lot of different approaches that different people will absolutely swear by. Think it's best for the soul to take it all a little less seriously.

Although, it's always good to see the exchange of advice. Remember, everyone is genuinely trying to be helpful, and just chitchatting about their thoughts and observations. Thanks to everyone who has something to offer.

Just keep putting your best effort forward -- adapt over time as needed -- and enjoy the ride.

[Guest]

I feel the same way Nemesis does in this version. Despite some injuries I can't believe my team is 5-6 and I can't believe we just got shut out 6-0 even if we are about to go on our third starting center this season.

[Guest]

There's literally nothing I haven't tested in this game. I'll rephrase that, there's nothing that I haven't tested in this game that you can reasonably test without jumping through 8 million hoops...

I don't know if this will help you or not...

Because this is the only MP league that I am in, I did a full SP draft and tried to draft an entire roster with the same skill sets (bars) as my OSFL team. I think that this helps get more accurate results when gameplan testing.

[Guest]

...The OL as a whole seems pretty important...

I guess in my first post I ignored what Aston said. I think most people agree that O-Line is much more important.

A QB.

This would be optimal but it seems that there have been very few actual franchise QBs in our FOF7 OSFL drafts so far. Maybe someone else can comment if this is common on FOF7 since I don't know since I am not in other leagues...

That being said I think that you can build a strong team around a slightly above-average QB and have success.

[sawblade300]

There's literally nothing I haven't tested in this game. I'll rephrase that, there's nothing that I haven't tested in this game that you can reasonably test without jumping through 8 million hoops.

Every single thing that I have tested proved to work well in SP. The moment I transport it to MP, the whole thing flips. SP and MP aren't that much different, testing in SP, I didn't do any of the "gaming the system" type things that were done in FOF2k7 gameplans. My shit worked well in SP, the moment I bring a relatively balanced GP into MP, my running game goes from 5+ ypc to under 3.1 ypc Everywhere, so I scratched running the ball 50% of the time (like that should fucking matter). I run the ball a bit less, and my RB here fucking sucks. My RB in CCFL, fucking sucks, my RB in CYFL, fucking sucks, my RB's fucking suck everywhere, and it's not like I'm loading up with a mega pass blocking line that can't run. Look at my OL here, pretty much run oriented guys, and we still can't fucking run.

The part that pisses me off the most is that I do put a fuckton of effort into it, know alot of the why's and why nots, but literally NOTHING translates to MP play. I mean, I know stupid shit like when the game adjustments kick in in the 2nd half at where the "how many scores down" level. I know these things, and it just doesn't fuckin matter.

I'm right there with ya man. I've put together some good teams in my leagues and I can't win shit.