PLEASE READ: SIM COMPLETE- NEXT SIM TUESDAY-MIDWEEK SIM- EXHIBITION WEEK 2

[SoobieTech]

The voters have spoken!

I always loved that one.

[Lintyfresh85]

still got 5 votes left on the table... this thing could still go anyway!

[Cotton]

It's not about whether you like preseason or not. It's about not being able to make a move during preseason without the CPU rearranging your lineup and putting all your starters back in.

I don't like cooking and grocery shopping but I like to eat. I don't like buying gas but I like to drive. Unfortunately, unless you're a child, one comes with the other.

[liquidcrash]

I voted no for the reasons listed by others, but its not a huge deal to me either way. My main focus during the preseason will be trying to find a gameplan that's going to be effective, and I will be able to tinker with that whether we have midweek sims or not. The way my team has played so far in this league, it can't hurt to have more time to get everything straight before the season starts.

[aholbert]

It's not about whether you like preseason or not. It's about not being able to make a move during preseason without the CPU rearranging your lineup and putting all your starters back in.

I dont get how that is going to be an issue. For example, lets say a WR gets injured on Thursday's sim. You have 60 players on your team, all you would have to do is make the injured player inactive and change your depth chart. Which is something that you probably would have done anyway.

The only way I can see this being the CPU rearranging your lineups is if you are looking to cut or add a player during the preseason and based on last season's activity that's pretty rare. With that said I voted Yes but I dont feel strongly either way. Its a close vote and there are still 5 people who havent chimed in. If it remains close (within 1 or 2 votes) I'm likely to keep the schedule the same

[Cotton]

When you bring in a new player, usually you have to drop someone else. If you drop someone else, then you have a hole in your depth chart and the game won't allow that and will rearrange your charts to the 'recommend' settings. Which usually means your starters will all start whether you want them to or not.

You can't sign or add a new player and place him into your depth chart in the same sim. It's pretty simple. You make a move. The sim gets run. THEN the player shows up. So, if the next sim is a game, then he doesn't get placed in the depth chart because you didn't have him on your roster in the sim immediately preceeding.

That's why you have midweeks. So you can pick up or drop a player or two between games, then have an extra sim to rearrange your charts to adjust for it, then submit the file you want (and not necessarily what the CPU wants) for the next game. It has nothing to do with whether or not anyone likes preseason. Game sims are game sims and players WILL get hurt.

So, it doesn't matter one lick for guys that don't make any moves, signings or trades, in five weeks of preseason. But that's often the time you need to make those moves the most.

So anyone that makes a trade or signs or drops an active player between week one of preseason and week one of regular season may very well get screwed one way or another. And if the CPU starts players you don't want to start or play much in preseason, and they rip their ACL or get that last bad concussion because the CPU started them because you had an incomplete depth chart, then guess what? You really got screwed.

Vote on what you want, but that's just a precaution. That's all. :)

[Guest]

Cotton, you're overcomplicating this. ;)

All you need to do, if you're going to sign a FA, is keep 45 guys active, and fill up your depth chart. The new guy comes in as #46, and will play on special teams. If you make a trade, just tell the other owner whether to make him active or inactive before the trade. If you want to have 46 *other* guys active, have him make your new guy inactive. If you want your new guy to play, have him make your new guy active, and keep 45 others active.

[Guest]

And as for the game plan/"see how they perform" issue, I cannot stress strongly enough that you're shooting yourself in the foot if you rely on such a small sample size against teams that are using their talent in widely differing manners during the preseason to make *ANY* determination. In the Regular Season Week 1 sim for the WOOF just yesterday, this happened:

OFFENSIVE ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: WR Chad Wilton

The Memphis undrafted rookie free agent is the commish's choice for Rookie Of The Week. Wilton was signed by Mexico City, but then released after training camp. The Dynasty picked him up in the preseason, and he was very unimpressive, catching 9 passes in 22 targets for only 77 yards and a dismal 3.5 yards per target. However, he was a big part of Memphis nearly upsetting the defending champion Des Moines Monks today as he caught 6 passes for 107 yards.

And then there's Everett Jamison. I had two QBs. Give each of them two starts in the preseason and SURELY the one who has the two best games is good, right?

Uh, no.

<center>Tucker</center> <table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" width="383"><tbody><tr class="BoxscoreStatTableHeaderRow"><td colspan="9" align="left" width="383"><center>Passing</center></td></tr> <tr class="BoxscoreStatHeaderRow"> <td colspan="2">
</td> <td width="50">Cmp/Att</td> <td width="40">Yds</td> <td style="vertical-align: top;">
</td><td width="40">YPA</td> <td width="30">TD</td> <td width="30">Int</td> <td width="30">Rat</td> </tr> <tr class="BoxScoreTableRow"> <td align="left" width="30">QB</td> <td align="left" width="163">Everett Jamison</td> <td align="right">9/13</td> <td align="right">114</td> <td style="vertical-align: top;">
</td><td align="right">8.77</td> <td align="right">1</td> <td align="right">0</td> <td align="right">122.0</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" width="383"><tbody><tr class="BoxscoreStatTableHeaderRow"><td colspan="8" align="left" width="383"><center>Passing</center></td></tr> <tr class="BoxscoreStatHeaderRow"> <td colspan="2">
</td> <td width="50">Cmp/Att</td> <td width="40">Yds</td> <td width="40">YPA</td> <td width="30">TD</td> <td width="30">Int</td> <td width="30">Rat</td> </tr> <tr class="BoxScoreTableRow"> <td align="left" width="30">QB</td> <td align="left" width="163">Everett Jamison</td> <td align="right">12/15</td> <td align="right">232</td> <td align="right">15.47</td> <td align="right">2</td> <td align="right">0</td> <td align="right">158.3</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

How'd he do that year?

<table border="0" cellspacing="1" width="665"><tbody><tr align="center" bgcolor="#efefe7"><td colspan="15"><center>Career Passing Statistics (Year by Year)</center></td></tr> <tr class="ScheduleTableHeaderRow"><td colspan="2">Year</td><td>Team</td><td>Gms</td><td>Att</td><td>Comp</td><td>Pct</td><td>Yds</td><td>YPA</td><td>Lg</td><td>TD</td><td>Int</td><td>Sck</td><td>Rtg</td><td>YPG</td></tr> <tr class="PlayerTableDataRowTwo" id="G2008_1" style="display: none;" onclick="window.event.cancelBubble = true;"><td rowspan="4" bgcolor="black">

</td> <td>

</td> <td colspan="2"><center>Wk 14 - BOU</center>

</td> <td><center>22</center>

</td> <td><center>9</center>

</td> <td><center>40.9%</center>

</td> <td><center>179</center>

</td> <td><center> 8.1</center>

</td> <td><center>46</center>

</td> <td><center>1</center>

</td> <td><center>2</center>

</td> <td><center>2</center>

</td> <td><center>47.35</center>

</td> <td><center>---</center>

</td> </tr> <tr class="PlayerTableDataRowTwo" id="G2008_2" style="display: none;" onclick="window.event.cancelBubble = true;"><td>

</td> <td colspan="2"><center>Wk 15 - GEO</center>

</td> <td><center>44</center>

</td> <td><center>21</center>

</td> <td><center>47.7%</center>

</td> <td><center>219</center>

</td> <td><center> 5.0</center>

</td> <td><center>47</center>

</td> <td><center>2</center>

</td> <td><center>1</center>

</td> <td><center>2</center>

</td> <td><center>68.28</center>

</td> <td><center>---</center>

</td> </tr> <tr class="PlayerTableDataRowTwo" id="G2008_3" style="display: none;" onclick="window.event.cancelBubble = true;"><td>

</td> <td colspan="2"><center>Wk 16 - OAK</center>

</td> <td><center>27</center>

</td> <td><center>13</center>

</td> <td><center>48.1%</center>

</td> <td><center>192</center>

</td> <td><center> 7.1</center>

</td> <td><center>43</center>

</td> <td><center>0</center>

</td> <td><center>0</center>

</td> <td><center>2</center>

</td> <td><center>71.84</center>

</td> <td><center>---</center>

</td> </tr> <tr class="PlayerTableDataRowTwo" id="G2008_4" style="display: none;" onclick="window.event.cancelBubble = true;"><td>

</td> <td colspan="2"><center>Wk 17 - ORL</center>

</td> <td><center>30</center>

</td> <td><center>16</center>

</td> <td><center>53.3%</center>

</td> <td><center>164</center>

</td> <td><center> 5.5</center>

</td> <td><center>25</center>

</td> <td><center>2</center>

</td> <td><center>2</center>

</td> <td><center>0</center>

</td> <td><center>63.75</center>

</td> <td><center>---</center>

</td> </tr> <tr class="PlayerTableDataRow"><td><center>2009</center></td><td width="14"></td><td><center>TUC</center></td><td><center>5</center></td><td><center>156</center></td><td><center>78</center></td><td><center>50.0%</center></td><td><center>805</center></td><td><center>5.2</center></td><td><center>57</center></td><td><center>4</center></td><td><center>9</center></td><td><center>12</center></td><td><center>49.8</center></td><td><center>161.0</center></td></tr> <tr class="PlayerTableDataRowTwo" id="G2009_1" style="display: none;" onclick="window.event.cancelBubble = true;"><td rowspan="5" bgcolor="black">

</td> <td>

</td> <td colspan="2"><center>Wk 12 - ASH</center>

</td> <td><center>32</center>

</td> <td><center>16</center>

</td> <td><center>50.0%</center>

</td> <td><center>50</center>

</td> <td><center> 1.6</center>

</td> <td><center>21</center>

</td> <td><center>0</center>

</td> <td><center>0</center>

</td> <td><center>2</center>

</td> <td><center>56.25</center>

</td> <td><center>---</center>

</td> </tr> <tr class="PlayerTableDataRowTwo" id="G2009_2" style="display: none;" onclick="window.event.cancelBubble = true;"><td>

</td> <td colspan="2"><center>Wk 14 - MIA</center>

</td> <td><center>36</center>

</td> <td><center>22</center>

</td> <td><center>61.1%</center>

</td> <td><center>227</center>

</td> <td><center> 6.3</center>

</td> <td><center>57</center>

</td> <td><center>0</center>

</td> <td><center>2</center>

</td> <td><center>4</center>

</td> <td><center>56.13</center>

</td> <td><center>---</center>

</td> </tr> <tr class="PlayerTableDataRowTwo" id="G2009_3" style="display: none;" onclick="window.event.cancelBubble = true;"><td>

</td> <td colspan="2"><center>Wk 15 - ORL</center>

</td> <td><center>36</center>

</td> <td><center>18</center>

</td> <td><center>50.0%</center>

</td> <td><center>240</center>

</td> <td><center> 6.7</center>

</td> <td><center>35</center>

</td> <td><center>2</center>

</td> <td><center>3</center>

</td> <td><center>2</center>

</td> <td><center>55.32</center>

</td> <td><center>---</center>

</td> </tr> <tr class="PlayerTableDataRowTwo" id="G2009_4" style="display: none;" onclick="window.event.cancelBubble = true;"><td>

</td> <td colspan="2"><center>Wk 16 - KNX</center>

</td> <td><center>28</center>

</td> <td><center>13</center>

</td> <td><center>46.4%</center>

</td> <td><center>165</center>

</td> <td><center> 5.9</center>

</td> <td><center>25</center>

</td> <td><center>2</center>

</td> <td><center>1</center>

</td> <td><center>2</center>

</td> <td><center>74.26</center>

</td> <td><center>---</center>

</td> </tr> <tr class="PlayerTableDataRowTwo" id="G2009_5" style="display: none;" onclick="window.event.cancelBubble = true;"><td>

</td> <td colspan="2"><center>Wk 17 - CON</center>

</td> <td><center>24</center>

</td> <td><center>9</center>

</td> <td><center>37.5%</center>

</td> <td><center>123</center>

</td> <td><center> 5.1</center>

</td> <td><center>44</center>

</td> <td><center>0</center>

</td> <td><center>3</center>

</td> <td><center>2</center>

</td> <td><center>15.10</center>

</td> <td><center>---</center>

</td> </tr> </tbody></table>

You cannot, cannot, cannot, cannot judge players in FOF by preseason performance. And, quite honestly, NFL teams don't do it that way, either. All those practices (simulated in FOF by ratings changes) have MUCH more of a bearing than the preseason games.

[Guest]

Bottom line: to evaluate players, it's ratings and ratings movement until you've seen them play for at least a half season for some positions, and I'd contend as much as 2-3 seasons for other positions. To evaluate what works and doesn't work in game planning, SP FOF is the way to go. Fluctuations are just too great. For an example of what I mean, check out the test results in this post. In those test runs, everything was kept *IDENTICAL* for 16 games over 15 seasons in each of the charts, with injuries off. So, that's as little fluctuation as possible. Notice a few things...

• In chart one, yards per carry ranged from 4.07 to 5.07. (Again, over 16 games. Imagine how much it can vary from the norm over just 2-4 games played. You might play four games at 3.5 ypc, and decide your guy or your gameplan sucks, and cut him or scrap the plan, and be getting rid of a 4.5ypc back/plan based on a tiny sample size.)
• Also in chart 1, QB rating varied by 26 points. (Again, this is over a much larger sample size, with conditions kept *much* more static than in a MP preseason. Your QB who's really an 85 rating guy could *easily* put up anywhere from, oh, 60 to 110 in a four-game stretch with such variable receiving talent, variable opposition talent, and variable opposition game plans.)
• In chart one, points per game varied by 10. (And once again, this is over two 16-game sample sizes being compared. It's therefore quite possible that you could score 17ppg with a game plan in the preseason, and be scrapping a 24.5ppg game plan.)

When I speak about variable opposition game plans, I know personally I just hit recommend during the preseason, so that when Week One of the regular season rolls around, my opponent won't have any trends to go on in terms of how I'm going to approach the game this season.

When I speak about variable opposition talent usage, I've observed that people do it very differently. Some like to use the recommended settings, which play the reserves a bit more than the starters. Some like to play their starters for the entirety of the first couple of games, then sit them. Others like to play scrubs early in the preseason, and starters late in the preseason. Point being, even if the sample size were large enough to make any meaningful declarations (and I would argue that it's not nearly large enough), you'd still have the issue of the fact that we don't really know who was on the field for the other team when your RB made that 20-yard run, or your receiver caught that 40-yard pass.

[Guest]

Every time somebody asks a question here lately, I end up writing a strategy article, it sems.

http://fof.sportplanet.gamespy.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=33

[Guest]

Every time somebody asks a question here lately, I end up writing a strategy article, it sems.

http://fof.sportplanet.gamespy.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=33

LOL!

[Sully]

I voted yes, but after reading through this thread, I wish I could go back and switch it to No.

[Guest]

Either way, it doesn't seem to be a resoundingly overwhelming vote either way. . . Just keep George Bush out of this. .. I'd hate to see this going to the OSFL Supreme Court. . .

[misfire200]

The only reason i voted no was to have a bit more time to get my team in order since i am a new owner and had issues getting the league setup anyway(lets just say i am not happy the way fof handles multiple multiplayer leagues).

[Delandis]

I voted no but after reading Skydog's findings, I see no reason to slow things down if the preseason is not a good indicator future success. It seems that the actual game play experience is the only "real" driving force. No need for midweeks, mark one more for yes and one less for no!!