Restart Limit: Should we have one?

[thbends]

This came up because I noticed that restarts could be a problem against the CPU. If you're losing you just hit reset and try again. So I think there should be a limit to restarts for games against the CPU. Since the game tracks this number off to the side on the schedule it is easy to follow.

What do you guys think? I say 2 is the limit.

As for disconnects in owner vs owner games.... I say it's up to the owners.

Now if one player constantly can not finish games then that is another issue.

[Michael1807]

This came up because I noticed that restarts could be a problem against the CPU. If you're losing you just hit reset and try again. So I think there should be a limit to restarts for games against the CPU. Since the game tracks this number off to the side on the schedule it is easy to follow.

What do you guys think? I say 2 is the limit.

As for disconnects in owner vs owner games.... I say it's up to the owners.

Now if one player constantly can not finish games then that is another issue.

ZERO restarts against the cpu...u should just play once i think

[thbends]

I agree on zero restarts but what if there is a real reason to restart? How do yu prove or disprove that?

Maybe set a limit for restarts against the CPU for the entire season. Say you have 4 total or something.

[Michael1807]

I agree on zero restarts but what if there is a real reason to restart? How do yu prove or disprove that?

Maybe set a limit for restarts against the CPU for the entire season. Say you have 4 total or something.

yea i could deal with like a total that makes more sense

[Mhurricane266]

Im not in your league but Restarts for the entire season are the way to go. We did the same thing in our NCAA 09 dynasty and had no problems(there will still be people that quits but at least its out in the open and they BETTER pick and choose the right to do so)...also put a stipulation for playoffs...there really shouldnt be any for then. There might be problems but you can look at the season and tell if they quit or not. If a guy has not had any problems with restarts during the season and all of the sudden restarts a playoff game then somethin is up.

[Enderz]

http://photos.nola.com/photos/tpphotos/d97922897ca32aaf9b0fb384892090da.jpg

Personally, I'd prefer to not even go there.

Anyone who has played an offline franchise for any length of time has probably figured out that part of the fun of it is making sure the games actually matter.

I know it didn't take me long (less than the first season of my first NCAA franchise) to realize that resetting the game every time I felt like the CPU had cheated me out of a big play (fumble from my 99 CAR rated back at the worst possible time, dropped pass when my #1 WR was wide open for a TD, CPU CB doing a Michael Jackson moonwalk to get into position for the INT, etc.) helped in the short run, but really took a lot of the fun out of it in the long run.

By the time I made it to the ACC championship game and the BCS bowl I knew in the back of my mind that I had probably gotten there because of some of the resets. I also knew that if anything really bad happened in one of the "big games" I could always just blame it on the AI and reset it.

One of the coolest things about playing a sim opponent that you respect (like here in the JFL) has been that resetting is never an option. Whatever happens in the game you just have to deal with it, just like in the NFL.

I'm sure Bilichek wishes he could have a do over on that play last weekend where Haynesworth unloaded on Brady, but that's part of the game. He can't rationalize resetting because Brady's got a 99 INJ rating and a 95 AWR rating and should have known better than to try and break his fall with his throwing shoulder. A lot of us who would never dream of resetting a game just to avoid a L would probably think twice if one of our star players went down with a season ending injury.

If we give everyone a set number of "mulligans" per season I think we'd just be encouraging everyone to use them (like sick days). If we all got 4 do-overs people might end up treating them like time outs or coaches challenges and start using them strategically to undo injuries to their best players and "correct" any horrible AI that endangered their playoff hopes. Not that any NFL coaches would ever be tempted to "game" the system to their advantage...;)

http://www.techwall.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/cowboys.jpg

I think the rule should be "no manual resets for non-technical reasons" period and any resets that show up on the website should require a written explanation of exactly what the technical problem was on a sticky'd "Reset" forum post. Hopefully the peer pressure of having to post an outright lie to the rest of the group will keep anyone from being tempted to cheat. If not, and there seems to be a pattern developing, the Commish can initiate a discussion on whether there's a problem and how to deal with it.

[thbends]

I'm with Enderz. I know before we reset the league for the new roster I almost lost to the freakin Bucs when they were a CPU team. I never thought about resetting. I just want to make sure we have an understanding with this issue.

[Akzo]

I agree, if it's within your control do not restart with the AI, treat it as a live game.

I don't have the numbers with me, but for some reason the NFC has 75% of the owners. AFC guys will need to play way more CPU games.

[Mhurricane266]

http://photos.nola.com/photos/tpphotos/d97922897ca32aaf9b0fb384892090da.jpg

Personally, I'd prefer to not even go there.

Anyone who has played an offline franchise for any length of time has probably figured out that part of the fun of it is making sure the games actually matter.

I know it didn't take me long (less than the first season of my first NCAA franchise) to realize that resetting the game every time I felt like the CPU had cheated me out of a big play (fumble from my 99 CAR rated back at the worst possible time, dropped pass when my #1 WR was wide open for a TD, CPU CB doing a Michael Jackson moonwalk to get into position for the INT, etc.) helped in the short run, but really took a lot of the fun out of it in the long run.

By the time I made it to the ACC championship game and the BCS bowl I knew in the back of my mind that I had probably gotten there because of some of the resets. I also knew that if anything really bad happened in one of the "big games" I could always just blame it on the AI and reset it.

One of the coolest things about playing a sim opponent that you respect (like here in the JFL) has been that resetting is never an option. Whatever happens in the game you just have to deal with it, just like in the NFL.

I'm sure Bilichek wishes he could have a do over on that play last weekend where Haynesworth unloaded on Brady, but that's part of the game. He can't rationalize resetting because Brady's got a 99 INJ rating and a 95 AWR rating and should have known better than to try and break his fall with his throwing shoulder. A lot of us who would never dream of resetting a game just to avoid a L would probably think twice if one of our star players went down with a season ending injury.

If we give everyone a set number of "mulligans" per season I think we'd just be encouraging everyone to use them (like sick days). If we all got 4 do-overs people might end up treating them like time outs or coaches challenges and start using them strategically to undo injuries to their best players and "correct" any horrible AI that endangered their playoff hopes. Not that any NFL coaches would ever be tempted to "game" the system to their advantage...;)

http://www.techwall.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/cowboys.jpg

I think the rule should be "no manual resets for non-technical reasons" period and any resets that show up on the website should require a written explanation of exactly what the technical problem was on a sticky'd "Reset" forum post. Hopefully the peer pressure of having to post an outright lie to the rest of the group will keep anyone from being tempted to cheat. If not, and there seems to be a pattern developing, the Commish can initiate a discussion on whether there's a problem and how to deal with it.

This is true but there are times when TRUE restarts are needed. Power went out etc etc. Theres no real way to prove that so how else would you go about determining if the reset was legit or not? Or basically if you restart power or not you get a loss? It doesnt have to be a ton of restarts it could quite simply be 1 restart a year. In NCAA 09 I had to use 1 restart in 3 seasons so you definitely dont need more than 1 or 2 a year.Honestly, Its up to you guys in the league...integrity has to come in to play and if your losing you just have to accept it.If all guys can trust each other then no theres no need for a restart counter

[Enderz]

http://www.techwall.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/cowboys.jpg


Just noticed that someone is actually playing Madden on the big board in this screen shot. How cool is that!

[SecondSundodger]

A written explanation may be the best route, but again how many people have an issue with lying on the internet? Especially with all the new blood we just took in.
And in that case, it could look like anyone who attempts to explain is just lying. For example, I played my Week 1 game to completion twice (and won both times, bigger win the second time but worse stats, meh), but because I had lost my connection to the EA servers at some point during the first game, the game wouldn't report. How many times could I use this excuse before it looked like a lie? The idea would be that it doesn't happen often at all, but even the first instance still sounds sketchy.

Perhaps after a season (or some requisite amount of time) we'll have a gauge on what the league winning percentage is against the CPU, and we'll just have to force that on people as encouragement to switch to a team that plays as many real owners as possible. That would be a last resort, I would say.


Oh and I would guess Bends edited that Madden shot in. But just a guess.

[The 13fhApostle]

Why not just set an arbritrary number for the season like 3 or 4, and if it exceeds that number it becomes an automatic sim after the first disconnect. Really if you just make up a rule, any rule we will all follow it. the most important thing is that people know what the rule is so they can't cry about it later.

[El Magnifico]

Why not just set an arbritrary number for the season like 3 or 4, and if it exceeds that number it becomes an automatic sim after the first disconnect. Really if you just make up a rule, any rule we will all follow it. the most important thing is that people know what the rule is so they can't cry about it later.

I second the motion - 3 restarts for the season when playing CPU opponents.

[MM Jester]

I say if you're getting your ass kicked, take it. I just did. I just got dominated and took it...it didn't even occur to me that i could just quit and reset b/c I didn't like the way things were going.

[adriancat1963]

I say if you're getting your ass kicked, take it. I just did. I just got dominated and took it...it didn't even occur to me that i could just quit and reset b/c I didn't like the way things were going.

I agree....If your getting your butt kicked man up and take it....

[Travan]

...

[Travan]

My REAL opinion is NO resets at all against the CPU. If you have to go to the ER because your having chest pains or your power goes out...too bad for you, you get simmed. That's my opinion.

[adriancat1963]

My REAL opinion is NO resets at all against the CPU. If you have to go to the ER because your having chest pains or your power goes out...too bad for you, you get simmed. That's my opinion.

LMAO....Damn....I say if you got a hospital bill u can restart...LOL

[Travan]

LMAO....Damn....I say if you got a hospital bill u can restart...LOL

Ummmmm...yeah, I'll go with that. lol

Seriously though what could happen to make you HAVE to restart? I can't remember ever having to restart a game once I've made the time to sit down and play it out. Last time I honestly remember having an offline franchise/season game interrupted was when a friend brought her infant daughter over and she unplugged my Sega Genesis in the middle of a game. That was like 1993. Since then, NOTHING! My point is, it's MUCH more likely that any restarts will be because someones getting hammered rather than a real reason. Giving restarts is just giving out second chances that aren't deserved. Do you know how bad I wanted to restart after I tied my week one game with 20 seconds left, only to give up a KO return for a TD that should never have happened anyway? I've never seen a KR break away from that many tackles in my life, but NO I didn't even think about restarting. Take it like a man and move on.

[NzaneRaiderX]

No restarts......

[SecondSundodger]

It's not about choosing to restart, the issue is in the EA servers
(or Xbox Live) blinking out. If the EA server drops you, you can finish the game, but it won't report. I liked that in the NCAA game if that happened you could sign back into EA before the game ended and it would be fine. The only place I see to sign back into EA in Madden is from the main screen (which means you have to exit the game to sign back in).
If you get knocked offline, finish the game, and lose, it should be simmed. But if you win, you should get to play it again.