The Q & A will be tonight at 6 p.m. Pacific time - it's unlikely that Bort will show up but there is a small chance that he will. Questions #1 through 14 below were answered by Bort, I answered the remainder.
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1. Does SYM work on Rushing QBs? With the new text on the VA, it reads as though it will work for QBs now. Is it true, or accidentally left off the description?
Yeah, as long as he's not in pass mode.
2. The Changelog->Current Projects is at least a season out of date. Can we get an update as to what the Current Projects are and what is On the radar?
I'll try and update these soon
3. How come some SA's show up in the pbp's (Power Through) and others do not (Head Fake/Juke)?
Others have simply not been coded for, or there's not a good way to show them with the proper timing.
4. Run: Bonus to reading run plays, more easier fooled on pass plays
Pass: Bonus to reading pass plays, more easier fooled on run plays
Can we get clarification on what is meant by "reading" and "easier" fooled?"
To me this refers to vision checks. However, bort is quoted to saying that blocker's focus help with the actual blocking score. This makes me wonder if there is more to "read" and "easier fooled."
There are vision checks to see when the handoff happens or when the receiver catches the ball, and if failed, the player is stuck doing whatever he was doing before. Focus settings changes the difficulty of the check involved.
5. Does any form of energy regeneration occur in between Q's and at halftime? If not, is there a specific reason?
Yes, there is extra between quarters, and a larger boost after halftime. There is also a half-time pep talk that increases morale.
6. What are some of your ideas on how to reintroduce player money?
I do not think we will ever reintroduce players doing anything with accumulated bank balances. It makes it too easy to launder money from gutted teams. If we do something, it will be something like bling or maybe some activities the player can do by "spending" a portion of their yearly salary total.
7. Are coaches a sure thing for season 17?
Not at the moment; we are thinking we might hold off again due to some of the other changes we're doing this offseason with decline, etc.
8. If a player's assignment is say cover HB man or blitz, and the HB stays in to block (so the player defaults to blitz) are the blitz-related SAs (Blitz, Disguise Blitz, Head of Steam) supposed to activate and if so, is it known that they in fact do so?
Yes. All that decision making happens before the play even starts, so a specific blitz vs a fallback blitz is the same when it comes to processing.
9. What, in your opinion, are the sims most important flaws at this point?
Blocking is always a difficult egg to crack; probably something we could work on for nearly forever and never get 100% perfect. I think passing isn't quite right either; it's too easy to complete those long bombs, and too hard to pull off a west-coast style offense.
10. Are attributes "linked" in rolls for certain actions? For example, a successful pancake, does the roll get a penalty if strength and blocking are not within a certain proportion/ratio?
Yes, certain things are limited by certain attributes being too low, no matter how high another attribute might be.
11. Does Lower the Shoulder provide a static boost per level to breaking tackles or is it a chance-to-fire SA?
Both
12. In the AI, does the "per input" auto-adjust behave the same as the "per-package" one? If not, howso?
Yes, except the package-based one adjusts the package wherever it is used throughout the AI, while the input-based one is for that input only.
13. I assume that the 5 settings (very quickly, quickly, medium, slowly, very slowly) give a different change to the % given in a certain play based on if its successful or unsuccessful. Could you share how much % each of these settings will change a plays %? Also, could you share what is considered a successful/unsuccessful run/pass play?
"Very Quickly" is 5 times faster than "Very Slowly." Very slowly will adjust an output by between -3 to 3 depending on what happened (meaning "very quickly" will do from -15 to 15). For runs, a gain of 6 or more is a great gain, more than 3-6 is a good gain, 0-3 is neutral, and a loss is negative. For a pass, a 15 yd gain is considered really good, 6 yds is good, a loss is bad, and the rest is neutral. If the play was a turnover or a score, that's an additional + or -.
14. What triggers the "Spot Blitz" SA for O-linemen? How often can it realistically be expexted to trigger in a typical game? What abilities and atrributes best compliment it? Does it effect any other blocking preformed? Is it better for a "Pass blocking" or "Run Blocking" O-lineman? Is it better for a specific O-line position?
It makes the vision check to see a blitzing non-lineman player coming easier at the beginning of the play when assigning blockers. Pass or run block doesn't matter. "Disguise Blitz" is the defensive counterpart. Sometimes when you watch replays, a LB or S will blitz right up the middle and nobody will see him coming, even though he got picked up other times. That means those vision checks were failed, and "spot blitz" would have helped there. Its value to you depends on how high you intend to push your lineman's vision, and how often you will be facing blitzers.
15. Will there be new offensive plays this next upcoming season (season 17)?
No, but we will be looking at adding more in the future, either season 18 or 19.
16. Currently all the morale damage is done on the offensive side of the ball with the defense taking little to no damage . Do you anticipate any changes to the way morale works with respect to how lopsided the effects are?
Yes, it's currently under discussion with the Test Advisors. You can view the summary thus far here: http://goallineblitz.com/game/forum_thread.pl?thread_id=4114543
17. Are Scat Back and Zone Specialist SAs going to have diminishing returns over 10 like normal SAs or will they be exempt up to 15 like they were as a VA?
Yes, they will have diminishing returns like normal SA's
18. The requirements for OC and DC coaches say they must have been a offense or defensive player previously. Will it be possible to make an OC or DC from a coach made from scratch (not from a retiring player)?
Yes, a made from scratch coach will be able to choose.
19. Are coaches going to be excluded from casual leagues?
Yes.
20. Is there any plans to nerf bull rusher? It's currently the only SA which gives a multiplier based on post-equipment values, and a lot of people it is too blame for the death of the high level inside run game/revcakefest.
Not at this moment. I'd like to conduct some thorough testing before changing it (or any other SA/VA).
21. Just wondering, if there will ever be plans to have a Non-boosting League?
As we like to say here at GLB, NGTH
22. Are you happy with league parity as it stands now?
It's improving at some level but it certainly still needs work and is at the forefront of what we are doing. The extended plateau program and some league restructuring that we are doing this off season should hopefully help bring us closer to where we want and need to be.
The Free Rewards Points winners are as follows, each received 1000 Rewards Points.
calamnet
briansimoneau
hookem888
fmoney
RyanCane26
sirwin
tonnyrat
Hcreek27
redazz
aceinthehouse
1. Does SYM work on Rushing QBs? With the new text on the VA, it reads as though it will work for QBs now. Is it true, or accidentally left off the description?
Yeah, as long as he's not in pass mode.
2. The Changelog->Current Projects is at least a season out of date. Can we get an update as to what the Current Projects are and what is On the radar?
I'll try and update these soon
3. How come some SA's show up in the pbp's (Power Through) and others do not (Head Fake/Juke)?
Others have simply not been coded for, or there's not a good way to show them with the proper timing.
4. Run: Bonus to reading run plays, more easier fooled on pass plays
Pass: Bonus to reading pass plays, more easier fooled on run plays
Can we get clarification on what is meant by "reading" and "easier" fooled?"
To me this refers to vision checks. However, bort is quoted to saying that blocker's focus help with the actual blocking score. This makes me wonder if there is more to "read" and "easier fooled."
There are vision checks to see when the handoff happens or when the receiver catches the ball, and if failed, the player is stuck doing whatever he was doing before. Focus settings changes the difficulty of the check involved.
5. Does any form of energy regeneration occur in between Q's and at halftime? If not, is there a specific reason?
Yes, there is extra between quarters, and a larger boost after halftime. There is also a half-time pep talk that increases morale.
6. What are some of your ideas on how to reintroduce player money?
I do not think we will ever reintroduce players doing anything with accumulated bank balances. It makes it too easy to launder money from gutted teams. If we do something, it will be something like bling or maybe some activities the player can do by "spending" a portion of their yearly salary total.
7. Are coaches a sure thing for season 17?
Not at the moment; we are thinking we might hold off again due to some of the other changes we're doing this offseason with decline, etc.
8. If a player's assignment is say cover HB man or blitz, and the HB stays in to block (so the player defaults to blitz) are the blitz-related SAs (Blitz, Disguise Blitz, Head of Steam) supposed to activate and if so, is it known that they in fact do so?
Yes. All that decision making happens before the play even starts, so a specific blitz vs a fallback blitz is the same when it comes to processing.
9. What, in your opinion, are the sims most important flaws at this point?
Blocking is always a difficult egg to crack; probably something we could work on for nearly forever and never get 100% perfect. I think passing isn't quite right either; it's too easy to complete those long bombs, and too hard to pull off a west-coast style offense.
10. Are attributes "linked" in rolls for certain actions? For example, a successful pancake, does the roll get a penalty if strength and blocking are not within a certain proportion/ratio?
Yes, certain things are limited by certain attributes being too low, no matter how high another attribute might be.
11. Does Lower the Shoulder provide a static boost per level to breaking tackles or is it a chance-to-fire SA?
Both
12. In the AI, does the "per input" auto-adjust behave the same as the "per-package" one? If not, howso?
Yes, except the package-based one adjusts the package wherever it is used throughout the AI, while the input-based one is for that input only.
13. I assume that the 5 settings (very quickly, quickly, medium, slowly, very slowly) give a different change to the % given in a certain play based on if its successful or unsuccessful. Could you share how much % each of these settings will change a plays %? Also, could you share what is considered a successful/unsuccessful run/pass play?
"Very Quickly" is 5 times faster than "Very Slowly." Very slowly will adjust an output by between -3 to 3 depending on what happened (meaning "very quickly" will do from -15 to 15). For runs, a gain of 6 or more is a great gain, more than 3-6 is a good gain, 0-3 is neutral, and a loss is negative. For a pass, a 15 yd gain is considered really good, 6 yds is good, a loss is bad, and the rest is neutral. If the play was a turnover or a score, that's an additional + or -.
14. What triggers the "Spot Blitz" SA for O-linemen? How often can it realistically be expexted to trigger in a typical game? What abilities and atrributes best compliment it? Does it effect any other blocking preformed? Is it better for a "Pass blocking" or "Run Blocking" O-lineman? Is it better for a specific O-line position?
It makes the vision check to see a blitzing non-lineman player coming easier at the beginning of the play when assigning blockers. Pass or run block doesn't matter. "Disguise Blitz" is the defensive counterpart. Sometimes when you watch replays, a LB or S will blitz right up the middle and nobody will see him coming, even though he got picked up other times. That means those vision checks were failed, and "spot blitz" would have helped there. Its value to you depends on how high you intend to push your lineman's vision, and how often you will be facing blitzers.
15. Will there be new offensive plays this next upcoming season (season 17)?
No, but we will be looking at adding more in the future, either season 18 or 19.
16. Currently all the morale damage is done on the offensive side of the ball with the defense taking little to no damage . Do you anticipate any changes to the way morale works with respect to how lopsided the effects are?
Yes, it's currently under discussion with the Test Advisors. You can view the summary thus far here: http://goallineblitz.com/game/forum_thread.pl?thread_id=4114543
17. Are Scat Back and Zone Specialist SAs going to have diminishing returns over 10 like normal SAs or will they be exempt up to 15 like they were as a VA?
Yes, they will have diminishing returns like normal SA's
18. The requirements for OC and DC coaches say they must have been a offense or defensive player previously. Will it be possible to make an OC or DC from a coach made from scratch (not from a retiring player)?
Yes, a made from scratch coach will be able to choose.
19. Are coaches going to be excluded from casual leagues?
Yes.
20. Is there any plans to nerf bull rusher? It's currently the only SA which gives a multiplier based on post-equipment values, and a lot of people it is too blame for the death of the high level inside run game/revcakefest.
Not at this moment. I'd like to conduct some thorough testing before changing it (or any other SA/VA).
21. Just wondering, if there will ever be plans to have a Non-boosting League?
As we like to say here at GLB, NGTH
22. Are you happy with league parity as it stands now?
It's improving at some level but it certainly still needs work and is at the forefront of what we are doing. The extended plateau program and some league restructuring that we are doing this off season should hopefully help bring us closer to where we want and need to be.
Edited by Catch22 on Jun 29, 2010 13:29:18
