Originally posted by slughead42
I should have been even more specific than I was, I guess. When I was working on the VPB update, I saw that offensive players get up to a +2 bonus to their Blocking skill if they are the heaviest weight at their archetype, down to -2 if they are the lightest weight for their archetype. Exactly the way that any player gets plus 2 to Vision at creation for being the tallest for their archetype, etc.
But the initial bonus or penalty to Blocking and Tackling are restricted to positions that are classified as offense or defense, respectively, and I understand the tendency to do that, but it leads to the seeming inconsistencies that I detailed above. Ah! You're talking creation. (Keep up Ken... we're onto something here!
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Mind if I kinda counter-argue this idea?
So, as I came to understand it, the +/- ?# that's based off of height and weight settings actually made perfect sense to me... mostly. I hear you about punters and kickers... and I might even make a small argument to include QB's in there as well (what a blocking machine they are!
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But the +/- ?# is literally tied straight into the NATURAL skills for which they (height/weight) would have the most effect on a player. I mean, sure... you could be 5'8" and 175 lbs and have a blocking skill of 100 and a strength of 150 and you would still get shoved about like a blocking sled. Ever see a real short skinny dude go up against a Sumo Wrestler? Never ends well for the little guy.
Height (or lack thereof) gives a dot vision (+/-) bonus and leverage bonus and balance bonus. Those last 2 exist even though they're not listed in the bonus section. And Weight (or lack thereof) effects stamina and speed for sure.
However... I'm not 100% sold on how it helps the blocking SKILL. Did Bort think just because you weigh 350 that that makes you a quality blocker? Sure... big men usually do the blocking but just because you're big doesn't mean you're automatically good at it. Blocking is a LEARNED (or taught) skill.
Speed and agility are inherited. They can be improved, but I've yet to see a 300 pound Barry Sanders... or a 175 pound O-lineman.
Strength and Balance are both effected by height and weight so they can also be included.
Vision makes sense when you consider tall people can just see more things among the trees than short people buried in the bush.
But Blocking and Tackling should not be tied to height and weight, IMHO. That's where you and I would differ here. I would remove it completely instead of add it across the board to solve the issue. Replace it with skills that are much more weight/height based instead. My 2 centavos.