All of the following questions were answered by Bort. The Q & A Discussion will take place Sunday at 6 p.m. Pacific Time. Bort will be present as well as myself to answer any questions that you might have.
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1. How does QB pass priority work? Specifically:
a) What are the bonuses/penalties it generates ? Will it affect the QB check-downs speed?
b) Does it affect specific routes, or a certain portion of all routes ? Here are two possibility raised by the forum participants:
(1) where the player is within the particular route they are running on that play (i.e., if it's a 5 yard in, once they make the break at 5 yards they have effectively reached the proper "route distance"... or if it's a 13 yard curl they don't reach proper "route distance" until they are downfield and either at or near the point where they will make their break back towards the QB)
(2) whether the player's route is the right overall distance for that play... so if it's a long passing play with 2 WRs going deep up field and the 3rd read is to the HB in the flat, then the HB is not the right route distance for that play... or similarly a WR running a streak on what's otherwise a short passing play is not running the right "route distance" for that play.
c) How does it integrate with custom progressions ?
Assuming you're referring to "open man" vs "route distance" here. Think of 100% open man as not caring about how far the player is at all, and instead only calculating risk based on coverage. Think of 100% route distance as requiring a certain distance traveled before a player is considered to pass to, and scaling risk the closer the player gets to that distance. Spots in the middle are in between the two extremes, combining the risk calculations on a sliding scale. The QB will throw the ball when the calculated risk is below a certain threshold.
a) No bonuses/penalties. No, it doesn't affect checkdown speed.
b) Depends on the play. Streak type routes generally just look at how far down the field they are. Ins and hooks and such have a "sweet spot" after which the player is determined to be far enough, no matter where he is on the field. 100% route distance will wait until those conditions are satisfied, unless pressure really pushes the QB to throw early. 100% open man will ignore those things entirely.
c) There's no effect; the progressions just tell which order to look through. Risk calcs are the same.
2. If a player has a higher number in Lower the Shoulder and Surge does this increase the likelihood that the SA activates? If yes, the description should be updated to indicate this.
Sorta...it increases the power/duration of the skill. Lower the shoulder can activate and still not break a tackle, in which case you'd not know it was used. Surge requires you to be untouched, and more levels of it make it last longer. You're probably right that the descriptions could be updated, though, since more levels do sort of improve the chance of them "working."
3. If a WR has go to guy and is 3rd on the custom progressions, does the VA override the progressions?
No, it just adjusts the risk calculations, not the order.
4. Does Adrenaline Junkie work for missed tackles? And how much does a tackle/missed tackle effect energy in comparison to other things. A tiny bit, a little, about average, a little more, or a lot?
Yes, and energy loss depends on how badly the tackle was missed. On average, I'd say missed tackles cause medium energy loss. Morale is affected more than energy tho.
5. Are Super Basic Leagues going to happen in season 16 or will we have to wait?
I have not gotten them coded yet, so it is unlikely, though it wouldn't take long to do. However, we are planning on trying to get the intermediate tactics done next season, and we have been thinking it might make more sense to roll those out at the same time. We are also still working on the improved CPU template project, which is somewhat of a requirement for the full vision I had on the basic leagues. I will have to talk with Catch on what he thinks overall on those three projects.
6. How much longer until flash replays are here?
This offseason!
7. You guys have given out the salary caps for next season, and I was wondering how the penalty's are going to work. Will a penalty be enforced at rollover any day throughout the season if a team goes over that amount?
Yes, luxury tax processing will be part of the daily salary script.
8. What would your ideal situation for the league structure, and how could we get there?
That's a pretty difficult question. If I knew the ideal league structure, we wouldn't be debating about it, and we'd already have it. I do think there are some other extenuating circumstances beyond just structure that contribute to lowered competition, and the main one is the disparity between top and bottom teams, due to the amounts teams make, and through allowing continued exploitation of the money system. We are trying to fix that, however, with the changes we've been working on. If we can get more teams to feel less helpless, we should see competition improve regardless of what structure we have.
9. Does the rushing half of Bull Rusher work on Special Teams?
Yep
10. I realize this is a pretty basic question, but does the Wrap Up SA apply even if you have your player set for Balanced or Power tackling? The SA reads "all non-diving tackles" so I'm presuming the answer is yes, but the name is confusing because there is also a Wrap Up tackle setting.
Yep
11. There a lot of rumors surrounding when and how break through works. I've heard that even if you are only being blocked by one blocker it still gives you a +% to being able to break that block. Is this true? Also does it work on both the run and pass?
Nope, it only works when being double (or triple) teamed. Yes, it works against pass blocking, but the frequency of double team pass blocks is much lower than run blocking.
12. Is the chance for Catch Fake to fire based solely on the points in the SA and any +fake chance? My main question is does having higher physical stats such as agility or vision help it fire more often?
Nope, only the skill level.
13. Are there any plans for the future on what the players can spend there salary on?
Potentially...we had some ideas in the original idea of our finance update plan. Most likely it will just be bling and such though. "Prestige" type items that don't really do anything.
14. With the upcoming changes to the game's economic system and an increased emphasis on player morale, are there any plans to allow agents to see how their players' morale changed throughout a game (rather than simply showing a sad face and an end-game report)?
Possibly, if I can figure out a method that does not take tons and tons of disk space. Maybe some sort of per-quarter report or something maybe.
15. What are your thoughts about Staz's idea of football physics? Do you see it as a plausible project, or do you think it isn't going to work on a near future?
I have not had a chance to look at it or think about it thoroughly, so I cannot really comment at this time.
16. Preface: The GLB schedule is very fixed in the calendar and is the same for every league. I've been frequenting a different browser game (metroho), similar in some respects to GLB, and it uses a much different league scheduling structure. It has new leagues opening at all times with each league starting once it is filled with appropriately leveled teams and operating on it's own 30 day league schedule. The league finishes, the players on the team age, and promotions/demotions are handed out to particular teams. Those teams are then free to join any of the other new leagues available for which the team qualifies.
I see a number of benefits, most obviously that teams choose which league to join and when to join that league. It keeps the competition good (every team is real and prepared to start a season) and the scheduling flexible. It also allows every day to be the beginning of a league so that new players can begin ANYTIME instead of coming into the middle of a season as is done in GLB.
I think that a lot of the functions of GLB could be accomplished using this rolling schedule (all functions such as boosting, stadium upgrades, training must be accomplished during an active league). I think that some of the problems (league structure, league competitiveness, scheduling flexibility) could be overcome with this rolling schedule.
Question: Has GLB considered a rolling league schedule as described above?
I have thought about it; there are benefits, but there are potential issues as well that would need to be though out thoroughly. I think some sort of ladder system that is an ongoing fluid system might work as well. Having a fluid system with no real "offseason" certainly would have its benefits. Would need a lot of fleshing out to see if it were feasible.
17. After the major changes are released this off season,what can customers of GLB expect for the remainder of this calender year. Basically what will be done to keep your paying customers coming back?
Our remaining "big" projects are intermediate tactics, better CPUs, super-basic leagues, coaches, and any sort of league structuring that might help. And of course any sort of little improvements and whatnot. This is pretty much our push to no longer be "beta" so we can become more stable and just add in little things like plays or better animation, etc. Eventually we would like to have several other sports offerings available as well, to allow players to build a sports franchise empire
18. Just how much effect does defensive pass/run/no focus have on what a player actually does? Is it just the initial vision check?
Makes vision checks to recognize the play easier, improves reaction time, and gives bonuses/penalties to breaking blocks.
19. Is there any chance of speeding up the experience gain for players? I'm not a fan of the whole "start at level 40, etc". It takes at least 8 months for my players to get to a point where I'd consider it worthwhile to watch a replay. The player build process is too fast in the beginning and takes a huge downfall once hitting the level 25 mark. I'd rather see more balance in the xp gain, no matter what level. And then level faster and make the game more enjoyable all year round instead of only 8 months into the player's lifetime.
We've been discussing ideas. No decisions yet. I agree the curve may be a bit too steep.
20. How will the new stamina changes affect the dynamics of the offensive and defensive lines in respect to holding and breaking blocks? Are the linemen going to need 60+ stamina to be effective now as well?
However, the O-line should regain morale (and a substantial amount of it too) if they can successfully drive the length of the field (using predominantly rushing plays) as that should effectively demoralize the defense (and place their manhood in question as they could not stop the run). This would also make confidence a bit more important to the players on the D-line than it currently seems to be at, as most D-line players in the upper leagues finish with 90+ morale each game still. Is there any chance of this type of morale boost coming for the O-line to maybe help balance the morale interaction between the trenches?
You've pretty much seen what the stamina effects do during this last season. We may do a little balancing in the OL/DL, though as I have noticed what you're talking about with morale. The fact that o line can now get things like aura of intimidation does throw a bit of interesting twists into the works, though!
21. Do MVP standings and overall performance during the season effect if you get a midseason endorsement that season, or is it purely on fame?
Midseason endorsements are a lottery of top MVP candidates on the team.
22. How will the financial changes change the GLB experience for regular users without teams?
Player-only users shouldn't really see much of a change other than being able to get equipment for free, training being free, and more options for their AEQ. The won't have to keep track of how much cash they have any more, or how many shopping tokens they have, which is two less things to deal with. Contracts are basically the same, and the morale bonus from your contract shows on your player page as a +X next to the morale bar.
The winner of the 5,000 Rewards Points is: lucky_eagle_13 - Congrats!!
1. How does QB pass priority work? Specifically:
a) What are the bonuses/penalties it generates ? Will it affect the QB check-downs speed?
b) Does it affect specific routes, or a certain portion of all routes ? Here are two possibility raised by the forum participants:
(1) where the player is within the particular route they are running on that play (i.e., if it's a 5 yard in, once they make the break at 5 yards they have effectively reached the proper "route distance"... or if it's a 13 yard curl they don't reach proper "route distance" until they are downfield and either at or near the point where they will make their break back towards the QB)
(2) whether the player's route is the right overall distance for that play... so if it's a long passing play with 2 WRs going deep up field and the 3rd read is to the HB in the flat, then the HB is not the right route distance for that play... or similarly a WR running a streak on what's otherwise a short passing play is not running the right "route distance" for that play.
c) How does it integrate with custom progressions ?
Assuming you're referring to "open man" vs "route distance" here. Think of 100% open man as not caring about how far the player is at all, and instead only calculating risk based on coverage. Think of 100% route distance as requiring a certain distance traveled before a player is considered to pass to, and scaling risk the closer the player gets to that distance. Spots in the middle are in between the two extremes, combining the risk calculations on a sliding scale. The QB will throw the ball when the calculated risk is below a certain threshold.
a) No bonuses/penalties. No, it doesn't affect checkdown speed.
b) Depends on the play. Streak type routes generally just look at how far down the field they are. Ins and hooks and such have a "sweet spot" after which the player is determined to be far enough, no matter where he is on the field. 100% route distance will wait until those conditions are satisfied, unless pressure really pushes the QB to throw early. 100% open man will ignore those things entirely.
c) There's no effect; the progressions just tell which order to look through. Risk calcs are the same.
2. If a player has a higher number in Lower the Shoulder and Surge does this increase the likelihood that the SA activates? If yes, the description should be updated to indicate this.
Sorta...it increases the power/duration of the skill. Lower the shoulder can activate and still not break a tackle, in which case you'd not know it was used. Surge requires you to be untouched, and more levels of it make it last longer. You're probably right that the descriptions could be updated, though, since more levels do sort of improve the chance of them "working."
3. If a WR has go to guy and is 3rd on the custom progressions, does the VA override the progressions?
No, it just adjusts the risk calculations, not the order.
4. Does Adrenaline Junkie work for missed tackles? And how much does a tackle/missed tackle effect energy in comparison to other things. A tiny bit, a little, about average, a little more, or a lot?
Yes, and energy loss depends on how badly the tackle was missed. On average, I'd say missed tackles cause medium energy loss. Morale is affected more than energy tho.
5. Are Super Basic Leagues going to happen in season 16 or will we have to wait?
I have not gotten them coded yet, so it is unlikely, though it wouldn't take long to do. However, we are planning on trying to get the intermediate tactics done next season, and we have been thinking it might make more sense to roll those out at the same time. We are also still working on the improved CPU template project, which is somewhat of a requirement for the full vision I had on the basic leagues. I will have to talk with Catch on what he thinks overall on those three projects.
6. How much longer until flash replays are here?
This offseason!
7. You guys have given out the salary caps for next season, and I was wondering how the penalty's are going to work. Will a penalty be enforced at rollover any day throughout the season if a team goes over that amount?
Yes, luxury tax processing will be part of the daily salary script.
8. What would your ideal situation for the league structure, and how could we get there?
That's a pretty difficult question. If I knew the ideal league structure, we wouldn't be debating about it, and we'd already have it. I do think there are some other extenuating circumstances beyond just structure that contribute to lowered competition, and the main one is the disparity between top and bottom teams, due to the amounts teams make, and through allowing continued exploitation of the money system. We are trying to fix that, however, with the changes we've been working on. If we can get more teams to feel less helpless, we should see competition improve regardless of what structure we have.
9. Does the rushing half of Bull Rusher work on Special Teams?
Yep
10. I realize this is a pretty basic question, but does the Wrap Up SA apply even if you have your player set for Balanced or Power tackling? The SA reads "all non-diving tackles" so I'm presuming the answer is yes, but the name is confusing because there is also a Wrap Up tackle setting.
Yep
11. There a lot of rumors surrounding when and how break through works. I've heard that even if you are only being blocked by one blocker it still gives you a +% to being able to break that block. Is this true? Also does it work on both the run and pass?
Nope, it only works when being double (or triple) teamed. Yes, it works against pass blocking, but the frequency of double team pass blocks is much lower than run blocking.
12. Is the chance for Catch Fake to fire based solely on the points in the SA and any +fake chance? My main question is does having higher physical stats such as agility or vision help it fire more often?
Nope, only the skill level.
13. Are there any plans for the future on what the players can spend there salary on?
Potentially...we had some ideas in the original idea of our finance update plan. Most likely it will just be bling and such though. "Prestige" type items that don't really do anything.
14. With the upcoming changes to the game's economic system and an increased emphasis on player morale, are there any plans to allow agents to see how their players' morale changed throughout a game (rather than simply showing a sad face and an end-game report)?
Possibly, if I can figure out a method that does not take tons and tons of disk space. Maybe some sort of per-quarter report or something maybe.
15. What are your thoughts about Staz's idea of football physics? Do you see it as a plausible project, or do you think it isn't going to work on a near future?
I have not had a chance to look at it or think about it thoroughly, so I cannot really comment at this time.
16. Preface: The GLB schedule is very fixed in the calendar and is the same for every league. I've been frequenting a different browser game (metroho), similar in some respects to GLB, and it uses a much different league scheduling structure. It has new leagues opening at all times with each league starting once it is filled with appropriately leveled teams and operating on it's own 30 day league schedule. The league finishes, the players on the team age, and promotions/demotions are handed out to particular teams. Those teams are then free to join any of the other new leagues available for which the team qualifies.
I see a number of benefits, most obviously that teams choose which league to join and when to join that league. It keeps the competition good (every team is real and prepared to start a season) and the scheduling flexible. It also allows every day to be the beginning of a league so that new players can begin ANYTIME instead of coming into the middle of a season as is done in GLB.
I think that a lot of the functions of GLB could be accomplished using this rolling schedule (all functions such as boosting, stadium upgrades, training must be accomplished during an active league). I think that some of the problems (league structure, league competitiveness, scheduling flexibility) could be overcome with this rolling schedule.
Question: Has GLB considered a rolling league schedule as described above?
I have thought about it; there are benefits, but there are potential issues as well that would need to be though out thoroughly. I think some sort of ladder system that is an ongoing fluid system might work as well. Having a fluid system with no real "offseason" certainly would have its benefits. Would need a lot of fleshing out to see if it were feasible.
17. After the major changes are released this off season,what can customers of GLB expect for the remainder of this calender year. Basically what will be done to keep your paying customers coming back?
Our remaining "big" projects are intermediate tactics, better CPUs, super-basic leagues, coaches, and any sort of league structuring that might help. And of course any sort of little improvements and whatnot. This is pretty much our push to no longer be "beta" so we can become more stable and just add in little things like plays or better animation, etc. Eventually we would like to have several other sports offerings available as well, to allow players to build a sports franchise empire
18. Just how much effect does defensive pass/run/no focus have on what a player actually does? Is it just the initial vision check?
Makes vision checks to recognize the play easier, improves reaction time, and gives bonuses/penalties to breaking blocks.
19. Is there any chance of speeding up the experience gain for players? I'm not a fan of the whole "start at level 40, etc". It takes at least 8 months for my players to get to a point where I'd consider it worthwhile to watch a replay. The player build process is too fast in the beginning and takes a huge downfall once hitting the level 25 mark. I'd rather see more balance in the xp gain, no matter what level. And then level faster and make the game more enjoyable all year round instead of only 8 months into the player's lifetime.
We've been discussing ideas. No decisions yet. I agree the curve may be a bit too steep.
20. How will the new stamina changes affect the dynamics of the offensive and defensive lines in respect to holding and breaking blocks? Are the linemen going to need 60+ stamina to be effective now as well?
However, the O-line should regain morale (and a substantial amount of it too) if they can successfully drive the length of the field (using predominantly rushing plays) as that should effectively demoralize the defense (and place their manhood in question as they could not stop the run). This would also make confidence a bit more important to the players on the D-line than it currently seems to be at, as most D-line players in the upper leagues finish with 90+ morale each game still. Is there any chance of this type of morale boost coming for the O-line to maybe help balance the morale interaction between the trenches?
You've pretty much seen what the stamina effects do during this last season. We may do a little balancing in the OL/DL, though as I have noticed what you're talking about with morale. The fact that o line can now get things like aura of intimidation does throw a bit of interesting twists into the works, though!
21. Do MVP standings and overall performance during the season effect if you get a midseason endorsement that season, or is it purely on fame?
Midseason endorsements are a lottery of top MVP candidates on the team.
22. How will the financial changes change the GLB experience for regular users without teams?
Player-only users shouldn't really see much of a change other than being able to get equipment for free, training being free, and more options for their AEQ. The won't have to keep track of how much cash they have any more, or how many shopping tokens they have, which is two less things to deal with. Contracts are basically the same, and the morale bonus from your contract shows on your player page as a +X next to the morale bar.
Edited by Catch22 on May 16, 2010 14:36:42
