Personnel packages v. Depth charts

AlexB · 05-06-2018, 06:40 PM

FOF8 saw a major change in the removal of depth charts in favour of having set personnel for particular offensive packages.

However, by removing depth charts, there was literally zero control over who went into the game if the nominated player in a certain formation was injured or below the endurance threshold, which led to loss of control over playing time, and in extreme, but fairly regular, instances, examples of an offensive tackle lining up at WR (and actually being effective).

I can see why the packages idea was used, but it led to an increased complicated GUI but with less control with subs and back-ups.

So for the best of both worlds, I’m really hoping the new game has the package personnel screen and depth charts.

My dream would be you set the the packages screen up at the start of the season, and then you can leave it, unless you sign new players or young players develop beyond the nominated starters

In conjunction with this, at the start of the season you set your primary and secondary back ups for each position in a similar vein to FOF7, for each position (not each position in each package, but for each position in general - I see a screen with depth for specific positions like QB, LT, C, RG, etc, but also for wideout, slot, short yardage back, pass catching back, blocking TE, receiving TE, etc)

This way if your starter is injured, your nominated player goes into the game, not the game’s choice, If the back-up gets injured, next man up. Same for wideouts, slot receivers, pass-catching backs, blocking TE’s, etc - these back-up depth charts would apply to all personnel packages.

The other advantage of this is that in case of injury, there would be no need to reorder the packages screen or depth charts between games as is currently the case - the injured/inactive player could remain on the screens, but the back-ups would automatically go in due to injury.

This method would retain the individualism of the packages personnel, allow the user to have far greater control of development of younger players and playing time, but also save time by being a universal season long system unless the FOF GM decides to promote a player: the fannying around after injuries with manually entering the new starter and reinserting the original starter on his return would be eliminated, and the immersion-breaking commentary of a 300lb+ tackle streaking down the sideline would be a thing of the past.

A similar system can be applied to defence: run/pass options for DT/DE/ILB/OLB, slot/wide options for CB, etc.

Those playing on a week to week sim schedule can increase control and save time, those simming season by season can get increased control.

For me the complete lack of control over backups & subs is by far the biggest weakness in FOF8, and this seems on the face of it to be the best solution.

05-06-2018, 06:40 PM	#1
AlexB Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Feb 2018 Posts: 33	Personnel packages v. Depth charts FOF8 saw a major change in the removal of depth charts in favour of having set personnel for particular offensive packages. However, by removing depth charts, there was literally zero control over who went into the game if the nominated player in a certain formation was injured or below the endurance threshold, which led to loss of control over playing time, and in extreme, but fairly regular, instances, examples of an offensive tackle lining up at WR (and actually being effective). I can see why the packages idea was used, but it led to an increased complicated GUI but with less control with subs and back-ups. So for the best of both worlds, I’m really hoping the new game has the package personnel screen and depth charts. My dream would be you set the the packages screen up at the start of the season, and then you can leave it, unless you sign new players or young players develop beyond the nominated starters In conjunction with this, at the start of the season you set your primary and secondary back ups for each position in a similar vein to FOF7, for each position (not each position in each package, but for each position in general - I see a screen with depth for specific positions like QB, LT, C, RG, etc, but also for wideout, slot, short yardage back, pass catching back, blocking TE, receiving TE, etc) This way if your starter is injured, your nominated player goes into the game, not the game’s choice, If the back-up gets injured, next man up. Same for wideouts, slot receivers, pass-catching backs, blocking TE’s, etc - these back-up depth charts would apply to all personnel packages. The other advantage of this is that in case of injury, there would be no need to reorder the packages screen or depth charts between games as is currently the case - the injured/inactive player could remain on the screens, but the back-ups would automatically go in due to injury. This method would retain the individualism of the packages personnel, allow the user to have far greater control of development of younger players and playing time, but also save time by being a universal season long system unless the FOF GM decides to promote a player: the fannying around after injuries with manually entering the new starter and reinserting the original starter on his return would be eliminated, and the immersion-breaking commentary of a 300lb+ tackle streaking down the sideline would be a thing of the past. A similar system can be applied to defence: run/pass options for DT/DE/ILB/OLB, slot/wide options for CB, etc. Those playing on a week to week sim schedule can increase control and save time, those simming season by season can get increased control. For me the complete lack of control over backups & subs is by far the biggest weakness in FOF8, and this seems on the face of it to be the best solution. Last edited by AlexB; 05-06-2018 at 06:46 PM.