This is unlikely to say anything that hasn't already been highlighted, however to try and work out why the
feel of the game is off I've run a quick comparison between the NFL and my own MFN league. A couple of caveats: the league I run is only in its third season, so there is a lot of variance in team composition and in owner capability (we have several teams that nuked their cap and are currently struggling - friends don't let friends use the contract wizard). Second, we're only in week 7 of 0.4.5 so it does not represent full season data.
So here's my
reckon.
I reckon for the game to feel exciting and rewarding there are both highs and lows within a game. The highs are obvious enough - racking up yards, scoring points, sacking the QB, making a turnover. The lows are also obvious - turning the ball over, losing yards on a play, conceding a penalty.
For the game to feel "right" you can't have one without the other. If it's too easy it's not fun (and someone has to lose, so it definitely won't be fun for them). Equally, if it's too hard, it's not fun. Right now, in my opinion, the issue is most clearly highlighted in those top 5 stats:
Average Score (per team)
Offensive yards
Yards per play
Yards per point
At present, not only are we not making as many offensive yards as in the NFL, but we need more of them to score a point. If the YPP were brought into line with the NFL, yardage would increase as would scoring. Chances are, this would have a knock-on effect where, due to the number of touchdowns vs field goals increasing it would also bring down the yards per point value.
While I can't easily pull the numbers from the league, the unfilled numbers (1st, 3rd down, conversion %) feel down a little for first downs, about right for third downs but 3rd down conversion is maybe 5% higher. If I get time, I'll run these numbers properly.
The biggest variance however is in penalties, and I'm not sure where I stand. I dislike penalties no matter whether I'm on the receiving end or not, however they are part of the game. More cause and effect being evident between penalties occurring and the player involved would be welcome - but it may already be a good thing that they're reduced in the game. Ask me again, if parity is reached.
The point of this post isn't to slam the game, far from it. Having played a couple of games similar to this (G3, GLB) MFN is superior to everything else by a very long way and it feels like it's maybe a couple of screwdriver turns away from nailing it. 0.4.5 is clearly better than 0.4.4, but there's still a little way to go to bring the fun back.
I look forward to it happening.
