In 0.4.3, a nerf was introduced to cause players to drop the ball at increasing rates when the player was wide open. The nerf was introduced because coverage was so hilariously broken that receivers would be wide open down the field all the time. The nerf still exists.

The reason I'm particularly mad about this nerf still being around is that it punishes game planners -- and there are other things in the game that equally punish game planners. And, here's the thing, how can you have a simulation game if you are just going to punish the people that really want to get into the simulation part of the game?

Some things JDB could do, right now, and should have done six months ago, to improve the playability of 0.4.5 and encourage people to get back into actual game planning:

1) Turn off drops - Just turn them off. They are still broken by the 0.4.3 catch nerf, and they make the game ridiculous. 90+ catch players have 20-30 drops a year when they should have 0-3. (I have a 98 catch receiver on pace for 24 drops in one league.)

2) Turn off play knowledge - This concept is OK, but the execution has been awful since the beginning. There is no way that play knowledge should affect as many aspects of the game -- including modifying physical attributes -- that it does.

Let's just start with those two since they are the ones that affect game planning the most. If I'm a good game planner, I want to pick out the plays that work and I don't want to wait 10-12 game seasons to have enough play knowledge that I'm not nerfed for no reason. And when I game plan to get my best WR open, I want to see him actually catch the ball.

These two things will bring back more long passing and big plays - that will make the arcade players happy - and it'll make game planning enjoyable, which is what the sim players really want.

For what it's worth, neither of these things is fixed in 0.4.6 in beta either. In fact, dropped passes are even more noticeable since defenders knockdown 60% of the passes.

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Here's a perfect example of how the game let's down players all the time. The WR finds the hole in coverage on 3rd down, the QB threads the needle, and the WR just drops the ball: https://mfn19.myfootballnow.com/watch/7460#1388018

You see this play 100 times a week in the NFL. No one drops that pass. No one. (Except may Coradelle Patterson ... but only him.)

+100

While I generally agree with your post as a whole, for that exact play, I'd like to think the mention of the hold that wasn't called had an effect.

I feel like I see too many obscure drops, especially when 40-some catch rating guys with 95+ speed who burn their man and then have free room to sprint for a TD can catch it nearly 100% of the time.

With all due respect, I dont really see this. On my teams the drop rate is maybe 15% for the problem guys. But, I gotta ask, are you suggesting that when you get the right call and everything else is good the receiver should never drop the ball? Obviously it happens pretty frequently in NFL games...

CM

I think the point setherick is making, is that if he's 100% open, there's no interferrence at all from a defender and the ball is thrown perfectly to him, the drop chances are too high. Not that they should be removed completely, but they're too high.

At least, that's how I understood his post.

TBH I like it the way it is. I too had a star receiver who would inexplicably drop the ball, so I traded him. 90 default rating my foot.

It is inconsistencies like this, and the way that some players just seem to be more injury-prone than others that make the game more lifelike and less a test of who can build the best spreadsheet.

this one = https://mfn19.myfootballnow.com/community/3/6018?page=1#36618



well i would imagine #2 in this thread is going to do this = https://mfn1.myfootballnow.com/forums/6/1899?page=1#11257

So if people want what Setherick said best follow MFN 1 Beta Chat and if any openings happen join

No it doesn't. A drop by NFL definition is a ball that was within the WRs control, and he failed to make the catch. Most plays where a WR doesn't catch the ball are not drops -- ball is thrown too high, WR had to extend, WR can't set their feet, etc. Not drops.

In 2018, the NFL leaders in drops had 11 and 10 respectively: https://www.foxsports.com/nfl/stats?season=2018&week=100&category=RECEIVING&opp=0&sort=10&qualified=1&sortOrder=0

In MFN 19, we have multiple players with 10 through 5 games...

But, anyway, your point is valid because there is some nuance I didn't add in the OP. Drops are tied to distance the ball is thrown. The longer the distance, the greater the chance to drop.

Basically anything over 10 yards in the air has a 50/50 chance of being dropped. Anything longer than 15 feels more like 75% if the WR is wide open.

Multiple NFL QBs completed >60% of their passes between 21-30 yards last season: https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stat-analysis/2019/2018-19-deep-ball-project

So ... you are right. You can limit your best WRs to 15% drops (which is ABSURDLY HIGH) by not throwing the ball more than 10 yards on any pass.

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Update to OP: This _will_ be fixed in 0.4.6.



https://mfn1.myfootballnow.com/forums/6/1899?page=1&x=hI0qkzBJxx#11261

Great thread here. Dropped passes are a real life problem of the game that should not be removed completely. The long pass is an issue I would like to briefly add on here. This might be aside from the dropped passes issue, but I rarely see a long pass play..... that actually has a long pass like 40 or more yards down the field. You know the PA WR streaks play..... well most of the time it is not a far throw at all either to the #1 or #2. Its usually a 15 yard zip where the receiver breaks free from the CB after the ball is thrown. On all of the long pass plays.... I have never seen a good seam or go route where the QB throws the ball and it is an actual bomb way down the field. Why is this?

The real hilarity here is that long passes were a problem in 0.4.3 and 0.4.4, but get covered well in 0.4.5 ... but the FL Hitch (and all other slant plays) can break a defense badly (50 yards per catch).