*The League As I See It-Part 2: DDSPF21

[Rusfan]

DDSPF21:

Yes, I know Jpach posted an update on this today but I was making this before then so whatever


Ahhhh, DDSPF21. If you’re a CB1, a DE, a WR, or a QB not named Caliban you love it. If you’re a Safety, a DT not named Big Edd, a Nickle cornerback, or a RB you hate it. I can say from my experience there are some definite improvements. So far we haven’t found any awful exploits to this sim like we had before such as the 79 speed QB, and the ability to see the ball in the air is a definite improvement.
The new sim also means the need for a new set of strategies, and this first season has led to some definitely unexpected outcomes, Honolulu being the top of the ASFC, and the Otters seeming to be likely to miss the playoffs unless they go on a run and get some luck along the way. There's no way to predict how long this will last, maybe after a season things will go back to normal and we’ll all bow to our cute and cuddly overlord, or maybe we’ll see certain teams like Arizona finally reach their full potential that they should’ve hit for years.
I think ultimately that’d be best for the league as a whole, not just to see old
dominant teams start to struggle, but to see teams that many know should’ve been good years ago finally get their chance to shine. I use Arizona as my main example mainly due to their constant underperformance throughout recent years compared to their talent. Poor recently retired Jay Cue knew this better than anybody, the man was for a time the highest TPE player in the league but retired with something like one playoff appearance and no wins with an extremely talented team around him.
As for the on the field performance, there is a definite improvement to the gameplay, fewer glitches seem to be apparent, though they are still around, but not nearly as bad as they used to be. I no longer see and QB taking off on a run but staying still at the same time until he’s tackled for a loss or a defensive player sitting 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage and staying entirely out of the play making the game 10 on 11. That’s not to say it’s perfect of course, I’ve seen a defensive player start in the backfield and get an instant sack a few times and sometimes a player will make a play on the ball despite being nowhere near it. But all in all I think that those are trades everyone would make after the disaster that was certain situations in Draft Day Sports SImi-ish-kinda-pro Football 2016.
The biggest change I argue is the sudden lack of massive swings due to home field advantage. According to my sources (aka whoever the hell I was talking to at the time) home field advantage could swing a game's win percentage chances as much as 15%, but in our newest sim it seems home field advantage means absolutely nothing. Personally I would have preferred something like a 5% swing or somewhere thereabouts but I’ll take no change over a massive swing if those are my options.
I also feel the need to touch on traits. Maybe this would have gone better in the player progression section, but I feel like this also fits here. I like having more control over players on-the-field performance and traits are a good way to distinguish certain players over others, but only about ½ the traits for any player are actually useful. Athlete and whatever position specific trait that is also available. It seems the competitive trait and stat is largely irrelevant as well as role model trait. So it’s nice to have options but it’d be even nicer if those options meant more to each player. Sort of like a telltale game in fact.
Also a small point but a nice one I’d like to touch on is the personalization of the field for each team. Before we had some customization sure but nothing like what we have now with truly custom fields with colors and names. I mean Honolulu has a blue field for christs sake, that never would’ve happened in 16. It almost makes up for the lack of an actual home field advantage to have a home field that is distinctly yours.
Alright, I’ve been putting it off but now it’s time to rip off the bandaid. The death of the FS. It’s a sad moment in the history of this league. FS used to be the position of choice for secondary members due to an increased chance for interceptions, Corners were always picked on and SS was if you wanted sacks or tackles. Now that’s all changed. Suddenly SS are dominant and CB1s are the main source of INTs and PDs. What do FS do now I hear you ask? Well if the sim gods decide that the opposing offense is going to take a deep shot once a game a FS might have a shot at deflecting that pass for 1 PD. The rest of the game a FS might make 1 or 2 tackles and barely make the stat sheet. Now like in real life you might argue that a safety is at his best when you don’t see him on the field, since largely his job is to contain big plays, but with the added length of games and the turnover prone-ness of certain gameplans, I still think FS might be needing a boost, however that can happen. Until then I suggest you avoid that spot if you can. 
That about covers it for the new sim! This is probably going to be one of the shorter segments that I’ll write, since this is basically just a review of what I see, not a thread of ideas to explain. I’ll see you all for part 3 in which I cover the league economy!

[Pat]

CB1 is the choice for PD or INT?

Could you please tell that to my garbage player? He's CB1 and has a total of 0 INT and 6 PD. I swear he is too busy dreaming about some righteous chicken wings he had before the game to play football.

[Big Edd]

DDSPF21:

If you’re a Safety, a DT not named Big Edd, a Nickle cornerback, or a RB you hate it.

hey that’s me