Importance of Formation IQ Topic

Such is life in GD that as each season starts I look at the Guess ratings and think that I've done a good job recruiting and building an overall roster.  I, like a lot of us, think that this could be the year we go deep in the playoffs and have a 11,12 or 13 win season only to end the regular season 9-5.  Some losses are acceptable given they are against consistent top teams and the game was well played, we just lost.  Some losses are against an AI team that you should have no business losing to, but it happens in real life, so it's possible to happen here too.  

Then there is a loss against a team that has a pretty good roster ranked 20 overall in Guess while my team was 11 overall. Yet the #20 team while having a good roster with nice overall attributes and currently sitting 14-0, does not practice any formations and the average formation IQ for pretty much most of the roster ranges from 7-12 for each formation for each player and my team averages roughly low 30's with some in the 40's and 50's.

Nothing against this coach, but what am I missing here?  If rosters are pretty much equal, but one team has a defined advantage in formation iq's, shouldn't that be a deciding edge?
7/9/2013 2:57 PM
To be honest, this engine can be such a crapshoot sometimes you never know what trumps what. IMO, just put the best team you can out there and cross your fingers.
7/9/2013 4:28 PM
I avoid all the hassle and confusion and fingernail biting....I set my depth chart alphabetically and don't practice any formations.  If I win, it was blind luck, if I lose it's 'cause I didn't practice the formations.....  It sure as hell wasn't the coach!
7/9/2013 4:53 PM
Formation IQ has been a red herring as long as I've been around.
7/9/2013 10:53 PM
From what I remember Norbert discussing, the range of formIQ=0 & formIQ=100 would correspond to 0-5% modification of *some* of the ratings--GI & Tech, and maybe a couple others...  And since for practical purposes, you're only comparing players 7-12 vs. players in the 40s or 50s if formations are well-practiced, the difference is actually more like a 2% change. 

Not sure if I would say it is a red herring, because I suppose if the above is correct, then formIQ does count for *something*, but the overall effect on the game outcome has to be considered negligible.
7/10/2013 2:11 AM
My whole point is, lets say Norbert is correct, and formation iq modifies ratings 5%.....what does that really mean? I've had teams well over the 5% threshold better than my opposition and still lose.

I practice formations just to say I've done what I'm supposed to. Same reason I recruit for HNDS for WR. Like I said, there's no magic formula with this engine, do what you're supposed to do, recruit the best players you can, then cross your fingers.

Damn I miss 1.0.....
7/10/2013 9:11 AM
Posted by bhouska on 7/10/2013 9:11:00 AM (view original):
My whole point is, lets say Norbert is correct, and formation iq modifies ratings 5%.....what does that really mean? I've had teams well over the 5% threshold better than my opposition and still lose.

I practice formations just to say I've done what I'm supposed to. Same reason I recruit for HNDS for WR. Like I said, there's no magic formula with this engine, do what you're supposed to do, recruit the best players you can, then cross your fingers.

Damn I miss 1.0.....
+1 on the 1.0 comment. At least then, we knew what we had, and what we were facing!
7/10/2013 11:16 PM
bhouska says it right.  The FIQ is just another of the many, many factors that impact a given play and you never know which one of those factors is actually the one the truly "triggers" the result of a given play.

There is another flaw here in the basic logic.  The GUESS ratings are not perfect (which is not a ding to Bob...just something we all agree on I think).  They are based on a theoretical Pro Set/I Formation based Offense and a 4-3 based Defense.   There is a "bonus" applied to the assumed starters (the best rated at each position).  The effect of this normalization makes teams not quite as "equal" as they might seem.  Anyone who runs a primary offense and/or defense that is not Pro/I and/or 4-3 will be likely penalized in overall GUESS ratings.  Example:  team runs Shotgun 100% of time.  No RBs on the roster.  GUESS ratings can't find any RBs...and will only count the top 2 WRs....so you get a bit of a "penalty" when compared to a more traditional team.  At least I think that is the way it would work.

The summary of that is you should look the GUESS ratings in groups of maybe 10-15.  So, IMO, team X is just as good as the team 10-15 spots higher and lower in the GUESS rankings.  Anyone with an overall GUESS rating of 30 or better has the capability of winning a National Championship.
7/11/2013 6:33 AM
I think the assumption here is that only formation IQ is to blame for the "mediocrity".  What about player practice? How much time are you putting in and where? Also what about game planning? Are you game planning at all? Do you scout your opponents or even yourself? If your team is that highly talented, #11 Guess,  you should lose only very rarely to SIM. There's way more to getting that edge than just form IQ.
7/11/2013 8:59 AM
Posted by ez37 on 7/10/2013 11:16:00 PM (view original):
Posted by bhouska on 7/10/2013 9:11:00 AM (view original):
My whole point is, lets say Norbert is correct, and formation iq modifies ratings 5%.....what does that really mean? I've had teams well over the 5% threshold better than my opposition and still lose.

I practice formations just to say I've done what I'm supposed to. Same reason I recruit for HNDS for WR. Like I said, there's no magic formula with this engine, do what you're supposed to do, recruit the best players you can, then cross your fingers.

Damn I miss 1.0.....
+1 on the 1.0 comment. At least then, we knew what we had, and what we were facing!
+1
7/11/2013 3:42 PM
Posted by kev959 on 7/11/2013 8:59:00 AM (view original):
I think the assumption here is that only formation IQ is to blame for the "mediocrity".  What about player practice? How much time are you putting in and where? Also what about game planning? Are you game planning at all? Do you scout your opponents or even yourself? If your team is that highly talented, #11 Guess,  you should lose only very rarely to SIM. There's way more to getting that edge than just form IQ.
I'm not blaming formation IQ on my team's mediocrity for this season.  This team lost to 1 sim and the rest were humans.  I scout my opponents and game plan for each game, using the formations that I practice.  As I was looking at this team, I was surprised to see that he wasn't practicing formations, yet was 13-0 at the time of our game and ultimately went 15-1.  It was something that I really hadn't seen before as pretty much all of the teams I had come up against practiced formations and thought that should have been an advantage.  I thought they were a little more significant in the game play, turns out I had over estimated.
7/12/2013 3:02 PM
Importance of Formation IQ Topic

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