Oriole fan I know this is way down on the list, but it would be nice to get a better understanding of where you are in a battle for a recruit. The way it is now you really don't know if you are winning until after signing. You either get lucky and sign him or he says something like he is leaning your way. It really is hard with a lot of the positive feed back that you get to understand if you are leading and by how much. Maybe you could have a list of statements depending on recruit action ACV,HV,CV,ACS,HCS,or ACPC,HCPC etc' and depending on the statement  you could have a value associated with that. It could be your tied 50-50,up 60-40, up 70-30, down 40-60,down 30-70 etc; . If the recruit is concidering you, say it doesn't have to be 100%. Maybe 80% and above he is yours. That way it might be easier to judge how much to spend if at all. Right now it is a big guessing game like pass/run LOL. Then in D1A you have to factor in prestige. I know there is no way to know how much cash the other team has left, but it might simplify things some for new owners. Plus do away with SIMS unlimited budget. Give them the same ammount we get plus Bowl/playoff money and maybe give them a set ammount per round.

It would be great to get rid of the auction set-up all together. There should be some sort of set-up where the recruit gets offers (calls, letters, scouts, game tickets etc - cheap stuff - can be done during the season) from everyone (like the letters stacked up by the couch at home). Then, after the season he sends a note out to the top 10 teams (based on recent history - 5 seasons - of wins, PO-Bowls etc - should have some Division overlap - top DII overlaps bottom D1AA as example). These teams can see these recruits at the start of the recruiting period after roll over. (Teams could also try to get interest in new recruits - may be a handicap to new coaches, but maybe the game can give newbies a recruiting bump in $$$ to get them started - or have a list of recruits ready for them). They then try to get more interest by using one per round recruiting steps like HC, AC visits to the recruit and CV to come see the school. Recruit may accept if he has the time (and is not doing anything else). HC home visits (a one-on-one situation) would carry the most weight. SIM teams would recruit the same way and maybe be on teams closer to home (as vikes stated - for SIM teams - hold them to the same rules and $$$ amounts as humans). At the end the recruit would start to drop teams and get down to 2 - 3 teams and state (if one is well ahead) "I'm signing with Boss State, unless something ridiculous happens" and then signes next cycle. If the competition for a recruit is close, he may end up with 2 teams. This is where coach promises (booster gifts?!?!?!?) would come in for the final push.

Many other possibilities out there.

Just an example of really how much better recruiting could be with just a little imagination.

Good ideas, but FIX THE ENGINE FIRST!

Recruiting is fine, it always has been, fix fatigue.

Posted by bhouska on 12/22/2013 2:26:00 PM (view original):
Recruiting is fine, it always has been, fix fatigue.

+1
No reason to fix what isn't broke - fatigue, fatigue, fatigue is the priority

I didn't say it was a high priority, but  a SIM from Mass. should never win against a school from California. Plus I think if your green before signing that should lock you in. Everyone here preaches about real life situations. Where would a recruit change his mind the day before committing to a school. It is not a big deal, but I hate wasting money LOL.

I agree with Vikesrule.  Recruiting is not really fine.  the messages are misleading and confusing.  It certainly is not nearly as important as the engine and paticularly fatigue, but it should be on the to do list.   

1) clean up responses so they are clear 
2) get rid of nonsense messages that have no meaning or value
2) assign numerical values to responses like suggested above
3) give coaches the ability to schedule exhibition games in advance

Recruiting is in pretty good shape but fixing these little annoyances would earn a lot of good will with a lot of coaches!     

Real life recruits decommit all the time; I'm sure with a less-than-stellar HS education, most of them give unclear messages, and I'm sure many  of them are nonsense.  Many here believe that recruiting is the most fun aspect of the game; why fix what isn't broke when so many other things are?

When it comes to SIMS and prestige I'm sorry it's broke. It's mainly in D1A I don't really have a problem in the lower levels except for an occassional pesky SIM. I just don't think the elite schools should have such an advantage that you could spend half your recruit money on one recruit and lose. This with a 4 recruit advantage. The fatigue thing isn't that big a deal, since everyone is on an even playing field. When they do impliment that, your going to see more injuries(if they impliment that at the same time LOL) and I'm sure people will complain about that too. I like this game and I'm not planning on leaving anytime soon. I would just like a clearer picture when it comes to recruiting. When you get all positive responses up to an including signing, and then two cycles later it goes negative it just doesn't make sense.

Regarding recruiting.....if you wanna know for sure, turn them green. Otherwise, the only email you ever need to read is the email immediately after signings and each subsequent email after that. If you're reading any emails prior to signings (aside from scouts) you're wasting your time.

Really I would have never thought getting them green would guarenteee me them LOL. If the message is possitive after signing, how are you suppose to know how close they are to signing. I can't tell you how many I have lost when leading after signing. I even had cash left over, but obviously not enough LOL.

Posted by dream76 on 12/22/2013 9:56:00 PM (view original):
Real life recruits decommit all the time; I'm sure with a less-than-stellar HS education, most of them give unclear messages, and I'm sure many  of them are nonsense.  Many here believe that recruiting is the most fun aspect of the game; why fix what isn't broke when so many other things are?

Right.  But why is there nonsense in the head coach and assistant coach scouting reports?  Laundry bills?  He likes buffet lines?  He wants nice cars?  Now, none of this matters so it is not a big deal.  Very few coaches mistake that for useful info.  However, "he is not strict with his diet" or "he is not really a team player" for instance could confuse a new coach.  That could potentially be useful info but isn't in this game.  Responses like that should be removed. 

"With a little work he could be the complete package" does or does not mean good potential?  The answer is not in the guide.  I posted about this once and got many different answers.  Some swore it was good potential.  others swore it was average.  The wording certainly seems like it should be good potential!  The complete package might even be interpreted as sky is the limit.  COmplete package is as good as it gets right?

How about  "He's not the most gifted athlete . . . but not bad at all".  This seems like it should be average potential.  Yet it is good (according to the guide in the forums).

If you are a coach, and you get back 2 reports on 2 different athletes and one says, "not the most gifted athlete...but not bad at all" and the other says, "with a little work he could be the complete package", would you assume they both had the same potential?  I wouldn't.   

I am not saying recruiting is terrible.  I agree it is one of the better aspects of the game.  I also agree it could be better though. I think sometimes it might be helpful to look at the game through a new coach's eyes and not through eyes of coaches who have played for 50 seasons, downloaded recruiting addons and have read through the forums.  Empty worlds with a handful of coaches who understand the intricacies of the game is no fun.  Make the responses intuitive so we don't need a guide to intepret it and new coaches won't feel as lost.  

Version 3 added position roles to aid in the recruiting process and roster organization.  It also added sub positions (olb vs ilb for instance rather than just lb) to the basic search.  We can now search based on those position ratings rather than overall ratings.  These are good features that improve the game, especially for new coaches or coaches who are not interested in downloading addons, even though many coaches would have sworn recruiting didn't need to be improved upon.       

Posted by bhouska on 12/22/2013 10:45:00 PM (view original):
Regarding recruiting.....if you wanna know for sure, turn them green. Otherwise, the only email you ever need to read is the email immediately after signings and each subsequent email after that. If you're reading any emails prior to signings (aside from scouts) you're wasting your time.

If the only emails you should pay attention to are the scholarship offers, why have the other BS. They should just tell you which way the recruit is leaning towards each time after the initial signing period.

Recruiting is the best part of this game.  I wouldn't change it much if at all.  The only messages you need to read is from the first cycle of scouting visits to see what a recruits potential will be.  In real life recruiting, recruits decommit all the time.  If we're spoon fed all the info about which school is in the lead I think recruiting battles will be non existant and boring.  In real life the coaches don't know 100% until they receive the fax from the player on signing day.

Posted by vikesrule69 on 12/23/2013 3:17:00 AM (view original):

Posted by bhouska on 12/22/2013 10:45:00 PM (view original):
Regarding recruiting.....if you wanna know for sure, turn them green. Otherwise, the only email you ever need to read is the email immediately after signings and each subsequent email after that. If you're reading any emails prior to signings (aside from scouts) you're wasting your time.

If the only emails you should pay attention to are the scholarship offers, why have the other BS. They should just tell you which way the recruit is leaning towards each time after the initial signing period.

I'm not saying they shouldn't.  What I am saying is that until the engine is as close to 100% as we're gonna get it, don't worry about meaningless $hit like redundant BS in the emails.  Just don't read them!