i used to figure it worked something like that, but there's nothing in the engine decision steps laid out for us that really suggests that would be the case. it just doesn't fit. it might be a factor in some things, like specific turnover rolls and such, but most of the impact of IQ almost certainly comes from a direct impact on shooting, rebounding, and defensive outcomes.
based on the above, to me, there are sort of 3 places iq could fit - it could modify ratings, and it could modify abilities, before or after they are mapped to an outcome. for example, for a shooter, their ratings combine to form some ability, which is somehow compared to the defensive ability and mapped to a field goal %, and then a dice is rolled against that field goal %. i figure iq comes into play before the ability is mapped. i like to think of shooting as placing you somewhere on a curve, if you image a graph of projected fg% over ability score, as a curve, basically like the parabolic curve of n squared rotated over x=y, so the the curve starts steep and flattens out in a nice sloping fashion. this kind of curve would explain why shooting ability increases are so worthless for long parts of the 0->60 scaling (a 1 per/spd/bh is not that much more unacceptable than a 50 per/spd/bh, even in d3, and to 60/60/60 for high d3), then scales so rapidly from 60->90 but then drops off. i think the reason for this is that a 90/90/90 guy is already so high on the parabolic curve that he is essentially adding nothing by going to 100/100/100, even if the base product of those ratings is substantially higher than at 90/90/90.
to me, iq most likely comes before the mapping from ability to chance of a particular outcome, for 2 main reasons. first, coding wise, earlier is easier. second, for offense, where iq was most prominent, and still where it is of particular import, if iq was applied afterwards, you would think for high end ratings players - there would be meaningful differentiation between a+ and a- players, in d1. there is not. in d2 and d3, from my experience, there is - you continue to reap significant benefits of IQ all the way up the scale. the reality is, in d2/d3, you generally don't hit that top part of the curve, so continuing to increase ratings generally always matters. in d1, adding 5 per/spd/bh to a player, it can often add negative net value - the increase in shooting % is so small, it is easily out weighted by the increased chance of leaving early. you see similar impact from iq - marginal increases matter everywhere until you get to that high end, at which point they add so little, the benefit disappears. this would only happen if iq was applied to the ability at an early place - IMO, it is applied precisely at the place where the ability is initially constructed, before it is compared or translated.
5/15/2016 8:06 PM (edited)