First let me say thanks to all those who sent good wishes my way. Still trying to catch up on the sitemail and I promise to answer each one. And I owe some of you a phone chat and that too is forthcoming. This has all been unexpectedly very humbling.
But - I logged on because I was told folks wanted answers to the info I was aware of or heard about so here is what I do know first hand and what I know second hand. And don't take this as my being available for a discussion on the matter - I'm pretty sure I won't be back on the forums since I have no interest in this game but I did want say thanks and clarify a few things.
This game has had it's fair share of loopholes or idiosyncrasies or whatever - many of which I've discussed on TTATO. Others I've only been told about but never received the full details. IE, I have been told to look at certain aspects of a particular game's play-by-play and subsequent result and sure enough, what the coach said would happen happened. Now, I'm not referring to a super good team whipping a poor team by running it down their throat or passing for crazy yards. It was more of the foretelling of the results on certain down and distances, and/or field positions, game times, etc where the coach said such and such would happen and it did - almost always. And it just didn't make football sense that that would or should happen. I was not told HOW to make these results happen but I've seen it too many times to not put credence in the reality that parts of this game are being "exploited" by some very successful coaches. I'm not insinuating that all successful coaches gained their success through exploiting shortcomings or oversights, but a couple of successful coaches did shed just a little bit of light on the fact the game has it's hidden gems. Such as:
1) the offensive settings can manipulate the defense into being out of "position". The method is not in line with what one would expect to see in an actual football game, hence it goes contrary to what a coach would be able to do in the real world. It's essentially mastering the ones and zeros of this digital game beyond what is logical for a football game. The result is consistent big chunk plays, regardless of quality of the offensive player with the ball. I don't know the specific details but again, I've seen the results.
2) Being able to give almost everyone on your roster a "start" - pretty easy to do by adjusting substitution percentage, depth chart positioning, etc. Not really what I would consider a loophole but again, it's ones and zeros and I don't know of many players who would consider themselves a "starter" by getting a couple minutes playing time in the 2nd qtr and again in the 4th qtr.
3) Promising a scholarship and being able to withdraw it anytime without penalty as long as no other recruiting effort was placed after offering the scholarship. When you're ready to pull back the scholarship just offer an AC phone call, then on the history tab click withdraw action repeatedly and the AC phone call disappears and the cost is refunded AND the scholarship offer disappears and the scholarship offer cost is refunded. I've gotten this to work about 70% of the times I've tried it since the latest update. More importantly, the recruit will still be green or yellow and it doesn't cost you $100 to do so. Ever see a team with quadrillions of players green at the start of recruiting? My guess is that happens when a coach offers scholarships to dozens or more players on the first cycle. If a player does not turn green for that team after offering just a scholarship, the scholarship is pulled and the cost refunded and the player is none the wiser. AND the coach can pull the scholarship in this manner from green or yellow recruits and get the cost refunded AND the recruit remains green or yellow. This wasn't worth the time or effort in my opinion so it was not something I did after confirming the processes worked two or three times.
4) When converting multiple players into a particular position, ie, two or more TEs to OL, do them all at once as fast as you can and the WE drop (or less increase) that normally happens when you convert the players individually won't happen. Following the steps in this manner results in each player "perceiving" he's the only one being converted. In other words, don't wait for one conversion to process before completing the next one. Basically, open the player profile page for each player, select the position change on each player and then hit confirm and ok for the first one and do the same for the next one as quickly as possible. Works about 90% the time.
5) I've not confirmed this but I was told there is a "Golden Moment" between the time the recruiting efforts process and the time they are updated on the recruiting summary where you can make those efforts again and then withdraw them quickly and those efforts and the previous efforts costs are refunded but the recruit still credits you for the effort. Essentially, you could offer an undecided recruit a Campus Visit and once that effort processes offer another Campus Visit AND withdraw it before the recruit summary updates and the recruit will credit you for one Campus Visit and likely turn green but you're refunded for the TWO Campus Visits and the recruit stays green until someone else puts in more effort. I was told this practice is why some schools never seem to run out of recruiting money.
I'm not protecting anyone - I don't have a dog in the fight and I'm sure there are others who know way more details to some of this stuff than I can imagine. I don't recall any other methods, mechanics, loopholes, whatever that have been whispered my way. This isn't gospel, but it is first hand or second hand info. Info that was mentioned to WIS GD staff in either sitemail, tickets, phone conversations, or on TTATO. And NONE of these were fixed by the time I chose to hang up my hat. If it didn't get fixed it's either too complicated to do so, too convoluted to figure out a fix, those who received the insight don't want a fix, or the more likely - they don't care. WIS isn't gonna miss the money of a few folks that left due to the lack of progress and the constant lies. Hell, I bet WIS could lose the entire GD client base and still float along. The game is a great concept, just pitifully flawed now and hobbled by outdated programming. IMHO WIS GD "jumped the shark" when the annoying *** ads were added to the platform. Here's a thought for ya WIS GD, instead of trying to fund the platform with ads nobody gives a crap about how about make the game one that people will care about - and flock to, and at the very least....keep playing.
And as for any new team that I took over after I left!?!?! That was due to an application that was submitted but not yet filled before I departed.
And finally, I really enjoyed this game over the years and I've tried to be an advocate for it. I tried to level the playing field by sharing what I know with plenty of coaches and pointing out short comings of the game. I've made some great friends in the real world because of this game and there are others who deserve nothing less than and acid bath. But there comes a time when ya see the writing on the wall and wise up and just ask "WTF am I still doing here wishing and waiting on evolution that isn't coming?"