A developer chat has been scheduled to discuss the upcoming addition of player potential and scouting services. The following is a somewhat brief synopsis of the upcoming changes:=================================================At any time during the recruiting window, a coach may decide to employ the use of a scouting service as part of the recruiting process. The cost will vary based on how much coverage a coach wants (coverage is based on the number of recruits (not counting transfers) in each state selected, so if you choose NY and Ohio, it would cost you more than if you chose Alaska, Wyoming, ND, SD, Utah, New Mexico, Idaho and Montana combined). Coverage can range from a single state up to all domestic recruits as well as regions (e.g. Great Lakes may include Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois at a discount of what each state would cost individually). Once a coach pays for the service, the money is deducted from their budget immediately.The cost to employ a scouting service varies based on coverage of unsigned recruits - it is not dependent on your recruiting budget. That means that the costs for scouting services will drop once signings begin.
Once the coach has activated coverage with an area, any recruit from that area will display a "scouting notes" tab that will only be visible to coaches who have paid for the scouting service.
The scouting notes tab will provide information regarding:
- proximity preference: does the recruit want to stay home, get away or is he indifferent with regards to how close/far a potential school is from his hometown? Proximity preferences are based on limits, not miles, so, for example, a recruit who wants to get away from home will favor all schools more than 300 miles away from his hometown and that additional boost would be the same, i.e. a school that is 500 miles away wouldn’t receive more benefit than a school that was 301 miles away.
- favorite school: all recruits will have a favorite school (even DII and DIII recruits). Favorite schools will have a *slightly* easier time recruiting this player. Right now we're planning assigning each recruit one favorite school. All DI level kids would be assigned one randomly and the DII/DIII kids would be assigned a DI school based on prestige so you'll have more Kansas fans at DII/DIII than you would at DI so as to not amplify the advantage Kansas already has with their baseline prestige. The boost for being a favorite school is relatively minor so they can still be outrecruited. Favorite schools will be based on proximity preference as well (e.g. a kid that wants to stay home but loves a school 2,000 miles away).- potential: notes regarding areas in which the player has the largest room for improvement and notes regarding in which the player doesn't look like he'll show significant improvement. You'll get clues to those characteristics as part of your normal recruiting as well, but you may or may not get the big picture and it certainly would create more work without a recruiting service.
In addition to the scouting notes tab, the scouting service will also automatically notify you of any significant changes with the recruit in terms of how your school is considered (is another school making a big push, is it dead even, etc.). You'd receive an update anytime there was a significant change in the recruit's opinion, i.e. not just a one time deal.Once a player is signed, the scouting notes tab/information will transfer from the recruit profile to his player profile. Only the coach who signed that recruit will have access to that information.There will be some additional money added to each school's recruiting budget and that will vary by division.=================================================<!-- Message body -->A developer chat has been scheduled for Wednesday, September 3rd at 3pm EDT:
http://www.whatifsports.com/devchat/devchat.asp?chatid=68You do not have to be on at that time. You can post questions anytime prior as well. Please do not post questions (at least expecting answers) in the forums or via support tickets.