It is the stupidest thing ever. Either make it worth something or get rid of it. If a kids Childhood Favorite is my school there is no way I should ever be considered a 'backup option' - Not saying it should be an automatic signing but he would at least talk to you.

I agree it's pretty lame, another attempt to add "depth" to a poorly designed recruitng engine. An auction is an auction, no matter how much depth (distance, prestige, money per spot, favorite school, home proximity preference, etc.). Until WIS redesigns the recruiting approach, they're stuck trying to add bandaid layers of interest to the auction base.

If a player has your school listed as his favorite, you should get a prestige boost when recruiting that player. Not sure if it should be one third, two-thirds or a full letter grade, but that's the approach I'd take if I was designing the game. So if you're a "C+" prestige school, and you're recruiting a player who lists you as his favorite, you would be treated as a "B-" or "B", or even "B+" school when recruiting that player.

good idea professor, i think that makes a lot of sense.....if the favorite school idea really makes any sense in this game to begin with

I have stated this from the beginning.. The fav schools is a great concept poorly executed.. should be worth a letter grade IMHO.. The distance from home is just plain silly.

Personally, I don't like favorite school. And I think I'd like it less if it were given more weight, for the reason that because it's random, it can make or break the ability to sign a recruit. As an example, let's say there are 2 teams the same distance from a top recruit. Both have the same prestige and openings. Yet by luck of the draw, team A is the recruit's favorite. That would put team B at a distinct disadvantage. Team A did nothing to achieve this advantage. Now, one might point out that the whole recruit generation system is random and lends itself to luck. I would counter it's very different in that there are many recruits to choose from within each region, but with favorite school, only 1 gets it. If you ask me (and no one did), get rid of it.

Now if they included it in a total recruiting redesign, where recruiting was much more realistic, built around matching recruits to programs, and a slow research process for teams to find players matching their program's specifice attributes (these would have to be newly created) then it could have a nice effect within a greater scheme. But for now, it's silly IMO.

I like random. Just let favorite school players start recruiting already considering. No hidden rating bumps just players outright begging.

Yes if they like the school they should be open to boosters from that school

Are kids favorite schools not decided based on teams current prestiges when the recruits are generated? I always assumed that is how they did it, ie if you are an A school you have a better chance of having not only higher rated but also more quantity of players favorite you then if you were a B.

I have to guess that must have a factor. I have a lousy prestige D1 team (Wichita State) and we only get 100th-200th ranked players that like us.

Quote: Originally posted by zhawks on 9/17/2009Are kids favorite schools not decided based on teams current prestiges when the recruits are generated? I always assumed that is how they did it, ie if you are an A school you have a better chance of having not only higher rated but also more quantity of players favorite you then if you were a B.

No, at Wake Forest with an A prestige I either get no players in NC, SC, or VA with their favorite school being Wake or it ends up being a player rated in the low 500's.

Quote: Originally posted by aporter on 9/18/2009

Quote: Originally posted by zhawks on 9/17/2009Are kids favorite schools not decided based on teams current prestiges when the recruits are generated? I always assumed that is how they did it, ie if you are an A school you have a better chance of having not only higher rated but also more quantity of players favorite you then if you were a B.

No, at Wake Forest with an A prestige I either get no players in NC, SC, or VA with their favorite school being Wake or it ends up being a player rated in the low 500's.

That is what I noticed at Illinois in Phelan too... I scouted at least 15-17 states and I had 4 guys in the mid to low 500s. Currently in a ticket with CS about Fav School and I will ask about this when I get a chance.

I don't think real life, recruits really bother much with the 'match' to the program (that would require some thought & research), most of them 'like' the recruiter to break ties, other than that, almost all of them go to as high of prestige school as they can within a distance range for the level of player (top end d1 has the most range),

my guess is real life is far more prestige oriented than HD, with distance the second factor in d3, less so in d1 and almost non existent at high end d1

distance almost works the opposite in HD by the way, d1 has the shortest reach, d3 the longest.

Quote: Originally Posted By oldresorter on 9/18/2009
opposite in HD by the way, d1 has the shortest reach, d3 the longest.

exactly which is unrealistic. presitge is everything in real d1 d2 and d3 is really distance

Apparently WIS believes "It is quite ok for players to show their fav school as a backup option if his level of talent is outside of that schools range" - I absolutely agree that sometimes a player may be very unlikely to sign with a lower school if he is better then their prestige would indicate, but that is a prestige problem NOT a fav school problem. If your favorite school calls and wants to talk you would absoultely talk to them, would it be damn hard to sign a kid at a Coastal Carolina (D-) when a Georgia or Clemson (C's prestige) pops up? Yes I absolutely agree it would be hard, but that is where prestige comes into play.

Am I really off base here? or is this just WIS being WIS again? Honestly if you are going to have the Fav School feature it has to be worth something, even as little as a 2 / 3 star sg will talk with a d- because they are his fav school, I don't think that is too out of line with real life.

(Again, I think the Fav School feature is a Joke, but seriously get rid of it or make it worth something, we don't need anymore window dressing in HD)