DSP Madden Online Franchise 360 Sign Up / Discussion

[TCrouch]

Yep. Says "You have lost connection to the Online Franchise servers. Game and score will not be counted".

Then you either quit now, or play out the game and see that it never happened, essentially wasting your time.

[Danimal]

I appreciate everyone input, but I think Rob put it best this is just a video game football league for fun. I am as guilty as the next guy of getting to competitive but we need to relax here a bit.

First Human vs CPU games, I didn't even know it was possible to lose connection to the franchise server during one of these. I guess it's because I have had so few CPU games. If that happens I see no other choice then to let the owner choose to replay or sim it, and if they sim because of it they should let me know.

Now in the situation like Nozzleman had, I should of really made him sim that game if I knew it was going to be this big of a deal. Not that I don't believe him, but it must be a hard pill for Scoop to swallow that he got to replay a game he was losing because his kid shut off the 360. I think it is a safe bet that even if the CPU jumps up and bites you for a loss, it won't happen twice in a row.

Now human vs human games should be replayed or worked out between the owners. I guess my definition of a blow out if different. i was ahead of the Giants 21-7 at the half and frankly dominating them. They ended up winning the game. Maybe everyone doesn't suck like I do but a 14 point deficit in Madden can be made up easily.

I really don't want to micromanage this, if anyone ever feels someone is cheating the system then take it to me, Zep, Scoop or Terry. But really is there anyone in this league doing that?

If you guys are dead set on having some human vs human rules for playing the game out and don't think people can work it out on their own then I will talk to those 3 and we will come up with something.

[Badgun]

Badgun, I haven't been impacted by any disconnects, but if I did (espeically now durning the playoffs) I'd be pretty upset too.

What do you guys think of this idea? Should a game lockup, when the do-over is started, the team that was leading in the first game be allowed to score uncontested until they have the same lead they had before the game locked up. Also, possession should match up with the person who had the ball before the disconnect.

It's a not a perfect solution, but would offer some protection to a team with the lead in the event that something crazy happen. I know this, if I'm losing a game and the game freezes, I wouldnt feel right starting over and have the score reset 0-0.

Actually, Todd offered to spot me 7 points when we restarted, but I declined because it would have felt cheap. It's just a shame that the franchise doesn't have a situational option where you can reset the game with the same score and time left. EA had to know that there would be disconnects.

I will say this, if you play a ranked game and you get disconnected, you get a loss and the other guy has the option to finish against the cpu. I think that' the way it should be. I would feel bad for whomever lost their connection but I have been playing ranked games ever since 04 and I can count my disconnects on one hand.

Finishing against the cpu is not pretty, but I think starting the game over after you have played over half of it is simply unfair.

I knew my game last night was important. I knew if I won I would be right back in the division hunt. So I started off aggressively and made some plays and got in the lead. Getting the game to halftime with the lead was not only a goal, but I made it a reality. Again, I can't say for sure that I would have won, but I certainly liked my chances versus starting over at 0-0 and Todd having seen my gameplan both offensively and defensively. The second time we played, he had every play covered. It was because he had had the luxury of playing me for 2 and a half quarters and kind of had an idea what I was going to be doing. That's the very reason I am against replaying a game.

For those of you that say "it happens" and to let it go, I am now 6-6 and very likely will miss the playoffs. At 7-5 I would have been right in the thick of my division and controlling my own destinly...now I don't really care if I play another game.

There is no individual to blame here, but starting a game over is the worst option to solve this problem. I would have rather Danimal sim the game than to have to play it again.

[Danimal]

For those of you that say "it happens" and to let it go, I am now 6-6 and very likely will miss the playoffs. At 7-5 I would have been right in the thick of my division and controlling my own destinly...now I don't really care if I play another game.

There is no individual to blame here, but starting a game over is the worst option to solve this problem. I would have rather Danimal sim the game than to have to play it again.

You could of simmed it, did you guys discuss it? Shark and I played a whole game where he beat the loving hell out of me. Guess what we both exited and it didn't count. I gave him the option as the winning team to sim or play again, he choose sim and that time it worked out he won the sim.

Also if that's really how you feel you don't want to play another game because of this one incident then maybe the league is not the best option for you. I don't mean to sound like a dick but you were up by 7 points with over 14 minutes left in the game. Would you of been as annoyed if you won the game? If we simmed it and you lost would you of not been annoyed?

There is really no good answer here and the league is suppose to be about fun and it's a franchise league, I am hoping people who joined are in it for the long haul, maybe I am delusional in thinking that.

We flip tonight so think over what you want to do, hopefully later you'll be less annoyed. I really don't know what else to say.

[Zeppo]

I hear what you are saying, Danimal, but I'm talking about setting up a rule where if the game is already into the 4th quarter, and the score difference is something where it would be exceedingly unlikely in these short games to overcome. 14pts with 4 minutes left is not unsurmountable, so maybe 17 pts? 20pts? At some point, once the game is mostly over, I think it makes less sense to replay than to finish v. CPU.

My main concern is the time and scheduling factors, as I mention in my previous post. I would prefer to replay all disconnected games, as I have always had as a rule in the WE league, and every other online league I've played. But with the un-open schedule, and the two-a-week time frame, I know for myself that there are certain online franchise 'weeks' when I simply can't play the game twice.

As I said before, there are cases for myself where if a game is d/c'ed in the second half, it makes more sense for me to back out of the league and let my opponent play the whole game v. CPU, simply because of time constraints and scheduling difficulties.

I also want to remind everyone here that Danimal has been very clear that this is a multi-season franchise, not a one-off. I know it is very disappointing to have your playoff hopes dashed because of something like this, and frankly that's the way I felt in my game with the Cowboys when I was in a good position heading towards hafltime in a tough defensive battle, and then *POOF*. Second play through, it was all offense and I couldn't keep up at all.

It certainly didn't help that he had no mic so it was a lot like playing against the CPU for me, which is not all that much fun to me. But I think we all need to look at the long view and realize that this one season should not make or break our online franchise experience, as much as it sucks to not make the post season in any given season.

I mean, I can be as bitchy as the next guy when things don't go my way especially v. CPU. If you think Scoop's last game report was a whine-and-cheese fest, you should go re-read my report of my Panthers game! Talk about a cry-baby!

But hey, now I'm over it. With the passage of time, my anger at all that is completely evaporated and I'm once again just happy to part of what is pretty much the most kick-ass online football league we've ever done here at DSP.

[Brando70]

LOL, my goal is to win one human game this year.

[ScoopBrady]

Now in the situation like Nozzleman had, I should of really made him sim that game if I knew it was going to be this big of a deal. Not that I don't believe him, but it must be a hard pill for Scoop to swallow that he got to replay a game he was losing because his kid shut off the 360. I think it is a safe bet that even if the CPU jumps up and bites you for a loss, it won't happen twice in a row.

My kid was in bed and wouldn't get out for anything. I kept screaming, "Iz! Iz! Come down here really quick for Daddy and press that button with the purty green light on it. So help me Iz... if you don't get down here and push that button right now you're grounded!" It was not one of my most shining moments in life.

In all seriousness it does suck to be down a game in the division with 4 to play but in the end it's just a game so I'm not mad about that or anything. I was pissed that I dominated the game but was getting my ass kicked. At one point Rogers was 3 of 3 for 147 yards and 2 td's. Then I had 3 interceptions returned for a touchdown on 3 consecutive possessions, all the result of getting hit when I threw the ball. I think Mother Theresa and Ghandi would have been screaming "What the f***. You f***in coc****cker Packers!" after that.

[XXXIV]

LOL, my goal is to win one human game this year.

Look at your schedule sir. Im not sure if Ive got the right quote but I'm your huckleberry.

[Slumberland]

I feel for you Badgun... didn't the same thing happen with you and me in the old 2K College Basketball tournament? Where you had a lead, we disconnected, and then I won the rematch with Manhattan Colllege sparking the infamous to-dunk-or-not-to-dunk controversy. Yikes!

I think the way to look at it is that this league has an awesome pace, excellent participants, good long-term outlook, some occasional frustrations, but we're all flies in the web of Terry and Jared waiting to be eaten so enjoy the ride.

[Danimal]

I hear what you are saying, Danimal, but I'm talking about setting up a rule where if the game is already into the 4th quarter, and the score difference is something where it would be exceedingly unlikely in these short games to overcome. 14pts with 4 minutes left is not unsurmountable, so maybe 17 pts? 20pts? At some point, once the game is mostly over, I think it makes less sense to replay than to finish v. CPU.

I agree with you but again that should be up to the two people playing the game. If you were beating me by 14 points with 4 minutes left and had the ball I would tell you to go ahead and finish it out. But we're all assuming that the disconnect is for the losing guy. What if you're winning and you say finish it out and I win? Then what?

Again I have no problem putting our heads together for a rule if that is what everyone wants.

[Brando70]

LOL, my goal is to win one human game this year.

Look at your schedule sir. Im sure if Ive got the right quote but I'm your huckleberry.

I think you'll enjoy getting your turnover ratio higher in the plus column when you play me. Every game against me is like Halloween, except I give out turnovers instead of candy And I get you and the Jared killing machine back to back.

[GameSeven]

Cowboys beat the Giants 24-21 on a last second field goal by Nick Folk. The Boys were clearly trying to give the game away as Romo threw 3 ints, including one returned for a TD by the Giants M. Boley and Patrick Crayton fumbled 2 punt returns including one that was returned by K.Dockery from 12 yards out. The Boys were able to score immediately after every Giants score, first on a 10yd scamper by Felix Jones, and then on a 9yd TD pass from Romo to Crayton. Again the Giants were able to score to start the 3rd quarter, this time on a 70 catch and run by T.Beckum from Eli Manning, but the Boys were able to capitalize again on drive that culminated in a 18 yd touch pass from Romo to Miles Austin.

In the 4th quarter the teams traded possessions with the Giants pinning the Dallas on their own 8 yard line, which resulted in a three and out. The Boys punted giving the Giants excellent field position at their own 47. A holding call on the Giants OL pushed them back to 1st and 20 from the 37, which resulted in another punt. From there, the Boys drove the length of the field with 4:47 left, milking the clock, culminating in a 22 yd game winning field goal as time ran out.


Great game G7. Very sloppy on my part. I caught myself trying to do too much passing and taking too many risks on punt returns. I'm really missing Marion Barber in my run game. I was really trying to run from DEs Tuck and Umenyora but you kept hemming me up everytime I tried to go outside. Jones and Choice just don't have the power to run up the middle.

Up next, Boys return home to face the Chargers and the G-Men gear up for a crucial division game against the Eagles.

Great recap Gamer. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want that game badly as it really puts a damper on post-season hopes. In the end though, I was doomed by an inability to consistently move the football after the many opportunities I was given.

Also, it's a killer that I have been in good field position with the ball and the tie late in both our matches but have not managed to eke out a win.

In the first game, I got too aggressive and forced a pick. In this one, the holding call and a determination to protect the football left me just short of the crucial first down I needed.

Good game.

[Danimal]

Ok here are the new FA end of season draft rules. Keep in mind this draft is not the college draft it is too stimulate player movement for lack of contracts (thanks EA). I'll also put this in the 1st message of the thread.

After the seasons end the post season will go like this.

1. All Teams with players on IR will need to either cut them or claim them back to their roster and release players to get to a legal roster.

2. We will conduct the FA release, followed by a draft.

3. We will do the college draft

4. New season.

In light of the new ratings a high percentage of players are 75 or under. With that in mind we are going to a new system, see below.

CONTRACTS / FREE AGENT DRAFT
There is no idea of contracts, hold outs etc. We're going to keep this one pretty simple. Before moving to the next seasons draft we will hold an ad hoc Free Agent Draft.

Each team will be required to released to Free Agency 4 players. They need to be rated as follows.

1 player rated 80 or higher overall. (i.e. a player rate 80 counts)
1 Player rated 70 or higher overall.
2 Players rated 65 or higher overall.

These are the minimums if you want to release 1 guy who is an 84 and then 3 players at 76, 79 and 82 that's up to you. If for some reason you can't meet the minimums then God your team sucks, but you have to do your best to meet them. I wo't even give an example because it shouldn't occur.

[XXXIV]

If for some reason you can't meet the minimums then God your team sucks, but you have to do your best to meet them. I wo't even give an example because it shouldn't occur.

My roster is good to go so no one should have a problem

[Badgun]

For those of you that say "it happens" and to let it go, I am now 6-6 and very likely will miss the playoffs. At 7-5 I would have been right in the thick of my division and controlling my own destinly...now I don't really care if I play another game.

There is no individual to blame here, but starting a game over is the worst option to solve this problem. I would have rather Danimal sim the game than to have to play it again.

You could of simmed it, did you guys discuss it? Shark and I played a whole game where he beat the loving hell out of me. Guess what we both exited and it didn't count. I gave him the option as the winning team to sim or play again, he choose sim and that time it worked out he won the sim.

Also if that's really how you feel you don't want to play another game because of this one incident then maybe the league is not the best option for you. I don't mean to sound like a dick but you were up by 7 points with over 14 minutes left in the game. Would you of been as annoyed if you won the game? If we simmed it and you lost would you of not been annoyed?

There is really no good answer here and the league is suppose to be about fun and it's a franchise league, I am hoping people who joined are in it for the long haul, maybe I am delusional in thinking that.

We flip tonight so think over what you want to do, hopefully later you'll be less annoyed. I really don't know what else to say.

As for being in it for the long haul, I was in it for the long haul...no one has had to track me down to play a game. You send me a message and we agree on a time and I play. I committed to this league despite not being able to use my favorite team.

I would have been much happier simming than playing the game over. For one thing, after he disconnected and I realized that we weren't going to be able to finish THAT game, I was pissed so I did not go into the replayed game with the right frame of mind. I was defeated before I ever started and it was because I knew that Todd was going to be tough to beat. The first game we played he jumped out 17-0 and I got some turnovers and a few breaks and wound up beating him 28-17. His record and power ranking would indicate that he is one of the top players in this league so being up 21-14 in the third was already a morale victory for me. So why would I ever want to set the game back to 0-0 with 4 quarters to play?

In the game that he d/c I was running the ball very well and mixing in pass plays when needed to keep my drives going and running clock at the same time. Imagine my surprise when the second time we played he had every running play stopped. All of my 3rd and 3s were now 3rd and 12s and I could not score. Again I will say it is because he had the luxury of seeing almost 3 quarters of my game beforehand. Anyway, we can't change what happened and it still pisses me off to a degree.

I think if this situation arises again, I think the person who gets the option to finish against the cpu should be able to use that option if they choose. After all, it's not their fault their opponent disconnected for whatever reason. If the game is early and they want to start over, then let them, but in my case I like my chances finishing against the cpu versus playing the whole damn thing over.

It also runs into a time thing. I didn't really have two hours to play that game last night and finishing against the cpu would have gotten me out of their before midnight. As it was, it was almost 1 AM when we finished.

So I propose that if someone disconnects that it be up to the other player to decide to finish against the cpu or start over.

[Danimal]

So I propose that if someone disconnects that it be up to the other player to decide to finish against the cpu or start over.

I don't agree, he didn't disconnect on purpose and you getting to play the cpu is an advantage to you.

If two people agree to do that then no problem, but I'm not making that a rule.

[Jared]

Dolphins defeat the Patriots 42-14, in a game marred by the disconnect.

There must be something in the air this week. In my game against grtwhsk, we played through three quarters in a good contest with Miami up 14-7. Then at the start of the fourth quarter, we got the dreaded disconnect. Grtwhsk couldn't play any longer, or play today, so he temp dropped out of the league so I could play against the CPU (with the 42-14 scoreline the result). Ginn returned a kickoff for a TD, and Will Allen had two interception returns for a TD.

To the Jaguars owner (Wayne23),

The only time I'll be available to get our game in is Thursday evening (I'll be out of town on business). Let me know if you're available sometime then; if not, then I'll step out of the league so you can play against the CPU Fins.

[Badgun]

So I propose that if someone disconnects that it be up to the other player to decide to finish against the cpu or start over.

I don't agree, he didn't disconnect on purpose and you getting to play the cpu is an advantage to you.

If two people agree to do that then no problem, but I'm not making that a rule.

How is starting the game over not an advantage to him? And I am pretty sure that no one disconnects on purpose, but if your connection or your Xbox system is not reliable, maybe an online league is not your best option.

I certainly have no problem with someone finishing against the cpu if I disconnect.

[Brando70]

Do players age/progress/retire in the online franchises?

[Danimal]

How is starting the game over not an advantage to him? And I am pretty sure that no one disconnects on purpose, but if your connection or your Xbox system is not reliable, maybe an online league is not your best option.

Seriously?

You're suggesting in a 7 point game with 14 minutes left, starting over was to his advantage? Wasn't he driving to tie the game at the point of the disconnect. You claim he figured out how to stop you? Wouldn't you learn the same?

Now his xbox connection is not reliable? Jared disconnected last night, many others have.

I'm done talking about this before i say something I will regret. I'm talking to the guys about a 4th quarter rule but anything other then that is not going to happen.

[Danimal]

Because were discussing this behind the scenes i need to know besides Rob and his crappy router How many people have had a cpu game disconnect?

If so how many. I've had 3 cpu games with no incidents.

[XXXIV]

Because were discussing this behind the scenes i need to know besides Rob and his crappy router How many people have had a cpu game disconnect?

If so how many. I've had 3 cpu games with no incidents.

I think times a game was started is listed next to the scedule online.

Ayway..Ive played 7 CPU games with no disconnects

[TheGamer2]

I've had one in my game against the packers. It kicked me out of the EA servers, but I was still on XBox Live, so I don't think this is an internet issue but EA server issue. I didn't think much of it because it happened in a couple of human games early in the 2nd quarter against G7 (1st game), Zeppo and I think Truth. We just replayed the game in every situation. I just replayed the game. I didn't think that would be considered a situation. My ISP is ATT&T with a 2wire that I have wired, not wireless. I'm starting to feel bad about those games I replayed.

[TCrouch]

I don't know an exact number of CPU games, but between all my leagues I'd say probably 12 to 14.

I've had one CPU disconnect, about 3 minutes in.

In human games I've had two.

[Zeppo]

I'm starting to feel bad about those games I replayed.

Don't feel bad! That's just silly.

All of the d/c I've had have been purely EA servers - we can still talk to each other after the d/c if we are partied up (a big reason I am always trying to get my opponent in a party). So I'm 100% sure it's all about EA servers and not general Internet.