Player Progress / Progress Graph in Live 2005?

[robjv1]

I've yet to see any light shed on whether or not this feature is in the game or not? I've looked through practically every screen shot and interview on Live 2005 and have yet to come across it.

I think it really hurt last years Franchise Mode (especially as you progress to the later years in your dynasty and become less familiar with the players) to not have it included. One user said he did it all by hand with pencil and paper, and I made up a little excel spreadsheed along with using DBF files (I save each season to it's own file and refer back to that DBF) to keep track - but it was MUCH easier when you could just look at the chart or graph to see if particular players were declining or getting better. Age can be a good measure of potential, but players sometimes decline at a premature age or just never get any better - so it'd be nice to know if your latest trade prospect is already a dud before you pull the trigger!

Robbie

[PRoPuLsiOnDJ]

I hope they have this feature. I'm with you on this man.

[Steve [The Spiderman]]

yes, i totally agree with you, they had this feature in live 2000 i remember. They didn't have it last year and this was one HUGE thing imo that really deterred me from the dynasty mode. People shouldn't have to track these stats themselves, because thats just rediculous to do...They better have this feature!!!

[driveshaft]

The graph is one of those features I always forget to bring up on the board, but when I'm in the game in Dynasty I'm always thinking "Damn where's the graph"

I think maybe they got rid of it because it was too easy to make a superstar team. Once you figured out the general patterns you could look around the league and find guys who've been in the league 3 years and you'd have 12 players on your team who were all improving, and that is kind of unrealistic.

Ofcourse you may say in the NBA coaches see players improving too... but in the NBA it's more unpredictable, in LIVE 2000 there were so few career developments a player could make... if they made it extremely difficult to predict by having 300 different variations then I would be more than happy to see the feature return... also if a player is improving teams could demand more for that player. But I wouldn't want to see it return just to look like the old one, made the Dynasty far too easy.

[Steve [The Spiderman]]

yea but it is still a helpful feature, and can be used even if you had the 300 diff developments...

[guan lu]

you know that's a grat idea idea... i've been missing it myself lately.
all dynasty players need one, right? besides, not all of us are as great at graphing, charting, and all those other math stuff.

maybe, if they think it's too much of a gimme, then they could limit the growth chart, say to a time period, or to a specific player rating/salary, whatever...

every coach or gm needs this.

ea, you listening... er... reading?

[robjv1]

Yes, I like the idea of limiting it to perhaps a certain year or number of years, or perhaps only show us a "predicted" rating? This feature is necessary though, it is at least in the practical sense - if nothing else for trades. In a video game, you just cannot get the whole scope of your league situation without some sort of gauge (such as the player progress graph, or table) because you do not have the luxory of being able to watch ALL the games in your league and getting a general feel for the players already there. The Rookie Scouting is a great idea - because it lets you get the feel for each player by actually playing with them - and also you get to see their development potential (albeit in simple terms: excellent, good, average, limited, etc.) Without a player progress graph, even in as limited a capacity as the treatment the rookies get in Live - making trades can be SUCH a hassle, because if this were the real NBA and we were talking about - I don't know, let's say Christian Lattner - there would be a general consensus around the league that he does indeed suck, and not developed much since starting out in the league - even though it might not be reflected in his stats. In previous editions of LIVE, looking at a players stats has NOT always been a reliable way of gauging if they are getting better or worse (as you know, sometimes bad players get good numbers just by virtue of the fact that they are the only players in that position on the team or there is little depth in that position).

I really hope that EA brings this back in some fashion, if they are making it too easy for us by giving us too much information, then scale it back a bit instead. Personally, I think it adds much to the realism of the game, because let's say you have a center that you've groomed since he was a rookie, and he's the centerpiece of your team, but right before you go to make another championship run, you can see he's on the way down (a downweard trend or leveling out) in the player progress meter, and you can THINK about grooming someone new for his position in the next couple of years. I think this is way preferrable than waking up during the off-season to find your starting center suddenly plummet, because you had no way to keep track of the fact that he's had a slow and steady decline over the past few years, and now he's reached the point where he's going to drop off more quickly. It's such a useful feature, it has discouraged me from playing through a Live 2004 franchise, even the player-progress meter in Live 2003 was better than nothing!

Here is an example: It's year 20 in your franchise and you want to make some trades

[robjv1]

I didn't mean to post that text about the example, just scrolled off my screen and when I sent it, it was there tacked at the bottom! But it does bring up a good point - you get 20 years into your franchise - you are no longer really that familiar with the players... you need to make trades to fill some spots on your roster, and hopefully get some positively developing players... so then what? When you have no graph - no indication - no point of reference and that's not very realistic either, even if having a breakdown of each category is too easy, having SOMETHING really makes the franchise mode I think.

[Metsis]

I don't think that showing rating progress through the years is too easy or too cheesy. Of course you see how your rookies are doing, but you will see it in real life as well. When you work with someone through the years you see how he develops. You just know how your boys are doing and what new moves they have up their sleeves.

It made cheating the CPU out of their rookies too easy and taking all the rising stars to your team was an easy way to go about it, but this problem has always been there... The CPU gives up his young talent too easily for yesterdays has beens. That's always been a problem.

I would like to be able to follow how my players ratings go... No cheese... Only if they were your players, or if you could only follow your players I would be cool with it. Only thing you notice is the fact that the overall changes... About the rest of the ratings, it's hard to tell the change from year to year.

What I would like to see EA implement is a progress rating that would effect the CPU's desire to trade the player. It would be high in the early part of a players career and would get lower when he gets older. So during his rookie year and couple of first years, the CPU would really want more for the rookie than he's actually worth, cause the progress rating is so high. And you could possibly pry an old veteran away from a team with a little less than he's worth... It would make the rookies less easier to aquire. Like if someone has 'Potential' ranked at excellent in the draft that would mean 90-99 in the progress rating. So he would be extremely more difficult to get than a veteran on similar skill.

Progress rating, veteran leadership rating... These would be nice to have... Some sort of a personality rating would be nice too. As some people are harder to get along with than others. These would make the game feel more real and the players would have skills that matter off the court too. So having a veteran leader would finally make a difference and loading up your team with young up and coming stars would not be the only way to go.

[Metsis]

I don't think that showing rating progress through the years is too easy or too cheesy. Of course you see how your rookies are doing, but you will see it in real life as well. When you work with someone through the years you see how he develops. You just know how your boys are doing and what new moves they have up their sleeves.

It made cheating the CPU out of their rookies too easy and taking all the rising stars to your team was an easy way to go about it, but this problem has always been there... The CPU gives up his young talent too easily for yesterdays has beens. That's always been a problem.

I would like to be able to follow how my players ratings go... No cheese... Only if they were your players, or if you could only follow your players I would be cool with it. Only thing you notice is the fact that the overall changes... About the rest of the ratings, it's hard to tell the change from year to year.

What I would like to see EA implement is a progress rating that would effect the CPU's desire to trade the player. It would be high in the early part of a players career and would get lower when he gets older. So during his rookie year and couple of first years, the CPU would really want more for the rookie than he's actually worth, cause the progress rating is so high. And you could possibly pry an old veteran away from a team with a little less than he's worth... It would make the rookies less easier to aquire. Like if someone has 'Potential' ranked at excellent in the draft that would mean 90-99 in the progress rating. So he would be extremely more difficult to get than a veteran on similar skill.

Progress rating, veteran leadership rating... These would be nice to have... Some sort of a personality rating would be nice too. As some people are harder to get along with than others. These would make the game feel more real and the players would have skills that matter off the court too. So having a veteran leader would finally make a difference and loading up your team with young up and coming stars would not be the only way to go.

[robjv1]

Well, from the newest OS screenshots, it doesn't appear that the player progress graph/table made it in? I can't tell for sure, as maybe they moved it. *sigh* Well at least this year, when you go for trades or contract dealings, it shows the players age, so you don't have to calculate it... so that will help a little, and perhaps the contract they want will be some kind of indication of their potential? I dunno, I really wish they'd bring back the player progrress stuff!

Robbie