What I have learned so far

[Your_Imaginary_Friend]

I am beginning my fourth season and simply wanted to write down (mostly for me!) the things I've learned and verified so far.

First I have played DDS Pro since about 2007 and the last two versions in particular. I had--on an old computer--what I think was the original version of DDS College, which was fun. I've played FBCB over the years and enjoyed that, however it is old and I've grown tired of it.

In no particular order, these are my comments and questions:

1) Compared to DDS Pro, players have higher passing and lower handling skills. In Pro, HANDS are common while PASSING skills are harder to find. I'm not sure what to make of this yet.

2) I'm not sure I understand the Assistant coaches yet. My skills count the most and the SCOUT coaches scout skill counts highly, as does the RECRUITING coach's recruiting skill. However what skill counts the most for the practice coach? It seems like he picks the offensive and defensive sets based on his ratings, in that my team scores much better than it defends and that matches his ratings. So does his--and the other two's--player development skills matter? If I call the shots, do his OFF and DEF ratings not come into play at all?

3) I'm playing as Richmond, and so far buying the Gold Star Atlantic has proven worth it. The first year I took the suggestion for the cheap report and had lots of money left over. The second year I had only two Scholarships available so I thought I'd risk the Gold Star. It paid off. The third season I had four scholarships and decided to risk the Gold Star. It was worth it in two ways. First it landed two 4 star and 2 underrated 3 stars. Secondly, I decided to spend the remaining $6k after the four commitments. As is mentioned elsewhere, ending the year with only $1k left produced a positive response to my MORE MONEY Board request.

4) I don't like that I have to hire coaches before my budget is set. The Board request should happen before the Coach hiring rounds. I did not know I could afford better than I hired.

I'll be adding to this.

[PointGuard]

Interesting...looking forward to your future comments.

Here's some THOUGHTS:

Re #1: Maybe it's because pro tends to be more one-on-one matchups than in college and in college there tends to be a lot of ball movement. Therefore passing is more significant than ball handling in DDSCB whereas the reverse is true for DDSPB???? (Just a possible explanation...I really don't know why there's the difference that you've discovered.)

Re #2: I think the Practice Coach needs a wider blending of skills since a number of the skill factors are important for player development, offensive/defensive sets practice, and help to Head Coach during games. Again, just my opinion.

Re #3: Good points re the value of the Gold Report. On the other hand, I typically go with the Basic Regional report since I coach at lower prestige schools with lower recruiting budgets so the Gold is a big hit on my budget. I also like the greater "fog of war" that having just the basic report creates since I like to really "work" all aspects of recruiting throughout the year and prefer the greatest amount of uncertainty during recruiting and the pleasant surprises that come from gradually working a recruit from "no interest" to higher levels of interest and final signing. Because of that I tend to need a higher percentage of the budget to be available for lots of recruiting activities directed at a large number of recruits. Just a different way of playing.

[Your_Imaginary_Friend]

Another thing that baffles me is the POPULARITY rating.

The fans hate every single player on my team, even the walk-ons. C'mon, fans LOVE walk-ons.

And it is not only my team, now that I check, EVERY SINGLE PLAYER IN GAME IS HATED! Even Davidson's 3-time player of the year is about at 3 clicks from the left and that is the best rating of anybody.

Baffling.

[Your_Imaginary_Friend]

Well this is extremely bad.

My PF decided to transfer. He had started every game. There were no issues reported, no warning emails, no comments at all. At the season turn, an email simply said he was transferring.

I reloaded several times and this always happened so I'm leaning to the idea it was not random.

So what could I have done differently to keep him?

[Your_Imaginary_Friend]

The MORE MONEY board request is random, not based on remaining money spent. I could not get the positive response to repeat, so I can only conclude it is randomly granted and not based on my accomplishing something. Disappointing.

[Your_Imaginary_Friend]

Does HEIGHT matter? In the sense a taller player will get certain rebounds or make shots based on his being 7-3.

Do players grow over time?

In FBCB, height mattered and in subtle ways. A recruit might show up with disappointing potential, then grow an inch or three and suddenly you see the potential you thought was there--and he can get to it, if you have the facilities and coaching. In essence this is a great way to 'mask' potential that might be realized. It is also what coaches do in real life.

[PointGuard]

Well this is extremely bad.

My PF decided to transfer. He had started every game. There were no issues reported, no warning emails, no comments at all. At the season turn, an email simply said he was transferring.

I reloaded several times and this always happened so I'm leaning to the idea it was not random.

So what could I have done differently to keep him?

Probably nothing you could have done. Maybe he THINKS he's so good he will be picked up by Duke or something like that. (Or maybe he has a girl friend at another university )

[PointGuard]

The MORE MONEY board request is random, not based on remaining money spent. I could not get the positive response to repeat, so I can only conclude it is randomly granted and not based on my accomplishing something. Disappointing.

Actually I think variability within how the AI generates some of the activities is good. But I do think that there if you don't spend more or all of your budget, the chances of getting the increase are lower.

[PointGuard]

Does HEIGHT matter? In the sense a taller player will get certain rebounds or make shots based on his being 7-3.

Do players grow over time?

In FBCB, height mattered and in subtle ways. A recruit might show up with disappointing potential, then grow an inch or three and suddenly you see the potential you thought was there--and he can get to it, if you have the facilities and coaching. In essence this is a great way to 'mask' potential that might be realized. It is also what coaches do in real life.

Adroitly sidestepping the easy comments related to height MATTERING that I normally would probably make...yeah, I'm a super classy guy ( ) :

I think rebounding is a product not only of height, but jumping ability, positioning, technique, coaching, etc...and also to the rebounding abilities of a player's teammates. I've never checked for height increases, but doubt that is part of DDSCB. But rebounding ability definitely changes over the career of a player..mostly improving but sometimes declining.

[Your_Imaginary_Friend]

Good to hear about height. I will try to check to see if anyone grows. It did take me forever to notice players grew in FBCB.

Yes, I think the spending it all likely increases your chances, however I'll be watching this.

As to the transfer, it took me some time searching to see where the guy landed, and it was ALBANY ST. That made no sense to me. He was from Virginia, he started every game and I see no recruiting advantage for Albany. He wanted an ACC school during recruiting, but none landed him.

So bad game design, IMO.