A few questions/comments for 2019

[markprior22]

I really like DDSCB and am looking forward to the release of the next version. Have a few things I'd like to ask/comment about.

1) With some new logo sizes, etc, how difficult will it be to bring in my assn from 2018 with real courts, logos, team names, etc without having to redo or re enter a lot of info?

2) When playing in 2D, player pictures/stats pop up at the lower right part of the screen as the game progresses. The only thing I don't like is that the info doesn't stay displayed very long. If something were taking its place, I would understand but it just goes back to a blank white box. Can we either get the info to stay a few seconds longer or, ideally, until something else happens in the game that would trigger a different player's info being put there?


3)I'm curious about working/yelling at ref. I find myself working the ref a few times a game but it is pretty much random. What is the payoff for these actions and when are they best used? I think I understand yelling at the ref because I believe it is an automatic technical. I could see using that to fire up the team (does it work that way in this game?) but I'm not so sure about working the ref.

[PointGuard]

1. During the beta testing, I migrated a CB2018 association to CB2019 successfully and it was easy. I had the bloomington mod with that and I think part of what NCAAhoops is working on is to make that process even smoother with regard to pics/logos for the transfer since on CB2019 not only is there a new logo size but also the coach/player pics are a new format. Info/data/timing/actions for the association transferred perfectly...and old association works well in the new layout of CB2019.

2. No change to the length of time the info on who scored, rebounded, etc is in the white area beneath the court. I find that at speeds of 5 or 7 I can read not only the player's name but also the stats that are provided on that player. At speeds of 9 or 10, I can read the name but not really the stats...the game is just moving along too quickly to do that.

3. Working and yelling at the ref is somewhat a random effect or lack of effect. If you WORK the ref too many times in too short a period, you're probably going to get a Technical Foul. If you YELL at the ref, you're more likely to get a Technical, but not necessarily. It's hard to say what the effects truly are since that's part of the hidden aspects within DDSCB...but I have felt that working the ref can sometimes reduce the amount of fouls being called against my team or increase the number of fouls being called on the opponent. But that's a very subjective feeling on my part. Sometimes doing it just helps rid myself of a little personal frustration when things are going badly. Others may have different opinions regarding working/yelling at refs.

[Gary Gorski]

The ref has a bias at all times in the game - it could be small for one team, large for one team or pretty even. When you work the ref you're attempting to pull that bias your way and if you are successful you can expect a few more calls. Of course upsetting the ref makes things go the other way. The ref also considers how much you've been jawing and after a while (either by you or the other coach) starts to get less tolerant. Yelling at the ref basically amps this up. You have the chance of really making him mad but you do also have the chance for the biggest reversal - no ref is going to take being screamed at so you might get hit with a T but he also might internally agree that you had a point and will shift his bias. Yelling is not an automatic T but it does put you on the road to one if the ref doesn't T you up right then. In either case you might get ignored by the ref but even in those cases he is keeping track of how many times you've had something to say so don't consider that as not doing anything but rather him just choosing not to engage right then.

[Magic Bird]

I played a couple of games recently (in DDS:CB 2018) that illustrate what effects the Work Ref and Yell At Ref options may have in a game and how these effects vary from game to game.

Both games in the following examples were away games.

In one game at North Alabama the refs were constantly calling fouls on my team, and I used the Work Ref option consistently for most of the game. I must have pressed the Work Ref button at least 10-15, or even 20 times. Sometimes I used Work Ref twice at a time (I double clicked on it). I interspersed at least 2 or 3 instances of yelling at the ref throughout the game as well. Shockingly I never received a technical foul in that game. I did not notice a change in the number of fouls they called against my team until about midway through the 2nd half. At that point they stopped their foul barrage against my players. I reduced the frequency with which I worked the refs around that time. During the last few minutes of the game the refs called a flurry of fouls against North Alabama even though I had not been using the Work Ref or Yell At Ref options much for the past several minutes of game time.

In another game at Holy Cross I used Work Ref twice (I clicked on it twice in 1 second) at around 5 minutes into the 1st half. I did not click on either the Work Ref option or the Yell At Ref option again until about halfway into the 2nd half. I used Work Ref only once and I was promptly assessed with a Technical foul. I was surprised by this, especially considering the amount of time that had passed between the two instances of usage. After the technical foul I didn't notice the refs calling many more fouls against my team than before the T, but they did start calling a series of travels against my players. The rate and number of the travel calls struck me as unusually high.

Conclusions:
Sometimes you can get away with yelling at the ref multiple times, but other times you cannot get away with simply working the ref more than a couple of times. Like Gary mentioned, the officials may respond either favorably or negatively (in my cases mostly negatively) and they will respond with different degrees of severity. Like PointGuard mentioned, sometimes it simply feels good to click on the options in order to relieve one's frustrations.

In the 2018 game there is a small black bar below the game timer. When one uses either Work Ref or Yell At Ref, a white colored text blurb briefly appears in the black bar. Usually it will say something like, "(team name) - The ref ignores the coach" or "(team name) - The ref warns the coach." One suggestion I have for the 2019 version is for this text to appear for a longer period of time (perhaps 5 seconds) than merely one or two seconds. Another option would be to display the text in the play by play log so that if one uses Work Ref and Yell At Ref multiple times in rapid succession one can view the responses from each instance.

Sample: I click on Work Ref 3 times, then click on Yell At Ref once over the course of less than 2 seconds in real time.
Play by play log reads:
1. The ref ignores the coach
2. The ref ignores the coach
3. The ref warns the coach
4. The ref warns the coach

[CoachC]

Have never gotten T'd...ever...from working a ref, but i do use it judiciously. Yelling at a ref doesn't automatically mean a T, but I seldom do it. Usually resort to it when the refs are resisting my efforts to work them and continue to show bias. There have definitely been times when getting a T lit a fire under my team though. As always in these situations, i play my coach the way he is set up. There are a lot of ways that personality traits interact with the game...if i have a coach high in temper, then he'd better be pulling a Bobby Knight and throwing some chairs occasionally.

[CoachC]

that being said...in 13 years of playing every version of this franchise, i've still only seen an AI coach get T'd twice....both times in the big dance.

[PointGuard]

that being said...in 13 years of playing every version of this franchise, i've still only seen an AI coach get T'd twice....both times in the big dance.

I've seen the AI getting Technicals more in CB2018. In previous versions of DDSCB it was exceptionally rare (as CoachC indicates). I don't think Gary has changed the frequency of T's on the AI coach in CB2019 from what it was in CB2018 in which the frequency was generally OK.

[Wayne23]

When I was coaching in real life not only was my last name T, but so was my first name, my middle initial, and my social security number. I once got T'd up by an official before the game started. That was part of an ongoing feud, but still...

[CoachC]

i've given you T's everytime you post. But it's hard to imagine, you being such a nice guy and all. you must have gotten pushed really hard!

[BKL]

I agree that the time of the player info in the little box when playing out a game is too short. I realize this may need to go with the game speed selected, but it might also be nice to have an ability to set the speed and then if you slow it down, it highlights less but more significant stats (like only players having "big" games), etc.