Necessary preamble: Great game!
I am actually quite new to the world of American football (mostly a hockey fan-- I am French Canadian, so it is to be expected I suppose), but started getting into football last year with COVID giving me all kinds of free time on my hands to explore new hobbies. Started watching the NFL on a full time basis for the first time in my life last year and I am really loving the game (don't know why I never tried sooner).
Anyways, I've always loved text based simulator games (everything from gladiatorial combat games, pro-wrestling to more legit sports manager games) and I have tried FOF 8 as well. While this game may not exactly match FOF pound for pound in ALL the options, I do like the 2-D engine in this game; it gives you a real visualization of what is actually going on during games, every step of the way. FOF only has a tiny screen with a football that moves around to show you where you are on the field and you have to read text for every play to follow the action.
Thank the Gods for the kind souls such as yourselves who give us an actual franchise - management experience whereas Madden continues it's fad of being more arcade than simulation every year.
I bought Madden 21 (never again until I see some real improvements in the reviews and player feedback) and was horribly dissapointed with the franchise mode (too dumb and inexperienced in this sport to notice the ridiculous stats and gameplay as well though). I quickly got bored after only a few hours into the franchise mode.
Anyways, like how DDSPF21 is going moreso the treating players as people (with personalities) with agency route as opposed to mindless pawns on a board who follow all your whims like a master puppeteer. Keeping players happy and trying to have a positive environment with your franchise should be equally important as being on the cutting edge of strategy - play calling.
I like that you sometimes see players complain in public about their team's management and may not automatically resign with you if they did not enjoy their experiece with your franchise (or your constant crap standings bother the more ambitious - performance interested players). I hope that DDS keeps going in that direction in future installments. I wouldn't mind seeing off the field factors that pop up and force you to deal with them as well (i.e. scandals that cause a player to be toxic and that force you to make a decision to either play him or get rid of him as bad PR might damage your revenue, addiction problems, fights - beefs between players on the roster that might damage chemistry - cohesion etc.). Random events that may pop up (depending on player personalities clashing, etc.) would make the game more immersive.
I also hope that the economics - management aspects get more fleshed out: the player needs to keep an eye on ticket sales, TV deals, needs to spend on marketing etc. Some franchises have bigger markets and can afford the big name contracts whereas smaller franchises need to be more tactful in their signings and contracts. Losing money every year may lead to a relocation, etc.
Just a few ideas.
Good stuff so far!
Just a few questions right off the top of my head (issues that are dragging down the game for me
):1 - How do you return players on the injured - reserve list back to the active roster?
I noticed that (in the roster management section) you can bring back players from the practice squad; there is an extra button beside the red release button that gives you the option of returning the player.
However, when it comes to the reserve injured list, you only have a release button that gets rid of the player for good. There is no other available button when you highlight a player's name for movement and/or actions in the injured reserved list.
I mistakingly assumed (learned the hard way when I lost a valued player) that the only red release button option meant 'release the player back to the active roster.'
2 - Can you manually set a mentor - mentee / student relationship or does this just happen organically in the game on it's own for players of a similar position?
I do not see an option to do so beyond the icons that represent mentor candidates (veteran players, etc.).
I am about 5 games into the regular season and I have noticed that the CPU controlled teams have these relationships already in effect (it is clearly stated that some of their players are being mentored by another player with blue icons on the roster list). I assumed that perhaps the same thing would happen to me, however, no change as of yet. I can still see the same players listed as mentors, but no relationships have yet started.
3 - What to do when out of players for a certain position?
Again, 5 games in and most of my DTs are out injured (I always try to have a lot of players for the most brutal positions such as RB, etc.).
I cannot advance to the next game because I do not have the sufficient amount of personnel for that position.
I do not seem to have the option of signing a quick free agent to my team to cover this temporary gap. I'm basically stuck here and cannot go forward.
I even tried throwing in players from other positions into those holes (even with ony minor experience or no experience playing that position) and I still get the notice preventing me from starting a new game.
Any tips or help would be appreciated.
Thanks a bunch and keep doing what you guys are doing!
I will be keeping my eye on your future installments.. I'm even thinking of giving the College variation a run at some point as well.