Transfers and end of cycle recruiting questions!

[hansmellman]

Hey all, had a question for Brooks/Asgar RE the above topics

1) Do Transfers always show as 'None' under interest by default? I've played 3 seasons, got transfers in the first 2 seasons despite having no initial interest and this season after having prestige increase twice in a row even low rated transfers still show as 'None' on the initial interest - just seems a little weird cos I'm getting better and better recruits in regular recruiting start with 'Warm' etc - Also just had 3 transfers sign with me despite all of them showing 'None' as interest as late as signing day.



2) Also, something else I've just noticed - if you wait until bowl week you can just go into recruiting -> all -> filter : 5 Stars and then basically pick all the guys with 0 offers, offer them all recruiting actions and a scholarship and they will sign for you over the remaining immediate weeks, I actually started this about 3 weeks before the bowl and for those 3 weeks leading up to the bowl I had 5 of the 7 guys I offered just sign with me after sinking minimal money into them - is that a known issue? Feels a bit 'gamey' to do so I won't make a habit of it but just wondered if there's any checks and balances that could prevent it from being possible.

cheers!

[brooks_piggott]

Yes, later in the season and during off-season recruiting the interest fills up much faster since the timelines are compressed and kids will sign much quicker.

[hansmellman]

Okay, and should it be possible for me to sign guys that are in the top 100 in the country with a sub 50 prestige program at this time too?

[brooks_piggott]

Yup, all depends on personalities and what positions teams prioritize.

[hansmellman]

Yup, all depends on personalities and what positions teams prioritize.

My only remaining thought on this is that I've been able to get a top 10 recruiting class in the nation with a programme whose prestige is nearly half of the most prestigious programmes in the association (where players of this calibre have been going all recruiting cycle) and I'm doing it by spending around 80-90% less money than it would usually take to get these players.

Essentially, I could forgo the entire recruiting cycle until the final, say, 3-4 weeks and then purely hoover up all of these guys and still have ample money left to retain/improve my facilities.

The issue isn't so much that no big teams are going in on these guys at this stage, that's fine if they've filled up their priorities, it's that no other lower teams are in on these guys at this stage - you're telling me if a 5 star blue chip QB was still available with 4 weeks until signing day that a team like UTEP shouldn't be looking to bring him in over whatever scrub they've recruited or have rostered up until that point? It's no problem to not compete with the big teams for these guys but to have no competition at all just feels incredibly strange.

[brooks_piggott]

It really comes down to distance. In a lot of cases schools will only recruit locally and expand as the season goes along. But by then they may have already either spent their money or signed enough players. Also, in a lot of cases the kids may not be interested, so even if a school is recruiting them their interest won't be there for them to actually sign. But I don't mind tweaking it so that more schools expand their search later in the season.

[hansmellman]

Sounds good, I think that any steps that can be considered and taken to mitigate this 'after market' of surplus talent would only serve to increase immersion in the single player experience. I'm about to take part in an online league for the first time and I can imagine that this is a total non issue there because the human GM's will leave no stone unturned in the search for talent. I'm not sure about the split on talent levels for player generation but the only other thing I'd thought is if there were less high level recruits generated so there's less to be 'left over' after the initial purge by high prestige programmes. Just a thought, though obviously I know nothing about the talent generation algorithm and am purely spitballing.

[bherman912]

Yes, please adjust that -- quite a bit. Hansmellman's points are great. I just began a game with a mid-prestige school with a losing record and easily landed the No. 1 recruiting class, including the No. 2 and No. 3 players in the country from way out of our recuiting footprint. Obviously, most (if not all) of these December recruits would have been snapped up or at least offered by more appropriate teams. I didn't even have them as targets until late in the cycle, then just searched for top players with no offers...and voila, with very little resources expended, landed them. It didn't matter whatsoever what their desires were in a school, and they usually committed even if they had "no interest" in us. Unless they have serious personality issues or are ideally matched for our team's attributes/resources/prestige/location/etc., I don't think we should be seeing very many (if any) 4- and 5-stars without offers other than our own. I feel like I was cheating, but I hate "house rules." Thanks!!

[bherman912]

I just found that the same applies to the transfer portal. I identified 19 transfers to target for four openings. It turns out that only three of the 19 had offers by the final period. None of the four I offered a ride had an offer, so I got all of them despite their having little or no interest in my program...wasting money because all would have signed for basically nothing. Almost all of the 19 were 4-star types with high ratings who, in real life, would have been the subjects of feeding frenzies by many top programs. Would appreciate more realism here. Thanks again.

[brooks_piggott]

In some cases the CPU already has positions covered, or has run out of money, or runs out of scholarships/waiting on other kids to sign, or the kids aren't in their pipeline, or the kids aren't interested. You'd have to sim a few seasons and see if the pattern keeps up or if it was just a fluke for a season or two until the teams equalize. You also may need to up your maximums at certain positions if you want to see teams pursue more QB or OL or whatever position you see them leaving behind.