Pardon me sir, I believe my copy is broken...

[misterflak]

Folks,
Can we all agree that this game is broken? Like "lazy-undergraduate-programming-final-project" levels of broken?
Can we admit we've been fleeced to some degree? That for the same amount we spent on this we could have gotten the past three 'Game of the Year' titles for PC? If you're a sucker for strategy/sim, you could've at least bought Civilization V.

A sampling of my issues:
1.) If you're lacking at the defensive line, simply pick up a mediocre LB and use commissioner mode to convert them to a star DT/DE.
2.) If you need a TE, convert a mediocre receiver to the position. He will immediately become elite at the new slot.
3.) Don't need any of these? Convert them to stars and trade for 1st round draft picks.
4.) Don't have enough to get a first-rounder? No worries, in the 7th round, you can draft players that will yield a first/second round pick immediately after the draft.
5.) You don't have any 7th round picks? Well there will be about twenty free agents available after the draft to earn you 2-4th round picks. You'll be fine.
6.) Here's the good news: Your team is stacked...five stars for every matchup rating after a couple years.
7.) Here's the bad news: The simulation engine is seemingly random and you are just as likely to go 5-11 as you are to go 11-5. As far as I see, even with an elite team, it's a dice-roll where you get 60/40 odds.

Maybe I'm overlooking something...Feel free to defend the game or (the more fun option) add on to the list of exploits.

[Big Mikey]

I haven't even played the game but instead of blaming the game for these issues, why don't you stop taking advantage of A.I. and play the game as it was intended. Like stop going into commissioner mode for one. Stop signing FA's just to then trade away.

Your only even relevant complaint is if the simulation engine is indeed random, which unless you simulated thousands of years I assume it's more perception bias than an actual bad simulation engine.

Unless the A.I. is also going into commish mode and converting players and signing guys just to trade away then you may have a point but sometime tells me they don't.

[daves]

Folks,
Can we all agree that this game is broken? Like "lazy-undergraduate-programming-final-project" levels of broken?
Can we admit we've been fleeced to some degree? That for the same amount we spent on this we could have gotten the past three 'Game of the Year' titles for PC? If you're a sucker for strategy/sim, you could've at least bought Civilization V.

A sampling of my issues:
1.) If you're lacking at the defensive line, simply pick up a mediocre LB and use commissioner mode to convert them to a star DT/DE.
2.) If you need a TE, convert a mediocre receiver to the position. He will immediately become elite at the new slot.
3.) Don't need any of these? Convert them to stars and trade for 1st round draft picks.
4.) Don't have enough to get a first-rounder? No worries, in the 7th round, you can draft players that will yield a first/second round pick immediately after the draft.
5.) You don't have any 7th round picks? Well there will be about twenty free agents available after the draft to earn you 2-4th round picks. You'll be fine.
6.) Here's the good news: Your team is stacked...five stars for every matchup rating after a couple years.
7.) Here's the bad news: The simulation engine is seemingly random and you are just as likely to go 5-11 as you are to go 11-5. As far as I see, even with an elite team, it's a dice-roll where you get 60/40 odds.

Maybe I'm overlooking something...Feel free to defend the game or (the more fun option) add on to the list of exploits.

Interesting. When you mean convert, you don't edit stats, you just change a WR to a TE and they are a stud? Convert a LB to a DE and they are a stud? An unedited 7th rounder can get a future 1st rounder?

Is this true?

[misterflak]

"Stop taking advantage of the AI" sounds a lot like, "It's a very poor AI that doesn't know what it's doing", which was my entire point.

As for Daves' point, YES! No editing needed. Use the trade block and see the wonders that await you.

I've put limits on these exploits but it's still quite easy to get an elite team that will still be mediocre due to the poor simulation engine.

[misterflak]

And to some degree, shouldn't it be the job of the programmer to provide a patch to fix these issues rather than us to set up artificial rules for our gameplay?

[Big Mikey]

Instead of being ignorant and seemingly ignoring the rest of my post you would also see I see say stop going into commish mode. The fact you're going in their and messing with things and then complain when you can convert a guy into an all star is baffling. If you don't want to be able to do that THEN STOP DOING IT! It's nothing but your own fault if you go into that mode and then convert a guy as playing the game in commish mode is not how it's designed to play unless you want to care take all 32 teams.

[Nefaro]

Commissioner mode is there for editing things (and therefore breaking any challenge). I'm pretty sure it's there for fixing issues and setting up specific scenarios. I don't recommend using it if you play single-player, as it would be cheating.

I can, however, agree that game outcomes just seem like a very random roll of the dice. If you save a game and re-sim numerous times from the same point, there is much variability. This may even be the case down to individual play outcomes during the games.

I like some facets of the Football Mogul series, but it needs more work and quite a number of extra features added. I'm not even sure if it's progressing anymore, unfortunately.

[free2131]

Isn't changing players to be good in commissioner mode and then complaining that the game is too easy kind of like enabling "god mode" on a video game and then complaining about it being too easy?

[daves]

Why are replies mentioning commish mode? Changing positions does not require commish mode. Trading a 7th rounder for upcoming 1st does not require commish mode. I think he posted some very valid flaws with the game.

[daves]

A medicore LB does not convert well to a defensive lineman. A WR does make a decent non blocking tight end.

[Icefire]

6.) Here's the good news: Your team is stacked...five stars for every matchup rating after a couple years.
7.) Here's the bad news: The simulation engine is seemingly random and you are just as likely to go 5-11 as you are to go 11-5. As far as I see, even with an elite team, it's a dice-roll where you get 60/40 odds.

I have to wholeheartedly agree with this. I went 12-4 and won the AFC championship. The only real weakness on my team was WR. Due to my shrewd maneuvering in the draft, I had 2 1st round draft picks. I drafted Larry Fitzgerald & Jerricho Cotchery. Figured I was all-set, as I had almost the exact same team returning. No one lost through free agency except the last few on the roster. I went 4-12. Seriously what the hell?????? It's too bad because the makings of a great game are there.

[humancalledbob]

Football Mogul looks unpolished and feels unfinished. It's a adolescent begging for adulthood!

[Connor Milliken]

Trading may be easy for you if your difficulty is set to Fan or Mogul, transactions become much harder at Mogul levels.