Developer Chat

Now that HD 3.0 is active in all but two worlds, we'd like to open the team up for questions. Fire away now with your questions.

Was prestige greatly reduced in 3.0 compared to 2.0? (sportsguy001 - Hall of Famer - 11:30 AM)

Prestige did not change at all with the new version of HD. The recruiting system changed, and prestige is still part of that process.

Will we be able to sort our recruits by states scouted, like we used to? (ardthomp - Hall of Famer - 11:35 AM)

Sorting by state doesn't really apply as much in the new system since you are actively discovering recruits instead of seeing them all at once. Now, focusing on distance from school is more meaningful. Distance is sortable. If we're missing a good situation in which this is still heavily desired, please submit a CS ticket with more details as to why you think it's still needed.

Any plans to update the team profile view so RPI and Prestige are immediately visible without having to tap into menus? It's been an extra (and annoying) step so far vs. the previous release. (ankerjm - Hall of Famer - 11:38 AM)

I believe this is a question about mobile only. We didn't believe these two data points were key values a coach was seeking when viewing a team. So, we included in the pop menu on mobile. If there's heavy demand to display on mobile without the click, we can consider adding to the main view. Can you please submit a CS ticket with your rationale for including? It's good for us to understand the reason for the ask.

Why would a recruit have a preference for an offense / defense that's different than the one listed as their primary O / D? Why not just use one consistent set? (bhansalid00 - Hall of Famer - 11:40 AM)

Recruits may have been in a specific offense or defense in high school but have a strong desire to play in a different set that better suits their skill set or size. We felt the ability to have these be different was more realistic.

Any plans to change the colors of the ratings or add some other indicators so those of us that are color blind can recruit and set our practice plans? (jtt8355 - Hall of Famer - 11:42 AM)

We have spent quite a bit of time evaluating color schemes to help our color blind users. We've tried many permutations, but there is no solution that solves it for all. We've added tool tips to assist on desktop. 5 different colors is a bit of a challenge. We've considered icons, but that's proved a challenge as well.

In the distance preference, if the player is near home, under 200 is very good. In that case, is the preference for a player that is 10 miles away better than one that is 199 miles away, or are they the exact same in terms or strength. (chapelhillne - Hall of Famer - 11:45 AM)

The miles matter. 10 miles is more appealing to the recruit than 50 miles, for example.

Thanks for your work on this big project. Can you tell us definitively if there was a change to the overall number of recruits created per opening? Some users have been concerned that there are fewer D1 recruits per opening, but it's unclear if that's because there are fewer overall recruits generated (going for scarcity?), or if they are just re-classified, so there are more D2 that would previously be classified as D1. (pkoopman - Hall of Famer - 11:47 AM)

No, the number of recruits did not change. It's based on the number of scholarship openings in the world, so it can fluctuate from one season to the next.

Is there a way to focus on JUCO or transfers? (mrbigship - Hall of Famer - 11:49 AM)

During scouting, there is not a clear way to focus on JUCO or transfers. Once they've been scouted you can. This is a good suggestion we have evaluated previously and have some thoughts on how we'd introduce. We think it'd be a worthwhile addition. Remember, JUCOs and transfers will reach out to certain schools late in the season.

With the removal of max-out notification emails, how are coaches to know when players have peaked in FT? The color code scheme doesn't show red -- only blue, black and yellow, with yellow still signifying minor growth available. But since FT are letter grades, we in many cases can't tell if a player is still growing (from a low C+ to a high C+, for instance). (rednu - Hall of Famer - 11:51 AM)

We'll need to think this one through. You're right you can't tell right now.

Many of us make errors when trying to use our conference message boards, and would like the simple ability to edit or delete our own comments. Is this possible? (pdxblazerfan - Hall of Famer - 11:52 AM)

This is not a request we've seen often but we can evaluate what it'd take to add.

Do all of the preferences have equal power? In other words, is the strength of the preference for zone offense the same as the strength for the preference of Wants success? Or are some better than others. (chapelhillne - Hall of Famer - 11:52 AM)

Preferences do not carry equal weight. We'd prefer not to disclose the details on this one.

How does the new recruiting system work?....where can one go for direction (alebear - Hall of Famer - 11:54 AM)

We recommend the recruiting guide available in the Help Menu.

How do recruits decide what cycle they will sign? Is it the same when they have multiple schools on them? (therewas47 - Hall of Famer - 11:56 AM)

Each recruit has an underlying preference with regards to signing. Some want to sign early, some want to hold out a bit longer and some don't really care. This preference can be viewed if you scout the player enough. The number of teams interested in the recruit and the interest level in the player plays a role in when he'll sign.

About how many attention points would equal a home visit? 50? 100? 200? (sportsguy001 - Hall of Famer - 11:58 AM)

We'd rather not disclose the actual point value. But we can confirm home visits are worthwhile.

With all the updates, why wasn't job selection fixed? (ronm605 - Hall of Famer - 12:00 PM)

We plan on revamping the jobs process in our next update. We are well aware it needs some improvement. We didn't want to combine too much in this update and believed the scouting/recruiting rebuild was more impactful to more users, new and veteran.

Why is recruiting now a random exercise, instead of a game? (wvufan76 - Hall of Famer - 12:02 PM)

We can assure you the recruiting process is sophisticated, intelligent and incorporates many factors. In the old system, whomever was "first" signed the recruit. In the new system, it's not guaranteed. That said, the leading school always has the best shot and how much better of a shot depends on how close the other schools are in terms of the interest they've put into the player. This was an important goal of the update, as we wanted to more closely resemble real life.

How reliable is your assistant coach in the new version of HD? (jiss - Hall of Famer - 12:04 PM)

As far as scouting goes, assistant coaches are currently equal. They discover players per direction. We've discussed ratings for assistant coaches that could add some variability here, but it hasn't advanced past that stage.

Something needs to be done about the inability to discover Puerto Rico recruits during scouting. Is there any solution getting consideration at this point? Thanks. (gomiami1972 - Hall of Famer - 12:05 PM)

You're right. We will correct this.

Attention points were said to gain "considering credit", but not "recruiting credit". However, in beta battle analyses, attention points seemed to be a factor in the end result. So what is the difference between considering and recruiting credit? (pkoopman - Hall of Famer - 12:07 PM)

Attention points and points earned from recruiting actions are incorporated together. Recruiting actions allow you to see significant jumps in value but attention points can amass quickly when focusing on a recruit for an extended period.

How do you get a high level interest recruit that has no one else on them to actually sign with you? Do you continue to pour money into them, or wait for them to stop twiddling their fingers and sign with you?I don't know whether I am wasting money-- or needing to "waste" more. (thinair - Hall of Famer - 12:10 PM)

A couple things to pay attention to here. The recruit's signing preference matters, so pay attention to it. If it's a recruit that wants to sign early and he's not signing with you quickly enough, increasing interest will have an impact. Otherwise, you can just wait it out but it may take longer. It's also important to note we discovered and fixed a bug yesterday involving recruits with the "Whenever" signing preference that will result in them signing sooner.

Why did you get rid of post-season conference cash? What's the incentive now to join other humans in a conference? (calman877 - Hall of Famer - 12:12 PM)

We removed it because of the snowball effect it had. The incentive for playing in a conference with others is the enjoyment factor of competing and corresponding with others. As we begin our marketing initiative across FOX Sports, we expect an influx of new coaches to the game. (currently waiting on the last two worlds to upgrade).

Will you consider allowing attention points to be redistributed ONLY AMONG PLAYERS you already have attention points allocated during the period between Recruiting period 1 and recruiting period 2? (wvufan76 - Hall of Famer - 12:14 PM)

Attention points are not evaluated during the non-recruiting timeframes. This is intentional, so coaches can limit their focus within the game.

so far, response emails from recruits inform coaches of their readiness for more recruiting effort..will recruits ever say if they have no interest in my school? (franklynne - Hall of Famer - 12:15 PM)

Recruits will never tell you they are not interested, but you can always view the recruit's Considering tab to get a feel for where your school stands.

when recruiting - I did 3 Home visits but then decided to rescind 2 HV. It seemed to work properly, however the total HV count at the top of the screen still said 3 total home visits. this seems to be a minor glitch. (brianxavier - Hall of Famer - 12:16 PM)

This was a display bug we corrected earlier today. It will be released in a patch tomorrow.

is there any plan to adjust all the messages sent during recruiting. There are way too many messages I would like to see only one message sent from a recruit saying they are ready to consider a scholly. (swany623 - Hall of Famer - 12:18 PM)

We are considering a new User Setting that would dictate how many inbox messages a coach would receive. We cut down the number of inbox messages in the new version, but they can still add up if you are performing a bunch of recruiting actions.

What happens when a team has a player declare early for the draft? Do you get an increase in recruiting budget? Is there any plan to further limit the number of early entries per team so as to not cripple the most successful coaches? (reinsel - Hall of Famer - 12:20 PM)

When a player departs for the draft, the school earns additional recruiting money for the second recruiting period. With the removal of some of the snowball logic, we expect the number of schools with multiple draft departures to decrease moving forward lessening the impact of your scenario. That said, we are actively monitoring EEs and have some potential ideas to address in the short term.

Why are the conferences still the same? (bigsky - Hall of Famer - 12:23 PM)

As a college hoops fan, we imagine you are aware of how often schools have changed conferences the last five seasons. Trying to stay in sync with so much annual change is problematic on several fronts. For HD, it'd mean coaches and schools switching conferences automatically from time to time. We're not sure how that'd go over. That said, we like the idea of staying in sync with the real world. We'll continue to evaluate and are hopeful the conference alignment changes will slow down soon.

Do you have plans to implement an auto-scrolling pbp feature like you currently have in HBD? (possumfiend - Hall of Famer - 12:25 PM)

Yes, but we'd like to see an uptick in the percentage of owners hiding their result in the office first. Right now, only a small percentage do so which tells us owners may not read the PBP to discover their game's outcome as much like they do in HBD or GD.

Other than Credit for attention points each cycle, is "considering credit" now a thing of the past? In other words, is there any added value to doing your home visits early on in the recruiting period vs right before signings start, other than strategic (other than showing strong early on). Thanks. (hawkfan1992 - Hall of Famer - 12:29 PM)

The attention points question was answered earlier. As far as recruiting actions being done prior to the start of the signing period, it's mostly strategy. The sooner you scout and recruit, the more actions of higher value you can accomplish which can draw more interest and put you in better shape once signings start.

there is much discussion in the hd forums about (ex) d2 coaches beating d1 schools for high level d1 recruits..will you elaborate? (franklynne - Hall of Famer - 12:31 PM)

We don't expect this to happen often. In fact, it should be very rare. We know how it can happen, so we'll continue to monitor how and how often it occurs.

You guys need to allow all schools that host a camp to have 200 players attend if they choose. Schools that don't have 200 players within 500 miles are at an extreme disadvantage because of this. Just make it that if a school doesn't have 200 players within 500 miles the system will send the closest 'X' amount of players to get to the 200 number. (skinzfan36 - Hall of Famer - 12:34 PM)

Because camps are based on the location of the school, such a guarantee can't be met each season. Most of the time, your conference mates should be in the same boat since conferences include schools within the same region.

We were told the only changes were made to the recruiting/scouting process in the game, but it appears that Sims are using stranger substitution patterns (sometimes only going 8-9 deep despite having 12 scholarship players), that statistic categories like assists are producing more in box scores, and possibly some tweaks to player development pacing have also been made. Comments? Confirmation? (rednu - Hall of Famer - 12:35 PM)

The engine did not change in this update but we did re-work some code involving sim ai settings. We'll review this code to make sure something didn't change inadvertently.

Under the old system, potential recruits who were "academically ineligible" were clearly identified in a number of ways (e.g. large print on the player profile, clearly flagged on one's recruitment page, notifications about student progress). Under 3.0, a recruit's "ineligibility" is only indicated by a table in very small print at the bottom of a player's profile and the icon at the top of that page. It's a major change in policy, and should have been more explicit. (stevieknicks - Hall of Famer - 12:38 PM)

OK, we'll give this one a review to see if we can make clearer.

Can a highly rated DII school recruit a projected DI player? Is it set that projected DI players will not sign with a DII school during the first signing period? (boobyknight - Hall of Famer - 12:38 PM)

Can a DII school recruit a top DI player? Yes. He won't sign during the first period, though, as he will remain patient for that DI opportunity. If the recruit receives even minimal interest from a DI school, he will likely go with the DI school.

High vs Very High has been a big topic in the forums. Would you please use some examples to illustrate how differences in recruiting effort translate to the chances of signing a recruit, both in two-team battles and multiple-team battles? Thanks. (CoachSpud - Hall of Famer - 12:42 PM)

We'd prefer not to go into too much detail on this topic. The interest level is range based (like an A and a B in school). The more you've recruited a player, the better shot you'll have at landing the recruit. Very High is better than High.

Can you scout just players who are "ranked" at their position? (boobyknight - Hall of Famer - 12:44 PM)

All coaches can see the Top 100 recruits, so you can go after those listed players. But we don't want to move beyond that. It's what the scouting system is for .

I wish there was a way to search through the recruit pool players whose aggregate preferences are aligned to your school instead of having to search through each individual preference category. For example, set a score of -2, -1, 0, +1, +2 for very bad, bad, neutral, high, and very high respectively. And the aggregate score of ALL preferences be a searchable stat. Because honestly, the individual preferences are not that important, just the aggregate sentiment from the recruit towards my school. (toysboys - Hall of Famer - 12:45 PM)

Interesting. We'll think about this one.

You have a prestige gradient in place (A>B>C>D) within each division. You also have a separate divisional factor in place (D1>D2>D3). Is there any resulting overlap at all between a low D1 and a high D2 school? Between a low D2 and a high D3 school? Or is a recruiting step (eg. HV) by even the lowest school of one division a more powerful step than the same step by the highest school of the next division down (ie. no overlap at all)? Thanks. (CoachSpud - Hall of Famer - 12:46 PM)

There is no prestige overlap. A DII school will always have a higher prestige than a DIII school, for example.

If the preference is very high for strong defense, and I do all of my recruiting actions for that player- like 20 HVs and a CV. Then suppose my defense goes down to Good. Since I already recruited the first player when the preference was very good, will there be any negative effect on the recruiting credit for that player once the preference changes? Or will it stay the same? (chapelhillne - Hall of Famer - 12:47 PM)

It will not retroactively penalize (or reward you). The effects of the recruiting are based on the time of the action.

Do all Attention Points have equal weight throughout the recruiting process or do some actions make future APs worth more? (kcsundevil - Hall of Famer - 12:50 PM)

Preferences are a factor, but the baseline attention points remain the same throughout.

On moving beyond top 100 - "It's what scouting is for." Maybe if you are sitting in a basement with hours to devote to the game. But I don't think that fits most coaches. You need to streamline this ! ! ! (boobyknight - Hall of Famer - 12:54 PM)

The sentiment you share here is an important one to discuss. If veteran coaches try to scout/recruit players like they always have, they will share your feelings. It takes some time to adjust to the new system. Once one adjusts to the new system and learns how to use it appropriately, you'll discover it takes less time to scout/recruit and is more spread out during the season. That was one of our goals of the update. But it requires a philosophy change for our veteran owners, and we know that can be difficult. We have many dedicated HD coaches in our office that play this game and many others, and usability and efficiency is what we're always after. We believe that has been accomplished (yes, it can still improve), but the change in mindset is needed.

you said that the value of prestige is unchanged, but there are some battle results that make no sense if prestige means as much as it did in 2.0. Can we get seble back in the forums to do some battle analyses and discuss the more puzzling results to make sure everything is balanced properly? (tarvolon - Hall of Famer - 12:58 PM)

We've been evaluating battles internally (we've developed a great internal test page or us to evaluate). It's working as intended. The team that has recruited the player more will have a higher chance (non-linear) of signing the player. But if another team or teams was close in the hunt, they still have a shot. We recommend coaches not put all their eggs in one basket any longer. It's good to have a backup or backup plans for each scholarship offer because you can't guarantee you'll be the top school going after a recruit. Prestige remains very important in this decision.

Why would a four or five star recruit want to play for a rebuilding team? Does "rebuilding" just mean a team which is weak? That seems to be completely unrealistic to me. (kobo - Hall of Famer - 12:59 PM)

Good question, we'll look into this one.

Well, we answered a bunch of questions today but we still have quite a few in our queue. we'll schedule another chat within the next week and move those over to the next chat. Thank you to all for participating today.