EA College Football Wishlist

Howzit, everybody? My name is Braven and I'm signed up as a Electronic Arts Playtesting program. I'm stoked that College Football is back in video games and I had some (hopefully easily programmable) detail-oriented ideas that I think would take the series to the next level.

Note to devs and fans, I'm not here to bash the game. Like I said, I'm excited it's back and I'm having a ton of fun with the game, especially with Armor & Sword's "Average Joe" sliders. That guy rocks and this game does too if you take the time to get to know it a little better. This is gonna be a long read, so get some snacks, get comfy and let's get started.

QUALITY OF LIFE
Universal Custom Conferences
Right now, custom conferences are restricted to individual saves in Dynasty and Road To Glory. If you're like me, you've pored over maps and read up of college football history to figure out the perfect conferences. As much as I love creating the perfect rules and line-up, it can get tedious to have to set up the same conferences in every Dynasty and Road To Glory save. Universal Custom Conferences would streamline the set-up process and allow us to get into the actual gameplay.

With this should come custom play-offs. I've been wanting a world where every conference champion and six wildcards make it to the College Football Playoff and the final is held in the Rose Bowl. I don't know if this would violate any licensing agreements, however.

Recruiting App
My wife calls this game "Football Spreadsheet" and I get why. A lot of time spent in this game is in menus, scouting the perfect player that can take the program to the next level. making sure his visit goes perfectly and making sure he has the right cap on when National Signing Day comes around. I don't want to make it mandatory to add more visual noise to someone's life but an mobile app specifically for recruiting in Dynasty would be another way to experience more gameplay. It doesn't need to be overly complicated; just take the existing recruiting menu and adapt it for mobile devices. This would be more labor-intensive but I think die-hard Dynasty players would get a lot of mileage out of it.

Targeting
Targeting is a rough penalty to have in a game but excessive hit sticks should trigger targeting calls. Adding this unique college rule to the game would gamify the choice between conservatively making wrap-up tackles and trying to make a big play despite the recklessness.

Uniform Rules
Continue to not use NCAA rules. College football has been a leader in self-expression and since the game doesn't use NCAA branding, we can have more fun with how uniforms are worn. Keep that up, it's one of the best parts of the game.

PLAYERS
ARCHETYPES
The archetypes in the game are pretty solid but I think they could use a little bit of optimization. I've taken inspiration from the simplified archetypes of 25 and the varied archetypes of 26 to offer a list of four archetypes per position (except kicker and punter, who still have two). The Gadget would no longer be an archetype but a role in the depth chart as we see in 26. The list is as follows:

QB
- Pocket Passer
- Backfield Creator
- Dual-Threat Improviser
- Pure Scrambler

HB
- Contact Seeker
- Elusive Bruiser
- East-West Playmaker
- Backfield Threat

FB
- North/South Blocker
- Utility
- North/South Receiver

WR
- Speedster
- Elusive Route Runner
- Contested Specialist
- Route Artist

TE
- Gritty Possession
- Physical Route Runner
- Pure Blocker
- Vertical Threat


OL
- Agile
- Pass Protector
- Raw Strength
- Well-Rounded

DE
- Edge Setter
- Power Rusher
- Run Stopper
- Speed Rusher

DT
- Gap Specialist
- Power Rusher
- Run Stopper
- Speed Rusher

SAM
- Edge Setter
- Pass Coverage
- Power Rusher
- Run Stopper

MIKE
- Signal Caller
- Pass Coverage
- Gap Specialist
- Run Stopper

WILL
- Edge Setter
- Pass Coverage
- Power Rusher
- Run Stopper

CB
- Boundary
- Bump And Run
- Field
- Zone

S
- Box Specialist
- Coverage Specialist
- Hybrid
- Slot

K/P
- Power
- Accurate

ATHLETES
Athletes have yet to reach their full potential in my opinion. Travis Hunter has brought the two-way player back to public consciousness and time will tell if Koi Perich can have that same impact. In order to stay consistent with Madden's Superstar Mode, I wanted to offer a few two-way position archetypes for athletes as listed below:

RB/LB
- Contact Seeker/Run Stopper
- Elusive Bruiser/Gap Specialist
- East-West Playmaker/Signal Caller
- Backfield Threat/Pass Coverage

WR/CB
- Speedster/Bump And Run
- Elusive Route Runner/Zone
- Contested Specialist/Field
- Route Artist/Boundary

ETHNICITY AND ITS ETHICS
We've all seen the memes of the generated players and I wanted to offer my two cents. While I understand the reluctance to have players in certain positions based on race and ethnicity, I urge the dev team to use naming conventions that reflect the world of college football better. I think I figured out a solid way to do this, by taking the most common given names  and surnames in each state as well as in the entire country. There will be overlap but that's to be expected. Taking the most popular given names each year since 2008 as well as the most common surnames in each state will give us a more immersion in that state.

Using the faces given in RTG's character as well as their different options on skin tone, noses, lips and mouths, we should be able to have much more convincing character models in upcoming games. Using the RTG engine to customize players in both Edit Rosters and Dynasty would greatly help with immersion as well. I looked at each face in RTG and made some presumptions on what ethnicity, based on name and state (for example, Ethan Lee from Waianae, Hawai'i and Ethan Lee from Fayetteville, North Carolina would in all likelihood look very different) and made a list of the hairstyles that would fit them as well as possible. This doesn't mean we couldn't change hair or be limited to these styles in customizing our players, simply that this is what the generated player has.

Before I share the list, I want to be clear: this isn't motivated by a pursuit of realism or wanting to have some sort of racial slant to things. I've lived all over America due to time I spent growing up as a military brat and being in the military myself and I think college sports is a great reflection of a state's sporting culture. Each of the places I've lived has a unique outlook on football based on the people who play it and getting the names right would reflect that really well.

Face 1 - Haitian
    Curly Fade 1
    Curly Fade 2
    Faded Afro 1
    Faded Afro 2
    Long Locs
    Faded Frohawk
    Locs
    Afro Short
    Shaved Curly
    Bald
    Lightning Bolts Fade
    Short Dreadlocks 1
    Short Dreadlocks 2
    Short Locs
    Short Frohawk
    Dreads Messy
    Skin Fade Kinky Afro
    Short Fade Cut
    Waves
    Saved Receding
    Beaded Braids
    Parted Cornrows
    Twisted Afro Fade Headband
    Tiedup Locs
    Short Even Cut

Face 2 - White
    Straight Sidepart
    Short Wavy
    High Bun
    Curly Fade 1
    Short Curly
    Short Spiky Clean
    Shaved Curly
    Bald
    Undercut Top Knot
    Short Side Part Tapered
    Short Receding Messy
    Short Pompadour
    Short Slick Shaved
    Long Slicked Back
    Medium Spiky
    Balding Front
    Short Fade Cut    
    Short Gelled
    Short Mohawk Shaved
    Short Messy Wet
    Short Even Cut
    Short Mohawk

Face 3 - White
    Straight Sidepart
    Short Wavy
    High Bun
    Curly Fade 1
    Short Curly
    Short Spiky Clean
    Shaved Curly
    Bald
    Undercut Top Knot
    Short Side Part Tapered
    Short Receding Messy
    Short Pompadour
    Short Slick Shaved
    Long Slicked Back
    Medium Spiky
    Balding Front
    Short Fade Cut    
    Short Gelled
    Short Mohawk Shaved
    Short Messy Wet
    Short Even Cut
    Short Mohawk

Face 4 - Samoan
    Curly Fade 1
    Curly Fade 2
    Short Curly
    Faded Afro 1
    Faded Frohawk
    Shaved Curly
    Bald
    Short Fade Cut
    Cornrows
    Short Even Cut
    Dreads Top Knot
    Wagon Wheel Braids

Face 5 - Filipino
    Straight Sidepart
    Short Wavy
    High Bun
    Curly Fade 1
    Short Curly
    Short Spiky Clean
    Shaved Curly
    Bald
    Undercut Top Knot
    Short Side Part Tapered
    Short Receding Messy
    Short Pompadour
    Short Slick Shaved
    Long Slicked Back
    Medium Spiky
    Balding Front
    Short Fade Cut    
    Short Gelled
    Short Mohawk Shaved
    Short Messy Wet
    Short Even Cut
    Short Mohawk

Face 6 - Creole
    Curly Fade 1
    Curly Fade 2
    Faded Afro 1
    Faded Afro 2
    Long Locs
    Faded Frohawk
    Locs
    Afro Short
    Shaved Curly
    Bald
    Lightning Bolts Fade
    Short Dreadlocks 1
    Short Dreadlocks 2
    Short Locs
    Short Frohawk
    Dreads Messy
    Skin Fade Kinky Afro
    Short Fade Cut
    Waves
    Saved Receding
    Beaded Braids
    Parted Cornrows
    Twisted Afro Fade Headband
    Tiedup Locs
    Short Even Cut

Face 7 - South Asian
    Straight Sidepart
    Short Wavy
    High Bun
    Curly Fade 1
    Short Curly
    Short Spiky Clean
    Shaved Curly
    Bald
    Undercut Top Knot
    Short Side Part Tapered
    Short Receding Messy
    Short Pompadour
    Short Slick Shaved
    Long Slicked Back
    Medium Spiky
    Balding Front
    Short Fade Cut    
    Short Gelled
    Short Mohawk Shaved
    Short Messy Wet
    Short Even Cut
    Short Mohawk

Face 8 - Black
    Curly Fade 1
    Curly Fade 2
    Faded Afro 1
    Faded Afro 2
    Long Locs
    Faded Frohawk
    Locs
    Afro Short
    Shaved Curly
    Bald
    Lightning Bolts Fade
    Short Dreadlocks 1
    Short Dreadlocks 2
    Short Locs
    Short Frohawk
    Dreads Messy
    Skin Fade Kinky Afro
    Short Fade Cut
    Waves
    Saved Receding
    Beaded Braids
    Parted Cornrows
    Twisted Afro Fade Headband
    Tiedup Locs
    Short Even Cut

Face 9 - Korean
    Straight Sidepart
    Short Wavy
    High Bun
    Curly Fade 1
    Short Curly
    Short Spiky Clean
    Shaved Curly
    Bald
    Undercut Top Knot
    Short Side Part Tapered
    Short Receding Messy
    Short Pompadour
    Short Slick Shaved
    Long Slicked Back
    Medium Spiky
    Balding Front
    Short Fade Cut    
    Short Gelled
    Short Mohawk Shaved
    Short Messy Wet
    Short Even Cut
    Short Mohawk

Face 10 - Hawaiian
    Curly Fade 1
    Curly Fade 2
    Short Curly
    Faded Afro 1
    Faded Frohawk
    Shaved Curly
    Bald
    Short Fade Cut
    Cornrows
    Short Even Cut
    Dreads Top Knot
    Wagon Wheel Braids

Face 11 - Italian
    Straight Sidepart
    Short Wavy
    High Bun
    Curly Fade 1
    Short Curly
    Short Spiky Clean
    Shaved Curly
    Bald
    Undercut Top Knot
    Short Side Part Tapered
    Short Receding Messy
    Short Pompadour
    Short Slick Shaved
    Long Slicked Back
    Medium Spiky
    Balding Front
    Short Fade Cut    
    Short Gelled
    Short Mohawk Shaved
    Short Messy Wet
    Short Even Cut
    Short Mohawk

Face 12 - Scandinavian
    Straight Sidepart
    Short Wavy
    High Bun
    Curly Fade 1
    Short Curly
    Short Spiky Clean
    Shaved Curly
    Bald
    Undercut Top Knot
    Short Side Part Tapered
    Short Receding Messy
    Short Pompadour
    Short Slick Shaved
    Long Slicked Back
    Medium Spiky
    Balding Front
    Short Fade Cut    
    Short Gelled
    Short Mohawk Shaved
    Short Messy Wet
    Short Even Cut
    Short Mohawk

Face 13 - Tongan
    Curly Fade 1
    Curly Fade 2
    Short Curly
    Faded Afro 1
    Faded Frohawk
    Shaved Curly
    Bald
    Short Fade Cut
    Cornrows
    Short Even Cut
    Dreads Top Knot
    Wagon Wheel Braids

Face 14 - Creole
    Curly Fade 1
    Curly Fade 2
    Faded Afro 1
    Faded Afro 2
    Long Locs
    Faded Frohawk
    Locs
    Afro Short
    Shaved Curly
    Bald
    Lightning Bolts Fade
    Short Dreadlocks 1
    Short Dreadlocks 2
    Short Locs
    Short Frohawk
    Dreads Messy
    Skin Fade Kinky Afro
    Short Fade Cut
    Waves
    Saved Receding
    Beaded Braids
    Parted Cornrows
    Twisted Afro Fade Headband
    Tiedup Locs
    Short Even Cut

Face 15 - Mexican
    Straight Sidepart
    Short Wavy
    High Bun
    Curly Fade 1
    Short Curly
    Short Spiky Clean
    Shaved Curly
    Bald
    Undercut Top Knot
    Short Side Part Tapered
    Short Receding Messy
    Short Pompadour
    Short Slick Shaved
    Long Slicked Back
    Medium Spiky
    Balding Front
    Short Fade Cut    
    Short Gelled
    Short Mohawk Shaved
    Short Messy Wet
    Short Even Cut
    Short Mohawk

Face 16 - Chinese
    Straight Sidepart
    Short Wavy
    High Bun
    Curly Fade 1
    Short Curly
    Short Spiky Clean
    Shaved Curly
    Bald
    Undercut Top Knot
    Short Side Part Tapered
    Short Receding Messy
    Short Pompadour
    Short Slick Shaved
    Long Slicked Back
    Medium Spiky
    Balding Front
    Short Fade Cut    
    Short Gelled
    Short Mohawk Shaved
    Short Messy Wet
    Short Even Cut
    Short Mohawk

Face 17 - West African
    Curly Fade 1
    Curly Fade 2
    Faded Afro 1
    Faded Afro 2
    Long Locs
    Faded Frohawk
    Locs
    Afro Short
    Shaved Curly
    Bald
    Lightning Bolts Fade
    Short Dreadlocks 1
    Short Dreadlocks 2
    Short Locs
    Short Frohawk
    Dreads Messy
    Skin Fade Kinky Afro
    Short Fade Cut
    Waves
    Saved Receding
    Beaded Braids
    Parted Cornrows
    Twisted Afro Fade Headband
    Tiedup Locs
    Short Even Cut

Face 18 - Puerto Rican
    Curly Fade 1
    Curly Fade 2
    Short Curly
    Shaved Curly
    Bald
    Lightning Bolts Fade
    Cornrows
    Twisted Braids
    Waves
    Short Even Cut

Face 19 - Jamaican
    Curly Fade 1
    Curly Fade 2
    Faded Afro 1
    Faded Afro 2
    Long Locs
    Faded Frohawk
    Locs
    Afro Short
    Shaved Curly
    Bald
    Lightning Bolts Fade
    Short Dreadlocks 1
    Short Dreadlocks 2
    Short Locs
    Short Frohawk
    Dreads Messy
    Skin Fade Kinky Afro
    Short Fade Cut
    Waves
    Saved Receding
    Beaded Braids
    Parted Cornrows
    Twisted Afro Fade Headband
    Tiedup Locs
    Short Even Cut

Face 20 - Native American
    Straight Sidepart
    Short Wavy
    High Bun
    Curly Fade 1
    Short Curly
    Short Spiky Clean
    Shaved Curly
    Bald
    Undercut Top Knot
    Short Side Part Tapered
    Short Receding Messy
    Short Pompadour
    Short Slick Shaved
    Long Slicked Back
    Medium Spiky
    Balding Front
    Short Fade Cut    
    Short Gelled
    Short Mohawk Shaved
    Short Messy Wet
    Short Even Cut
    Short Mohawk

DYNASTY
Pipeline Rework
I think pipelines could use a redo. Pipelines are more about region than state and adding some more specific regions would create a more bespoke regional feel, especially with dynamic pipelines.  As college football expands past America's borders even more, I've added Europe and the islands in the Pacific as well as mixing in Canadian Provinces.

    New England
        Maine
        Massachusetts
        New Hampshire
        Rhode Island
        Vermont
        Upstate New York (Albany, Syracuse, etc.)
        Quebec
        Newfoundland
        Nova Scotia
        Prince Edward Island
        New Brunswick

    Big Apple
        Connecticut
        North Jersey (Newark, Jersey City, etc.)
        NYC Metro (Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, Staten Island, Manhattan, Long Island, Yonkers)
    
    Tidewater
        Delaware
        Maryland
        South Jersey (Camden, etc.)
        Philly Metro
        Washington, D.C.
        Northern Virginia (Arlington, etc.)

    South Atlantic
        Southern Virginia (Newport News, etc.)
        North Carolina
        South Carolina
        Metro Atlanta
        South Georgia (Savannah, etc.)
        North Florida (Jacksonville, etc.)
        Central Florida (Orlando, etc.)
        South Florida (Miami, etc.)
        Puerto Rico

    Appalachia
        Central Pennsylvania (Harrisburg, etc.)
        West Virginia
        Nashville Metro
        Kentucky

    Mississippi Delta
        Arkansas
        Louisiana Bayou (Baton Rouge, etc.)
        Memphis Metro
        
    Gulf Coast
        New Orleans Metro
        East Texas
        Mississippi
        Alabama

    Great Lakes
        Chicago Metro
        Indiana
        Michigan
        Northern Ohio (Cleveland, etc.)
        Wisconsin
        Western New York (Buffalo, Rochester, etc.)
        Ontario
    
    Prairies
        Downstate Illinois (East St. Louis, etc.)
        Iowa
        Nebraska
        Minnesota
        North Dakota
        South Dakota
        Manitoba
        Nunavut

    Great Plains
        Kansas
        Missouri
        North Texas (Dallas, etc.)
        Oklahoma

    Big Sky
        Idaho
        Montana
        Wyoming
        Northwest Territories
        Alberta
        Saskatchewan
    
    Desert Southwest
        Arizona
        New Mexico
        Southwest Texas (El Paso, etc.)
        Southern California (Los Angeles, etc.)
        Mexico
    
    Rocky Mountain
        Colorado
        Utah
        Nevada
        Northern California (San Francisco, etc.)
    
    Pacific Northwest
        Alaska
        Oregon
        Washington
        British Columbia
        Yukon Territory 
    
    Pacific Islands
        Hawai’i
        Fiji
        Samoa
        Tonga
        Australia
        New Zealand
        Japan

    Europe
        Germany
        Austria
        Czech Republic
        Denmark
        France
        Hungary
        Poland
        Spain
        Switzerland

Dynamic Pipelines
If you don't remember NCAA Football 14, your pipelines would shift based on who you recruited and from where. Mixing this with the dynamic dealbreakers would make such a difference on the recruiting trail and gets rid of the idea of a "meta" with recruiting. Each level of pipelines would have a choice of upgrade to strengthen your pipeline there.

Bronze - 10% of your players are from this region
        - Scouts use 10% less Hours
                OR
        - Visits cost 10% less Hours

    Silver - 25% of your players are from this region
        - Scouts use 25% less Hours
                OR
        - Visits cost 25% less Hours
        
    Gold - 50% of your players are from this region
        - Scouts use 50% less Hours        
                OR
        - Scouts use 50% less Hours
                AND
         You are in every Prospect’s Top 10 schools

    Platinum - 10% of players from this region are on your team
        - You are in every Prospect from that region’s Top 8 schools
                AND
        - You are in every Transfer from that region’s Top 10 schools

    Ruby - 25% of players from this region are on your team
        - You are in every Prospect from that region's Top 5 schools
                AND
        - You are in every Transfer from that region’s Top 8 schools

    Sapphire - 50% of players from this region are on your team
        - You are in every Prospect from that region’s Top 3 schools
                AND
        - You are in every Transfer from that region’s Top 5 schools

    Diamond - You have the most players from this region
        - You are every Prospect from that region’s Top School
                AND
        - You are in every Transfer from that region’s Top 3 schools

Dynamic Rivalries
This sounds difficult but all I'm saying here is the more you play a team, the more rivalry points you gain. NBA 2K had something like this and it was a great way to see the evolution of the league. With custom conferences, it would be fun to see different rivalries grow as time goes on. You wouldn't need much new dialogue to do it, simply noting when a game a qualifies to count as a rivalry, becomes a rivalry, becomes an heated rivalry and an intense rivalry. As long as the games don't become bigger than established rivalries, this should work. 

Final Details
We should be able to schedule our own neutral-site and special occasion games.

When a coach leaves a school, there should be a certain amount of players that follow that coach to his next school.

Coordinators should have a larger role. I think tying the offensive and defensive playbooks to their respective coordinators rather than the head coach would reflect the landscape of college football and the importance of influence coordinators have in reshaping a team's identity.

There should be one five-star player per position per state. The idea of stars for recruits is mostly determined by each publication and Dynasty mode already expands the widely accepted 2-5 star scale to a much better 1-5 star scale and recruiting a five-star should feel special.

Recruiting should be an inversion of RTG with players being able to gain or lose stars and coaches offering players a chance to complete challenges for recruiting boosts.

Certain schools are known for their positional output. Linebacker U, Quarterback U, there's a level of notoriety to being a factory for certain positions. Constantly having positional award nominees and high draft picks should boost your standing with those recruits. Being able to have this status and have it reflect your recruiting skills is a cool idea.

ROAD TO GLORY
Only a few changes to RTG. I think it's pretty solid outside of some world-building that would help flesh out a player's life. I already mentioned archetype tweaks but I also think there are other opportunities.

High School
Each school needs to have its own identity. As it stands right now, picking a uniform is basically window dressing and I think there's room to add gameplay consequences to it. Using the generic playbooks, the teams could look something like this:

Mustangs
    Offense: Pro Style
    Defense: 3-4 Multiple
Rattlers
    Offense: Air Raid
    Defense: 4-2-5
Orcas
    Offense: Option
    Defense: 4-3 Multiple
Pumas
    Offense: Veer & Shoot
    Defense: 3-2-6
Renegades
    Offense: Run & Shoot
    Defense: 3-4 Multiple
Cyclones
    Offense: Spread Option
    Defense: 3-3-5

Three more team could be added with Go-Go/3-4 Multiple, Pistol/4-3 Multiple and Spread/3-3-5 Tite combinations, bringing the total available teams to eight, which we'll need for the next point.

The high school portion of RTG needs a light tweak. I don't need a full high school season but the games should mean a little bit more. Instead of an abridged five-game season, I think we should have four full games and play-offs. Objectives would still be a major part of the game but they would be a checklist to be completed in-game rather than only playing a drive. Losing in the playoffs would end the high school portion. The high school schedule would look as follows:

College Week 0: High School Opening Week
College Week 4: High School Homecoming
College Week 8: High School Rivalry Week
College Week 12: High School Senior Night
College Week 13: High School Quarterfinals
College Week 14: High School Semifinals
College Week 15: High School Finals

College
College needs a little more extracurricular activity. To be clear, I'm not saying we need a full campus or city. I just think the pop-up events should occur every week except for the midterm and finals. For those days, I'm reaching all the way back and saying to bring back the tests. We have the trivia minigame in Madden's combine and I don't think having it twice a year would be egregious. A lot of the fun and character I found in the game was having a player who loved to party and seeing how that affected his game compared to a bookworm who always did the right thing. I assumed one would always be the right answer but I was happily surprised to find out your teammates and coaches responded uniquely to what "right" means.

I also think adding a level of interactivity with the rest of the team would go far. If I transfer schools, maybe I can bring some teammates along. Maybe a switch in offensive coordinators makes me look elsewhere to play. Maybe hiring a different defensive coordinator convinces me to stay. This might be harder to program, so just let me know when the coaches are leaving.

CONCLUSION
If you read this far, thank you so much. I love that college football is back and I see the improvements and different things that are being attempted. I truly think this has the potential to be the next great sports series and I hope this wishlist helped someone. Thank you so much for your time and I can't wait to see everyone on the field this summer.