[Suggestion] Play Calling Variety Score (XPs) to motivate versatile play calling

In a nutshell: I‘d like to suggest a bonus XP scheme rewarding versatile play calling in MUT. It should be rewarded to make use of different plays in order to enjoy the potential breadth of the game. In my opinion, this would not only benefit the players who diversify their play calling, but also their opponents (in H2H games).

Firstly, I think the introduction of the new solo modes is very good. They offer significantly more options and variations for playing. I don't really like playing H2H, and with these changes, MUT is more fun even in pure solo mode.

What I'm still missing at the moment, though, is an incentive to use different plays. Unfortunately, in particular in Solo games in MUT (against the CPU), there's no incentive in the form of rewards to use lots of different plays. On the one hand, it takes a lot of practice, and on the other hand, it's really easy for something to go wrong (because you lack practice). In extreme cases, players tend to use the 1-2 plays that almost always work for them, no matter what the opponent does. However, since at the moment the rewards are geared towards performing well (e.g. gaining as many yards as possible on offense or not allowing any yards on defense), it is better from a reward perspective to always do the same thing (once you have found a good play for yourself), as this allows you to achieve the reward-relevant goals more quickly.

I don't think it's ideal to try to force players to use different plays by only allowing a play to be used twice per game, for example. I get annoyed time and time again because then, in a game situation where I want to use that exact play, I simply can't use it (and then I also take too long to select a new play because I've already clicked through the playbook just to find the intendet play to be blocked...).

My suggestion would therefore be to introduce a ‘Play Calling Variety Score’ that rewards the use of a wide variety of plays in the form of XP, but does not penalise players who prefer to stick to a monotonous selection of plays. I imagine this ‘Play Calling Variety Score’ to be something like this:

• The ‘Play Calling Variety Score’ works similar to the Field Pass system, except that you earn additional XP for each game played, each challenge completed, etc., if you vary your play calling.
• This ‘Play Calling variety score’ should not replace existing goals, but rather complement them. If I can best achieve the existing goals using only the plays I have already practised, I am not forced to fail at plays that I simply haven’t had a chance to try before. However, I will potentially be rewarded for trying something new.
• The idea would be as follows: For each play (e.g. for ‘Inside Zone Run from Gun Trey Y Flex’), you only get XP for the best 3 executions. So, for example, if I use this zone run play from this formation 10 times in a game and gain different amounts of yardage (and/or TDs), I only get points for the best 3 runs. If I run into the end zone every time I use the play, only 3 of the runs will earn me points. However, if I use a different play even once and only gain 10 yards, for example, it will still earn me additional XPs. If the play does not work as desired the first 3 times, it may still be worth using the play again. In other words, this logic rewards versatile play calling, but does not penalise you if you decide to use your favourite play again.
• In addition to varying my own plays, I could also imagine establishing a bonus system that rewards the use of plays that are rarely chosen by the Madden community as a whole. I imagine this would involve dividing the plays from the various playbooks into categories according to how often they are used (from very frequently to rarely used). The less frequently the plays are selected by the community as a whole, the more Play Calling Variety Score XPs I get when I use that play (e.g. in the form of a percentage bonus +20% if I have chosen a play that is used moderately frequently (relative to other plays), or +100% if the play is very rarely chosen). This percentage bonus is added to my earned XPs. In my opinion, the size of this bonus should take into account how big the difference actually is between the money plays that are used very frequently and the rarely used plays. There is not really much incentive to choose a play that gives me a +100% XP bonus if the play simply does not work and I get virtually 0 XPs (... 0 * 100% is still 0...).
• As an additional bonus for the Play Calling Variety Score, I could imagine that the total variety score XP collected over all plays in a game would be weighted again by the number of formations used. For example, if I only ever chose one offense and one defense formation, I would not receive a bonus. For each additional formation, I would receive an additional +5% on all XP collected.
• With regard to audibles and hot routes, I would assume that a play is only considered as such or as an additional play if the player has not called more than 2 (?) hot routes (or, for example, changes in the defensive zones). Otherwise, it might be possible to combine various plays into one and the same play at the end, which would render the Play Calling Variety Score meaningless. Alternatively, more than 2 hot routes could be penalised by reducing the contribution to the Variety Score earned with the respective play by x% for each additional hot route as soon as more than 1 hot route is called.
• In my opinion, this logic should work for offense and defense, and perhaps also for special teams plays. The evaluation of plays can certainly be calculated from the combination of the results of the play (e.g. for offensive plays as the sum of yardage gained + TD (yes or no) + first down (yes or no), etc.; for defensive plays, e.g. yards allowed + sack (yes/no) + INT (yes/no) + forced fumble (yes/no) + yards after turnover + allowed first down, etc.). However, I suspect it would make sense to limit the best-rated result of a play (e.g. anything more than 30 yards of yardage gained is rated the same in terms of yardage gained; a tackle for loss is worth the same regardless of how much yardage was lost; etc.).
• In my opinion, the Play Calling Variety Score should work in both Solo modes and H2H. In H2H, it would motivate players who totally dominate their opponents with the same play to try something different. This would also benefit the losing player, because they might experience a sense of achievement instead of always being beaten by the same play. Especially in the group of less experienced players who can't figure out how to respond to a dominating play, they would probably be happy if their opponent's play calling was less one-sided.
• As a reward scheme for the Play Calling Variety Score, I could imagine that players could collect tokens, for example, which could be used as wild cards in sets of the respective Season Pass. Or the Play Calling Variety Score could be converted into Season Pass XP when certain XP levels are reached. There are certainly many ways to reward versatile play calling without penalising those who tend to play more monotonously. In my opinion, however, the Play Calling Variety Score should only be a bonus, not a completely new reward system. Playing in a varied way should help players achieve existing goals more quickly, but it should not force (especially inexperienced) players to achieve new goals and overwhelm them if they cannot cope with the different plays.

 

I believe that the Play Calling Variety Score would combine very well with my suggestion to link rewards for improving one's lineup more strongly to good ‘usered’ play and less to winning games, see: [Suggestion] Rewards (for Lineup improvements) vs. Achievements | EA Forums - 12458208