Dynasty Feedback & Observations (Long)
Although a few of my CFB 25 Dynasty gripes were addressed in CFB 26, I'm pretty disappointed with what seems to be marginal changes to Dynasty overall this year. Most of what has been adjusted just feels like patch level changes that were purposely held back from 25 to justify talking points for 26. At any rate, I'm hoping that items below can be implemented or considered for the road map. Recruiting & Team Management 25 seemed alright as I tried to learn dealbreakers, the tactics related to points, visits, sells, etc. but it feels more tedious in 26. After playing a few seasons in 26, I'm kind of over how this is setup and the slog this has already become after just two years of the game. I propose providing players an option to switch over to a straight up, simplified point system instead of designating what activity you want to do or trying to sell or sway players, similar to the older NCAA games. If I'm spending 40 points or 65 points on a player, just let me select that point amount out of my budget rather than what feels like padding by selecting a combination of activities. I’d also be interested in even consolidating all recruiting activities to a 4–6 week window in the offseason, while keeping only campus visits during the regular season. This would streamline things by removing friction during the year with weekly recruiting, allowing for more games to be played in a single evening or weekend. It would consolidate what's essentially "admin" aspects into a dedicated offseason period you could do all at once. This would also include toggling off Dealbreakers, which are extremely annoying and in many cases result in being locked out of players that have you as their #1 choice from the start and then for weeks after, or not signing with anyone. If my school is their number one choice, wouldn't they have an idea of their playing time/spot on the roster, playing style, etc. already? This is also driving ridiculous transfer outcomes in the offseason. Further, why do any 2 or 1 star players have Dealbreakers at all in the game other than for the purpose of fitting within the game's core framework? These players are scrubs and largely serve as warm bodies to fill out a roster. They shouldn't be hung up on whether or not New Mexico State has good brand exposure. At the very least, Dealbreakers for these low tier recruits should either be off completely or have the option to toggle off. Additionally, a simplified mode of recruiting would eliminate the grade system for your school which is largely out of your control anyway outside of winning, staying at the school (coach stability), or switching to a better conference. Everything, in a simplified recruiting setup, would rely on your prestige star rating, which is effectively a culmination of your grades anyway. Persuasion system needs to be adjusted in any new Dynasty change as it's the most nonsensical aspect of recruiting by far. This just feels like an RNG with the chance a player stays (low, high, etc.) being entirely irrelevant. Change it to either: A) the persuasion attempts need to act as firm locks to retain a player B) these players need to be worked into your overall recruiting strategy and require hours to spend in order to retain them—with the players who are least likely to stay taking more points to keep on the team. Recruiting map and dynamic pipelines are a must. I want to visually see where my recruits are pinned and how many/who on my roster are already from those territories. As I recruit more (from let's say Tidewater), it should gradually go from bronze to silver to gold and so on until I'm a power in that region. On the map, I should also have some kind of visual feedback of the pipeline area that's "heating up" or "cooling off" and how many more players I need to recruit in order to have it as a solid pipeline. Visits need to be tuned so the amount that you can schedule during a season is based on your prestige. If you're Alabama, it could be 12 for one game and basically unlimited for the season. If you're Kent State, it should be 12 for the entire season so you need to make them count. Alabama can afford to bring in and put up into hotels almost as many recruits as they want for a weekend, whereas Kent State is going to be really limited. (Perhaps an expansion of the dynamic point value based on proximity that was added) This should also spill over into recruits themselves—hardly any 2 or 1 star recruits are getting visits in real life. Visits should just be omitted entirely for these low-tier recruits. Player variation specifically with tattoos, long hair, and dreadlocks. Unless I've missed something, there are once again no recruits with any of these physical traits. Ability to cut freshmen—I have no clue why we are prohibited from doing this and it was a huge problem in 25 where after a few good classes, my upper classmen that were highly rated had to be cut to make space for incoming freshmen. Fix position changes and skill cap cheese. Also show the top 3 positions that player would fit in best without me having to click into a screen with each position listed and 95% of them make zero sense to move that player to. Abilities in my opinion just seem like complete fluff that have no bearing on performance. I’ve seen the "Heisman moment" green thing on the player reticle and they can’t break a single tackle on the play. Just provide the ability to toggle these off and instead rely the overalls/ratings + basic star player designations for occasional boosts… limit to 3 on offense, 3 defense. This was done so much better in NCAA 06 and has been way over engineered in CFB (and Madden for that matter). Coaching & Jobs Provide the ability to retire as a coach, then return at a later time in Dynasty while retaining their records, ratings/skills, and awards. There are some seasons where I want to take a break or I’m not getting the jobs I want so I’ll sit out a season or two, then come back and select a new team to rebuild. There should be continuity when doing this online or offline unless you choose to start as a new coach. I'd even be open to a slight debuff to the coach stats if you decide to retire then come back. More emphasis on the importance of coordinators. As it stands, they just feel like window dressing more than anything. I should be able to take my coordinators with me to a new job, retain the existing coordinators at the new job, or offer any coach in the league (HC/OC/DC) to join my staff. There also needs to be a toggle that forces me to use my coordinators playbooks as well as let me preview the playbook they intend on bringing. There needs to be some kind of point system related to hiring these coordinators. Right now, you just select from a list of 5 or 6, wait a week, and it's again an RNG whether or not they will sign—even if they have 3 other top opportunities listed you seem to be able to sign them no problem. If I start as a coordinator, then limit the user to just that side of the ball. If I'm an OC, then I only play offense and only recruit offense and only get graded on offense performance. Having played numerous seasons, there's no noticeable difference between user-controlled OC/DC and HC. Coaching carousel needs to be overhauled. NCAA 14 was extremely compelling and felt like an actual carousel as jobs were taken and rotated through in real time, forcing you to take a chance or miss out. The current system, unchanged from 25, is totally stagnant. There are too few options offered and I can’t select other schools that are open. If I'm good enough to get Ohio State, I should be able to select Bowling Green if it's open. On the other hand, if I'm at Ohio State, why are so many offers for OC/DC jobs? As you get closer to becoming the CFB version of Nick Saban, you should be able to basically hand pick any job I want. When considering a school, there needs to be a toggle or comprehensive overview screen that shows: top players returning, projected ratings in next season, current recruiting ranking, previous year stat rankings, uniforms, stadium information/screenshot of stadium. These are all things I have to back out and check in various ways—rosters, depth chart, play now, open practice, etc. before making a decision. Presentation Multiple score bugs and broadcast packages are a must in order to replicate the feel of Fox, ESPN, CBS, etc. as games should to look/feel different. This needs to come with at least one or two more commentary crews to round it out like Sean McDonough, Joe Tessitore, Gus Johnson, etc. In the "primetime" game of the week, there should be enhanced camera replays like you’d see in Madden/NFL—close up in end zone, drone shots, exterior stadium shots, and the coin toss. There has to be a halftime show and a weekly summary. No excuse this isn’t in CFB 27. This should include highlights, scores from around the country, and standings/big games ahead. This should include some kind of Top 25 reveal similar to what ESPN does weekly. You already have the audio for the team names and overlaying that with logos popping up would be great. A bowl selection show should be included too with the final CFP bracket reveal...I'd be thrilled with just a little commentary over this as the team logos are slotted into the bracket and bowl matchups. Crowds/fans need enhanced significantly although I assume this will not happen until next gen (PS6). Dynamic sidelines based on game size with more people, players, and activity. This has been an issue for probably 2 console generations now. There aren’t enough people or density on the sidelines. If you watch any top 10 game, every space out of bounds is filled with people. Crowds need to be dynamic—if you are blowing out a team or getting blown out, people should leave the game. More realistic crowds for bowl games and lower-tier conference title games. Almost none of these games are ever sold out. Seeing Ford Field at capacity for the MAC championship is just not happening ever. In the real game, they can barely fill the lower bowl and it’s that way for the majority of bowls, too. Crowd movement and density improvement as it looks sparse at most angles and they all sway in predictable patterns. Ability to select crowd themes. If I wear all black, the crowd should either wear all black automatically or I should be able to select from a list of options (striped, checkered, black, white, primary, secondary, mix/default) just like uniforms with a preview. Dynamic weather and better snow similar to Madden and much improved rain. Rain games just suck and are depressing in this game mainly because it looks awful. When you break a record, it should show in the game broadcast UI seamlessly in a stat overlay or lower third. Just having that as a popup screen takeover in the Dynasty menu with tiny font seems like an afterthought. Heisman ceremony—this doesn’t need to be complicated, just show the 3-5 top players in the first row of the event, a little commentary and comparison of stats of each player (maybe a replay highlight or two), then an animation of the winner being announced and accepting the trophy. User Interface One of my biggest issues... the UI simply needs to be overhauled completely. I can understand a basic framework being used for CFB 25 as there were clearly other priorities in order to get the game out, but using the identical structure for 26 is extremely lackluster. The flat 2D, sharp edges, rough brush effects and retro stuff just feels super dated. The sound effects are also slightly delayed and sound terrible, making everything feel more sluggish. All the menus should make users feel like it’s an ESPN CFB show with bold, aggressive fonts, stylized logos, wipes, etc. CFB 25 was a fun/cute aesthetic to get us going, but that aesthetic is already severely outdated. My brother and I joke that almost every popup or notification is like a PowerPoint slide. It just feels rushed and uninspired. If no changes are made, the tab system in the main menu needs to be reworked. It doesn’t feel intuitive, it's not customizable, or organized around the info users access most often—like Play Week, Top 25, Standings, Stats, and Settings. For example, having “Members” as the second option creates an unnecessary click and would be better placed as a submenu under Dynasty Central or shown only to the commissioner. Weekly Summary and the end of week recap is the most useless screen in the game. The recruiting update is irrelevant as I'm headed there immediately after I click through these "updates". Coach XP bar/update—who cares? Just move this to the top right or in the XP submenu. I don't need to see this every week and it doesn't need its own slide. The coach level is displayed anyway in the top right. School grade updates seem pointless as well—half the stats don't update week-to-week or they just go up/down by half a letter grade which doesn't really matter and only a handful of categories are shown anyway. It's unnecessary to see the exact same players who might transfer based on these grades each week. As an update—just give the user the ability to customize what's shown on this screen, or at the very least, more relevant info like: New Top 25, team record, last game's result/stats/highlights, next week's game, conference standings, etc. Top stories, team schedule, etc. slides that are selected with right stick still show irrelevant/incorrect info. At the very least, if you’re going to keep this framework for next year again, throw in screenshots/highlights from games. Just having the helmets and text is very barebones and contributes to the very real issue of Dynasty feeling soulless. The coach off to the right is also unnecessary—we don’t need to see someone at all times who has a generic head swaying back and forth. This would be somewhat cooler if we could create custom faces, but you barely show the coaches in game so what's the point of showing them here? It's a waste of space. Fonts in general are way too small especially in all the charts. The handwritten/rough typeface used in a few locations (including the team record in the scoreboard) is illegible. If you change your coach’s name, it only updates in the card under "Coach Stats", but it remains the original name in the list to the left. Miscellaneous Ability to add Teambuilder teams to Dynasty past the 136 instead of just swapping them out. You could even cap it at like 144 total or something if you need a framework max for scheduling. I just want the ability to bring up a few FCS schools via Teambuilder rather than trading out an FBS school. At the least, it’d be great to insert Teambuilder teams in place of the generic "FCS West" schools. Teambuilder team helmets in the team select screen and other locations should appear just like default teams. It looks goofy with these teams being just the logo in every location whereas all other default teams have the helmets (if the UI isn’t completely changed anyway). Stadium rankings list—Include a list of the top 25 stadiums, their records, current streaks, attendance, and a visual of the stadium that we can look at somewhere in the menus. There is no way to see how these fluctuate and I'm almost convinced that they don't at all. When building your schedule, show the opponent team ratings off to right. Team stats need to have rankings next to them or this needs to be in some kind of pre-game matchup screen. I get you can go to the team stats and scroll to your team, but I need to see something like "PPG: 37.5 (#16)" somewhere more prominent. Little things like this build connectivity amongst the league. Ability to schedule neutral site games—ideally at any NFL stadium from Madden although I realize this is probably a licensing thing. At the very least provide more context into how things like the Duke’s Mayo kickoff works, for example. Get rid of the generic rock music that’s used in Open Practice mode. It’s terrible, too loud and abrasive. Also, hoping we can just get generic practice jerseys for all teams (primary solid top, white pants) for immersion. Conference stickers on helmets still don’t change when updating conferences as far as I can tell. There are no Captain patches and assigning them seems pointless. Would love to see these show up on a jersey and the coin flip return. Updated player models/pads. Everything is way too bulky still. When selecting uniforms at the mix & match screen, update the numbers to "26" or whatever the game year is or randomize the numbers. It’s currently "0" which doesn’t reveal enough about the number style.
Trophy Room - Minor Fix Needed
Lord , EA Please…Overall i’ve found this years Game a huge jump forward but please please do us all (Or Just me) a favor and make it a option to delete trophies this is the only gripe that i’ve found that is bothering my OCD. Ive done a few tests and now i i have coaches filling up my trophy room and awards that i dont want to see right now since i haven’t even really played the game. I don’t usually write these type of things but man do it for ME please lolPlayer Styles Glitch
For some of the players that we are able to edit, primarily the AI Gen players, their styles revert back to their original ones. When I edit one player’s styles (ball carry, run style, stance, etc…), it reverts back once I exit out of my dynasty. Some of the players remain the same after i’ve changed them, but it’s always certain ones who do not.Training Camp Mini Games are TERRIBLE
Bucket Drop QB Drill - placement and accuracy passing is entirely too difficult and takes too much time to master for the average player. HB - The running area needs to be wider, the FB misses blocks half the time (especially on tosses). Redzone WR - The QB throws lob passes and throws the ball out of bounds the majority of the time, nearly unplayable. Chase and Tackle LB - Half the time I try to tackle my linebacker hesitates and the RB cuts and runs for a TD. The other half the running back runs clear back across the line while my line backer gets stuck into the line dummies. Gauntlet EDGE - Sometimes the rusher will get stuck in an animation where the o line is holding and ends up pushing the rusher out of bounds. The rusher cannot block shed and doesn't respond to pass rush moves in any way when this happens. Also complete side note, please fix the translucent prospect list in the draft when you make your first selectionOnline Franchise not popping up
I run an online Madden franchise with over 27 ppl and when I have new users to join they can’t find my league. I have changed the name and password multiple times and still doesn’t work. The error message they get is league not found as if the league isn’t even there. Please let me know was this due to the recent update? We drafted on Friday August 7th if that helps.
