I'm one who doesn't have a ton of time to do detailed analyses and tweak every detailed aspect of my offensive gameplan. I do, however, want some control over it.
The auto-set does well enough for me in every area EXCEPT the offensive gameplan. I'll never have enough time to do detailed scouting of my opponent to tweak the defensive one, and the game does well enough at all the scouting and play selection that I know I can't do better without putting in time I just don't have.
But on the offensive gameplan, I would like to see a streamlined version. Basically, I like the current approach of having me set a balance between long pass / medium pass / short pass / inside run / outside run, and want to keep that basic screen. But I hate having to copy that to specific situations, then adjust other specific situations, and copy them. If I just want to change my balance a bit, it takes much longer and more clicks than it really needs to.
My proposal would be to add some controls to the offensive gameplan screen. Keep everything the same, but add a section at the bottom. This section would have sliders for:
- Own redzone aggressiveness
- 2nd-and-short aggressiveness
- 3rd-and-short aggressiveness
- 3rd-and-long aggressiveness
- 4th-and-short aggressiveness
And a single button that says "adjust for other situations".
Clicking that button would take my settings on the screen, assume they are for first-and-medium at midfield, and adjust based on these sliders.
When I say "aggressiveness", I mean "how much do you want outside runs / long passes"? A small weight to increased medium passing as well, or another way to look at it is how much to take away from short passes / inside runs.
I don't need adjustments for every situation; I'm fine with all of first and second down being the same (except for 2nd-and-short, which can be a great time to throw long). What I really want to do is set my overall run/pass and distance ratios, and let the rest of the gameplan go. I can decide how much I want to take a risk in 2nd-and-short versus go for the first down, and how conservative I want to get on 3rd/4th and short, and how often I want to try the safe run that might pay off on 3rd and long. 4th and medium / long, the game needs to get aggressive, otherwise it's a turnover.
You could take one instance of this screen and those sliders and fill the rest of the gameplan with math, adjusting the ratios based on the situation and sliders. Many fewer clicks, and much easier for me to make the small tweaks I want. Plus I could then go in and make specific adjustments to individual screens if I really want to.
