[Game Preview] Week 2 - Los Angeles Rams (1-0) at Philadelphia Eagles(0-1)
Los Angeles Rams (1-0) at Philadelphia Eagles (0-1)
The 2020 Philadelphia Eagles season didn’t have the start they were looking for week 1 as they opened the season without their starting LT, RT, RG, RB, DT and WR and struggled against the Washington Football team to open their season with a loss. Luckily they will get two of those starters back this week in running back Miles Sanders and RT Lane Johnson. Both will be welcome additions as the Eagles struggled to block anyone against the Football Team both on the line and from the running back position. Additionally, getting a running game going will greatly help slow the pass rush which will be impressive as the Rams posted one of the best pressure rates last week led by All-Pro Aaron Donald. Hopefully Doug Pederson learns from his mistakes of last week and gets Carson moving with some designed rollouts and mixes up his play-calling more to establish the run. If Doug tries to do the same thing as last week it will be a long day for Carson and Donald will feast. On the other side of the ball, Schwartz had Slay follow McLaurin last week and it worked as Slay shut McLaurin down, but that is more difficult this week as the Rams have two talented receivers in Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp. The Eagles will need to see how Maddox holds up on the outside with a bigger challenge this week. With the struggles of the Eagles offense and their injuries on that side of the ball, the Eagles will need their defenses to limit the quick scoring Rams offense or it will be a long day. Should be a good test for the Eagles to rebound after falling flat out of the gate last week. Go Birds!
Record VS. Spread: Philadelphia 0-1, Los Angeles 0-1
Where to Watch on TV
FOX will broadcast Monday’s game to a national audience. Kevin Kugler will handle the play-by-play duties and Chris Spielman will provide analysis. Laura Okmin will report from the sideline.
Calling the game on 94WIP and the Eagles Radio Network will be Merrill Reese, the NFL’s longest-tenured play-by-play announcer (44th season). Joining Reese in the radio booth will be former Eagles All-Pro wide receiver Mike Quick, while Howard Eskin will report from the sidelines.
Location
Station
Frequency
Philadelphia, PA
WIP-FM
94.1 FM and 610 AM
Allentown, PA
WCTO-FM
96.1 FM
Atlantic City/South Jersey
WENJ-FM
97.3 FM
Levittown, PA
WBCB-AM
1490 AM
Northumberland, PA
WEGH-FM
107.3 FM
Pottsville, PA
WPPA-AM
1360 AM
Reading, PA
WEEU-AM
830 AM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD
WAFL-FM
97.7 FM
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, PA
WEJL-FM
96.1 FM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD
WAFL-FM
97.7 FM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD
WEJL-AM
630 AM
Salisbury/Ocean City, MD
WBAX-AM
1240 AM
Williamsport, PA
WBZD-FM
93.3 FM
Wilmington, DE
WDEL-FM/AM
101.7 FM
York/LancasteHarrisburg, PA
WSOX-FM
96.1 FM
Philadelphia Spanish Radio
Rickie Ricardo and Bill Kulik will handle the broadcast in Spanish on Mega 105.7 FM in Philadelphia and the Eagles Spanish Radio Network.
Location
Station
Frequency
Philadelphia, PA
LA MEGA
105.7 FM
Allentown, PA
WSAN
1470 AM
Atlantic City, NJ
WIBG
1020 AM; 101.3 FM
Rams Radio
Rams Radio J.B. Long will handle the play-by-play duties and former pro bowl running back Maurice Jones-Drew will provide analysis. D'Marco Farr will report from the sidelines.
September 21, 1937 at Philadelphia Municipal Stadium, Philadelphia, PA. Cleveland Rams 21 Philadelphia Eagles 3
Points Leader
Philadelphia Eagles lead the Los Angeles Rams (843-842)
Coaches Record
Doug Pederson: 2-0 against the Rams
Sean McVay: 0-2 against Eagles
Coaches Head to Head
Doug Pederson vs Sean McVay: Pederson leads 2-0
Quarterback Record
Carson Wentz: Against Rams: 1-0
Jared Goff: Against Eagles: 0-2
Quarterbacks Head to Head
Carson Wentz vs Jared Goff: Wentz leads 1-0
Records per Stadium
Record @ Lincoln Financial Field: Eagles lead Rams: 2-0
Record @ Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum: Rams lead Eagles 5-4-1
Rankings and Last Meeting Information
AP Pro 32 Ranking
Eagles No. 21 - Rams No. 09
Record
Eagles: 0-1
Rams: 1-0
Last Meeting
Sunday, December 12th, 2018
Eagles 30 - Rams 23
Nick Foles filled in for the injured Carson Wentz, taking up his spot under center after three months without game action. Foles promptly recaptured the magic, passing for 270 yards and confidently leading the Eagles to a 30-23 win over the Rams on Sunday night with plenty of help from his defense and his playmakers. Foles got plenty of help from his running game as Wendell Smallwood rushed for two touchdowns and rookie Josh Adams ran for another score as the Eagles (7-7) kept their playoff hopes quite viable with a gritty victory over the Rams (11-3), who lost consecutive regular-season games for the first time in coach Sean McVay's tenure.
Carson Wentz threw for 291 yards and four touchdowns before leaving with a knee injury and Jake Elliott kicked the go-ahead 33-yard field goal with 3:45 left for the Philadelphia Eagles, who beat the Los Angeles Rams 43-35 in a thriller Sunday to clinch the NFC East title.
Eagles - In a near-reversal of the previous season's opener, the Eagles scored the first 17 points, only for the Washington Football Team to then shut their offense out for the remainder of the afternoon. Meanwhile, Washington's offense scored 27 unanswered points, and the defense sacked Carson Wentz eight times, recorded two interceptions, and forced three fumbles. With the loss, Philadelphia's six-game winning streak against Washington was snapped dating back to Week 14 of the 2016 season, and the Eagles lost the first game of the season since 2015.
Rams - Playing their first game ever in their brand-new home at SoFi Stadium, the Rams held off the Cowboys in a close battle of NFC contenders. Receiving the opening kickoff (from former Rams kicker Greg Zuerlein), Los Angeles drove 75 yards in seven plays, with Malcolm Brown scoring the new stadium's first touchdown on a 1-yard run. Rookie kicker Samuel Sloman missed on his first field goal attempt, a 29-yard try that bounced off the left upright near the end of the first quarter, but later was successful on field goals of 35 and 31 yards in the second quarter. However, Dallas took a 14-13 halftime lead as Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott scored on both a touchdown run and a touchdown reception. The Rams reclaimed the lead as Malcolm Brown (who finished with a team-high 18 rushes for 79 yards) scored his second touchdown of the game on a 2-yard run midway through the third quarter to put Los Angeles ahead 20-14. Zuerlein converted a 33-yard field goal late in the third quarter, but it would be as close as the Cowboys would get. Rookie safety Jordan Fuller led the Rams with eight total tackles, including a key tackle of Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb on a fourth-and-3 play at the Rams' 9-yard line, just one yard short of a first down to kill a Dallas scoring drive.
Connections
Rams QB Jared Goff and Eagles QB Carson Wentz were selected 1st and 2nd in the 2016 NFL draft after both teams traded up.
Eagles S Rodney McLeod played for the Rams from 2012-16.
Eagles CB Nickell Robey-Coleman played for the Rams from 2017-19.
Eagles LB coach Ken Fajole was defensive coordinator of the Rams for three seasons from 2009−2011.
Eagles TE Zach Ertz went to Stanford (2009-13) and is from Orange County, CA.
Eagles Director of Sports Performance Ted Rath worked for the Rams from 2017-2019 as their Strength and Conditioning Coach (2017) and Director of Strength Training and Performance (2018-2019).
Eagles Special assistant to the general manager Connor Barwin played for the Rams in 2018.
2020 Pro Bowlers
Eagles
Rams
DT Fletcher Cox (Starter)
DT Aaron Donald (Starter)
OG Brandon Brooks (Starter)
CB Jalen Ramsey
C Jason Kelce (Starter)
LS Rick Lovato (Starter)
TE Zach Ertz
SS Malcom Jenkings (1st Alt)
OT Lane Johnson (1st Alt
General
Referee: Brad Allen
Philadelphia has produced a 22-19-1 (.536) record in the all-time series vs. Los Angeles. The Eagles own a 6-game winning streak against the Rams, scoring 30+ points in 5 straight contests.
Philadelphia is 15-8 (.652) in home games vs. Los Angeles, with victories in each of the last 2 such meetings (last: W, 34-28 on 10/5/14 at Lincoln Financial Field).
The Eagles are 23-9 (.719) at home in the regular season under head coach Doug Pederson, which marks the 5th-best home winning percentage in the NFL since 2016, trailing only New En-gland (.818, 27-6), Baltimore (.758, 25-8), Kansas City (.758, 25-8) and New Orleans (.727, 24-9).
Philadelphia has captured all 4 of its home openers with Doug Pederson at the helm (since 2016). Pederson is one of only two head coaches in Eagles history to win each of their first 4 home openers with the team, joining Joe Kuharich (1964-67).
In Week 1 at Washington, Philadelphia allowed only 239 total yards (80 rushing, 5th; 159 passing, 3rd), which were the fewest by any defense in the NFL during kickoff weekend. The Eagles limited Washington to just 27.8% (5-of-18) on third downs, which was also the 5th-best mark in the league.
Draft Picks
Eagles
Rams
WR Jalen Raegor
RB Cam Akers
QB Jalen Hurts
WR Van Jefferson
LB Davion Taylor
OLB Terrell Lewis
S K’Von Wallace
S Terrel Burgess
OT Jack Driscoll
TE Brycen Hopkins
WR John Hightower
S Jordan Fuller
LB Shaun Bradley
LB Clay Johnston
WR Quez Watkins
K Sam Sloman
OT Prince Tega Wanogho
G Tremayne Achrum
LB/DE Casey Toohill
Notable Off-season Additions
Eagles
Rams
S Will Parks
DT A’Shawn Robinson
DT Javon Hargrave
OLB Leonard Floyd
CB Nickell Robey-Coleman
CB Darius Slay
S Sean Davis
WR Cody Latimer
CB Kendell Fuller
RB JD McKissic
G Wes Schweitzer
Notable Off-season Departures
Eagles
Rams
S Malcom Jenkins
DE Dante Fowler Jr.
CB Ronald Darby
RB Todd Gurley
RB Jordan Howard
WR Brandin Cooks
WR Nelson Agholor
LB Cory Littleton
OL Halapoulivaati Vaitai
S Eric Weddle
LB Kamu Grugler-Hill
CB Nickell Robey-Coleman
RB Darren Sproles
WR Jojo Natson
DT Timmy Jernigan
WR Mike Thomas
LB Nigel Bradham
LB Clay Matthews
QB Blake Bortles
Milestones
Eagles QB Carson Wentz (99) needs 1 passing TDs for 100 career passing TDs.
Eagles WR Desean Jackson (6322) needs 145 yards to move up to 3rd on the Eagles all-time receiving yards list all-time passing WR *Mike Quick
Eagles WR Desean Jackson (34) needs 2 TDs to move into a tie for 7th on the Eagles all-time receiving TD list tying WR Jeremy Maclin
Eagles DE Brandon Graham (51) needs 3.5 sacks to move to 4th on the Eagles all-time sack list tying DE Hugh Douglas
Eagles DT Fletcher Cox (48) needs 2.5 sacks to move up to 6th on the Eagles all-time sack list tying DE Greg Brown
Eagles DE Vinny Curry (27) needs 1 sack to move up to 19th on the Eagles all-time sack list passing DT Darwin Walker
Rams WR Cooper Kupp (2636) needs 28 yards to move up to 16th on the Rams all-time receiving list passing WR Carroll Dale
Pro Football Focus Matchup Charts courtesy of PFF Edge (join.profootballfocus.com/edge/)
It doesn’t take advanced stats to know that Wentz spent most of Sunday under significant pressure. Washington sacked him eight times behind a makeshift offensive line that struggled to contain the Football Team’s pass rush. The Eagles allowed a 34% pressure rate Sunday, according to ESPN Next Gen Stats. That was the third-worst in the NFL. Five different Washington players generated at least four pressures. And it doesn’t get any easier against the Rams. The Cowboys allowed a 40.5% pressure rate Sunday night in their loss to the Rams, which was the second-worst mark of Week 1. And a big reason for that was Rams star Aaron Donald. Donald — the six-time Pro Bowler, five-time All-Pro and two-time AP Defensive Player of the Year who has 44 sacks over the past three seasons — posted a 28.6% pressure rate on Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott himself. He pressured Prescott 10 times for 35 pass rushes and finished with four tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss and four quarterback hits. According to Next Gen Stats, Donald’s pressure rate over the past three seasons is 13.5%, 13.9% and 14.6%. The Eagles offensive line is going to have to be ready or it is going to be another long Sunday for Carson Wentz.
Matchups to Watch
Carson Wentz vs. Himself
I note this matchup not to downplay the Rams and what they bring to the table, but to note that Wentz had plenty of mistakes that ultimately cost us the week 1 matchup. Change nothing of the game last week, bad OL, questionable scheming especially in the second half, Carson Wentz playing better wins us the game. Things were bad around him and he actively made them worse at times. These two things can be true: Wentz cost us the week 1 game and he should bounce back because he is a really good QB. This isn't the sky is falling, #TankForTrevor blurb, it's simply acknowledging the biggest change from week 1 to week 2 that would aid in a victory - Carson Wentz returning to form. There was also a lot of good last week, namely the first half! Check out the first TD throw to Ertz. Short, compressed field where he needs to make a snap decision and he comes off his first read (JJAW) and hits Ertz for 6. This is a great play by Wentz where he showed how good he is capping off a great drive. We need more of this consistency. Wentz was even missing on staples of the offense. He was erratic in the pocket and regularly off target. I love hero ball, I hate when QBs play scared, but better urgency and avoiding negative plays in the pocket would go a long way in smoothing out the rough edges of his game. It's infuriating to have some of the same issues he had in year 3 continue in year 5. Regardless, Wentz is a really good QB, so he should be expected to bounce back from a bad game every QB has once in a while. It just needs to happen quickly so the Eagles don't fall behind in the young season. This Rams secondary has a phenomenal CB in Jalen Ramsey and a really good young safety in John Johnson III; they aren't slouches. Wentz needs to be better and it would be surprising if he isn't.
Eagles (downright) Offensive Line vs. Aaron Donald and the Rams Pass Rush
Washington may have a better, deeper defensive line but they don't have Aaron Donald. He is so good he lifts a pass rush up to the top tiers of the league on his own given his dominance and versatility. Donald isn't just a Defensive Tackle; he'll line up inside and outside while wrecking every part of the OL he can along the way. Just look at what Baldy has in his review for him this week. This is a problematic matchup for Philly given their patchwork offensive line. Even though there were positive things some of the new guys did, they made a lot of mistakes, and will continue to do so in their young careers. The last time the Eagles played the Rams in 2018, Philly held Donald to 2 total pressures in probably his most ineffective game during the course of his DPOY season. The difference between that Eagles OL and this one is the health. Philly won't have a healthy Brandon Brooks; while they'll have Lane Johnson again it'll be in his first start of the season, he's coming off a late summer ankle procedure. So his effectiveness is still TBD. JP, who also played in that game, has also declined a considerable amount since then. One player returning to the field Sunday that should also give the Eagles a boost in pass protection is Miles Sanders. Not only is Sanders the best runner on the team, he's also the best pass blocking running back on the team. This alone won't stop Donald, but it should help. This defensive front from the Rams can get pushed around in the run game (more on that later) but can absolutely get after it in the pass rush department. Dallas doesn't have the line it used to either and Dak was under pressure at a roughly 42% rate, among the worst in week 1. The return of Lane Johnson should increase the effectiveness of this OL a considerable amount but given the new parts there will still be an adjustment period. This unit needs to come together quickly and the coaching staff needs to actually focus their game plan on helping their OL much more so than they did in week 1. Otherwise, expect Donald and his homies to bring the pain up front.
Eagles Pass Rush vs Rams OL
Even with some of the sustained injuries on this roster, the Eagles still have a formidable pass rush and flashed it quite a bit in week 1. The box score stats are highly deceiving in this area as Washington shifted their game plan quite a bit as the game went along. Philly pressured Haskins at a 30% clip last week. That number isn't great considering the state of Washington's offensive line. However, Haskins had the quickest time to throw in the NFL in week 1 with an average time to throw of 2.13 seconds. It's extremely difficult to pressure QBs when they get the ball out that quickly. Last week, Jared Goff was 8th in the NFL in this category, which will present some challenges for the Eagles. Dallas pressured Goff at a 20% clip last week, which is a horrendous number. Goff is a good QB and will slice you up if you don't get to him. But when you do, oftentimes he's effectively standing in quick sand as he was a bottom 8 QB under pressure (by Rating) in 2019. It's imperative this defensive front plays well this week. We already saw Malik Jackson return to form, now we need Fletcher Cox. Philly should get Brandon Graham (concussion) and Derek Barnett (hammy) back this week which should increase the effectiveness of the pass rush. Josh Sweat has also shown tremendous growth in year 3 having the best game of his career this past Sunday with TY McGill flashing in limited snaps. This offensive line from the Rams underwent a mini make-over this offseason but still has some question marks up front. This will be a real test for them as the Eagles pass rush is much more formidable than the one Dallas offers. Furthermore, this is a defensive staff that has consistently gotten to Goff of late. Given the changes on both squads, this is a good measuring stick game in the trenches.
Eagles Coverage vs Rams Receivers
Jim Schwartz had Sean McVay's number in their most recent matchup in 2018 so I am curious to see who gets the upper hand this time around. The Rams have a really good WR room with Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp, Van Jefferson, and Josh Reynolds. They also have a good tight end in Tyler Higbee. Philly has their work cut out for them this week as the Rams are much deeper than Washington. The Rams passing attack was predicated on the short, quick game with a lot of motions and play action last week. Carson Wentz led the NFL in Average Intended Air Yards while Jared Goff was last. Goff's Average Intended Air Yards were 4.3 per attempt with roughly half his passing attempts coming within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. Getting the ball to Goff's first read and out of his hands quickly is key as he can be an adventure when he is forced to hold onto the ball. McVay is really good at disguising what the Rams will do running multiple plays out of similar looks. Lastly, their receivers are great at getting quick separation and great getting yards after the catch. The defensive game plan for Philly in the secondary should look quite different this week than it did last week. There isn't one receiver the Eagles can key on for Slay to take away. I'd bet Schwartz moves him around quite a bit but with Woods as the primary recipient of special attention. Slay looked every bit as good as you'd expect last week and that's a huge addition to this secondary. One area of concern I have for Philly is the middle of the defense. This Eagles LB group is among the worst in the NFL in coverage; McVay is going to look to attack that relentlessly all game long. He did the same thing to Dallas last week. It was encouraging to see Rodney McLeod bounce back after a poor 2019 as he was every bit as spry as he once was. The rest of the middle of this defense leaves a lot to be desired. Either way, this is a deeper Rams receiving room, with a creative play-caller, and a better passer than the Eagles just faced. There was a lot of good to take from the defensive performance last week but they face a significant test Sunday in the Rams.
Igor Sidorov (Youtube Channel has 251k subscribers)
Notes: These new panelists were just added this year. Whenever UFC launched the update that made it difficult as fruck for fans to actually find the panelists individual ranking lists. Conclusions: After researching all of the journalists to make this post I'd say the most suspect is Romain Cadot(Vladusport) - which doesn't appear to be a real person. Christoffer Esping is also suspect, as he owns a shoe company - that is it. Brian Hemminger of MMA Oddsbreaker is also suspect, as he works for an actual Oddsmaker - that is such a clear conflict of interest that there might actually be some legal implications that the UFC could get caught up in if the rankings can ever be proven to directly impact betting lines. This is such a giant oversight I can't believe that the UFC legal team hasn't already nixed this. I'm not even saying that Brian's rankings are corrupt or unreasonable - just that him working for an actual legitimate MMA oddsmaker is a big "How The Fuck Did The UFC Let This Happen" moment. Both of the MMA Weekly guys seem to be trolling their rankings - or they are just that inept. Jeff Cain didn't even bothering updating his rankings for this week...and he rarely ever does, maybe he'll update once every other month or so, and sometimes he'll rank fighter who have been cut, retired, or inactive, meanwhile Ken Pishna is a fucking UFC shill who did exactly what the UFC told him to do in their little sparknotes memo!
I'm pulling data from websites for sports betting purposes. One of the sites started adding the letter T in a ranking column when two people are tied in a certain category/statistic. Before they would both just say 10 for example if they were both tied for 10th in a category. Now it would say T10. Naturally this is throwing off my formulas. Is there a way I can get the formula to ignore the letter?
The Week 1 Experience: A Roadmap from a Complete Beginner
First off, I want to start by saying that what I am going to be suggesting are simply just my own opinions based on my short time with the game (I've spent close to 40 hours so far). This guide probably won't be super optimized and I'm not going to pretend I am an expert at this game. However, I do feel a post like this is necessary since I've found a lot of "beginner's guides" online to be either outdated (most are at least a year old) or overly complicated with terms/lingo that don't mean much for someone who has zero/very little experience with TCGs (Trading Card Games). My goal with this roadmap is to give a breakdown of what I feel will make learning the game both more simple and enjoyable despite having limited game knowledge and resources. Lastly, this guide will assume players are 100% F2P (Free to Play) and not willing to spend money on prebuilt decks or the starter bundles that include free legendary cards/crystals (premium currency). With all the formalities out of the way, let's get started: 1) The Morning Star - Story Mode The first thing you want to do after finishing the tutorial is going to the missions tab and CHECKING THE SOLO PLAYER MISSION BOX! Doing so allows you to complete daily quests without having to worry about dipping your feet online matches. You can always change this later of course and if a PvP mission comes up, it's easy to reroll it for a single player mission instead. Trust me when I say that I wish I'd had known this when I started the game. After that is done, I'd recommend everyone work their way through the story mode, and by work your way through, I mean at least work your way through Chapter 1. Each playable character has 14 missions, each give you 2 full sets of class exclusive basic cards (Mission 1 and Mission 6), 100 Rupees (in-game currency), and 100 Vials (currency used to craft cards not already owned). The later chapters in the story provide better rewards, but Chapter 1 does a really good job of providing an environment for you to get comfortable with the basic mechanics of both the game and the different classes (they are called Crafts in-game). This also allows you to sort of figure out what Craft is best for you. Personally speaking and as someone with zero experience with other TCGs, I immediately gravitated towards crafts that had more straightforward game plans, those both being Forestcraft and Swordcraft. Both of these crafts have a huge focus on board presence (Cards in Play) and allow you to overwhelm most opposition with both sheer numbers and consistent damage on the enemy leader. Forestcraft decks tend to focus around constantly summoning Fairy cards (a one point 1/1 follower), which synergies well with other Forestcraft cards, as they tend to be buffed based on either the amount of cards played in a given turn or the amount of fairies on the board/in your hand (not in play). Forestcraft also has the added benefit of being the "tutorial" deck you are first exposed to while the game is downloading it's massive update, so it's easy to gravitate towards that style of deck through the story. Swordcraft on the other hand focuses on summoning officer cards that can be buffed by playing commander cards later in the match. While keeping track of officer and commander cards sounds a bit more complicated than Forestcraft's Fairy mechanic, when you are mid-match, it's actually a bit more straightforward. This is thanks to a lot of Swordcraft cards coming with a multitude of added effects such as: Storm (allows followers to act immediately instead of waiting a turn), Ward (forces your opponent to attack that specific follower instead of your leader or other followers), Ambush (makes the follower unable to be attacked until they attack themselves), or Fanfares (effects that happen when you summon the given follower) that allow you to summon other officers or buff the entire board. All of these effects make it rather easy to maintain constant aggression while not requiring too much in terms of game knowledge. Of course, this is just my opinion. Regardless of which style of craft you prefer, you should play the story mode until you feel comfortable with at least 4-6 of the different crafts. When I say comfortable, I don't mean you need to be a master at using them or even like using them. You simply just need to have a basic understanding of what each craft's unique mechanic is and how it plays into their different deck builds. When I was at this point, I had finished the Chapter 1 missions for all of the classes except for Portalcraft, Dragoncraft, and Bloodcraft simply because I didn't really care for their given mechanics. If you do decide that you aren't crazy about a given craft, I'd at least use them up to mission 6 so that you can gain access to their exclusive full set of cards, as this will make the deck building process easier later down the road. Speaking of deck building, I'd recommend you NOT build a deck in the early parts of the story. I found the best way to learn a Craft is to either use their most recent prebuilt deck (the one with RECOMMENDATION all over it) or their default deck (second page of the prebuilt decks). Personally, I feel that default decks provide a better understanding of each craft's mechanics and core deck ideas than the recommended prebuilt decks, but the benefit of using the recommended prebuilt decks are that it better prepares you to use cards in the current rotation. What do I mean by that? I'm glad you asked... 2) Get in Loser, We're Going Shopping - Buying/Claiming Your Packs If you haven't done so already, now is the best time to claim your rewards for starting the game (Crate tab on the home screen). CYgames is very generous for giving you a total of 10 free packs for the 5 latest expansions (This is referred to as a Rotation), which gives you a total of 50 free packs for just starting the game. At the time of writing this, you also get a set of special legendary packs that gives you 3 guaranteed legendary cards, but I'm not sure if this is a timed promotion or not, so if this is the case, please ignore this claim. While it might be tempting to wait on these packs, there is little reason to do so. Since these cards will eventually be moved out of the given rotation and your given resources are... well, next to nothing, claiming these will give you an immediate boost in terms of potential for building a deck later. This also works for the longevity of your decks since expansions get rotated out of the current rotation every few months (aka, when a new expansion comes out), so some of these cards might end up becoming dead weight sometime down the road. Depending on when you start the game, I would still recommend saving your Rupees until the latest expansion comes out. Not only do a lot of these cards end up becoming popular in the latest rotation's meta, but it's also better in terms of getting the most bang for your buck. The latest expansions usually come with events that rewards you free pack redemption, which means more packs in the given expansion. However, if you start the game and the current expansion is say no more than a month old, there is no reason to not to roll on it. You can check the release dates of a given expansion by clicking the info tab on the game or by checking the Expansion Wiki Page. So you have claimed your rewards and you are getting comfortable with the mechanics. Hell, you even found a craft your super committed to building a deck for. Now what? Well, that all depends on you. Step 3 will be broken down into a route split, both of which depend on what you want to do as a player. This is the part of the guide that some veterans might disagree on, but again, this is mostly based on my limited experience with the game so far, so I apologize if this ends up being "bad advice". 3A) Training Wheels - Finish All Single Player Content Even though you might have already completed Chapter 1, there is still a good amount of Single Player content to work through. As of writing this, there are 10 Chapters in the game, all of which give solid rewards, which includes more Rupees and Vials, allowing you to build up more resources. It's also a chance for you to refine your understanding of the game. While I have not finished the story myself, I’ve heard that the difficulty of the story spikes as you get further in, with later chapters proving to be quite hard based on what I've read online. The story isn't the only single player activity you'll want to complete. On the practice menu, there are 3 decks per Craft of Elite AI (Portalcraft Only has 2) you can battle against and winning these gives you a solid 200 Rupees each! That's a total of 4,600 Rupees, which equates to 46 free packs! If you find yourself struggling with these, the common tactics I've seen people say to do is use the default Swordcraft deck to rush them down. While I have beaten all of the Elite AIs, I did not use the default Swordcraft deck. If I didn't use Swordcraft and didn't finish the story, what did I do? 3B) Skipping to the Motorcycle - Budget Decks for Online This is the part of the guide that many would consider as "bad advice" and will require some explanation on my part, so here it goes: while I don't come from background of TCGs, I did grow up playing a ton of competitive sports and multiplayer games like Smash Brothers, Halo, and Pokémon, so the first thing I wanted to do after getting comfortable with the mechanics and finding a favorite Craft was play other people. After all, if you aren't playing other players, what's the point in calling it a competitive game, right… Right? Here is the issue with mentalities like mine and relating them to TCGs: Without decent cards and a proper deck, you are never going to experience a victory against another player, especially when you are just starting out. Most of the people you will be fighting online have either decent decks or copy/pasted decks they have taken from Tempo Storm Meta Snapshot or other Pro-Players/YouTubers. And unlike other games, losing won't just magically make you better. This might seem obvious to some people, but if you don't have a solid strategy, you aren't ever going to last long enough to "get better", let alone win a match or two. What's that? Despite all of these warnings, you STILL want to try your hands at PvP? Well my friend, I guess you and I aren't all that different. I too wanted to keep playing PvP and in my pursuit of victory, I found a solution: Unlimited Budget Decks (Current Rotation Budget Decks provided by Tempo Storm)! Unlimited is a format that allows every single card ever released to be used in a single deck, meaning that it's both the most flexible and cost effective in terms of making a solid deck with as little resources as possible. Not only is this great for new players due to a lack of any budget, but a lot of these decks are simple enough to quickly start getting better in terms of game knowledge, reactionary decision making, and confidence. Now each budget deck will vary in price depending on the Craft you prefer (DragonCraft is still expensive even on a budget), but the one I ended up going with was Zigurd's OTK WROACH Deck (decklist is in his description). Not only is it dirt cheap to create at 5,300 Vials, the deck is also super simple to understand and use. The singular goal of "playing and retreating Roaches until you can One Turn Kill the leader" allows you to use every card and resource available to you in-game. It also allows you to learn what it takes to construct a decent deck. Having multiple solutions to the problem of, "how do I get Roaches in my hand / in and off the field without leaving them in to die during the other player’s turn?" teaches you deck building techniques through osmosis. I might be reaching here, but I feel this deck's primary focus is on teaching the importance of both adaptive play and how to deal with the single common counter to this deck, that being cards with Ward. TL;DR - deck is solid for noobs that want to feel big brained while also being on the cheap. Once you find the deck you're interested in (hopefully they remember to provide a decklist link) from either YouTube or other sources online, all you need to do is paste the generated deck code from the website into the unlimited deck section of the game. Of course, no matter what budget deck you pick, you'll probably need at least a couple thousand Vials in order to craft it. The solution to this problem lies in the next step. 4) Taking Out the Trash - Liquefying Unnecessary Cards Depending on how much of a collector you are, this might be the hardest part of the entire process, but if you want to make any progress in making a decent deck without investing real money into Crystals, you'll need to liquefy cards. The game has a tab where it will automatically liquefy any spare cards you have available (anything greater than 3 is considered extra since it exceeds the max amount of a single card you can have in a given deck). Unless you got super blessed in your initial card packs with multiple copies of the same legendary cards, this will hardly be enough Vials to make a decent deck. Here are my tips when Liquefying cards: Firstly, Animated Cards earn you more Vials than static cards. Depending if you care about that sort of thing, choosing to liquefy these cards will give you more Vials then liquefying regular copies of a given card. Alternatively, you could dip into your regular stock of cards and keep your animated versions. Because there is a 3 card limit of a single card, having any more than 3 copies, animated or not, is precious Vials you could be spending on cards you'll actually use. Second, go through any crafts you don't plan on playing and clean out whatever you feel comfortable with removing! You can opt into keeping some of the legendary cards if you are really unsure about revisiting a given craft. To give a personal example, I ended up sacrificing all of my cards from Portalcraft and Dragoncraft while keeping my legendary cards from Heavencraft and Bloodcraft on the off chance I'd decide to come back to those crafts later down the road. Lastly and if you want to get even more Vials, go through crafts you're interested in, but don't see yourself playing anytime soon. This requires more research and time since you'll not only want to check each card individually, but also check and see if cards are important to meta decks you might want to experiment with later down the road. I wouldn't recommend going crazy with this since it's fairly time consuming and a lot of what makes a card "meta" can easily go over your head, but I personally ended up doing this for Runecraft and Shadowcraft since despite liking their mechanics, they weren’t my preferred crafts. The most I saw myself doing with these crafts was maybe copying some other decks online once I acquired more resources. DISCLAIMER: the only real benefit in liquefying cards like this is that it will allow you to created your desired deck faster! The game gives you enough resources through story mode, daily quests, and other events were going crazy with liquefying cards ISN'T NECESSARY to succeed in the game. If you are patient enough and willing to wait out for the needed vials, then you can skip the 2nd and 3rd tips. It costs more to gain back cards then it does to save them, so liquefy at your own discretion! So you've liquefied some cards and now you have a bit of spending power. What comes next? Once again, we have yet another route split, but there are three forks on this road. A lot of this will depend on how deep you want to get with the game or how involved you want to get with the community, but the next section will mainly focus on getting you ready for the final step, so pick whichever of these works for you! 5A) Trials and Tribulations - Experimenting with Take-Two While exploring different player guides online, one consistent issue newer players had, myself included, was grasping a basic understanding of how to go about building your own deck. I personally feel a lot of guides focus too much on teaching terms that ultimately mean nothing to players that might learn better by just seeing how a given deck plays. You can tell me the deck is a tempo, aggro, control, or combo deck all you want, but it doesn't mean much to a player when they don't even know what makes these types of decks different from one another. That being said, I think the desire to craft your own deck is expected. After all, a personalized deck handcrafted specifically for you is a huge part of the appeal when it comes to TCGs. While you could easily just craft decks and try your hand at unranked player matches, I find this to be super counter productive, especially if you are still learning TCG game knowledge. There is nothing more discouraging than losing to other people simply because you "aren't at their level yet", mostly in terms of resources and game experience. But what if you could eliminate the resource gap? This is where Take-Two comes into play. Take-Two is a PvP mode where each player drafts between two sets of two random rotation cards based on the Craft you entered with (the craft is selected as a choice between 3 randomized crafts). You repeat this process of picking between the two sets until you have a deck of 30. You play five matches and depending on how many times you win, you are given prizes like Rupees and even free Card Packs! The best thing about this mode is it forces you to experiment with cards you may not be familiar with while also learning basic deck building principles. Utilizing what you've gained from the single player or online matches, you'd be surprised how easy it is to end up with a decent deck. If you really like the deck you built in Take-Two, it's possible to even transfer that deck into the deck builder and build upon what worked and didn't work. While all of this sounds great, it doesn't come without some negatives. Depending on how experienced you are, you'll still probably lose quite a bit. Like the title suggests, there are some hardships in this approach. My first Take-Two attempt resulted in a score of 1-4 (win-lose), mostly because of how mismatched my deck was. Take-Two also isn't free to enter: You either spend Take-Two Tickets earned via story mode/events or 150 Rupees/Crystals (value of a card pack and a half) to even participate in a single run of Take-Two. Despite these drawbacks, I still think playing a couple runs of Take-Two will help players improve and can help establish a solid foundation when they attempt to build their first deck. 5B) Friendship is Magic - Private Matches For those that prefer to seek the help of others, private matches are a great way of learning the game, especially if you can arrange it with someone who is willing to teach you the ropes. You can even set up simulated Take-Two matches (at no cost), which allows both players to test their deck building skills. Private Matches also allow you to coordinate with another player to theory craft ideas for your own deck in terms of what works and what doesn’t. Hell, depending on how nice they are, they might even help you construct or recommend a deck for you to work with. Of course, the major downside to this approach is the reliance on other players. Not every player will be willing to put up with a noob and depending on how toxic/try-hard they get, may even put you off of doing private matches entirely (Good Old Xbox 360 days). Still, if you do decide you want to try and enlist the help of others, you can try both the Private Match Megathread here on Reddit or joining one of the many Discord Servers / Steam Communities. Watching a couple different Twitch Streams or YouTube Videos might also not be a terrible idea. The world is your oyster when it comes to seeking the help of other players! 5C) Honor Among Thieves - Using a Meta Deck If you don't feel like working on your ability to deck build and just want to win fast with little effort, "borrowing" a meta deck is also a valid option. Due to the amount of resources surrounding meta decks, both from sources like Tempo Storm and videos covering decks on YouTube, it's quite easy to learn the ins and outs of a given deck. A best example I can give in this current rotation (August 2020) has been Item Shop Rune and Control Blood decks. Granted, I'm speaking based on playing them in both unranked matches and up to D0 Rank in ranked, but I've ran into both of these decks a number of times and despite winning against a few of them, I still find them rather difficult to beat. Of course, the two biggest drawbacks to stealing a meta deck is their price and predictability. Even decks that are considered "budget friendly" can cost anywhere between 20,000 - 30,000 Vials to create, which is quite expensive given that beginners will most likely have nowhere near that amount required to build said deck. Meta decks also have a higher chance of being counter played by other players, especially if the given deck is popular enough. Lastly and despite what I said earlier during this point, it's quite easy to lose simply because you don't understand what makes a meta deck "good". I've watched plenty of players in ranks Beginner 0-3 that despite using Tier 1-2 meta decks, still lose to my experimental decks made of mostly basic cards simply because they don't understand how to use their decks properly. That being said, this will change as you go up the rankings and to be honest, it's not a terrible idea to save up for a meta deck while you finish up the single player content and completing daily quests/participating in timed events. Doing this will most likely be best bang for your buck. If you do decide to copy a meta deck, I'd highly recommend focusing on building an Unlimited Deck first and worry about a Rotation Deck later. While a Rotation might net you some success in the current season, they are highly susceptible to being made obsolete after an Expansion or two, making them inconsistent in terms of stability. On the other hand, Unlimited Decks don't change as much when a new expansion comes out, making them much easier to use when attempting to complete dailies and in-game events. Of course, the choice in which deck you steal is ultimately your decision, but as good thief knows: if it has no value, then what's the point in stealing it? 6) Wax On, Wax Off - Gameplay Loop Going Forward Now begins the part where you gain a little independence. What you do going forward is mostly up to you, but your best bet is to establish a schedule going forward and working towards a singular goal. If it is farming out currency so that you can go all in on the next expansion, optimizing a custom deck in private matches/unranked matches, or buying a meta deck to begin climbing the ladder on Ranked. Regardless of what you decide to do, checking in frequently is the key to success. If Gatcha Games have taught me anything, it’s the importance of keeping up with your daily quests and any in-game event schedules. This will net you a ton of resources and make it easier to build up a backstock for when you do decide to invest into a given expansion or deck idea. My personal routine has me doing two activities: grinding out Unlimited Ranked until the budget Wroach deck starts losing and using the remaining story missions I have left to complete my dailies. With the Add-On Expansion barely going live at the time of writing this, it is tempting to splurge a bit on buying packs, but I’m not sure about it just yet. After all, I’m also an ignorant noob. Whatever routine you decide to pursue going forward, I really hope this helped some of you get into the game. While it can be overwhelming to get a grip on what works and what doesn’t, the game is super gratifying to learn and has become my gateway into the massive worlds of TCGs. Thanks for taking the time to read this and I look forward to seeing you all online! PS: If there is anything I missed or got wrong, feel free to let me know and I’ll update this Roadmap as best as I can. Despite being a rookie myself, I’d like for this to hold a bit of merit for others that might be completely new to TCGs. Thanks in advance for any improvements anyone suggests. Cheers!
Your 2020 Season Survival Guide and R/Baseball Refresher!
Before we dive in, if you want to participate in the annual Call Your Shot season predictions contest, you can find it here. It's FINALLY coming! Welcome to the 2020 MLB Season! We are so glad you are here. Don't let the length of this post scare you, we just wanted to consolidate all the relevant information that people have questions about into one place to start the season off. This is your survival guide for the 2020 season, it should have all the pertinent information to answer most of your questions! If you are a brand new fan I'd recommend going through most of it, if you're a veteran you'll know which sections you'll want to read by their headings. My goal here is that both new and returning fans can learn how to better enjoy the season and know what's going on on Baseball this year. Okay, take some time and read through what you want to read through below! This is the fourth year of doing this. Every year I go through the previous years comments to find things that should be added or corrected for the next edition, so if you have any great resources or information that you think would be beneficial to add, please comment it below! Sections:
Introduction for new and renewed interest fans.
Rule changes for 2020
Finding a Team
Knowing Where Different Teams Stand
Baseball
Your Team's Sub
Twitter, Podcasts, and Other General News/Analysis Sources
The Statistical Titans: Baseball Reference and Fangraphs
Where to watch? Your TV and Streaming Guide
MLB.tv
MLB At Bat App
How to watch baseball.
Where to watch highlights and game recaps.
TL;DR: Find a way to enjoy the game.
Introduction for new and renewed interest fans.
Baseball normally has a long season. I don't just mean that in terms of time between opening day and the World Series (which can be considered long as it is), but also the 162 games played in 183 days, 18-20 times against the same 4 teams each. It can be daunting, and many people lose interest by "the dog days" of June and July. This year things are going to be a little different. With only 60 games on the schedule (assuming we make it through without a major clubhouse covid outbreak that cancels games versus that team) every game is going to matter about 3x as much as one in a normal regular season. Tensions will be high, but we might not feel it because there won't be that much crowd noise. THAT SAID - they're still playing 60 games in 66 days, which means almost every day for the next two months isn't just packed with baseball, they're packed with YOUR FAVORITE TEAMS baseball, which while exciting after months without any American sports in the regular season (MLS - a tournament is not the regular season) can end up feeling overwhelming when you just finished watching a late game go into extras then wake up to realize there's an afternoon game on in six hours. This guide is meant to help you if you wish to avoid being one of those who feels overwhelmed and loses interest a couple weeks after Opening Day. First and foremost if you are a new fan or newly returning, you must remember one thing: you do not need to watch every game. Many football fans, and even some basketball and hockey fans, find this difficult, they're used to setting aside a few nights a week to watch their team, and they can watch all the games. Baseball isn't like that. For the next two months, your team will only have 6 days where they won't be playing a game. And some of the games they play will start as early as 9:20am (Pacific Time), others will end after 1am (Eastern Time). If you miss a game it's okay, odds are there's another one tomorrow. If you miss a week, no big deal, hell if you get busy for a few months and aren't able to watch you team, that's not an issue, because you can still follow your team. Baseball is a game to be followed. In the old days it meant picking up the morning paper and checking the box scores. Now it means being able to have a final score texted/tweeted/messaged/emailed/what-evered to you the minute the game ends, or rolling over in bed when you can't sleep and grabbing your phone to check the West Coast scores. It means being able to check reddit in the morning to see any breaking news from across the league, or catch a story you missed. We live in a time where you can go to MLB.com and get a recap of every game from last night in less than 10 minutes. Honestly, baseball was made to be consumed, and the technology age makes it easier than ever, whether you want to spend hours every day pouring over stats and analysis, or 15 seconds to see how your team and their playoff rivals did today. The rest of this guide is mostly dedicated to ways that you can help yourself follow your team, and if you have time follow the entirety of MLB. Anyways, enough rambling, TL;DR Don't worry if you miss games, there'll be one tomorrow.
Rule Changes for 2020
For this season only (or so they say...):
The NL will utilize the DH full time.
In extra innings the person in the batting order immediately before the lead off hitter will start on second base.
Games suspended due to rain will continue play at a later date rather than be washed out and restarted.
Arguing within six feet of an umpire or participating in a fight will be met with heftier fines and suspensions this yaer.
Pitchers will be allowed a wet rag to be brought out from the dugout in lieu of being able to lick their fingers for better grip.
Each team has a 20 extra players in their "taxi squad" in addition to their active roster and 40-man roster.
Active rosters will start at 30 players, then will be cut to 28 after two weeks, then 26 after four weeks.
Spitting is not allowed.
Non-social distanced celebrations are not allowed.
Permanent (as any rule change can be in baseball) rule changes for 2020 and beyond:
Three batter minimum - pitcher entering the game must face a minimum of three batters unless they complete an inning.
The MLB Active Roster is expanded from 25 players to 26 players.
Finding a Team
I always recommend following the local team since you'll have more access to news about them in the local media and should be able to get their radio broadcast, as well as TV broadcasts of them if you have cable/satellite/streaming, and depending on where you're at the occasional over the air game, but if you don't live by a team or don't want to follow the local team, or are just looking for a second team to follow, I wrote this in depth guide to picking a team that's the right fit for you.
Knowing Where Different Teams Stand
Every year ESPN, Sports Illustrated, FOX, NBS, and every other sports related site puts out their season previews. These are great for getting a basic rundown of what is going on with each team, and a simple google search will bring up a plethora of possible articles to read. If what you really want is a fans perspective on what each team's expectations condensed into a few short comments, I'd highly recommend going through each teams day from our annual "Why will X team exceed expectations?" series. All the previous posts are linked in the Astros thread.
Baseball
Alright, so plugging baseball on baseball seems a bit redundant, but I think it's a good reminder that this is a great hub for all your MLB news throughout the season while still letting you see the occasional amazing college/minor league/foreign league performance. During the season there are a number of features to keep you informed of all the goings on around baseball. Every day of the season (and a portion of the offseason) we have General Discussion threads we call Around the Horn. These are great places to ask questions and discuss anything that you want to know about baseball but don't feel like it deserves it's own post. In the Around the Horn post you'll be able to see a full schedule of what is going on around Baseball every week. Here are the weekly features: Daily: Nightly Pick'Em - A six year running contest to pick the result of one game every day. Details can be found in this thread. Monday: Power Rankings - A team of 30 fans from every team in baseball, led by masochist fearless leader kasutori_jack, releases their composite power rankings of the 30 teams. This leads to well thought out discussions and some in depth analysis, as well as salty fans crying about how their team is underrated (there may be more of the latter than the former, but it's still a great way to keep your finger on the pulse of how every team is doing). Monday (Unofficial) - The last few years thekmanpwnudwn has posted a State of the Subreddits post that gives the top post from each team's subreddit from the last week. This is a great roundup post for staying up to date on what all the different team fandoms are feeling, and helps you catch any milestones you might have otherwise missed. Tuesday: Weekly Awards - Led by lemcoe9 a different team of a fan from every team releases the results of their weekly (and monthly) voting for who the best position player and pitcher was since the last vote was taken. Once again, a great way to keep track of which players are on hot streaks, and who's dominating the league. Wednesday: Wild Card Wednesday - Each week a new contest, trivia game, or just out of the box fun thread will be stickied! Got an idea? Let the mods know! Thursdays: Division Discussions - We rotate between the Easts, Centrals, and Wests to do some more in depth talk about where the playoff races and teams stand. If you only have time for one baseball thread every week and want to keep up with the league, this is the thread to set aside time for. Friday: Trash Talk/Compliment/Complaint - FRIDAYS ARE FUN DAYS, WE ROTATE BETWEEN TRASH TALK, COMPLIMENT, TRASH TALK, AND COMPLAIN THREADS! TRADITION STATES ALL COMMENTS BE IN ALL CAPS AND ENDING IN EXCLAMATION POINTS! WE ROTATE RATHER THAN HAVE A SET DAY FOR EACH ALL SEASON BECAUSE IT'S A LONG SEASON AND ANY ONE OF THE THREE THREADS CAN GET STALE FAST IF YOU DON'T LEAVE TIME FOR MORE AMMUNITION! Saturday: Saturday is when we usually plug in occasional things that don't necessarily deserve weekly attention. Things like in depth stat discussions, memorobilia sharing, craft projects, etc. Sunday: Game of the Week - Sunday is the one day a week where we get together as a subreddit to watch a baseball game together, since it's the one time every week where there's only one game going on and there's guaranteed to be a game. The Sunday Night Baseball game thread is usually posted a couple hours before the first pitch. In addition the playoffs, and select premier match-ups (mostly at the very end of the season where there is a lot riding on a regular season game) we host game threads for all baseball users. These are neutral thread, for more info on less neutral ones skip to the next section. We may experiment with game threads in baseball for the MLB.tv Free Game of the Day this year. In addition to all these features, it really is a great place to keep up with breaking news and highlights. It'll be posted here minutes after someone tweets it, and long before it's on MLB.com. Team beat writers get the stories first, and it's easier to check in here a couple times a day than follow every one of them. Plus there's something the kids are calling "dank memes" (but not too many, because us mods don't allow too much moisture to get into the servers).
Your Team's Subreddit (And other team subs as well)
The mods at baseball have one goal - help you have the best possible reddit baseball experience, and a LOT of that is helping you get connected to other fans of your team (which feels a little like a cop-out because it means less work for us if you're doing more on your team's sub, but your team's mods aren't complaining.) One of the main draws of team subs (other than in depth discussion with like-fan-minded users, getting breaking news and analysis on your team, team-memes, and other reddit discussions that come up from a group of individuals who can agree on one thing) are game threads. At this time (to the best of my knowledge) every team sub hosts game threads for their team's games, and you can easily access them in the sidebar during the season by clicking on the team's logo in the schedule (we're working on getting that up to speed, MLB changed some parts of their RSS and background data and we've had to work around that to get our automated system back up). We like to keep the game threads in team subs for a few reasons, one of which is we want to support the team subs and send them relevant traffic when we can because they really do an amazing job, another is because with 15 games a day this place would look like crap if we had game threads for every game or let users post them as they please (we've tried it, it blots out news, discussion, and highlights and looks like crap, baseball doesn't have only a couple days set aside for games or focus on marquee match ups like many other sports, it's 2430 games played in 183 days and is better when it's spread out.) Even if you're not a game thread person though, getting connected with a good team sub can make disappointing seasons more bearable, and great seasons more exciting, and I know plenty of users that said that their team's sub basically keeps them fans. Team subs are also a great place to get connected to...
Twitter, Podcasts, and other General News/Analysis Sources
Going to be honest here, I don't use twitter and I do not frequently read other people's blogs. I know many people do and enjoy it, and I believe the best way to find the people to follow/sites to visit that interest you the most are to hang around your team's sub and note which Tweets/Sites that are linked to that most often peak your interest. Your list of favorite baseball writers is going to be different than my favorite list, and finding the right twitter personalities, podcasts hosts, and bloggers can make game analysis more interesting for you even if your team is playing like crap and it's the middle of July. Here are some common suggestions for some general baseball twitter accounts and podcasts to get you started, but like I said, find what you like and follow those: Twitter
The Statistical Titans: Baseball Reference and Fangraphs
Literally every day you will find a link or to BaseballReference.com or Fangraphs.com here, it's a given, and it's because these are the two most extensive free baseball databases that are easy to navigate. If you want to look up anything about baseball history, check Baseball Reference, if you want to look up how players stack up with non-proprietary advanced metrics or read an insightful blog post about why someone is overrated/underrated or overperforming/underperforming, check Fangraphs. With these two sites you have all the stats and figures you need to make a competent argument for basically anything you want with a little cherry picking. A large part of the modern baseball world is statistics and you're going to find yourself getting more immersed in discussing the game if you can get a handle on all the terms getting thrown around. If you are brand new to baseball, take a little while to get to know the game before diving into these sites, but if you have a handle on the basics and are ready to know what this WAR everyone is talking about is, dive into the glossaries and find the statistics. When you get the basics, creating your own analysis doesn't seem as daunting, and one of the reasons I love baseball is that I can deconstruct pretty much every play and find some meaning behind it. If you are like that and enjoy numbers, theoretical projections, and breaking things down into simple figures before reconstructing them into something long and beautiful, then learning the basics of sabrmetrics will make you a baseball fan for life. If, on the other hand, you just want to enjoy the game for the beautiful pastime that it is by watching, then we've got a little bit to go through...
Where to Watch? - Your TV and Streaming Guide
So a big part of baseball is, you know, actually being able to watch the games (though as I talk about at the end, it might not necessarily be the case for you, and that doesn't mean you can't enjoy baseball, skip down and see what I'm talking about in the final section). First off, if you are looking for free games to watch, you are in luck! MLB.tv streams one game a day for free on MLB.com and Yahoo.com. These games are subject to local blackouts (details on those in the MLB.tv section) but are definitely worth watching if you're trying to see if you'll enjoy baseball, or just need a free baseball fix. Facebook is also streaming one game a week during the season for free. The other free games available are from May 18 to July 13 on Saturday night and Thursday nights in September when FOX airs games on their OTA affiliated networks. Believe it or not, TV antennas still work in most areas, and these games are free to watch. Some teams also broadcast select games on OTA networks in their region. Okay, so now the more expensive stuff. If you have even the most basic cable package (or log in information) you probably have ESPN. ESPN airs games every Sunday Night as well as Wednesday Night and Opening Weekend. These games are also available on ESPN Go. You also probably have a regional sports channel. This is where almost all of your local teams games will be aired. Here is a decent breakdown of every team and what network they are carried on. TBS is also on even the most basic networks, they air games the final 13 Sundays of the regular season in the afternoon. FS1 and FOX carry baseball games almost every Saturday of the season, and MLB Network carries games pretty much every day. A list of currently scheduled national broadcasts is available here, not all games have been chosen so there will be more added to the list. For all these networks (except for the Dodgers, Orioles, and Nationals regional networks) there are options to stream the games online provided you have cable login information for the channel. During the playoffs FS1, TBS, and MLB Network will carry most of the games, with ESPN carrying a wild card game and FOX carrying the World Series. Now there are also streaming services that grant access to most of the previously mentioned channels:
Sling TV Orange package gets you ESPN, ESPN 2, and TBS.
Sling TV Blue package gets you FOX, FS1, FS2, TBS, and most regional sports networks.
Youtube TV gets you FOX, ESPN, ESPN 2, FS1, TBS, MLB Network, and some regional sports networks.
HULU Live gets you FOX, ESPN, ESPN 2, FS1, FS2, TBS, and your regional sports networks.
Playstation Vue Access gets you FOX, ESPN, ESPN 2, FS1, FS2, and TBS.
Playstation Vue Core adds MLB Network to the Access channels.
Playstation Vue Sports Extra adds regional sports networks in addition to your other channels.
AT&T TV Now Live a Little gets you FOX, ESPN, ESPN 2, FS1, and TBS and your regional sports networks.
AT&T TV Now Just Right adds MLB Network to the Live a Little channels.
AT&T TV Now Go Big adds FS2 to the Just Right channels.
FUBO Premier gets you FOX, FS1, and your regional sports networks
Also, ESPN+ will carry select games pretty much daily throughout the season.
MLB.TV - the Ultimate Fan Investment
Alright, so a few things to cover with this, first of all YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO LEGALLY STREAM IN MARKET GAMES IF YOU LIVE IN THE UNITED STATES. MLB.tv uses your IP address to see where you are located, and if it pings back that you are in a team's home market it will not let you watch the game LIVE. Here is where you can find what games MLB.tv will black you out from. National broadcasts on ESPN, FOX, and TBS are also subject to blackouts within the United States (MLB Network games are not). Before you ask, yes there are less than legal ways to get around this (spoofing your IP address, subreddit dedicated to mlb streams, etc.), but I won't be talking about those in detail here. IF YOU ARE OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA, YOU WILL HAVE NO BLACKOUTS. Even if you are blacked out, you will be able to watch the game 90 minutes after it finishes, so if you work a late shift or stay up late it might be worth it for you anyways even if you only want to follow one team. Military members and college students, don't forget to apply your 35% discount! "But I don't want to watch EVERY out of market game, I just want to watch MY team!" Cool, for $25 less there's a single team option that will allow you to watch all your team's non-blacked out games! Personally, I'd pay the extra $25 for the opportunity to watch every Kershaw, Bumgarner, and Scherzer start, or put the Cubs on in the background while working on a Friday afternoon, but to each their own. "But I don't want to commit for a full year!" That's okay, there's a monthly option as well in case you know there are months where you can't watch as much. Some of the fun features of MLB.tv include the ability to watch four games at once and quickly swap your audio from one to another (seriously, I'm never on commercial break when I'm watching baseball, unless there's only one game on I'm able to watch it all, and in September that's huge) and condensed games. What are condensed games? They go through and cut out all the time between pitches and innings, meaning if you want to watch a whole game in less than a half hour (or are searching desperately for a play to make a .gif or streamable out of that for some reason isn't considered a highlight) it's really easy. If you're someone who really wants to get into the game but can't figure out how to grind through watching a full game, Condensed Games are great for keeping up with a team while you learn the little details between pitches that somehow make watching the catcher twiddle his fingers exciting for some fans. Also, new this year, MLB has added some great baseball documentaries to your MLB.tv subscription, giving you access to more than just games for the first time. In addition, there are two great resources to enhance your total immersion into baseball if there are multiple games going on. Please note for both of these you must already be logged into MLB.tv to make them work. The first, and most basic, is Brooks Baseball's MLB.TV Redzone. It will automatically take you to the highest leverage game going on, and will automatically shift you to another game between innings OR if another game enters a higher leverage situation. For a more personalized touch, The Baseball Guage has MLB.TV Game Changer which lets you customize your preferences so MLB.tv will always switch to the game that is most relevant to you. This is great if you play fantasy and want to keep up with your players, are waiting for someone to hit a milestone, or if you want to make sure your action is broken into to follow a no-hitter in progress. It also gives you a free subscription to...
MLB AtBat - The Most Underrated Way to Stay Connected to Baseball
MLB AtBat is MLB's official application. It comes in two versions, the free version which has ads but is useful for keeping up to date with all the scores, and the paid version ($19.99 for the year of $2.99 monthly) which gives you access to ad-free content, Gameday on your mobile device, and (most valuable) access to every team's radio stream for every game during the season and postseason completely blackout free. If there's a day game, you can bet I'm listening to it at work, if I'm mowing the lawn on a Saturday I'm listening to a game, when I can't sleep at night, on comes a West Coast game. To get the paid version you must download the free version, then subscribe within the app, or log into an MLB account that has MLB.tv. Baseball was made to be on the radio, it's a sport that is very easy to follow the action with the right announcer. At work (or school) it's great because you can half listen, and when the announcer gets excited you can instantly tune back in to hear what's going on. This is the most underrated way to stay connected to your team throughout the year. Before I could afford MLB.tv, this was the way to go, and it honestly makes me question every year whether getting the MLB.tv package is worth is when I can get 80% of the entertainment value from listening to the games (and every year I manage to forget to unsubscribe, for many reasons listed above). Gameday on mobile is also a great feature, it lets you quickly check in on the action during brief recesses in meetings (or under the table during meetings), or breaks between classes (or under a desk in classes). This is honestly my primary means of keeping track of Twins games throughout the year. My wife thinks I'm crazy when I could just watch the game, but instead am nervously checking my phone every couple minutes. IF I WATCH I JINX THE TEAM, HONEY!
How to watch baseball?
So this is a question that we get from many new fans who are just trying to figure out what the hell is going on and why people find this game so fascinating. I'll get the elephant in the room out of the way, yes there are some "boring" parts of watching baseball on TV. The camera fans to a batter spitting and adjusting his gloves, the pitcher adjusts his crotch then licks his fingers, random shots of a bored looking manager, etc. When you are actually at the ballpark you can be watching where the catcher and fielders set up to try to predict the pitch that is coming (read The Hidden Language of Baseball by Paul Dickson for some great insight into how to interpret this), but on TV it's not usually the case. This is where I have some suggestions for new fans trying to get into it. First off, if you are looking for just a relaxing day, embrace the slow pace with a beer and veg out on the couch while watching. It's meant to be slow and relaxing (until it gets tense and exciting, usually with runners on). Seriously, when was the last time you just sat and did nothing? Mid July afternoon games are a perfect way to reach that zen of half-consciousness, until something happens to get you sucked into the action. Another option to stay engaged is keeping score. I find keeping score relaxing and looking back through a scorebook can be fun to see what you were doing a few years ago (except for that damn unfinished scorecard from 2015 where A-Rod hit the most predictable home run in Twins-Yankees history and I sent my scorecard flying to the other side of the room). As NPR once put it, keeping score is a knowledge making activity, and if you have the time and patience for it it is a great way to learn the game. There are a couple different guides to keeping score, and most scorebooks/cards will have a brief example of how to do so. If you have any questions, the Around the Horn thread is a great place to ask! Gamethreads are another way to get together with other baseball fans and pass the time between pitches, especially in team subs you get to know the regulars and conversations start to wonder away from baseball at times throughout the game, and that's fine. Baseball is an excuse to enjoy a summer day. For those that want to actually understand what is going on during that time, though, there are some options. Watching Baseball Smarter by Zack Hample (who despite his reputation on this subreddit knows some stuff and actually pops in from time to time to comment on different things) is a good starting place for new fans. Baseball for Dummies and The Complete Idiots Guide to Baseball are also good starting points for those willing to sit and read for a little bit. For those who don't want to read a book, I guess I can touch on what I'm looking for between pitches. A big part of baseball is pitch selection, so scouting out a pitchers repertoire of pitches is a good starting point, BrooksBaseball.net has great cheat sheets on every pitcher in the game, and PitcherList.com has a visual example of each pitcher's pitches so you can see what you can be looking for. Anyways, I mention that because the whole reason the catcher is twiddling his fingers behind the plate is to go over with the pitcher what pitch is going to be thrown. What I'm watching for between pitches is where the catcher is setting up behind the plate and guessing which pitch is going to be thrown. A 2-0 and 3-1 count are known as hitters counts because the pitcher needs to throw a strike or risk walking the batter, when the count reaches either of those pay attention, because the hitters going to be looking for his perfect pitch and there's probably going to be some action on the field. 0-1, 0-2, and 1-2 are pitcher's counts, look for curveball, slider or other somewhat nasty pitch to be thrown to get the batter to swing at a bad pitch, or a fastball inside to catch them off guard. If you have any questions about this, go ahead and ask in an around the horn thread.
Where to watch highlights and game recaps.
There are many many places to see highlights and game recaps, this is not an exhaustive list, but is a good start. For highlights, bigger highlights will often be posed here on baseball a few minutes after they occur, if you wish to post them please familiarize yourself with the subreddit rules. They also appear relatively quickly on MLB.com in each games Gameday area. For a pretty slick collection of highlights from across MLB, https://baseball.theate is a great place to exclusively watch highlights. There are a few ways to get great game recaps. If you have MLB Network, every day Quick Pitch is an hour-long show that recaps every game from the previous day. It usually starts after MLB Tonight (about 10pm EDT) or whatever game MLB Network is showing finishes up, and runs until 10am EDT the next day. MLB.com also puts out recaps of every game by the next morning, usually a 2-5 minutes quick rundown of highlights that can be found on the game recap. It also puts out Fastcast videos on youtube and their website every morning which has a brief rundown of all the games from the previous day. Here's an example of a Fastcast from two seasons ago. If you want one concise place to see most of these, efitz11 was amazing last season and posted video links to every game recap and fastcast in the daily Around the Horn thread. Here's an example. I am unsure if they plan to continue it this year, but it would be surely appreciated!
TL;DR Finding what you enjoy about the game.
When it boils down to it, baseball is about finding entertainment and enjoyment, and don't let anyone try to tell you how to enjoy baseball. If you want nothing to do with statistical analysis and just want to enjoy what's going on on the field, don't let anyone tell you you aren't enough of a fan, and if you want to dissect a player into their strengths and components using statcast and advanced metrics don't let anyone tell you you're reading into the game too much. You can follow one team, and only one team, or you can follow multiple teams, don't let anyone tell you you're not a true fan for wearing another team's gear or enjoying their games. You might enjoy bat flips and flamboyance, or reserved speedy home run trots. You might not even enjoy physically watching a game (especially not if your team isn't playing), but find yourself loving keeping track of your team through the season and tracking your players or maybe just the thrill of the standings race and scoreboard watching or maybe you just love all the numbers that get thrown around and arguing about their relevancy. That's okay, eventually I believe enjoyment of the game itself will come, but even if it doesn't, the long baseball season is still creating a place of enjoyment for you, and that's what matters. If you have any questions, once again, feel free to ask them in our daily Around the Horn thread, or below in the comments, or if you really want to feel free to PM with questions and I'd be happy to answer. So watch games this week and join in the discussion here, you'll naturally find yourself gravitating towards certain players or teams and enjoying different aspects of the game. Baseball is a long season, find what you enjoy, stick to it, dwell on it, and enjoy it. TL;DR for the TL;DR - Baseball is fun
Week 6 NCAAF ATS Predictions, Trends and Analysis courtesy of RedAlertWagers.com
Written by Lester Cullen on October 8, 2020 Website: RedAlertWagers.com Contact: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) Phone: THE RED LINE - (Toll-Free @ 1-844-334-2613) The Red Line - (Toll-Free @ 1-844-334-2613) - Text The Red Line to get a free exclusive release prediction. Follow The MAC on Social Media:
Subscribe toThe Gambling Report on Substack, free for 90 Days - 3-4 emails a month with all the need to know gambling information and trends happening in the industry, picks and predictions as well as direct offers from industry leading online sportsbooks. Presented byRedAlertWagers.com, MAC's Gambling Report dives into some of the best gambling industry news available, interviews with sharks, above and underground bookies, poker experts, casino operators and oddsmakers all packaged up and sent directly to you -Free for 90 days or subscribe for $39.99 a year Boom...and we’re in Week 6 of the college football season (Corona Edition), even the SEC came to play. We will take a look at some of our consensus plays and provide some opinion based insight to put together some ATS winners.
For starters we will look at the Gators/Aggies matchup. The line has fluctuated from 7 to 6.5 and currently at Caesars Palace the spread is Florida Gators -6.5 -115 and Texas A&M +6.5 -105, linemakers are playing with the juice, moving it around a bit and charging to get the dog, they must think they have the number nailed at a touchdown spread and MAC is looking to beat that number!
FloridaGatorsvsTexasA&MAggies The Florida Gators have come out of the gate hot, QB Kyle Trask throwing 10 TD passes through their opening two games of the season. They have busted open the ATS record, going 8-3-1 through their last 12 games a legit 2-0 and ranked No. 4 in the AP poll after Georgia took the lead ahead of them following the Bulldogs win over Auburn. The Aggies are 1-1 to start the season and they have a weak secondary that should get destroyed by the Gators offense. The MAC tends to stay away from Conference games because odds are usually tight & tough, it can be hard to find a solid pick, but our consensus groups have the Gators as a move and with the spread less than a TD this game has value Play - Gators -6.5 (+10 Units) QuickTrends-
Over is 4-0 in Gators last 4 games overall.
Over is 4-0 in Gators last 4 games as a favorite.
Over is 5-0 in Gators last 5 games on grass.
Gators are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games following a ATS loss.
Over is 8-1 in Gators last 9 games as a road favorite
Under is 4-0 in Aggies last 4 games following a straight up loss.
Over is 4-0 in Aggies last 4 games as a home underdog.
Aggies are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall.
Aggies are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games following a straight up loss of more than 20 points.
Under is 7-1 in Aggies last 8 games after allowing less than 275 total yards in their previous game.
PittsburghPanthersvsBostonCollegeEagles If you look at the recent trends for the Panthers, you see a team that is just 1-5-1 ATS in their last 7 games. That being said, the Panthers have been winning their games outright, they are 3-1 in the early going of the season, they just can’t get a cover, it’s pathetic, oddsmakers are cashing in on Pitt. The Eagles have been great ATS, covering in 8 of their last 10, but as far as this game, our information is telling us to stay away. Boston College defense has nothing to brag about, unable to stop 3rd conversions makes a case for betting the over, the offense can’t run the ball, averaging 2.4 yards a carry, and they are last in the ACC in both of these categories. Jurkovec has thrown 2 picks, one in the end zone and the Heels took it home for a meaningless win, one good thing is they don’t lose fumbles and are +5 in turnover margin. MAC has Panthers to win this one, the line is -6 and has moved back and forth from 6.5 and 6, but most importantly MAC sees action coming in on the total and is moving on the over, opening at 46 and currently set at 44 this should be an easy 55-60 point game. The trends seems to be the under but going against the grain is why The MAC is one of the most recognized sports gamblers in the industry. MAC’sFinalScorePrediction- Pitt 35 - BC 23 Play-Over 44 (+5 Units) Play-Pitt -6 (+5 Units) QuickTrends:
Eagles are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games following a straight up win.
Under is 4-0 in Eagles last 4 vs. a team with a winning record.
Under is 5-0 in Eagles last 5 games as an underdog
MiamiHurricanesvsClemsonTigers Given how dominant the Tigers have been in the ACC over the past few years, it is usually a bad idea to bet against them.The odds makers are giving them too much respect, our scouts are saying the line isn’t this high because of public money, it’s an inflated spread and could be a suckers bet. Let’s consider the fact that the Tigers have failed to cover this season and are now on a run of failing to cover in 4 straight games. MAC says play the ML hedge if laying the points, be smart and use bankroll management. The Hurricanes have not had a lot of joy against Clemson in recent years, but are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 versus conference foes. With 43.3 points scored this season they are ranked #7, this could be another over play, though with the total set at 62, we will have to wait to see some line movement before placing any action on it.MAC has no apprehension when it comes to taking a shot and going against the grain, it’s what makes him a Vegas specialty. Take Miami to cover, take them, take the points, and take it to the bank. MAC’sFinalScorePrediction- Miami 21 - Clemson 35 Play:Miami +15 (+15 Units) Play:Miami ML +450 (+4 UNITS) QuickTrends:
Hurricanes are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games after accumulating more than 280 yards passing in their previous game.
Hurricanes are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games following a straight up win.
Hurricanes are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 conference games.
Hurricanes are 5-1 ATS vs. a team with a winning record.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE FOR GRADUATE ADMISSIONS Unlike undergraduate application essays which require a more whimsical storytelling voice, graduate SOPs need to be all business. Think of this as a return-on-investment situation. Universities have tremendous resources of time and expertise. They want to choose the students who will give them the greatest return on these resources. They want safe bets. They want students guaranteed to succeed, students who will undoubtedly take these resources and turn them into glorious contributions to the lofty world of academia (thus furthering the university’s good name and helping their US News rankings). Does that mean they want the students with the best grades? The best GMAT and GRE scores? Yes, but not exactly. Sports gamblers know that the most gifted athletes don’t always win championships. Instead, the best teams do. Graduate students work closely with their professors. It’s a small, tight-knit community. Yes, they only want brilliant people in that community. But they also only want people whom they know will play nice. Students who will make the community better. Students who are just awesome human beings. Not prickly blowhards seeking personal glory. This is the great power of the SOP. This is where you show them that you’re a memorable human being, someone who will make his graduate department a better place to be. And a well-structured SOP is the absolute best way to do it. THE 4 SECTIONS OF A MEMORABLE SOP Introductory Frame Narrative Why This Program Why You’re Qualified Closing Frame Narrative You may have heard of the “hero’s journey.” Popularized by Joseph Campbell in his seminal 1949 work, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, the hero’s journey is, according to Wikipedia: …a broad category of tales and lore that involves a hero who goes on an adventure, and in a decisive crisis wins a victory, and then comes home changed or transformed. We can use the hero’s journey to understand what makes certain SOPs memorable in a timeless way. Screenwriters have used this template for decades, and you should recognize it as the outline of every single Pixar movie. In the basic version, a hero is living a normal life, until she encounters a conflict. This conflict launches her on a journey where she faces trials and failures. Then she meets a knowledgeable mentor who gives her advice. She takes that advice, goes off to fight and defeat a monster, then returns home a better person with some magical trophy or knowledge that makes the world better for everyone. So, we have the following important elements: A hero A conflict (that begets a journey) A mentor A monster A magical gift that makes the world better Now, let’s re-frame these elements: Hero: You A conflict that begets a journey: The moment in time when you realized you NEEDED a graduate degree A mentor: The graduate program A monster: The obstacles preventing you from obtaining your future career and changing the world (think UN or Silicon Valley HR offices) A magical gift that makes the world better: Your knowledge obtained from the university applied to your ultimate goal (e.g. cancer research, machine learning in the fashion retail industry, or microfinance for women in developing countries) Now, let’s apply them to the structure above: Introductory Frame Narrative HERO meets CONFLICT and REALIZES she needs to seek a MENTOR to achieve her GOAL In this section of 1-2 paragraphs, you tell the quick story of how you came to be where you are right now, applying to a graduate program. You introduce some poignant moment of reflection in your life. This cannot be a paragraph of generalities about how you’ve always been interested in computer science or anthropology. Instead, it should tell of a specific time and place, and show you experiencing a troubling moment where you realize that you NEED a mentor to accomplish your goals. It probably shouldn’t be too dramatic, but it should contain all of the above elements, even if only briefly. Example: Among international students in the U.S., it is a common joke that “we can’t afford to be ill.” I learned this myself during freshman year, when a viral infection required an emergency room trip. It wasn’t a complicated procedure, and I was home in a matter of hours. In fact, the virus was much less harrowing than paying for my treatment, a torturous, year-long process of back-and-forth between the hospital which was never able to accept my insurance, a physician who demanded separate payment, and an aggressive debt collector who made veiled threats. The total amount was $1,012 dollars. I remember it clearly. I paid it in cash, bewildered and aggravated. The real problem for international students is not whether we can afford healthcare, but whether we can efficiently utilize the American system. This is a genuine problem. Social demographics are changing worldwide. Immigrant communities don’t stop growing. Thus, this is not merely a personal affair, but also a risk issue which needs to be addressed by service providers and their international counterparts. That’s exactly why I seek to study at Columbia: I want to play a role in improving this system, both here in America, and in China, my home. Why This Program HERO explains why this UNIQUE PROGRAM is the right MENTOR for her and her GOAL This section of 1-2 paragraphs details how your chosen graduate PROGRAM will help you resolve the conflict from Section 1. It will list all of the wonderful details about the PROGRAM that make it unique and better for you than other PROGRAMS. These details will be specifically related to you obtaining your ultimate goal. Please, please note that I’m capitalizing “program” and not writing “graduate school” in general. To convince your mentor to take you as an apprentice, you need to show them that you’re a worthy investment of their time. Do you think MIT will take a student who just needs a general education in computer science (one that they could get from any university, or even online for free)? Not a chance! They’re looking for a student who has studied every possible nuance of their unique Computation for Design and Optimization program. They want students who already know which classes they’ll take, which professors they’ll work with, and what topic they’ll pursue in their capstone project. These are the details which will convince the university that you’re going to be a 100% guaranteed success. Example: The Technology, Innovation, and Education program at Harvard seems tailor made for my goal: to create technology that makes education more effective, efficient and engaging. This is the future of global education, both for privileged urbanites, and those rural children close to my heart. I am excited by the prospect of coursework such as Transforming Education Through Emerging Technologies with professor Christopher Dede, for it shows how Harvard students fill the gaps between emerging technologies and humanist ideals. I’m particularly keen to explore the impact of social issues (especially gender) in curriculum design, because these issues are doubly raw in developing South America. The TIE internship program will also be important for me. As a Marketing major with sparse teaching experience (at least compared to Education undergraduates), working at the Boston Museum of Science or at Walden Media will give me a clearer understanding of how educational technologies work in real students’ hands. Why You’re Qualified HERO explains why she’s QUALIFIED to receive MENTOR’S guidance This section will take 1-2 paragraphs, or 3 if you’re a PhD applicant who needs to explain some previous research experience. Basically, you’re showing how you’ve prepared for this great challenge by working your butt off in undergrad, or in your career, earning excellent grades, professional honors, etc. It’s a CV, of sorts. But don’t make the terrible mistake of listing every tiny detail. Save that for your actual CV. Trust me, they’ll find it. Instead, focus only on the most relevant highlights from your career thus far. Primarily discuss the obstacles you’ve conquered, those which prove you’re ready to succeed in this great new journey. Also, stay relevant. If you’re applying to a program in Computer Science, don’t talk about your impressive honors in debate competition, or your track record fighting for the rights of Japanese carp. Instead, focus on your excellent CS-major GPA, the extra graduate-level data science courses you took, and your research experience studying initial vector generation in cryptography. And please refrain from explaining what “initial vector generation in cryptography” means. They’re computer science professors. They know. Don’t try to teach your teachers. Only show them that you’ve worked hard in the past, and that you’re ready to work even harder in the future. Example: Of course, the program will be a great challenge, but I feel my professional and academic backgrounds have prepared me to face it head on. Majoring in mathematics at New York University gave me a solid foundation in computer science, from simple sums to complex algorithms, such as Bayesian Optimization and Dijkstra’s Algorithm. I gained a thorough understanding of how mathematical reasoning provides insights through modeling, and how to program machines that process large quantities of real-time data. Moreover, I was honored to deepen these interests last summer while interning with Dr. Minjun Kim in the Big Data Research Program at Seoul Institute of Technology. In this program, I focused primarily on large-scale dataset processing and extraction, and the experience was both fascinating and rewarding. Swimmingly, I was in my element when tweaking algorithms to optimize data processing, because for the first time, the pure math that I’d studied as an undergraduate became applicable. At the same time, as I considered the relevance of these concepts to the surgical processes of medical cosmetology, I became certain of my desire and readiness to expand my education into more varied areas of computer science. Closing Frame Narrative Firm declaration that MENTOR’S guidance + HERO’s hard work will allow HERO to conquer MONSTERS and give their MAGICAL GIFT to the world In this section, you’ll briefly (BRIEFLY!) return to the frame narrative from Section 1. One sentence, that’s all. Then you’ll affirm that if they offer you admission, you’re going to work hard to make them proud, so that you can then move on to face real monsters, conquer your career, and in the end, make the world just a tiny bit better. Example: International education is booming in China. It is said that more than twenty international school brands are looking to establish campuses in China by 2020. I look forward to making a difference in this significant period of China’s education history, by pursuing my own education at JHU, and thus furthering my commitment to the students who have given my life its greatest purpose. SOME CONSIDERATIONS If you need to write a long SOP, say 750-1,000 words, then Section 1 usually takes 2 paragraphs, and section 3 usually takes 2-3. Shorter SOPs should only be 4-5 paragraphs total. Don’t treat the 4 sections as independent blocks. They’re living, breathing episodes in the story of your journey. They need to flow naturally. If your draft doesn’t feel right, find someone who’s an experienced writer to give you advice on how to improve your inter-paragraph transitions. Do NOT ask for advice from students within your own field (unless they’ve had extensive success in journalism, fiction, or creative nonfiction). I see this all the time, and the advice is usually terrible. I don’t care if someone was admitted to Harvard. It doesn’t mean they know anything about writing, and especially not about writing YOUR unique story. 99.9% of the time, the advice they give only validates their own past decisions and n=1 experience. After all, fantastic students can earn admission despite average essays. That doesn’t mean you should copy them. You’re a different person, with a different journey, and you should seek every possible advantage you can get. When writing Section 2 (“Why This Program”) include as much detail as possible, as long as it’s relevant to your journey. Show them you’ve done your research. When writing Section 3 (“Why You’re Qualified”), however, avoid too much nitpicky detail. Focus on the broad strokes of your career. I see this most often with STEM students. They want to prove themselves, somehow, by defining and categorizing every coding project they’ve ever done. This only makes you seem desperate and naïve, and makes your SOP difficult-to-read for admissions committee members who aren’t rocket surgeons. Be confident. Tell them what you’ve done that makes you great, and leave the detail for your CV, interviews, and most importantly, recommendation letters. (This is kind of like in Game of Thrones when George R.R. Martin writes 3-page descriptions of the bread bowls, sauces, and lamb shanks tabled at a feast. We get it, George. They ate a feast. We don’t need another description of a savory lamprey pie. Yeesh.) Don’t tell the university what they’re going to teach you. This is one of the most consistent mistakes I see in bad SOPs, sentences like this: In the Data Science and Systems course, I will gain an understanding of data management fundamentals as well as the latest technologies and techniques for the collection, storage, and analysis of information. Yes, of course you will gain this understanding, Captain Obvious. It’s the point of the course! You’ve literally just copied and pasted the course description from the website. Don’t tell them what they already know. Don’t tell them the general value of their courses. Instead, say WHY this course is interesting to you. For example: I’m fascinated by the intensity of the Data Science and Systems course, which seems far more in-depth than the graduate coursework I took as a college senior, and which is especially relevant to my career goal in sports analytics. CONCLUSION Introductory Frame Narrative Why This Program Why You’re Qualified Closing Frame Narrative This 4-part structure has served dozens upon dozens of my students extremely well. They’ve earned admission to graduate programs in the best universities in America. The devil is in the details, of course. You’ll have to revise multiple drafts. You’ll have to make sure that you’re telling your one-of-a-kind story in a readable, authentic way. But if you take this magical structure and work hard with it, I promise you’ll give yourself the best possible chance of convincing your mentor to take you on. Then, when you earn that glittering email that starts out “Congratulations, hero…” please let me know about your success. I love a good story about a young hero who goes out and conquers the world.
An extensive list of features I would like to see implemented into TC2 or any future titles.
This list will consist of the beginnings of an outstanding open-world racing game from many of the features I've conceptualized. I've always had a thought/fantasy in my head of taking some of the best features from many racing games and rolling them into one fantastic game. There have been so many quirks and great things across many racing games and even non-racing games that could be implemented into other racing games to improve upon games. I think some game developers and creative directors owe it to themselves to play many other racing games themselves to draw inspiration from other games and they should directly use polls in social media to see what people want the most, so resources can be allocated in that direction. I will refer to many games throughout this as I feel a lot of racing games (and other games in general) made over the last 15 years or so have features that could contribute to the concepts that would create a great game. Game abbreviations will include MC (Midnight Club), NFS (Need for Speed), TC (The Crew) FH (Forza Horizon), FM (Forza Motorsport), GT (Gran Turismo), GTA (Grand Theft Auto) and TDU (Test Drive Unlimited). This list will not be suggesting any locations, vehicle or part manufacturers directly unless something is used as an example, this is just features that could be incorporated upon a base game. Developers will obtain whatever licenses they can and I don't see this as a thing to extensively cover. An example is that we would all love to see Toyota, but obtaining their license recently has been difficult for many companies. One thing that I can't speak of as I have no personal use, is steering wheels. I'd like to hear some feedback on how to create the optimal steering wheel experience in a racing game. Physics: Driving physics control the entire driving experience of a racing game so these are ultimately the most important thing to get correct. There have been many games that have gotten so many things right with a mediocre or worse physics system that detracted from the experience so much that the legacy of the games it applies to are tarnished regardless of how many other things are done well, with TDU2 is a great example. Ideally, they would be on par with FH4. Some extent of arcade physics would be nice, but not to the extent of some of the Ghost produced NFS games to where there is some oddly conflicting attempt of two physics systems fighting each other to determine if you are attempting to drift or grip. There would be a difference in the feeling of drivetrains and the AWD wouldn't be dominant over RWD in paved road scenarios, tuning and efficient driving could make RWD better due to the car being lighter. Controller mappings/settings: I will continue to reiterate the ability to customize things to the user's liking should be the biggest priority in many categories. The ability to enable and disable vibration in the handles and triggers individually would be nice. It's good to have the choice setting of linearity and inner and outer dead zones. I will be using an Xbox controller for my ideal pre mapped settings. I think FH4 has the best control scheme, but could still use some improvement (and features). To maximize the inputs available, the photo mode should be accessed through the start/pause menu, rather than having them mapped to buttons that could be useful for other functions. The standard LT brake, RT accelerate, LS steering and RS camera (with the click of it being a 180 degree look back) are a very simple base scheme. LB to use the clutch, X and B should be downshift and upshift respectable, RB for the handbrake, A for nitrous, Y for rewind, LS click for the horn, the "select" button would be for interact/map when there's nothing to interact with, left d-pad would function the same way GTA5's would regarding the radio (including holding it + RS to select a specific station), down d-pad would function as FH4 does, where you can choose telemetry or a gps assistant, up d-pad could enlarge and extend the mini-map to give an idea of what is ahead. right d pad could pull up a list of mini functions, such as blinkers, headlights, windows, convertible roof, neon lighting, engine off, hydraulics, air bags, cruise control, etc. Map/Environment: The map can be a real place or a fictional place. Being able to visit a real place from the comfort of your home is nice, but visiting a fantasy land with no creative restrictions would be nice. Some really cool things that were imagined could happen because there is no need to resemble a real place. Day/night cycle with a weather cycle depending on which part of the map you are on, where snow can be on top of mountains. The map needs to be large, no smaller than FH4, ideally larger than the individual TDU2 maps with little to no exploration restrictions. I'd like to see a couple very long straightaways or near straightaways to allow cars to top out on speed. This could be combined with a highway loop system that can wrap around a large portion of the map. Beaches, bumpy terrain areas for intense offroading and of course tunnels for the sound of engines roaring through and echoing. A moderately large mountain would be cool for a hill climb and maybe somewhere to descend from the mountain with multiple consecutive hairpins from the mountain would be nice for drifting. I’d love for the map to have spots to evoke nostalgia for many of us that have played many racing games throughout the year, with an example being when I played TC1 for the first time and I was in LA, it brought back fond memories of MCLA. Even some areas do not have to be specific, but some areas on TC2 reminded me of the speed challenges on NFSPS. Having a/a few tuning shops across the map would be really cool, along with a few NPC cars completely RNG based on model and visual customization so that every time you visit the tuners, you see something new so the tuner feels less stale over time. Barn finds/TDU2 style wrecks. Having racing tracks incorporated into the map that are accessible while in free roam and used for races would be cool, like TC1/TC2, especially an oval track with an optional infield layout. Having a parking garage or two would be nice as you can do many things with them. I liked how there was one incorporated in MCLA and NMFSMW(2012) provided a good experience while in them. We should have a GTA5 style 48 minute irl day/night cycle with about 10 hours in game (20 minutes irl) of nighttime and 14 hours in game (28 minutes irl) of daytime to provide a balance most would find enjoyable. While viewing the full sized map in the menu, we should be able to zoom out a lot or zoom in to nearly street view, like TC2. Roads need to have believable lane width, unlike how the lanes have become wider and wider every FH installment. We should have some back roads that are very slim and have room to accommodate one car width covering both directions. Gas/petrol stations are nice to see as that is something that some games don't include enough. The planes flying in TC2 add to the immersiveness. Having an airport with a long airstrip is something that is seen as important. It was a place for people to frequently congregate in GTA4/FH2 and the lack of a nice, unobstructed airstrip in FH4 is seen as something that's a letdown. Real life traffic cars with several color options each to increase immersiveness, also cars represent surroundings (taxis in the city, utility vehicles in a rural area, etc). Having pedestrians on foot can also add into the immersive feeling, including them reacting to your presence by having dialogue and running away if you're being reckless. Some places will be in various stages of construction (similar to GTA) and over the course of updates they'll come further along and finish construction and some will become interactive spaces. Some places will also become the sights of demolition. Camera settings: Getting the right view and feel for cameras is important to giving you the most comfortable experience to get the feel for where your car is at and focus on surroundings in the way that is desired. Importantly, having bumper, hood, cockpit (with and without steering wheel) and chase cameras is a great start. There should also be an "action" camera with additional sense of speed, sensitivity towards turns, etc. Although this isn't a racing game, Rocket League inspired me to take a deeper dive into the thoughts of camera perspectives. Adjusting RL camera settings can assist your ability to be aware of surroundings and I'm sure the same would apply to actual racing games. Settings for RL that would be nice to apply to racing games would be the ability to turn on or off camera shake upon collisions, the FOV, distance of the camera away from the car (and distance gain relative to speed, if desired), camera height in relativity to the vehicle (could be important with SUVs/trucks) and angle at which the camera points towards the ground/sky. I'd like to see settings to turn vignetting and motion blur from a 0-100% scale. This effect is often used to create a sense of speed, but is often found to be disruptive towards viewing surroundings and braking zones. As I feel this would pertain to the player's perception/camera adjustment, I think the cockpit views should contain an adjustable seat, such as TDU1. Keeping something like the drift camera for cockpit views, along with the settings they have related to it in FH4 would be nice. User interface/HUD: I think being consistent to many other racing games would be good in many ways. Ideally, the ability to adjust which corner things are in would be the best, but if the customization wasn't an option, this is how I think it should be. Having the speedometetachometeodometer in the bottom right would be nice, along with the ability to display it in an analog or digital format, such as FH4. The map should be on the bottom left and should have two levels of details for options; one being a minimalist design with no border that gradually fades out (similar to Grid Autosport's track layout minimap, mixed with the off road icon detail of FH4). The second map option should be similar to a mixture of NFS Heat and TDU1 in terms of borders on the mini-map and detail to show side roads/terrains. The ability to adjust the map rotating or not would be nice. We should also be able to see our recent driving path in a thin line on the map, such as TDU2. The race position should be in the top right and all other race details (total time in race and sprint race % or lap count, best and previous lap) should be in the top left. Another thing that could add into the immersion would be changing the opacity of the HUD, from 0-100% so you could make it mostly transparent, but visible enough to be useful if that is what is desired. Having an odometer built into the HUD would be nice as well. Games such as TC2 have the speedometer and mini-map flipped from the standard positions and it is a minor grievance. The speedometers in non-cockpit views should be able to resemble the car's actual speedometer as seen in TDU and NFS Shift. We should be able to filter the map well when in that menu, similar to FH4. Event Types: Blueprints (FH3), random events where you can taxi or tail someone (TDU2), Drag races with proper street light, track light or an NPC human signaling in the middle of the road making the countdown (also with burnouts like NFSPS), score based drift racing, sprint races, circuit races, speed trap races (NFSMW), pink slip and money wager races (MCLA), unordered races (MC3), rivals (FH3/4), true street races and official sanctioned races (FH3/4 and NFSH) and end the game with a goliath type of race (FH3/4). Off road racing in the form of sprints and circuits would be nice. Bringing over speed traps, speed zones, drift zones and danger signs/long jumps from FH4/NFSH would be nice. Removing the potential disruption of traffic would be nice by ghosting vehicles in these situations, as FH4 has done. A route creator along the lines of MCLA/FH4 would be nice with the ability to add/remove some objects like barriers and ramps. The TDU2 style limited time events would be cool. Maybe a certain event would be worth double money or level progression. Some of the limited time races would utilize the places being constructed and demolished. Online Play: Free roam such as TC2/FH4 in terms of grouping with friends is ideal, but have the option to have private lobbies (up to as many players as the developers can make work) and the ability to search for public free roam lobbies based on preferences of drifting, car meets, cruising, etc. Free roamers should be able to disable or enable collisions with random players not in their group. Lacking the collisions removes some of the immersiveness and the ghosted appearance ruins things such as drifting tandems and trains with random players. Something similar to Forzathon from FH4 could help players unite and group together and optionally have something to do in the lobby every hour. Ranked and unranked playlist organization like FH4, but make completely separate on and off road playlists for online along with a voting system for the class of racing and location. Online race collision penalties and ghosting similar to FH4. Free roam quick 1v1 wager races against other players in cruises. We should have the option to play through the campaign in a cooperative fashion, similar to FH4/TC2. Cross play would be nice to implement. Driving Features: Race Driver Grid style rewinds as they're probably the smoothest working rewinds compared to the segmented rewind system in other racing titles. TC2 back on track compared to FH4 weird reset, FRIM (TDU2)/skill chain (FH1-4) in freemode to reward in small XP/money. The ability to enable settings on a 0-100% slider would be nice as well as a detailed damage model. The ability to render in more tire smoke than other games would be nice. I'm aware it requires a lot of system resources, but I would like to see how far it could be pushed on next generation consoles/and always-improving top of the line PCs. Using the car with manual transmission would allow us to put the car in neutral. Some vehicles with visible engines/engine components have a noticeable shake while idle, so seeing that would be nice. Being able to enable/disable fuel management (both for cruising/racing) would be nice, along with gas/petrol stations to refill the fuel and nitrous (just a drive-thru required). Slipstreaming other cars will make your car faster, not give nitrous like NFS. Nitrous should slowly regenerate like NFSMW2005, where there is also a slight delay for it to begin regenerating again, unlike TC2 where it begins regenerating immediately. Difficulty settings to lower driving assistance, if desired. Wipers operating along with rain buildup would clearly add some realism. Reversing your car would add a backup camera in place of the infotainment system displaying the map until you've left the reverse gear. While driving in the cockpit, the wheel needs to be given a 900ish degree rotation from lock to lock to add into the realistic feeling of being in a car. Non-Driving Features: Players should be able to enter their homes similar to GTA5 and TDU2 and they should be able to have a vast array of customization for their house and a trophy room, which can be earned from high tier sanctioned races/tournaments (inspired by NFL 2K5/Auto Modellista), photos taken in game can be framed and displayed around the house (TDU2) and multiple garages and garage types like TDU/GTA along with the ability to interact with and move cars around different garages and spaces within the garages. The ability to test drive any car at any level of progression and visit themed new dealerships and used dealerships would be cool (TDU/TC). Character customization would be nice to control the appearance of your character, such as a plastic surgeon and clothing stores. The ability to control blinkers, headlights, windows, convertible tops/sunroofs, neon lighting, turning the engine off, operating hydraulics and adjusting air bags. Having a large variety of standard and gimmick horns. Using horns to control police lights to flash rapidly upon the horn being pressed, along with the siren remaining operating upon letting go of the horn. The internal navigation/infotainment screens of cars show the in game map/gps (TDU2). We could see the drone from FH4 return as it’s a good way to view tricky areas and get a live view of other players without obstructing them. Wheelspins (FH4) exist, but guarantee car or money and have the potential of earning clothes as a side bonus. We could maybe have a casino (similar to TDU2/GTA5) with various attractions, such as slots, a daily wheelspin for a rotating car weekly, the ability to bet on real life PvP races that the large room would randomly put you into spectate and other casino based activities. Our character shouldn't be mute throughout the story, we should be given a few voice choices for a little more personality for our character (similar to how Saints Row operates its voices). Car clubs would be cool, similar to FH3, along with leaderboards based on the clubs. Oil changes at the performance shops and car washes would be nice. Garages/dealerships and tuning shops will have various ambient noises (hydraulic lifts, airsaws, torches, metal slamming, etc.) and subtle music. Photo mode: This deserves its own category and also can help a company market the game by users sharing their photos if the mode allows such great photos people will be prone to sharing them. We should have a filtetime of day/weather system like TC2. The focusing and motion blur of FH4 is well executed. We should be able to zoom in and out (adjust focal length) without it altering our field of view. We should be able to apply different lens effects, such as fisheye, rectilinear, etc. The camera should have the ability to position freely, in terms of raise, lower, tilt, rotate, etc. The maximum height for the camera needs to be much higher than FH4. The camera should have the potential to be on a gimbal, so it can remain even while a car is going up and down a hill to emphasize how drastic the ascent or descent is. All these features on top of standard stuff such as exposure, saturation, etc. Also, the live rewind and fast forward again option in TC2 is amazing. It’s easy to miss that perfect single frame shot on other games, but the ability to do that solves it. Soundtrack: It needs to be eclectic with hip-hop, rock and electronic (maybe 2 of each) like modern and classic hip-hop and rock and electronic can be split between chill and hype. Maybe we can get pop, country and classical stations? Have a mix of some lesser known songs and also some billboard topping hits. Don't have stations where many of their songs sound very similar. Something great that could be added could be Spotify integration if any company can figure it out/contract Spotify. Groove integration was a good idea on FH, but Groove wasn't successful. Having the ability to fully mute all music sounds would also be nice (unlike FH4). Vehicles: As I said, I will not be going over brands, but I would like to see a variety of entry level cars, sports cars, super cars, hyper cars and full on race cars. Concept cars would be great, as they are seen in limited fashion on most open world titles. I'd like trucks and SUVs as well for off roading and to maintain a wide variety of vehicles on par with FH4. I’d also like to see a vehicle categorization similar to FH4 (i.e. Hypercars, classic muscle, etc.). While I'd like to see a variety of vehicle types, I'd still prefer to see quality over quantity. Each vehicle needs to be replicated well and many should have extensive customization. We should be able to favorite cars and also choose a random car (totally random or random from favorites for whatever vehicles are applicable to the given event or freeroam. We should be able to tag vehicles as designed for off-road, wet driving, drifting, drag, etc. These will just be two examples, but we should be able to provide donor cars to speciality shops and convert them into improved, rarer editions. Two conversions that I'll reference would be converting a Porsche Carrera GT into a Gemballa Mirage GT or a Mustang GT into a Saleen S302. A growing variety of vehicles over the course of time, similar to FH4 and TC2. Visual Customization: No visual adjustments will relate to performance gains or losses (i.e. camber, wheel swaps/sizes, bodykits, etc.) other than you will need to equip some form of spoilewing to adjust rear downforce. We should be able to set wheels smaller than stock, as well as larger. Track width should be an option with multiple sliders (like NFS2015). We should be given manufacturer options for paint, wheels and interior choices, etc. (TDU2/TC2). We should be able to save paint colors (MCLA), instead of just having them in recents and eventually disappear (FH). We should be able to adjust trim as chrome, titanium, gold, black, etc. (MC3) The paint options of NFS Heat and MCLA would be nice, such as gloss, metallic flake with size options, carbon fiber varieties, chrome, matte, satin, fading from left to right as well as top to bottom and the ability to add multiple colors in a color shifting paint job (MC3), colored nitrous (MC3/NFSH), colored tire smoke (GTA5/NFSH) and backfire (NFSH), tire design (MCLA/NFSH), wide body kits (both from manufacturers and developer designed), bumpers, spoilers/wings, skirts, mirrors and fenders (non real life brands can autosculpt like NFSC). Neon colors designs and patterns (TC2/NFSH), hydraulics (MCLA) and airbags (MCLA/NFSH) Brake calipers should be able to be from brands (MCLA/NFSH) or painted (TC2). Interior parts such as steering wheels and seats (MCLA), along with materials, alcantara, suede, leather, plastic, carbon fiber, chrome, etc. (TC2). We should be able to chop the roofs of some vehicles (MC3). Cars have individual licence plates and can get multiple states/countries given they fit the spacing allocated on each vehicle for them (MCLA) Tinted headlight and taillight housings are great options along with light bulb temperatures. Although it isn’t the taste of many people, we should be able to do all kinds of unique styles, such as monster truck (or at least an extreme lift), donk, bosozoku and even NHRA style drag body modifications (with optional wheelie bar) for some of the vehicles you would see them on in real life, but modifications this drastic will impact performance and vehicle hit box/collision physics. Vinyls on widows should be a thing with the ability to make vinyls able to utilize different paint materials (NFSH). FH4 has the numerical system to mirror and scale things fairly well. I’d like to keep the placement system of FH4. Also, the FH4 marketplace to download tunes and designs is the best I've seen, so that can be duplicated. As this will blanket all of the above, some customization parts should be recommended by a popular magazine or website. MC3 did this with Dub and created a fantastic game with a lasting legacy and many of the style options were relevant when the game was released and for a while after. We should be able to adjust tire width and profile, similar to MCLA. The ability to paint engine bays and accent parts would be nice, similar to NFS UG2. Custom exhaust tips/mufflers would be something nice that many other games have incorporated. Performance Customization and Tuning: PI system like Forza with classes (but actively tuned for balance), different turbos for rpm ranges/turbo lag, supercharger. We should have different tire compounds, even being able to set for front/rear separately. As mentioned earlier, a RWD car that is tuned well and driven well should have the potential to beat an AWD vehicle due to it being lighter. Keeping the tuning settings of what you can adjust would be ideal. We should have the ability to combine the live tuning of NFSH, but enhance it while at a test track (with an off road area in the middle) connected to the tuning shop. You can isolate many tuning options and slide them around while hot lapping. I’d like the ability to run fat rear drag tires, unlike FH4 where it’s just a tire compound. Audio: This is something that will be very important to many, so great sounds like the noise of turbos on NFS2015 and raw engine noises of FH2 and other games held to a high standard will be important to nail. Exhaust tuning from NFSH was nice, but I would like to see a little more of a difference in the sound with this idea further improved. Getting the proper transmission noises can be useful for cars on top of just the engine noise. Tires skidding is nice noise to get correct for realism as well. Having nice ambient sounds will also be important for immersiveness, such as birds chirping, waves washing up on the beach, wind noises and great echo sounds for traveling through tunnels or densely surrounded areas, such as down a row of highrise buildings). Other than making a car sound how it sounds and making realistic sounds for the environment, there is not much more to be said. It's a moderately limited description, but still something that is pivotal. Story/post launch content: I would like to see a sense of progression built up throughout the game by starting in a low end car as someone who freshly arrived in the are the map takes place in (MCLA), maybe the antagonist could be someone who scammed you in a previous city or dismissed your talent at the beginning of the game. For me, the outright story isn't too important, but can contribute to how much you will enjoy a racing game. Any DLC map expansion needs to be seamless and not require a separate load in, similar to Burnout Paradise Big Surf Island bridge or (MCLA South Central expansion) and unlike FH4 Fortune Island. The 1000 Club was a great thing that occurred on FH1 that would be nice to bring reason to use every car and for the 100%ers to have something else to chase. Police are something that hasn't been done extremely well in a racing only game in a very long time, in my opinion. I would ideally focus on everything else before attempting to add police in. If they were added in, something along the lines of NFSMW (2005) would be nice, but with higher stakes. We should have an end-game hero car, similar to the M3 GTR from NFSMW, but make it a car that isn't already iconic from another game, movie or real life racing, as people wouldn't think of the hero car associated to this hypothetical game, but related to whatever it was previously iconic in, as whatever work that went into making it that car would go to waste as people would want to overwrite that design. Alongside the hero car, we should also have a couple cars that are unique variations of pre-existing cars (Dub Edition cars of MCLA) for other special events (MCLA hard tournaments/FH3 street race bosses). The post-launch support needs to be good, unlike NFSH. Adding cars monthly would be a great start, along with any necessary QoL updates. Sorry for any formatting or grammatical issues. I’d like to hear any additional features to add into racing games from the feedback of other people or changes that they would prefer. Also, if there are any ideas in here that others would like to emphasize. Any of this content is free for content creators to recycle if that is desired. I’d like to see some of these ideas be passed around and heard to developers on what could be improved upon. Many games have great ideas and I’d like to see them build off of each other’s greatness.
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