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I'll start by saying that I simply adore ICC. I've had every single version of it (even ACC) and get sick with desire for it each year.
I looked at the new screens and they look amazing, a true move forward - wonderful stuff.
Things I'd like to see in ICC 2014:
1. The ability to 'right-click' to switch between screens in a match. You used to be able to do it and, in terms of functionality, it is so much faster and smoother, meaning you don't have to drag and click between the tabs.
2. The ability to see a player's rating, making the training much less ambiguous (e.g. Zafar Ansari has received bowling economy training and increased his rating on such from X to Y). It would also help you to gauge whether such training was effective or not. As it stands the bowlers have no real indication as to their strengths or weaknesses, and the batsmen have only irregular/ambiguous identifiers (sometimes) such as 'off-side preference', which is not nearly as quantifiable as straight numbers out of 100 or 1000. Numbers are perfect, and in a stats-driven simulator it marries into the overall objective.
3. Furthermore (to point 2) - the ability to improve a player's abilities over time. This would be achieved by a mixture of 2nd team exposure, FC, LA and t20 exposure and training. I'm not suggesting you can turn a Brett D'Oliveira into a Shane Warne, but some improvement surely! Imagine if you ranked Trescothick or Vaughan on their first 5 years of cricket (whereby both averaged in the high 20's).
4. Furthermore (to points 2 & 3) - player ratings for each format. Chris Rogers is a gem at FC, acceptable at LA and, in his own words, is crap at t20.
NOTE: It would also be awesome to be able to improve a player at each of the disciplines. For example, Mike Hussey used to be a single-minded grafter when opening for WA. He later became the best ODI batsman of his generation and remains one of the best t20 batsmen going around. So he improved his short-format gameplay over time. Slowly, but surely.
5. The ability to take on or remove parts of your playing committments as your career progresses (so I start out as captain of Hampshire and take on all 3 formats but then tire of t20 so I can remove that at the end of a season, conversely I start out with Leicestershire on just FC but want to add LA to that so can at season's end). So you can ultimately pick and choose what formats/how many you want each and every year. This will increase replay value as, like in my case, I've gotten through 10 years of hard slog doing all 3 formats, tired of doing both shorter formats and consequently gave up that saved game and all the hours poured into it.
NOTE: I'd also suggest being able to pick which international formats you can coach in the event that you are asked. So I could do FC only for Hampshire and ODI only for England (as an example).
6. The ability to 'offer out' a player during contract time. That is to say, for example, offer $75K to Jade Dernbach (haha, just stirring) whilst he is still contracted. A bit more snide but makes for more interesting gameplay
NOTE: I do acknowledge that you could ultimately just 'save and poach' each season until you had a titanic XI, but I believe there is room to grow in the contracts screen.
7. A clearer indication of availability when assessing overseas players. Sometimes I've had '100% availability' for a player who then basically went missing all season on international committments.
8. The ability to watch 'boundaries only' on highlights (this feature used to be available). Sometimes I love just watching a partnership develop via its hitting, and watching this with the stress of each highlight pop-up potentially being a wicket is too much to bear! But seriously, why not have that? It would be an easy-win on coding and give further customisation to players of the game.
9. (Australian Domestic Only) - the ability to remove an Australian contracted player from your squad. I understand why you can't at present, however they just get in the way and I like the idea of building an empire without existing superstars. This is why I'm so passionate about being able to assess and improve a player in clearer, albeit gradual, ways across overall competencies and also format-specific ones (e.g. Cameron Boyce, QLD leg-spinner, is great at t20, doesn't play List A and is mediocre at FC, so it'd be nice to undertake a project to build him into a 3-format empire over 5 or so years).
10. The ability to choose pitch conditions as an international coach, much the same way you can as a domestic coach.
I shall finish by thanking you for your time for reading this, thanking you for your time in rescuing and maintaining and building up this wonderful game, and also ask that you genuinely consider my thoughts as I am a truly obsessive fan who has watched the game evolve (mostly good, though sometimes not as much, such as in the functionality items identified above [e.g. right-click switches between screens - that's an easy win and a better function]).
Thanks kindly.
I looked at the new screens and they look amazing, a true move forward - wonderful stuff.
Things I'd like to see in ICC 2014:
1. The ability to 'right-click' to switch between screens in a match. You used to be able to do it and, in terms of functionality, it is so much faster and smoother, meaning you don't have to drag and click between the tabs.
2. The ability to see a player's rating, making the training much less ambiguous (e.g. Zafar Ansari has received bowling economy training and increased his rating on such from X to Y). It would also help you to gauge whether such training was effective or not. As it stands the bowlers have no real indication as to their strengths or weaknesses, and the batsmen have only irregular/ambiguous identifiers (sometimes) such as 'off-side preference', which is not nearly as quantifiable as straight numbers out of 100 or 1000. Numbers are perfect, and in a stats-driven simulator it marries into the overall objective.
3. Furthermore (to point 2) - the ability to improve a player's abilities over time. This would be achieved by a mixture of 2nd team exposure, FC, LA and t20 exposure and training. I'm not suggesting you can turn a Brett D'Oliveira into a Shane Warne, but some improvement surely! Imagine if you ranked Trescothick or Vaughan on their first 5 years of cricket (whereby both averaged in the high 20's).
4. Furthermore (to points 2 & 3) - player ratings for each format. Chris Rogers is a gem at FC, acceptable at LA and, in his own words, is crap at t20.
NOTE: It would also be awesome to be able to improve a player at each of the disciplines. For example, Mike Hussey used to be a single-minded grafter when opening for WA. He later became the best ODI batsman of his generation and remains one of the best t20 batsmen going around. So he improved his short-format gameplay over time. Slowly, but surely.
5. The ability to take on or remove parts of your playing committments as your career progresses (so I start out as captain of Hampshire and take on all 3 formats but then tire of t20 so I can remove that at the end of a season, conversely I start out with Leicestershire on just FC but want to add LA to that so can at season's end). So you can ultimately pick and choose what formats/how many you want each and every year. This will increase replay value as, like in my case, I've gotten through 10 years of hard slog doing all 3 formats, tired of doing both shorter formats and consequently gave up that saved game and all the hours poured into it.
NOTE: I'd also suggest being able to pick which international formats you can coach in the event that you are asked. So I could do FC only for Hampshire and ODI only for England (as an example).
6. The ability to 'offer out' a player during contract time. That is to say, for example, offer $75K to Jade Dernbach (haha, just stirring) whilst he is still contracted. A bit more snide but makes for more interesting gameplay
NOTE: I do acknowledge that you could ultimately just 'save and poach' each season until you had a titanic XI, but I believe there is room to grow in the contracts screen.
7. A clearer indication of availability when assessing overseas players. Sometimes I've had '100% availability' for a player who then basically went missing all season on international committments.
8. The ability to watch 'boundaries only' on highlights (this feature used to be available). Sometimes I love just watching a partnership develop via its hitting, and watching this with the stress of each highlight pop-up potentially being a wicket is too much to bear! But seriously, why not have that? It would be an easy-win on coding and give further customisation to players of the game.
9. (Australian Domestic Only) - the ability to remove an Australian contracted player from your squad. I understand why you can't at present, however they just get in the way and I like the idea of building an empire without existing superstars. This is why I'm so passionate about being able to assess and improve a player in clearer, albeit gradual, ways across overall competencies and also format-specific ones (e.g. Cameron Boyce, QLD leg-spinner, is great at t20, doesn't play List A and is mediocre at FC, so it'd be nice to undertake a project to build him into a 3-format empire over 5 or so years).
10. The ability to choose pitch conditions as an international coach, much the same way you can as a domestic coach.
I shall finish by thanking you for your time for reading this, thanking you for your time in rescuing and maintaining and building up this wonderful game, and also ask that you genuinely consider my thoughts as I am a truly obsessive fan who has watched the game evolve (mostly good, though sometimes not as much, such as in the functionality items identified above [e.g. right-click switches between screens - that's an easy win and a better function]).
Thanks kindly.
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