PSX1 Interview with Rex Dickson

[T4VERTS]

Quote: Originally Posted by Lexicon

It's a good thing to hear that more users were playing Franchise than less users. Not that I want them to think what Franchise Mode is right now is "good enough" or anything like that. There are a lot of desired changes that we've all discussed at length in these threads, on Twitter and Youtube, etc, but I don't want to see the mode fall off and die, so the more the merrier. I also try to keep this in perspective: Rex isn't the "franchise guy." Kind of baffled me when he said he doesn't think abilities belong in a simulation football game (said on Twitter), mainly because I don't think a 1-100 rating scale that shows itself as the same to pretty much everyone is simulation at all. But I'd like to hear him talk about it and what he thinks a good solution might be.

I understand where he is coming from with abilities. "Special powers", or abilities, for certain guys seem nice on the surface, but how do you equally balance the game as you get multiple seasons in with drafted players? I have said for years the ratings need to spread out more. The issue is it's a 1-100 scale, but only the upper 40 point range really gets used and that makes it very difficult to show large variances between elite and average players.

[howboutdat]

Quote: Originally Posted by jfsolo

The CFM crowd just has to be more vocal about what we want, especially as it pertains to them implementing gameplay options for the mode that are different from the default and tourney settings.

Here is something that gets lost alot i think when they talk about more people need to "speak up". For years alot of guys from here have done just that. And a few other sites as well. Now on the one hand CFM usage is up 100%. Thats fine , but then they say , the sim crowd needs to be more vocal basically than the tourney and casuals.

Here is where the problem lies there. A larger % of the tourney and Casual/lobby players are younger in age than the Sim crowd. Thus a much larger % of them use social media to reach out and complain and tell what they want to see. Where that is just not the case for the sim crowd. Sure there are , as i said places like this where it seems alot of us say things and wish for things. But this is just 1 example in many i feel- In our league i run, there are maybe 3 other owners out of our 32 who even use social media , as far as twitter and ways to reach out to Rex or devs. That is the case in alot of online leagues i know of. Just because they dont use social media does not mean that alot more people than who they hear from want those things.

So in reality the #'s dont and cant truely give a real scale and scope of how many people really want madden to replicate real football more. Using that as the bases of who they listen to , i get it totally, but the fact is it does not really show the true picture and scale of people wanting sim football imo.

[Lexicon]

Quote: Originally Posted by T4VERTS

I understand where he is coming from with abilities. "Special powers", or abilities, for certain guys seem nice on the surface, but how do you equally balance the game as you get multiple seasons in with drafted players? I have said for years the ratings need to spread out more. The issue is it's a 1-100 scale, but only the upper 40 point range really gets used and that makes it very difficult to show large variances between elite and average players.

Well, essentially, abilities are already in the game. Spectacular catch rating, ball carrier moves, etc. So it's not so much that as it is relaying that information to the user. I think that thinking of abilities as "super powers" is overstating it. Players have different skillsets and different abilities in real life. Sure, all players can TRY to hurdle over a defender, but not all have the anticipation or the ability to do it to the extent that some have. Same with spin moves, one handed catches, handwork when fighting off the line, footwork in the pocket, and the list goes on and on.

What I'm more proposing is a quick visual to let us know more about these players without having to go into the ratings every time. Let's use this image as an example:

Spoiler

They tell us that Mathieu is a "Playermaker,' but instead, it would be nice to shrink that name down a bit and create space for "badges" or "icons" that let us know exactly what this player is capable of, but at the same time, keeping it vague to the point where you have to take a chance on them. Change that 95ovr to an A letter grade, and the strategy goes up even more, because then you might have 4 safties with an A grade, and now you have to use the player badges or the physical make up to make your decision. Maybe even give a quick injury history to make it even more deep.

Madden 08's Ability System

Spoiler

I mean, I don't really see what's so unrealistic about showing a more pronounced graphic of what's already in the game. I also don't agree with being able to see the exact rating numbers within Franchise. Keep that for every other mode, but make things more strategic in Franchise. Make Scouts matter. In NBA 2K, they have multiple mock drafts, which put players within the same range most of the time, but each mock has different opinions of a lot of the players. Scouts in Madden should work the same way. Most scouts should agree upon players, but their rankings of the players should differ, if even just slightly, with some scouts recognizing hidden gems and some scouts not being able to recognize busts.

TL;DR - Abilities are already in the game, they just need to be represented on the player's UI. 1-100 ratings, as they are now, take away some strategy in the game. Having more vague letter grades would create a fun meta-game, and that's what franchise mode needs... a meta-game for when you're not on the field playing the actual game.

[D81SKINS]

Good interview for sure!
Thanks

I'm really hoping we get a "simulation mode".
We need to keep feeding our collective thoughts to them on twitter more so now.
Especially feedback w/ videos to back it up!

[cable guy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Toupal

Before listening to the whole 30 minutes, is there any mention of franchise mode or its' future?

I highly suggest to everyone here at OS to listen to this whole interview. It's very informative about the why's and why not's of Madden. And I have total optimism for the future. Great interview.

Thank you roadman and jfsolo for finding and posting this.

[cable guy]

Quote: Originally Posted by howboutdat

Here is something that gets lost alot i think when they talk about more people need to "speak up". For years alot of guys from here have done just that. And a few other sites as well. Now on the one hand CFM usage is up 100%. Thats fine , but then they say , the sim crowd needs to be more vocal basically than the tourney and casuals. Here is where the problem lies there. A larger % of the tourney and Casual/lobby players are younger in age than the Sim crowd. Thus a much larger % of them use social media to reach out and complain and tell what they want to see. Where that is just not the case for the sim crowd. Sure there are , as i said places like this where it seems alot of us say things and wish for things. But this is just 1 example in many i feel- In our league i run, there are maybe 3 other owners out of our 32 who even use social media , as far as twitter and ways to reach out to Rex or devs. That is the case in alot of online leagues i know of. Just because they dont use social media does not mean that alot more people than who they hear from want those things. So in reality the #'s dont and cant truely give a real scale and scope of how many people really want madden to replicate real football more. Using that as the bases of who they listen to , i get it totally, but the fact is it does not really show the true picture and scale of people wanting sim football imo.

You nailed it on the head. Or let me break it down even more based on what you said. I think we all know people, friends or family, who are casual gamers. They buy Madden every other year. Even if it's every year they buy regardless. They do not break this game down like we do here. Avg rpc, sacks, etc, etc. They don't change the sliders around to the extent we do, if at all. So by Making the game more realistic to the NFL, is not going to chase the casual gamer away. I get the point of below average qbs missing passes won't go over well, especially with young gamers. But this is where the different levels of pro, all-pro and or adding simulation mode. But continuing to go in the direction of making Madden more and realistic to the tune of NFL football will in no way be a bad thing

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[jfsolo]

Quote: Originally Posted by N51_rob

Good interview always nice to hear from these guys about the process. One thing he said that continues to bother me is them needing feedback from us the fans about the things we want from a "simulation" experience. Its been almost 12 years since Madden became the sole NFL football game, there have been threads, post and lists ad nauseam about what the sim crowds want out of this game. I appreciate the fact that he was upfront about it and other aspects of the development cycle and there is nothing wrong with asking for help, just frustrating that we've been doing that for over a decade already. But I digress, it was a great interview for this time of the year.

I think that every team in the past and even Rex before this year thought that they could sit on the fence and tune gameplay in a way that could work for all playing styles in the community.

We know though that in both Madden 16 and 17 realistic football elements were tuned back from launch due to the large outcry from competitive gamers. The sim crowd suffered because they couldn't risk losing too many people from the revenue producing modes. Rex though is the first Tiburon development head to admit publicly that there needs to be gameplay separation in order to better meet the needs of all parts of the community.

He says in the piece that have a good idea of what each community wants, but I like that he isn't too arrogant to think that they are just going to totally stick the landing on their own without any refresher feedback from the different communities.

[DeuceDouglas]

Quote: Originally Posted by Lexicon

I also try to keep this in perspective: Rex isn't the "franchise guy."

Exactly why I take anything Rex says about franchise with a huge grain of salt. I don't get the sense he's nearly as in tune with the ins and outs of franchise as he is with the gameplay side of things. With as much passion as he shows for gameplay and as much as he preaches doing things right I can't imagine him being happy or content with the state in which M17's CFM features were introduced or even more so with allowing gameplay features to be released in such a manner.

Just listened though and Rex is always a good listen and I think it's become evident that some kind of competitive vs. simulation setting is likely coming this year. I also found it interesting that he said that some of their best data comes from Twitter just because of the impulsive nature and brevity of it. For the situation like he mentioned though I can see how it could definitely be useful just to gage and compile exactly what people are complaining about and how much.