[ForUntoOblivionSoar∞]

Quote: Originally Posted by ATLBrayden

Online, offline you're left with the AI who IMO don't provide any real competition. The All-Madden AI isn't hard to take care of if you know what you're doing, just gotta deal with a high CPU QB comp %. Their AI in things like roster moves, drafting, etc., is pretty poor too. In an online league you're competing with 31 other people, most of which know how to run a team better than the AI. I generally play online from release until about April or May (when most leagues die), then I take a break from Madden over the summer to get me hype for the next release and keep it fresh at the same time. There's just something so satisfying about battling against a league full of other people and taking that Lombardi home. There's a lot of cool guys out there too, you can end up playing with the same group of people for multiple years.

Not just team building, but negotiating with real intelligence for trades, planning your draft knowing that your competition is able to find the gems just like you are (this really changes things, trust me), and then of course human intellect in game versus Madden AI. A human being is not going to play you press twice in a row after you burn him for a touchdown. A human being is not going to give up the corner route every time you come out in a tight formation. The CPU AI? Not so much.

Now, you need people committed to NFL SIM play in order for it to be fun, but things are definitely far more interesting with human competition.

There are downsides to online franchise, such as occasional lag and scheduling conflicts, but the game feels much more robust when you're not playing against idiotic CPU AI.