Madden 2010 News Post

Madden NFL 10 Blog: Franchise Mode Improvements

06:28 PM - April 6, 2009 by buddyhobbs321813

EA has just posted another Madden NFL 10 blog. This one covers franchise mode improvements.

Quote:


	"This week I wanted to give you an update on what we�re addressing in franchise mode this year. We�re probably going to have a few blogs about franchise mode from now until August, so I�m just going to touch on a couple of things we�ve been working on since I joined the team. One thing we learned on NFL Head Coach �09 was that in order to have a great franchise mode, you need a solid base. You wouldn�t put a 2nd or 3rd addition on your house if the foundation is crumbling, right? Since our �foundation� is the logic behind every decision made in franchise mode, we knew we really wanted to address that foundation before anything else major was applied. I know some folks may be expecting the entire NFL Head Coach �09 game to be dropped into Madden this year, but that�s not going to happen. We have a lot of work to do and it�s going to take us some time to start with the core of franchise mode and take it where we all want it to be. I�ll break down some of the problems we�ve encountered so far and talk about how we�re addressing them below."

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Member Comments

# 81 Megatron2k7 @ 04/06/09 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PGaither84


	I am VERY worried about how older players will progress. I dread a madden 02 system where your first few years you go nuts, around year 7-10 you stableize and year 11-15 you plumit untill you have to retire. No matter how well you played you couldnever get Junior Seau or rich gannon to play like their real life counterparts AND keep their rattings up. It looks like there is no chance a Bret Favre player will be able to have a great season like he did his last year in Greenbay and be a 96 like he started out in 09. I am glad to see the bit about how they will be judged by other palyers in the league, but, again, I fear the unrealistic DUMP of a player's ratting. Lastly, any word on weekly progressions? I loved the week 5, 11, 17 progressions. I thought that was VERY sim. that allowed good players to go up as the year went on like Wess Wlker and players like Favre who underperformed to drop in steado f staying at their ratting all season long. It also allowed fora mid season turn around. maybe you start off cold and then got better stablisising your ratting.

I agree with this PGaither84.

I don't want to see older players decline too fast. They should start to decline in physical attributes mainly, age shouldn't take away polished skills, or awareness.

The one thing that really stood out to me in some previous Maddens is when an older players Awareness starts to drop a lot. It seems to me that pretty much any player should actually increase in AWR every year until they retire, just from practice alone (unless they experience some severe head trauma.....lol).

Awareness is the one and only advantage a veteran may have in this game........don't take it away from them just to drop their overall rating. We never really hear of a veteran becoming worse at what they do...... we usually hear that they have suddenly "lost a step", or their arm is just "worn out", and they take way longer to heal up from the weekly beatings their bodies go through. That kind of physical decline would be fine, just don't go overboard. Look at Joey Galloway..... still great speed in his late 30's.

I'm undecided on the "potential cap". Right now I see more wrong with it than good though. If I draft a rookie who is 72 overall, and it says his potential cap is 88, that seems like I somehow just looked into some magical crystal ball or something. How would I, or anyone know exactly how good this player could or will be ? Shouldn't the sky be the limit for any rookie coming into the league ? Why stop at 88 overall ?

Example....... what would have QB Matt Cassel's potential cap been in the beginning of last year........??? Do you see my point. He's probably already over it with the rating he has now.

I also liked the progression we had in some older versions in weeks 5, 11, and 17 like many of you have mentioned. IMO it's way better that way.

Don't get me wrong... I love the update other than these issues, & I'm not nit picking. Franchise mode is important to many of us, and I'm glad to hear about the attention being spent on it this year.

# 82 PGaither84 @ 04/06/09 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steeler99


	You may end up not resigning a player of your own that has a potential rating mexed out at 75 in lieu of another team's player you suspect will be better in the long run ... only to find out that player doesn't have the ability you thought he would, explaining why his team let him go? Now that happens every year in the NFL, so if the system works like that I'm ok with it. As it is now, you can see every rating of every player so there are really no surprises when it comes to signing free agents, etc.

Conversely you may find some teams underestimate their players. Kyle Kosier [spelling] was horid lineman for the 49ers. he was often ratted in the 50's in madden and never did anything. Now he is a Cowboy Madden has him as an 89 or something like that.

# 83 Nza @ 04/06/09 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steeler99


	I actually think this sounds very realistic. Any good head coach will have a pretty solid idea of "HIS" own players potential after coaching them for a season or two, so with Madden 10 allowing you to see "YOUR" players potential rating, but not other teams, that's actually pretty realistic. You may end up not resigning a player of your own that has a potential rating mexed out at 75 in lieu of another team's player you suspect will be better in the long run ... only to find out that player doesn't have the ability you thought he would, explaining why his team let him go? Now that happens every year in the NFL, so if the system works like that I'm ok with it. As it is now, you can see every rating of every player so there are really no surprises when it comes to signing free agents, etc.

2 issues though - firstly, in that case, a player's potential rating as it is shown to the user should differ depending on the coaching staff. There should be 2 - the actual one, and the one the user is shown. If you have a HOF coach, both should be pretty close or spot one. If you have a poor coach, it could be way off.

Secondly, a static potential rating amongst real players means you'll build an awareness of who to sign in free agency from franchise to franchise. "Ah, yeah, this guy had an awesome potential rating last franchise" etc etc. It will be hard to overlook that and it only stands to make franchises less fresh and less challenging.

# 84 Bump101 @ 04/06/09 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MRxAmazing


	"� Older players will digress much faster. In fact, when a running back hits 30, he�s going downhill at warp speed." DO NOT LIKE. This better be addressed correctly. If a player has a great year, he shouldn't degress in overall just because he's getting older. Especially HB's. Thomas Jones, Jamal Lewis, Brian Westbrook and LaDainian Tomlinson are all going to be 30-31 by the end of our first year in Franchise. So does that mean that even if those guys have a few great years (in the Franchise), they're still subject to having their overalls decrease instead of increase?

Word. A player rating shouldn't decrease just because he reached a certain age. His rating should be determine by his production on the field.

Obviously, when a player reach 30, his window of opportunity to increase his rating is going to be smaller, in comparison to a player in his early 20's; But that window to improve or at least maintain his current rating should be there.

If a player has a big season, his rating should go up or stay the same, not decrease at warp speed.

# 85 PGaither84 @ 04/06/09 08:32 PM

This blog, like many others has stirred mixed emotions in me. The first responce i usually have is of excitment. I am happy to see things impoved and am greatful to Ian for the work he is doing with the community. The other feeling I get that I se many others have is the bitterness we all still feel twords EA and Madden. reading a new blog like this one noramly leaves me thinking "About f***ing time." We should be well beyond this point now in next gen. We lost 4 good years of improvments from 06, 07, 08, and 09. The improvements from 06-09 on 360/PS3 are miniscule, and are even more aparaent when you see what Ian and co. are doing this year.

That bitterness of what "could have been" and the wasted years are the same feelings one gets being a 49ers fan these last 10 years. Watching the team degrade from the league's elite to a 2-14 performance only to climb back to a 7-9 season two years ago, to then go to 4-12 and start last year off 2-9. Thankfully we went 5-2 over our last 7 and have bright hopes with Singletary, but all they are are bright hopes. However, untill next season starts and we play M10, they are only bright hopes.

# 86 PlayaHataSupreme @ 04/06/09 08:34 PM

Hopefully with the draft classes, the Madden importer will stop turning NCAA Speed WRs into slow possession WRs...........

Hopefully the basic playing style of what the NCAA player was all about will at least be kept in tact when imported to Madden, so NCAA Speed players will still be at least pretty fast..........

Since there are new mental ratings and other ratings in the game, I don't think the athletic ratings (such as speed, strength) should have too much variance, but they should have at least a little variance in them so you can't just assume, without scouting, a 98 speed NCAA player will be 98 in Madden; he might be 92 instead.

# 87 PGaither84 @ 04/06/09 08:36 PM

Ian has preached the SIM mantra all year so far and I love it, however, this new blog has many people, including myself, worried that SIM won't be the mantra of Franchise mode. nothing is less sim than a robotic repetative draft class progression system and possible free agnecy pool like what we have read about.

# 88 seveb @ 04/06/09 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bump101


	Word. A player rating shouldn't decrease just because he reached a certain age. His rating should be determine by his production on the field. Obviously, when a player reach 30, his window of opportunity to increase his rating is going to be smaller, in comparison to a player in his early 20's; But that window to improve or at least maintain his current rating should be there. If a player has a big season, his rating should go up or stay the same, not decrease at warp speed.

I don't get it. Guys produce because they have good attributes, not vice versa. I think everybody is harping on age 30 because he mentioned that for RB's, and I imagine other positions have different ages where decline becomes likely. But seriously, football is a young man's game. At most positions, guys on the wrong side of 30 might not be finished, but they're past their prime. The wider range of ratings should help, since a great player can fall off a bit and still be very good, but he'll still fall off. Brainy players will be less affected because awareness and technique won't be hurt...

I hope there are rare exceptions, but they should be just that - rare. Just because my guy just had a great year doesn't mean he's still not one year older and one year more beaten up.

Just got an idea (obviously won't make it this year), but what if, for example, the amount of career carries a RB has factors into his decline? A guys whose carried the load for 7 or 8 years might have not have anything left, but you might be able to squeeze a couple more years out of a guy who was a late bloomer and rode the pine when he was young. The Durability rating could also play a role. Just a thought.

# 89 PlayaHataSupreme @ 04/06/09 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bump101


	Word. A player rating shouldn't decrease just because he reached a certain age. His rating should be determine by his production on the field. Obviously, when a player reach 30, his window of opportunity to increase his rating is going to be smaller, in comparison to a player in his early 20's; But that window to improve or at least maintain his current rating should be there. If a player has a big season, his rating should go up or stay the same, not decrease at warp speed.

I remember the great Darrell Green, at like 39 years old, had a 96 speed in the Madden. Even now, a 32 year old Moss has a 98 in speed. Hopefully the game allows rare instances such as these to still happen.

I also echo the poster who said no fixed retiring ages......... it's as disheartening to see Harrison retire every time after year 1 in Madden 09 as it was to see Jerry Rice retire after year 1 every time in Madden 2000 on forward...........

While there should be a certain age where players will definitely make an exit, it should be arbitrarily high (43 for QBs, 36 for HBs, 41 for WRs for example) and older players can randomly choose to retire when they get to retiring age...........but players on the "borderline" retiring age (let's say 32-38 for WRs depending on overall rating) will have a chance of retiring each offseason, but said chance wouldn't be 100% unless the player reached the max age for his position, which as stated would be arbitrarily high, which could help the Hall-of-Fame aspect of the Franchise Mode.

EDIT: Also, I should note that it would be fairly tough and very unlikely to get the player to the "max age" because he may regress a bit during the later seasons, thus increasing chance of retiring.

# 90 Sausage @ 04/06/09 08:56 PM

This was great information. Even though many are complaining, I am glad we are getting the much needed tweaking and polish. For all of you new to OS and some of you veterans it is obvious that we are just getting a taste of the pie, you can't have the warm apples yet.

# 91 bgizle @ 04/06/09 09:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guillotine 1


	...Just jumped back on my PC, read the blog and WOW! Fixing progression is huge, salaries is even bigger, and they've addressed the hidden potential rating. On top of that they fixed the problem with older players, and the draft logic...plus the import draft class issue. I mean, everything that has an impact on putting a competitive team on the field and keeping them competitive has been addressed. The scouting issue, everything...this is seriously major news... The salary cap will work the way its meant to work now...even coaches got tuned up... This means, I can actually run a franchise...they addressed the FA issue, they took Age out of the players overall ratings factoring... If guys don't like this blog then they must not really play a lot of franchise mode. No more workout warriors, they put a stop to the guys who just draft for speed & strength... This blog alone makes the replayability factor of Madden 10 double. A brotha might go buy some EA stock if they keep this **** up...lmao...

I can not honestly tell if you're serious or joking.

# 92 kcarr @ 04/06/09 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MRxAmazing


	"� Older players will digress much faster. In fact, when a running back hits 30, he�s going downhill at warp speed." DO NOT LIKE. This better be addressed correctly. If a player has a great year, he shouldn't degress in overall just because he's getting older. Especially HB's. Thomas Jones, Jamal Lewis, Brian Westbrook and LaDainian Tomlinson are all going to be 30-31 by the end of our first year in Franchise. So does that mean that even if those guys have a few great years (in the Franchise), they're still subject to having their overalls decrease instead of increase?

Lewis and Tomlinson are already below their highest level and have been slowly declining. Seeing them decline further would not suprise me. Westbrook was banged up last year and slowed down some plus phili is already looking towards replacing him and he is in on better ground than the other 2 due to him having less of a workload his first years leaving more tread on his tire. Jones had several years with less than 200 touches and only a few over 300. He did look great at times last year so we will see. Also, how many backs have within recent years put up nearly as good of numbers after the age of 31 as before that age. In general by about the age of 30 or 31 most NFL backs have taken too much of a beating to continue to be among the leagues elite.

# 93 No_Balla @ 04/06/09 09:13 PM

Ian is there a way to keep the potential rating hidden. It kind of ruins the suprise if i can already tell my 5th round cb, can be the next primetime or that my 1st overall pick qb will already be a bust before he has taken a snap under center.

# 94 Joborule @ 04/06/09 09:17 PM

Great stuff Donny! Hope to see that Franchise Mode get a lot of love this year! It's a pretty important game mode. Liked everything that I heard in this.

I assume that injuries also tie into player progression. If a player gets really banged up, or is injury prone, they're progression can start regressing because they're body is taking a toll.

I'm looking forward to hearing the trade logic. Hopefully this means that we finally get in season trades!

# 95 Step2001 @ 04/06/09 09:31 PM

Josh - All players don't crash at 30 yrs of age.

O-lineman tend to be entering the prime of there careers at that age.

The RB's crashing should be all based on wear. It should also be based on the players running style. The more hits he takes or dishes out should factor.
----------------------

Hopefully the drop in ability and production is not across the board. That it's different with each player and situation.

It all sounds good. I knew Franchise mode was going to need an overhaul.

Looking forward to hearing more on the knock down and rebuild.

# 96 kcarr @ 04/06/09 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lightning_78


	We mean that though a lot of guys do drop off around age 30, there are guys like Thomas Jones (who rushed for over 1300 yds and 12 TDs if I remember), Jerome Bettis when he was playing, and guys like LT and Westbrook who are either or almost 30 who are all still playing at a high level. We don't want our 29-year-old HB who just rushed for 1800 yds and 25 TDs (aka Priest Holmes in 2003 when he turned 30) to have that kind of season and then drop from a 97 OVR to a 92 OVR just because he turned 30. Though that's where the potential rating could come in handy if done correctly.

Well, actually would priest dropping a few points after a great 03 season have maybe made sense? He never had a great year after that. Also, I think that a large amount of the drop should be in terms of endurance, stamina, injury etc as well as speed, acc, agility. Actual skills shouldn't drop much and the less physicality required for a skill the less it should drop. Also, I think beyound an age thing there needs to be wear and tear that adds up over the years depending on the number of hits a player takes, the number of injuries, the amount of contace, etc.

# 97 Mofficial @ 04/06/09 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcarr


	Lewis and Tomlinson are already below their highest level and have been slowly declining. Seeing them decline further would not suprise me. Westbrook was banged up last year and slowed down some plus phili is already looking towards replacing him and he is in on better ground than the other 2 due to him having less of a workload his first years leaving more tread on his tire. Jones had several years with less than 200 touches and only a few over 300. He did look great at times last year so we will see. Also, how many backs have within recent years put up nearly as good of numbers after the age of 31 as before that age. In general by about the age of 30 or 31 most NFL backs have taken too much of a beating to continue to be among the leagues elite.

Quote: Donny Moore did a lot of good work with progression prior to my joining the team and I�ve been able to keep tweaking it since. Here are the major changes we�ve made so far:

� Older players will digress much faster. In fact, when a running back hits 30, he�s going downhill at warp speed.

=[ Can players below an elite status go downhill at "warp speed" and elite players just go down a noticeable speed? like decrease over the span of 2 years or so? ... I'm probably biased but i am not looking forward to LT retiring or being no good after my first season in franchise mode this year.

Also, can there be like a rating or something for regression? so that way if a player knows he can keep going for a couple more seasons (like Brett Favre and his 23 retirement false alarms) then they won't regress as easily and even if they are old, they won't retire? And on the reverse side if a player is relatively old and knows that they are really regressing, could this make their retirement more inevitable? just some more food for thought.

At any rate, GREAT POST! I LOVE WHAT I'M HEARING!

# 98 Step2001 @ 04/06/09 09:40 PM

Signing Players in free agency should be exspensive.

Using Haynesworth's contract's worth of a $100 million might not be wise. Unless you are going to allow us to structure the contracts of players in the same way.

Haynesworth deal is essentially a 4yr $40+ million dollar deal. There are roster bonus payments that will esscalate the contract to $100 million. That's if the Redskins pick up the option.

That won't happen!

The deal is front loaded, we have to be given the option to do the same.

But players/and or agents must know the difference in a b.s. contract like that.
Compared too a legit 6/7 yr. deal for a legit $80-$100 mill.

# 99 PGaither84 @ 04/06/09 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guillotine 1


	Of course I'm serious. I'm dead serious. Why, you wouldn't happen to know what EA's shares are holding at would you?

Electronic Arts Inc (ERTS)
ERTS quote (NASDAQ Exchange)
19.69

-1.01 -4.88%
After Hours: 19.69 unch / unch Vol. 204,800
Last trade (extended hours) 05:09 PM ET 04-06-2009 Financial data in U.S. dollars

Financial highlights

Sales*	4.48 Bil
Income*	-1.14 Bil
Sales Growth*	+18.60%
Income Growth*	-1,842.40%
Net Profit Margin	-25.45%
Debt/Equity Ratio	NA

* last 12 months

Does that help?

# 100 I Peench @ 04/06/09 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PGaither84

Electronic Arts Inc (ERTS)
ERTS quote (NASDAQ Exchange)
19.69 -1.01 -4.88%
After Hours: 19.69 unch / unch Vol. 204,800
Last trade (extended hours) 05:09 PM ET 04-06-2009 Financial data in U.S. dollars

Financial highlights

Sales* 4.48 Bil
Income* -1.14 Bil
Sales Growth* +18.60%
Income Growth* -1,842.40%
Net Profit Margin -25.45%
Debt/Equity Ratio NA

* last 12 months

Does that help?

Well played, sir.

At any rate, I am thrilled with this blog. I have some concern over the pre-created draft prospects, but we have enough time to voice our opinions as a community and to ensure that this pans out well (I never played HC).

As far as I'm concerned, the Franchise mode is a solid cake right now. I only await to see how good the icing will be.

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