"Unlocked" Hall of Famers appear in Xbox 360 Superstar/Franchise modes - REPORT

[sdrotar]

I've been playing the final retail version of Madden NFL 07 for the Xbox 360, and was trying out the new Superstar mode. To my surprise, only three weeks into my season, Hall of Famers started appearing on other teams' rosters.

Sammy Baugh was the Bucs' QB, Paul Warfield was starting opposite Hines Ward in Pittsburgh, and Chuck Bednarik was holding down an outside linebacker spot for the Patriots. Playing more games results in ever more Hall of Famers returning to the league from retirement or beyond the grave.

As I asked the EA Tiburon reps directly if HOFers would/could ever appear in a current Superstar/Franchise mode, and was told directly that they would not (and I stated so in my Community Day thread based on the information I was given), I was surprised to say the least that this was happening.

I spent much of the day doing research into why it's happening, and here's what I've determined thus far:

As best as I can tell, HOFers are tied into the overarching Madden Gamer Level. Even if you delete your roster files and start fresh, the HOFers you've unlocked due to the "MGL" will be instantly re-populated within the roster file as soon as your profile is loaded.

This means that they're in Franchise mode, too. I had 16 of them sitting in my Free Agents list when starting a Franchise with default rosters.

Theoretically, you might be able to avoid this if you didn't use the "MGL", however, that would also mean you could make no settings changes whatsoever and save them - they're all tied into the "Profile", which apparently includes all settings plus the "MGL".

On top of that, if you accomplished enough within the game, you might earn enough points to add HOFers instantly, meaning that if you just played a game and saved it, the newly-added HOFers would be saved into your Franchise roster.

I've contacted EA Tiburon regarding this discrepancy from what I was told at the studio (which was what I reported as fact, as did IGN and other media outlets) and what I am seeing now, and I've been told that I will receive a statement and/or workaround tomorrow sometime in the morning from the Madden team.

I will, of course, keep you apprised in this thread.

[Great1man]

Wow, that sounds like a game killer. Hope it gets straightened out.

[icebergisonfire]

Quote: Originally Posted by Great1man

Wow, that sounds like a game killer. Hope it gets straightened out.

This sounds bad, very bad

[bad_philanthropy]

IF there is no workaround it could be the first time I actually cancel my Madden order. I always hated the term, but that would be a "gamekiller" to me because I am a serious sim guy especially in dynasty. Very disconcerting, thank you for reporting this information, I really appreciate it, as I'm su eall the franchise guys out there do as well.

[bad_philanthropy]

IF there is no workaround it could be the first time I actually cancel my Madden order. I always hated the term, but that would be a "gamekiller" to me because I am a serious sim guy especially in dynasty. Very disconcerting, thank you for reporting this information, I really appreciate it, as I'm sure all the franchise guys out there do.

[K_GUN]

good work shawn!


keep us posted

[kenn5373]

How could they let this one slip?

[dubplate]

This is horrible. Suddenly I'm not as excited for this game as I once was.

[TJdaSportsGuy]

Quote: Originally Posted by kenn5373

How could they let this one slip?

Great question. Kind of makes you wonder how far in depth these testing teams go before these games go gold.

As I told Shawn, if they were going to screw something like this up,the least they could've done was had Jim Kelly in as one of the hall of famers, that way I could've signed him to my Bills! :y4:

[poster]

Yuk! They better fix this