Three Keys: Madden NFL - Operation Sports

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Three Keys: Madden NFL

Submitted on: 12/05/2014 by Chris Sanner

Madden NFL 15 has had a pretty solid year, with many regarding this year as one of its finer efforts in quite some time. More than three months into my time with Madden, I tend to agree.

However, as with all sports games, there are still some areas the game really needs to key in on next year to have a successful season next year. Here are three keys for the Madden NFL series for 2015:

1. Improve the Commentary and Audio: This is a huge sore spot for the series. The camera angles, movements, etc., are actually pretty good this year — but the commentary is just so terribly bad.

2. Make DBs and WRs actually interact. This is one of the last bastions of the ‘old Madden’ that still persists today. Completely reworking these to be more dynamic, more interesting, and ultimately more realistic will be huge for the franchise. It’d be great if pass interference was actually called.

3. Connected Franchise Needs A Soul. Connected franchise is a collection of a lot of great little ideas, but the whole just doesn’t feel coherent or dynamic enough to be truly alive. Connected franchise needs an approach that helps draw you in next year.

What do you think the Madden NFL series needs to improve upon for next season?

Madden NFL 15 Videos

Member Comments

# 1 4thQtrStre5S @ 12/05/14 08:41 PM

#2 is a top priority for me.... #3 is also important... #1 I couldn't care less about until other issues are rectified..

# 2 Bryzine21 @ 12/05/14 08:56 PM

I would say special teams needs to be worked on before a soul needs to be given to anything .

# 3 statum71 @ 12/05/14 09:43 PM

Key #1 most for me.

And let's find a way to get penalties in the game without killing the fun factor.

# 4 StefJoeHalt @ 12/05/14 09:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by statum71


	Key #1 most for me. And let's find a way to get penalties in the game without killing the fun factor.

That's easy just allow the sliders to work..so everyone can be happy

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

# 5 lynkraid @ 12/05/14 11:19 PM

OK here are my 3 keys:

1- Dynamic Commentary: don't care what they need to do, but I don't want to be hearing the same things over and over all season. Shouldn't be any reason why they cant get new commentary from each broadcast the crew does for real NFL games, I mean CMON, that crew does all the Sunday games, and TNF games, do something to catch everything they say for real NFL games and break it down and add it to the game where it applies.

2: Connected Franchise: create a stadium/logo/jersey for people who want to move teams, enough of the generic premade teams and stadiums. Improve game prep, offense needs at least 35hrs with defense getting 35hrs too. PS2 training camp mode is badly needed. Players do improve in the offseason right? Well according to Madden they only improve from a game. And full on scrimmage practice mode with CFM team is needed! Also allow for player others in the league in scrimmages. Expand on the mini game modes in game prep.

3: Stadiums/Fans: they badly need to come to life. Rain game and all the fans in tshirts? Snow game and all fans in tshirts? Horrible teams in CFM mode with a full crowd? Blowout games with a full crowd? How about the sidelines looking like graphics from the PS2 and not current gen like they should. Also add some sideline interaction. And maybe crowd signs on the FGs? People walking the isles, guys selling hot dogs ect,, the small things.

# 6 tbennett54 @ 12/05/14 11:20 PM

I think Madden needs more than three keys to improve next years game.
But if I had to choose
1. Penalties
2. Sliders that work
3. Better WR/DB and OL/DL interactions

# 7 TypicalPhenom @ 12/05/14 11:36 PM

My biggest annoyance with Madden and, ultimately, the reason I traded it in was the CFM offseason free agency and not having the ability to view abilities and statistics for potential signings. If you play an online CFM, you can access some of the players abilities, but if you choose to play an offline CFM, you have nothing to really go on. I tend to dive in pretty deep on my franchises and just couldn't do it this year.

Along the same idea, you should be able to access a player card from pretty much anywhere. When I'm on the depth chart, I should be able to look at a players stats without having to exit out and go to another screen.

Don't care much about commentary as no matter what, if you play enough games, it's going to become repetitive. That said, I hate the sound of Simms voice and wouldn't mind an original crew that could record new commentary as the season goes on to try and keep it fresh.

# 8 NC12 @ 12/05/14 11:56 PM

1.) Commentary
2.) Updated gear
3.) Situational penalties
4.) Improved DB play

# 9 Stikskillz @ 12/06/14 12:04 AM

To give CFM a "soul", users need to be engaged at a level previously unseen. In CFM, since all users are coaches or owners this should be the core foundation and one of the deepest parts of the CFM experience.

To elaborate, users should be able to create their coach/owner to their own likeness or however they wish using a suite of tools, such as a new and improved next gen Gameface and have a variety of editing tools at their disposal (similar to the old Tiger Woods Golf character options). Everything from hats, clothing, shoes, coaching headphones, jewelry, wristbands, celebrations, should be accessible and unlockable depending on what a user achieves/experiences within CFM. EA could truly capitalize on this in a variety of ways as a win for the user and for their profit. In addition, each coach/owner should have a man cave/coaches corner/trophy room to decorate with various trophies, accolades, jersey's, unlockables, etc to show off to fellow CFM coaches/owners and those on their friends list.

By allowing a user this level of engagement through creating themselves or birthing their own creation and building on it, in addition to already running their own franchise would be a tremendous combination. It would only get better if the Madden folks can implement a coach/owner carry over feature to any following Madden games.

I've also posted on the EA Forum My Madden Game Ideas about this and also a Free Agency Waiver System idea (CFM sorely needs a system for free agents). The links are below if you're interested. Hopefully, this game continues to evolve and reach a high level.

Thanks for reading!

(Coaches and Owners) http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/li...9B6EF2420F99DD

(Free Agents) http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/10234894.page

# 10 MAGboyswifT27 @ 12/06/14 01:21 AM

These are some good things to improve on. For me it's the small things...
1-Accessories, updated cleats, etc.
2-Weather accuracy. (like how it is on NCAA Football with support from the weather channel.)
3-Bring back the music to add some vibe to the game.
There's more these are the few things that came to mind...

# 11 Smirkin Dirk @ 12/06/14 04:44 AM

1. Make sliders do what they are supposed to do. Or at least offer detailed explanations about they all interact with one another.

2. Make QB play more distinctive. Please. NBA2K have nearly nailed individual styles and tendencies. Madden (and NHL) have fallen behind.

3. Make special teams more engaging. This is my 3rd year of playing a lot of Madden and Ive never done or seen a blocked punt, blocked FG or seen a punt/kickoff return TD.

# 12 Parlarocha @ 12/06/14 07:16 AM

I only ask an easy thing.

I want to return the Communities. I want to go play with friends with sliders in free games, not calendars Franchise Online.

# 13 chunt04 @ 12/06/14 10:51 AM

For CFM: We must be able to create draft classes like NBA2K or, at the very least, be able to edit all the rookies once they come into the league. This would go a long way for people really wanting to fix issues in progression or people that have made custom rosters. This is a must have.

# 14 ch46647 @ 12/06/14 11:00 AM

Locomotion and animation overhaul. It is just brutal playing Madden after playing NBA 2K, MLB the show, PES soccer, etc... Their animation and locomotion engines are light years better then Madden.

Also, there is a long list of gameplay improvements Madden needs but they really need to start making players distinguish themselves through ratings/badges/player specific animations, etc. Players all look and feel the same in Madden. All other sports games (not EA branded) are nailing this aspect. Madden, NHL and even FIFA are way behind.. Why is this not a priority?

# 15 rudeworld @ 12/06/14 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lynkraid


	OK here are my 3 keys: 1- Dynamic Commentary: don't care what they need to do, but I don't want to be hearing the same things over and over all season. Shouldn't be any reason why they cant get new commentary from each broadcast the crew does for real NFL games, I mean CMON, that crew does all the Sunday games, and TNF games, do something to catch everything they say for real NFL games and break it down and add it to the game where it applies. 2: Connected Franchise: create a stadium/logo/jersey for people who want to move teams, enough of the generic premade teams and stadiums. Improve game prep, offense needs at least 35hrs with defense getting 35hrs too. PS2 training camp mode is badly needed. Players do improve in the offseason right? Well according to Madden they only improve from a game. And full on scrimmage practice mode with CFM team is needed! Also allow for player others in the league in scrimmages. Expand on the mini game modes in game prep. 3: Stadiums/Fans: they badly need to come to life. Rain game and all the fans in tshirts? Snow game and all fans in tshirts? Horrible teams in CFM mode with a full crowd? Blowout games with a full crowd? How about the sidelines looking like graphics from the PS2 and not current gen like they should. Also add some sideline interaction. And maybe crowd signs on the FGs? People walking the isles, guys selling hot dogs ect,, the small things.

1. Improve the overall presentation, commentary and look and feel. Phil & Jim need to say names instead of "the player..." or "he....". Sometimes it feels like they're not even at the games. Also, in my opinion, every game feels like a preseason game, why is that? Have rivalries feel like rivalries, playoff games feel like they should and the Superbowl feel like well The Superbowl.

2. Have players play like they suppose to....team play like their suppose to play also. When playing Denver and Philadelphia have their offense run fast and pass happy. When I'm playing playing the raiders make them feel like their the raiders NOT THE BRONCOS WITH DIFFERENT UNIFORMS ON.

3. Connected careers. I guess this would fall under presentation but superbowls are played in different stadiums every seasin just saying. Also injuries should matter and carry on over seasons.

# 16 DaSmerg @ 12/06/14 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ch46647


	Locomotion and animation overhaul. It is just brutal playing Madden after playing NBA 2K, MLB the show, PES soccer, etc... Their animation and locomotion engines are light years better then Madden. Also, there is a long list of gameplay improvements Madden needs but they really need to start making players distinguish themselves through ratings/badges/player specific animations, etc. Players all look and feel the same in Madden. All other sports games (not EA branded) are nailing this aspect. Madden, NHL and even FIFA are way behind.. Why is this not a priority?

+2 on the core game play needs to be brought up several notches to catch up to the rest of the AAA sports titles.

1a with this is players need to be individualized. Every player in Madden plays exactly the same, runs around exactly the same, falls down exactly the same.

1b put the frickin rules of the game in the game please and thanks. Let us gamers decide to turn them down or off.

These three things, you could bring Collinsworth back doing commentary and I'd still be happier than a pig in poop.

Make Madden cutting edge again and the leader in sports titles!

# 17 kongemeier @ 12/06/14 12:36 PM

1) Like NBA2K did with MyLeague I think we need a similar feature in Madden.

Let me choose if I want XP progression or not. Let me choose how often trades take place. Let me choose how often injuries occur and how serious they are and so on...

2) Also they need a complete overhaul of player ratings and how overall are calculated. I HATE how any 99 rated players there are in Madden after a few seasons. 99 should be the perfect player and rarely if ever be there.

3) Keep the current Madden gameplay for competitive online play where ratings seem to be insignificant. Create a full sim mode with penalties where ratings truely matter for offline play!

# 18 eaglesfan20 @ 12/06/14 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rudeworld


	2. Have players play like they suppose to....team play like their suppose to play also. When playing Denver and Philadelphia have their offense run fast and pass happy. When I'm playing playing the raiders make them feel like their the raiders NOT THE BRONCOS WITH DIFFERENT UNIFORMS ON. 3. Connected careers. I guess this would fall under presentation but superbowls are played in different stadiums every seasin just saying. Also injuries should matter and carry on over seasons.

I could not agree more with 2. every coach should have a personality of sorts, specific to tendencies to run or pass in all situations. I know that may be asking a lot but it would be nice to have something for situational tendencies though, such as 3rd and whatever distance, 4th downs depending on field position and game situation.

I would also like to see more done with franchise mode. it would be nice to see more personality and variables with players in their play - as I have seen mentioned a few times - adding something similar to badges(2k basketball) to help distinguish players and positions even. Add in formation substitutions to the depth chart area or add spots such as slot receiver or corner, short yardage/goal lie back, etc..

it would be nice to have a practice squad and a 53 man roster in which you have to decide the 47 active players for every game instead of having access to all 53 every game

more variety to injuries would be nice and coincide with my previous thought above. If players could have injuries that were labeled such as questionable, doubtful, out, etc. would also help add to the strategy of the week to week roster management. another thing would be to just get rid of certain positions to an extent, some teams like the eagles and broncos never use a FB but they have a roster spot for them.

# 19 BigTone1970 @ 12/06/14 02:31 PM

They really need to allow defensive match ups like they had on the ps2. Nothing ruins the game more than someone putting Calvin Johnson in the slot to be matched against the number 4 cb. Completely negates man coverage when that happens. Shut down corners should be able to match up with star wrs regardless of where they line up.

# 20 oneamongthefence @ 12/06/14 04:21 PM

1. CFM needs to be more alive for sure and its been done better in the past with franchise mode on ps2. It was a lot of menus but it did a lot to feel immersed. We need plAyer roles back. These really were a game changer. Not really in terms of the player but the cpu used these and made intelligent decisions. We got emails from disgruntled players. Morale mattered. We had a radio show that got repetitive for sure but it gave us an idea of the happenings in our league. The injury report was a lot better too with guys able to be questionable or probable and their stats reflected this. No more he's either fully healthy or injured and can't play. And a progressive injury system would make a lot of sense. A condition system where guys would start out at 100% in week one and would decline as the year goes on as due to injuries and the general hardship of football. I spend a lot of time in cfm looking at menus and such. Its hard to stay vested and care and the whole experience suffers.

2. Player personalities needs to be added. From Demeaner in games to specific player animations. There should be tons of these. There should be lots of generic ones as well. We should be able to assign these to created guys and drafted plAyers should get these as well. Keeps things more dynamic. This should extend to coaches as well.

3. Make WR and DB battles matter. It should be dynamic and not just the two mirroring each other and the WR has no intention of fighting for the ball or jockeying for position. Calvin Johnson can't really be Calvin Johnson if he's content to just run his route And hope the ball comes right to him and if it doesn't just content to just sit and watch as a cb swats or picks it off.

Bonus. Madden 09 had a revolution feature that was dropped. It was the rewind feature where Collinworth would break down a play and explain what should have happened. It needs to be reworked in regular commentary since so much of the commentary is breaking down a play instead of talking about the results. Let us know why and how the result happened. Use it as a teaching tool and a way to give more of a reason to watch the replays. If I throw a pick in triple coverage and I had a guy open let me know. If a player gets open for a huge gain let us know it's because the receiver ran a double move on 1 on 1 coverage and there was no safety help on the top because the safety was baited by the playaction. We know the result but the commentary doesn't let us know anything else unless we go into a replay and analyze it for ourselves which to me is a pain and it slows down the game. Commentary right now is fluff with little substance. Give it more of a reason to be there other than ambiance by incorporating it as another teaching tool that madden is trying to Bill itself to be.

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