IF the gameplay is good enough, can it make up for what CFM appears to be lacking?

[jpdavis82]

Re: IF the gameplay is good enough, can it make up for what CFM appears to be lacking

I am completely skeptical that EA has drastically improved presentation. You cite last year's presentation improvements? You mean the improvements like stat banners and commentary? You mean those banners that usually had a statline of zeros across the board for my QB? The commentary that then said he would need to rebound from last weeks horrible game? And the playoff banner that disappeared two seconds after popping up? And the only commentary to support it was some amazingly vague "playoffs are near, lets have a look at the standings..."
And when commentary would cite my team's performance on offense they would more often that not have it reversed (e.g. top 10 in offense treated like a bottom 10)?

Presentation wise, well the cameras are nice.

I have zero confidence that presentation could carry CFM.

There was also the commentary about how they did on third down conversions, stopping the run, forcing turnovers, how they ranked in rushing, passing, it wasn't all bad. Overall commentary was still bad last year, but there were some nice touches. I personally have only seen 0s on banners one time in about a season and a half of CFM.

[jpdavis82]

Re: IF the gameplay is good enough, can it make up for what CFM appears to be lacking

If the gameplay is good, I could find a mode to enjoy the game in some way. I'm not in the camp that thinks maddenball = good gameplay tho, and aggressive vs conservative catching controls don't have me believing we will get anything but another version of classic madden.

Look forward to discussing this with you and seeing how you feel after E3.

[bucky60]

Re: IF the gameplay is good enough, can it make up for what CFM appears to be lacking

Did you play 15?

Yes I have 15, it sits while I either do The Show or Netflix

[ggsimmonds]

Re: IF the gameplay is good enough, can it make up for what CFM appears to be lacking

There was also the commentary about how they did on third down conversions, stopping the run, forcing turnovers, how they ranked in rushing, passing, it wasn't all bad. Overall commentary was still bad last year, but there were some nice touches. I personally have only seen 0s on banners one time in about a season and a half of CFM.

It was bad. There was no flow at all.

You could immediately tell that they were different lines recorded at separate times.
We would get maybe one line "last week they were amazing at getting to the QB, picking up over 5 sacks"
Then nothing about that for the rest of the game.

Spoiler

Putting this in spoilers because it may not make sense, but I just got off work so it came to mind. I work in an office and one of my tasks is mailing out letters of the legal variety. I work off a template where 90% of the letter is premade, I just sub in names, addresses, and dates. That is what the presentation was like. Ninety percent was the same, with a few lines subbed in or out.

Half of the games I played showed Flacco's previous game as zeros across the board. Don't know why that is. Conversely I never experienced the redo the opening segment bug.

[DeuceDouglas]

Re: IF the gameplay is good enough, can it make up for what CFM appears to be lacking

Half of the games I played showed Flacco's previous game as zeros across the board. Don't know why that is. Conversely I never experienced the redo the opening segment bug.

Yeah, I would say the good majority of my games had the zeroes issue as well. Are you on Xbox? I had a feeling it might have something to do with Auto-On (or whatever it's called) thing with the Xbox but never actually tested it. I also thought that it could have had something to do with the auto-save files but again I never tested that either.

[ggsimmonds]

Re: IF the gameplay is good enough, can it make up for what CFM appears to be lacking

Yeah, I would say the good majority of my games had the zeroes issue as well. Are you on Xbox? I had a feeling it might have something to do with Auto-On (or whatever it's called) thing with the Xbox but never actually tested it. I also thought that it could have had something to do with the auto-save files but again I never tested that either.

PS4.
I may be mistaken, but I think it did not happen as often if I played games back to back.

Think there was something I probably did to trigger the zeros. Could be as simple as playing game, making roster change, simming ahead kind of deal. Something was causing the game to drop the previous weeks stats.

Edit: And in fairness to the presentation, the sack issue took away from it. Each week I had to hear the lines about my teaming swarming to the QB.

[Hooe]

Re: IF the gameplay is good enough, can it make up for what CFM appears to be lacking

I don't see the distinction between CFM and gameplay because to me CFM _is_ gameplay, albeit gameplay in a different mode than on the field.

To address the spirit of the question - I'll probably still enjoy Madden 16 so long as everything on the field is a reasonable iterative step up from what existed in Madden 15. I'm kinda easy to please.

[jpdavis82]

Re: IF the gameplay is good enough, can it make up for what CFM appears to be lacking

I don't see the distinction between CFM and gameplay because to me CFM _is_ gameplay, albeit gameplay in a different mode than on the field.

To address the spirit of the question - I'll probably still enjoy Madden 16 so long as everything on the field is a reasonable iterative step up from what existed in Madden 15. I'm kinda easy to please.

Sounds like you're an anomaly for OS, I rarely find people that can be easily pleased here. That's ok though, I'm actually the same way, I'm big into immersion and CFM presentation, and understand why people say and feel the way they do.

[ggsimmonds]

Re: IF the gameplay is good enough, can it make up for what CFM appears to be lacking

Yes, gameplay could make up for CFM if it is good enough, but what would make it good enough?

My initial answer was no because I answered the question with reasonable expectations for gameplay.

If gameplay is good enough it could make up for nearly everything else. It would make up for not having a NFL license. But that requires a unreasonable standard for gameplay.

That is my view anyway.
I'd be careful about overselling the gameplay improvements. In an effort to defend and support the game you may be laying down the kindling for a future fire.

[jmurphy31]

Re: IF the gameplay is good enough, can it make up for what CFM appears to be lacking

For me, no. Personally I only play solo cfm. I will play 16, because I somewhat enjoyed 15. But I always ask why can't we have both improved gameplay, CFM, presentation, etc. Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't they seperate teams?

[jpdavis82]

Re: IF the gameplay is good enough, can it make up for what CFM appears to be lacking

Yes, gameplay could make up for CFM if it is good enough, but what would make it good enough?

My initial answer was no because I answered the question with reasonable expectations for gameplay.

If gameplay is good enough it could make up for nearly everything else. It would make up for not having a NFL license. But that requires a unreasonable standard for gameplay.

That is my view anyway.
I'd be careful about overselling the gameplay improvements. In an effort to defend and support the game you may be laying down the kindling for a future fire.

It has nothing to do with defending or supporting the game, it's my honest opinion. I felt M15 gameplay was a 7.5/10.

[TMJOHNS18]

Re: IF the gameplay is good enough, can it make up for what CFM appears to be lacking

Yes and no.

Playing in an online CCM can supplement the shortcomings of the CPU and lack of CCM features, but at the same time nearly all of the presentation features added to the game in M15 were lost when playing a user. Very little presentations elements survived from CPU games to USER games, making the season feel like a series of unranked online games.

Whether I'm playing Madden, NBA2k, or the Show I want to enjoy the offline franchise modes as well. I'm the type of player who focuses on roster management, offseason, and only plays playoff games (if I ever make them). In recent years I've abandoned Madden offline CCM due to what little it offers in the area of non-game aspects of the CCM, so if gameplay is the only sound portion of M16 then I would once again contain my gameplay to the online CCM.

[The JareBear]

Re: IF the gameplay is good enough, can it make up for what CFM appears to be lacking

I just really need a smart and unpredictable CPU. If EA can figure out a way to make playing the CPU feel like playing a human, then I'll tip my cap to them.

[ggsimmonds]

Re: IF the gameplay is good enough, can it make up for what CFM appears to be lacking

I just really need a smart and unpredictable CPU. If EA can figure out a way to make playing the CPU feel like playing a human, then I'll tip my cap to them.

Excellent point. Improved, dynamic AI adds a lot to franchise modes.

If I have to approach each game differently, and each opponent on my schedule has a different gameplan I would really enjoy a CFM, even if the other features are lacking.

Minor semantic point though -- Unpredictable AI is not a good thing. Unpredictable means random. That would be a disaster. I understood the spirit of the comment though.

[jmurphy31]

Re: IF the gameplay is good enough, can it make up for what CFM appears to be lacking

I just really need a smart and unpredictable CPU. If EA can figure out a way to make playing the CPU feel like playing a human, then I'll tip my cap to them.

Yes....I would love to hear that one year they improved the CPU playcalling, decision making, style of play to match their personnel