Only 2 1/2 Weeks to EA Access and No Gameplay... Concerned?

[NDAlum]

Re: Only 2 1/2 Weeks to EA Access and No Gameplay... Concerned?

Wait so I'm entitled if I pre-order a game?

[Gorilla Glass]

Re: Only 2 1/2 Weeks to EA Access and No Gameplay... Concerned?

Wait so I'm entitled if I pre-order a game?

Not you but everybody else.

[DeuceDouglas]

Re: Only 2 1/2 Weeks to EA Access and No Gameplay... Concerned?

There seems to be general agreement that whenever they release footage doesn't matter much but I think many of us may have overlooked the impact a later release like this might have for the Youtubers. In Rex's post he states, " We want first impressions to come from the community. Hence EA Play and why the gameplay videos were done this way.". EA Tib in general and more specifically marketing, likely feel the Youtubers have a positive impact on building hype and anticipation for Madden, so it makes sense that the closer they start that "campaign" to actual release, the better, not to mention with so little footage out there at this point, Youtubers with footage will be like an oasis in the desert.

So if I look at from that perspective, marketing and whoever else doesn't seem so illogical for going with this approach. We know how EA Tib loves to point to their internal numbers and telemetry, I wouldn't be surprised if their Youtubers views saw a huge uptick due to this possible strategy because usually by this time the verdict is in for most gamers on what to expect but this year the jury is still out by virtue of not having seen enough.

That said, I still feel like if Madden was a better replication of NFL football across the board, (I'm staring you down CFM), then marketing stunts like these wouldn't be necessary and the earlier we were shown how much NFL was in the game the more anticipation there'd be to get our hands on it.

This is an outstanding point and by bringing it up you reminded me of a tweet Rex sent out earlier this year asking what they could personally do to better support YouTubers and Streamers aka "community influencers" and I wouldn't be surprised if this was an extension of that. Regardless of what people imply, these videos always come with plenty of positive feedback and they're obviously in higher demand than ever before so like you said it would make sense for them to see an uptick in views especially with the new engine being almost entirely unseen by the majority.

[NDAlum]

Re: Only 2 1/2 Weeks to EA Access and No Gameplay... Concerned?

Not you but everybody else.

I understand not being happy with EA's marketing direction but c'mon leave out this type of stuff. You're fanning flames.

Entitled doesn't even fit

[Gorilla Glass]

Re: Only 2 1/2 Weeks to EA Access and No Gameplay... Concerned?

I understand not being happy with EA's marketing direction but c'mon leave out this type of stuff. You're fanning flames.

Entitled doesn't even fit

Oh lighten up.

We are discussing video games no need to take to the gutter.

[deu22ces]

Re: Only 2 1/2 Weeks to EA Access and No Gameplay... Concerned?

This is an outstanding point and by bringing it up you reminded me of a tweet Rex sent out earlier this year asking what they could personally do to better support YouTubers and Streamers aka "community influencers" and I wouldn't be surprised if this was an extension of that. Regardless of what people imply, these videos always come with plenty of positive feedback and they're obviously in higher demand than ever before so like you said it would make sense for them to see an uptick in views especially with the new engine being almost entirely unseen by the majority.

I'm not familiar with this aspect so maybe someone can explain more. Maybe collectively as a whole they have a much bigger impact, but on the surface I don't see the draw to cater to these guys. SimBallCritic seems to be one of the 'bigger' ones talked about and his subs is around 14k, with generally 2-3K views per video. SportsGamersOnline has around 80k subs but they cater to all sports from what I see.

Compared to the 5-7 million copies Madden will sell, is this really that big of a community? Do they really contribute that much to sales? I've personally never bought a copy based off one of them (doesn't mean anything). Don't get me wrong at all, I'm not 'knocking' it one bit. I just hear a lot about it/them and am curious if there's more below the surface or an aspect i'm not thinking of.

Someone will say "well EA seems to think so". That's fine, I'm not looking to debate, I'm looking to understand better.

[RogerDodger]

Re: Only 2 1/2 Weeks to EA Access and No Gameplay... Concerned?

A month ago folks on here claimed that the new marketing strategy was due to EA prioritising their lower profile sports games - NHL and NBA Live, because it is coming off a lengthy absence. Has that rationale changed now? I don't know who these influencers are, I guess I don't follow them on Twitter or on YouTube. I'd still rather just have EA put their own videos out like they always have. It seems like they're still trying to chase that casual gamer and taking the diehards like me for granted.

[SageInfinite]

Re: Only 2 1/2 Weeks to EA Access and No Gameplay... Concerned?

I'm not familiar with this aspect so maybe someone can explain more. Maybe collectively as a whole they have a much bigger impact, but on the surface I don't see the draw to cater to these guys. SimBallCritic seems to be one of the 'bigger' ones talked about and his subs is around 14k, with generally 2-3K views per video. SportsGamersOnline has around 80k subs but they cater to all sports from what I see.

I mean Simfball critic is one of the smaller youtubers they are giving exclusive looks to, but you have guys like QJB with over a million followers, and he definitely will have some exclusive footage of Madden.

[Big FN Deal]

Re: Only 2 1/2 Weeks to EA Access and No Gameplay... Concerned?

I'm not familiar with this aspect so maybe someone can explain more. Maybe collectively as a whole they have a much bigger impact, but on the surface I don't see the draw to cater to these guys. SimBallCritic seems to be one of the 'bigger' ones talked about and his subs is around 14k, with generally 2-3K views per video. SportsGamersOnline has around 80k subs but they cater to all sports from what I see.

Compared to the 5-7 million copies Madden will sell, is this really that big of a community? Do they really contribute that much to sales? I've personally never bought a copy based off one of them (doesn't mean anything). Don't get me wrong at all, I'm not 'knocking' it one bit. I just hear a lot about it/them and am curious if there's more below the surface or an aspect i'm not thinking of.

Someone will say "well EA seems to think so". That's fine, I'm not looking to debate, I'm looking to understand better.

Well my speculation is that the Youtubers/Streamers/Social media campaign fits in with EA Tibs targeting gamers that are more connected to other potential new Madden gamers. That campaign is far broader than just the Sim Standard, like Deuce Douglas, SageInfinite and others mentioned, you have numerous gamers that stream, countless other Youtubers, people on social media, etc, that can constantly push Madden content in a way that at least comes across in an organic way. For example EA might not ever get a gamer that couldn't care less about the NFL or football to even pay attention to Madden, much less buy it but if that same gamer is into fight games, happens to sub or listen to some streamer, youtuber, etc with fight game cred that dabbles in some Madden game play, now they've tapped into a potential new Madden gamer that they wouldn't have otherwise.

That's just my riff on it, it makes sense to me, I think other games do some version of this too but again, I don't like the way EA Tib seems to do it because they seem to do that at the expense of the core NFL gamer.

[deu22ces]

Re: Only 2 1/2 Weeks to EA Access and No Gameplay... Concerned?

I mean Simfball critic is one of the smaller youtubers they are giving exclusive looks to, but you have guys like QJB with over a million followers, and he definitely will have some exclusive footage of Madden.

That's a much larger number of subs but what's his angle? What's his draw? Didn't see many '18 videos yet but maybe he's waiting for 'official' video and staying away from the stuff others are not.

I still see that with exception of the Teaser Video video, the views are 25K or less. Now, that may be a lot. Idk. But my comparison is a show my 2 boys watch, Ryan's Toys, and that kid has 11M subs and millions in views for many of the videos. But that may obviously skew my comparison and ignorance a bit.

[OhMrHanky]

Only 2 1/2 Weeks to EA Access and No Gameplay... Concerned?

That said, I still feel like if Madden was a better replication of NFL football across the board, (I'm staring you down CFM), then marketing stunts like these wouldn't be necessary and the earlier we were shown how much NFL was in the game the more anticipation there'd be to get our hands on it.

Yup. I think this is a big point for me. I've said on this forum a few times the 2 big sports games I play are FIFA and madden. I play fifa online, only, and madden, offline only. Not that that matters, lol, but just some extra info for where I'm coming from.

I NEVER care what FIFA looks like. lol. I never have to see gameplay, early. I never want to see gameplay, early. I don't need it. That game has been consistent for 10+ years. The one anomaly in that game was 14, they really switched the graphics and zoomed in camera on that one. I wasn't expecting that. But, overall, I know what I'm getting with FIFA, so I don't care so much about early footage. They've already got good enough graphics and animations. Are they perfect? No, of course not, but I can't complain, really.

But madden? Yeah, madden, u don't know wth you're getting every year! Lol. [emoji6][emoji23]. Graphically, 12 looked a lot like 13, but holy cow, did they play different!!! I loved 13. And, seeing/playing that game was so different than 12, it was fantastic. I know people didn't love 13, but I did. [emoji6]

Anyways, 13 looked different from 25 which looked different from 15, and 15 was different from 16 (imo. I hated 15, actually, and loved 16), and 16 and 17 were fairly similar. But, the jukes were tightened up, so it was worth seeing those.

So, overall, it's just that madden actually does change quite a bit. For those that say, 'same old madden' every year, they are selling it short. And/or, if u want to complain about legacy issues, that's your business (I'll join in, too, honestly, but to simply say, 'same old madden,' just doesn't cut it).

Do I feel entitled to have early gameplay video. NO. Lol. And, this is a point that I hate seeing argued here. Just because I want to see gameplay early because madden does change from year to year and I just am curious to know as early as possible and the fact that I, personally, always buy every year (I'm thinking used this year, but I'm sure I'll still buy), it normally doesn't matter whether they produce video or not. Once, again, it's just something nice for the fans.

And, I will say this, as far as hype train stuff is concerned, or my own personal hype meter, the earlier, the better, the more hype, the longer the hype, the more likely I'm going to pre-order. This is the first year I'm not pre-ordering. And, it's because of multiple things, but specifically, I'm just not hyped for the game because I haven't seen enough gameplay footage.

All that being said, I'll love seeing the first footage we get, if that happens to be before ea access. If not, I won't watch any of it. Lol. I won't need to.



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[NDAlum]

Re: Only 2 1/2 Weeks to EA Access and No Gameplay... Concerned?

Well my speculation is that the Youtubers/Streamers/Social media campaign fits in with EA Tibs targeting gamers that are more connected to other potential new Madden gamers. That campaign is far broader than just the Sim Standard, like Deuce Douglas, SageInfinite and others mentioned, you have numerous gamers that stream, countless other Youtubers, people on social media, etc, that can constantly push Madden content in a way that at least comes across in an organic way. For example EA might not ever get a gamer that couldn't care less about the NFL or football to even pay attention to Madden, much less buy it but if that same gamer is into fight games, happens to sub or listen to some streamer, youtuber, etc with fight game cred that dabbles in some Madden game play, now they've tapped into a potential new Madden gamer that they wouldn't have otherwise.

That's just my riff on it, it makes sense to me, I think other games do some version of this too but again, I don't like the way EA Tib seems to do it because they seem to do that at the expense of the core NFL gamer.

I personally disagree with EA's method of marketing. It's a dishonest approach to me. All of the information we are getting are part of an EA propaganda machine. There is every incentive to give positive reviews and feedback and focus on the good. There's a risk in exposing any issues (revoking access).

[DeuceDouglas]

Re: Only 2 1/2 Weeks to EA Access and No Gameplay... Concerned?

I'm not familiar with this aspect so maybe someone can explain more. Maybe collectively as a whole they have a much bigger impact, but on the surface I don't see the draw to cater to these guys. SimBallCritic seems to be one of the 'bigger' ones talked about and his subs is around 14k, with generally 2-3K views per video. SportsGamersOnline has around 80k subs but they cater to all sports from what I see.

Compared to the 5-7 million copies Madden will sell, is this really that big of a community? Do they really contribute that much to sales? I've personally never bought a copy based off one of them (doesn't mean anything). Don't get me wrong at all, I'm not 'knocking' it one bit. I just hear a lot about it/them and am curious if there's more below the surface or an aspect i'm not thinking of.

Someone will say "well EA seems to think so". That's fine, I'm not looking to debate, I'm looking to understand better.

Like Sage said, there's a lot bigger fish that get to go and capture content. So you've got people with over a million subscribers playing and showcasing the game and a lot of those people watching could very likely be basing their purchase on the personality they're following and what they say about it. They see them playing it and want to play it as well. It's hard to say how much it moves the needle but I don't think there's any question it helps especially in the case like I mentioned where people follow the personality more so than the game itself. It's free publicity and very effective IMO. Not so much if you already follow Madden but it's directly targeted at those who don't.

[SageInfinite]

Re: Only 2 1/2 Weeks to EA Access and No Gameplay... Concerned?

Like Sage said, there's a lot bigger fish that get to go and capture content. So you've got people with over a million subscribers playing and showcasing the game and a lot of those people watching could very likely be basing their purchase on the personality they're following and what they say about it. They see them playing it and want to play it as well. It's hard to say how much it moves the needle but I don't think there's any question it helps especially in the case like I mentioned where people follow the personality more so than the game itself. It's free publicity and very effective IMO. Not so much if you already follow Madden but it's directly targeted at those who don't.

Not to mention it's cheap and basically risk free for EA. Why pay those big advertising bucks when you can fly a couple dudes out, then get them to pump up your game positively to their audience? It's a win/win for EA.

I'm personally just watching for the footage, I couldn't care less about their opinions or impressions of the game, I don't expect real honesty from these guys.

My only issue is holding back ALL footage in favor of giving these guys exclusive looks.....

[DeuceDouglas]

Re: Only 2 1/2 Weeks to EA Access and No Gameplay... Concerned?

A month ago folks on here claimed that the new marketing strategy was due to EA prioritising their lower profile sports games - NHL and NBA Live, because it is coming off a lengthy absence. Has that rationale changed now? I don't know who these influencers are, I guess I don't follow them on Twitter or on YouTube. I'd still rather just have EA put their own videos out like they always have. It seems like they're still trying to chase that casual gamer and taking the diehards like me for granted.

As someone who thought this I would definitely say it's changed. I initially felt like they were letting Madden take the back seat for the betterment of NBA Live as to not overshadow or take hype away from it and would possibly be willing to even sacrifice some Madden sales if it meant people were buying NBA Live. But NBA Live has seemingly been even more silent than Madden has so I don't know what their plan is. I think what Big said makes a lot of sense in that there is such a high demand for content and trying to drive that hype into release.