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?

To the best of my knowledge, none of the GameChangers are employed otherwise under contract to work for EA. It's strictly an invite-only volunteer position; they make videos because they want to.



As far as being critical, I think it's very obvious that the GameChangers can be critical. SimFBallCritic, Shopmaster, MoonlightSwami, etc. - all GameChangers - each engage their followers in constructive dialogue about the game.



That's not to say that none of them are hype men, but they're a diverse group of guys who play to wildly different audiences. Find the one whose coverage you identify with the most and go from there.

Do you honesty believe any of them would be critical to the point it would revoke their access even if the criticism was legit?

I am not sure but I believe one guy got outed as a GC then went berserk online


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[N51_rob]

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

Several GCs have been booted for their often critical comments to EA one was an OS specific Madden Game Changer. Rgiles on here.

As for the lack of footage I feel like this. If EA had this great game with tons of awesome footage and features they wouldn't be hidding it. Historically when AAA games are this frugal with footage its a bad sign. That said only time will tell.

[charter04]

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

Sorry. After your response I went back and reread the quote you replied to. I misunderstood what you were saying.

You're right. They are free to talk about it and give their impressions. I personally won't put much weight into what they saw they saw until I can see it as well.

In the end it doesn't matter to me. I'll see gameplay way before I make a purchase decision.

Even if you saw gameplay wouldn't you then wonder what difficulty they were playing and in the end conclude that you just need to play it yourself? Lol. That's what I do every year. Seeing a gameplay video never helps me at all. I always need to play it for myself.

[kjcheezhead]

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

Even if you saw gameplay wouldn't you then wonder what difficulty they were playing and in the end conclude that you just need to play it yourself? Lol. That's what I do every year. Seeing a gameplay video never helps me at all. I always need to play it for myself.

When I see the videos I'm simply looking for the things that drive me crazy when I play. Are lineman ignoring blocks to engage defenders out of the play? Are wrs or dbs warping to the ball or not reacting at all in the play? Is the player using the new features? Are they doing what the features were advertised to do?

I would like to see gameplay videos but I can wait until release if need be. When they do start dropping I'll watch them but you're right. I won't consider buying until I can play it for myself by redboxing or borrowing a friends for a night or something. I haven't truly enjoyed the game since the ps2 days but my love of football keeps me coming back. One of these years I might find myself surprised to be enjoying the game again you never know.

[PhillyPhanatic14]

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

As for the lack of footage I feel like this. If EA had this great game with tons of awesome footage and features they wouldn't be hidding it. Historically when AAA games are this frugal with footage its a bad sign. That said only time will tell.

Right on man. FIFA has a 20-minutes gameplay video and multiple videos for their new gameplay features already out and they're 2 months from release. Their product looks great and they aren't hiding it. If madden looks great then why wasn't anything from EA Play allowed to be released to us and why are they waiting until a week before the EA Access launch to release gameplay? Maybe it's nothing but it seems real strange.

[aholbert32]

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

Right on man. FIFA has a 20-minutes gameplay video and multiple videos for their new gameplay features already out and they're 2 months from release. Their product looks great and they aren't hiding it. If madden looks great then why wasn't anything from EA Play allowed to be released to us and why are they waiting until a week before the EA Access launch to release gameplay? Maybe it's nothing but it seems real strange.

What does "hiding" mean to most of you guys? I've seen game companies hide games. Hiding a game is putting a embargo on footage until after release. It's preventing websites from reviewing the game until after release. That isn't the case here.

This isn't hiding the game. Everyone will get a chance to see videos of the game before the 22nd. There will be ea access screens and footage. There will be YouTube videos and Twitch streams. No one is buying the game sight unseen.

Now it's possible that the game will suck but waiting until 2 weeks before release to release videos isn't hiding the game.


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[RogerDodger]

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

When Ultimate Team modes combine to net 800million in sales in less than a calendar year, you don't have to explain or release anything. you can just release the game and it will still get bought up like candy. Franchise has somewhat become an afterthought or put on the back burner so to speak and making money hand over fist you would probably do the same.

I long for the day that a recent madden recreates a madden franchise like Madden 05 or even 06.

I get the reasoning from a purely economic perspective for driving ahead with MUT but not at the expense of excluding development of a feature as significant as franchise. As we've been discussing on another thread - after 2k burned EA in their "My GM" blog - for me it goes to the heart of what Madden is. Is it a video game or is it a sim that strives to recreate the sport down to its smallest details, the kinds of detail and depth that in the past made me still want to keep playing it ten months after release as opposed to being bored after a few weeks because every game feels the same. Madden has drifted away from being a sim. Dev teams far smaller like those at SDS working on MLB The Show are pushing ahead on multiple fronts but EA can't. I don't buy that it's a matter of resources or ability, just that they (devs, suits, whoever) aren't as committed to recreating their sport in the same way.

[capa]

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

Who do you guys think has the most credibility as a GC? I mean, who has been the most honest and straightforward in the past as far as looking and commenting on the game from a Sim point of view?

I just want to know whose feed I should concentrate on watching when they finally do release gameplay. I will most likely watch all of them, but who do you guys put the most stock in?

C

[Gorilla Glass]

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

What does "hiding" mean to most of you guys? I've seen game companies hide games. Hiding a game is putting a embargo on footage until after release. It's preventing websites from reviewing the game until after release. That isn't the case here.

This isn't hiding the game. Everyone will get a chance to see videos of the game before the 22nd. There will be ea access screens and footage. There will be YouTube videos and Twitch streams. No one is buying the game sight unseen.

Now it's possible that the game will suck but waiting until 2 weeks before release to release videos isn't hiding the game.


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No. EA is specifically hiding footage to the game and that's what folks are upset about.

And sure game companies kept embargoes up to launch but footage to those games could be found, just not reviews and now we know why...

[kingkid1313]

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

I have to start off by saying I'm buying M18 because I've been in a yearly CFM franchise for the past 8 years and their are no other football video games to play.. BUT having said that it's clear that EA is not proud of M18 (it's basically M17.5) hence the lack of gameplay videos. There is just no other way around it.. The devs can give us all this talk about new marketing strategy etc but if you have a product you're proud of you're going promote it at every chance and often..

Case in point EA is releasing a NBA LIVE demo next Friday August 11th and the game doesn't even come out until December yet Madden comes out in a few weeks and no gameplay video is to be found.. Heck NFL preseason starts tonight and nothing for M18, yet NBA training camp doesn't even begin until end of Sept..Yet we're getting a PLAYABLE Demo almost 2 months earlier than NBA training camp even begins.

Bottom line is M18 isn't much different than M17, EA even admitted they took resources from the Madden development team and put that into LIVE this year and guess what? they have something they're proud of in NBA LIVE and wants the world to play it next week..Why because they have competition from 2K and whereas Madden doesn't so no need to pour time and money into it. Just give us the basics and a few tweaks per year. Fix prior glitches from previous versions and call it a new feature..etc..

[seasprite]

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

No. EA is specifically hiding footage to the game and that's what folks are upset about.

And sure game companies kept embargoes up to launch but footage to those games could be found, just not reviews and now we know why...

How are they hiding gameplay? If they don't release any or lift an embargo by release date, then you have a point and I'd agree with you. The situation now is that they are simply not sharing gameplay videos on our personal schedules. Big difference between the two.

[Oldsmobile19]

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

What does "hiding" mean to most of you guys? I've seen game companies hide games. Hiding a game is putting a embargo on footage until after release. It's preventing websites from reviewing the game until after release. That isn't the case here.

This isn't hiding the game. Everyone will get a chance to see videos of the game before the 22nd. There will be ea access screens and footage. There will be YouTube videos and Twitch streams. No one is buying the game sight unseen.

Now it's possible that the game will suck but waiting until 2 weeks before release to release videos isn't hiding the game.


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I just find it interesting they are taking this approach this year and don't necessarily feel like they are "hiding" gameplay but it's a head scratcher because last year they allowed EA Game Changers to post gameplay on June 20th. Rex tweeted by the end of next week gameplay is "scheduled" to be released which is less than two weeks from the game's release date. Everybody has their theories of the marketing strategy, etc etc but I am more in a confused state and just do not understand why they are doing it this way.

[PhillyPhanatic14]

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

What does "hiding" mean to most of you guys? I've seen game companies hide games. Hiding a game is putting a embargo on footage until after release. It's preventing websites from reviewing the game until after release. That isn't the case here.

This isn't hiding the game. Everyone will get a chance to see videos of the game before the 22nd. There will be ea access screens and footage. There will be YouTube videos and Twitch streams. No one is buying the game sight unseen.

Now it's possible that the game will suck but waiting until 2 weeks before release to release videos isn't hiding the game.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

In comparison to how they've always done it and how other games do things, it sure looks like hiding. Once gameplay hits maybe everything will be OK, but how many times did they say EA Play footage would get released to us only to have 0 legit EA Play footage. They said early July, then mid-July, and now apparently it's late next week. I'll believe it when I see it at this point.

If they were siked on how the game looked then they would be showing it off, not keeping it under wraps until a week before launch.

[kingkid1313]

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

How are they hiding gameplay? If they don't release any or lift an embargo by release date, then you have a point and I'd agree with you. The situation now is that they are simply not sharing gameplay videos on our personal schedules. Big difference between the two.

So why are they not sharing gameplay videos then until the last minute before EA Access is available? I'm sure Apple isn't going video silent on their new iPhone 8 up until release date? They going release the info at devs conference and then promote the heck out of it until release date with "gasp" videos of what the phone can do..

[Gorilla Glass]

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

How are they hiding gameplay? If they don't release any or lift an embargo by release date, then you have a point and I'd agree with you. The situation now is that they are simply not sharing gameplay videos on our personal schedules. Big difference between the two.

OK then, EA is purposely not letting us see the videos.

Btw

If one can't find something that means it's hidden.