Madden NFL 10 Blog: Player Ratings - A New Philosophy, A New Era

[TDKing]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Blog: Player Ratings - A New Philosophy, A New Era

So your saying ratings are actually going to matter in gameplay.

[AlexBrady]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Blog: Player Ratings - A New Philosophy, A New Era

I love this feature but let me say that there are no true 99 worthy players in the NFL currently. Certainly, there are about 6 or 7 elite players but they all have shortcomings.

For example:
Tom Brady: struggles mightily with pressure in his face

Peyton Manning: a choker who is neutralized greatly whenever the pocket collapses

Randy Moss: the weaker the competition the better he plays and vice versa, alligator arms when going over the middle

Demarcus Ware: still bites on play fakes more than he should, struggles to recognize routes in man coverage, tends to drag the ball carrier to the ground rather than driving him into the ground.

Albert Haynesworth: not a factor at all downfield, when he is supposed to hold ground and stay in his gap, he will stand out of his stance which makes it a lot easier to move him, when fatigued he leaves himself vulnerable to cut blocks.

Nnamdi Asomugha: tends to stumble out of his breaks, takes poor angles when playing downhill against the run, can be caught guessing when the receiver is in front of him and he will make a false break.

As you can see, the "perfect player" simply does not exist. Do away with the 99 ratings!

[wookie48]

Re: Madden NFL 10 blog 2: Ratings philosophy by Donny Moore

How come when it comes to speed, instead of a rating number that varies, why not have an actual 40 time gage how fast a player is. My number one pet peeve is seeing a guy who has the exact same 40 time as another and they both have different speed ratings. this way you can simplify the ratings to a set time overall.

[Steeler99]

Re: Madden NFL 10 blog 2: Ratings philosophy by Donny Moore

How come when it comes to speed, instead of a rating number that varies, why not have an actual 40 time gage how fast a player is. My number one pet peeve is seeing a guy who has the exact same 40 time as another and they both have different speed ratings. this way you can simplify the ratings to a set time overall.

Great point, instead of a rating for speed just give us a 40 time? Or at least have each specific rating = a specific 40 time. Speed rating = specific 40 time, acceleration = specific quickness ....

[mrjordan]

while this is a nice improvement and should be applauded, we, the indie roster makers of OS Sports have been rerating Madden and espn 2k5 players for years.

This is nothing new except for the fact that maybe we will have to do less work now!

Why don't they hire us already and save themselves 5 years, LOL!

[BezO]

Re: Madden NFL 10 blog 2: Ratings philosophy by Donny Moore

How come when it comes to speed, instead of a rating number that varies, why not have an actual 40 time gage how fast a player is. My number one pet peeve is seeing a guy who has the exact same 40 time as another and they both have different speed ratings. this way you can simplify the ratings to a set time overall.

Many veterans avoid being timed in the 40. The times you see listed for them, if any, can be years old.

[Matrix-Monkey]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Blog: Player Ratings - A New Philosophy, A New Era

Donny, please don't under rate Chris Horton the SS on the Redskins like you did in HC. =]

[xanmank]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Blog: Player Ratings - A New Philosophy, A New Era

Only one other person mentioned it towards the beginning, but I don't know if it was addressed later cuz i skimmed through most of this, but:


Is Potential going to be a rating just like in Head Coach 09?


I really think that would help with fixing progression in franchise mode

[rhombic21]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Blog: Player Ratings - A New Philosophy, A New Era

I can't get excited over this until I see it. Speed was too much of a factor up until now, IMO. This sounds to me like it could make things worse, unless...

If you all are implementing realistic momentum, prep steps, plants, ect., this could work. The few speed deamons left have to be controlled by the laws of physics.

My major concern is this: Thinking of good, but slower players and average but speedy players... Asante Samuel, Antrel Rolle types vs Deven Hester, Troy Williamson types for example. How are these match ups being handled? Will we SEE Hester & Williamson running less than spectacular routes... gathering themselves, slower in & out of breaks, telegraphing routes, ect? Will we see Samuel & Rolle quicker out of breaks with less prep steps, being physical, ect?

Will we see realistic footwork? Will we see effective route running, quickness & acceleration ratings? Will the Samuels & Rolles of the world be able to cover the Hesters & Williamsons of the world for the same reasons they do in real life? Will the Anquan Boldins of the league be able to get open against the Tyvon Branch types? Will we see contextual animations?

This is my concern also. It already feels like speed is the only rating that REALLY matters on the game for most positions, and there's a potential that this could make things even worse.

I just don't want to see a game where players with higher speed ratings have gone from simply over-effective, to now being almost unstoppable because there are few players on the other team that can keep up with them. True, players like LT and Adrian Peterson should be very difficult to defend, but I just don't want to see a Tecmo Bowl Bo Jackson type effect here, where you have a handful of guys with elite speed that dominate the entire game.

If you're going to do this, you have to make the weaknesses matter, and you have to make the non-speed related strengths matter. If that happens, then this will be a very good thing.

[scalise89]

Hey guys, all this stuf sounds great...I think it would be great if you could have the players run like they really do, for example, Adrian Peterson, when he is in the open field, he jumps left and right and hops and its insane to watch...in previous madden versions, all the backs seem to have the same chance of breaking an open field tackle...how ever i think Peterson, one on one would be impossible to stop, unless of course TROY POLAMALU was the tackler....also, i think it would be really cool if you could jump over the line of scrimmage with peopel like Polamalu like he did in the playoffs becasue its impossible to stop a QB sneak in the game as it is now. Lastly, the BIGGEST THING i wish is that the side lines look REAL PLEASE....when a runner runs towards them, have the sidlines back up and move and looke like people, not cardboard with all the same animations, it drives me crazy...and the fans, have them real and can we get ESPN presentation...thanks guys, great work you're all doing, can't wait till August!!!

[scalise89]

Another thing...can we stop players arms and stuff from going through some of the players bodies, it drives me crazy and maybe add something where you can dive and just grab onto the players shirt to slow them down and add more realistic running features like have the players run differently when they are fatigued and maybe trip heere and there if they are in a nervous situation over teh middle or a pressure situation....maybe an under pressure rating...have weather actually affect the game more.....improve graphics all around for every part of the game, not just he players, becasue it looks cheesy having real players playing and then the sidelines and fans look like crap....maybe show the announcers to in the press box!

[RGiles36]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Blog: Player Ratings - A New Philosophy, A New Era

I love this feature but let me say that there are no true 99 worthy players in the NFL currently. Certainly, there are about 6 or 7 elite players but they all have shortcomings.

For example:
Tom Brady: struggles mightily with pressure in his face

Demarcus Ware: still bites on play fakes more than he should, struggles to recognize routes in man coverage, tends to drag the ball carrier to the ground rather than driving him into the ground.


As you can see, the "perfect player" simply does not exist. Do away with the 99 ratings!

I disagree here. While I CERTAINLY don't want to see a slew of 99-rated players, picking apart some of the elite player's weaknesses and trying to use that as justification for not being rated at the top of the scale is wrong.

For example:

Tom Brady, until proven otherwise, is the best QB in the NFL in my opinion. Some people want to point to that SuperBowl loss and say that pressure makes him struggle. I don't know of any QB's who can consistently pass the ball with pressure and hands in their face. With that said, if he was rated a 99, I wouldn't bicker one bit.

I'd argue the same for a couple players on your list. I don't think a 99 rating suggests that a player is PERFECT all across the board.

[AlexBrady]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Blog: Player Ratings - A New Philosophy, A New Era

I disagree here. While I CERTAINLY don't want to see a slew of 99-rated players, picking apart some of the elite player's weaknesses and trying to use that as justification for not being rated at the top of the scale is wrong.

For example:

Tom Brady, until proven otherwise, is the best QB in the NFL in my opinion. Some people want to point to that SuperBowl loss and say that pressure makes him struggle. I don't know of any QB's who can consistently pass the ball with pressure and hands in their face. With that said, if he was rated a 99, I wouldn't bicker one bit.

I'd argue the same for a couple players on your list. I don't think a 99 rating suggests that a player is PERFECT all across the board.

Did I say that Tom Brady is not the best qb in the NFL? I believe he is the best, but he does have shortcomings. ( believe it or not)

Those shortcomings include:

-Floating passes high when his back foot is not set ( you saw this more in the 2006 season)

-Does not throw well on the run and must set up to fire deep balls

-Struggles with his intermediate accuracy and does not throw well if he is forced left

-Arm strength is not elite, he is still among the top arms and his overall abilities are in the top 3

-Used to have the bad habit of throwing late over the middle (more common in the 2006 season)

-Has a slight hitch in his delivery

-Will fail to see a zone corner which will result in errant passes

-Not a threat to run

That being said, he is the best player in football. Lets see how he rebounds from injury though.

[rhombic21]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Blog: Player Ratings - A New Philosophy, A New Era

I think you need to separate out OVR ratings from a discussion about whether or not players have weaknesses. The OVR rating, to me, is just a way to quickly look at a player and tell, generally speaking, how good he is relative to other players. It doesn't actually govern any on-field action. Now, in terms of the on-field action, then the ratings would reflect weaknesses.

The on the field ratings, rather than reflecting relative ability compared to other players, actually govern performance. So, for instance, a 99 SPD rating tells the game how fast a player should move. Thus, that rating directly tells the game how to handle game action.

OVR ratings, in contrast, don't actually affect gameplay (or shouldn't). As a result, whether or not a player is given a 99 OVR rating or a 95 OVR rating is really inconsequential, so long as the actual ratings that govern his on-field abilities are accurate.

[NBA2k8 CHAMP]

Re: Madden NFL 10 blog 2: Ratings philosophy by Donny Moore

Great