When will we get a Madden that...(CPU QB play)

[Shady Mike]

Actually has some type of tendencies? Lol I look at Madden compared to other sports games and it is actually a legitimate joke that they charge $60 for this game. But that's not what I want to talk about...I want to talk about the one most prevalent and long running issue in Madden, and it's kinda Robo QB, and it's kind of not...

My question to you is...When will we get a Madden that the CPU Qb will actually throw the ball to his #1 receiver? I mean you got guys like Welker catching 16 balls because as soon as the damn ball is snapped Peyton Manning just lasers it to him! I can not believe this has not been a top 1 or 2 priority for the last 5 or so years...It would help if WR's as their overall went up had some type of tendency (hidden or unhidden) That would make the CPU target them more...so sick of seeing Dez Bryant with 3 catches for 24 yards because the CPU will only throw him a drag or a quick slant...This IMO should absolutely be a top 5 priority for Madden 16...

[NoleFan]

I'll preface by saying I play coach mode so my QB makes his own decisions. My QB does try to get it to his key targets. Keenan Allen is my #1 WR in my JAX CFM and he led the team in receptions last season. Marcedes Lewis is another high rated target and he had 70 or 80 grabs last season as well.

[rudyjuly2]

I agree with the OP. Top rated targets do not get the attention they deserve. I'm not even sure it's factored into the cpu QB decision making. I'd love to see them throw to their top guys more often. I do find it funny that EA removed the double team defensive plays in the playbooks two years ago so maybe they were trying to cover up this fact and make it easier to hit the top targets. I don't know but it doesn't work well imo.

Right now the QB logic appears identical for every QB. They all make the same decisions and the only difference between a garbage QB and a HOF one are the accuracy ratings. They could at least vary the timing of the throws for QBs with poor awareness by having them throw a bit too soon or a bit too late resulting in more incompletions. Same goes for taking sacks. The smarter ones should be throwing it away and yet Brady takes sacks on screen plays and 4 verticals just as dumb as the worst QB in the game.

[Shady Mike]

Quote: Originally Posted by NoleFan

I'll preface by saying I play coach mode so my QB makes his own decisions. My QB does try to get it to his key targets. Keenan Allen is my #1 WR in my JAX CFM and he led the team in receptions last season. Marcedes Lewis is another high rated target and he had 70 or 80 grabs last season as well.

First of all, go Noles, but outside of Coach mode this just doesn't happen.

Quote: Originally Posted by rudyjuly2

I agree with the OP. Top rated targets do not get the attention they deserve. I'm not even sure it's factored into the cpu QB decision making. I'd love to see them throw to their top guys more often. I do find it funny that EA removed the double team defensive plays in the playbooks two years ago so maybe they were trying to cover up this fact and make it easier to hit the top targets. I don't know but it doesn't work well imo. Right now the QB logic appears identical for every QB. They all make the same decisions and the only difference between a garbage QB and a HOF one are the accuracy ratings. They could at least vary the timing of the throws for QBs with poor awareness by having them throw a bit too soon or a bit too late resulting in more incompletions. Same goes for taking sacks. The smarter ones should be throwing it away and yet Brady takes sacks on screen plays and 4 verticals just as dumb as the worst QB in the game.

Absolutely. Not to mention Tim Tebow throws at the same accuracy as Tom Brady proving ratings mean absolutely nothing :/ The sacks made 15 utterly unplayable for me. People said that they fixed it but after trying everyone's "sliders" and "roster tweaks" I was still getting 6+ sacks a game which made me end up giving the game away...how you ship a game where 99% of the QB's in the game won't throw the ball away is beyond me.

[Trick13]

Madden is a sad shadow of itself at this point. I remember being so excited for PS3/360. I was envisioning full sidelines,
customization all over the game,
pass rushing defenders who would make use of the moves on their own,
WRs and DBs fighting for jump balls,
double coverage that actually allowed you to bracket under/over,
delayed blitzes,
consecutive hits,
more in depth stat overlays,
replays running while you picked your play,
highlights from the weeks games - particularly games involving other users in online CFM - remember that NCAA game that had a home screen that you could load highlights to - where did that go?
RBs with some sense of balance
adaptive AI,
an actual pocket,
custom packages
custom user controlled celebrations


That is not even 1/5th of what I envisioned the console upgrade would bring. Here we are 10 years later and we can't even get a game against the CPU that plays anything resembling real football.


No look interceptions, no air under passes going 25 yards down the middle, sack issues, no discernible difference between QB's accuracy, passes are still tethered to receivers rather than routes, WRs still don't fight for passes in the air, DBs still avoid swatting passes like the plague, they just go for picks every time.


Not really sure Madden will ever be the game we want - certainly not without some drastic changes in the structure of EA...

[CM Hooe]

Let's keep this thread on the subject of QB logic and not bemoaning the exclusive license or taking pot shots at Madden NFL in general, please.

Thanks!

[roadman]

If you are an offline player, sliders at around the 5 mark make the differences between Tebow and Rodgers more prevalent.

Not sure on the CPU decision making, but there are a lot of dump offs.

I agree, this needs to be looked at.

Online, there are probably many issues with the QB's and not telling the difference from Tebow and Rodgers.

[rudyjuly2]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

Online, there are probably many issues with the QB's and not telling the difference from Tebow and Rodgers.

That's the big hurdle for USER controlled QB play. When we are controlling the QB there is no difference in decision making so Peyton plays like Geno Smith and vice versa. How do you fix that?

EA did try to correct that with the vision cone which was so hated they killed it after one year. I'm not sure what the best way is to get around that. Part of me thinks EA needs to add a sack indicator for high awareness QBs. Much like a shooter that sees red at the edge of his screen when they are close to death, maybe a high awareness QB sees red when he is close to getting sacked. Or the controller could rumble.

Another way to introduce user and cpu QB awareness is to simply give the defense a small boost in coverage ratings to make a low AWR QB less useful. You could say the defense has an easier time of reading that QBs eyes. Conversely, a 90+ AWR QB might actually get a reduction in defensive ratings as well.