37 minute interview with Rex Dickson on Madden 18

[R1zzo23]

I'm with the guy who said "know your audience". There will come a time when they will be talking to a simulation player for an interview and hopefully we will get more info then. EA Play is a week and a half away. I think we can all make it!

[CM Hooe]

Quote: Originally Posted by reverend_heat

Yeah it was kinda disheartening to hear Rex fawn over MUT and competetive, can't help but feel like sim is getting swept under the rug more and more each year.

The vast majority of Madden NFL's gameplay modes are competitive and multiplayer in focus - Ultimate Team, Salary Cap Ranked within Ultimate Team, Draft Champions, standalone online head-to-head, multiplayer online Connected Franchise - so focusing on the competitive experience is going to be the thing that benefits the greatest number of people across the greatest number of gameplay modes. Madden is a human-vs-human competitive game now, and honestly it has been that way since online play was added in 2002. Online play is a BIG reason as to why the game exploded in popularity on PS2.

That said, it's also not exactly the case that any competitive features or balancing will not benefit the user vs CPU experience. Any new mechanics with a competitive focus will still be functional against the CPU, and if how the CPU ballcarrier AI revamp from M17 was handled is any indication the CPU won't exactly go untouched year-over-year either. CPU RBs could be downright nasty at times in M17.

Finally, competitive people play Madden because it is a video game experience set in an authentic football scenario so "sim" isn't an endangered species whatsoever. Competitive guys want agency over the game's outcome, sure, but they also want to see things happen in the bounds of reality as well. There's a reason they didn't flock back to NFL Blitz when EA relaunched it; they don't want over-the-top ridiculousness. They want a competitive experience bound in the reality of authentic NFL football. Stuff like player warping, bad blocking AI (especially when using slide protection or pass block hot routes), and other unpredictable and/or unrealistic things are absolutely in their wheelhouse of concerns.

[SolidSquid]

Quote: Originally Posted by adembroski

* Massive legacy issue sweep; "We've gone through about 35 or 40 of the top legacy issues in Madden, everything from a slower player chases down a faster player from behind to man coverage doesn't cover corner routes ever, I could go on and on, purples don't play purples. Hard flats get sucked out from the flat. Over and over and over, this list of recurring themes. We've managed to fix almost all of them..."

If this was the only thing we got this year I'd be happy, that being said I can't wait to see how many were actually fixed vs a band aid solution. Hopefully the fixes don't break anything.

[Jarodd21]

Quote: Originally Posted by LBzrule

I just think there is more cross-pollination between sim and competitive than we want to acknowledge. For instance, when I hear the description of competitive mode on user mistakes, I have no problem with that and think that is actually a part of simulation or should be. I'm not for defenders dropping interceptions and the cpu baby sitting guys because they make poor reads/decisions and just because a QB shouldn't throw 10 INT's a game they make my defenders drop it. However, I do want the ratings to mean a lot more so I guess I'm more of a hybrid.

I'm in the same boat. I really need to find out how this Sim and Competitive mode plays out.

[SolidSquid]

Quote: Originally Posted by howboutdat

well , maybe a true statement, but i also still believe strongly, a majority of madden people who use twitter are people who play competitive madden, more so than the sim people. I mean just in age range alone, there are more 18-28 year olds who use twitter over 29-40 ( range where you find more sim minded people on average) . Its a disproportionate number i believe of younger people who use twitter than older. I know in our 32 man league, only 2 others,besides me use twitter. Majority of our league is over 27. Im not saying Sim minded people are not the minority here, but i do think its much different than that poll shows in reality.

I really think sim players are just not vocal, and we all know the squeaky wheel gets the oil. I'm 28 now but up until maybe 3 years ago I was on Twitter Facebook here etc always trying to interact with devs and get across what the sim community wanted/needed. Now though I just don't have the time/energy I think most sim players are in the same boat.

[DeuceDouglas]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

This pretty much sums it up with a poll from Rex on Twitter: Should online ranked H2H regs be on competitive or simulation play style? Currently, competitive 61%, sim 39%. Rex is talking to a very large and very wide audience when he speaks competitive.

I'm actually surprised it's even that close. Maybe it's having had beaten into our heads of the last several years that the sim is the extreme minority but 61-39 isn't as large of a gap as I was anticipating. Especially considering how adamant and vocal online players are against simulation aspects finding their way in the online realm.

[cable guy]

Quote: Originally Posted by SolidSquid

I really think sim players are just not vocal, and we all know the squeaky wheel gets the oil. I'm 28 now but up until maybe 3 years ago I was on Twitter Facebook here etc always trying to interact with devs and get across what the sim community wanted/needed. Now though I just don't have the time/energy I think most sim players are in the same boat.

I'm with ya. definitely think it's higher. I'm not saying it's close to 50/50. But it's more than say 10%. I know lots of people who play Madden in the 40 yr old and older age range. They are not on OS. Not on twitter. I can guarantee they would be all for some of the changes and additions we ask for. CFM offline....BUT EA has to go by the numbers they're getting. I get it. Alot of us do. There's also alot more revenue in competitive H2H. But I'm hoping they do realize, I think they do, there are people who want realistic football. Not accounted for.

Quote: Originally Posted by howboutdat

Here is some data to back up what i was saying : http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/11/1...a-update-2016/ First only 25 % of people who even use the internet , use twitter( more people use pinterest than twitter ). So there is that. Age 18-29 36%, age 30- 49 ( much larger range of age by 8 years) 23 % . Now thats a difference of 13 % but also a much larger number of years for the second group to get it to a 13 % difference. The poll Rex did on twitter( where your getting your votes from based on numbers above only) is currently is a 22% difference and again that is based just off twitter users really.I honestly believe its closer than people give it credit for how many want sim football over competitive.But from what i can tell that debate is normally used polls like this to " prove " that point when in reality , there are alot of middle aged people , who have played madden for decades, who dont use twitter , or even facebook for that matter.So there is a higher chance , there are alot more people who feel that way, not speaking in these outlets than we see in polls like this. Thus the game will be shaped based off something not truely showing the true demographic of people who play the game. I do believe there are less who want sim, but its not the 10% ( sim )- 90%( competitive) people try to act like it is , is all im saying.

No doubt about it. Personally I think Rex knows this. And tries to sell it to EA. At least that's what I got in that interview a few months back


Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[cable guy]

Quote: Originally Posted by CM Hooe

The vast majority of Madden NFL's gameplay modes are competitive and multiplayer in focus - Ultimate Team, Salary Cap Ranked within Ultimate Team, Draft Champions, standalone online head-to-head, multiplayer online Connected Franchise - so focusing on the competitive experience is going to be the thing that benefits the greatest number of people across the greatest number of gameplay modes. Madden is a human-vs-human competitive game now, and honestly it has been that way since online play was added in 2002. Online play is a BIG reason as to why the game exploded in popularity on PS2. That said, it's also not exactly the case that any competitive features or balancing will not benefit the user vs CPU experience. Any new mechanics with a competitive focus will still be functional against the CPU, and if how the CPU ballcarrier AI revamp from M17 was handled is any indication the CPU won't exactly go untouched year-over-year either. CPU RBs could be downright nasty at times in M17. Finally, competitive people play Madden because it is a video game experience set in an authentic football scenario so "sim" isn't an endangered species whatsoever. Competitive guys want agency over the game's outcome, sure, but they also want to see things happen in the bounds of reality as well. There's a reason they didn't flock back to NFL Blitz when EA relaunched it; they don't want over-the-top ridiculousness. They want a competitive experience bound in the reality of authentic NFL football. Stuff like player warping, bad blocking AI (especially when using slide protection or pass block hot routes), and other unpredictable and/or unrealistic things are absolutely in their wheelhouse of concerns.

Great post man, I agree 100%.

They just separated the game into 3 different modes. Whether it lives up to our expectations, it was addressed. Plain and simple. They listened, and acted. Hopefully it's what we want. I'm optimistic.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk