In depth Interview by Kat Bailey with Creative Director Mike Young on Longshot

[DeuceDouglas]

Quote: Originally Posted by OhMrHanky

From everything I hear here and there. I understand wanting to pull in new users from wherever I can. But, first things first. Understand your product. You represent a FOOTBALL game. As such, u should be marketing to football fans, both hardcore and casual. U should be including selling items such as 'the most realistic simulation of football ever.

This isn't how they think though. They want all their games to be like Call of Duty with a ton of people playing them. Doesn't matter if it's a football game, basketball game, or whatever. The higher ups and marketing all treat them the same. It's not hard at all to tell where their focus is and who their target audience is. You look at their conference yesterday and it was just littered with "community influencers" aka YouTubers with a large following because that is the audience who they're targeting. They know if you're a football fan, you're likely going to buy Madden anyway, if you're a Star Wars fan you're going to buy Star Wars anyway, etc. They don't really care or need to care about marketing to that market because they likely already know they've got your purchase so there's no point in marketing to them.

They want Joe or Jen Schmo who's never played Madden or Star Wars or Need For Speed to see the guy or girl they and thousands of others watch on YouTube and think "hey, they're associated with the game I think I'll try it out." And they know if they start talking about off-ball injuries or the intricacies of the cover 3, those people aren't even going to consider buying it. It isn't right or wrong, it's just the way it is and I don't see it changing anytime soon.

[OhMrHanky]

Quote: Originally Posted by BlackBetty15

I hear ya Hanky...really do...however the market and trends are pointing elsewhere and this team is trying...as they should...to stand out in the market. The game of Madden isn't enough anymore. What makes Fallout a great game? It's because it's a game within a fame that keeps you engaged throughout the entire campaign and long after you beat it. What's wrong with Madden attempting to innovate and build a similar experience? I look at it as a nice break from the CFM mode. Hope this made some sense, but in short...playing a football game is not gonna cut anymore I feel. The experience is everything. Living out a fully fledged out RPG experience of grinding from zero to hero is what we can all identify with and that's what's being attempted...creating an emotional tie to Madden to the point where it never gets shelved due to boredom. The RE biohazard game wasn't the best ever...but the way it captured the emotional drama is what made that memorable

Yeah, I hear u, and understand the deal, too. I get where they're coming from. I just looked up a quick look to see madden sales. In the list I found on gamespot for 2016, madden was 5th overall for the year. I think that's already pretty good. Lol. And, while I understand always trying harder for #1, and for that, they have to attract non-football heads or something, as I've said, I think their entire marketing division is a waste. Lol. Simply, because they have the football game, it sells every year. It's top 5. Mixed with the money they get from MUT, this has to be the absolute cash cow for EA, in general, already. There simply isn't enough 'market' available for them to achieve. Lol. This, again, is where I have the issue. The money they're wasting on this could've been put into CFM with all sorts of bells and whistles. That could've just as easily pulled in new people. And, I could certainly be proven wrong, we'll see the numbers next year, I guess, lol, but I just don't see this attracting enough people to be worth it. And, ultimately starts to get into a philosophical discussion with marketing, capitalism, etc. This notion that 'we have to have more. We need more customers. We only made $5 million profits off madden last year, we need to make $5.1 million this year to compete.' Lol. U know? And, I'll leave that discussion there, as I say, because it starts to get political/philosophical for me. But, specifically related to madden or any other sports games, there should always be an onus on the franchise mode, and/or career mode if those are separate. The other sports games understand this. Why does madden not?

All the money and resources going to a somewhat 'throw away' game mode, I'd call it could've gone to blowing CFM out. And, I'm not talking about making it more sim, honestly. Some of the simheads will bark at me for saying this. . Lol. But, I'm specifically NOT talking about 'add head coaches,' 'add strategy,' in this vein. Im ok with that stuff and want some of it, too. But, let's be honest, the story mode is mostly superficial, right? With some game learning, I'm sure. But, it's largely superficial. And, probably cost a lot of money. Lol. I'm saying to put that superficial stuff into CFM to blow it out properly. Along with that, add the sim stuff as well. But, as I've said, I want that weekly wrap show. That type of CGI stuff is what EA is selling to new users. So, ok, let's put that in CFM. Let's have your own created player with your picture scanned in become drafted and seen on the weekly wrap up show with different ESPN anchors every week. Let's see how his career goes filled with amazing highlights from your own CFM or from dynamically generated simmed games. Throw in some sob story about your dead father and a best friend, and hey, we got a story mode inside CFM. Lol.

I mean, seriously, in the end, there's so much potential there. And, I disagree on the RPG stuff. Yes, that is something that is good, it's something that works in games like Destiny. I play that damn game every day! . But, as I've said, madden was a top 5 selling game last year. Why do they now need an RPG element? It's a sports game. It's always going to sell. It's always going to make money. Because, people love sports. Americans love football. That's it. Honestly, if they completely got rid of their marketing team right now, they would still be a top 5 game. So, again, for me, there's no reason for this. And, the more they neglect their base, the more yearly customers they lose. And, the more the game stops resembling the sport of football, no one will buy it. Lol.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Junior Moe]

Quote: Originally Posted by OhMrHanky

Yeah, I hear u, and understand the deal, too. I get where they're coming from. I just looked up a quick look to see madden sales. In the list I found on gamespot for 2016, madden was 5th overall for the year. I think that's already pretty good. Lol. And, while I understand always trying harder for #1, and for that, they have to attract non-football heads or something, as I've said, I think their entire marketing division is a waste. Lol. Simply, because they have the football game, it sells every year. It's top 5. Mixed with the money they get from MUT, this has to be the absolute cash cow for EA, in general, already. There simply isn't enough 'market' available for them to achieve. Lol. This, again, is where I have the issue. The money they're wasting on this could've been put into CFM with all sorts of bells and whistles. That could've just as easily pulled in new people. And, I could certainly be proven wrong, we'll see the numbers next year, I guess, lol, but I just don't see this attracting enough people to be worth it. And, ultimately starts to get into a philosophical discussion with marketing, capitalism, etc. This notion that 'we have to have more. We need more customers. We only made $5 million profits off madden last year, we need to make $5.1 million this year to compete.' Lol. U know? And, I'll leave that discussion there, as I say, because it starts to get political/philosophical for me. But, specifically related to madden or any other sports games, there should always be an onus on the franchise mode, and/or career mode if those are separate. The other sports games understand this. Why does madden not? All the money and resources going to a somewhat 'throw away' game mode, I'd call it could've gone to blowing CFM out. And, I'm not talking about making it more sim, honestly. Some of the simheads will bark at me for saying this. . Lol. But, I'm specifically NOT talking about 'add head coaches,' 'add strategy,' in this vein. Im ok with that stuff and want some of it, too. But, let's be honest, the story mode is mostly superficial, right? With some game learning, I'm sure. But, it's largely superficial. And, probably cost a lot of money. Lol. I'm saying to put that superficial stuff into CFM to blow it out properly. Along with that, add the sim stuff as well. But, as I've said, I want that weekly wrap show. That type of CGI stuff is what EA is selling to new users. So, ok, let's put that in CFM. Let's have your own created player with your picture scanned in become drafted and seen on the weekly wrap up show with different ESPN anchors every week. Let's see how his career goes filled with amazing highlights from your own CFM or from dynamically generated simmed games. Throw in some sob story about your dead father and a best friend, and hey, we got a story mode inside CFM. Lol. I mean, seriously, in the end, there's so much potential there. And, I disagree on the RPG stuff. Yes, that is something that is good, it's something that works in games like Destiny. I play that damn game every day! . But, as I've said, madden was a top 5 selling game last year. Why do they now need an RPG element? It's a sports game. It's always going to sell. It's always going to make money. Because, people love sports. Americans love football. That's it. Honestly, if they completely got rid of their marketing team right now, they would still be a top 5 game. So, again, for me, there's no reason for this. And, the more they neglect their base, the more yearly customers they lose. And, the more the game stops resembling the sport of football, no one will buy it. Lol. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I empathize with you man. I gave up any expectation of CFM last year and I'm glad I did. I once believed that eventually CFM awould resemble NFL Head Coach. That it would marry great Madden gameplay (i do consider it very close to that) and a robust franchise mode. It's obvious that it will not judging from the devs words and just what CFM is now. That's ok. I see the trends and EA isn't necessarily wrong with their direction. I just get my franchise fill from 2K and The Show and move on. 2K is facing the same thing as Madden yet and still they deliver. I seriously do not care anymore if they add anything to CFM. I'm gonna play the game and enjoy the story mode then it'll hit the shelf until around the Super Bowl.

[TMJOHNS18]

I'm going to try it, but I have the same feeling as many others in this thread and can't think it's a bit of wasted resources.

Although I never played the FIFA version, the idea of waiting a year for each chapter seems a bit much. I know it takes resources and time to create the content, but with minimal user input I can't see the lasting appeal, especially if users can complete in a short time.

After hearing that the mode ends at the draft, that you will not play any NFL games, makes me feel like they wasted even more resources. Not because the story doesn't continue into the NFL, but that they could have made this a 'Superstar Prelude' chapter, and not a standalone story.

Take out the 'drama', take out the 'cliches', and take us on that journey from final college game-->senior bowl-->combine-->draft. When we get drafted, Superstar mode begins. Your performance dictates draft position and potential.

Don't want to do all that? You can skip and choose the regular draft position choices.

[iFnotWhyNoT]

If the story ends with the guy getting signed to a team, couldn't they possibly end Longshot with a screen asking if the user would like to take control of the player in a player cfm? Whats the harm in that? Only problem I see is I doubt people would continue it without the story element they've become accustomed to.

[King_B_Mack]

Quote: Originally Posted by iFnotWhyNoT

If the story ends with the guy getting signed to a team, couldn't they possibly end Longshot with a screen asking if the user would like to take control of the player in a player cfm? Whats the harm in that? Only problem I see is I doubt people would continue it without the story element they've become accustomed to.

I'm hoping that's the way it ends. My gripe with player CFM all these years was having no draft process and just picking whatever team you wanted. Takes some of the immersion out of the experience.

[primo_80]

I read it. I was just going to call it a gimmick or try to be the first to predict it will be a dud but I'll try to stop short of that. It wouldn't be fair to call for anyone's job because I'm sure it will be very high quality. And there are a lot of things you just have to accept about the state of video game football today.

It is interesting in some ways, from a multimedia consumer's perspective. Looking back at the football game landscape in 2005, this wasn't something I could have guessed would get green lit (or that anyone wanted), but today it isn't a surprise. It made me wonder if there are such limitations to the construction of the game (pad-less players, high school players), or that there are such diminished returns on man hour investments to core gameplay, that creating a story mode became a logical addition.

It will be impressive technically, but I think it will be an important fork in the road iteration of madden. Is it adding a story mode just hoping to tell more stories in the future? Or is it wanting to expand it's reach by laying a foundation with these novelties like game play without pads, high school, drills, etc. I'm afraid it's the former and I also have the opinion that big additions like this should be icing on a much better cake and not an obligatory answer to an industry trend.

Overall, I think it's a step in the wrong direction. Madden is an nfl licensed product that is more interested in selling its licensor's product, the players, the individuals, than it is about really anything regarding team building or strategy creation. That is just an observation. I mean, why not include a single player story mode when the emphasis is on the individual?

[primo_80]

Quote: Originally Posted by TMJOHNS18

I'm going to try it, but I have the same feeling as many others in this thread and can't think it's a bit of wasted resources. Although I never played the FIFA version, the idea of waiting a year for each chapter seems a bit much. I know it takes resources and time to create the content, but with minimal user input I can't see the lasting appeal, especially if users can complete in a short time. After hearing that the mode ends at the draft, that you will not play any NFL games, makes me feel like they wasted even more resources. Not because the story doesn't continue into the NFL, but that they could have made this a 'Superstar Prelude' chapter, and not a standalone story. Take out the 'drama', take out the 'cliches', and take us on that journey from final college game-->senior bowl-->combine-->draft. When we get drafted, Superstar mode begins. Your performance dictates draft position and potential. Don't want to do all that? You can skip and choose the regular draft position choices.

From his heavy rain inspiration and the time they put into it, it seems like they are aiming for a technological achievement and a relatable or dramatic experience. Madden certainly hasn't had many story components and- I do agree it looks like wasted resources- I also think it's picking low hanging fruit to create a self contained mode to create drama inside a framework absent of it.