How many have already stopped playing m18?

[Thunderhorse]

Quote: Originally Posted by Armor and Sword

The single player experience is sub par against the CPU compared to 2K18 and The Show 17 (and probably FIFA and NHL if I would dare to say so). And therein lies the issue. And I have said it before. Times have changed. We are dinosaurs and EA focus’s on MUT and online competitive play have put us on the back burner. Overhauling core CPU AI is not a priority.

I honestly believe part of the reason 2K is so balanced and fundamentally sound is because of the time they've spent on the online portion of their game.

Pro-AM is a big deal, and with 189 different types of players that have different animation combinations and unique abilities, there tons of animations that need to be taken into account and balanced to illustrate a convincing basketball game. They do this in a such a smart way by rewarding players for what they are doing off ball. What some guys do off ball is more important than what they can do with the ball, and the game grades them accordingly. There are mechanics within that product (2K18) that are measurable, consistent, and balanced. You know you're playing basketball because the game's feedback is actively taking everything you do into account and grading you.

Madden is very poor in this regard and follows a very casual perspective of the sport. I saw an interview with Ray Lewis and Colin Cowheard the other day where Lewis was joking about not liking most offensive players. He pointed out that defenders have to "take" everything and receive very little credit for some of the most important work they do.

Madden is the type of game that fails to reward a linebacker for stuffing the fullback in the A gap on an Iso play because it doesn't know what that means or why that is important.

[Aestis]

I can sympathize with the AI QB crowd of folks who like playing in solo CFMs. I have no experience with this so I'll take them at their word.

I can say my experience, for all of M18's warts, ultimately mirrors CM Hoe. M18 is the best playing H2H experience I've seen in the series to date. It's got issues, but overall the gameplay is a step forward from prior versions in User v User games. 100% of my Madden experience is in a realism-focused 32-man CFM with pretty competitive users at this point. Requires some slider fu to get there, and all the typical frustrations about attributes & what do they do, insufficiency of slider impact, etc are all still there.

Still, Madden 18 is the overall best & most balanced gameplay we've seen yet in the series.

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by Aestis

I can sympathize with the AI QB crowd of folks who like playing in solo CFMs. I have no experience with this so I'll take them at their word. I can say my experience, for all of M18's warts, ultimately mirrors CM Hoe. M18 is the best playing H2H experience I've seen in the series to date. It's got issues, but overall the gameplay is a step forward from prior versions in User v User games. 100% of my Madden experience is in a realism-focused 32-man CFM with pretty competitive users at this point. Requires some slider fu to get there, and all the typical frustrations about attributes & what do they do, insufficiency of slider impact, etc are all still there. Still, Madden 18 is the overall best & most balanced gameplay we've seen yet in the series.

Actually, that is the consensus of most of Twitter since the last title update dropped last week.

Unfortunately, that is the largest market in gaming currently.

We can hope that the bashing that 2k did indirectly at Madden, the hiring in CFM, the DueceDouglas, Triplechins and Majesty's and Shopmasters diligence for CFM and the recent discussion of CFM will only help enhance what CFM is lacking horribly.

The only thing I am displeased with the CPU QB AI is not throwing away or taking off with or w/o a rush coming at them. I'm waiting for the next title update to see what's in store for that area.

I don't have issues with completion percentages or robo QB's anymore, if you will.

There is more that needs to be enhanced with game play, too, besides CFM. Penalties and the challenge system has been huge gripes by me over the years and at least, Clint is acknowledging they need to be fixed and now it's time for them to act on it.

Blocking downfield needs to be much better and my number one major gripe overall is the lack of intelligence by the CPU AI, especially play calling. Please go out and get an impressive play calling system that has variances in play calls for down and distance and eliminate what there is now.

The issues fixed above would be good for Madden 19.

Let's face it, the majority of priority, resources and timing went into frostbite and Longshot.

By all accounts, there should be more freeing up for priorities, sources and timing for Madden 19.

[Aestis]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

Actually, that is the consensus of most of Twitter since the last title update dropped last week. Unfortunately, that is the largest market in gaming currently. We can hope that the bashing that 2k did indirectly at Madden, the hiring in CFM, the DueceDouglas, Triplechins and Majesty's and Shopmasters diligence for CFM and the recent discussion of CFM will only help enhance what CFM is lacking horribly. The only thing I am displeased with the CPU QB AI is not throwing away or taking off with or w/o a rush coming at them. I'm waiting for the next title update to see what's in store for that area. I don't have issues with completion percentages or robo QB's anymore, if you will. There is more that needs to be enhanced with game play, too, besides CFM. Penalties and the challenge system has been huge gripes by me over the years and at least, Clint is acknowledging they need to be fixed and now it's time for them to act on it. Blocking downfield needs to be much better and my number one major gripe overall is the lack of intelligence by the CPU AI, especially play calling. Please go out and get an impressive play calling system that has variances in play calls for down and distance and eliminate what there is now. The issues fixed above would be good for Madden 19. Let's face it, the majority of priority, resources and timing went into frostbite and Longshot. By all accounts, there should be more freeing up for priorities, sources and timing for Madden 19.

I'll add off man coverage to the list of "broken" features. Off man + outside alignment should take away corner routes damn near 100% of the time. Off man + inside alignment should take away post routes damn near 100% of the time. Interior pass rush is still not very realistic. OL blocking is still something that likely needs a complete overhaul at this point.

That kind of thing.

The issues are all there, of course, but they're too easy to get bogged down in & miss the forest for the trees. As a whole, the game plays more realistically than any previous Madden. As someone who has spent more time examining league metrics & studying both Madden & NFL gameplay to try to provide our league with the most realistic slider/balance that Madden can achieve in a given year, I don't even think there's a valid argument to the contrary.

[howboutdat]

Quote: Originally Posted by Aestis

The issues are all there, of course, but they're too easy to get bogged down in & miss the forest for the trees. As a whole, the game plays more realistically than any previous MaddenAs someone who has spent more time examining league metrics & studying both Madden & NFL gameplay to try to provide our league with the most realistic slider/balance that Madden can achieve in a given year, I don't even think there's a valid argument to the contrary.

well , id say its odd to say that,when this is literally the most ive seen people ready to totally give up on madden all together because of the game. i mean if its that good, seems that would not be the case. Alot of people are ready to walk away from madden for good after this year and its a statement that alot of people ( not just on OS or Twitter ) are stating. So i guess if the gameplay is that grand, seems rather odd to be hearing that statement so much.

[Aestis]

Quote: Originally Posted by howboutdat

well , id say its odd to say that,when this is literally the most ive seen people ready to totally give up on madden all together because of the game. i mean if its that good, seems that would not be the case. Alot of people are ready to walk away from madden for good after this year and its a statement that alot of people ( not just on OS or Twitter ) are stating. So i guess if the gameplay is that grand, seems rather odd to be hearing that statement so much.

People can decide for themselves how good/grand it is. If someone gets tired of legacy issues that still exist, for instance, that might burn people out. But by definition those kinds of issues existed previously. A lot of folks on this forum specifically play vs the CPU and are frustrated by the AI: fair enough, as I said previously I have no comment & limited experience on this one. And a third reason of what I'm sure are a variety of reasons why people may stop playing: franchise features went largely untouched this year, angering some and disappointing others.

But I stick to my original, specific assertion: the pure gameplay in User v User games is the most realistic version of Madden we've seen yet.

I've also been around the block enough times in previous games with iterative titles to know that existing user bases on forums that have been around a while tend to inflate how many people are actually "leaving." It's possible the Madden population on OperationSports is dwindling, I don't have those numbers handy (do you?). But OS is just one small slice of pie in a big dessert.

One unnamed FPS franchise I won't mention to avoid dating myself, in retrospect the 2nd game of a 3-4 game franchise is now seen by most who played it as the best version of the series. But for a while after it came out, to read the hardcore forums of the first game, it was hated, it was a travesty, everybody was quitting it and going back to the first game! But in reality, sales numbers of the 2nd game dwarfed the 1st, and history among many of its players now generally remembers it as a classic and the pinnacle of the franchise.

People get burnt out, plain & simple. Madden doesn't change in huge ways each year, one of the costs of an annual release cycle. People who were already getting burnt out on M17 are going to be even more likely to burn out in M18. Some will come back fresh in 2-3 years and find enjoyment in Madden again at that point in time. I read a bunch of negative crap about M15, M16, and M17 on this forum. Not saying it was baseless negativity, there are PLENTY of fair criticisms of Madden. But a lot of negativity here every cycle. M18 doesn't feel any different to me. I just think people get very emotionally tied to it and have trouble disconnecting from that.

EDIT: For what it's worth, not only have we had zero trouble staying at 32 in our online league, this is by far the longest wait list we've maintained since our group originated back in M15. It's been hovering around 10 for a while now, and I think I only made one recruiting post back in ~mid August. Last year our wait list hovered around 2-4. Our league turnover is at an all-time low thus far in M18. I'm not saying this proves or disproves anything, just presenting the idea that there's more than one way to stick your finger in the air and measure the wind.

[King Gro23]

Well honestly I did a lot of work with sliders and rosters inside a CFM I pretty much made a universal CFM with scheme edits Auto subs for all 32 teams formation Subs and positional trait edits I then stemmed off and created a player a cornerback for the New Orleans Saints and I have played eight games and honestly all a games were Beyond spectacular as far as gameplay goes from beginning whistle to ending whistle. It was only a few instances where something wonky happened one or two 15-yard punts. The stats are phenomenal and all that literally probably the best eight games I've played since original generation gaming dating back to Madden 07 in earlier. It's sad to say that those a games have probably been the best games I've played of the Madden Series in the past 10 plus years and even with that being said and all the work that I did to put the game in a more enjoyable manner. I have not played Madden since the last week of September. There just isn't enough about the game that leaves me wanting more they really need to get some basic things down and greatly expand on their level of detail and I do not mean graphically.

Sent from my VS987 using Operation Sports mobile app

[howboutdat]

Quote: Originally Posted by Aestis

EDIT: For what it's worth, not only have we had zero trouble staying at 32 in our online league, this is by far the longest wait list we've maintained since our group originated back in M15. It's been hovering around 10 for a while now, and I think I only made one recruiting post back in ~mid August. Last year our wait list hovered around 2-4. Our league turnover is at an all-time low thus far in M18. I'm not saying this proves or disproves anything, just presenting the idea that there's more than one way to stick your finger in the air and measure the wind.

Thats cool, im in numerous dif chats with alot of online commish's and this year , there are alot more having the opposite issue that your having.... so again agree to disagree. Ive run our league since madden 12 year round, a few guys left madden for good last year, numerous are talking about it now in the league, guys thats been around since 12 but just fed up with EA tiburon and what they are producing. Then i talk to numerous other commishes who are saying they are seeing the same things .... Again im not just talking about on OS.

If you think its best madden ever, glad you can enjoy it like that. I can not over look lack of physics in a game that is based alot on physics personally. On top of a whole list of other things.