Rex Dickson Leaves EA Tiburon and the Madden Team

[JoshC1977]

I'm going to put a different spin on things. Regardless of whether Rex had stayed or not, there are two major issues facing the "sim franchise" community.

One is that other game modes will be diverting resources from Franchise. This is the MUT focus that everyone seems to grab onto when complaining about franchise mode improvements. This isn't incorrect; if more and more resources are poured into MUT (and to a lesser degree, Longshot), fewer may be spent on franchise. From a financial perspective, it makes total sense; we've already been run over by that train.

My MUCH bigger concern is the heavier focus on competitive gaming. While I applaud Madden for attempting to create different modes for sim vs comp, we learned in year 1 of that venture that it isn't enough due to how the game is built. Gameplay mechanics, animation packages and so on are shared among the modes (and from the sound of things, cannot be easily separated). My understanding is that aside from penalty/fatigue tuning, the only major difference is how player ratings play out under-the-hood (use of rating deltas for sim vs ratings thresholds for comp). The comp audience is incredibly vocal on social media and EA has invested a lot of financial resources to try to make this a growth industry for them; they are going to be listened to. Unless something changes this year, it means that comp players will beg and plead for things they want and because many of the game's modules are shared among the modes, it is going to directly impact sim players (the absence of defensive holding calls in M18 is a result of gameplay adjustments made for the comp audience). I'm very concerned that this will lead us down a path where player ratings will mean less and less in-game, and if that happens, the whole point of playing franchise (team building) will be lost.

I hope that Rex's replacement will understand this and not allow it to happen.

[4thQtrStre5S]

The competitive mode is the future..The money is there..Disney is there. Tournaments with cash prizes which should continue to increase in rewards and attract competitors.

How can Franchise/CFM be monetized? I am considering that CFM may have to lead to MUT in some way..There needs to be connecting factors. Longshot provided MUT player, stadium and coach cards (I played Longshot to try it, of course, and for the cards). The cards need upgrade abilities.

If MUT is "X" million dollars. If Longshot brings in new consumers. How much is Franchise/CFM contributing to revenue and how can its cost of resources be covered?

Obviously Franchise has value. The big goal is increasing value...Will investing in a more in-depth Franchise mode justify the cost ? I believe so...But I do not have the numbers. I would be interested in seeing the breakdown, by mode, as to their contributing factor in overall revenue generation. If MUT generates ~ $600 million where is the rest at?

Also, what does MUT cost in relation to CFM/Franchise? From what I see, the Franchise mode, story mode, the single player mode is what critics focus on, a good bit, when they grade games. So the influence on sales from good revues needs to be weighted.

[Quentin32]

I did a Daniel Bryan when I heard the news

if only for a glimmer of hope

i know he was only like 5% of the problem but I just need something to cling to. I haven’t played Madden in 3 years

[roadman]

I don't even consider Rex part of the problem/issue because when he initially was hired, he was a champion for sim and the sim community and he did move the needle in that direction. (not far enough for a lot of us, but see below)

However, we know sim wasn't sexy to the suits and higher ups who have business and marketing degrees vs in the NFL football trenches degrees.

As a community, we need to keep addressing the needs of the sim community, no matter who the replacement is.

Selfishly, I wouldn't mind Clint to take a stab at it, but I feel at this point, it doesn't matter who sit's in the CD seat.

[SageInfinite]

The suits and higher ups are just clueless man. Probably some of the same guys saying linear single player story driven games aren't popular anymore, yet God Of War is selling through the roof. SMH.

If you do something right and it's done well, most of the time it will yield the proper results. You can't half-*** something and then say, well people don't want that, it's not gonna work.

[4thQtrStre5S]

Quote: Originally Posted by SageInfinite

The suits and higher ups are just clueless man. Probably some of the same guys saying linear single player story driven games aren't popular anymore, yet God Of War is selling through the roof. SMH. If you do something right and it's done well, most of the time it will yield the proper results. You can't half-*** something and then say, well people don't want that, it's not gonna work.

I agree that God of War is popular right now..But GTA V has been popular for 5 years.

The content that can be sold in game is almost never ending. There is an endless amount of cosmetic sales available at the company's discretion, for example.

[JoshC1977]

Quote: Originally Posted by 4thQtrStre5S

The competitive mode is the future..The money is there..Disney is there. Tournaments with cash prizes which should continue to increase in rewards and attract competitors.

Competitive gaming is a "real" thing, no doubt about it.

I've gotten sucked into watching some competitive gaming events on Twitch and some of them can be quite exciting (I remember spending one afternoon being mesmerized watching an Injustice 2 tourney).

Here's the thing....there is no real-life version of Batman fighting Superman. There is no real-life version of people running around in a fantasy world fighting each other. For most games, the game itself is the 'gold standard'....there is nothing to compare it to.

Sports games...umm...well, there ARE real versions of those competitions. The virtual versions will always be compared to real-life and I have to wonder how many viewers will tune-in once and go, "What's the point? I'd rather watch the real thing." If a wonky gameplay flaw pops-up, it will be a far more scrutinized issue because there is something real to compare it to.

And this is exactly what makes me nervous for Madden. The closer the comp events get to real life, I think the less likely they will be to succeed because again, "Why not just watch the real thing?". So, if that happens, what is the draw? What is going to separate real-life from this fantasy world? What will be done to quell those comparisons? It's going to come down to the guys on the sticks (who are only on-screen a small percentage of time and lack the gravitas of real athletes) or the gameplay.

Pulling the gameplay further away from reality to the point where it doesn't really resemble the NFL is probably the one way it will ever become a legit competitive event on par with other video game events. I could be totally wrong here and maybe audiences will demand more "realistic" gameplay during the events and force EA to change the "meta". How the Madden team (minus Rex) deals with this is going to be an interesting story to watch.

[4thQtrStre5S]

Quote: Originally Posted by JoshC1977

Competitive gaming is a "real" thing, no doubt about it. I've gotten sucked into watching some competitive gaming events on Twitch and some of them can be quite exciting (I remember spending one afternoon being mesmerized watching an Injustice 2 tourney). Here's the thing....there is no real-life version of Batman fighting Superman. There is no real-life version of people running around in a fantasy world fighting each other. For most games, the game itself is the 'gold standard'....there is nothing to compare it to. Sports games...umm...well, there ARE real versions of those competitions. The virtual versions will always be compared to real-life and I have to wonder how many viewers will tune-in once and go, "What's the point? I'd rather watch the real thing." If a wonky gameplay flaw pops-up, it will be a far more scrutinized issue because there is something real to compare it to. And this is exactly what makes me nervous for Madden. The closer the comp events get to real life, I think the less likely they will be to succeed because again, "Why not just watch the real thing?". So, if that happens, what is the draw? What is going to separate real-life from this fantasy world? What will be done to quell those comparisons? It's going to come down to the guys on the sticks (who are only on-screen a small percentage of time and lack the gravitas of real athletes) or the gameplay. Pulling the gameplay further away from reality to the point where it doesn't really resemble the NFL is probably the one way it will ever become a legit competitive event on par with other video game events. I could be totally wrong here and maybe audiences will demand more "realistic" gameplay during the events and force EA to change the "meta". How the Madden team (minus Rex) deals with this is going to be an interesting story to watch.

I agree. The game mechanics; the animations; the game play, has to be clean.

As for reality; I know NFL players such as Ha HA Clinton-Dix and DJ Swearinger, for example, play the game. It would be a great publicity boost to get them to play a match. Having real NFL players face off; or even having rookies match up against each other would be huge for promoting the game. Yes?

I think fans of football and fans of competition will see Madden events as a legitimate competition. In some cases it may even attract a larger age demographic. First Person Shooters, for example, may not appeal to older individuals because they are definitely games. They may not recognize the strategy.

But football, as a sport, gives legitimacy to the video game..The strategy within football in real life can be transferred, in the viewers mind, to the game version; like an extension of real life. The announcers during the tournaments is a nice addition to realism.

Adding real NFL players as guest game commentators would be beneficial. There can be any number of ways to market and expand the game as a competitive spectator sport. Would also be key to expanding marketing of both sports to other countries like Japan and China.

Let the people know that, yes this is a game, but it is a game that the pros love. If they love it, it must be good. This connection is huge in marketing the legitimacy of a product: "The Pros play it" or the "Pros use it." Classic ...