lets be real here is Madden Anti-consumer???

[4thQtrStre5S]

That opening statement was difficult to read.

[simbayless]

No bashing Madden but I want Madden to go back to its glory days [ps2 era}

[cquigley]

As a consumer who mainly plays for offline franchise I hate the lack of innovation in franchise. There's a lot of things that I want that just haven't come.

That said, as someone that works in business I get why they focus so much on the MUT modes. Yeah they might miss out on our 60 but if they don't give the MUT players what they want then they will be missing out on a lot more money with them.

I honestly would be happier if they just gave us basically a roster update one year and spent a two year cycle giving us a lot more in franchise. 2K released a lot of info for their changes to their franchise mode and it sounds amazing. If Madden took 2 years to make that many changes I'd be happier than the minimal changes we get currently.

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[scitychamps87]

I would not say they're anti-consumer, however I would say they are a strategy first company that makes decisions very cautiously around that strategy, especially with their cash cows like Madden. The consumer is still a priority, but I think EA's own goals remain the top priority.

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[rdawsoniii]

People have been clamoring for the return of create-a-team for years. Absolutely no excuse not to have it.

I haven’t purchased Madden since 11. Used to buy it on pc every year back in the day. Hated that I couldn’t give players on classic teams their correct numbers, because EA wouldn’t let you override the NFL’s number rules. Which I thought was stupid.

[4thQtrStre5S]

EA is far from being anti-consumer. Just because a particular part of a product is not up to someone's desires it does not make the company bad.

MUT has created a lot of money, yes. Making a profit is why businesses are started. MUT offers a lot to players. Competitive matches, which may not be everyone's desire, are generally what the majority of people want. A mode like MUT salary cap allows people to build teams, manage rosters and compete on an even field in a very efficient system. CFM offers competitive play if you can find the right people to run leagues and participate consistently within a league.

MUT offers many of the aspects of a CFM but the portions of the work to run and maintain a system are handled by EA employees. The money from MUT allows for tournaments to be created; allows for televised games to be seen by fans. These championships held by EA can make people famous. There is actually a legit reason to play a video game at an intense level because someone can make money at playing a game.

EA does profit off the MUT money maker, but they give back to the consumer by supplying the platform to compete and win on a large level.

[edgevoice]

EA/Madden is not anti-consumer. That makes no sense. They are in business to sell their product so that would obviously be counter-productive. However, we all know that competition helps breed excellence and the fact that the NFL likes exclusive licensing deals, we have but one NFL game to play. The days of 989 sports, Sony, 2K or any other company competing is just not worth discussing any longer because unless the NFL and the players association both sign off on it, it ain't gonna happen.

Madden is a game that has to appeal to the masses. They must cater to both the offline and online gamer as well as players of all ages. They also have the pressure to release a game yearly, while adding new features so as not to be accused of simply being a roster update.

When Madden went in a completely different direction with M13, I did not buy the game until M17 was released. Roster editing was returned and zone defenses were improved tremendously. Since then, it appears that they are trying to focus more on core elements of the game, although far more slowly for my liking.

The biggest mistake EA made, when they knew they were moving to Frostbite, was to invest time and effort into Longshot. They blew the opportunity to take that time to clean up gameplay and seriously look at CPU AI coaching, playcalling and gameplanning. To be fair, they did clean up some of the legacy issues plaguing this series. Longshot could have been added after that was accomplished.

If I were in charge of the future direction of Madden, I would have done what Josh Looman did for Madden 12. I would have said "We aren't going to add a bunch of new features this year folks, rather we are going to take this time to clean this game up and then build upon a more solid foundation." I believe most consumers would have appreciated the honesty and transparency of that direction. Programming football gameplay with 22 players interacting is a monumental task. We all need to keep that in mind while we complain.

It's nice to talk about a 3 or 5 year plan. However, in order to do that, it's best to fix the foundation before you start adding on additions. That way, every consumer-type would have reaped the benefits.

[boxboy99]

Quote: Originally Posted by mmorg

After reading the 2k blog I can't help but feel sick to my stomach that CFM is what we have to deal with in the ONLY football game on the market.

I just read the blog. Wow, I think 2k added more to franchise in this cycle than Madden has since moving to last gen in 06. I skipped 2K the last couple years but I'm on board this year. I hope Madden takes notice on franchise.

I wouldn't say they are anti-consumer though, they just have all their eggs in MUT. Sadly, I love franchise and played way way more MUT than franchise last year because I get bored playing the CPU in Madden. One day of EA access and I already has the same feeling for M19. I feel like Madden has always been made for head to head gaming.