Madden NFL 20 Beta Impressions, Post Your Weekend Thoughts

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by PhillyPhanatic14

Thanks for that. I think i might have the wrong page but i remember reading that over the weekend now that you mention it. On a different note, I wonder what they meant by more polished and smoother. Game already felt very polished and smooth so that sounds pretty sweet.

I agree with that assessment.

[T4VERTS]

Quote: Originally Posted by PhillyPhanatic14

The scenario engine as promised seems to not be there. Right now it's technically in but it's hiding in the shadows pretending to be there but not making any true impact. The contract thing says "We’ve taken a meticulous pass on existing player contracts to ensure they match the NFL" and that's just a lie based on the beta. No frontloading/backloading in existing contracts. No 5th year options. No guaranteed/non-guaranteed $ in existing contracts. No player options or team options in existing contracts. No incentives in contracts or per game bonuses. None of that is in so the contracts in no way match the NFL unless they are talking about the most basic terms of the bottomline $ figure on the deals, which would be a joke because hardly any player ever plays out their deal as is without an extension or getting cut when the guaranteed money is done paying out.

To the first point, I think we will know more at release because QB1 is so tied into the scenario engine from my understanding. I think there will be more to it, just tough to know what for now.

The term "lie" is a big accusation. I think the issue is people misconstrued what they said into what they wanted to hear. If you looked at all the players in games contracts they went through and made sure they were all correct, "ensuring they match the NFL". Year over year current players deals will impact the cap correctly.

They never said they rebuilt how they were created. In fact that isn't even feasible in the current contract structure. They will need to rip it all down and rebuild it, which there are discussions about, but that was never happening with QB1/scenario engine/ and UI overhaul this year.

[ehh]

It was a busy weekend so I only got in 3-4 hours with the beta. I liked what I saw. As I mentioned in the other thread, this beta feels like what M19 should have been. Last year's game really was a mess--one of the most disappointing in years IMO--but it seems like EA has cleaned up most of the glaring issues and made some nice strides in other areas. The game is far more polished than both last year's beta and last year's official release.

• The lighting is normal again, after year last year's mess.
• Physics and animations have really been cleaned up.
• I really like the new passing trajectories and speed. The ball feels like it has weight to it.
• QBs were reasonably inaccurate, especially under pressure.
• The pocket is far more realistic. It's much more difficult to escape it this year; in 19 you could cleanly slide into the flat between the guard and tackle to buy more time or scramble. That's gone in 20.
• They've cut down on shoestring miracle tackles.
• Running backs are much more elusive behind the LOS. I could get out of some tricky situations to gain a couple of yards; this is a nice change from the bevy of "take the handoff and immediately get hit for a three-yard loss" situtations in M19.
• I only got to sim one draft in CFM but the player ratings were much, much lower than years past.

The biggest con for me is one of my long-standing complaints: pass rush for HUM vs CPU and a lack of strategic options for your OL. I really want to be able to specify an OT/TE double team on an edge rusher.

I played with the Jets vs CLE; Miles Garrett was unstoppable. He had the first four tackles of the game, including a sack. He had numerous pressures and finished with five sacks. Since you can't double team, all I could do was call quick passes/screens and call every running play away from him. That got old.

I then flipped sides and started a CLE CFM and simmed to the Jets game. I didn't control Garrett for the first half and he did nothing. Not a pressure, no sacks, maybe a tackle or two. I controlled him in the second half and was able to get a little more pressure but nothing amazing. Once again, pass rushers are far more effective for the CPU than they are for us. It's frustrating for people who like to control non-DL or who have multiple elite pass rushers. I'm sure sliders will help with this, as it has in the past, but the key is what unintended side effects we'll get.

Other stuff I didn't like...

• Playing defense feels the same and I'm often bored or feel helpless on that side of the ball. If Super Sim was better I'm not sure I'd ever play defense. I saw a bit too much Robo QB from Brady (he completed 92% of his passes) and Mayfield.
• Still too many big hits, though there are fewer than 19.
• DBs are still way too slow to react to various cuts, especially dig/in routes and button hooks. They take 2-3 strides downfield before finally reacting.
• QB animations are really screwy. They took a step backwards. Brady's is terrible.
• Super Sim is still a mess and often has far too much scoring.
• "Ask Coach" play calling is still far too limited in the number of available plays throughout the course of the game.

[PhillyPhanatic14]

Quote: Originally Posted by T4VERTS

To the first point, I think we will know more at release because QB1 is so tied into the scenario engine from my understanding. I think there will be more to it, just tough to know what for now. The term "lie" is a big accusation. I think the issue is people misconstrued what they said into what they wanted to hear. If you looked at all the players in games contracts they went through and made sure they were all correct, "ensuring they match the NFL". Year over year current players deals will impact the cap correctly. They never said they rebuilt how they were created. In fact that isn't even feasible in the current contract structure. They will need to rip it all down and rebuild it, which there are discussions about, but that was never happening with QB1/scenario engine/ and UI overhaul this year.

I feel you. I can see how they could have meant it that way, but the way they worded it and claimed that existing contracts will "match the NFL" seemed to mean that they will match the NFL. Apparently, from what you're saying what they meant was that the per year $ figures would match the NFL and not the deals as a whole. All of that could've been clarified if they had looked over what they wrote a little more carefully and been specific about what it is that will match the NFL since they appear to have no intention of actually making the deals match the NFL apart from in that one way.

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by PhillyPhanatic14

The scenario engine as promised seems to not be there. Right now it's technically in but it's hiding in the shadows pretending to be there but not making any true impact. The contract thing says "We’ve taken a meticulous pass on existing player contracts to ensure they match the NFL" and that's just a lie based on the beta. No frontloading/backloading in existing contracts. No 5th year options. No guaranteed/non-guaranteed $ in existing contracts. No player options or team options in existing contracts. No incentives in contracts or per game bonuses. None of that is in so the contracts in no way match the NFL unless they are talking about the most basic terms of the bottomline $ figure on the deals, which would be a joke because hardly any player ever plays out their deal as is without an extension or getting cut when the guaranteed money is done paying out.

Okay, so, number 1 is covered.

As far as number #2, it all comes down to not being on the same page and what EA tells us upfront might be different than what we thought because they don't do a good job of explaining things when these things rolled out. All I noticed is that the contracts seemed in line(years and what they make) to the NFL salaries and years. So, hard to tell what they had in mind.

[ForUntoOblivionSoar∞]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

Okay, so, number 1 is covered. As far as number #2, it all comes down to not being on the same page and what EA tells us upfront might be different than what we thought because they don't do a good job of explaining things when these things rolled out. All I noticed is that the contracts seemed in line(years and what they make) to the NFL salaries and years. So, hard to tell what they had in mind.

Meh, I simply cannot give them a pass on the contract thing. If they’re going to say that in the context they did, any reasonable, unbiased person will conclude that they meant they added new things into the game to emulate actual NFL deals, rather than just the cap number. That’s a deception, or at best an incredibly inexcusable communication failure, and there’s no way a reasonable, unbiased person would disagree.

[T4VERTS]

Quote: Originally Posted by PhillyPhanatic14

I feel you. I can see how they could have meant it that way, but the way they worded it and claimed that existing contracts will "match the NFL" seemed to mean that they will match the NFL. Apparently, from what you're saying what they meant was that the per year $ figures would match the NFL and not the deals as a whole. All of that could've been clarified if they had looked over what they wrote a little more carefully and been specific about what it is that will match the NFL since they appear to have no intention of actually making the deals match the NFL apart from in that one way.

I think to most people it is exactly what they meant. I think to hardcore Franchise fans they took it a different way. The deals will match real NFL deals within the framework of their contract system. They never said they built a new contract system. They never said they added all those options. Had they done that, they definitely would have said those things.

Just saying that feeling mislead is as much about trying to wish something into existence as it is in the wording.

[T4VERTS]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

Okay, so, number 1 is covered. As far as number #2, it all comes down to not being on the same page and what EA tells us upfront might be different than what we thought because they don't do a good job of explaining things when these things rolled out. All I noticed is that the contracts seemed in line(years and what they make) to the NFL salaries and years. So, hard to tell what they had in mind.

One other note, requests from players heading into FA and in FA are much more realistic now. I think Mahomes asks for something around 7 years 265 million when he needs resigned.