What really needs to happen for Madden to improve?

[Rondo is GOD]

I think we can all sit around and bash EA all day long but, what really needs to happen in order for Madden to get better?

Having played the crap out of franchise mode and not even touching the other modes I may have a bit of a bias but believe me when I tell you I know franchise mode in and out.

I think the first thing that needs to happen is a complete re-coding of the game. From positions to player values to the NFL calendar in franchise mode and it all needs to go.

When I say positions.. Madden is stuck in the 90s. It was in huge improvement when they added the 3rd Down back and Nickel defense positions like SUB LB and stuff but it is still 1 dimensional as heck.

I have also played the absolute crap out of MLB The Show's Franchise mode and I think Madden can learn a thing or two. The first major take-away is how players are valued in franchise. A ton of MLB contract negotiations rely on a players "Service time" which resulted in this being coded into the game. So young high overall players may not be guaranteed to get a huge deal unless they are Mike Trout or Aaron Judge. You see teams (on cpu) valuing players with a proven track record in the league versus taking chances on young unproven players. The NFL has a youth movement every year but you will also see CPU in madden make some ridiculous decisions with regards to money because so much of it goes on overall.

A huge part of this is also MLB The Show's morale system. If you ask me this is the biggest things they did right that no one talks about. I have attached a screenshot of MLB The Show's morale screen. I didn't take it and I hate that it's the Yankees but for the sake of the discussion it will do;



Can you imagine if Madden players had a preference to play in a certain REGION? Close to Home, close to paradise, no preference etc (pictured) [Andy Dalton signing with Cowboys as a TCU Legend and to be close to home]

Or certain players prefer to only play for elite coaching? [Players being more or less interested in playing for a good coach like Belichick or Andy Reid vs young unproven guys like Matt Patricia or Kliffy King]


What about contracts? The Madden contract system is a disaster and operates on one thing- Overall. Players do not have opinions about their current contracts and are completely predictable when discussing extensions. In MLB if a player is psyched about his contract he literally works harder and gets attribute increases. If he is upset about his contract his attributes dip and the player is susceptible to a slump. Madden tries to accomplish something like this with morale but again it is completely one dimensional, gives no insight into what the player is thinking. They are happy or sad in Madden.

I can go on and on about how this single MLB the Show tool could change the face of Madden forever but I wanted to move forward to when I mentioned positions. This ties in big time when I mentioned recoding the game. The defensive positions on Madden are stuck in the 90s. So many defenses in today's league run Weakside/Strongside line backers vs ROLB/LOLB.. when you look at madden.. bam once again one dimensional.



Players positions should be determined by the scheme they play in, not permanently attached to their player card.. This is most important for edge players. For this example we can look at the Eagles schemes. Madden forces the left and right aspect on them when they are nutritious for moving around their front guys. Their 4-3 front invites all kinds of movement between positions when looking at their linebackers and line. But in madden, their entire defense will play the same positions basically all game.

Another example I'll use; If TJ WATT was to go to a new team that played 4-3 defense, Madden would force him into coverage more often than we he would be allowed to rush the passer with his hand in the ground at 43 DE.


Finally, the timeline of Franchise mode compared to the real life NFL calendar is a joke. There should be a literal calendar with the NFL calendar (towards cuts, trade deadline, 53 man roster, player extensions etc) instead of being prompted by nothing but a todo list that is as repetitive as repetitive gets.

Obviously recoding the game would be a huge task but it would also invite innovation to a game that feels like its 15 years old. I love the NFL and buy Madden every year but these are just somethings I've thought about for a while that I wanted to write down.

What do you think?

[wizfan2]

A simple Franchise mode for those that just want to jump in and play games without having to create GMs, players, coaches, owners, cheerleaders or team doctors would be greatly appreciated. 😎

[onegroove7]

I agree with pretty much everything you said about franchise mode but I don't think it's a priority. The depth of offline play needs to improve over the next decade but most importantly the actual gameplay needs to completely change. How EA decides to handle the move to the next generation will determine whether I continue buying this game each year. If I play Madden 21 on the next Xbox (whatever it's called) and it's essentially the same game with improved graphics, it will probably be the last time I give money to EA Sports.

Madden was a great game 20 years ago. I'm guessing that's why EA still feels satisfied with it. They update the rosters and improve the graphics on their arcade football and call it a simulation. Most of their customers are either new to the series (and don't realize they're being fed a 20 year old product) or they have been fans of the game for so long they have actually abandoned the idea that what they are playing is a football game. In fact, these reliable customers are a big part of the problem. They don't want a football game, they just want their precious Madden with updated rosters every year. It puts EA in a real bind - if they do improve their game, they risk alienating their base.

On the other hand, there's a much larger and currently untapped market of football fans out there who might enjoy playing a football simulation game with as much strategy and game planning as NFL football, but these people are being ignored. EA is making more money than ever with their "pay to play" game modes and I doubt they care about expanding their business to a new market when they're doing so well in the niche they've built for themselves.

Madden does such a poor job of simulating football, it's clear they have never made a concerted effort to turn their arcade sports game into a simulation the way other companies like 2K and SDS have done with their basketball and baseball games. It's not just Madden, but Fifa and the NHL series games from EA are far behind in this sense as well.

Madden needs to do everything differently. From the time the offense breaks the huddle to the end of the play. Everything needs to be more realistic. I could list all the things wrong with the gameplay but truly everything needs to improve.

There's a lot of books spanning every decade of the NFL and college football. All of this information gets compressed through the generations. You can read as much as you want about the history of football and the modern game and you won't get any closer to knowing what works in Madden.

[ijumpedthegun]

I won't be the least bit surprised if "because of COVID-19" some "big plans" for CFM got pushed till next year but it'll be "worth the wait."

[shmitty]

One thing I would love to see is more tackling animations.

Momentum needs to matter more, tired of those animations where I'm running full speed and a defensive players stops me in my tracks.



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[pietasterp]

I think the animations in general really need to be better. The game looks great in still photos, but once it's in motion, it pretty much looks the same as last-gen.

[MrZombie09]

I hate to be that guy but I seriously doubt that things will change. This year, EA made it more than clear that they only care about Ultimate Team, evidenced by the fact that they kept releasing updates for MUT first and making franchise players wait for the same update.

[phenom1990]

Bring back the vision cone!!!