If Madden wants to be sim then MUT shouldn’t be their highest priority

[JayhawkerStL]

Quote: Originally Posted by lambo3500

Which is why I can't defend this company at all. I guess you can say it's smart to "buy out" the competition, but man are they greatly anti-consumer with this practice.

Honestly, it was as much the NFL. They benefitted from the exclusive contract. It's why they keep extending it.

You are literally a data point that the NFL has chosen to market to in other ways. They don't need you to buy football video games. They need you to watch and discuss football. It's nice that you want to use video games to express what you like about the sport, but the NFL would like to use the game to target a group they can't get in the same ways they can get to you.

Plus, you always buy the game anyway.

[The Black Redneck]

Quote: Originally Posted by SolidSquid

Issue is they don’t want the game to be sim, they just don’t want another company to have the ability to out due them like happened with NBA Live.

EA wants Madden to be whatever is profitable and the way they have structured the game is very profitable for them. Plus Madden is a sim game. It’s sim because you can play with real NFL teams in real NFL stadiums, you can play the super bowl and pro bowl. You using NFL logos and NFL rules. That’s sim.

Also Remember NFL Head Coach? It was a sim game that focus just on the front office off the field stuff that us franchise players want. There is a reason why they stopped making that game. It didn’t sell enough. If there wasn’t enough interest to keep that game a float why would they invest time and resources into making Madden like a game that didn’t sell?

[Datninja619]

I'm off and on with MUT. I usually stop when the 99s come out or everyone is using the same e-book scheme. I don't spend money on the mode for packs, other than the packs included with EA Pro Play.

MY reason for enjoying MUT is that I like the Fantasy Aspect of playing with players past, present and future. Repeatedly doing Fantasy Draft and including legends gives me the fix for a period of time as well. Ultimate Draft as well.

With that beings said. I will always agree that MUT should have their own DEV team and be free to play. They are catered to different groups and people will still buy packs. I think MUT should be a high priority for the company, as it is their cash cow, just not taking away resources from other modes.

Warzone is a good modern example. Warzone is free, but still have the ability to buy all the COD Points they want.

[Madden08PCgmr]

Quote: Originally Posted by The Black Redneck

Also Remember NFL Head Coach? It was a sim game that focus just on the front office off the field stuff that us franchise players want. There is a reason why they stopped making that game. It didn’t sell enough. If there wasn’t enough interest to keep that game a float why would they invest time and resources into making Madden like a game that didn’t sell?

No one will forget Head Coach. It was the best franchise mode EA has ever produced.

As for it failing; I think that's a tough sell. It wasn't marketed, it was bundled with Madden, and the bailed on it after a year in each case. Considering how most EA franchises are treated, this is the only game I can think of off the top of my head that they quit on so early.

Would it sell now? With a very loud and alienated franchise audience lashing out at every opportunity?

And how much effort and money went into this really? Franchise mode already existed. So did coach mode. Playbooks, stadiums, coach models, rosters. I HIGHLY doubt Head Coach was a losing venture for them.

Head Coach would never and will never outsell Madden. But you can't convince me it wouldn't be profitable if they stuck with it. Thats just another case of how they underestimate their audience, or simply don't care.

[ChaseB]

Quote: Originally Posted by Madden08PCgmr

No one will forget Head Coach. It was the best franchise mode EA has ever produced. As for it failing; I think that's a tough sell. It wasn't marketed, it was bundled with Madden, and the bailed on it after a year in each case. Considering how most EA franchises are treated, this is the only game I can think of off the top of my head that they quit on so early. Would it sell now? With a very loud and alienated franchise audience lashing out at every opportunity? And how much effort and money went into this really? Franchise mode already existed. So did coach mode. Playbooks, stadiums, coach models, rosters. I HIGHLY doubt Head Coach was a losing venture for them. Head Coach would never and will never outsell Madden. But you can't convince me it wouldn't be profitable if they stuck with it. Thats just another case of how they underestimate their audience, or simply don't care.

Head Coach was dreadfully boring for those outside a very particular bubble. Doesn't mean it wasn't good or didn't have its place, but marketing was just one of a couple flaws that were going to be an issue for that series over the long haul.

In addition, let's see if we can get another "If Madden wants to be sim" thread going for the symmetry on the front page here.

[DeuceDouglas]

Quote: Originally Posted by The Black Redneck

Also Remember NFL Head Coach? It was a sim game that focus just on the front office off the field stuff that us franchise players want. There is a reason why they stopped making that game. It didn’t sell enough. If there wasn’t enough interest to keep that game a float why would they invest time and resources into making Madden like a game that didn’t sell?

Do you think MUT would still make millions upon millions if people bought packs and were only allowed to spectate their team? Would anybody play The Yard or purchase cosmetics just to watch their avatar play in a CPUvCPU game? Not a chance. Head Coach was never going to have any lasting power because half the game, and the most important aspect in keeping users engaged, was completely absent. The fact that the game even sold enough to have a second iteration without actual gameplay is remarkable in itself and it's failure shouldn't correlate at all to whether a deep franchise mode in Madden is worth the time/resources or would be successful.

[Madden08PCgmr]

Quote: Originally Posted by DeuceDouglas

Do you think MUT would still make millions upon millions if people bought packs and were only allowed to spectate their team? Would anybody play The Yard or purchase cosmetics just to watch their avatar play in a CPUvCPU game? Not a chance. Head Coach was never going to have any lasting power because half the game, and the most important aspect in keeping users engaged, was completely absent. The fact that the game even sold enough to have a second iteration without actual gameplay is remarkable in itself and it's failure shouldn't correlate at all to whether a deep franchise mode in Madden is worth the time/resources or would be successful.

Head Coach and Madden can't compete. The overwhelming majority will choose paddle play, no question.

BUT.. again, this WAS the best franchise mode. Can't be debated.

And again, not comparing it against Madden... COULD the Xs and Os battle, A REAL head coach experience, be made into something that would sell? I think it could, easily... or really dive deep into game planning, player development.. merge it with a GM mode. Recruit players in the offseason, sit in draft rooms with prospects. Tell Drew Rosenhaus to get the hell out of your office.

Think outside the box with this. It can't be what Madden is. That premise is flawed, right out of the box.

.. and obviously, EA doesn't/didn't have the vision or wherewithal to make this happen. Having Madden as their bread and butter probably makes this a conflict. Maybe this is a direction 2k can go.

... and ironically, look at the front page of this room right now;

Stickied "Definitive guide to CPU vs CPU"
"CPU vs CPU is back in franchise mode"
"Coach mode observations"
"Owner vs Coach"

You can't tell me there isn't an audience for this. Not a Madden-sized audience. But with some effort, and if someone was to came up with something innovative, this IS a marketable product.

And just to steer it back toward topic. Maybe they could online content the hell out of this. Maybe the overall sales wouldn't be great. But could they make the content great? Playbooks? Legend coaches?.. how well does OOTP baseball sell? Its not MLBtS, buts its been produced for over 20 years now. Whos laughing loudest? MVP baseball is dead. So is 2k's interation. I think it pre-dates the Show. You're telling me the N-F-L couldn't pull off something like this?