This vision passing isn't all it's cracked up to be

[mercalnd]

Disclaimer: THE INTENT OF THIS POST IS NOT TO BASH MADDEN OR EA. I LOVE THIS GAME JUST AS I LOVED PREVIOUS ITERATIONS. I ALSO LIKED 2K FOOTBALL A LOT. IT SEEMS THESE DAYS THAT ALMOST EVERY CRITICAL THREAD TURNS INTO EA VS 2K AND I WANT NO PART OF IT. NOW, FOR THE SUBSTANCE OF THE POST:

So I got Madden and was anxious to try out vision and precision passing. However, contrary to what many people are saying, the vision cone changes ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in the way you make your reads. I used to have a two or three receiver progression before each snap based on how I tought the play would develop after reading the D pre-snap. So I would snap and check my receivers in the order that I had them pegged as "likely to be open". When one of my options was open, I'd throw to him.

This year, people think they have to highlight each receiver with the cone to go through their progression: not true. You can snap and make your reads without the cone. Just move the cone to your target when you've spotted your receiver before throwing. It took me all of half a game to figure this out. The only thing it changes is that it makes it impossible for people who DON'T READ the D before throwing as you still have to move the cone to your intended receiver unless you want to get picked.

So for me, as I suspect for a lot of other people who read the defenses all along, the cone becomes more of a visual annoyance than anything else since it adds very little to the passing game. The only reason I leave it on is that turning it off means no more precision passing which I like lot. And in case anyone wants to tell me that I should try it with an average to medicre QB, I have been using the Lions and Joey Harrington's cone is very small so I can only imagine what it's like with a McNabb or Manning.

Anyone else noticed this?

[Chaos81]

Have you tried moving the cone with the right stick, and only looking where your cone is pointing?

[dales]

What you say is true.

You, the player, can look outside of the cone and read the defense (I tend to do that sometimes) but the QB is not looking outside of that cone. That's why I like it. If you throw to someone your quarterback is not looking at then the pass won't be as accurate. Most of the time it'll be way off the mark.

This, at least in my opinion, has improved the realness of the game.

[mercalnd]

Quote: Originally Posted by dales

What you say is true. You, the player, can look outside of the cone and read the defense (I tend to do that sometimes) but the QB is not looking outside of that cone. That's why I like it. If you throw to someone your quarterback is not looking at then the pass won't be as accurate. Most of the time it'll be way off the mark. This, at least in my opinion, has improved the realness of the game.

I agree with that. As stated in my initial post, it changes the fact that so-called cheesers who would just chuck teh balll anywhere without looking can't do that anymore, which is a great thing. And I also agree with the idea that using the right stick instead of locking on directly makes it harder. So, all in all it's a question of discipline really for gamers who want teh cone to provide them with an added challenge either switch to each receiver in your progression or use the right stick to find your receiver. From that perspective, I'd say that it works if you want it to.

[Bears_16_and_0]

i havent played madden but i was thinking this myself. i already look at 1 reciever first and go through the progression, it would seem like it would be a pain to have to just go through the motions and make your QB do the same read, you are already doing in real life. maybe if the game was created with that in mind, but from what i can gather is that they just stuck it into the same madden engine

[Bleak05]

Something funny happened to me with the QB Vision the other day.
I tried it when i got the game but didn't think much of it so i turned it off. I was playing a game as the Giants against the Bengals and i noticed in the 4th quarter the cone was active. Why i don't know because i have it turned off in my settings. So i finished up the game with it on just for the hell of it. When all was said and done - and this is with very minimal prior experience using the cone - i had my best passing day ever. And this was with Eli Manning's crappy awareness.
So all-in-all, i'd have to agree that the QB Vision doesn't really change much in the gameplay at all.

[Angel_Fan]

After you perfect the vision cone, it doesnt affect gameplay. I just think that it adds more of a sense of realism and it also gives the defense a key where the QB is looking which I like a lot.

[KRS-One]

I agree completely, everyone's complaining about how much harder it is to pass. I don't think it really changes the difficulty of passing, just makes it so you have to pay attention while passing and it stops cheesers from just running around and throwing when they see a guy break free.

The vision cone just adds realism and fun to the game.