Single Player Experience.....

[BrianFifaFan]

Quote: Originally Posted by JagerMichael

I'm right there with you guys. If I play 10 online games a year I've blown my expected quota out of the water. For me it's all about building a team and taking them the distance. I'm actually happy that the Bears had a bad 2007 season because it means I'll have my favorite team to work on for a few years. I admit, the SportsCenter shows get a little old for me. Unless they can do them so well that they aren't just rehashings every time you watch them then I do tend to skip them. But presentation in the games themselves and things like atmosphere for playoffs and the Super Bowl are huge for me. A bit more presentation during the draft would be nice as well. It only happens once a season so I don't think it would get old very fast, and it would just add that special something to the game. Even just showing some fan reactions to picks would be a nice addition. I'd also like to see more of a combine added. Have the CPU run the players through the drills and use their potential and other ratings to base their performance. You can choose to watch certain players (which results in a better scouting report) or you can just get a report at the end of the day telling you how each of the players did in their drills that day. Break it up just like the combine does, a different day for a different position. It's either add this stuff to Madden or truly make Madden and Head Coach symbiotic. At the end of a Madden season you can export to Head Coach, manage your off season and then import back into Madden to play the games. You don't need Head Coach control during the season (though it could be cool) but even just allowing you to tweak things in the off season would be a HUGE step.

About the Draft, I was kinda bummed when I watched the HC vid and saw the Draft wasn't really any different on it , either. It be nice to have the top 5-10 come and get their hats. But I still love HC about all of the other depth. Back to the SC stuff, I agree that is really dated. But where is the next gen equivalent? It just seems that all the TV-style stuff went bye-bye all together. And it became boring. I'm all for the gameplay strides and OL/DL being fixed, but here's where I'm at a loss. Ian said that the teams are separate. I understand that some of the guys who would normally work with them went on the HC project. But here's the problem, Franchise is just as broken on Madden as any of the other Gameplay elements. So why would they green light anyone to not be working on the Breadwinning title? Unless it's all part of this growing the NFL brand. And diversifying the portfolio.

Here's my biggest complaint/concern. You've PO'ed the PC crowd. Now you're PO'ing the Single Player crowd with two good, but still, half experiences. And
they're also trying to woo the Wii crowd. I agree where it was said you can't make a game for everyone. But how about a game that has all of the pieces in place to reach the broadest customer base? And let the niche games do just that, fill a niche....

[Blazelore]

Quote: Originally Posted by Briankingsfan

About the Draft, I was kinda bummed when I watched the HC vid and saw the Draft wasn't really any different on it , either. It be nice to have the top 5-10 come and get their hats. But I still love HC about all of the other depth. Back to the SC stuff, I agree that is really dated. But where is the next gen equivalent? It just seems that all the TV-style stuff went bye-bye all together. And it became boring. I'm all for the gameplay strides and OL/DL being fixed, but here's where I'm at a loss. Ian said that the teams are separate. I understand that some of the guys who would normally work with them went on the HC project. But here's the problem, Franchise is just as broken on Madden as any of the other Gameplay elements. So why would they green light anyone to not be working on the Breadwinning title? Unless it's all part of this growing the NFL brand. And diversifying the portfolio. Here's my biggest complaint/concern. You've PO'ed the PC crowd. Now you're PO'ing the Single Player crowd with two good, but still, half experiences. And they're also trying to woo the Wii crowd. I agree where it was said you can't make a game for everyone. But how about a game that has all of the pieces in place to reach the broadest customer base? And let the niche games do just that, fill a niche....

cosigns

[Steeler99]

Quote: Originally Posted by Briankingsfan

When we were posting on the EA forums and I saw where Ian was talikng about the "hardcore" mode, I was like "yes.!" Then I read what he was saying. Hardcore= no cutscenes, fastest possible gameplay=tourney guys. I put that I feel a HARDCORE is someone who wants a 60 minute clock with cutscenes, Accel. clock, in-game saves. The whole "bells and whistles" presentation thing. That's a football fan to me. They want to be there for a while on Sundays and watch NFL network for all the stats. They don't want to have a "wham,bam, thank you mam." It's about getting into the whole experience, not getting it done with. That's why I'm really concerned going forward. It seems that my definition of what makes a fulfilling football/gaming experience isn't the same english that Ian and Phil and Co. are speaking. I don't have a need for "tourney" Madden. I need something more traditional. And I still believe that APF was killed by not having a franchise mode far moreso than having legends......

I'm with you 100% Brian! For me it's all about offline/franchise play. If that's no good it' s no-buy for me. While I might try a few online games, a deep entertaining franchise mode will ALWAYS be my priority. With two kids I don't get to play as much as I used to, but like you, I suqezze in games whenever I can, whether that be 3:00am or any other time I'm free (which is why in-game saves are SO important to us).

I can't wait to hear what/if any important improvements have been made to franchise mode ...

[DLaren]

Good post and great points made by everyone. To quote a line from Brian's original post...

Quote: Originally Posted by Briankingsfan

I hate to say it but this is my potential "gamekiller."

That's how I feel as well. If the current-gen version of Madden still has a boring, half-baked franchise mode then I'll just stick with the last-gen version and pick-up HeadCoach by itself in September.

[Steeler99]

[quote=JagerMichael;2038396658
For me it's all about building a team and taking them the distance. I'm actually happy that the Bears had a bad 2007 season because it means I'll have my favorite team to work on for a few years. [/QUOTE]

Too funny, I'm the same way! I prefer to take over teams that were bad the previous year, so for the past few years that hasn't allowed me to play much with my Steelers. That's ok too as it's always fun to try other teams and build them into a top tier team.

That's why editing/customizing is so important for franchise mode. I think we ALL like to take a team over and give it OUR personality, whether that be thru uniform changes or player trades, etc. Once my franchise starts I could care less about what's going on in the real NFL, I like to create my own "season"!

[swanlee]

I just cannot believe we have to suffer another year without a user adjustable camera. I'm also a single player gamer of Madden and I cannot get into Madden with the default view. It simply feels like playing in blimp mode. How many Sports games do not allow you to adjust how you view the game?

I think this over head default blimp mode view is also geared toward the tourney guys who drop back 30 yards and throw bombs every play. They don't care that the players look like ants and don't take the time to really enjoy playing the game.

[Kramer5150]

Brian,
Great thread,I agree 100% with what you are saying.
Madden for me is all about franchise mode...always has been, always will.

I don't have access to highspeed internet at this time (waiting to buy a house,temp staying with the inlaws) but I never really played Madden online that much anyway...(except with Odogg) Franchise mode is where I spend 99% of my time.
In all the excitement so far this year,your thread has been in the back of my mind,hoping it wouldn't be as "bare bones" as 08.

Also like you,the more I thought about it,and trying to play 08 the last few nights...this could also be my "gamekiller".
I loved playing franchise mode in 04 through 06 (xbox)...but as the next-gen hardware rolled out,I find myself playing less and less,as I don't feel the "connection" with my team anymore through a robust franchise mode.

[Russell_SCEA]

Quote:

When we were posting on the EA forums and I saw where Ian was talikng about the "hardcore" mode, I was like "yes.!" Then I read what he was saying. Hardcore= no cutscenes, fastest possible gameplay=tourney guys. I put that I feel a HARDCORE is someone who wants a 60 minute clock with cutscenes, Accel. clock, in-game saves. The whole "bells and whistles" presentation thing. That's a football fan to me. They want to be there for a while on Sundays and watch NFL network for all the stats. They don't want to have a "wham,bam, thank you mam." It's about getting into the whole experience, not getting it done with. That's why I'm really concerned going forward. It seems that my definition of what makes a fulfilling football/gaming experience isn't the same english that Ian and Phil and Co. are speaking. I don't have a need for "tourney" Madden. I need something more traditional. And I still believe that APF was killed by not having a franchise mode far moreso than having legends......

I don't think thats accurate first we will never see a 60 minute clock the score would be 300 to 466. Ian's idea of hardcore mode is pretty much the same as everyone on these forums I assure you. In all the games I played it seems you can get realistic stats playing 6 minute quarters on All-Madden. I played 3 games Ravens vs. Pats 5 minute quarters All-Madden and the scores where

Game one Ravens 7 vs. Patriots 0
Game two Ravens 10 vs. Patriots 3
Game three Ravens 13 vs. Patriots 6

Those games where against BobbyStorm the Godfather of Madden tournys.

Secondly the tourny crowd is about to evovle this year because you can NOT manually trigger spectacular catch's this year on All-Pro and All-Madden game settings. Thats big, when you throw deep this year you have two options.

Option number one: Let the Cpu attempt to make the catch depending on the WR's ratings he might attempt a spectacular catch. (BUT you have no control over whats going to happen)

Option number two: Take control of the WR manually and try to catch the ball. (BUT you can not manually trigger any spectacular catch animations this year also you can not strafe either.)