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Rookie
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My thoughts about Madden
I would say that I play a decent amount of Madden. I'm 7-3 online ranked, have played through several franchises and lots of play now games. I go into practice mode and I typically run a west coast offense based on the Seattle playbook, and run a 3-4 defense.
While this may be too late for 2010, or maybe there's another thread for this sort of thing, I wanted to outline this stuff here. I'll split it up into offense and defense changes first, although some changes go for both. I've never played the game so my knowledge of football probably isn't terrific.
Offense:
1) I'd like to see routes that are based much more on timing. Curl routes and deep comeback routes are probably two of the biggest culprits. Right now, the throws in Madden are thrown to a receiver, not to a place on the field. Throw a comeback route too early, and its treated just like a streak. Throw it after the break and it gets picked off. Fixing this would cause more incomplete passes as blitzes could disrupt a QB's timing, and less interceptions when the play goes right. You'd also have those WRs that don't run as crisp a route as others (ie ratings). This is probably the biggest thing in the passing game for me, and would stop the quick throws after a 1 step drop to a streaking receiver.
2) Blocking in the running game. If I have Hines Ward at receiver, I expect him to block that CB. Not whiff on his block in space. I do like where Madden de-emphasized the Sprint button. I wouldn't mind if it was removed entirely. I'd like to see better blocking in the run game, but balanced out by toning down the spin move and the stiff arm (especially by smaller backs, not the big ones)
3) An issue that is here every year. It's still a pretty viable option to just drop back, drop back, drop back, throw off your back foot to a receiver
4) Two-step drop back on a Cover 2 or a blitz. For those not aware of this, if a cover 2 or an engage eight play is called by the defense, your QB will many times take a much, much smaller drop back. This is usually a bad thing in my opinion, as you're much more likely to get sacked. And against a Cover 2, throwing the ball quickly is usually not your first choice. This goes with item 1. Tie the drop back with the route the primary receiver on the play runs.
Defense:
1) On many occasions this year, there have been throws to a WR sitting in a curl route who was sitting there for, let's say, 2 seconds. The CB is just sitting right behind him. If you don't control that guy RIGHT as the pass is thrown, he'll just stand right behind him and allow him to make the catch. I'd like to see the DBs both A. react better to a guy in their zone of coverage and B. react better to the ball in the air.
2) The old generation of games (for me, Gamecube version 2005 and 2006) had an animation where if the QB was getting hit as he was releasing the ball, the ball came out wobbly and was typically picked off, or fell harmlessly to the ground. In the next gen? I've had defenders actually touching the QB...and yet he gets off a rocket pass through the guy to a receiver.
3) Man coverage. It needs to work better. I'd expect a similarly rated CB to cover a similarly rated WR a good bit of the time. The only routes man really seems to cover effectivly is a screen and a streak. Anything with a cut, and almost any CB gets left.
Man coverage should be about finding the mismatches (Strong WR vs. Weak corner, Fast WR vs. Slow corner, good route runner against bad coverer (think safety), big TE against small DB, or just whichver CB couldn't handle his guy on that play), in my opinion. Or making enough adjustments on the O-line to pick up the blitz, in which case very few CBs can defend all day in man.
4) Pass rush. Guys can get a really good pass rush by doing silly things, like manually moving the MLB over the NT, the ILB over the NT, etc. Its hard to get a good pass rush using the in game controls (sliding, pinching, spreading lineman and linebackers) because A. the blitzing angles don't change and B. wide angles are too slow on the point of attack. I'd like to see blitzing packages be more about who calls the better play and who sets it up using in game controls...not just who can move the most guys around before the snap.
5) Zone coverage. Zones seem too rigid, and defenders don't react to threats in their zone very well. Furthermore, defenders, especially linebackers, go for a big hit more often than a pass breakup. I know Ian was talking about fatigue in another post. Maybe have those WRs who keep catching balls in traffic and taking big hits get fatigued more, and therefore decreasing their energy or making them more likely to drop/fumble a pass.
6) Change of direction, blocking. Actually a place I'd like to make the defense weaker. I really felt that in this year's game that defender's could change direction too quickly (as an example, to cover a counter run play). They also seem to get off some blocks too easily. The ones I usually notice are when an o-lineman
General Gameplay:
1) Better AI: I intend this from a play call and team specific point of view. If I'm playing against the Steelers, I expect to see lots of blitzes on defense coming from a multitude of locations. Against the Falcons, you know that stopping the running game is the key to winning. I'd like to see the CPU teams use their weapons better in the playcalling and on the field. If they have Adrian Peterson, use him.
2) The patch fixed the CPU hiking the ball too fast. But now they do it on EVERY play. Including punts and extra points.
3) We really need an accelerated clock. In single player I think there should be a way to wind down the clock on offense, or wind down the clock on defense before the computer snaps. Really can be quite time-consuming at the end of the game to run out the clock against a beaten opponent. Or...to speed up the inevitable when you're losing.
Edit: 4) Forgot to mention. It seems like most of my changes favor the defense. Unless I'm an idiot with the controls, it seems on offense you can throw only a bullet pass, or a lob pass. There is no real way to "touch" the ball over defenders in a zone. Add in that throwing mechanic somehow. Either use a trigger button (for QB, LT maybe). If its depressed all the way, bullet, halfway a touch pass, and barely or none at all, a lob.
That's all I have for now.
Last edited by dregnus; 01-28-2009 at 01:16 PM.
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01-28-2009, 01:14 PM
. It really is quite late for a Madden 2010 wishlist main thread. If a mod wants to move this somewhere...or delete it, that's fine with me. 
