Madden and NCAA 2011 Dynasty/Franchise Overhaul

[mfriday]

I don't know about you guys, but I am SICK of how stagnant the regular season becomes in NCAA and MADDEN. Scouting/recruiting is virtually THE ONLY activity (unless a player gets injured in Madden and you need to pick up a new one via trade or free agency).

The primary problem is that your team remains almost exactly the same as the season goes on. It is just a shame that no matter how good your QB plays, his rating stays the same. (Actually, in NCAA it actually might go up a point or MAYBE even two.)

So, how about doing us a favor EA... MAKE EVERY PLAY COUNT EVEN MORE by adding an advanced IN-SEASON player progression system!

Now hear me out on this one, because there are tough decisions to make as a coach with a realistic player progression system in place.

First... in my opinion, players who carry the ball a lot (like primary running backs) should wear down a little bit as the season goes on. Their agility, acceleration, trucking, and top speed should decrease by a point or two after a game where they got a bunch of touches (30+). Of course, resting the player (less than 15 touches), or having a bye week, will bring their ratings back up. This creates an immediate incentive to use multiple backs.

Another wrinkle could be that QBs would lose accuracy and arm strength if they keep getting creamed in the pocket. In fact, these ratings changes could even occur in-game. QBs already get rattled mentally in NCAA... but taking hits certainly takes a physical toll on players. Again, coming back from significant wear and tear only requires rest. In fact, this is a nice solution to EA's very annoy black/white injury system - where players are either injured or they aren't and there is no middle ground.

Of course, in-season player progression is not all bad. One example is that your starters will see their awareness increase as the season goes on - especially if they are making plays. Then again, awareness might decrease if a player is playing poorly... i.e. they get in a slump and psych themselves out.

Following this logic, player ratings should change much more AND much more often throughout the course of a season.

After all, if a mediocre QB goes out and throws 20 TDs and only 3 INTs for the season, his overall rating should go up by at least 5 points by the end of the season. In real life, certain skills get better by playing games: awareness, throw on the run, accuracy, ball carrying, juke move, spin move, spectacular catch, press coverage, tackling, pass rush, play recognition... etc etc etc.

Other skills require time away from contact football and hardcore training to enhance... Off the top of my head, some of the ones which must wait until the off-season to increase are: strength, speed, acceleration, agility, injury, stamina, throw power...

While I think this would be more interesting and important for NCAA, I would certainly like to see some kind of variation of this in Madden as well (although to a lesser extent since professional atheletes are typically not as volatile).

Just think about it though... not only does it make each game more interesting (since every play can affect player ratings), but it makes the entire season a more dynamic/organic/realistic/fun experience.

One final idea... How about letting coaches develop gameplans ahead of time? Coaches can be rated in terms of their quality just like players, and coaches can choose to enhance player abilities each week.

For example: You are about to play a very good spread offense, so you choose to focus on pursuit. Or if you are about to play a power running game, you would focus on tackling. Moreover, the lessons learned would no disappear entirely after the game. Players would remember what the coaches taught them and would permanently improve.

Also, please give me the option of telling a player to gain or lose weight! (Of course, ratings should adjust accordingly) Also, some players grow during college, so lets see it in at least 1/4 of the players.


CLIFF NOTES:

1) Allow player ratings to change dramatically from week to week (almost every player rating can go up or down depending on both performance and wear/tear).

2) Players should get worn down, requiring rest or fewer touches to heal. This makes injuries more realistic and keeps them from being a simple play vs. can't play setup.

3) Coaches should be able to strategize for the upcoming week's games. This should result in small boosts in the chosen player ratings. Moreover, players should hold on to these player boosts (or at least part of them).

4) Allow coaches to tell players to gain or lose 5-10 pounds of weight in the off-season. This, too, should impact player ratings.





So... THOUGHTS????

[rickywal]

I do love the idea of players being hot or cold during the season. Using only awareness is probably a good way because it doesn't have a massive impact on a player.

Also Fitness would be a good rating to have next to Stamina and Injury. This dictates whether the player will get a rating adjustment during the season for being on the field to much etc. Not only will this be more realistic but will also help user games not become absolute blowouts because if you are up enough you'll rest your player so they are good to go the next week.

Its funny, in Madden superstar mode (I haven't played the Madden 10 version of this) you used to have a meter of in-game progression. Everything you did effected this, as a defender if you made a tackle it went up a little, if you broke up a pass it went up a little, if you made a int it went up a lot, if you missed a tackle it'd drop a little. As it went up it would hit certain checkpoints that would give you bonuses. Why can't there be a similar thing in every game for every player?

It would also ad some strategy, in that if you are on offense you generally avoid running to the side a good LB or DE is because if you can avoid them getting tackles or big plays then they won't get the bonuses.

[mfriday]

Exactly. If they put this in the game then three things happen...

1. EVERY PLAY MATTERS -> more entertaining throughout games
2. REALISTIC COACHING REQUIRED -> more immersive
3. LONG TERM STRATEGY -> long lasting fun

Honestly, if this stuff was in the game, I would actually be able to enjoy playing crappy opponents during blowouts. It is certainly more fun than running practice drills and stuff like that to try and get points for players. Bringing in backups during the 3rd and 4th quarters and still having every reason to stay focused and keep playing hard sounds like a dream come true. Additionally, the season will never get boring because the team will change week to week. Every week there will potentially be new decisions to make about who to start and who to bench. Every week there will be new gameplans about how to maximize the benefit to your team from playing a lesser opponent.

The best part is that almost all of it occurs in-game. Fumbling around on menus can be fun, but we buy football games to play authentic and stimulating football on the gridiron. With these features that dream is one step closer to a reality.