"NFL Sim" Difficulty Setting

[TNT713]

TLC,

I don't want to give you the impression that I wouldn't like a 'SIM' setting. The most enjoyable games are against people who play football in a recognizable way...

My opposition of a SIM setting is on the basis that someone would have to make the decision as to what 'SIM' is before the level could be added. I can't think of anyone living or dead that I trust enough to make that call. 8 years ago, i had my first debate about what SIM is and 30 years from now, I fully expect to be debating people in forums about what 'SIM' is. IMO the only way to ensure that the game is SIM is to remove all elements of the video game football that are not true to real life football.

I don't know about you, but I would play Madden if I couldn't switch men on offense and defense, as a legitimate SIM would be, but it wouldn't be nearly as much fun.

Until we get a SIM switch, I'll be using whatever tools are at my disposal to dictate SIM strategies to my opponents, instead of them dictating 'cheese' to me.

IMO, we gotta be our own SIM switch.

Later

[maddenps2]

Madden is supposed to be a sim so why would it need sim difficulty level. If they wanted, or could do it, it woulda been done already.

[unisol_us]

Should have known the results of this poll on this forum. Just sayin. i voted yes of course.

[tlc12576]

Quote: Originally Posted by maddenps2

Madden is supposed to be a sim so why would it need sim difficulty level. If they wanted, or could do it, it woulda been done already.

Let me say it another way so hopefully there is less misunderstanding. I believe the devs are trying to make Madden a NFL sim game on SOME level. However, their vision seems to be that Madden ALLOW gamers to play NFL sim if they choose to but with little consequence if they dont. If you look at the EA Madden 11 vids that are out there, especially the one where I think Ian is on the sticks at E3, you can see what I mean. In these vids, a delibrate effort is being made to play NFL sim. No exploitive playcalling or gameplay but just straight up realistic NFL football. It is when other gamers get on the sticks in some E3 vids where we begin to see some blatant non-NFL sim, questionable and exploitive gameplay.

My point is, that even though the Madden devs are trying to make Madden their interpretation of NFL sim already, they are still allowing it to be optional. Gamers can play the devs interpretation of NFL sim or play completely cheese and still be successful on the current difficulty settings either way. I want a difficulty setting in Madden called "NFL sim" that REQUIRES gamers to play the devs preset interpretation of NFL sim, to be successful and a slider set to adjust their preset interpretation.

Hopefully explaining it this way will help clarify my point.

[TNT713]

Oops, forgot to touch on the duality of the nano statement...

If the coaches in the NFL were as lax about their protections as the average Madden player, they would be FIRED. A real SIM switch would make people who suck stop playing the game by banning their accounts. LOL

All jokes aside, I'm really stubborn (surprise). Since nanos started killing online players, I've read how it's impossible to run an offense from under center. Remember, I'm stubborn. I've been running from my offense from under center since Madden '03 versus random challengers. I'm going to guess I've played somewhere around 6000 online games with the Whoever Smiths of all ranks, skill level, ages, and levels of dedication.

There are the guys that want to get 'coordinator drool' type heat up the A-Gap every play. The SIM thing to do is change the blocking so they can't get heat that way. I was able to do that years before slide protection using regular age old football that I read about in books without using shotgun. Truth is, I didn't use Slide protect at all until last year because someone showed me a hole in my protections that required me to try it out. Needless to say anybody that like to nano, better be capable of playing SIM as well because once I start protecting for the blitz, pressure is a moot tactic.

The duality in my statement was intentional and not intended to poke fun at the game. It was meant to illustrate that the things you learn about a player's dedication to the game become apparent after playing 6000 games against Whoever Smith.

If we were all dedicated to being knowledgeable about football, Madden, and how to apply the previous to the latter, we wouldn't need a SIM switch. We can force opponents to play SIM by understanding how to be SIM ourselves.

BUT... Whomever Smith isn't as dedicated, skilled at finding tendencies, football aware, Madden aware, or all of the above a SIM switch that works for everyone isn't going to be possible.

If EA really wants to do themselves a favor, they need an instructional tutorial mode that details every possible shift, assignment, and gets people used to making adjustments on the field...

Not just the basic ones... I'm talking about the good ones where you flip a cover 1 against twins and shift the deep zone to the wide side of the field kind of stuff that the average player doesn't think about til they've played 800 games or so...

Later

[unisol_us]

Quote: Originally Posted by TNT713

If EA really wants to do themselves a favor, they need an instructional tutorial mode that details every possible shift, assignment, and gets people used to making adjustments on the field...

I must disagree with this. One thing that makes madden so darn cheesy are all of these crazy adjustments that happen before the snap. Dudes doing like 3 hot routes and change the play twice at the LOS. I think that a Madden SIM mode where the original playcalls make a difference on the outcome of the game and not which player wins the audible/Hot route battle makes more sense. I do agree with your point for online coop team play. That way each (squad) could audible their own sectors of the field, but one on one play should be more about stick skills and coaching instincts.

[tlc12576]

Quote: Originally Posted by TNT713

Oops, forgot to touch on the duality of the nano statement... If the coaches in the NFL were as lax about their protections as the average Madden player, they would be FIRED. A real SIM switch would make people who suck stop playing the game by banning their accounts. LOL All jokes aside, I'm really stubborn (surprise). Since nanos started killing online players, I've read how it's impossible to run an offense from under center. Remember, I'm stubborn. I've been running from my offense from under center since Madden '03 versus random challengers. I'm going to guess I've played somewhere around 6000 online games with the Whoever Smiths of all ranks, skill level, ages, and levels of dedication. There are the guys that want to get 'coordinator drool' type heat up the A-Gap every play. The SIM thing to do is change the blocking so they can't get heat that way. I was able to do that years before slide protection using regular age old football that I read about in books without using shotgun. Truth is, I didn't use Slide protect at all until last year because someone showed me a hole in my protections that required me to try it out. Needless to say anybody that like to nano, better be capable of playing SIM as well because once I start protecting for the blitz, pressure is a moot tactic. The duality in my statement was intentional and not intended to poke fun at the game. It was meant to illustrate that the things you learn about a player's dedication to the game become apparent after playing 6000 games against Whoever Smith. If we were all dedicated to being knowledgeable about football, Madden, and how to apply the previous to the latter, we wouldn't need a SIM switch. We can force opponents to play SIM by understanding how to be SIM ourselves. BUT... Whomever Smith isn't as dedicated, skilled at finding tendencies, football aware, Madden aware, or all of the above a SIM switch that works for everyone isn't going to be possible. If EA really wants to do themselves a favor, they need an instructional tutorial mode that details every possible shift, assignment, and gets people used to making adjustments on the field... Not just the basic ones... I'm talking about the good ones where you flip a cover 1 against twins and shift the deep zone to the wide side of the field kind of stuff that the average player doesn't think about til they've played 800 games or so... Later

There is NO way we can have any type of NFL sim discussion pertaining to Madden. Not as long as your starting POV is that Madden gameplay equals NFL sim gameplay because SOME NFL tactics can be used in Madden successfully. In NBA Jams gamers can block shots and steal passes like in the real NBA, that doesn't make NBA Jams a NBA sim game.

[elvistatexas]

Nfl sim would b great and bring back fair play 2 were you would have to punt and also wen folks are doing no huddle do the false starts like tha ps2 version