Pros and Cons of the "No Switch Rule" both on and offline.

[illmatic174]

some people take it too far

now rules on switchin on defense smh

im not gonna depend on the computer in this game for anything

i user catch, user tackle, user pick, user deflect, USER EVERYTHING !!

[TheCreep]

I'm strictly offline with Madden. No switch all day everyday, only way to play. Reason being, I like to play as close to reality as I can get.

My outlook is this, if you're playing football (real world) and you are playing the ROLB position, if the play goes to the offense right side of the field I cant morph my soul into the LOLB to ensure the play gets stuffed.

That is HIS responsiblity. All I can do is make my way to the action and try to assist as best I can. That translates into the game world for me. Once you take control of a player, I would say a majority of that players attributes go out of the window. It is entirely too easy to make plays if I switch to every player. I let the outcome be what it shall be. I let the ratings determine the outcome. As it SHOULD be. Correct?

In my opinion its close to cheating. The A.I. doesn't have mental capacity of a human being of course. You will always play better than the CPU once you get used to the game. Switching players, you're pretty much taking away the challenge.

If my CB has a low rating matched up with a WR who's better, then guess what, he's going to be struggling in that particular game, if I switched to him I would make plays the majority of the time, nowhere close to sim style, feel me?

To add to the challenge, before my season starts I scour my depth chart to find the lowest rated (hopefully a rookie) LB, S, or CB. That is who I select. I am now THAT person in game. I will use him until he retires or the new season starts and I find a lower rated player. The challenge is great. I NEVER switch unless a formation is called that takes him off of the field, I will then default to the LE for that particular play.

My games are basically CPU vs CPU. Ratings most definitely decide the outcome. I am isolated at my position. Play my role, my teammates MUST play theirs. Somebody blows an assignment, we just might be taking a loss that day.

[Gordy748]

Well I switch all the time, and as often as not it's to my detriment. Pressing the switch button often moves you to the wrong player and the moment of confusion as you work out who you are is enough to take that player effectively out of the game.

I've set my sliders so my defense is relatively worse than the CPU team's.

As an aside, in an offline franchise can you literally just watch a game? I'm user controlling two teams in my franchise and don't want to bias either when they play. But it would be dull to just sim the game...

[sportyguyfl31]

Quote: Originally Posted by kjcheezhead

I agree with Bezo. I love playing defense and my biggest gripe about Madden on these systems is the lack of adjustments/inolvement on that side of the ball. How does this work in online leagues? Are offensive users still allowed to take control of the wr and maually catch or do they have to let the cpu do it as well?

Im in two online leagues

Our rules are no user catching on O,

On D: No user switching while the ball is in the air.

Once the ball is caught, you can switch

On running plays, you can switch whenever the heck you want.


Of course, you can user INT with the player you are controlling.

It works very well, stats, across the board are what they should be.

Good defensive players are making plays, bad ones arent.

User catching overrides ratings. We all know this.

If your FS safety sucks and wont make plays on the ball, or if you have a WR that wont catch as well as you like, then you'll have to upgrade that position in the offseason.

[Armor and Sword]

Some great replies thus far. i would love to see more seasoned Madden Offline Franchise players weigh in on this as it seems like a very interesting and challenging approach to playing an even more sim style version of Madden.

[falconfansince81]

we don't have one in our online franchises (9 in all) but haven't had any complaints either. no one in their right mind would trust the cpu to make the play, so part of playing a human opponent and being successful also requires a good use of stick skills. granted its a shade away from pure 'sim' but when playing human opponents there are far greater skill requirements in playcalling and on the sticks than playing the cpu which requires some nursing along.

offline i would agree with the others that to get the most out of the game some house rules like playing as one player would probably add a bit more difficulty and realism. otherwise you could just roll over the cpu if so desired, but theres no fun in that.

[Sausage]

I use the no switch rule as well, but I switch to a new defensive player each play before the A.I snaps the ball. Basically if the A.I. has an 11 play drive going (rare), I would have played a down at each position. If Madden had NCAA's Defensive cam, it's DE or MLB all day.

[iAM-IncReDiBLe-]

With out the no switch rule this game is pathetically easy. We use the no switch rule which means when the ball is in the air (a pass) you can't switch from the guy you were controlling before the ball was passed. Once it's caught or intercepted you can switch. If you were controlling a DB or something before the pass was made an can make a play on the ball then go for it. In this years madden the attributed matter a lot. Don't look at a players overall. If you have a safety with 80 zone he will get beat a lot with you using the no switch rule. You need a better player. Those saying the cpu won't make plays on the ball have no idea. I have the Chiefs in my league, both my safetys have 85 plus man coverage an all my CBs have 88 plus man coverage so I play a ton of man. I strictly use the MLB an my pass defense is nasty. in 14 games Brandon Flowers has 24 deflections. The cpu makes tons of plays on the ball, once in awhile my guys will give up a pass play here an there because there awareness is low.

Since we have a gods view on the field you need to no switch to keep yourself honest. It's so easy to get user picks an swats because we can make unrealistic plays on the ball when we switch. I would average 5 ints a game if we didn't use the no switch. Using the no switch rule is the epitome of sim play imo. I am so good at user catching etc that it's just not fair. You can take a 56ovr 97 speed wr who can't catch an turn him into Randy Moss but with the no switch rule he actually plays to his rating an generally will drop a lot of passes an won't get open. Its harder to pad stats etc, the no switch rule is great an to play in the PSL you must abide by it.