6 weeks into my first Madden 11 franchise

[JMD]

I wanted to wait for the regular season to end to have the most recent rosters before I started my Chiefs franchise. After 6 weeks I feel the game is playing quite nicely. Game play wise with the correct slider settings EA has this game playing a fairly decent game of football.

A few things that really annoy me though are:
1. When watching a replay the play selection screen should not come on screen until the replay is over. When it appears it block the replay.

2. This game really needs a halftime show with live action highlights from my game and other games around the league, with commentary. The Extra point at the end of the week is decent but it needs to be expanded a great deal. Why EA won't just look at what 2k5 did and expand on that is a mystery to me.

3. Challenging plays - again I hate to bring up that other 7 year old game but 2k5 had a much better challenge system. The Madden system needs to be improved.

4. Refs on the field. When there is a penalty we should see the ref on the field throw his flag. I'm not sure if Madden 11 does this , if so I've not seen it.

5. Opening cut scene of all teams doing that same foolish chant. Please remove this, only one team in the NFL does this and if you're not a Saints fan it just seems ridiculous.

6. Gus Johnson = Overkill. This guy is really annoying after only a couple games. I'd much rather have the dull Tom Hammond over this guy. Hopefully EA can get him to act like a normal announcer and not over react to every single play. I've had to turn the play by play off and it really kills the experience.

[Vikes1]

Quote: Originally Posted by JMD

6. Gus Johnson = Overkill. This guy is really annoying after only a couple games. I'd much rather have the dull Tom Hammond over this guy. Hopefully EA can get him to act like a normal announcer and not over react to every single play. I've had to turn the play by play off and it really kills the experience.

I guess it's just another case of Tiburon over adjustment, imo.

I've watched [listened] to several Madden '11' videos, and can kinda tell that I too in short order, would start to get a bit irritated listening to Gus overdoing the excitement bit. Tiburon really did go from one end of the spectrum to the other, going from Tom to Gus.

[Sausage]

Quote: Originally Posted by JMD

I wanted to wait for the regular season to end to have the most recent rosters before I started my Chiefs franchise. After 6 weeks I feel the game is playing quite nicely. Game play wise with the correct slider settings EA has this game playing a fairly decent game of football. A few things that really annoy me though are: 1. When watching a replay the play selection screen should not come on screen until the replay is over. When it appears it block the replay. I have remedied this by choosing "Gameflow" for picking plays, but as soon as the replays are done, I press X to open my playbook similar to conventional 2. This game really needs a halftime show with live action highlights from my game and other games around the league, with commentary. The Extra point at the end of the week is decent but it needs to be expanded a great deal. Why EA won't just look at what 2k5 did and expand on that is a mystery to me. I agree 3. Challenging plays - again I hate to bring up that other 7 year old game but 2k5 had a much better challenge system. The Madden system needs to be improved. Can't disagree here 4. Refs on the field. When there is a penalty we should see the ref on the field throw his flag. I'm not sure if Madden 11 does this , if so I've not seen it. I have seen this, but it may have been NCAA 11 5. Opening cut scene of all teams doing that same foolish chant. Please remove this, only one team in the NFL does this and if you're not a Saints fan it just seems ridiculous. LOL 6. Gus Johnson = Overkill. This guy is really annoying after only a couple games. I'd much rather have the dull Tom Hammond over this guy. Hopefully EA can get him to act like a normal announcer and not over react to every single play. I've had to turn the play by play off and it really kills the experience.

I like him, the commentary overall needs to be stitched better and with more banter in between plays. Too many deadspots throughout the game and even after TD's they say nothing. Kills immersion during an intense game.

[mjhyankees]

Agreed...I could probably add to the list
1. Lineman hip - bumping each other after their team just screwed up (like a penalty or fumble or something)
2. the ref on a special teams penalty saying "repeat 4th down" even though change of possession has occurred.
3. Madden 10 had a better pregame (which was very little but at least not Identical for every team).
4. Collinsworth saying before every game that the 2 QB's are the the important matchups....that is so lame - I really ahve to crucify the game on this.....you couldn't mix up the positions from game to game at least even if he still says (these two guys blah blah) for everyone?

That said...having the most fun since Madden 08 on gamecube (and madden 7 was amazing for me - then again it was my first).

BTW also p'd off that I can't build new stadiums for teams without relocating and changing the name.....I wanted the Vikes out in the cold again!

[RavensFan2k3]

Quote: Originally Posted by JMD

I wanted to wait for the regular season to end to have the most recent rosters before I started my Chiefs franchise. After 6 weeks I feel the game is playing quite nicely. Game play wise with the correct slider settings EA has this game playing a fairly decent game of football.

I agree with this.

Quote:

A few things that really annoy me though are: 1. When watching a replay the play selection screen should not come on screen until the replay is over. When it appears it block the replay.

Its annoying, but atleast the replay continues once the play selection screen comes up, so to me its not that bad.

Quote:

2. This game really needs a halftime show with live action highlights from my game and other games around the league, with commentary. The Extra point at the end of the week is decent but it needs to be expanded a great deal. Why EA won't just look at what 2k5 did and expand on that is a mystery to me.

Agree 100% to this.

Quote:

3. Challenging plays - again I hate to bring up that other 7 year old game but 2k5 had a much better challenge system. The Madden system needs to be improved.

Again, I agree 100%.

Quote:

4. Refs on the field. When there is a penalty we should see the ref on the field throw his flag. I'm not sure if Madden 11 does this , if so I've not seen it.

Yes, this really bothers me. I remember playing Madden 98 on Sega Saturn and the refs threw actual yellow flags on penalties during plays. Also the chain gang is terrible. There is no chain, thye hardly come out to measure, and they are often in the wrong position...like they dont always move with the action. I'll get a first down and they'll still be back somewhere else.

Quote:

5. Opening cut scene of all teams doing that same foolish chant. Please remove this, only one team in the NFL does this and if you're not a Saints fan it just seems ridiculous.

Lol, it is kinda annoying.

6. Gus Johnson = Overkill. This guy is really annoying after only a couple games. I'd much rather have the dull Tom Hammond over this guy. Hopefully EA can get him to act like a normal announcer and not over react to every single play. I've had to turn the play by play off and it really kills the experience.[/quote]
Commentary has never been great, and I could see how its difficult to make good, so IDK what to say about this.

[JVM]

Someone say the correct slider settings? Is someone saying there is a set of slider settings that corrects all the flaws in this game? If yes, please enlighten us with this amazing set of sliders.

[bwburke94]

The challenge system is fine IMO, as long as the AI doesn't decide to screw the player over. It's improved in the last three years.

[JMD]

Quote: Originally Posted by JVM

Someone say the correct slider settings? Is someone saying there is a set of slider settings that corrects all the flaws in this game? If yes, please enlighten us with this amazing set of sliders.

What I mean by Correct Slider Setting is, every year I buy Madden on launch day. Form that day until the end of the regular season I play exhibition games against the CPU and during these games I constantly tweak the sliders to get the game to give me the challenge I'm looking for. On the all pro setting right out of the box I can easily win every game, so I need to play a bunch of games while tweaking the sliders to get the game to fit my style and skill of play.

Also I never post my slider set. I believe one mans sliders will not work for another. We all have different styles of play and different skill levels as well as different levels of football knowledge. So someone who has only been playing Madden for the past couple years would most likely hate my slider set as the CPU would be winning all the time. Just as someone who is more skilled then me would find the game to easy. I do my best to try and get the A.I. to mimic what I watch on Sundays, you can only do so much with sliders though, some issues are in the programming such as poor clock management and so on.

I use the Chiefs , always have, and so far , I'm at week 7 , I've had one blow out and the rest came down to the end of the game to be decided. I'm in first place in the AFC West at 4-2 , I got killed by the 49ers and lost to the Colts in O.T.