Does EA even care about us?

[PunchDrunk]

Every year there are always complaints about Madden, and EA doesn't do crap about it. All they care about is the $$$. If they acutally did care about their consumers they would make an effort to make the game better each year. For example they aquired the ESPN liscense and they haven't used it since they bought the NFL rights. What do we have to do to get EA's attention?

[adayinthelife]

How revolutionary.

[letsgopens66]

Fight the man!

[Segagendude]

This won't last long.....

But allow me to address the ESPN thing:

They have the license, but aren't allowed to use ESPN likenesses or logos. I can't remember why, but they've been forbidden since they acquired the NFL license..nothing we can do about that.

[jdefreitas]

Hmmmm......

-Offline franchise mode improcements too numerous to name but include new scouting elements, better injured reserve execution, expanded rosters, cut days, pro days, combine scouting, 30 new draft classes all randomly generated, new free agent signing bidding system, etc.

-Improved CPU AI in zone coverage (which has been exploited badly the past few years), not perfect, but much improved.

-Improved presentation (exclude really bad commentary/hopefully patched) and entrances. I know some people say these get old and you can cycle through but I have seen different parts at the end of the entrances (saw two new ones last night) for each team where there are subtle differences.

-Sliders WORK and it plays an amazing game of football if you go through and edit for your skill level. Way easier to do this year btw. It is an all around game instead of an offensive slugfest!

But they didn't listen to a single thing that we said.


Case Point, Ian's team drove this series into the tank. Josh's team is taking areas that have needed improvement for a long time and completely overhauling them. It's a base for what his team plans to incorporate next year. You can't fix it all in one release. The fact that they were able to do so much is pretty crazy.

I commend the Madden devs and the rest of the community that was involved in creating the game this year. Exceptional job.

[mestevo]

Quote: Originally Posted by jdefreitas

Ian's team drove this series into the tank. ... I commend the Madden devs and the rest of the community that was involved in creating the game this year. Exceptional job.

Madden 12 is the result of Ian and his team's efforts. Some people lose sight of that while trying to hard to blame someone.

Or do some of you think they hired a new team and created Madden 12 in 2-3 months?

[jdefreitas]

How convenient he had these ideas at the end of his tenure when they could have been incorporated into the game in Madden 10 where they belonged.

Gameflow, simpler, quicker, deeper (so the addicted online crowd could get in more games and pile up their brag rags and wins)? No offense to folks who enjoy online communities and such, it's just that the folks who play this offline deserve some investment every now and then. Not addressing key blocking AI issues that have plagued the series for years? There is no excuse for suction blocking, ratings that don't matter, etc.

Josh brought all these franchise ideas over from NFL Head Coach 09. They were his concepts. You can see that if you have played both games. It's basically a copy/paste with a new layout menu (similar to the menu used in Head Coach). He also began fixing some of the core issues with the game that have caused it to be less enjoyable. He was a large part of this overhaul.

I am not discrediting what Ian did to help get this year off on the right track, but what I am saying is you are sadly mistaken if you think that all of a sudden Ian had an epiphany and all these ideas popped into his head.

This team took the game a completely different direction this year because new people brought new material to the table.

[mestevo]

Quote: Originally Posted by jdefreitas

How convenient he had these ideas at the end of his tenure when they could have been incorporated into the game in Madden 10 where they belonged.

Yes, clearly his plan was to make a great Madden and then leave ???

Things existing in another game don't mean they can be 'copy and pasted' into another. Systems had to be built/rebuilt, franchise work had to be shelved for more than one cycle to bring them to Madden 12.

Any credit (and criticism) for Madden 12 deservedly goes to Ian and his team (of which Josh was a part of... by the way).

I look forward to where it gets taken from here under Weber.