An Open Letter for the Madden Forums

[Illustrator76]

To bring a little levity to the topic, I was a little bit disappointed by the original post after reading the thread title. I came in here expecting to read: "Oh quivereth doeth thou fair Madden, whyeth dost thou continueth to toyeth with my emotions as a lioness doeth with it's wounded prey?"...or something along those lines

On a serious note, I agree with everything that tazdevil20 said. People don't complain about Madden just to complain, if people are complaining about the same issues for years and years, then that speaks to the developers just as much as the posters on OS. Look at pass trajectories for example, how long have we been complaining about that, and it is just NOW finally being fixed? The positive side is that one of the major OS Madden "hot button" issues we have heard about for years can finally be put to rest. One could argue that without all of the criticism being given to Madden that we may not even see the fixes in key areas of the game that are sorely needed. Being an Illustrator, I grow more as an artist off of valid "critiques" than people always telling me how good I am. One of my teachers in art college got extremely mad at me and told me that I would never make it as an Illustrator in front of the whole class (and then he proceeded to list the reasons why), I laughed it off and then went home and improved on every single thing that teacher said I couldn't do. The Madden devs (or any dev for that matter) should have the exact same mindset, or else they are flat out in the wrong business, because that kind of stuff comes with the territory.

My old pastor used to say: "With a million dollar bank account comes a million dollar headache". Video game developers are making good money to do what they do, and that is a plus, but the minus is that they have to deal with tons of fan backlash and outrage (that can be pretty harsh) when people aren't happy with the product they receive. It's simply the nature of the beast.

[roadman]

Eh, it's all good. At least we now know the flex is in the game.

Smart move by EA, the media picked up on it.

[GiantBlue76]

Quote: Originally Posted by jp7588

I can't speak for everyone but, to me, I feel like the response to each was appropriately proportionate to what they put out. When they released a picture of Tebow doing his praying thing, I rolled my eyes and sighed a little. I imagine a lot of people reacted similarly. Tebow is a topic that generates a lot of easy buzz. I assumed that's why they threw the pictures out there. When I saw that someone from EA stated in an interview or something that they put Tebowing in to help create a more "authentic experience" as opposed to the real reason: "we figured it'd be an easy way to pander to the LCD", I got a little irritated. I doubt anyone had "have Tebow get on his knee" on their list of things Madden needed to make it more authentic. When they put out a hokey, goofy looking video of Tebow waddling into the end-zone and immediately falling to his knee I thought: "STOP IT! NO! THAT'S NEVER HAPPENED LIKE THAT BEFORE!" I mean, in the grand scheme of things, celebrations aren't really significant to me... BUT, if you're going to show something off like this, it's gotta look halfway decent. Then someone states that Mike Young told them Tebow's typical "flex" celebration is in there... Meh... That's great and all, but it doesn't change the fact that they awkwardly shoved one of 2011's biggest cultural memes into the game for some cheap buzz, all while claiming their intention was to add "authenticity" to the game. Either they were being disingenuous or, even worse, they actually did think that what they produced was "authentic". It kinda reminds me of what Louis CK said about being 40. I've got absolutely no reason to feel sorry for EA or reserve judgement on even their smallest of failures, and I've got no reason to be impressed by their small accomplishments. "Yeah, do your job (expletive deleted). Nobody cares. That's what you're supposed to do." -Louis CK Sent from my phone using this thing

Wow, I cannot express how similarly our thinking is on these types of things. That is a perfectly articulated way of describing exactly how I feel. lol.

[GiantBlue76]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

I guess I go back to your question then. If everyone didn't have the QB on the Jets high on the priority list for authenticity in the game, why make a big fuss out of it anyway? Just trying to understand people's thought processes. Smart move by EA, the media picked up on it.

You're right, Road. From a business standpoint it is a smart move. However, what the poster was talking about wasn't that it was specifically the whole Tebow thing. He was using that as an example. EA goes through great pains to advertise the whole Tebow celebration as a big authenticity grabber. Yet, someone like me would probably see that happen maybe twice during my tenure with the game. However, I see my players zig zagging all over the field along with horrendous line play. It's pretty ridiculous to see the claim of authenticity for such minute things as Tebow's celebration, yet player interaction still sucks in the most basic element of the game. Claiming you are dotting every "i" and crossing every "t" for authenticity is a laughable statement when the very facets of your game that make it football are entirely NOT AUTHENTIC. This is EXACTLY the very thing that fuels the fire for angst towards Tiburon.

I hope that helped explain a little of the thought process

[jp7588]

Quote: Originally Posted by Illustrator76

Being an Illustrator, I grow more as an artist off of valid "critiques" than people always telling me how good I am.

This. 100% this. An environment with nothing but unconditional positivity isn't going to make anyone any better at anything.

That's what mothers are for. You want someone to tell you you're handsome, smart or whatever? Call your mom (my apologies to those among us whose mothers are no longer among us. For a small fee, strippers or prostitutes could probably get the same thing done. And then some). You want to get better at something? Find someone who's willing to tell you exactly how bad you suck and why.


Sent from my phone using this thing

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by tazdevil20

You're right, Road. From a business standpoint it is a smart move. However, what the poster was talking about wasn't that it was specifically the whole Tebow thing. He was using that as an example. EA goes through great pains to advertise the whole Tebow celebration as a big authenticity grabber. Yet, someone like me would probably see that happen maybe twice during my tenure with the game. However, I see my players zig zagging all over the field along with horrendous line play. It's pretty ridiculous to see the claim of authenticity for such minute things as Tebow's celebration, yet player interaction still sucks in the most basic element of the game. Claiming you are dotting every "i" and crossing every "t" for authenticity is a laughable statement when the very facets of your game that make it football are entirely NOT AUTHENTIC. This is EXACTLY the very thing that fuels the fire for angst towards Tiburon. I hope that helped explain a little of the thought process

Eh, I edited before you hit submit.

Yeah, you definitely cleared that one up.

Hopefully, your fire is cooled on June 4th.

[GiantBlue76]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

Eh, I edited before you hit submit. Yeah, you definitely cleared that one up. Hopefully, your fire is cooled on June 4th.

If this thing is monumentally great, it will undoubtedly make Madden a much better game. However, my expectations are pretty high. I'm not saying it won't be enough for me to tilt one way or the other, I'm just not as enthusiastic as many others. My issues are mostly all gameplay related. I don't really pay much attention to presentation, sock length, celebrations or commentary. I care about the football first and foremost. I'm not a big franchise guy (except online franchise) so for me, I want everything on the field and involved with the field of play to be top notch. Right now, I'd give Madden a 4/10 for the on field football. Once it reaches that MLB the show and NBA 2k level (and then some), I'll pull a big Jedi mind trick and people won't even recognize me on these forums.

Even with this magical addition come June 4th, zig zag running, horrendous line play and the questionable passing mechanic have me not even the slightest bit excited about Madden. That's just me - like I said, my expectations are probably loftier than others. That being said, I'm happy for the guys who will get great enjoyment out of it. That's all that matters since it IS just a game.

[CRMosier_LM]

Quote: Originally Posted by DeuceDouglas

Negativity is always going to be louder than the positivity. Broadcast the failures, whisper the success. No matter what the subject is.

I have always equated it to going to a restaurant. Nearly all people leave happy with their experience yet never express it. The only people the server/manager/cook here any feedback from are the pissed off folks which are usually the big minority.

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