How is M13/EA Headed in Right Direction?

[Franchise408]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

And I couldn't disagree with you more. 1)Madden hasn't had that type of franchise mode, period, minus the features missing from last year. By the way, let's not knock CCM until we tried it. I will agree with you once I try it and find it "THE WORST" franchise mode I've seen. 2) Wow, on this one. Only playing the demo for the infinity engine or have you bothered to look at the retail videos? It's much more tuned and less arcadey vs the demo. Do you play NHL or FIFA? Both games have had the IE put in them the last 2-3 yrs and they've been tuning since then. Madden is following the footsteps of NHL and FIFA. 3) I've been using game plan and I don't see the physic defense you see. Last game, the Giants were down by 3 and they had possession with 50 seconds left. I thought the stupid AI would kick in and the Giants would try to run the ball, nope. 4 times Eli tried to throw the ball and 4 times he was denied. I will agree sometimes the AI act dumb in late game situations, but this time, I was wrong.

1.) I still fail to see what's so new and improved and innovative and "so much better!!!" about Connected Careers than what we already had.

-Twitter feeds: Add absolutely nothing to the game, it is made up stories about players that has no actual impact on the game itself. Most of what is in Twitter feeds was information that was already available in past games via stat screens and menus. Previous Madden franchises even did have a "headlines" section of the menu to highlight recent news and events. Now, instead of a "headlines" section, it's a fictional Skip Bayless. And again, using ESPN personalities to report the news of franchise mode is not innovative, NFL 2K5 was doing that long before this. I don't see any significant improvement or innovation here above what we already had. Just fluff.

-XP based progression is just awful. I don't want to earn XP points and "buy" skill upgrades for my players or for my coaches. This is just an awful, backwards way of doing player progression and team building, and completely kills any immersion or realism of the franchise mode.

-"Backstories" are gimmicky and RPG'ish, and this is coming from someone who is a huge RPG fan. This kind of stuff just has no place. And again, this isn't some ground breaking innovation - it's fluff with no substance.

-Schemes I can already tell are going to be poorly implemented. So ratings are impacted arbitrarily by whatever scheme settings I have, which as far as I can tell, I can't change. So, even if I feel a particular player fits perfectly into what I am trying to do with my scheme, he'll take a ratings hit if Madden doesn't designate that he fits my scheme. Like XP progression, this is very misguided substance.

-Legacy score is just more fluff, arcadey "top score" nonsense.

-Everything that was removed was indeed vital to my enjoyment of franchise modes. Custom playbooks allowed me to actually implement my own scheme, by selecting the types of formations and play that I wanted to build for, not just arbitrarily selecting a scheme from a predetermined list of what Madden wants me to do. Player editing, while I didn't use it to edit player ratings, I did use them on jersey #'s to keep my franchise true to real life, by not issuing numbers like 16, 8, 80, 42, 34, 87, 37, 39, 12, 70, 73, or 79 to 49ers players (along with a personal retirement to #97). These are 2 major removals to me that the additions don't even come any where close to replacing. I would much rather have custom playbooks and player editing over every single thing that CCM has offered. Then there's other removals like fantasy drafts, 32 team play, and same console multiplayer, and CCM simply put is not worth it.

So, players can back out of the draft, and long term injuries can carry over into the next season. That's cool. I wouldn't consider it groundbreaking. It's just the next natural step of franchise modes. There isn't some huge innovation here. And if I have to wait until I play it to say it's bad, shouldn't others have to wait until they play it to say it's good?

I say it's bad because there are too many removals, not enough additions, and the additions that are there that do actually change it from previous years change it in a completely backwards and horrible direction. The changes to franchise mode make the exclusive license need to end now more than ever. This is not how I want to experience football franchise modes going forward.

2.) No, I haven't watched the retail videos, but even if I did, I'll take my own personal experiences using it over a video any day. Have you actually played the retail version of the physics engine? Because if not, you can't actually say that it's better. I can watch plenty of videos of Madden, and it looks like it doesn't have the same problems year after year after year, but every year once I get my hands on the game, it does. If the retail version is better, then I will happily come on here and say they improved it for retail. But I lost any faith in EA actually "improving" the game long ago.

3.) I can't say if you've seen it or not, all I can say is I can... I come to the line with a run called. I see that they are crowding the line of scrimmage, linebackers ready to blitz the hole I am about to run into, safeties creeping forward, and corners in major press coverage. Knowing I have a deep threat in Randy Moss, I quick audible to a deep pass, only to see the linebackers back up out of the hole, the safeties head back deep, and the corners come off their press coverage. I hot route Randy Moss who now has a cushion to a quick slant, and then I watch as the linebacker now shifts over to cover the slant pattern. I audible back into a run, and I watch as the defense once again creeps forward, linebackers showing blitz into the exact hole I'm running into, with safeties creeping forward to stop the run. It happens every... single... time. I've given up on even trying to call audibles when I see a weakness in the defense, because the CPU just automatically adjusts to the new play call.

[Franchise408]

Quote: Originally Posted by boooey

lets all just hope and pray that the exclusivity deal ends in 2013, so we no longer have to sit here every year debating whether EA is heading in the right direction.. The topic is so old already..

This is the best thing that could happen for everyone involved.

EA has shown me time and time again that they are not going in the right direction, and I want another choice and I want it yesterday.

[MattIntellect]

Quote: Originally Posted by tfctillidie

There was one constant with the Madden team the whole time and he's now gone. Not saying it's on him, but that's still a fact.

Seriously? Are you referring to Ian Cummings? Most of the guys there now have been there for close to ten years. Ian was there for many years, but was only a leader of the team for maybe three years.

[roadman]

On number 2, Franchise, I'll can say, for fact, my eyes don't lie watching retail versions on OS.

And if I'm wrong, I will gladly come on here and report my findings.

You must have overlooked the thread where people thought, based on the retail version, physics was tuned way too much, but whatever.

[StrawHat Patriot]

Quote: Originally Posted by MattIntellect

I think it's fair to say that Madden did not start heading in the right direction this year. From the last 2-3 years till now, Madden has been improving every year, showing promise for the next. This year it has done so more than others. The current team is doing a remarkable job with Madden, but many of the big features in Madden 13, such as Connected Careers and the Infinity Engine, were years in the making. They were not built this year. They were developed and planned for future release with the support of previous familiar names, such as Ian Cummings and Phil Frazier. This may be year one of new leadership, but from my viewpoint, the direction is consistent with what it has been the past few years. Many of the "new leaders" were proud members under the past regime. I think that many members of the current team have the same collective mindset of those that were in charge last year. The goal is still to make Madden true to the NFL, and I know that technology and time limits them, but I have no problem with their vision.

I thought that Infinity Engine was thrown in during January? Ian Cummings said it wasn't possible this gen, right?

[StrawHat Patriot]

In the retail version, based off the videos I've seen, the IE has clunkyness in gang tackles, but during one on one tackles, it's alright. One guy said it looks none existent, I will just say that the engagement and different tackle attempts aren't there, to me that is.

[MattIntellect]

Quote: Originally Posted by StrawHat Patriot

I thought that Infinity Engine was thrown in during January? Ian Cummings said it wasn't possible this gen, right?

I don't believe Ian Cummings said it wasn't possible this generation. I think he said that it needed to be proven to work in a football game first, such as Backbreaker, before being implemented into Madden. I'll have to do some digging for proof later. However, I do know that Connected Careers was worked on for multiple years.

[StrawHat Patriot]

Quote: Originally Posted by MattIntellect

I don't believe Ian Cummings said it wasn't possible this generation. I think he said that it needed to be proven to work in a football game first, such as Backbreaker, before being implemented into Madden. I'll have to do some digging for proof later. However, I do know that Connected Careers was worked on for multiple years.

Oh okay then.