This is very sad indeed another year of this.

[ODogg]

Quote: Originally Posted by whipsmart77

ODogg - are you the kinda guy who just throws it and lets the CPU go catch it. Or just kinda runs around on the D-line on defense? If so, you might not notice lag as much. If you're a user catch addict, or someone who HAS to play safety or LB with quick reaction skills, the lag is readily apparent. I have a great connection, all ports open, yadda yadda - the fact is EA products are going backwards online, rather than forwards. Too bad.

I user catch sometimes, depends on the type of throw. I also play LB sometimes too. I swear there is not unusual lag. The game runs like any other online game, it's not perfect but it's certainly playable. As someone else said, it perhaps can have to do with the users location in relation to the EA servers or something.

[bigfnjoe96]

Quote: Originally Posted by ODogg

It's not at all the same, anyone that thinks copper can match Fiber Optics for speed is ignorant to the technology. FIOS is not overrated, it was recently awarded #1 by PC World magazine in every internet category. I can now download twice as fast as cable users. And my Comcast cable before was pretty decent too. I downloaded 4 high resolution Madden IGN movies in no time flat the other night. My ping times and download rates are double, sometimes triple regular cable users. If you ever want to compare speed rates on DSLreports.com let me know and i'm happy to accomodate you. Sounds like sour grapes from you. Probably because it's not available where you live yet

FIOS is available in my area, but have no need for it because I have Cablevision, which offers IMO better service than what Verizon is offering. Again though this thread isn't about providers, it's about the issue which seem to have plagued Madden & all EA Sports titles since it "Next-Gen" jump. Their ability to offer gamers a descent Online Experience

[Moostache]

EA has slowly been removing features from online play for a while now....and not just on current-gen system, they did to the last-gen too.

Think back to when online play first came out in Madden 2003.

We had lobbies that you could see who was in the lobby without enterring the room...GONE.

We had selectable stadiums for online games.....GONE.

We had selectable gametimes....GONE.

We had selectable weather effects....GONE.

We had selectable quarter length and difficulty settings....GONE.

We had stats e-mailed to us for ranked OR unranked games.....GONE.

We had selectable alternate jerseys for one year (Madden 2005?)....GONE.

We had EA messenger....GONE (in NCAA there is NO MESSENGER AT ALL on PS3!!)

The distressing thing to me was in talking with Will (RAC) in L.A. about the state of online gaming for EA's titles. His responses (really just conversing about the overall online business and features, NOT a specific "interview" or "on the record" statement BTW) led me to believe that the hiogher ups in EA (the ones with the purse strings and the spending authority) truly believe that online is a very, very, very small part of the Madden experience and if they had their way it would go away so they could stop spending money on it.

I could be wrong there and it may be my frustration at having NONE of the once "in the game" online features returned - **** ON PS3 THEY TOOK MORE OUT!!! - but I came away with the impression that EA was very disappointed in the adoption of last year's 360 gamecast service - (which given how totally screwed up and unreliable parts of that were in the first place, I find that a bit more than off-putting), and that because they did that and it did not exactly ignite XB360 sales or adoption of current-gen suystems for that matter, they were simply convinced that online play is too small a concern to worry about it at all.

Of course, there is also the www.EAsportsWorld.com site...which for NCAA offers the ability to upload videos and photos to a "My Space"-esque homepage. THIS seems to be what EA believes is what people want for online features....I have tried to tell Will (and I know others in the COmmunity Leader's forum have tried) to communicate to EA that this is WRONG. Those thigns like sportsworld and gamecast are nice additions to the online experience, but what people REALLY want is:

1) LAG-FREE GAMES
2) STATS and STAT TRACKING
3) LEAGUES
4) FEATURES RETURNED THAT WERE TAKEN AWAY
5) A RANK SYSTEM THAT IS ADJUSTABLE OR COVERS DIFFERENT DIFFICULTY SETTINGS.

I will be in Orlando later today and at the community event tomorrow and I will be telling this same story to every single Madden producer I come across - even those who have nothing to do with online whatsoever. Hopefully, if we bang the gong loud enough and long enough the message will get through in time for 2009 (but since these comments are VERY similar to ones I made last year and the year before), I would not hold my breath.

I despise 2K gameplay and graphics, so for me EA is still the only football option (licensed or un-licensed) - and I truly do enjoy NCAA and expect Madden to be very much teh same with added polish in some areas and some tweaks in others. If I hated the games, then I would stop buying them....I am just frustrated that the online play that brought me back to gaming in 2002 has continued to decline on Madden for years. It is doubly mystifying when you consider the amazing games online on the 360 and PS3 already - why oh why can't my single favorite game be in the top-tier of online features and playability??????

[fredsmooth21]

Quote: Originally Posted by Moostache

EA has slowly been removing features from online play for a while now....and not just on current-gen system, they did to the last-gen too. Think back to when online play first came out in Madden 2003. We had lobbies that you could see who was in the lobby without enterring the room...GONE. We had selectable stadiums for online games.....GONE. We had selectable gametimes....GONE. We had selectable weather effects....GONE. We had selectable quarter length and difficulty settings....GONE. We had stats e-mailed to us for ranked OR unranked games.....GONE. We had selectable alternate jerseys for one year (Madden 2005?)....GONE. We had EA messenger....GONE (in NCAA there is NO MESSENGER AT ALL on PS3!!) The distressing thing to me was in talking with Will (RAC) in L.A. about the state of online gaming for EA's titles. His responses (really just conversing about the overall online business and features, NOT a specific "interview" or "on the record" statement BTW) led me to believe that the hiogher ups in EA (the ones with the purse strings and the spending authority) truly believe that online is a very, very, very small part of the Madden experience and if they had their way it would go away so they could stop spending money on it. I could be wrong there and it may be my frustration at having NONE of the once "in the game" online features returned - **** ON PS3 THEY TOOK MORE OUT!!! - but I came away with the impression that EA was very disappointed in the adoption of last year's 360 gamecast service - (which given how totally screwed up and unreliable parts of that were in the first place, I find that a bit more than off-putting), and that because they did that and it did not exactly ignite XB360 sales or adoption of current-gen suystems for that matter, they were simply convinced that online play is too small a concern to worry about it at all. Of course, there is also the www.EAsportsWorld.com site...which for NCAA offers the ability to upload videos and photos to a "My Space"-esque homepage. THIS seems to be what EA believes is what people want for online features....I have tried to tell Will (and I know others in the COmmunity Leader's forum have tried) to communicate to EA that this is WRONG. Those thigns like sportsworld and gamecast are nice additions to the online experience, but what people REALLY want is: 1) LAG-FREE GAMES 2) STATS and STAT TRACKING 3) LEAGUES 4) FEATURES RETURNED THAT WERE TAKEN AWAY 5) A RANK SYSTEM THAT IS ADJUSTABLE OR COVERS DIFFERENT DIFFICULTY SETTINGS. I will be in Orlando later today and at the community event tomorrow and I will be telling this same story to every single Madden producer I come across - even those who have nothing to do with online whatsoever. Hopefully, if we bang the gong loud enough and long enough the message will get through in time for 2009 (but since these comments are VERY similar to ones I made last year and the year before), I would not hold my breath. I despise 2K gameplay and graphics, so for me EA is still the only football option (licensed or un-licensed) - and I truly do enjoy NCAA and expect Madden to be very much teh same with added polish in some areas and some tweaks in others. If I hated the games, then I would stop buying them....I am just frustrated that the online play that brought me back to gaming in 2002 has continued to decline on Madden for years. It is doubly mystifying when you consider the amazing games online on the 360 and PS3 already - why oh why can't my single favorite game be in the top-tier of online features and playability??????

nice post. Will should know most of this stuff already considering he co-owned MaddenNation with me and was apart of the original leaders program. The EA Sportsworld in Madden isn't even the same as in NCAA. I find the one in Madden useless since you can't upload vids like you could in NCAA

[ODogg]

Quote: Originally Posted by bigfnjoe96

FIOS is available in my area, but have no need for it because I have Cablevision, which offers IMO better service than what Verizon is offering. Again though this thread isn't about providers, it's about the issue which seem to have plagued Madden & all EA Sports titles since it "Next-Gen" jump. Their ability to offer gamers a descent Online Experience

When it's about lag it most certainly is about providers often times. And btw, PC World ranked Cablevision near dead last, if not dead last, in their report. So if you get lag online and are on Cablevision and FIOS is available then you only have yourself to blame, not EA.

[ODogg]

Quote: Originally Posted by Moostache

EA has slowly been removing features from online play for a while now....and not just on current-gen system, they did to the last-gen too. Think back to when online play first came out in Madden 2003. We had lobbies that you could see who was in the lobby without enterring the room...GONE. We had selectable stadiums for online games.....GONE. We had selectable gametimes....GONE. We had selectable weather effects....GONE. We had selectable quarter length and difficulty settings....GONE. We had stats e-mailed to us for ranked OR unranked games.....GONE. We had selectable alternate jerseys for one year (Madden 2005?)....GONE. We had EA messenger....GONE (in NCAA there is NO MESSENGER AT ALL on PS3!!)

Although i've been debating with you guys about whether EA's service is laggy or not, I will say I 100% concur with the above post that it's BS that EA is not only refusing to add services but removing the ones we used to have slowly but surely. This is my biggest issue with online play, not lag.

We need all these options back and more. Also, there are some puzzling things in the way they do things online too. Like why is that if I want to do a customized, invite-only game that I cannot do it ranked? If I want to make a room for my friend and invite him then why does it have to be an unranked game? Can't my friend and I play a ranked game? Sure I know we could meet in the lobby and play from there but it makes no sense that when you have a custom invite feature (which is pretty darned cool btw) to just ask a friend from your friends list to join, that you have to make it unranked. Makes no sense at all.

[muggins]

Quote: Originally Posted by ODogg

When it's about lag it most certainly is about providers often times. And btw, PC World ranked Cablevision near dead last, if not dead last, in their report. So if you get lag online and are on Cablevision and FIOS is available then you only have yourself to blame, not EA.

Any broadband service should be sufficient to get a good play experience from any online game within the continuous 48 states. Blaming someone else's connection (or location) really doesn't make sense here.

[fredsmooth21]

If its the end user connection then tell me this....

-why can i play every other online game, minus EA Sports titles perfectly fine?

-why is it when EA released the "lag patch" last year i had no lag after that?

-why can I play games like RB6, Halo, GoW, RFOM on PS3 fine with no lag.

-I can play other sports games that aren't NCAA, Madden, or NBA Live just fine as well.

-I got the 360 at launch and it lagged. I lived in 3 different places since then with different ISP providers and its lagged on those games.

To me it doesnt make sense why it would be my connection. If i couldn't play ANY game online without lag then i'd say my connection was a POS. But its not.