Madden NFL 10 Blog: Player Ratings - A New Philosophy, A New Era

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  • Ian_Cummings
    MVP
    • May 2008
    • 1919

    #1

    Madden NFL 10 Blog: Player Ratings - A New Philosophy, A New Era



    Hey guys, we thought it would be a perfect time to share something that I am personally very excited about for Madden NFL 10. We took each and every rating in the game (over 50+ player ratings) and scaled them up/down in a way that is now using much more of the scale. I like to describe it around the office like this…”We basically stretched out the ratings.” We want to use more of the numbers so we get a bigger, more noticeable affect in the game.

    Let me give you guys an example….in Madden NFL 09 all of the WR’s Route Running ratings ranged from 62-99. In the current Madden NFL 10 build, WR’s now check in from 35-99. To counter this on the defensive side, all CB’s in Madden NFL 09 had a Man Coverage rating which ranged from 64-99. Now in Madden NFL 10, CB’s Man Coverage range is currently 40-99.

    Every position and every rating has been re-scaled to expand the range of numbers we are dealing with. The Overall Rating for your average NFL player has dropped. Your Joe Average linebacker who was 80 OVR is now dropped down to 70. The players who were before right on the cusp of 90 in a rating category are now down around 85-88…Meaning, there are fewer superstar players out there. Before, where you could maybe get by throwing to your slot WR who had 93 SPD, with 74 ROUTES, and 77 Catching…now in Madden NFL 10, that guy is going to have like 91 SPD, 60-65 ROUTES and anywhere from 65-70 Catching. Let me tell you, these rating drops make a big difference when that slot rookie WR with 90+ speed now drops every 3rd pass or so, or just simply cannot get open.
    The superstars have not been affected however, this is intentional. Peyton is still 99 OVR, Patrick Willis a 99, Larry Fitz is 99, etc. The elite players at rating categories have not been affected either (JaMarcus Russell still has a 98 Throw Power and Chris Johnson still rated 99 Speed). [Side note: One of my personal goals is to have the actual NFL players in Madden NFL 10 look like their real-life counterparts and play to their strengths and weaknesses like never before in a football video game.]

    Speaking of the Speed, which is always a hot topic, we made some major changes with the infamous SPD rating as well. To give you a great example, I will again go back to WR and CB. In Madden NFL 09, the WR SPD range was 85-100…CB was 87-99.

    In Madden NFL 10, WR SPD range is currently 70-100…CB is currently 75-99. So as you may or may not tell, the SPD range has been pushed down, in our opinions, to better reflect the “sim-gameplay” style that Ian and Phil have been telling you about all winter long. This SPD change has been updated for each position, so it makes a huge game play affect.

    Ian and I had a game the other day where Earnest Graham broke one up the middle for a 55 yard touchdown run… and he could not be caught!…E-Grahams’ Madden NFL 10 current SPD rating….80 SPD. That should give you a good sense of what is possible with the new ratings. It’s not all about having the 90+ SPD anymore. On this particular run, Ian’s CB’s got hung up against some blockers and all I had to do was beat one safety and Graham was gone! He had Brandon Jacobs and his 85 SPD breaking some long runs as well. On the flip side of bigger/slower backs, Chris Johnson is absolutely lethal right now. You can actually get him outside with sweeps now and he is a beast to stop. But again, we are constantly tuning the gameplay, we have an entire team dedicated to that and they are some of the best people we have in the building.

    So there you have it, player ratings are in for a major overhaul this year and I am really excited already with the impact they are having on the early builds of the game. And rest assured, we are well aware of the outside impacts this will have….Rookies will now come into the league based on the new ranges, NCAA Import guys are being tuned as well…Progression has been accounted for as well to better reflect breakout stars and burned-out former stars. Meaning, we want to have bigger jumps in OVR this year, both positive and negative. That’s all for now, probably gave away too much already!

    Would love to hear any feedback about this big new change in the way we do player ratings. I’d be happy to answer any questions regarding the new rating ranges….please no individual ratings questions, not answering those! Stay tuned for more Madden player rating related blogs in the future!


    - Donny Moore – Madden NFL 10 Designer

  • ba11innnnn
    Rookie
    • Apr 2007
    • 63

    #2
    Re: Madden NFL 10 blog 2: Ratings philosophy by Donny Moore

    damn nice post Ian... i think this is a really good change. give us your opinion it this!
    New York Giants --> 2008 Super Bowl Champs
    Madden 09 = the return of Madden Football

    Comment

    • Ian_Cummings
      MVP
      • May 2008
      • 1919

      #3
      Re: Madden NFL 10 blog 2: Ratings philosophy by Donny Moore

      IMO this has been one of the most drastic changes in a long while when it comes to core gameplay. There is a lot of tuning to do (as Donny says), but holy crap does it really make fatigue, injuries, and the depth of your team really MATTER again.

      As an example, if Peyton goes down and Sorgi comes in...oh boy. You better get that run game going.

      Comment

      • thudias
        MVP
        • Jul 2006
        • 1995

        #4
        Re: Madden NFL 10 blog 2: Ratings philosophy by Donny Moore

        Good job Donny...I am excited to see the results of the hard work and attention to detail that is being put in.
        Because I can!

        Comment

        • thudias
          MVP
          • Jul 2006
          • 1995

          #5
          Re: Madden NFL 10 blog 2: Ratings philosophy by Donny Moore

          Originally posted by Ian_Cummings_EA
          IMO this has been one of the most drastic changes in a long while when it comes to core gameplay. There is a lot of tuning to do (as Donny says), but holy crap does it really make fatigue, injuries, and the depth of your team really MATTER again.

          As an example, if Peyton goes down and Sorgi comes in...oh boy. You better get that run game going.
          That's really great to hear because that is the core of running a franchise in Madden..managing depth makes the salary cap more important and drafting right on down the line. Hearing about fatigue make backups matter that is important to Madden because it important in the real NFL.
          Last edited by thudias; 02-09-2009, 08:06 PM.
          Because I can!

          Comment

          • Cusefan
            Earlwolfx on XBL
            • Oct 2003
            • 9820

            #6
            Re: Madden NFL 10 blog 2: Ratings philosophy by Donny Moore

            I love it. Ian I have a feeling the Best madden players( the best Cheesers) are going to hate Madden 10 ! Thank you for re-introducing strategy.
            My dog's butt smells like cookies

            Comment

            • IanCummingsFriend
              Rookie
              • May 2008
              • 78

              #7
              Re: Madden NFL 10 blog 2: Ratings philosophy by Donny Moore

              I love the thought of now being able to rip off a big run for a TD with a guy that isn't 90+ speed. Makes almost everyback lethal to a certain degree.

              Comment

              • Bgamer90
                MVP
                • Jul 2008
                • 1919

                #8
                Re: Madden NFL 10 blog 2: Ratings philosophy by Donny Moore

                Originally posted by Ian_Cummings_EA
                IMO this has been one of the most drastic changes in a long while when it comes to core gameplay. There is a lot of tuning to do (as Donny says), but holy crap does it really make fatigue, injuries, and the depth of your team really MATTER again.

                As an example, if Peyton goes down and Sorgi comes in...oh boy. You better get that run game going.
                That's great to hear. This, procedural awareness, franchise mode getting head coach treatment, and super bowl getting better presentation makes madden 2010 better than 09 but the fact that there's soooo much more stuff to announce including the heavy-hitter back-of-the-box features makes me even more excited for the game and leads me to believe that Madden 2010 will finally be when Madden is AMAZING on all fronts this gen.
                Bgamer90 on twitter

                Comment

                • tyler289
                  MVP
                  • Jul 2006
                  • 2933

                  #9
                  Re: Madden NFL 10 blog 2: Ratings philosophy by Donny Moore

                  Wonderful. A wider range of ratings is awesome, and making the ratings lower across the board is great.

                  Comment

                  • likesbacon
                    Rookie
                    • Jul 2008
                    • 58

                    #10
                    Re: Madden NFL 10 blog 2: Ratings philosophy by Donny Moore

                    I'm going to enjoy turning my boy Percy into an all-pro.

                    Comment

                    • jfsolo
                      Live Action, please?
                      • May 2003
                      • 12965

                      #11
                      Re: Madden NFL 10 blog 2: Ratings philosophy by Donny Moore

                      As mentioned by Donnie, Rookies and NCAA imports must come in and maintain the scale/range that exists with the default rosters. Ratings Inflation has messed things up in Franchise for the last infinity years.

                      You've added the range, now don't be afraid to use the lower end of the spectrum. Some players are going to deserve the 35 or 40 in certain ratings even if its a vital rating for their position.

                      This does have the potential to be a revolutionary move, but the test will come later, when it is determined whether or not a User can still take a 95+ speed player and dominate with him, even with many of his other ratings indicating that he is a fringe NFL player at best.
                      Jordan Mychal Lemos
                      @crypticjordan

                      Do this today: Instead of $%*#!@& on a game you're not going to play or movie you're not going to watch, say something good about a piece of media you're excited about.

                      Do the same thing tomorrow. And the next. Now do it forever.

                      Comment

                      • cowboy_kmoney
                        MVP
                        • Jun 2008
                        • 1621

                        #12
                        Re: Madden NFL 10 blog 2: Ratings philosophy by Donny Moore

                        Man this years madden has has jumped out the gate running,But running in the right direction...I hope this means we wont be putting this game on the back burner this yearGreat blog Ian and team.

                        Comment

                        • ABCfan
                          Rookie
                          • Jan 2009
                          • 17

                          #13
                          Re: Madden NFL 10 blog 2: Ratings philosophy by Donny Moore

                          will players have potential ratings like in HC09?

                          Comment

                          • icomb1ne
                            Rookie
                            • Jun 2008
                            • 486

                            #14
                            Re: Madden NFL 10 blog 2: Ratings philosophy by Donny Moore

                            Kind of skeptical of this. Hopefully everything works out well on the first try instead of having to wait until 2011.
                            Check out www.fieldgulls.com if you are a Seahawks fan.

                            Comment

                            • callmetaternuts
                              All Star
                              • Jul 2004
                              • 7045

                              #15
                              Re: Madden NFL 10 blog 2: Ratings philosophy by Donny Moore

                              Im very excited at these changes. Earnest Graham is not a fast man, but he has his talents. He wont beat everyone in a footrace, but most backs if they get a step on you, they can keep it. Its nice to know that the lower end of the ratings will be used. Makes for more complete gameplay imo. Now you can pound it and then bring in the scat back.
                              Check out my Tampa Bay Buccaneers CFM Thread.

                              You too can be a 5* recruit at FSU.......

                              Originally posted by TwelveozPlaya21
                              add worthless Xavier Lee to that list..
                              Originally posted by MassNole
                              CFL here he comes. Pfft, wait that would require learning a playbook. McDonalds here he comes.

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