Ratings and The Easter Bunny

[PGaither84]

My best way of summerizing the problem/solution in Madden in regards to ratings in as few as words and possible is as follows:

Some ratings matter, like speed/acceleration/agility and the throwing/kicking power/accuracy ones. I think carry, injury and other matter too, but forthe most part all the rest do not matter. The other problem is the lack of enough animations and the work they have done capturing animations. For example, 2k5 has 5 people credited on the Motion Capture team and 36 names credited under "Motion capture talent" which includes such names as; Tom Brady, Brian Urlacher, Chris McCalister, J.J. Stokes, Tyrone Wheatly, Sean Dawkins, Ahman Green, and Tim Rattay. These aren't all big names, but you can see at least at the QB, LB, and CB positions they had all-star talent. It's not just the quality of the animations, which are very important, but the quantity. I am sure of those 37 names some were supposed to do "fail" animations as well. How many people worked on Madden?

Lastly, the AI in this game is terrible. If the AI, animations [number and quality], and the logic to determine what rating wins, why and how often it is favored were all improved, Madden would be better. I don't see EA giving the Madden team the budget and the Madden team properly using that budget to fix these issues.

[PGaither84]

Quote: Originally Posted by countryboy

All someone needs to know about my opinions? Really? Because I don't watch some video that may or may not be doctored so that someone can gain internet cred by posting a video about Madden and its faults, my opinion is not vaild? Seriously?

Doctored... seriously? Do you even play Madden. All these video do is show us things we see all he time to expose this game for what it is. You would be lying if you said you didn't see these issues or that they are not a problem.

If you think these videos are doctored at all, then yes, sir, you have lot all credibility with me.

Just... wow.

[speedkills]

Of course EA will never do this but I'd be interesting to know what each rating does or is supposed to do and what formula is used to determine who wins what matchups on any given play.

In my Redskins franchise Albert Haynesworth seems like he's always in the backfield putting pressure on the QB or blowing up the running play. The line of scrimmage battle is definitely improved in this year's Madden and is actually the best it's ever been. Just needs more improvement.

[Megatron2k7]

Man am I disappointed.

I was hoping maybe there would be a work around for such nonsense.... but I was wrong.

I went and tried this for myself, and tried it with many, many different slider combinations, and had no luck at all.

I signed 3 kickers from FA and put them on the Packers, and edited them to LT, LG, and RT. I went into practice mode and played against the Vikings.

What I saw with my own eyes seriously just drained any and all confidence in this game right out of me, and made me just shake my head. Words alone cant describe the pure disgust that I feel from seeing something so ridiculous in this damn game that I'm trying so hard to try to emulate real football with countless hrs of slider tuning and tweaking.

I started out at 0 pass rush for CPU, and 0 pass block for human, just to be sure there wasn't some a i help in the way of making this scenario happen. After countless attempts with switching up the CPU pass rush and hum pass block, the kickers playing on the O-Line fared the same as my real O-Lineman. (I already know my Packers O-Line is not good, so spare me the remarks.... lol.)

When I turned the CPU pass rush up to the point where they would beat the kickers, they were beating the real O-Lineman at the same rate... couldn't even tell the difference really...... how sad.

In a normal type setting with both CPU pass rush and hum pass block the same, I saw ridiculous things like Martin Gramatica, and Nick Novak pancake big Pat Williams and completely contain Jared Allen and all of his pass rush moves.

One thing I did notice though, is that CPU pass rush and hum pass block are definitely not equal. Setting both to 100 lets the CPU defenders get off their blocks almost immediately..... ???? Strange...... You'd almost think you'd have the same results with both at 100 as you do with both at 0, but you don't.


Anyway..... just wanted to add my 2 cents, and share in the grief with the rest of you. This is one of the worst translations of ratings being displayed in game play that I have ever seen.

Makes me wonder what John Madden himself would say if he seen this crap on the game that carries his name. He loves the big guys playing on the line with the big "front porch" (like he used to say) hanging over their belts. How would he feel if he saw tiny little Martin Gramatica lining up across from, and then pancaking Pat Williams, or Albert Haynesworth, etc... etc... etc... He'd probably be getting ready to say one of the biggest "BOOM"s you'd ever heard...... but instead, he'd be sitting there with his jaw on the floor like the rest of us.

There is NO excuse for this crap.

[sois]

Quote: Originally Posted by countryboy

All someone needs to know about my opinions? Really? Because I don't watch some video that may or may not be doctored so that someone can gain internet cred by posting a video about Madden and its faults, my opinion is not vaild? Seriously?

You obviously have a very pro-Madden bias. If you won't even look at the footage in my sig, you are doing yourself a disservice. I have no reason to alter attributes or post phony vids. If the ratings worked, I wouldn't be here; I would be playing Madden 10.

You are like a dude who disregards safety recalls on his car because you personally don't notice or care to notice the real issue. Sure, you can drive the car around, but don't get upset when the engine randomly catches on fire while you are on the highway.

I wish you wouldn't act like there is nothing wrong. I'm glad you can enjoy a game where a 12 pass block OL can block Albert Haynesworth consistently, but I don't enjoy that. Plus, if the game were fixed, you would like it either way, so why not allow us to try and get the developers ear without your necessary static?

[sois]

Quote: Originally Posted by Dianwei32

I think that his point is that there is a difference between understanding that the game is flawed, but enjoying it anyway, and purposefully going out and looking for all the different ways the game is flawed and complaining about them.

I'm sorry man, but desiring the ratings to matter is not "going out and looking for all the different ways the game is flawed".

I am a die hard franchise mode player. I HATE that the OL means nothing. This essentially gives you more money than the other teams since you don't have to worry about which OL you sign. What fun is that? If I can sign ANY OL and compete as if I had a competent OL, then the mode is ruined for me.

I want to feel some desperation if my line sucks. I want to be dreaming of a franchise tackle in the draft. I want a hard nosed veteran center who can handle huge the nose tackles in the AFC North.

If these BASIC ratings don't matter (strength & weight), then what am I wasting my time for?

Offline gaming IS dead if this is not fixed.

[Argooos]

Quote: Originally Posted by sois

I'm sorry man, but desiring the ratings to matter is not "going out and looking for all the different ways the game is flawed". I am a die hard franchise mode player. I HATE that the OL means nothing. This essentially gives you more money than the other teams since you don't have to worry about which OL you sign. What fun is that? If I can sign ANY OL and compete as if I had a competent OL, then the mode is ruined for me. I want to feel some desperation if my line sucks. I want to be dreaming of a franchise tackle in the draft. I want a hard nosed veteran center who can handle huge the nose tackles in the AFC North. If these BASIC ratings don't matter (strength & weight), then what am I wasting my time for? Offline gaming IS dead if this is not fixed.

The only way I can still play and enjoy franchise is by using my imagination and pretending that the ratings matter in this game. Sometimes I wish I had never come to these forums because then I would be blissfully enjoying the game, never knowing that there are so many flaws in it.
I always knew that weight meant nothing in these games, but that strength and blocking ratings are also meaningless is really truly heartbreaking. I mean, if these ratings are meaningless, what is the point of it all?
The really scary thing is that EA may never fix this because that might mean that they would have to acknowledge the fact that the blocking ratings mean nothing. As it now stands only a small portion of Madden consumers know about this issue. If EA announced that they fixed it, they would also be announcing that they'd been lying to us all along. And yes, I do consider it a form of lying when there are aspects of the game presented as very important (in franchise we have to shell out big money for highly rated O-linemen even though there is no difference between them and scrub O-linemen) when they are in fact meaningless.
Until recently I have been relatively happy with Madden. I focused my energy mostly on what needs to be added to the game to make it better. The more I learn, however, the more I am beginning to understand that this game is much worse than it appears. To anyone who knows and understands football, that is. If all you want is an arcade style game that allows to you play some fun games, Madden is perfect. If you want a game that truly replicates the game of football, this isn't the game for you. Unfortunately there are no other options if you happen to be an NFL fan. *SIGH*

[Jump]

This is the deal breaker for me. I've always known that some ratings don't affect gameplay, but for offensive lineman's ratings to mean nothing is a big deal.

I can't play franchise pretending that my stud LT that I drafted 3rd overall is going to make my team better, and I can't play franchise disregarding offensive lineman, because that would give me a huge advantage over the cpu.