Are Levels of play ruining gameplay?

[Tyrant8RDFL]

I came to realize that Madden should have a level of play called Realism.

In this level you will get the results of the players true attributes and raitngs, and this will determine the true outcome of a play.

Where matchups really mean something, and having a real gameplan to exploit a teams weakness means something.

With levels being set from rookie to All Madden. Your not getting a true representation of the sport. In rookie star players play below thier level, and in All Madden you get low skilled players playing above their level, but we do not have that level where players play true to their abilities.

I understand why they have done this, and that is cool, but I think if there is one level that truly has the players perform to their real abilities. You can really get that unpredictable play we want, and at the sametime really play teams that duplicate their true to life style of play.

To clear this up some more. Players want realistic results, but by picking a level of play either the game is to easy or to hard, but we do not have that level where from game to game it differs from getting blown out to a easy win, or a battle to the end all in the same season. Usually to get something like this you would have to change the level of play during that season.

What I would suggest is make 3 levels of play.
Rookie
Realism
All Madden

I think this would be great , and present a clearer picture for playing football on Madden.

I know someone is going to mention this , but sliders do not do it.

[Bellsprout]

Re: Are Levels of play ruining gameplay?

If players only performed based on their ratings, you literally couldn't win with a team that was worse than the team you're playing against. The higher rated OVR team would always win, because they have better rated players.

[Matt23134]

Re: Are Levels of play ruining gameplay?

While I don't totally think levels of play are ruining gameplay, I would argue that sliders is the best and worst thing to ever happen to sports gaming. This may sound absurd to some but....

Soccer/football gamers have generally agreed (maybe up until FIFA 09 or 10) that the Winning Eleven/Pro Evolution series was the most realistic/pleasurable experience one could get in soccer gaming. It, however, has no sliders. It has 6 levels of gameplay and the player must accept how the game plays on each level. If it's too hard, move down a level. If it's too easy move up. One couldn't get caught up in stuff like "well the middle of the field is way too easy to penetrate but I'm getting too many crossing opportunities from the wings. The goalies play too well but the defenders are horrible. I must make some adjustments!" Now while the WE/PES games were never perfect, several of them were damn close and I think it really helped that people didn't have the chance to get caught up in the strenuous labor that is slider adjustments.

On the other hand, can you imagine a Madden game (or several other sports games, for that matter) without sliders? I think a lot of people would be terribly unhappy (even more than most are now). With Madden one must take time to make slider adjustments to get the game to play halfway correctly. Though it still creates the problem where people spend more time adjusting sliders than actually enjoying the game.

Sorry for the long post. I've just been thinking about the whole 'do sliders do more harm than good thing?' for a while now.

[Cardot]

Re: Are Levels of play ruining gameplay?

Sorry for the long post. I've just been thinking about the whole 'do sliders do more harm than good thing?' for a while now.

I agree with you. Sliders are tools. And like many tools, they can do a lot of good, or a lot of bad if one is not careful.

For me, sliders have saved more games than they have ruined...but they have also taken alot of my time.

[Aso21Raiders]

Re: Are Levels of play ruining gameplay?

Pro with CPU skill all at 100 i hear works well and is very realistic. Just wish i would've tried it out before i traded my game in.

[metallicatz]

Re: Are Levels of play ruining gameplay?

The problem with the idea of a "realism setting" is that people have their own idea of what constitutes a "realistic" experience. Ask 10 different people what they think of a certain slider set or difficulty setting and you'll likely get 10 different answers.

[Cardot]

Re: Are Levels of play ruining gameplay?

The problem with the idea of a "realism setting" is that people have their own idea of what constitutes a "realistic" experience. Ask 10 different people what they think of a certain slider set or difficulty setting and you'll likely get 10 different answers.

Exactly. I have played in a couple online leagues here at OS where people are all "sim". The first season is the honeymoon period, but when the second season rolls around, people are a little more comfortable voicing opinions....and that is when you see that everyone has a different take on how the game should be played.

[bo4345]

Re: Are Levels of play ruining gameplay?

If players only performed based on their ratings, you literally couldn't win with a team that was worse than the team you're playing against. The higher rated OVR team would always win, because they have better rated players.

Call me crazy, but doesn't the better team win in any sport, most of the time? Like how the Colts have only lost 2-3 times to the Texans, because they have been the better team for the past 8 seasons. Also how Julius Peppers or Dwight Freeney are able to smoke any Rookie LT, because they are the better player and have more experience. Honestly, I see no negatives in making ratings matter in this game, they aren't there to look nice. Cornerbacks can block as proficiently as linemen in this game, that's unacceptable.

[Bellsprout]

Re: Are Levels of play ruining gameplay?

Call me crazy, but doesn't the better team win in any sport, most of the time? Like how the Colts have only lost 2-3 times to the Texans, because they have been the better team for the past 8 seasons. Also how Julius Peppers or Dwight Freeney are able to smoke any Rookie LT, because they are the better player and have more experience. Honestly, I see no negatives in making ratings matter in this game, they aren't there to look nice. Cornerbacks can block as proficiently as linemen in this game, that's unacceptable.

So if my chosen team is the Browns, I'm resigned to the fact that I simply can't beat the Colts when I play them? Yes, realistically, better teams almost always win, but games would be no fun if they got to be that realistic.

[rangerrick012]

Re: Are Levels of play ruining gameplay?

Call me crazy, but doesn't the better team win in any sport, most of the time? Like how the Colts have only lost 2-3 times to the Texans, because they have been the better team for the past 8 seasons. Also how Julius Peppers or Dwight Freeney are able to smoke any Rookie LT, because they are the better player and have more experience. Honestly, I see no negatives in making ratings matter in this game, they aren't there to look nice. Cornerbacks can block as proficiently as linemen in this game, that's unacceptable.

This.

That is a definite problem w/ the game engine that needs to be fixed ASAP. The ratings on All Madden have no impact, a rookie CPU QB rated 55 can come in and torch you like he's Tom Brady. That needs to be fixed.

[TreFacTor]

Re: Are Levels of play ruining gameplay?

I think that Rookie, Pro, All Pro, and All Madden are unnecessary. I think the difficulty levels really are ruining the game because those of us that are seasoned vets can easily point out the faults in the cpu strategy, and the way it's going to cheat you.

We all know that videogames "cheat" to add difficulty, like giving you less health, or less ammunition, but in Madden, the All Madden difficulty is no different than All Pro. The only real difference is how the computer is going to cheat you. Even with the way it cheats, it's really crappy at disguising it. The game never gets harder, just cheaper... I also think the difficulty hampers the amount of work the devs themselves put into the animations.

I have seen more toe drag, and one handed catches while playing the Pro difficulty than playing on All Madden. The restrictions put on the user team are stupid, and it should have been noticed right away. The game really only needs 3 difficulty levels. because All Madden is completely screwed. If they don't fix the play calling of the cpu, and the obvious breakdowns on defense, then your going to see the same faults as madden 10.

Whoever came up with the idea to "try" and make the All Madden difficulty unbeatable, should be shot. All it really did was make the faults of the game more prevalent.

[Tick32]

Re: Are Levels of play ruining gameplay?

Whats ruining the game is when EA started to cater the game to casual gamers. I think it started in 2007 with NFL Madden 08. When they added that "my skill" thing making it where a casual player could still stick with a hardcore pro madden player. Basically it would make sure the game would stay close. Where is where all these glitches and weird animations come from that happen alot on All-Pro and All-Madden. If they get rid of that and just make it for hardcore sim football game players agn. Madden wouldn't be in the situation it is today.

[Synkopated]

Re: Are Levels of play ruining gameplay?

It's just not fun beating the CPU by 85 points with 6 minute quarters on All-Pro, then putting it on All-Madden and having Larry Fitz drop 5+ passes every game.

[Pringles]

Re: Are Levels of play ruining gameplay?

2 things need to be incorporated into a football game

1 human error
as in players making mistakes the thing about madden is you call a play each player will run the play. in real football for whatever reason they eather fall slip slide or they completely play a different play why cause they do not know the play book or got confused on who covers who. playbook knowledge is key with head coach 09 they were on to something

as it is now with the current madden game there is, well to me absolutlety no reason to play preseason games other than you might want to play a team you normally do not. there is not even any progression on who you just drafted so why play ?

2.consitency
a player could have all the talent in the world but if they do not perform in big games or in key situations then they are not as valuable as one who does and my not be as good

these two things have never been brought to a video game and that is what seperates teams from wins to losses. its the little things the teams that pay attention to the small details. practice and weekly preperation wich is not in this series. like um 2k5 lol a 5yr old game.

madden 11 weekly preperation ? via a download ? pay to prepair your players ? maybe in franchise mode you can buy a hypothetical 10 million dollars for team prep that cost you a microsoft 500 points ? to run your franchise lol i got a feeling we all going to be turned off with these excellerators.

[carnalnirvana]

Re: Are Levels of play ruining gameplay?

thats a good question i have never noticed a difference strategically, and since they get a physical boost i would have to say yes it ruins gameplay....

different levels streach ratings IMO, this logic is extremely flawed and i wish the difficulty levels forced us to defend a more aggressive cpu looking to use the entire playbook instead of a cpu that gets better physical abilities.

the cpu FB cant block freeney on all pro but on all madden he can pancake him, thats bad gameplay, to fix this why not have the FB go for his legs or play with higher risk methods like holding him and risk the penalty,