Madden 23 Face of the Franchise Takes - Why Are We Still Doing This EA?

[ChaseB]

I played my fair share of Madden 23's Face of the Franchise mode during my time...

Written By: Josh Houtz

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[kennylc321]

Honestly, FOF/Longshot has been around for what, 5 years or so and I played maybe 8 minutes total. Look, I get it... I'm older than most of you on these forums. The new generation of gamers apparently like these modes. Not me. I am an offline franchise person. Nothing more and nothing less. If EA's research shows that the new breed of gamers actually like this nonsense, then so be it. But for me, I do not care about these modes and I wish they would go away so that all of the attention goes to franchise.

As it stands now, EA has too many modes in one game and they do not have the resources to address these modes in one game cycle so they all end up being garbage.

[Brooke2011]

Re: Madden 23 Face of the Franchise Takes - Why Are We Still Doing This EA?

It’s a waste of memory and resources . I want what I see on Sunday . No Mut, no face of the franchise , just pure authentic football! Come up with another game for that stuff. This is why we get a half @@s product each year. Too many things in one product without the necessary resources. Still waiting on a patch for October to fix stuff that should of been in at launch!

[GlennN]

Re: Madden 23 Face of the Franchise Takes - Why Are We Still Doing This EA?

Honestly, FOF/Longshot has been around for what, 5 years or so and I played maybe 8 minutes total. Look, I get it... I'm older than most of you on these forums. The new generation of gamers apparently like these modes. Not me. I am an offline franchise person. Nothing more and nothing less. If EA's research shows that the new breed of gamers actually like this nonsense, then so be it. But for me, I do not care about these modes and I wish they would go away so that all of the attention goes to franchise.

As it stands now, EA has too many modes in one game and they do not have the resources to address these modes in one game cycle so they all end up being garbage.

Funny, I could have written this same comment, word for word! Kenny, buddy, I'm right there with you!

[PhillyPhanatic14]

Re: Madden 23 Face of the Franchise Takes - Why Are We Still Doing This EA?

Honestly had some hype for this mode this year but it's been so broken for the last 2 years that it hasn't even been worth trying. Everyone i know or have seen post online has either had the end of year 1 bug or the position switch during year 1 bug. I'm not investing my time just to have everything ruined. If EA aren't going to fix mode breaking bugs there's no point in investing resources in the mode at all.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

Re: Madden 23 Face of the Franchise Takes - Why Are We Still Doing This EA?

Longshot "worked" because much of the business of football is inherently ridiculous and does not deserve gravitas. The plot needs to lean into that. As soon as they tried to play it straight, it fell apart immediately.

[Dagan]

Re: Madden 23 Face of the Franchise Takes - Why Are We Still Doing This EA?

Yeah, I never wanted a football video game to be take two interactive, choose your own adventure like the walking dead, either. It's essentially just a lot of sitting and watching cinematic CGI. We have pixar and dreamworks for that when we actually want it. I've said it elsewhere, too, but doing CGI animation in the style of a film can require a lot of different people pulling off the work. It's absolutely spending time and resources on what is decidedly not the actual game of football that will be played.

At the very least, it's completely different, new code thrown into the mix of the base code that has proven year after year to not like new things so much. I'm sure they see it as diversifying the game and giving more people, more options. That doesn't mean it has to be crammed into one game, though. The decision to do that loudly speaks to bad business. It just makes no sense to me why a business wouldn't want to try and sell more game titles to people for more profit. I have written on this elsewhere, as well, so to summarize - no one needs to spend money on physical stock and overhead anymore because of DL games or print-on-demand / ship to your home options. They could make and sell five different games and probably still not have the costs associated with how you could only get the games into consumer hands 15 years ago.

If it's seriously someone with the NFL making these decisions overall, it's still the same conclusion to be made. Said person is either stubborn or just ignorant per how better business could be across the board.

[zello144]

Re: Madden 23 Face of the Franchise Takes - Why Are We Still Doing This EA?

They had it right 17 years ago with Madden 06. Superstar was great. I know people hate playing endless games with no side stuff. So use NBA 2K as a blueprint. Take some elements from there the good stuff not the bad grindy microstranctions.

[Jagsfan24]

Re: Madden 23 Face of the Franchise Takes - Why Are We Still Doing This EA?

I would be more inclined to play it if it was like superstar mode from madden 06, that’s when it was more fun. Otherwise I just care about franchise mode

[Ghost Of The Year]

Re: Madden 23 Face of the Franchise Takes - Why Are We Still Doing This EA?

Less is more sometimes. Its a fine line EA has to walk to stay on the side of being everything to everyone and crossing that line into being nothing for no one. I dont want tosee EA stretch thereselves any thinner. Its a Good idea to let FOTF die peacefully.

[NoleFan]

Re: Madden 23 Face of the Franchise Takes - Why Are We Still Doing This EA?

I want EA to get back to having the AI call the plays in these modes. Your player calling his own plays is immersion breaking for me and is why I skip this mode after an initial trial.

[illwill10]

Re: Madden 23 Face of the Franchise Takes - Why Are We Still Doing This EA?

They had it right 17 years ago with Madden 06. Superstar was great. I know people hate playing endless games with no side stuff. So use NBA 2K as a blueprint. Take some elements from there the good stuff not the bad grindy microstranctions.

I definitely agree. Superstar Mode from 06-08 on PS2 is the standard of how I would want this to be. No fluff, no scripted story, just playing games. But it wasn't just Playing games, practice, and repeat. It had its little non-gameplay elements. Interviews, taking movie parts, commercials, stuff like that. If they are bringing back Road to Glory in College Football, Superstar mode feels necessary. I really don't want to see a scripted story that follows you from College Football to Madden.

I can agree for the most part with NBA 2k MyCareer approach. I would buy NBA 2k solely for MyCareer offline. But, I really don't like the direction of MyCareer anymore and I passed on it this year. Since 2k18 and start of the Neighborhood, the mode went downhill for me. The heavy presence of microtransactions and bad stories, really soured the mode for me. Also the restrictions on the builds because of online, is something I haven't cared for.

I want EA to get back to having the AI call the plays in these modes. Your player calling his own plays is immersion breaking for me and is why I skip this mode after an initial trial.

I agree. I think they started letting you call plays towards the last years of Superstar mode. My initial feeling was cool because I can call plays that best suits my player. But, it does take the immersion out if it. If you really want that true player experience, AI needs to call the plays. The hope is that AI calls plays similarly to real life or at least plays that make sense with situation. When I playing this mode in past, I would stick to Coach Plays that way it still felt like AI was calling plays.


But for me, when I play modes like this, my main concern is gameplay. In Madden, for the most part, you can create the type of player you want too, unlike in MyCareer. If the gameplay is good enough, I can overlook the other BS involved in the mode. That's what separates MyCareer and FoTF. 2k's gameplay is good enough where I can enjoy the mode. The reason I passed on it this year is that the CPU teammates are terrible and that's a no go for me this time around. Whereas for Madden, even with the improvements, it still feels like the same Madden for me. I still want to see an overhaul in blocking and OL/DL and certain other areas for me to enjoy Madden.

[MasonOS95]

Re: Madden 23 Face of the Franchise Takes - Why Are We Still Doing This EA?

They had it right 17 years ago with Madden 06. Superstar was great. I know people hate playing endless games with no side stuff. So use NBA 2K as a blueprint. Take some elements from there the good stuff not the bad grindy microstranctions.

I’m surprised they didn’t copy the grindy micro transactions


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[zello144]

Re: Madden 23 Face of the Franchise Takes - Why Are We Still Doing This EA?

But it wasn't just Playing games, practice, and repeat. It had its little non-gameplay elements. Interviews, taking movie parts, commercials, stuff like that. If they are bringing back Road to Glory in College Football, Superstar mode feels necessary. I really don't want to see a scripted story that follows you from College Football to Madden.

I can agree for the most part with NBA 2k MyCareer approach. I would buy NBA 2k solely for MyCareer offline. But, I really don't like the direction of MyCareer anymore and I passed on it this year. Since 2k18 and start of the Neighborhood, the mode went downhill for me. The heavy presence of microtransactions and bad stories, really soured the mode for me. Also the restrictions on the builds because of online, is something I haven't cared for.

All it really needed was voiced press conferences and interviews and meeting with coaches. That's about it. I'd say going over film but that would be too much. Go for the NBA 2k11-2k13 MyCareer mode. The practices were terrible in Superstar mode though if they could find a way to make it not boring and actually worthwhile I'd probably not skip them.

Maddens Career mode was probably one of the first and earliest modes to do it. Shame how they haven't handled it properly over the years and are playing catch up to NBA 2K.

[illwill10]

Re: Madden 23 Face of the Franchise Takes - Why Are We Still Doing This EA?

All it really needed was voiced press conferences and interviews and meeting with coaches. That's about it. I'd say going over film but that would be too much. Go for the NBA 2k11-2k13 MyCareer mode. The practices were terrible in Superstar mode though if they could find a way to make it not boring and actually worthwhile I'd probably not skip them.

Maddens Career mode was probably one of the first and earliest modes to do it. Shame how they haven't handled it properly over the years and are playing catch up to NBA 2K.

I agree MyCareer 2k11-2k13 is the idea era to take from. As someone who actually enjoys single player modes, the goal should feel like we are going through an athlete experience. I don't want to be stuck in a made for TV story, but at the same time, I don't want it feel like I'm doing a Player-Lock experience. It needs to be more than just playing games, practice.

Following a team regularly through OTA to end of season, should give you an idea of what to add to the mode as far as off field. Adding back the PS2 training camp drills, interviews with the local media each week, more 7 on 7 and 11on 11 focused practice, a way to recreate meeting with coaches, simulate team charity events, things like that would add depth to the non-gameplay aspect of the mode