If You Were EA...
 

what would your priorities be for each department of the game? I was thinking of starting this as an organized way for everyone to show how they would improve the game for NCAA 2010 if they were at EA and involved in the process (instead of going off on rants). I'm not trying to start a wishlist but a list reasonable possible improvements that you would want each department of the game to focus on that would make the game what everyone would find fun, fair and challenging at the same time...

I was thinking of a simple format that simply lists your priorities in rank from highest, med to low with maybe a brief explanation what you would improve about it. Maybe the guys at EA will look at this thread and see how their list compare to the communities. To not make each list too long (it would be if everyone included everything they wanted to improve) i think it would be best to have up to 6 ranked(2 each priority) ideas per department

Here are mine

Gameplay:
High:
- QB AI (find a ratings system that allows qbs to play to their abilities and not have every qb play the same no matter what team they're on. That would hopefully help their perfect accurate passing)

- OL/DL interaction (this has been discussed plenty here and i'm sure someone will supply ideas of how to make it better either way needs work)

Med:
- Pass Defense (Have player a react to the ball better in their area, i doubt anyone would get mad at an open player catching the ball but when your defender is right there and doesn't make a play on the ball is frustrating. Maybe add more deflection animations and this will help counter high completion %'s)

- WR/DB interaction

Low:
- CPU run game



Art/Animation/Presentation:
High:
- Stadium Entrances

- More gameplay animation (can never have too many. I would concentrate on overall running animations, wr catching animations, db deflections and the oline pass protextion)

Med:
- Bowl Game presentation (have the right stadiums, art, atmosphere)

- Highlights (Halftime and Post-Game)

Low:
- More of a TV presentation (It would be nice to make it look like you're watching a game on TV as you're playing. Like showing a close-up of a player coming out of the huddle while you display his stats, show the QB looking towards the sideline for the play, the LB calling the D play [while you're in the playcalling screen kinda like madden has the replay you can show field activity there and zoom into that as you call the play/break the huddle]

- Player Interactions (After big plays have more interaction between players. Players dont just celebrate by themselves, a simple helmet slap,high five on the way back to the huddle, players grabbing/pushing eachother in celebration are some easy commonly seen interactions between plays

Other(online/online dynasty, stadium sounds, new features):
High:
- Fix any known occuring Online Dynasty bugs and server issues

- Change stadium sounds from 50 events to 50 sounds. You would be able to get more out of this feature if it was done this way since many teams use 1 sound for more than 1 event eating up sounds/events that can be used for other teams


those are mine for the time being, lets see how the patch helps the gameplay

Re: If You Were EA...
 

Should be able to upgrade stadiums in dynasty mode. Could bring a money aspect into game also, nothing too much but like RL small schools could travel to big programs and get beat on to make lots of money that way teams cant outgrow their stadiums(could also play into recruiting) And I would allow conference invites in online dynasty. seriously how hard could that be? I would also take away all the CPU BS. If a user WR gets a step on a crappy DB and a quarterback makes a good throw...OMG it should drop over his shoulder! the only chance the DB would have is if the WR didnt catch in stride or had to dive for it. the comp would either keep the defenders in position to make plays or GET BURNED every once in a while. also there would be dynamic throwing motions. you could have a wiley side-arm gun slinger or an NFL style arm or an elaborate wind-up, the possibilities are endless. Huge customizable playbooks and create-a-play option. those are some of the things I would do. ALL FBS and FCS college teams and stadiums( use two discs I dont care. take advantage of the fact xbox's have Hard drives. it could be done.) I would make the game so so awesome haha.

Re: If You Were EA...
 

I like the idea of this thread-
Gameplay-

OL/DL- if you had a real pocket you not only should see better running lanes for the CPU but you would also make the QB sprinting the sidelines more difficult. and you would have more strategy on whether to speed rush or bull rush. This to me is the highest priority. Plus, suction blocking has to go.

QB throwing would be the second highest- If the QB underthrew, overthrew more passes you would see alot less complains about roto QB. Plus, you would see less picks. These are the two biggest gameplay issues in my book. Dumping all those QB choices would be nice too. Those plays should be checked against the QB running ability. If the ability is too low- those plays are not called.

The other areas you hit i am not going to go as indepth on. I would like to see mention of the current season stats during the game. Like VT has the #1 run D with a graphic up, how will Pitt strong rush attack stack up. More in season and in game information in the telecase would be the easiest presentation to satify me.

Thanks.

Re: If You Were EA...
 

What ever happend to player entrances? It was so cool watching your players come out of the locker room. Made it feel way more real and less cheap. Small things like that help the game out tremendously. The obvious gameplay glitches should be automatically resolved...It goes unsaid. Also I would like if they added the home field advantage meter back.

If it's not too much to ask...DELETE mascot play completely...It's annoying in advertising. If I wanted to watch bulldogs duke it out on the field I would just go to Michael Vicks house.

Re: If You Were EA...
 

You just hit the nail in the coffin on that. Wouldnt it be amazing to change your Schools Stadium? Holy cow...And it would increase your homefield advantage rating...You should be a EA ideas and contents guy.

Also they should add concessions to improve your money intake...God god god...WHY DOESNT EA DO THIS

;glkdfgdflkglgdfkg

sorry had to vent.

Re: If You Were EA...
 

They dont add that stuff yet because there are other issues to fix. I know 99% of us would rather be able to ahve gameplay perfected and improved before we start setting the prices of hot dogs and adding luxury boxes. The visuals (refs, chain gangs) and little features (setting prices) are MINOR compared to gameplay. If the game doesnt play like college football, who cares if refs are on the field

Re: If You Were EA...
 

My theory is that the development team doesn't really have much say about what goes in the game. I think EA's marketing department has all the power.

The marketing department has to keep pumping up new features so they can slap them on the back of the box to make NCAA appear fresh again (anyone up for a game of Coke Zero Mascot Mashup?).

I bet if the developers had their way, they'd work on nothing but gameplay and dump all these half-finished BS features -- which is exactly what NCAA 2010 needs.

This is the curse of the annual sports franchise.

EA has to go back to the bread and butter. Gameplay, gameplay, gameplay. Once the gameplay is there, build around it with extra features.

Re: If You Were EA...
 

I bet you are right, the developers could put in all the features from last gen in the game in one year, but the marketing dept says no and keeps stuff back to add one thing every year so they have something to hype for next year. LOL I really do not know anything about making games. I know one thing if there is another console change like ps3 or x-box 3whatever I will not make the change until I have too.