Low Expectations? Why?

[jerseyjay14]

Why is it that the demands and expectations for madden from year to year are so low? It seems like everyone is fine with the game being just slightly better then the previous version. Its like fix a few bugs, tweak the AI, improve a broken feature and people would be super happy. for me that sounds like what a PATCH should do, not a new version of the game...

When did expectations of what could be done drop so low? Especially jumping from 1 console to a next gen console.

I remeber madden 2001 for the PS2. That game was unreal. it blew me away. from the graphics, to the gameplay to the presentation. it was out of this world and leaps and bounds ahead of anything we had seen in the past. even the incremental upgrades from 2001-02,03,04,05 etc were all pretty big jumps with both innovation and gameplay upgrades.

however since then, expectations are at an all time low. now we arent asking to be blown away... hell we are asking to bring us back to the level we were at on the old consoles.

im not sure what it is. maybe its no competition from 2k. maybe its the people designing the team arent as good as the guys around in 2001. maybe its a new generation of fans accustomed to mediocrity.

but whatever it is, it needs to stop. earlier today somone had responded to a post stating "why cant we have both" - in response to the notion that we cant have both improved gameplay and online franchise... we should have both, as well as all the features from CG. because this is a game produced by an enourmous company with tons of resources and tons of information to go on.

I really hope this is taken as constructive criticism and not bashing. but i dont like what i hear,... which is fans and the people making this game "Settling" instead of asking for... hell DEMANDING the game be what it should.

We SHOULD have all the features we had in the past. we SHOULD have excellent presentation, utilizing the epsn license. we SHOULD have online franchise, and one that is well done. we SHOULD have a very solid gameplay engine. we SHOULD have multiple camera angles. we SHOULD have multiple controller configurations.

we should NOT have to settle for less. not after we saw it in past years on older consoles. not after we have seen in it countless other games(nba 2k9, mlb the show, NHL 09).

EA - please step up (not suggesting you currently arent)
Fans - dont settle for less

[XtremeDunkz]

Re: Low Expectations? Why?

"We SHOULD have all the features we had in the past. we SHOULD have excellent presentation, utilizing the epsn license. we SHOULD have online franchise, and one that is well done. we SHOULD have a very solid gameplay engine. we SHOULD have multiple camera angles. we SHOULD have multiple controller configurations."

I agree the presentation needs to make huge improvements and I believe that will happen this year. No dynamic sidelines but everyone knows why now and that should be understandable. ESPN will never be used in the manner that 2k used it, due to EA having both ESPN and NFL Network they don't want to be unfair to either brand. Sucks, but we know why and have to deal with it. I believe Refs/Chaingang will be in. Unacceptable if they aren't since it's been screamed about since 2006. Ian mentioned adding something "epic" presentation wise a few weeks ago, and added a TON of new stat banners in game. I'm sure there is plenty more to come so we will have to wait and see.

Online Franchise, I agree, should be in this year seeing how NCAA had it last year and is the reason why people still play NCAA today. I'm not getting my hopes up though ever since Ian said NCAA spent a huge part of their cycle working on it last year. I hope at least there will be some way to incorporate a franchise file online. I still hold out hope for the best though.

Gameplay is looking to be the best Madden has ever had so far with the additions already announced. Passing the ball and WR/DB play have been given huge upgrades in a lot of ways. Just have to wait for the inside game to get some talk eventually. Again looks good so far.

No reason not to have custom camera angles, seems like something that should be easy to implement. Even when you save highlights in 09 there us like 10 angles you can look at the replay. Why only two in game? I see this being addressed.

The "classic controller config" was to be addressed in that DLC that never saw the light of day, so i assume was immediatly added into "10" as well as they other DLC items.

I can't speak for everyone but I have high expectations for Madden 10. It is just everyone has been let down so much since 2006, anything good is considered a win right now.

[SHO]

Re: Low Expectations? Why?

Why is it that the demands and expectations for madden from year to year are so low?

Because it's difficult to a maintain the same amount of expectation for a product(s) that has clearly been on the decline a good chunk of time.

You cannot expect someone like Chuck Liddell or Sakuraba to have a great title run at their stage in careers. It's just not possible.

EDIT: That's not to say that Ian and Co. aren't on the comeback trail, but it does take a little more time for one to truly warrant great expectations.

[roadman]

Re: Low Expectations? Why?

Why is it that the demands and expectations for madden from year to year are so low?

I really don't think the expectations are that low.

The is a new team in place for Madden and it appears they are wanting the game to become more of a sim experience vs the direction it has taken on NG. I think the expectations are on the high end.

[jerseyjay14]

Re: Low Expectations? Why?

I really don't think the expectations are that low.

The is a new team in place for Madden and it appears they are wanting the game to become more of a sim experience vs the direction it has taken on NG. I think the expectations are on the high end.

i was speaking more on the fan/consumer side. referring to comments such as "they need to fix it in 2010 first then inplemented online in 2011" etc...

[roadman]

Re: Low Expectations? Why?

i was speaking more on the fan/consumer side. referring to comments such as "they need to fix it in 2010 first then inplemented online in 2011" etc...

Ok, understood, I wasn't being specific as you, I was taking the general all around approach.

[Exonerated]

Re: Low Expectations? Why?

Expectations are never low. It sells in truckloads every year.

[CapnKill]

Re: Low Expectations? Why?

Expectations are never low. It sells in truckloads every year.

It sells in truckloads because there is no competition.

[Vikes1]

Re: Low Expectations? Why?

Speaking just for myself...I don't see my expectations as low, but certainly guarded.

I just really don't know whats fair to expect in one years development. Is it fair to expect Madden '10' to be up to the level of say MLB The Show? Or to blow past NFL2K5 at long last? My guess is one cycle isn't enough time, with where Madden is as of '09'.

I guess the only thing I do expect is that EA/TIB makes a full effort to start moving Madden into this current gen...in other ways than just graphics.

[CapnKill]

Re: Low Expectations? Why?

Speaking just for myself...I don't see my expectations as low, but certainly guarded.

I just really don't know whats fair to expect in one years development. Is it fair to expect Madden '10' to be up to the level of say MLB The Show? Or to blow past NFL2K5 at long last? My guess is one cycle isn't enough time, with where Madden is as of '09'.

I guess the only thing I do expect is that EA/TIB makes a full effort to start moving Madden into this current gen...in other ways than just graphics.

It's certainly a tough situation... You look at 2k5 and you say... damn.. that was 5 years ago? Then you look at the NG effort for madden to date... and you say... damn, how the hell is it still here?! How can it not be way more advanced then this?!

So one part of me says.. this sucks we should have a WAY better game then what we have now... the other part says... well at least FINALLY there's a pulse and a change of direction... and it appears to be the right direction! So I'm angry, but at the same time optimistic... So I can see both sides of it... our expectations should be much much higher, because 2k has satisfied them 5 years ago!! Until I saw that this new team was taking things in a new direction and communicating with us and all that my expectations were seriously ZIP, nothing, nada, zilch. Now they're starting to rise again, hopefully a good % of them will be met. Only time will tell.

[adembroski]

Re: Low Expectations? Why?

Why's everyone walking around here with their lips poked out? Really negative day on the board. A little discouraging.

[roadman]

Re: Low Expectations? Why?

Why's everyone walking around here with their lips poked out? Really negative day on the board. A little discouraging.

Full moon, TOM?

[adembroski]

Re: Low Expectations? Why?

Full moon, TOM?

Seems like it. Just all negative today. Crazy.

[adembroski]

Re: Low Expectations? Why?

Why is it that the demands and expectations for madden from year to year are so low? It seems like everyone is fine with the game being just slightly better then the previous version. Its like fix a few bugs, tweak the AI, improve a broken feature and people would be super happy. for me that sounds like what a PATCH should do, not a new version of the game...

When did expectations of what could be done drop so low? Especially jumping from 1 console to a next gen console.

I remeber madden 2001 for the PS2. That game was unreal. it blew me away. from the graphics, to the gameplay to the presentation. it was out of this world and leaps and bounds ahead of anything we had seen in the past. even the incremental upgrades from 2001-02,03,04,05 etc were all pretty big jumps with both innovation and gameplay upgrades.

however since then, expectations are at an all time low. now we arent asking to be blown away... hell we are asking to bring us back to the level we were at on the old consoles.

im not sure what it is. maybe its no competition from 2k. maybe its the people designing the team arent as good as the guys around in 2001. maybe its a new generation of fans accustomed to mediocrity.

but whatever it is, it needs to stop. earlier today somone had responded to a post stating "why cant we have both" - in response to the notion that we cant have both improved gameplay and online franchise... we should have both, as well as all the features from CG. because this is a game produced by an enourmous company with tons of resources and tons of information to go on.

I really hope this is taken as constructive criticism and not bashing. but i dont like what i hear,... which is fans and the people making this game "Settling" instead of asking for... hell DEMANDING the game be what it should.

We SHOULD have all the features we had in the past. we SHOULD have excellent presentation, utilizing the epsn license. we SHOULD have online franchise, and one that is well done. we SHOULD have a very solid gameplay engine. we SHOULD have multiple camera angles. we SHOULD have multiple controller configurations.

we should NOT have to settle for less. not after we saw it in past years on older consoles. not after we have seen in it countless other games(nba 2k9, mlb the show, NHL 09).

EA - please step up (not suggesting you currently arent)
Fans - dont settle for less

Solid first post, bro, welcome.

I don't think we have lowered our expectations. We've been slowly walking away from Madden for years now because it hasn't met our expectations.

What we've seen so far is the tip of the ice berg, and I think that's what's got people excited. More than the specific changes made, it's the clear refocus of EAs priorities. Even as far back as 2001, it was never really about recreating the NFL. The new vision, new focus, is firmly directed toward simulation football. I'm sure if Ian showed up tomorrow and went "Okay, guys, that's it, that's what's gonna be in Madden 10", you would see some very unhappy people.

There's an old fallback excuse that the old teams made... whenever penalties or injuries got mentioned, they'd fall back to the "sim isn't fun" idea. This team is taking the position that sim is fun if properly implemented. Drudgery isn't fun. Busy work for the sake of it isn't fun, but make it fit logically into the game and feel like it's an enhancement rather than a burden, and sim is absolutely more fun.

So our expectations are high. Some are more tempered... I, for example, don't' expect a redefining of the genre in one year. Some do, and some of them may well be disappointed with Madden 10. People putting all their eggs in the online franchise basket, imho, will likely be disappointed. But don't think EA is going to get off shipping a product with 15 QBs drafted in the first round and robo-QBs. Those days are over.

Ian and Co. took a big risk being this forward in the community. If they fail to meet expectations, you can expect the backlash to be biblical in proportion. Those who've politely defended him over the past year are going to turn very quickly, and very harshly, and they are well aware of this. The fact that they are still very confident in the product is part of what gives me hope for the future of the franchise.

[Glorious Arc]

Re: Low Expectations? Why?

Seems like it. Just all negative today. Crazy.

Id go with its the second friday the 13th this year