It's Time to Start Focusing on Areas Outside of Gameplay

[Americas Team]

I'm relatively enjoying Madden 22 now that they've fixed/improved the pass coverage. Playing through my first season of Franchise mode since like 2006. Franchise still needs a lot but I like how it's set up. Gameplay is in a decent place, they just need to work on getting rid of legacy animations.

I think it's time the Madden development team to start investing more outside of gameplay. Areas like graphics overhaul, dynamic weather, dynamic time of day, field degradation, dirty uniforms, more playable camera options, post game replays, coin toss, referees, chain gang, etc. I think if they took one year and really focused on these areas it would make up for the lack of gameplay improvements that year.

[mvb34]

Re: It's Time to Start Focusing on Areas Outside of Gameplay

No gameplay is needs to be the focuses. Its not a state where they can just tweak some things!

[bnmdjm]

Re: It's Time to Start Focusing on Areas Outside of Gameplay

I'm relatively enjoying Madden 22 now that they've fixed/improved the pass coverage. Playing through my first season of Franchise mode since like 2006. Franchise still needs a lot but I like how it's set up. Gameplay is in a decent place, they just need to work on getting rid of legacy animations.

I think it's time the Madden development team to start investing more outside of gameplay. Areas like graphics overhaul, dynamic weather, dynamic time of day, field degradation, dirty uniforms, more playable camera options, post game replays, coin toss, referees, chain gang, etc. I think if they took one year and really focused on these areas it would make up for the lack of gameplay improvements that year.

I actually agree with this, but this will likely be a universally panned opinion. No one is ever going to admit this, but Madden will never feature gameplay that the majority are satisfied with. However, who would complain if all of the things you just mentioned were added? If I got to vote, I'd vote on them taking a year off from making any additional gameplay improvements just to add all of those things in and then they can go back to gameplay since it seems like they can't do both. It's gameplay every year, and every year people complain about gameplay.

Why not fix things that everyone will be happy about? I'd also add to your list more presentation elements like a half-time and pre-game show. No matter how much they polish the gameplay, it's still going to feel like you're largely playing the same game if none of the other elements are ever improved/added.

[TheButter]

Re: It's Time to Start Focusing on Areas Outside of Gameplay

"It's Time to Start Focusing on Areas."

FIFY.

[Darth Aegis]

Re: It's Time to Start Focusing on Areas Outside of Gameplay

Agree to a point with the poster. They do need to update the look of the playing surfaces. Outside fields look awful & can't hold a candle to fifa or the show, it's almost pathetic at this point. Also I can make a custom cam on PC, so not sure what their excuse is for that anymore, besides not wanting to do it. I'm not ever sure what EA's focus is thru the yrs because a lot of it seems neglected or ever changing

[poulka]

Re: It's Time to Start Focusing on Areas Outside of Gameplay

I actually agree with this, but this will likely be a universally panned opinion. No one is ever going to admit this, but Madden will never feature gameplay that the majority are satisfied with. However, who would complain if all of the things you just mentioned were added? If I got to vote, I'd vote on them taking a year off from making any additional gameplay improvements just to add all of those things in and then they can go back to gameplay since it seems like they can't do both. It's gameplay every year, and every year people complain about gameplay.

Why not fix things that everyone will be happy about? I'd also add to your list more presentation elements like a half-time and pre-game show. No matter how much they polish the gameplay, it's still going to feel like you're largely playing the same game if none of the other elements are ever improved/added.

I agree with this all the way. Let’s see full chain gang full ref crews.

But the dynamic/custom/combination weathers needs to be a must as well as dynamic time of day and dynamic fields. Can you imagine a Madden where no two games played will seem similar because of weather (by the way through in temperature) with different sand even with dynamic lighting a week 1 1:00 game game will look entirely different from a 1:00 week 17 game. Gives options to customize these things. Like us recreate an ice bowl game or the fog bowl. What happened to fog it was in Madden 02 but now is a distant memory. Even week 13 Monday game was frigid wind game. Give us these options. If one I know about these new consoles the environments look real and are dynamic. Even Forza horizon 5 a racing title has a living with simulataneous weather events. It is way past time to add these items. To me this is where has become stale.


Now I also agree with half time show and a weekly pre game day show highlighting league leaders, key matchups injury reports, even a fantasy segment based on your own living league. Give us something other click menu for daily tasks. Let Madden come alive. I agree gameplay is not there yet. But these other areas are decades behind.

[poulka]

Re: It's Time to Start Focusing on Areas Outside of Gameplay

Another thought for us to chew on. Every year us as a community we harp on that gameplay needs to be improved. While I agree this line of thinking does one thing for EA. It makes them very repetitive in features. It kind of gives them a pass because they look at it and say oh the community wants gameplay improvements. So they just sit back and give us one improvement that they think is drastically going to improve gameplay. Or better yet bring back an old feature with a new name cough cough X factors. Remember Madden 08 had this same feature. Let’s not take them off the hook by suggesting gameplay again. Let’s challenge them to give us a living environment instead.

Also has anyone else noticed that Go Pack chant with stadium music has disappeared. It was in this Madden but I think it has been stripped away with a patch. Another trend of them taking away another dynamic feature that added uniqueness to the stadiums atmosphere. Let’s not fall into their let’s improve gameplay trap. No not this year.

[MasonOS95]

Re: It's Time to Start Focusing on Areas Outside of Gameplay

The presentation and overall environment is just ages behind in general


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[BadAssHskr]

Re: It's Time to Start Focusing on Areas Outside of Gameplay

Hard to imagine how they can rapidly move forward when they are trying to satisfy 75 different platforms.

Pretty certain we are in the NG era, might be time to put madden to bed for the last gen machines.

Think and focus forward. And yes, a PC can run the NG game so it’s something to consider.

[JoshC1977]

Re: It's Time to Start Focusing on Areas Outside of Gameplay

Hard to imagine how they can rapidly move forward when they are trying to satisfy 75 different platforms.

Pretty certain we are in the NG era, might be time to put madden to bed for the last gen machines.
.

I agree...I think that next year's game should be the final one on old gen (I would have said this year's game, but I don't believe that is reasonable given the ongoing challenges with respect to the availability of current gen hardware).

[michaelhalljr]

Re: It's Time to Start Focusing on Areas Outside of Gameplay

Game play is far from perfect, but I'm having a great time with my all team control, play every game franchise, thanks to the sliders I've put in. Very random games, I love it. Been blown out by underdogs, blown out underdogs. Played tight wire to wire games also. Still a ways to go, but I'm at least enjoying it still in December.

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[webbjay82]

Re: It's Time to Start Focusing on Areas Outside of Gameplay

Still waiting for restricted FA, undrafted FA period, improved draft logic, improved roster AI, updated positions, improved coaching staff, FA period were FA don't just pick the biggest contracts and have different things they view as important, updated injury system, improved dynamic player regression, improved contract system, player personalities, improved schemes, etc

There's more but it gets depressing to keep going.

[kennylc321]

Re: It's Time to Start Focusing on Areas Outside of Gameplay

Hard to imagine how they can rapidly move forward when they are trying to satisfy 75 different platforms.

Pretty certain we are in the NG era, might be time to put madden to bed for the last gen machines.

Think and focus forward. And yes, a PC can run the NG game so it’s something to consider.

On top of that, they also have to support MUT, KO Superstars, The Yard, and whatever other nonsense modes they keep cramming into a yearly release.

[poulka]

Re: It's Time to Start Focusing on Areas Outside of Gameplay

On top of that, they also have to support MUT, KO Superstars, The Yard, and whatever other nonsense modes they keep cramming into a yearly release.

And right there is the problem with EA as far as Madden. They are spending on these back of the box gimmicky modes instead fleshing everything franchise could be. Most other gaming companies get their main mode fleshed out then take elements of that mode to the other secondary modes. EA Madden needs to realize their success in the early days that gave them their platform was franchise mode. It is time to develop weather, managing your roster with realistic management tactics real contracts etc. Once that is done properly we can look at gameplay again, but they losing ground quickly in the environment of the game. Not one time can we play and recreate games like we see this time of year. Misty games or flurries just falling. When it comes to snow we get hideous ugly white blob that just looks like something from marshmallow explosion (Ghostbusters)

[Jagsfan24]

Re: It's Time to Start Focusing on Areas Outside of Gameplay

Gameplay is not that good, in fact I still see issues in the coverages on user defense.

But I agree that things on the outside need worked on, we all know they can't fix every issue in every madden. Someone mentioned about the weather, and this is one of those things that gets me. I've mentioned in previous threads about how Madden 12 had the best one, you would play a night game where it starts out as dusk and then by the 2nd quarter it was dark already...that's what they need to bring back.