Madden NFL 11 Hints From EA (IGN)

[CreatineKasey]

Re: Madden 11 Hints From EA

76% of Madden gamers play online. There's your answer offline franchise guys. It's not a big priority to them.

I remember people claiming only 5% of Madden gamers play online and junk like that despite me arguing otherwise.

Online franchise and other online functions such as game balance and solid gameplay are priorities for sure.

[TheWatcher]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Hints From EA (IGN)

IGN has posted some Madden NFL 11 hints from the EA Season Opener.

"The average game took 63 minutes in Madden NFL 10, despite the fact that players were only playing football for 17 of those minutes. EA Sports promised that they'll deliver a faster experience in Madden NFL 11 for those who want to sit down and play for a few minutes and then get up and move on to the next activity. They gave no indication of how this would be accomplished, but if I was a betting man, I'd wager that they'll be adding a "hurry up" option to the list of presentation settings similar to what we see in this year's crop of MLB titles.

Another interesting factoid had to do with playcalling. Madden NFL 10 included 330 plays. The average user used 13 of them. I'm not exactly sure how they're going to get people to explore the playbook, but some sort of simplification is clearly needed."

Want a faster game? Play on 2 minutes.

And call me crazy, but I thought presentation was already in hurry-up mode. Unless you count the cutscenes you can't skip, everything else seems to fly-by too fast, but I'm a presentation guy so non-presentation folks wouldn't see it that way I guess...

[killgod]

Re: Madden 11 Hints From EA

76% of Madden gamers play online. There's your answer offline franchise guys. It's not a big priority to them.

I remember people claiming only 5% of Madden gamers play online and junk like that despite me arguing otherwise.

Online franchise and other online functions such as game balance and solid gameplay are priorities for sure.

One of the reasons behind that 76% of online players is because the offline hasn't been worth playing in next gen at all.

Two buggy, shallow and uninspired modes that are as stale as the game itself. No wonder people go to online, it's really the only enjoyment you can find with the product unless you're brand spankin new to the game.

[djordan]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Hints From EA (IGN)

Want a faster game? Play on 2 minutes.

And call me crazy, but I thought presentation was already in hurry-up mode. Unless you count the cutscenes you can't skip, everything else seems to fly-by too fast, but I'm a presentation guy so non-presentation folks wouldn't see it that way I guess...

EXACTLY!!!! Seems like they are catering to the people who want to play 10-15 minute pick up and go games. For Madden 11 just make all cut scenes skippable with the press of the X button. Why make the gameplay faster when we have 4 options of game speed?

[randers]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Hints From EA (IGN)

i wonder if these stat donk realize that online games average roughly 70 total plays or 35 plays /team /game.

so DUHHHHH, you're not gonna get through your whole playbook in a short azz game.

Nice statistical sample size and research.

[roadman]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Hints From EA (IGN)

Sounds like to me they want to add an option like Hurry Up in 2k baseball. As long as it's an option and not a requirement, I'm ok with it, just ok, though.

Sound like they want more multi-taskers to play.

[Valdarez]

Re: Madden 11 Hints From EA

how about this... add in game saves

now you can play for 17 minutes, save your game, and come back later... AMAZING!

Bingo. I'd place my money on it.

[BezO]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Hints From EA (IGN)

"simpler, quicker and deeper experience."

Simpler? They already have pre-packaged defenses, ask Madden, ect.

Quicker? Maybe beef up and reorganize the playbooks so folks won't have to spend all day searching for plays.

How they'll make the game deeper AND simpler/quicker is beyond me.

The average game took 63 minutes in Madden NFL 10

I bet the other 46 minutes were spent twiddling through their sub par playbooks.

They gave no indication of how this would be accomplished, but if I was a betting man, I'd wager that they'll be adding a "hurry up" option to the list of presentation settings similar to what we see in this year's crop of MLB titles.

I hope that's all they do.

Another interesting factoid had to do with playcalling. Madden NFL 10 included 330 plays. The average user used 13 of them. I'm not exactly sure how they're going to get people to explore the playbook, but some sort of simplification is clearly needed

They playbooks suck! How about...

Offense: NFL teams fun many plays that look similar, from different formations. Problem with Madden is that, if you want to run a lead, for example, you can only find it in one, maybe 2 formations. Leads should be in every 2-back set. Screens should be in EVERY formation, especially for teams like Philly. We shouldn't have to search for this stuff. This is another reason folks spend so much time "not playing".

Defense: The only thing worse than the offensive playbook is the defensive playbook. First, the pre-packaged schemes have to go. Tier the playbook already. The reason I never used more than a few "plays" is because most of the pre-packaged schemes suck. If I want to run a 4-3 Man 1, for example, I'm stuck with Madden's 2-3 pre-packaged "plays". Cover 1, WOLB should be in every base front. There shouldn't be much in the 4-3 normal that's not available from the 4-3 over, under, stack, ect.

I know it's early, but I haven't heard a single Madden 11 fact that peaked my curiosity.

[jira2004]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Hints From EA (IGN)

Nothing new here from EA games.....It's all gimmicks Madden, Live, Ncaa nothing new same same ole same ole..... well im not falling for the banana in the tailpipe again.....


I will save a ton of my money this year cause im not buying any of them......

[ODogg]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Hints From EA (IGN)

BezO - those last two paragraphs on offense and defense - QFT brother!!!!!!!!

[CreatineKasey]

Re: Madden 11 Hints From EA

One of the reasons behind that 76% of online players is because the offline hasn't been worth playing in next gen at all.

Two buggy, shallow and uninspired modes that are as stale as the game itself. No wonder people go to online, it's really the only enjoyment you can find with the product unless you're brand spankin new to the game.

I disagree. The reason people play online is that they want to compete against other people. It's the same way for most video games outside of RPG's. Think: even games with great story modes like MGS have online options.

Sports are meant to be played against other people. The most engaging competition should and will come from another human mind trying to beat you. The computer is meant to lose. It's more depressing than anything to lose to a computer. It's meant to be beat.

Sports games aren't made like other arcade games in the past such as Donkey Kong and Galaga. In the past, playing humans was limited so the computer was extremely difficult. That's just not the case in sports games. Even so, AI logic doesn't resemble what a human would do and therefore it really takes away from the immersion IMO.

I think sports games are the pinnacle of online gaming right there with RTS. In fact, I try to view sports football games as a sports version of RTS. Playing it like a chess match is very enjoyable. Games like this thrive on human competition. The better they make the online experience, the better their product will do IMO.

[ODogg]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Hints From EA (IGN)

Well said CreatineKasey - there is no AI that will probably happen in our lifetimes that will equal the human intelligence in both logic, skill and unpredictability. That's not EA's fault, that's simply the fact across the board for all video games today. And if you think it's EA's game AI then simply peek into a FPS thread sometime and read how people complain about the computer controlled enemies and squad mates vs. those of playing with their buddies.

[Rocky]

Re: Madden 11 Hints From EA

76% of Madden gamers play online. There's your answer offline franchise guys. It's not a big priority to them.

I remember people claiming only 5% of Madden gamers play online and junk like that despite me arguing otherwise.

Online franchise and other online functions such as game balance and solid gameplay are priorities for sure.

I wonder how many people play exclusively online and how many people play only a game or 2 online. I'm pretty sure that number is the people who have ever booted up or started an online game. A better representation would be players who have logged in 75 or more games.

You guys know that I love to play online....but life happens. There are instances where time is too valuable to get online and play a cheeser and the line of work I'm in....I can't make a league work. There are plenty of gamers who just want to sit down for a hour and be immersed. That's where I think Madden it's losing it's audience with.

:EDIT: Madden 2002 had in game saves....not to have them in Madden 11 would be INEXCUSABLE.

[Rashad19]

Re: Madden 11 Hints From EA

I disagree. The reason people play online is that they want to compete against other people. It's the same way for most video games outside of RPG's. Think: even games with great story modes like MGS have online options.

Sports are meant to be played against other people. The most engaging competition should and will come from another human mind trying to beat you. The computer is meant to lose. It's more depressing than anything to lose to a computer. It's meant to be beat.

Sports games aren't made like other arcade games in the past such as Donkey Kong and Galaga. In the past, playing humans was limited so the computer was extremely difficult. That's just not the case in sports games. Even so, AI logic doesn't resemble what a human would do and therefore it really takes away from the immersion IMO.

I think sports games are the pinnacle of online gaming right there with RTS. In fact, I try to view sports football games as a sports version of RTS. Playing it like a chess match is very enjoyable. Games like this thrive on human competition. The better they make the online experience, the better their product will do IMO.

Well said man! That's why so many of us are clamoring for improved game-play because in essence that is what gives the game life when playing against human competition. Don't get me wrong better presentation is a must but it's more of a byproduct of great game-play! No amount of crowd noise, announcing, replays, cutscenes etc....can cover up game-play issues IMHO.

[killgod]

Re: Madden 11 Hints From EA

I disagree. The reason people play online is that they want to compete against other people. It's the same way for most video games outside of RPG's. Think: even games with great story modes like MGS have online options.

Sports are meant to be played against other people. The most engaging competition should and will come from another human mind trying to beat you. The computer is meant to lose. It's more depressing than anything to lose to a computer. It's meant to be beat.

Sports games aren't made like other arcade games in the past such as Donkey Kong and Galaga. In the past, playing humans was limited so the computer was extremely difficult. That's just not the case in sports games. Even so, AI logic doesn't resemble what a human would do and therefore it really takes away from the immersion IMO.

I think sports games are the pinnacle of online gaming right there with RTS. In fact, I try to view sports football games as a sports version of RTS. Playing it like a chess match is very enjoyable. Games like this thrive on human competition. The better they make the online experience, the better their product will do IMO.

So do you suggest that if the offline mode was actually worthwhile, gamers would still go play random online games anyways?

If the Chise mode had more functional AI, proper formatting/rosters and you'd follow the real NFL 365 schedule, proper stats, mostly bug free offseasons, and a challenging opponent in the CPU that doesn't need to resort to warped animations.......

It would still be neglected in favour of random online games?


You're simply using a poor offline experience (or CPU AI) as the reasons why some people will play online, which is exactly what I was getting at. You're arguing people go online to play an opponent that isn't as ******** as the Madden CPU and more like a real human, I'm arguing people will go online because the Madden CPU is ********. Where's the disagreeance? We're saying the same thing just with a different approach to it.

Is Online Franchise not something they built because so many people ask for it? Don't tell me gamers don't wanna play a franchise mode, EA just can't put together an offline experience that's worthwhile, so it's now going to be online...which is fine if it doesn't have the same problems that aren't related to AI offline.

Madden players want to play a franchise mode, online with friends is far more exciting than offline, but regardless it's what we want, or else why the heck are they working on Online Franchise? (if you can even call it that in it's current state)