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Originally Posted by adembroski |
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And now ya'll know why I was so sour when I first got back from E3. This is the entire reason.
That said, as I've said before, I think they're doing the right thing, and let me tell you why.
(for the record, #1 is educated speculation. This is what I think is going on, it's opinion, but I think the evidence in the theory's favor speaks for itself. #2 is fact, it absolutely is a big reason for the lack of upgrades in this area)
#1. Game play has to be the priority. While a high percentage of players play franchise mode, a high percentage of players play online, etc.. every player is effected by gameplay. It is the core of the game. The complete removal of locomotion and run blocking to be totally rewritten and readded was not a small task by any means.
Some of you may remember when i said the locomotion was not the only thing inspired by FIFA. I believe the entire approach this year is inspired by how FIFA transformed itself from something that barely resembled soccer into one of the best sim-games in the world- by very deliberately rewriting the entire game, piece by piece, over a couple of seasons. Welcome to Year 1 of this process.
#2. Imagine completely rewriting Franchise mode, or even significantly upgrading it, only to have all of your work undone by a lockout and a new labor agreement. It did not make sense to redo franchise mode in light of the likely lockout and the definite changes in the CBA. We know nothing about what direction these negotiations are going to take us, and for them to spend a year even porting Head Coach's career mode over and have it utterly outdated and have to spend yet another year rebuilding it would be utter stupidity.
So, that leaves two questions. A.) Is EA doing the right thing, making us wait? B.) Should we (franchise focused people) still buy M11?
A.) I think so. Judging by the paths NHL and FIFA took, Madden is doing the right thing to bring the game back to where it should be. My experience with the new blocking assignments tells me they're definitely capable of capturing this sport. At the cost of some features in M11, the future is very bright.
B.) That's entirely up to you. I will, because the gameplay upgrades are enough for me to warrant the purchase.
It's nice to see so many of you giving them credit for coming out and saying this. I'm thrilled that they finally did as well, but I didn't expect you guys to have as positive a reaction as you have thus far. To those of you who've seen the positives behind this, very big minded of you. To those of you angry... I don't blame you, but trust me, its for the best.
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Adembroski,
I agree with much of what you said there. However, Madden is EA's biggest game and if they focused entirely on gameplay I have no problem with that. From what has been talked about it does not seem that much has even been done to the gameplay. Locomotion (if it works properly, very questionable in early vids) and run blocking are FANTASTIC additions. But are you telling me in EA's biggest franchise focusing almost exclusively on gameplay (hopefully presentation as well but all we have heard about is Gus and crowd chants) and all they can fix is run-blocking, locomotion, and a catch-debuggig tool?
What about the passing game, pass blocking, pocket, WR/DB interaction, tackling and pro-tak, and just overall choppy animations? Shouldnt they have been able to fix (re-write) a majority of this if they were primarily focusing on gameplay?
I know you are a FIFA guy and that game is apparently great, and I am a big fan of the NHL series and that gameplay is PHENOMENAL. The NHL series is adding a ton this year including a new
real-time physics based engine. Unless I am wrong the NHL dev team is MUCH smaller then the one working on Madden. Why can these smaller teams accomplish so much more then the biggest SPORTS franchise name in videogames?