Robert Flores Goes One-On-One With EA Sports Madden NFL 11 Game Designers (ESPN)

[RGiles36]

Re: Robert Flores Goes One-On-One With EA Sports Madden NFL 11 Game Designers (ESPN)

Yeah I think I've run my course with Gameflow. I've been trying to give it a fair shot, but it is completely inept on defense. For example if the defense has been gashing you with the run, it doesn't adjust and start putting more men in the box.

I'll use gameplanning with conventional playcalling from here on out.

I'm so on-and-off with Gameflow. The great thing is that it's optional.

Last night, I turned on Gameflow with a serious gameplan (hand crafted offense and defense) and I loved it. Loved it! But it has its flaws. I'm hoping to settle on a mode of playcalling before I start my real franchise.

[roadman]

Re: Robert Flores Goes One-On-One With EA Sports Madden NFL 11 Game Designers (ESPN)

I'm so on-and-off with Gameflow. The great thing is that it's optional.

Last night, I turned on Gameflow with a serious gameplan (hand crafted offense and defense) and I loved it. Loved it! But it has its flaws. I'm hoping to settle on a mode of playcalling before I start my real franchise.

I do that all the time, too.

It really personalizes the calling of plays. It does has some flaws, especially on the defensive side.

[marktg30]

Re: Robert Flores Goes One-On-One With EA Sports Madden NFL 11 Game Designers (ESPN)

I do that all the time, too.

It really personalizes the calling of plays. It does has some flaws, especially on the defensive side.

Am I the only one that feels like defense in general lacks a feeling of importance? The defensive side of the ball (from a gameplay perspective) hasn't had anything drastically new since Madden 2005's Hit Stick.

(I feel like Hit Stick doesn't work this year either... lol)

[rooney8]

Re: Robert Flores Goes One-On-One With EA Sports Madden NFL 11 Game Designers (ESPN)

Am I the only one that feels like defense in general lacks a feeling of importance? The defensive side of the ball (from a gameplay perspective) hasn't had anything drastically new since Madden 2005's Hit Stick.

(I feel like Hit Stick doesn't work this year either... lol)

Are you living under a rock???

[Bull_Dozer]

Career Modes are the only thing keeping my interest for next year.

If it isn't above and beyond what we have already I will never buy Madden again.

(I know a lot of you will say "Who cares?! See ya later!)

Bottom line is that I think there are MANY other people that feel this way.

Yep, my thoughts exactly. EA will get my money again when they revamp franchise mode. All the shiny graphics and gimmicks don't have lasting appeal.

[Phil_Frazier]

Re: Robert Flores Goes One-On-One With EA Sports Madden NFL 11 Game Designers (ESPN)

Really enjoying this thread guys. Keep providing that constructive feedback!

A couple of points based on some of the comments here...

What interviewers ask in interviews is entirely up to them. Neither Donny or myself provided any direction on the types of questions. If you feel like the questions are too 'softball' like, I'd suggest that feedback goes directly to the show asking the questions.

When we're doing interviews with more main-stream media, we are supposed to talk to that main-stream audience. If I was to go on and on about restricted free agents and the pro's and con's of that system, the host and a good amount of the audience, would get bored. We need to address the level of detail you guys want in a different way. That's exactly why we do blogs. Those blogs get very little main-stream pickup because they are too micro and built for a more hardcore audience.

Not all communication is meant for all audiences. If the folks reading this site expect all interviews to contain some new nugget of information or some incredibly deep insight into certain decisions, then I think expectations may not be correct.

I'll wrap this post up with this... We see the feedback about Franchise Mode and trust me when I say that this mode is a major priority for us. We were extremely honest with the community this year by announcing the fact that the mode saw no updates in Madden 11. We did that because we know the mode is important to you and we didn't want to keep you wondering. We're not going to get specific about the things we'd like to do but we are keeping an eye on the feedback provided by those that provide good feedback. I 100% stand by my comments about making some of the details of the mode more fun. Not everyone enjoys managing spreadsheet data as they are playing a game. Head Coach made many of the features we had in Madden 'fun' by designing them in different ways. We simply want as many people to enjoy our career modes as you all do, while still giving you all the features you want. That's good business folks.

Good night and good luck.

Phil

[Klocker]

Re: Robert Flores Goes One-On-One With EA Sports Madden NFL 11 Game Designers (ESPN)

WOW...A Gimmick that is on by "DEFAULT" when you start the game. Any "CASUAL" fan won't know to turn it off their first play through. Lets see the statistics after 4-5 months.

the casuals

Spoiler

who outweigh the HC by tons

probably love the feature

Spoiler

faster, more gameplay, less waiting for the play to start

...why would they stop using it?

[roadman]

Re: Robert Flores Goes One-On-One With EA Sports Madden NFL 11 Game Designers (ESPN)

Thanks for the post, Phil.

I do have a question and if you can't answer it, I understand.

I noticed you didn't specifically mention any dates(Madden 12, 13, etc...) in the blog you wrote a few months ago.

Can we expect some improvements on franchise mode in Madden 12?

Thanks again for setting the record straight.

[STLRams]

Re: Robert Flores Goes One-On-One With EA Sports Madden NFL 11 Game Designers (ESPN)

Interesting interview..

[parrothead]

Re: Robert Flores Goes One-On-One With EA Sports Madden NFL 11 Game Designers (ESPN)

It's actually very reassuring that these guys are still around and reading some of these better threads popping up.

[Phil_Frazier]

Re: Robert Flores Goes One-On-One With EA Sports Madden NFL 11 Game Designers (ESPN)

Thanks for the post, Phil.

I do have a question and if you can't answer it, I understand.

I noticed you didn't specifically mention any dates(Madden 12, 13, etc...) in the blog you wrote a few months ago.

Can we expect some improvements on franchise mode in Madden 12?

Thanks again for setting the record straight.

We didn't want to get specific with that blog because Madden 11 wasn't even out yet.

We're working hard to make meaningful changes to career modes as quickly as we can. It's a massive effort and I'm sure there will be immediate visibility to these changes in one product cycle. I'm not allowed to make promises at this early stage.

Phil

[REDRZA]

Re: Robert Flores Goes One-On-One With EA Sports Madden NFL 11 Game Designers (ESPN)

Really enjoying this thread guys. Keep providing that constructive feedback!

A couple of points based on some of the comments here...

What interviewers ask in interviews is entirely up to them. Neither Donny or myself provided any direction on the types of questions. If you feel like the questions are too 'softball' like, I'd suggest that feedback goes directly to the show asking the questions.

When we're doing interviews with more main-stream media, we are supposed to talk to that main-stream audience. If I was to go on and on about restricted free agents and the pro's and con's of that system, the host and a good amount of the audience, would get bored. We need to address the level of detail you guys want in a different way. That's exactly why we do blogs. Those blogs get very little main-stream pickup because they are too micro and built for a more hardcore audience.

Not all communication is meant for all audiences. If the folks reading this site expect all interviews to contain some new nugget of information or some incredibly deep insight into certain decisions, then I think expectations may not be correct.

I'll wrap this post up with this... We see the feedback about Franchise Mode and trust me when I say that this mode is a major priority for us. We were extremely honest with the community this year by announcing the fact that the mode saw no updates in Madden 11. We did that because we know the mode is important to you and we didn't want to keep you wondering. We're not going to get specific about the things we'd like to do but we are keeping an eye on the feedback provided by those that provide good feedback. I 100% stand by my comments about making some of the details of the mode more fun. Not everyone enjoys managing spreadsheet data as they are playing a game. Head Coach made many of the features we had in Madden 'fun' by designing them in different ways. We simply want as many people to enjoy our career modes as you all do, while still giving you all the features you want. That's good business folks.

Good night and good luck.

Phil

Phil, thanks for checking in. We know from a previous blog that you guys are working on franchise mode for next year. What about more dynamic player interaction like real time physics? Also, just much more dynamic tackles. We need the ability to initiate a true wrap tackle, and have other defenders "add on" or "clean up" tackles, but not a pre scripted, canned animation like pro-tak.

To me, there needs to be more options with tackling. True wraps, and true gand tackles, add on and pile on, and cleaning up with some realistic physics would go a LONG way toward better gameplay and much more realism.

[marktg30]

Re: Robert Flores Goes One-On-One With EA Sports Madden NFL 11 Game Designers (ESPN)

We didn't want to get specific with that blog because Madden 11 wasn't even out yet.

We're working hard to make meaningful changes to career modes as quickly as we can. It's a massive effort and I'm sure there will be immediate visibility to these changes in one product cycle. I'm not allowed to make promises at this early stage.

Phil

Talk about a breath of fresh air!

Thanks for actually showing up this early into your Madden 12 cycle!

I, for one, am one of those guys that didn't buy Madden 11 because of the drastic focus on the casual gamer. I realize that many things may have been done with good/great intentions, but your non-blog about Franchise Mode killed my gaming soul.

To see you even somewhat active on the boards again gives me a LOT of hope that you guys are paying attention to what is NEEDED in Franchise Mode. Thanks for the community interaction and thanks for trying to make Madden into the great game we all want it to be.

Edit - One small thing I am really missing from NCAA in the Madden series is the ability to take pictures during instant replay. That is something that becomes very useful for people posting their Franchise Stories, etc.

[roadman]

Re: Robert Flores Goes One-On-One With EA Sports Madden NFL 11 Game Designers (ESPN)

We didn't want to get specific with that blog because Madden 11 wasn't even out yet.

We're working hard to make meaningful changes to career modes as quickly as we can. It's a massive effort and I'm sure there will be immediate visibility to these changes in one product cycle. I'm not allowed to make promises at this early stage.

Phil

I understand your position thoroughly and I want to thank you for commenting.

[udungoofed]

Re: Robert Flores Goes One-On-One With EA Sports Madden NFL 11 Game Designers (ESPN)

I have to admit I'm quite confused with how the Madden team and the NHL team seem to contradict one another. It just doesn't all add up to me.


On one hand, we have Phil stating how "very easy" these features would be to implement, but "spreadsheet management" is boring and needs to be done in other methods.

On the other hand, we have yesterday's NHL blog on this very same subject, Free Agency and what they've done with NHL 11. Direct quote from that blog "This year, for NHL 11, we worked hard to devote the time and resources to a feature that we know many of you have been clamoring for, for a couple of years now"

So Madden says it's easy to do, yet boring and NHL says it was hard to do and everyone is excited about it. Lets also not forget how much more COMPLEX the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement is, yet NHL decided to give it's fans this "spreadsheet manangement stuff" that Madden claims again, is so boring.


Now if you look at the VGChartz data, it's not definitive but it's certainly useable information, Madden has had declining opening week sales since 07 (I didn't look back further).

Madden 07 - 2.19M
Madden 08 - 1.64M
Madden 09 - 1.65M
Madden 10 - 1.26M
Madden 11 - 1.21M

Overall Sales (all platforms)

Madden 07 - 9.09M
Madden 08 - 7.70M
Madden 09 - 8.42M
Madden 10 - 6.81M
Madden 11 - ????
ChrisS posted a bit on how the industry and economy is slowing down for games in general and Madden is a reflection of that. However how has NHL fared with sales during the same time period?

NHL 07 - 870K
NHL 08 - 420K
NHL 09 - 900K
NHL 10 - 1.05M

Just for kicks'n'giggles, how about FIFA and NBA 2K, 2 more highly regarded sports titles like NHL.

FIFA 07 - 6.25M
FIFA 08 - 9.12M
FIFA 09 - 8.85M
FIFA 10 - 9.35M

NBA 2k7 - 1.54M
NBA 2k8 - 1.92M
NBA 2k9 - 2.06M
NBA 2k10 - 2.47M

Lets not forget about the sales records COD MW2 recently broke right when the economy news was everywhere. Video game sales are down overall, but fans are certainly not avoiding the "better titles".

So is it the economy, or are these development teams listening to the fans of the sports of the games being produced? The Madden guys have said many times, even in the ESPN peice in the OP, that they are trying to find ways to get more casual fans into the game. You don't see this from any other EA sports title that I've seen. NHL makes a hockey game for hockey fans, and they see it in the sales numbers.

Why is NHL winning every single Sports Game of the Year award if when it comes to Madden it's the economy and not the game that's dictating sales?


Somehow, this all doesn't add up to me. I realize it's not just FA that's the factor here, it's just an example. You have one EA sports title saying something is boring, and it's sales are dropping and you have another EA sports title that's the reigning sports game of the year with increased sales......by doing what's "boring".