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

[udungoofed]

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

Valid question here so I'll take a stab at providing my interpretation of the interviews/blog.

I actually think the Madden team and the NHL team are saying the same thing, but in different ways. From the Madden side, I would very easily change my approach to the answer to match that of the NHL blog and it would have the same meaning. I'm not saying that these features are boring and that we don't want to add them. I'm saying it would be easy to simply add them into the game in a way that's boring for 90% of our audience. The challenge lies with our designers to develop a system that takes that same feature and does it in a way that is more compelling to a larger portion of our audience. NHL admitting that they worked hard, and devoted resourses to this problem indicates to me that they didn't take the easy way out as well.

Just one man's interpretation...

Phil

As mentioned in my response to adem, it's just unfortunate they weren't added previously so that we at least had something to chew on until the new vision is completed. I believe this to be a rather significant mistake and would have saved plenty of grief/forum rage/etc.

I suppose I'm biased as I spent an embarassingly high amount of hours building a "spreadsheet style" system to fill in the gaps where online franchise never got to, and everyone loves the league. *shrug*

[udungoofed]

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

If I answer this question aren't I admitting that it was done incorrectly?

I do feel like the direction we chose (server based) was the right direction to go. My personal theory on why the mode isn't used isn't because we lack a free agent system. I believe it has more to do with the nature of online and scheduling. Coordinating an entire league is hard work and as soon as one person loses interest, the rest of the league is sure to follow. If we can somehow crack the issue of scheduling and more flexible timing options, I think we might be on to something.

Phil

If my 32 man OF could be of any help, please take a look. I mean, we're all adults (20-40) although some of us may not act it at times . We completed 4 seasons with Madden 10 and are on a set schedule to complete 6 seasons this year.

I've created a setup that offers

-Contracts (varying salary per year, based on real life values)
-IR
-UFA/RFA
-Finances (each team has their own money)
-Traded draft picks
-etc

This isn't meant to be said as a shameless plug to get attention on our league, online franchise is very big for me and anything that could help get that mode improved does me a great deal of service so I don't have to manually do it all.

If analyzing how things work and what doesn't work in my league could be of help to you, please check us out if you'd like. Again, it's all human/adults who for the most part, play real football like it should be played so I believe we give a great example for what "could be".

Let me know and I"ll pm you a link to it because I know how OS can be about posting that sort of stuff.

[Phil_Frazier]

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

As mentioned in my response to adem, it's just unfortunate they weren't added previously so that we at least had something to chew on until the new vision is completed. I believe this to be a rather significant mistake and would have saved plenty of grief/forum rage/etc.

Trust me, we get it. We'd love to be able to add each and every feature listed on feature lists from sites like this. Well...maybe not every feature but I think you get the point. The NFL season doesn't wait for us to finish our game and as such, we have a fixed amount of time to work with to get the game out by August every year. Each year we have to make very difficult decisions on which features to tackle now vs. putting off another year (or two). Many factors go into those decisions and in just about every case there will be an audience that doesn't like the decision. I get that frustration as a gamer myself.

Phil

[mr_president]

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

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.

agreed.

is there going to be a title update that will improve the tackling and the QB play(quick snap,taking sacks..etc.)

[TDKing]

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

If I answer this question aren't I admitting that it was done incorrectly?

I do feel like the direction we chose (server based) was the right direction to go. My personal theory on why the mode isn't used isn't because we lack a free agent system. I believe it has more to do with the nature of online and scheduling. Coordinating an entire league is hard work and as soon as one person loses interest, the rest of the league is sure to follow. If we can somehow crack the issue of scheduling and more flexible timing options, I think we might be on to something.

Phil

I apoligize, I did not mean "incorrectly"... I should have said "incomplete". I agree that scheduling could be a problem in the larger leagues but I was in a smaller league with 6 guys and it was great. We lost interest due to the lack of features.. especially salary cap. I don't understand why a salary cap couldn't be added in this year. You guys had the right idea, with the web/mobile interfaces but you just didn't see it through. NCAA Dynasty Mode seems to be successfull. :wink: Thanks for taking the time to respond.

[kjcheezhead]

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

Why was there a reluctance to state the numbers of online players using gameflow? Offline guys are at 70-80%, but many franchise guys from past versions used ask madden to call plays to offer more of a challenge.

Merely stating the online numbers are lower than offline and not just giving totals leaves me with the impression that Gameflow isn't being welcomed as much as they would like us to believe. Just my impression from the responses.

I also believe you can't turn gameflow off online? (Don't have the game so don't know for sure)

[NYwRiter94]

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

While I understand that a lot of the casual fans don't enjoy spreadsheet management, Franchise mode isn't for the casual fan. The mode is meant to be as close to a simulation of the NFL Season as possible--so leaving things out because they don't scream 'fun' to the casual fan doesn't seem to make much sense.

I've been racking my brain to come up with a better alternative to spreadsheet management, but as long as ratings are quantifiable and visible in franchise mode, there's no other way to do it.

[rooney8]

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

Trust me, we get it. We'd love to be able to add each and every feature listed on feature lists from sites like this. Well...maybe not every feature but I think you get the point. The NFL season doesn't wait for us to finish our game and as such, we have a fixed amount of time to work with to get the game out by August every year. Each year we have to make very difficult decisions on which features to tackle now vs. putting off another year (or two). Many factors go into those decisions and in just about every case there will be an audience that doesn't like the decision. I get that frustration as a gamer myself.

Phil

I'll help you so. Franchise Mode, Defense and an option to hide player ratings.

What do you think the percentages are of hardcore vs. casual Madden vs. NHL players? I think that plays into the equation. I'd bet on average an NHL 11 player is a more hardcore hockey fan than the average Madden player is toward football.

Not familar with Hockey games so I will use what games I am familar with.
Fifa is more sim then PES and sells much better, Nba2k is more sim then Nba Elite and sells much better. Madden05 and NFL2k5 both very sim sold 9.5m on the top two platforms. Then Madden went in a more arcade direction and sales gradually dropped while sim games like Fifa and Nba2k sales continue to grow. It's easier than ever to know who to make your game for with sim consoles and arcade consoles. The split between the Wii vs 360 and Ps3 is close to 50/50 yet the sales of Madden on the more hardcore consoles is 6+ times the sales of the Wii. Yet there is this idea that Madden is different to every game other game and the majority of buyers wouldn't know what a football was if it hit them in the face. I will never understand trying to make a football game for non football fans instead of football fans. Before you say Madden is now taking a more sim approach, yes it is more sim but is not sim. It's going for somwhere in the middle, little more arcade then sim to me.
Finally, I remember me and my brother playing Madden. Netheir of us knew much about American Football at the time don't even think there was any coverage in Ireland back then. When we went on to a new season two of my brothers players were holding out. We didn't know what that was but when they didn't play in pre-season the penny dopped. So he tried to get them to play and if I remember correctly he signed one to a new contract but had to trade the other away. We didn't understand it at first but thought it was the coolest thing ever after that.

[nccomicfan]

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

as in, don't plan on this being totally fixed for next year..I don't see how that can be read any other way

[rooney8]

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

as in, don't plan on this being totally fixed for next year..I don't see how that can be read any other way

I think it's probably just going to be a bit bare compared to what people want but still will have to be deeper than the current mode.

[PantherBeast_OS]

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

Sidenote: I thought I checked VGchartz last week and the numbers for NBA 2K had dropped? Perhaps I didn't look at the big picture (overall sales).



I'd think they go hand & hand, would they not?

Well true. But it worries me some because of real late they been mainly talking about doing more online stuff then offline franchise mode stuff. I'm just afraid alot of the focus is geared towards online franchise more the way they talk sometime.

[NYwRiter94]

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

The way I look at it, this could lead to a very down year next year, but starting in 2012, a great deal for football fans.

At this point, EA's looking to completely redo the Franchise Mode. So they strip it down and rebuild it this year, but it still doesn't have a lot of what we want--because their priority right now is building a foundation they can improve upon easily. This leads to a further decline in sales, which possibly leads to no extension of the exclusive license (whoohoo).

What that means is that in 2012, 2k Sports can finally come back and provide competition, and Madden's rebuilt modes will be complete. Presumably, we'll have two top-notch games in NFL 2k13 and Madden 13, and it will be the golden age of football games once again.

[roadman]

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

What that means is that in 2012, 2k Sports can finally come back and provide competition, and Madden's rebuilt modes will be complete. Presumably, we'll have two top-notch games in NFL 2k13 and Madden 13, and it will be the golden age of football games once again.

I think that is living in an ideal world.

2k hasn't produced a football game since 2k8 on NG. Also, 2k just let go about 40 people, so, if they need an NFL license, I don't know how they will secure one.

[parrothead]

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

Once again Phil thanks for popping in, its refreshing to hear something from headquarters, thanks for being candid and honest. Tail kissing ends now.

[RedZoneD25]

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

as in, don't plan on this being totally fixed for next year..I don't see how that can be read any other way

I'm a VERY cynical and negative human being in general (lol), and I see nothing wrong with what Phil said. The phrase "Rome wasn't built in a day.." comes to mind. Yes, they are likely tearing down franchise mode and putting in a brand new, likely somewhat bare mode to our desires. However, it is likely to be much deeper than anything we've seen on next-gen so far, which was entirely too bare in majority of our minds. The Show laid a great framework, and continually built upon it, and I expect the same for Madden 12s franchise mode. Enough to taper a lot of the criticism by showing that they are indeed making up for the lost years (06-09) and taking the steps to reclaim their glory.

However, this new "bare" mode SHOULD include most if not ALL of the same things that PS2 Madden 07 had, with a updated spin on it to keep it fresh. The only thing I see being a problem is that most of us who are diehard franchise players are in "prove it" mode. I know I am, but I respect that great things take time and I'm willing to trust that franchise IS a priority this year and in the coming years. The mode absolutely CANNOT be lacking basic (not to casuals, but to diehards) functions in a true NFL calendar. If it does, than a lot of us who are holding out could easily throw in the towel.