Madden NFL 12 Super Bowl Halftime Blog is Official, Franchise Mode Not Covered

[FootballDetails]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Super Bowl Halftime Blog is Official, Franchise Mode Not Covered

I hope it's not MUT news. I would chalk that up as disappointing.

[kehlis]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Super Bowl Halftime Blog is Official, Franchise Mode Not Covered

it's not that ridiculous. ian and the team have got to push their own ideas and those of the community rather than gimmicky ideas that are no doubt handed down from upstairs. they want to put out a good product, but their opinion of a great game may be different from ours, which may be different from the suits at ea. i think this year will be a key year in deciding whether this team is the one to take madden back to its former glory.

I've never had a job where I could do the opposite of what I'm told.

I can voice my opinion as much as I want but at the end of the day if my vote doesn't win, it doesn't mean I can disregard what I've been told to do.

[Meast21Forever]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Super Bowl Halftime Blog is Official, Franchise Mode Not Covered

I've never had a job where I could do the opposite of what I'm told.

I can voice my opinion as much as I want but at the end of the day if my vote doesn't win, it doesn't mean I can disregard what I've been told to do.

exactly right. which is why i don't think the idea of this year being a defining year as ridiculous. the madden community will base judgments of this team from the final product (regardless of who came up with the ideas). the current madden team has to lobby as hard as they can in order to take the game in the right direction. i think they can, but it depends how hard they push.

obviously they can't blatantly do what the opposite of what they're told. the only job that lets you do that is at a strip club where they tell you 'don't have sex with the customers for money' but they're winking at you when they say it. (man what a weird summer job that was.) anyway, they're the ones making the game and their input has to have a higher value than some money man making a push for a game appealing to the 'casual gamer'. whether this team can make that push, listen to the community and reflect that message loud enough to be heard by the boss man at ea is yet to be seen. i think this years product will answer that.

and about the mut update, that's a bummer. this mode has always seemed like a little extra something and fairly unsubstantial. it's only my opinion, obviously, but if that's the only news to come from the superbowl blog, i'll be sorely disappointed.

[kehlis]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Super Bowl Halftime Blog is Official, Franchise Mode Not Covered

exactly right. which is why i don't think the idea of this year being a defining year as ridiculous. the madden community will base judgments of this team from the final product (regardless of who came up with the ideas). the current madden team has to lobby as hard as they can in order to take the game in the right direction. i think they can, but it depends how hard they push.

obviously they can't blatantly do what the opposite of what they're told. the only job that lets you do that is at a strip club where they tell you 'don't have sex with the customers for money' but they're winking at you when they say it. (man what a weird summer job that was.) anyway, they're the ones making the game and their input has to have a higher value than some money man making a push for a game appealing to the 'casual gamer'. whether this team can make that push, listen to the community and reflect that message loud enough to be heard by the boss man at ea is yet to be seen. i think this years product will answer that.

Sounds like we are pretty much on the same page then.

I think the only problem with your argument is the fact that "the right direction" is pretty arbitrary and unfortunately, and I know some will disagree with me here, we here at OS are pretty much in the minority as to what is widely viewed as the right direction.

And I don't mean that in the sense that we are wrong in what we want to see, but I think people that make decisions probably see stronger growth in other aspects of the game.

[Meast21Forever]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Super Bowl Halftime Blog is Official, Franchise Mode Not Covered

Sounds like we are pretty much on the same page then.

I think the only problem with your argument is the fact that "the right direction" is pretty arbitrary and unfortunately, and I know some will disagree with me here, we here at OS are pretty much in the minority as to what is widely viewed as the right direction.

And I don't mean that in the sense that we are wrong in what we want to see, but I think people that make decisions probably see stronger growth in other aspects of the game.

i hate to agree with that point, but the reality is you're probably right. the fight for realism and depth instead of gimmicks is a battle madden has lost for the last 5 years or so. it's become more about the fiscal year than it has the football season. it's a damn shame.

i honestly think ian and his guys know what we want and agree with us for the most part. it's just the business side that is keeping madden from going where it could go.

don't get me wrong though. i think madden 12 is going to be a solid game and probably the best of the series. the current team has only improved the game since they've been here and i don't see that trend ending any time soon.

[TheTruth437]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Super Bowl Halftime Blog is Official, Franchise Mode Not Covered

I didn't buy Madden 11, because the Madden team didn't really focus on gameplay and offline franchise. If they don't focus on gameplay and offline franchise, and instead focus on gimmicks for the casual fans, I will not buy madden 12 either.

[BlueNGold]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Super Bowl Halftime Blog is Official, Franchise Mode Not Covered

I didn't buy Madden 11, because the Madden team didn't really focus on gameplay and offline franchise. If they don't focus on gameplay and offline franchise, and instead focus on gimmicks for the casual fans, I will not buy madden 12 either.

They didn't? This is news to me.

[TheTruth437]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Super Bowl Halftime Blog is Official, Franchise Mode Not Covered

They didn't? This is news to me.

I played Madden 10 for a long time. I played the Madden 11 demo many times. I have watched many videos of people playing Madden 11. The actual gameplay is very similar in my opinion. I know that the Madden team focused on run blocking improvements and locomotion improvements, but I feel if they're focusing on gameplay, I should be able to notice more of a gameplay difference.

[roadman]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Super Bowl Halftime Blog is Official, Franchise Mode Not Covered

I played Madden 10 for a long time. I played the Madden 11 demo many times. I have watched many videos of people playing Madden 11. The actual gameplay is very similar in my opinion. I know that the Madden team focused on run blocking improvements and locomotion improvements, but I feel if they're focusing on gameplay, I should be able to notice more of a gameplay difference.

I understand what you are saying and agree to some point, but it's a subjective opionion. Right away, I could tell draw plays worked much better in 11 vs 10 and before and that was a huge improvement for me. The OL blocking was a big difference to me.

Others may disagree as my opinion is subjective as well.

Also, it's not like they focus on just game play.

[rightallthetime]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Super Bowl Halftime Blog is Official, Franchise Mode Not Covered

maybe they will tell us that online scouting is free this year.

[BlueNGold]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Super Bowl Halftime Blog is Official, Franchise Mode Not Covered

I played Madden 10 for a long time. I played the Madden 11 demo many times. I have watched many videos of people playing Madden 11. The actual gameplay is very similar in my opinion. I know that the Madden team focused on run blocking improvements and locomotion improvements, but I feel if they're focusing on gameplay, I should be able to notice more of a gameplay difference.

I can agree that it "looked" the same.

But entirely ripping out the old run blocking code and re-writing it, overhauling the catch animations and implementing sideline/endzone catches, adding locomotion (which was probably just as big a task as the run blocking was, if not bigger), adding the new dual stick controls and changing the kick meter (even if it wasn't what we expected or wanted it to be) were all things they added to the gameplay, not to mention AI tweaks to fix some of Madden 10's problems like the flats being poorly covered.

I don't know how that isn't focusing on gameplay.

[G da Lionheart]

I to skipped buying 11 but i did it for two reasons. 1st it was obvious that it was going to be similar to 10 it was shocking to me just how little had changed. 2nd The only way EA will really listen is if you speak with your wallets so thats what i did. NCAA 11 turned out to be so good I decided I would alternate titles from year to year so there would be enough changes to warrent a purchase.

[G da Lionheart]

My purchase of 12 hinges on the franchise mode also. I was listening to one of Ian podcast before and they stated that from the data they collected it was nearly an even 50/50 split between online and strictly offline players. I find it inexcusable that if you know 50 percent of your customers usually only uses one aspect of your product and you dont even touch it. YOU TREAT IT AS AN AFTERTHOUGHT. There wasnt enough time? what really is that all you can say. We are talking 50 percent of your consumers here! then you know whats really crazy when asked about why do you think madden sales dropped when your the only NFL football game and you dont have an answer. Honestly I'm almost convinced that they really are clueless as to why madden 11 didnt sale so well even though NFL popularity and viewership rose.

[TheTruth437]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Super Bowl Halftime Blog is Official, Franchise Mode Not Covered

I can agree that it "looked" the same.

But entirely ripping out the old run blocking code and re-writing it, overhauling the catch animations and implementing sideline/endzone catches, adding locomotion (which was probably just as big a task as the run blocking was, if not bigger), adding the new dual stick controls and changing the kick meter (even if it wasn't what we expected or wanted it to be) were all things they added to the gameplay, not to mention AI tweaks to fix some of Madden 10's problems like the flats being poorly covered.

I don't know how that isn't focusing on gameplay.

I admit, I exaggerated on how many changes they made to the gameplay. The Madden team did make improvements and changes to the game, but I feel they should be putting more resources and time into gameplay and offline franchise, instead of things like gameflow and mut. I would like too see more major/minor improvements to the gameplay. This is only my opinion of course, so everyone doesn't have to agree.

[BlueNGold]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Super Bowl Halftime Blog is Official, Franchise Mode Not Covered

I admit, I exaggerated on how many changes they made to the gameplay. The Madden team did make improvements and changes to the game, but I feel they should be putting more resources and time into gameplay and offline franchise, instead of things like gameflow and mut. I would like too see more major/minor improvements to the gameplay. This is only my opinion of course, so everyone doesn't have to agree.

That's fair and I can agree on Gameflow and UT, but we just have to accept that things like UT are a big flow of income for them, so from the business side you can't blame them for taking advantage of it.

As for Gameflow, I'm assuming the suits needed "that new feature" to market and push the game and that was what Gameflow was.

I personally didn't think Gameflow was a bad idea and I feel their intentions were good with it. Every football game has always used the same playcalling system and Gameflow sped up the game considerably, which was good for their older aged crowd that doesn't have as much time to dedicate to the game as they used to. Plus it really helped the newcomers/young kids to Madden that don't know playcalling and what to do in specific situations. It just didn't turn out as well as it could have because the CPU called Four Verticals too often and there were a few other CPU issues.