[llcmac]

I had a few thoughts I wanted to share...

1. Would it be safe to say that EA's biggest priority is online gamers and Ultimate Team (Both make money for them)? Person vs. Person tourneys and what not, and money making card collections. If, let's say there was a glitch in MUT where the 2 highest ranking cards were showing up in the lowest packs, or someone forgot a decimal and Legendary Packs costs 350 points instead of 35000. Or in online play if the passing buttons only worked half the time or something. Would it be safe to assume that these issues would be fixed ASAP? (I mean duh on me right? the loss in money making potential would be their incentive)

To be fair, fixing issues like those might be easier than the ones affect us "sim" heads. Quick server side patches could be out in a matter of minutes, where as fixing the old systems in Madden may be like trying to find a needle in a haystack (more on this later).

But even with that being true, don't most "sim" heads feel like we are being ignored? In the end it is a lose-lose situation for EA. The more they try to tweak the old systems the more potential there is for them to break something else.

In the end Madden has the hardest row to hoe. Their software was the least future proof (seems like) and because of that they cannot easily interact with the community without getting attacked or asked a million questions. This leads me into my next thought...

2. Is it possible that the reason there are so many problems with Madden this year is because EA is putting in the framework for a better all around game? Everyone knows that a 1 year development cycle makes it hard to be too innovative, especially with the archaic systems the game uses.

It has been discussed that the Madden team take a year off of the game, just putting out a patch and roster update for $20 bucks, and take 2 years to really turn the game around. This is impossible for many reasons.

So what if the reason the game is in the current state is because EA is really taking 2 years to really change the game (as in they designed a new framework for Madden that they knew could potentially cause a slew of issues in other areas but would make it easier to implement new systems down the road). They could never say something like that, they would deny it, if it ever came out people would be fired, but what if that was their plan. Install the framework for the next gen madden, then next year install new systems to rewrite most of the game. It might be a pipe dream, but with next gen consoles coming out in, maybe, 2014...what if.

Madden 2013 - new framework.
Madden 2014 - rewritten AI, sim stats, IE 2.0, other systems.
Madden 2015 (on Xbox 720 and PS4) - New graphics system, reworked animations system.

I dunno, this is all conjecture on my part. But I have to think EA has a plan...don't they? lol.

Option A- they have a plan for a better Madden
Option B- they are the only game in town so they don't care
Option C- they are "NBA Live-ing" Madden into the ground

Hey, I am trying to be optimistic here. Believe me, I am still cynical about this years Madden (No intense close games because of the terrible late game AI, franchise stats unrealistic, bad rosters, etc), but I want to believe there is a future for this game.