Madden NFL 15: Five Tips To Be Better This Fall

[NicVirtue]

Re: Madden NFL 15: Five Tips To Be Better This Fall

It's not the fact that he plays that way. More power to him for it. It's the fact that this style of play is advertised and featured more prominently than simulation football, the supposed direction of this franchise.

[TTD71]

Re: Madden NFL 15: Five Tips To Be Better This Fall

The video does not make me sad as much as the knowledge that the EXACT SAME DISCUSSIONS have been going on for over a decade now...its not the things that guys do online that bother me at all, its the fact that they do them only because they work against a broken AI, a feckless system of penalties and useless fatigue system that makes me frustrated.

EA has made a game where unless I am playing against a known sim-style opponent, there is no chance a punt will occur at any time in the game, there is a 90% chance that the opponent with run no huddle with the 49er's or Seahawks (which makes me laugh constantly when you think of how both teams actually play), and almost zero chance of seeing a play run without 5-6 changes minimum at the LOS.

Field position, time of possession, play-calling, rotating players on specific assignments to avoid fatigue...ALL mean NOTHING...ball possession and, most importantly, who can get the last possession means EVERYTHING!!!

I have been advocating for implementing realistic penalties just about every year since Madden NFL 2004. No huddle offense without realistic fatigue effects, coupled with an infinite ability to make 12 changes, and still quick snap the defense without them being able to adequately respond, is why most online Madden games played against competent opponents are 45-42 score fests even with 5 minute game clock quarters.

Constant no-huddle should result in much higher frequency of false starts, ineligible men down-field, holding, illegal formations and a variety of other penalties that ALWAYS kill sub-par teams in real life. If you keep sending a WR on a steady diet of streaks OR crossing routes that have them running 35-40 yards on every play...by the 3rd quarter they should be noticeably missing from the line-up for long stretches of time as they are gassed and sucking O2 on the bench!! (Of course, since the back-ups at WR, TE and RB alll seem to catch like Jerry Rice in his prime, it may not really matter too much!)

The same thing with O-linemen having to run (well in the game they seem to just morph to the LOS) a steady diet of no-huddle - they would get tired, which would get them to suffer on their foot work, which in turn leads to grasping and grabbing and a HUGE increase in holding penalties or free runs at the QB!

I have seen more drives end in football games because of holding calls, mental errors and false starts that get a team behind the chains than I have from INTs or sacks...its the defining issue for separating "good" NFL teams from "bad" ones.

The ability to execute the way Madden allows - added to the atrocious deficiencies in the on screen AI and animations to execute fundamentals make any talk about schemes and concepts and levels all a bunch of hog wash. I would agree with everyone who has pointed out the thread is appropriately named...this is a blueprint for how to be better at "Madden" and has nothing to do with football.

[hanzsomehanz]

Re: Madden NFL 15: Five Tips To Be Better This Fall

I appreciate his list.

I appreciate the tourney gamers and their tips and strategy guides.

I have always held tight to the belief that "you shall hate the game but not the gamer": every gamer needs their tricks in any contest and so: to each their own - play and let play.

"Dominate me - pummel me into the ground" said no one.

Thanks to these tourney guys who offer their tips: I am able to overcome a lot of the very cheese a sim gamer complains about or even overcome the very AI deficiencies that EA implements - it is not the Sim Community sharing these breakthroughs nor is it EA.

The tourney gamers are in rage about the OP run game too but they spend time in the lab to concoct systems that counter the very cheese that EA designed and delivered.

I can receive tips from a toruney gamer and still remain autonomous and authentic, regardless of what I see demonstrated and taught against my standards: I can still extract the lesson, the concept, and that is esentially what is important in a Football contest.

In fairness, tourney gamers are conditioned for tight, competitive, high-stakes affairs (Pro Gaming), so much so that they are naturally inclined to concoct strategies of the unorthodox because their competition is so high on Madden IQ that stock strategies will fail them.

The stock strategies that Madden offers us as stock will fail because they are poorly designed and on top of that the CPU will execute them poorly or not at all.

The Tourney community is not my target for complaints or retribution: god forbid the NFL and Roger Goddell dictate when it is acceptable to go for it on 4th down or how often a play be recycled - any team and coach will run his designs if he feels the chances to succeed favor him.

EA, by design, creates these chance outcomes for all of us.

It would be hypocritical of me to make crude comments towards CNB (author and editor of the article) or unsub him based on this article.

Sent from my SGH-I727R using Tapatalk

[BezO]

Re: Madden NFL 15: Five Tips To Be Better This Fall

You could make that point all day and you have, to your credit, you are technically right, the best kind. However, in the context of Madden, to do it "right" would mean rewriting/rebuilding things from scratch, which is apparently not an option, for whatever reason. I know that you have mentioned in the past the problem with requesting bandaids and place holders instead of core fixes but when the landlord refuses to replace the old rusty pipes you need a plan B or move.

IMO, they're not refusing to do anything. They are giving folks exactly what they ask for. Most of even OS are asking for peripheral improvements.

How many folks are asking for gap/contain assignments, retiered playbooks... it's only recently that folks are ralying around animations & locomotion. These are the core issues.

Dropping back 20 yards? What did most folks ask for? Inaccuracy when QBs drop that far. What did we get? Inaccurate passes. The real problem? Blocking for 3, 5 & 7 step drops, the interaction between blockers/rushers & the angle created by dropping back that far.

[Big FN Deal]

Re: Madden NFL 15: Five Tips To Be Better This Fall

IMO, they're not refusing to do anything. They are giving folks exactly what they ask for. Most of even OS are asking for peripheral improvements.

How many folks are asking for gap/contain assignments, retiered playbooks... it's only recently that folks are ralying around animations & locomotion. These are the core issues.

Dropping back 20 yards? What did most folks ask for? Inaccuracy when QBs drop that far. What did we get? Inaccurate passes. The real problem? Blocking for 3, 5 & 7 step drops, the interaction between blockers/rushers & the angle created by dropping back that far.

I disagree, the main thing people have been asking for are fixes, not bandaids, they are just willing to settle for bandaids when it's painfully obvious real fixes aren't coming. I have read countless posts over the years from numerous posters going into great deal about how to actually fix things and it pretty much being stated "that's too complex". I know I'm preaching to the choir because that's what you were told about tiered play calling. So if after that being said, one continues to ask for the fix, their essentially labeled nonconstructive, beating a dead horse, etc.

It's been stated repeatedly that they/Tiburon shouldn't/doesn't need us to suggest anything to them, in regards to football fundamentals, the blueprint is already there in real football and past football games. They seem to do whatever they want to do and when that happens to coincide with what people actually asked for, they tout that as "listening to the fans", hell they'll even tout that when not one "fan" I know of has actually asked for what they've done, lol.

[BezO]

Re: Madden NFL 15: Five Tips To Be Better This Fall

I guess where you see countless & numerous, I see a handful of posters asking for these things and the majority asking for the peripheral stuff.

For every one poster asking for what I feel needs to be done, I see 10 posters asking for the side effects, and another 10 saying some version of that's too complex, y'all want perfection, it's a video game, etc. As sim as these boards are supposed to be, I see more concern for balance than what I consider realism. Most are concerned with the stats & results. I see few concerned with the why.

Ask for what you think is possible. I feel you on that as EA appears to listen to those types of request. But momma told me if I need 5, ask for 10, not 2. Too many folks happy with 2 for my taste. And that's what they get. 2. And the same folks asking for 2 will complain next year that they only got 2.

[Big FN Deal]

Re: Madden NFL 15: Five Tips To Be Better This Fall

I guess where you see countless & numerous, I see a handful of posters asking for these things and the majority asking for the peripheral stuff.

For every one poster asking for what I feel needs to be done, I see 10 posters asking for the side effects, and another 10 saying some version of that's too complex, y'all want perfection, it's a video game, etc. As sim as these boards are supposed to be, I see more concern for balance than what I consider realism. Most are concerned with the stats & results. I see few concerned with the why.

Ask for what you think is possible. I feel you on that as EA appears to listen to those types of request. But momma told me if I need 5, ask for 10, not 2. Too many folks happy with 2 for my taste. And that's what they get. 2. And the same folks asking for 2 will complain next year that they only got 2.

I don't know man, just doesn't seem to matter to me, they'll give us what they deem possible, in relation to developing Madden, not video games in general. When I look at things like franchise mode and presentation where there is a general consensus on mimicking real life, yet Tiburon still does their own thing to a certain extent, I can't see game play being any different.

The overriding thing for me is out of those people you believe are asking for bandaids first versus fixes, how many would be mad at a fundamental fix? I don't think most would, seeing as the fix would likely address their core issue anyway.

[gzenius]

Re: Madden NFL 15: Five Tips To Be Better This Fall

limiting offensive adjustments is not the answer. i could MAYBE understand some type of limit based on the QBs ratings or something but even that doesn't feel right to me.

yes, i know it's not realistic for a 55 overall QB to read the defense, audible, then make 3 hot route adjustments or be able to run no huddle all game.. but in real life 1 person doesn't control the head coach, coordinator, and QB. this is still a video game.

that's why i always loved the vision cone. on offense, the user controls the QB's reads and is as good as you're making him. i guess they could tone down accuracy ratings and gameplay(they desperately need to for deep throws) but the vision cone is the best way i've seen to reward/punish you for the caliber of QB you're using without limiting the user.

[BezO]

Re: Madden NFL 15: Five Tips To Be Better This Fall

I don't know man, just doesn't seem to matter to me, they'll give us what they deem possible, in relation to developing Madden, not video games in general. When I look at things like franchise mode and presentation where there is a general consensus on mimicking real life, yet Tiburon still does their own thing to a certain extent, I can't see game play being any different.

The overriding thing for me is out of those people you believe are asking for bandaids first versus fixes, how many would be mad at a fundamental fix? I don't think most would, seeing as the fix would likely address their core issue anyway.

I doubt will ever know if it matters. Most folks are not as sim as they think. And even the simmest of heads continue to support what EA spits out.

Presentation is one of the few things that look decent. The halftime show is ehh, but replays are better and have been decent in the past.

I don't think many would be mad at a fundamental fix at all. But EA is listening to it's fans, even the simmest of OS members. Look back at issues like super LBs, CBs tackling too well, scrambling QBs, QBs dropping back too far, etc. up to audibles & hot routes. Look at how most want these issues addressed and compare that to what you know should be implemented.

There's a handful of core issues that would address all these peripheral problems, but most don't attribute those problems to a bigger issue or don't believe EA will address them. There's a reason why the number of problems aren't going down. They're just being shuffled.

[Big FN Deal]

Re: Madden NFL 15: Five Tips To Be Better This Fall

I hear you Bezo but I still don't see how the game not being fundamentally sound/fixed is the gamers fault. Tiburon keeps claiming to be attempting to create a NFL simulation video game, so that design and implementation onus is their's, not our's.

[MrPinkBlackrose]

"Identify your identity" ....smh

[NicVirtue]

Re: Madden NFL 15: Five Tips To Be Better This Fall

y'all want perfection

No. We want excellence. There's a difference. It is achievable, has been achieved before, and this long 10 year skip down the Yellow Brick Road has taken us far away from anything remotely close to the word excellence. We all know games will never be perfect. That's the beast of technology. But we all want an excellent football game that makes us forget about the rest.

[OhMrHanky]

Re: Madden NFL 15: Five Tips To Be Better This Fall

"Identify your identity" ....smh

'Madden offers 2 options, running and passing.' Really? Well, I guess this is a football game, right? So, I would hope u could run and pass. Lol.


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[BezO]

Re: Madden NFL 15: Five Tips To Be Better This Fall

I hear you Bezo but I still don't see how the game not being fundamentally sound/fixed is the gamers fault. Tiburon keeps claiming to be attempting to create a NFL simulation video game, so that design and implementation onus is their's, not our's.

Fault is not the word I would use. There's no one definition for simulation. I think EA is attempting to deliver their version, and it's in line with what most are asking for.

Let's see what happens with the audibles next year. Will they nerf them for the sake of balance, or will they address the football issues. And count how many folks were asking for balance vs those asking for football.

And folks that buy the game support the effort. Again, fault is not the word I would use, but supporting one thing and expecting another is at least odd.

[Big FN Deal]

Re: Madden NFL 15: Five Tips To Be Better This Fall

Fault is not the word I would use. There's no one definition for simulation. I think EA is attempting to deliver their version, and it's in line with what most are asking for.

Let's see what happens with the audibles next year. Will they nerf them for the sake of balance, or will they address the football issues. And count how many folks were asking for balance vs those asking for football.

And folks that buy the game support the effort. Again, fault is not the word I would use, but supporting one thing and expecting another is at least odd.

I would agree with you in general but just not with Madden, you know this exclusive game/situation is a whole other animal. Again, yes, technically anyone buying the game and settling for less is supporting it but if they didn't, it would not matter, imo. If this entire website were committed to asking for core fixes instead of bandaids and didn't buy the game until that happened, Tiburon would just tune us out and focus on their core consumers. Again, the reason I say this is that the vast majority of vocal Madden gamers are in agreement on realistic presentation and player management/franchise elements, yet Tiburon continues to half step those.

I'm just a little surprised to hear this coming from you considering you have actually been to Tiburon and experienced their MO first hand. There have been posts from EAGCs stating that if Tiburon says they won't/can't do a core fix for x, then continuing to harp on it is considered nonconstructive and no need for you to be invited back, ie they tune you out.

Guess we could go on and on but what you see as Tiburon giving gamers the bandaids they are asking for, I see as people just trying to get whatever they can, under the circumstances.