That's another huge factor for me. Some of the real Madden die-hards seem to only play Madden, which just doesn't work for me. There are way too many other fun games to play. So I've scaled back my expectations of ever being a competitive, top-notch on-line player and my enjoyment of Madden has never been greater. Play Madden 8 hours a day, and yeah, you're going to nit-pick the heck out of it.
Anyhow.