Madden NFL 16: A Noob's Perspective

[RaychelSnr]

I have a confession: I’m not a Madden "noob" in the purest sense of the term. Actually, I’ve been dipping in and out of this series since '99, but I never really took the time to learn the game -- or even the sport -- aside from its fundamentals.

I’m a UK citizen, so I naturally gravitated towards sports such as soccer throughout my childhood. In recent years, I’ve had a renewed interest in American football, a sport that continues to rise in popularity throughout this part of the world.

With the advent of new subscription-based services such as EA Access, I'm now able to get my hands on the latest incarnation of EA’s long-running series without dropping full price on it. So, as someone who is far from a skilled Madden player, here’s my perspective on a game I know very little about.

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[My993C2]

Re: Madden NFL 16: A Noob's Perspective

<< I Have No Idea What I’m Doing On Defense >> - from the article.

The Madden football series has come a long way over the years and Madden 16 is the best it's ever been and I think Madden 16 made some really good steps from Madden 15. But we are not there yet. And one of the problems with the Madden series are the defenses. Yes to those new to the game of football, defense can be confusing. There is a lot of concepts to learn. But it does not help when the game does not play defense like it should. It would be nice for the game makers to spend a little less time on the offenses and some more time to improve the defending aspects of this game. I think we are still a good 10+ years away from the point where it will be difficult to tell the difference between the game and the real world. But at some point in the future, it will be hard to tell the difference between a real world game on TV and the virtual game. Of course I have been saying that for the last 10 years. haha. In the meantime, I will enjoy Madden 16, warts and all.

PS: I do wonder with all the concerns these days about concussions and other injuries in the game, how will real football evolve or is it doomed? Would people accept watching the virtual games instead of the real games if concussions can not be controlled? I played lots of contact sports in my youth. I played 6 years of football, rugby (I remember going head on head in a rugby game one year on the goal line to prevent the opposition from scoring. Ouch. We must have been two footballers playing rugby LOL). I played 30+ years of hockey (I suffered more hockey injuries than any other sport) and yes I have suffered concussions and my memory is not as good as it used to be. Back in my day when your bell was wrung in game or in practice, you just sat out of few plays and then got back into the game. Now what was I talking about? Hmmm ... dang my memory ... Oh yeah I remember. LOL

[whitey7886]

Re: Madden NFL 16: A Noob's Perspective

<< I Have No Idea What I’m Doing On Defense >> - from the article.

The Madden football series has come a long way over the years and Madden 16 is the best it's ever been and I think Madden 16 made some really good steps from Madden 15. But we are not there yet. And one of the problems with the Madden series are the defenses. Yes to those new to the game of football, defense can be confusing. There is a lot of concepts to learn. But it does not help when the game does not play defense like it should. It would be nice for the game makers to spend a little less time on the offenses and some more time to improve the defending aspects of this game. I think we are still a good 10+ years away from the point where it will be difficult to tell the difference between the game and the real world. But at some point in the future, it will be hard to tell the difference between a real world game on TV and the virtual game. Of course I have been saying that for the last 10 years. haha. In the meantime, I will enjoy Madden 16, warts and all.

PS: I do wonder with all the concerns these days about concussions and other injuries in the game, how will real football evolve or is it doomed? Would people accept watching the virtual games instead of the real games if concussions can not be controlled? I played lots of contact sports in my youth. I played 6 years of football, rugby (I remember going head on head in a rugby game one year on the goal line to prevent the opposition from scoring. Ouch. We must have been two footballers playing rugby LOL). I played 30+ years of hockey (I suffered more hockey injuries than any other sport) and yes I have suffered concussions and my memory is not as good as it used to be. Back in my day when your bell was wrung in game or in practice, you just sat out of few plays and then got back into the game. Now what was I talking about? Hmmm ... dang my memory ... Oh yeah I remember. LOL

Football is not doomed because of concussions. It will take a hit and dip but will rebound to stay at the top in the US and grow worldwide. Other sports just like you said also have injury problems. Because the NFL is so rich it is a target for people sueing over concussiions. Soccor and hockey will eventually fell this same thing. Kids still love football and will continue to play. With kids in small poor areas see sports as a way out, there will always be kids playing.

[AaronS444]

Madden NFL 16: A Noob's Perspective

Football is not doomed because of concussions. It will take a hit and dip but will rebound to stay at the top in the US and grow worldwide. Other sports just like you said also have injury problems. Because the NFL is so rich it is a target for people sueing over concussiions. Soccor and hockey will eventually fell this same thing. Kids still love football and will continue to play. With kids in small poor areas see sports as a way out, there will always be kids playing.

I think it will be a very long and slow demise, but I do think the NFL as we knew it is done for.

Guys are just too big and too fast. The League can't make the game safe, or safer. More kids will choose baseball or basketball, or be made to choose them by their parents.

.. doesn't really bother me personally, though. The quality has slipped considerably, IMO. The League and their product were MUCH stronger 20 and 30 years ago.

... As for Madden, as a football gamer since the Tecmo days I look at it this way;

Buying Madden is like paying for a Corvette ZR1 but being handed the keys to a Z28 Camaro at the dealership.

Nothing wrong with a Z28, mind you. For most, it's a great trip around the block. But for the enthusiast, it's not even worth the ride.

30 years of console football, and in the last 10, there hasn't been significant progress. Despite an ENORMOUS leap in technology over the same span.

Extremely disappointing to many.


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[Hooe]

Re: Madden NFL 16: A Noob's Perspective

30 years of console football, and in the last 10, there hasn't been significant progress. Despite an ENORMOUS leap in technology over the same span.

What counts as significant progress?

In the last five years Madden NFL has added real-time physics to collisions, refactored components of the game such as blocking, passing accuracy, and pass coverage countless times to make the behavior more authentic, produced and built upon the only full-featured online franchise mode in modern sports video games, built a whole new way to play the game in Ultimate Team which has introduced the game to a whole new audience, and is the only sports video game to-date with a comprehensive teaching tool to not only familiarize new players with the tools needed to succeed in playing the game but also the strategies and concepts real football teams use to win on Sundays.

In fact, a bunch of these things are called out in this article as things which the self-proclaimed "noob" user enjoyed and/or found useful. Heck, I personally think Skills Trainer is one of the best things - if not the very best thing - that's ever been added into any sports game.

[AaronS444]

Madden NFL 16: A Noob's Perspective

Features from 10 years ago aren't in the game.

That's their motto isn't it? If it's in the game, it's "in the game"..

Franchise mode has been broken to some extent since 2006.

Madden is great if you want to play online. It's absolutely great. I get why that crowd loves it and is behind EA. Meanwhile, they've basically waved the finger at a generation of dedicated fans who grew up with the game and want a different experience.

And this is a dead issue if not for the exclusive license.

I GUARANTEE 2k or the MS Studios would have hit EA where it hurts if they had the opportunity.

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[KickassJohnson]

Re: Madden NFL 16: A Noob's Perspective

The coach suggestions and defense sections say a lot to me.. First, I would wager that a lot of posters on here aren't noobs when it comes to this game. Coach suggestions are nice for people who are, for casual players, etc but for the advanced users that have been playing for years, we are stuck with the same old while the new players are being taken care of.

I want a game that is oriented towards advanced users.

For example and also regarding defense, I want to put my shutdown CB on the opposing team's best WR for the entire game, and I can't do that in Madden without making serious, time-consuming adjustments. If I play the Saints and they put Brandin Cooks in the slot position, this gives them a #1 vs #3 advantage because my best CBs are on the outside and my 3rd best is on Cooks. This is stupidly basic strategy in real life but it doesn't exist in Madden.

[Fraser G.]

Hi folks, author of the article here.

Some really interesting responses so far. I hope you enjoyed the "noob" perspective!

[DeuceDouglas]

Re: Madden NFL 16: A Noob's Perspective

Connected Franchise Is Awesome...In An Overwhelming Sort Of Way

This is what's scary to me.

I don't see them spending time implementing some sort of season mode to make things any less overwhelming. Instead I think they'll continue to try and simplify things, similar to scouting last year, to make things less underwhelming to the "noob-ish", pick-up and play audience. I'm not saying they should try and alienate new players and keep them away from the mode but I've always been a believer that franchise isn't and won't ever be a mode for casuals.

And that's nothing against noobs or casuals because it should be that way IMO. It should be incredibly overwhelming coming from MUT or DC or being a new fan and having to deal with the intricacies of managing an NFL teams roster, coaching staff, finances, etc. But instead of making it that way, it seems like they want to make things overly simple so more new people will play CFM instead of making it a deep mode with the options for newer players to make it as easy or hard as they wanted.

[roadman]

Re: Madden NFL 16: A Noob's Perspective

Features from 10 years ago aren't in the game.

That's their motto isn't it? If it's in the game, it's "in the game"..

Franchise mode has been broken to some extent since 2006.

Madden is great if you want to play online. It's absolutely great. I get why that crowd loves it and is behind EA. Meanwhile, they've basically waved the finger at a generation of dedicated fans who grew up with the game and want a different experience.

And this is a dead issue if not for the exclusive license.

I GUARANTEE 2k or the MS Studios would have hit EA where it hurts if they had the opportunity.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well, actually, I disagree with you again, strongly, about Madden being great to play online. It's is also great to play an online/offline CFM, game play wise. To each their own on that note.( ALL of us know that franchise mode needs to be enhanced)

If I can make a suggestion, it's been well noted that the team wants to enhance franchise mode and commentary for 17. Why don't you wait like the rest of us and see what the team delivers. A decade vs 4 months, I think WE can all wait that long, don't you agree?

Also, be careful of the way you have been portraying the exclusive license around here. Around here, if you keep bringing it up in multiple threads(as you have) it's considered beating a dead horse and agenda posting.

Duece- I don't agree with what you are saying because Rex said CFM was something they needed to improve greatly for Madden 17. There have been numerous surveys out there from various websites sent to EA on what needs to be improved.

I don't necessarily think that means they will take the simple route.

[DeuceDouglas]

Re: Madden NFL 16: A Noob's Perspective

Duece- I don't agree with what you are saying because Rex said CFM was something they needed to improve greatly for Madden 17. There have been numerous surveys out there from various websites sent to EA on what needs to be improved.

I don't necessarily think that means they will take the simple route.

It certainly doesn't mean they'll take the simple route and I really hope they choose not to. I'm just going off what we got last year and recently in regards to CFM and the vibes I've gotten from interviews and such. The same things that need to be improved this year are the same things that needed to be improved last year, and the year before that for the most part.

I have no doubt they'll try to improve CFM again but it's what they choose to improve and how they choose to implement it that has me worried the most. This last year was a huge disappointment IMO especially considering how good the gameplay turned out being. The two big things for CFM were something that I think could be easily argued didn't even need to be touched in scouting and then Drive Goals which came with it's own set of issues. Nobody wants to see CFM become an outstanding experience more than I do but my expectations are at an all-time low but hopefully come June I'll be pleasantly surprised with what they've done and will happily eat crow.

[tshokunbi]

Nice article. Its cool to see the perspective of someone who hasn't been playing for 10+ years.

[roadman]

Re: Madden NFL 16: A Noob's Perspective

It certainly doesn't mean they'll take the simple route and I really hope they choose not to. I'm just going off what we got last year and recently in regards to CFM and the vibes I've gotten from interviews and such. The same things that need to be improved this year are the same things that needed to be improved last year, and the year before that for the most part.

I have no doubt they'll try to improve CFM again but it's what they choose to improve and how they choose to implement it that has me worried the most. This last year was a huge disappointment IMO especially considering how good the gameplay turned out being. The two big things for CFM were something that I think could be easily argued didn't even need to be touched in scouting and then Drive Goals which came with it's own set of issues. Nobody wants to see CFM become an outstanding experience more than I do but my expectations are at an all-time low but hopefully come June I'll be pleasantly surprised with what they've done and will happily eat crow.

It's all good, we just have different expectations. Judging from the past, CFM hasn't been touched much at all.

If Rex states that CFM and commentary need the most improvement for 17, then I'm expecting much improvement from CFM.

The difference being a developer has said CFM needs improvement this time around.

[jfsolo]

Re: Madden NFL 16: A Noob's Perspective

This article is great, because because IMO, the OP is the exactly Madden player that EA frets about when it comes to implementing more advanced concepts to defense, and more Head Coach like aspects to CFM.

I'm probably between DD's and roadman's perspective on CFM, though leaning towards DD's perspective. I do think that they will make a fair amount of improvements to the mode as has been touted by Rex. Will they abandon their attempts(misguided, IMO) to draw casuals into long term use of the mode though, I doubt it. This mentality will always be an albatross around the neck of the mode. It's been mentioned, but drive goals are exhibit A If they aren't gone, or at least made completely optional, then anything else they add will still be weighted down by their continued utilization.

I know that Rex and Kolbe have strong ideas, but they still have to answer to bosses, who have their own ideas that most likely are incompatible with much of what we here want.

[roadman]

Re: Madden NFL 16: A Noob's Perspective

I agree with your assement jfsolo.

I did listen to a bit of the Mutcast this week and one of the things Rex mentioned was that ever since Andrew Wilson came on board as President, he has told EA employees #1, it's all about the players/customers for their games.

So, we shall see what develops for 17.

I just wish they would implement a casual and sim option.