The 4 Best and Worst Things We Know About Madden 18 So Far

[roadman]

Re: The 4 Best and Worst Things We Know About Madden 18 So Far

CFM means a lot here, but CFM took a brutal beating this morning on Twitter.

People commenting that CFM people know that it's last on the dev list to be upgraded, CFM is on life support, etc.....

Twitterworld seems to be competitive world all over the place.

[Lexicon]

Re: The 4 Best and Worst Things We Know About Madden 18 So Far

I'd take Longshot out of "Worst" and replace MUT Squads with it in the "Best" category. I think Longshot is going to be really well done and engaging. I will never care about co-op play, especially in MUT (I'd put it in the worst because it seems like a lot of folks who wanted this feature back don't want it to only be in MUT, so that sucks for them)

Franchise Mode not receiving anything major (which yes, we have been told by the devs that this is the case) is certainly the "Worst" of the things we have found out, and it's not even close for me.

All I'm pretty much looking forward to is Longshot. Don't care about new engine until they show me something dynamic they can do with it, don't care about target passing, don't care much for coach adjustments, etc.

[fballturkey]

Re: The 4 Best and Worst Things We Know About Madden 18 So Far

No CFM improvements is the worst thing overall about the game. Target passing is a dead feature if it removes ratings but it isn't "bad" in that it doesn't impact me in any way since I'll just turn it off. Longshot is a massive waste of resources but again, I can just not play it. CFM being stagnant for another year is what really hurts the game.

[Grey_Osprey]

Re: The 4 Best and Worst Things We Know About Madden 18 So Far

As others have mentioned, the lack of improvements to CFM, specifically the non-gameplay aspects, has to be the worse. The fact that this is due in part to taking away resources for Longshots and NBA Live is like adding insult to injury.

[Darth Aegis]

Re: The 4 Best and Worst Things We Know About Madden 18 So Far

I now like that you can press a tight end this yr. I'll hold out to read the CFM blog before I read further into that one.

[ps3veron]

What about core gameplay guys? And the sheer lack of videos or any promotion! August is coming in hot and I haven't seen anything official out there yet.  

[Honni]

Re: The 4 Best and Worst Things We Know About Madden 18 So Far

While I understand that not everything is great with the new Madden iteration each year and everyone has to decide whether they want to pay 70 bucks, but:

take a look at what a pile of hot mess the NHL franchise is. I'm happy that there is Madden which is a very solid game itself. You can't say that of NHL for several years now. They fix/introduce one thing but take out other stuff just to re-introduce it later and sell it as 'new feature'. The game doesn't have an in-depth franchise mode (it's VERY, VERY shallow), no roster sharing, no cool missions in Hockey Ultimate Team like they have for MUT (yeah, I play it only offline and don't buy a pack with real money at all but it still makes fun). You could go on.

I think Madden 18 will be very good fun again. At least for a guy from Europe like me who isn't such an expert in Football like North Americans.

[DeuceDouglas]

Re: The 4 Best and Worst Things We Know About Madden 18 So Far

Best

Legacy Issues

We don't really know what they are yet but regardless this is something they should be trying to hit on every single year. Every year new problems come up but it's the problems that make you say "that's still an issue" that are the really frustrating ones. So even if there are still some big ones, getting rid of a significant portion of them is a really good step forward and should impact the game in a positive way greatly.

Frostbite

Definitely agree with this. Only good things should come from it moving forward and I'm glad to see things like player intro's and stadium shots returning from M12 because of it. Visually the game looks great this year and the capabilities with Frostbite should greatly exceed anything we've seen before with Madden.

Worst

CFM

I don't know how this didn't make the list. I understand nothing is really left of the horse except bone dust and but it still needs to be beaten. I didn't think it could get much worse than last year with the abysmal feature set they rolled out but this year really took the cake. Essentially kicking 65% of your audience to the curb for the year because of Longshot and, of all things, NBA Live is ridiculous to me and yet somehow so fitting for the trajectory of CFM since it's introduction.

I was tempted to put Longshot and the 3 settings in the worst but I'll wait and see on those. Longshot just because I'm not sold that the return on investment is going to be equal the amount of time and resources they put into. I don't think they should have ever said they've been working on it for four years because that is going to create some sky high expectations when you consider a game like GTAV had five years of development. There's going to be a lot of people that enjoy it but I won't be touching it all.

And then the three settings just because of the potential they have to absolutely turn the entire community on itself. We haven't even released yet and it seems like every day the two sides are at each others throats over something new and now we're starting to see the devs even showing some angst with the community over it. On top of that there's people within their own communities also going at each other over trivial things and I just think it has the potential to make an already toxic environment even worse.

[kjcheezhead]

Re: The 4 Best and Worst Things We Know About Madden 18 So Far

I'd add MUT squads to the worst along with no CFM improvements. A lot of negatives for me in madden 18 and the glimpses we've had doesn't show frostbite changing the game from 17 all that drastically either.

I generally pass on madden or buy used but follow the series because it's football. Some years I get sucked into the hype and am scouring red boxes to give the game shot. This year's game however is the easiest pass since madden 11.

[El_Poopador]

Re: The 4 Best and Worst Things We Know About Madden 18 So Far

I like the idea of the target passing, if it works properly and enhances ratings differences instead of negating them. As long as the ball doesn't go exactly to the target 100% of the time, and is dynamic based on the QB ratings, whether you're on the run or set, pressure, etc., it has a lot of potential.

I really picture it being a way to finally make fades work properly in the back corner of the end zone, as well as back shoulder throws. I just hope that they give the user a little extra time in the pocket to account for the extra input needed.

[DeuceDouglas]

Re: The 4 Best and Worst Things We Know About Madden 18 So Far

I'd add MUT squads to the worst along with no CFM improvements.

I was going to put MUT Squads into a neutral category just because I won't touch it but it's been something I always saw people asking for. But I can easily see it becoming something that's fun and popular at first but fizzles out really quick and again becomes that mode where barely anybody even plays it. Not only that but the cesspool that is MUT and online gaming will likely be in peak form in that mode as well.

[roadman]

Re: The 4 Best and Worst Things We Know About Madden 18 So Far

mmmm, not many people listing best, I see.

Best

1. Frostbite- Colors are popping(for me) and players look much better, plus, potential down the road.

2. Coaching Adjustments(Gameplay or CFM) - I don't really care either way, I've wanted this back in the game for a long time and so has the community.

3. Legacy Issues 80% fixed- Hoping for no more deer in the headlights speed kills stuff.

4. Offensive playcalling enhanced- Great addition over the stale playbooks over the past several years.

4b. WR/DB animations, very nice.



Worst

1. No significant improvements to CFM. CFM is strong here at OS, but as I noted earlier, you can tell the demographic is changing on Twitter and Facebook with all the MUT and DC noise. CFM needs to immerse a person much longer vs what we have now.

2. No significant improvement to QB animations/animations in general- More animations, the better the game will look.

3. No improvement to weather. We need to get the weather channel back

4. No offsetting penalties.

Neutral

1. Longshot

2. MUT Squads

I may not play these, especially MUT Squads, but I'm sure there will be a ton of people that will. ie, see MUT and DC.

[Armor and Sword]

Re: The 4 Best and Worst Things We Know About Madden 18 So Far

I completely disagree with the thought on target passing. First off Its an optional mechanic.

Secondly, the balls not tethered to a reciver anymore! Isnt that what weve been wanting? Im ecstatic and will put in the time to learn it.

Thirdly, I can understand being apprehensive about a new mechanic but listing it as a bad feature right away without letting yourself get used to it? Bad form!

This thought process and the complaints behind it are what make the devs scared to try new things and ultimately what led to the demise of the vision cone. Instead of improving it or at least making it optional, they flat took it out. Im afraid this is exactly what will happen with TP. Practice with it people, stop holding the game back, or dont use it, its simple.

Yeah but I want player ratings to matter and the development team clearly stated once you use target passing, it is all user control and QB ratings are null and void.

So yeah...while I wanted non teathered passing, I want simulation (ratings) to matter heavily in a dice roll on the ability to complete passes. I can learn it and master it (much like meter pitching on The Show and shot stick on 2K) and then make average and below average guys pitch and shoot like elite guys. Not fun for me personally.

So this is great for the tournament/competitive online crowd, but a useless (but sorely wanted) mechanic for the simulation crowd (and that includes online simulation leagues not just offline CFM vs the AI).

[kjcheezhead]

Re: The 4 Best and Worst Things We Know About Madden 18 So Far

It's hard to put legacy issues into either category without any gameplay footage. Every year I hear about how ai players will take proper pursuit angles only to see them readjusting with every step or how blocking ai is fixed and then see the lead blockers all ignore the immediate threat to try and block a defender 10 yards away from the play.

Sometimes fixing an issue creates one too like having defenders hit invisible barriers as a fix to nano blitzes.

[Armor and Sword]

Re: The 4 Best and Worst Things We Know About Madden 18 So Far

I like the idea of the target passing, if it works properly and enhances ratings differences instead of negating them. As long as the ball doesn't go exactly to the target 100% of the time, and is dynamic based on the QB ratings, whether you're on the run or set, pressure, etc., it has a lot of potential.

I really picture it being a way to finally make fades work properly in the back corner of the end zone, as well as back shoulder throws. I just hope that they give the user a little extra time in the pocket to account for the extra input needed.

It's not ratings based at all. That is what is a huge let down about it.

So hopefully next year they make it ratings based on "Simulation mode".