[Aestis]

Quote: Originally Posted by ggsimmonds

But the vision cone and this year's target passing reveals one unfortunate truth about the Madden gamerbase (elite competitive crowd included) -- the skill level is not that high. It really paints the competitive crowd in a bad light. Rex stated that the goal was that the feature would provide separation in the tourney crowd, but nope. No one used it to elevate their game; it is still all about who can find the best combination of exploitative plays and repeat those over and over again (the so called shotgun bunch "offense")

Amusing aside, I so agree with this. I really enjoy watching eSports across a few different titles. The skill level of some pro gamers is astounding, just like watching the NFL or NBA.

1) "Pro" (I use the term loosely) Madden players are just not even close to this level. It's just not close and it's very apparent from watching them for 5 minutes. The best Madden players in the world are not special in terms of the eSports world at large, and this I do believe plays some part in why Madden has such a minuscule viewership compared to actual eSports.

2) The viewing experience of watching a pro Madden game is utterly miserable. Same play over & over. Forget what's cheese & what's not, forget realism vs lobby ball, forget what it's like to play this way: watching it is just not remotely enjoyable. And this is the other big reason, I believe, why EA is making a huge mistake trying to invest in making Madden into a legitimate eSport. It's not and it never will be for these two fundamental reasons.