[tuckermaine]

Quote: Originally Posted by edgevoice

In my opinion, Madden 12 was the last edition where EA showed a true commitment to franchise mode. I wrote a lengthy post stating where I believed EA was heading with this game after Madden 13 was released. I took a hiatus from purchasing, until Madden 17 made enough coverage improvements and also returned player editing, to make it worth a purchase. I've given up all hope that EA will ever seriously make franchise a priority in the future. It's just far more profitable for them to invest resources on MUT and other online modes that bring them a continued revenue stream throughout the year. All I continue to hope for is that EA will put in some work on at least improving CPU gameplay elements regarding situational playcalling, clock management etc so the games are still enjoyable to play. At times, they have taken small steps forward. However, it continues to be a bumpy ride, including taking steps back as well. In Madden 19, EA tried to improve player motion by introducing RPM. They tuned and tuned and tuned until they realized CPU ballcarriers simply could not handle the mechanic. In Madden 20, they took a big step forward at release with CPU ballcarriers almost acting as if they were user-controlled. However, after a patch, the CPU runners now do a better job at running to daylight, but backs look lifeless and rarely make an attempt to make a defender miss in the open field. EA also took a big step this year by improving the ability to install a more complete gameplan, with 30 plays per-situation now possible. This enhances the sim feel of preparing for and playing a franchise game. However, CPU playcalling, especially in 2-minute situations has really taken a step back. I've browsed through the playbooks and it looks like some of them were not even finished, as almost all plays in those books were simply gameplanned at 1/2 stars each. I understand the implementation of X-Factor in order to try to make the stars stand out. It also has an arcade appeal to help attract casual or younger players of the game. I am also glad it was made optional as I personally am enjoying the gameplay more with them off. I would have rather seen them spend more time on cleaning up gameplay bugs instead. To be fair, they did clean up some of these. The game as changed. We franchise folks are dinosaurs. If you can accept that and spend some time tuning the game via sliders, it can still be enjoyable to play franchise mode. Despite it's flaws and poorly fleshed out features, I still enjoy playing it. If you can't, that you can either try to embrace MUT or other game mode options or walk away. I'm not saying that's the way it should be, I'm just again pointing EA's vision going forward with Madden.

From one Dinosaur to another “WELL STATED “ Edge....