A small franchise tweak that would go a long way

[zmonkey]

I was playing my franchise mode last night and I ran into the same thing that stops a lot of my franchise modes: I had the number 3 overall pick and I picked a mediocre quarterback with normal development. That got me to thinking about why I bounce off the games when I run across situations like that and comparing it to the real NFL. When I draft that player, Madden instantly tells me everything there is to know about him now and in the future. I know he's not going to develop into a phenomenal, face of the NFL type player. I know he's going to take a few years until he reaches his full potential. I instantly know his ceiling and his floor. Before I've had a chance to experiment with him or develop him or see what he's good at, it's all laid on the table in front of me. Why? In the NFL it normally takes years of training, coaching and live games to figure out where a player is going to fall in the grand scheme of things. Why does Madden feel the need to just give it to me day one?

If I could play a mode where I couldn't see those ratings up front and had to unlock them from game situations (kind of like the dev traits are now) I would have reason to keep playing. Now I'm considering whether to just abandon the franchise or get ready to draft another QB next year.

[Phillyboi207]

Re: A small franchise tweak that would go a long way

To be fair they can still develop with the scenario engine so there’s reason to keep trying to develop him

[direfire]

Re: A small franchise tweak that would go a long way

I think Sports games period would be better if you never saw the ratings.... The only way you could tell if a player is good or a fit for your team is when you play them in game. Would add a ton of depth trying to figure out..

What you're looking for OP has been semi done in a tool called tdawgs xp progression tool...

[Mackrel829]

Re: A small franchise tweak that would go a long way

In short, because Madden is primarily made for casual fans who have no interest in waiting to find out how good a player is. I totally agree with you, but we've already seen that EA are going to commit as few resources as possible to what they see as a dead mode.

At the very least, they could potentially make all rookie's hidden dev.

[Madden08PCgmr]

Re: A small franchise tweak that would go a long way

I think Sports games period would be better if you never saw the ratings.... The only way you could tell if a player is good or a fit for your team is when you play them in game. Would add a ton of depth trying to figure out..

^ I'm firmly in this camp.

Especially being on the PC side... the community has run every sim imaginable on the ratings... it can't be documented what most of them do, or how they interact with eachother in the first place.

[stinkubus]

Re: A small franchise tweak that would go a long way

Why on Earth would anyone waste their time running those sort of simulations when MUT Leaks twitter is going to post all the ratings thresholds and most of the relevant formulas which govern player interactions?

[Madden08PCgmr]

Re: A small franchise tweak that would go a long way

Why on Earth would anyone waste their time running those sort of simulations when MUT Leaks twitter is going to post all the ratings thresholds and most of the relevant formulas which govern player interactions?

Speaks to the passion of the fanbase, for starters.

Predates MUT, considerably.

.. better question is, why are we forced to deal with a game where we have to question fundamental elements like this?

Everybody knows what happens to a building with a bad foundation.

[stinkubus]

Re: A small franchise tweak that would go a long way

The whole point of my post is that you don't need to question the fundamental elements of the game because someone is kind enough to crack the game's source code and post all of the relevant information on their twitter account. They've been doing this since at least Madden 18.

[TarHeelPhenom]

Re: A small franchise tweak that would go a long way

I think Sports games period would be better if you never saw the ratings.... The only way you could tell if a player is good or a fit for your team is when you play them in game. Would add a ton of depth trying to figure out..

What you're looking for OP has been semi done in a tool called tdawgs xp progression tool...

The OP makes a great point. It's why when I play/used to play NCAA 14, I would edit every recruit during the preseason so that their Overall and Pre Scout Overall was at 10. That way it would force me to keep scouting and spending points to look deeper into the recruit that I was going after. Less can be more in situations like these.

[oneamongthefence]

Re: A small franchise tweak that would go a long way

I think dev traits should be hidden until the end of the season for rookies or more than 500 snaps. Just have all rookie dev traits hidden until they meet that threshold.

Sent from my LM-G820 using Tapatalk

[zmonkey]

Re: A small franchise tweak that would go a long way

What you're looking for OP has been semi done in a tool called tdawgs xp progression tool...

Thank you for showing this to me! I'm trying it out now. Now I think if you could combine it with a UI mod that doesn't show player ratings it would be perfect.

[ijumpedthegun]

Re: A small franchise tweak that would go a long way

To be fair they can still develop with the scenario engine so there’s reason to keep trying to develop him

I played a whole lot of Madden 20 and played a bit of 21 during the free weekend. I don't think I've ever seen a QB's dev trait change due to a triggered scenario. It's always just via winning awards at the end of the season.

[fringeelement]

Re: A small franchise tweak that would go a long way

Once upon a time, not so long ago (although it feels like ancient history), this wasn't a problem. Rookie ratings were hidden until at least after the draft and I think even through preseason. When Franchise became "Connected" is when the problems began. OP is obviously kinda new so might want to check out Duecedouglas's franchise ideas here:

https://forums.operationsports.com/forums/madden-nfl-football/885037-connected-franchise-mode-rebuild.html

[ggsimmonds]

Re: A small franchise tweak that would go a long way

I've offered up ideas on how to improve the experience and make personnel decisions matter previously, here is a quick synopsis.

• Restore the old feature where a player ratings were revealed based on how much you scouted him
• Keep development speed, but also add a fully hidden max potential rating
• Player's development speed should never be explicitly given, and there should be some variation due to hot streaks, scenario engine stories, etc
• Development speed should be presented as a set of 7 chevrons -- 3 up, 3 down, one leveled. They should be color coded, green for up, yellow for steady, red for decreasing.The more bars in a certain direction, the quicker the development/regression. Again, it could change week to week

Lets say you draft a QB with a 74 ovr, and in the next stage of franchise (otas), in the roster screen you see 3 green chevrons pointing up. Does that mean he has superstar development? No, could mean he has normal or star but just had a good camp. Preseason it could drop down to one bar, or two, or hold steady at 3. It would be up to you to monitor week to week until a pattern emerges. There is no magic point where you are explicitly told what his dev trait is, but deep into the first season if it has consistently been at a certain level with slight fluctuations after good and bad games you should have a good idea on his dev trait.

But because max potential is always locked, you don't know how long he will continue that trend. He could be Joe Flacco -- progresses very fast but maxes quick. Or continues to progress well beyond Flacco. Basically we have any combination of speed and potential to work with.

With this change suddenly personnel decisions matter, and you may find yourself agonizing over starting that 84 ovr vet, or giving the keys to a 77 ovr rookie. That rookie could max at 82 ovr, or become a star. Only way to find out is to play him.

With scenario engine we have even more possibilities. Some coaches (sup Andy Reid) could have traits that allow for a slight chance to boost a player's max potential. Say in the previous scenario you went with the rookie, and that 84 ovr vet signed with Reid's team, and he is now a 90 ovr pro bowler.
That makes for a engaging franchise story and its dynamic, with the tools given it happened on its own.

[PeoplesChampGB]

Re: A small franchise tweak that would go a long way

Madden should adapt NHL's fog of war, scouting and drafting processes. It would go a long way.