Madden 2010 News Post

Madden NFL 10 Blog: Player Ratings - A New Philosophy, A New Era

06:53 PM - February 9, 2009 by Ian_Cummings

Hey guys, we thought it would be a perfect time to share something that I am personally very excited about for Madden NFL 10. We took each and every rating in the game (over 50+ player ratings) and scaled them up/down in a way that is now using much more of the scale. I like to describe it around the office like this…”We basically stretched out the ratings.” We want to use more of the numbers so we get a bigger, more noticeable affect in the game.

Let me give you guys an example….in Madden NFL 09 all of the WR’s Route Running ratings ranged from 62-99. In the current Madden NFL 10 build, WR’s now check in from 35-99. To counter this on the defensive side, all CB’s in Madden NFL 09 had a Man Coverage rating which ranged from 64-99. Now in Madden NFL 10, CB’s Man Coverage range is currently 40-99.

Every position and every rating has been re-scaled to expand the range of numbers we are dealing with. The Overall Rating for your average NFL player has dropped. Your Joe Average linebacker who was 80 OVR is now dropped down to 70. The players who were before right on the cusp of 90 in a rating category are now down around 85-88…Meaning, there are fewer superstar players out there. Before, where you could maybe get by throwing to your slot WR who had 93 SPD, with 74 ROUTES, and 77 Catching…now in Madden NFL 10, that guy is going to have like 91 SPD, 60-65 ROUTES and anywhere from 65-70 Catching. Let me tell you, these rating drops make a big difference when that slot rookie WR with 90+ speed now drops every 3rd pass or so, or just simply cannot get open.
The superstars have not been affected however, this is intentional. Peyton is still 99 OVR, Patrick Willis a 99, Larry Fitz is 99, etc. The elite players at rating categories have not been affected either (JaMarcus Russell still has a 98 Throw Power and Chris Johnson still rated 99 Speed). [Side note: One of my personal goals is to have the actual NFL players in Madden NFL 10 look like their real-life counterparts and play to their strengths and weaknesses like never before in a football video game.]

Speaking of the Speed, which is always a hot topic, we made some major changes with the infamous SPD rating as well. To give you a great example, I will again go back to WR and CB. In Madden NFL 09, the WR SPD range was 85-100…CB was 87-99.

In Madden NFL 10, WR SPD range is currently 70-100…CB is currently 75-99. So as you may or may not tell, the SPD range has been pushed down, in our opinions, to better reflect the “sim-gameplay” style that Ian and Phil have been telling you about all winter long. This SPD change has been updated for each position, so it makes a huge game play affect.

Ian and I had a game the other day where Earnest Graham broke one up the middle for a 55 yard touchdown run… and he could not be caught!…E-Grahams’ Madden NFL 10 current SPD rating….80 SPD. That should give you a good sense of what is possible with the new ratings. It’s not all about having the 90+ SPD anymore. On this particular run, Ian’s CB’s got hung up against some blockers and all I had to do was beat one safety and Graham was gone! He had Brandon Jacobs and his 85 SPD breaking some long runs as well. On the flip side of bigger/slower backs, Chris Johnson is absolutely lethal right now. You can actually get him outside with sweeps now and he is a beast to stop. But again, we are constantly tuning the gameplay, we have an entire team dedicated to that and they are some of the best people we have in the building.

So there you have it, player ratings are in for a major overhaul this year and I am really excited already with the impact they are having on the early builds of the game. And rest assured, we are well aware of the outside impacts this will have….Rookies will now come into the league based on the new ranges, NCAA Import guys are being tuned as well…Progression has been accounted for as well to better reflect breakout stars and burned-out former stars. Meaning, we want to have bigger jumps in OVR this year, both positive and negative. That’s all for now, probably gave away too much already!

Would love to hear any feedback about this big new change in the way we do player ratings. I’d be happy to answer any questions regarding the new rating ranges….please no individual ratings questions, not answering those! Stay tuned for more Madden player rating related blogs in the future!

- Donny Moore – Madden NFL 10 Designer

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Member Comments

# 41 splff3000 @ 02/09/09 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nza


	Chris Henry? No, Chris Johnson was. Henry is the 2nd round 2007 pick "bust" that showed some promise as a rookie but has seen little action since he isn't good on special teams (remember that hit he took week 17 2007 returning against the Colts? If not, try searching youtube for "biggest hit ever" or something :P). Henry is 233lb, runs a 4.40, looks like a freak physically. He's probably the best physical specimen at RB since Ricky Williams, except Ricky had more feel and vision in his dreadlocks than Henry has all up.

Yeah, my bad. Guess I need to edit my other posts. Anyway, I meant Chris Johnson. Chris Johnson should be fast as heck..... Not Chris Henry....lol

# 42 bowdown2shadi @ 02/09/09 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ian_Cummings_EA


	Great questions guys. I'll defer to Donny on how he envisions us making sure that speed doesn't turn into the "all powerful" rating.

Tell Donny to comment ASAP! We will be waiting.

Great job guys, loving what yall are doing! Keep it up, and keep us updated.

# 43 youALREADYknow @ 02/09/09 08:06 PM

I've been begging for this change for years, but I'd like to add a few words of caution.

Unless the in-game speed curve is corrected AND acceleration is properly rated and implemented, this one change will break the game as so many NCAA gamers already know so well.

I hope someone at EA is creating 99 SPD but low OVR players and testing them in the game to ensure speed is not weighted too high.

Otherwise, kudos for a great decision that was overdue.

# 44 splff3000 @ 02/09/09 08:09 PM

When I was editing my players ratings, I lowered everybody. Some I just lowered more than others. I hope this is the approach that is being taken. I think that everybody maybe too fast.

# 45 Hotlanta @ 02/09/09 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nza


	Chris Henry? No, Chris Johnson was. Henry is the 2nd round 2007 pick "bust" that showed some promise as a rookie but has seen little action since he isn't good on special teams (remember that hit he took week 17 2007 returning against the Colts? If not, try searching youtube for "biggest hit ever" or something :P). Henry is 233lb, runs a 4.40, looks like a freak physically. He's probably the best physical specimen at RB since Ricky Williams, except Ricky had more feel and vision in his dreadlocks than Henry has all up.

This is why you don't stop running and "PUT THE SHOULDER DOWN"...

Hits like this need to be reduced somewhat in Madden or at least be reduced for those that don't have the big hitter weapon.

# 46 bowdown2shadi @ 02/09/09 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hotlanta


	This is why you don't stop running and "PUT THE SHOULDER DOWN"... Hits like this need to be reduced somewhat in Madden or at least be reduced for those that don't have the big hitter weapon.

HOLY ****! THATS GOTTA HURT!

One word, ouch!

# 47 K_GUN @ 02/09/09 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nza


	Here's the problem with Chris Henry the RB (I assume that's who you meant) in video game land. Henry is a fast footed, physically imposing powerful runner when he was given the ball in 2007 as a rookie, but he earned his spot on the inactive list this season for the Titans because he has the vision and patience of a mole on acid. But how do you replicate this under human control in a game? We control vision and patience as a RB. On a CPU team Henry should spend most of his carries running into the backs of offensive linemen, but under human control, he should be a force because his major weakness is now at the mercy of the player.

here lies the central issue with video gaming

does one game to re-create to a tee what you see in real life

OR

to game to see how YOU play the game

fine line to walk for sure

# 48 rhombic21 @ 02/09/09 08:21 PM

Fantastic news, Ian and Donny! I know that this information is aimed specifically at Madden, but I am wondering if these scaling differences will be applied in NCAA as well. Any word on if that's the case?

# 49 SteelerSpartan @ 02/09/09 08:24 PM

EA SPORTS World: NCAA Football 09 Video

This is Worst Case Scenario...of course but this is what you guys have to be fighting and looking out for

There are elements of that play that are so horrendous its just insane...

Please again proceed with caution...."Wide Open Gameplay" is a perfect example of the "Bandage for a Broken Leg" mentality thats been associated with Madden and NCAA for years

If your going to change one thing so drastically you have to do it to the rest like AI, DL/OL interaction

Thankfully Ian being here has eased my mind, and Im pretty optimistic that this will be handled appropriately for us sim gamers

# 50 Bgamer90 @ 02/09/09 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by K_GUN


	here lies the central issue with video gaming does one game to re-create to a tee what you see in real life OR to game to see how YOU play the game fine line to walk for sure

EXACTLY. This also goes for the issue of having the QB drop back a lot of yards. Should they cut it out completely to make it real or should they just have the player do what they want? I feel the latter as long as they make it harder for the player to complete a pass when they do that. But yeah it is a fine line.

# 51 Nza @ 02/09/09 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickywal


	That'd be awareness right? Maybe awareness should factor in as reaction time. If I wanted to juke but my awareness was low there'd be a slight delay. If it was high - BANG! Straight away, the likes of LT. Maybe that could be something implemented for all positions. A QB takes that tiny bit extra to get the ball out, your DE's finesse move is harder to time, your DB's effort to bat the ball away is hard to time. Only for user controlled players though. Would this be hard to implement though?

Not a bad idea at all IMO. Might be tough to get right, but awareness could definitely influence reaction times. In fact, that seems to make perfect sense.

# 52 thudias @ 02/09/09 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hotlanta


	This is why you don't stop running and "PUT THE SHOULDER DOWN"... Hits like this need to be reduced somewhat in Madden or at least be reduced for those that don't have the big hitter weapon.

OMG I forgot about that hit..

# 53 Obelysk @ 02/09/09 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteelerSpartan


	EA SPORTS World: NCAA Football 09 Video This is Worst Case Scenario...of course but this is what you guys have to be fighting and looking out for There are elements of that play that are so horrendous its just insane... Please again proceed with caution...."Wide Open Gameplay" is a perfect example of the "Bandage for a Broken Leg" mentality thats been associated with Madden and NCAA for years If your going to change one thing so drastically you have to do it to the rest like AI, DL/OL interaction Thankfully Ian being here has eased my mind, and Im pretty optimistic that this will be handled appropriately for us sim gamers

WTF?!?! LOL that video is crazy.

# 54 adub88 @ 02/09/09 08:46 PM

This is even better than the first anouncemnt. Ian can you talk a little bit about the Jump rating. I just don't feel that it really has had an effect in the game as it really should.

Are guys like Larry "Fitz" gonna be a problem in '10? Also I hope the jump button is made more responsive. There's nothing more frustrating than pushing the jump button and the reciever just throws his hands up.

# 55 youALREADYknow @ 02/09/09 08:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Obelysk


	WTF?!?! LOL that video is crazy.

Yet I could do something similar every game with a 99 SPD player if I wanted. That has to be fixed.

# 56 Rocky @ 02/09/09 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam Dayton


	It is annoying searching for ratings of the player when the ratings aren't organized. For instance, for Peyton Manning, I have to scroll through all the stuff I don't care about "break tackle, route running etc" before I can even get to the throw power/accuracy at the end. What you need to do is have the attributes we care about for the position players be shown first. For example, the first things I should see for running backs are speed, break tackle, agility, ball carrying, etc, and I shouldn't have to weed through all the stuff that doesn't matter to find it. I am tired of having to scroll for 5 minutes because rating attributes are in the same order regardess of the player I choose. It worked on last gen because there weren't that many ratings. Now their are over fifty, and this is an absolute must already.

The best post in this thread. Player ratings in sports games in general are some of the most draconian things in the history of video gaming. You bring up a great point about having to weed through a countless amount of worthless ratings, just to get to the ratings you need.

And on top of that, once you get to the rating you get to this number that is so vague, that it is impossible to decode it's meaning. I get what you guys are doing, trying to differentiate between fast guys and really fast guys...but to me that doesn't get to the heart of the problem. What's the difference between 98 SPD and 94 SPD.....and does it really even matter?

Too much vagueness in such a broad number rating. I actually would propose a star tiered system. 5 star being the highest, elite at that rating and 1 star being the lowest at that rating. Playing against Calvin Johnson and Ted Ginn, I couldn't tell you if one guy was 97 and the other was 95....not at all. But I could tell you that both them boys were FAST. They should have 5 star speed where a guy like Larry Fitzgerald should have 3 star speed for a WR. You could still keep the number rankings, but having a easier, visual representation of the scale makes things much simpler.

# 57 splff3000 @ 02/09/09 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adub88


	This is even better than the first anouncemnt. Ian can you talk a little bit about the Jump rating. I just don't feel that it really has had an effect in the game as it really should. Are guys like Larry "Fitz" gonna be a problem in '10? Also I hope the jump button is made more responsive. There's nothing more frustrating than pushing the jump button and the reciever just throws his hands up.

yes, yes, yes! This is needed for receivers and cb's

# 58 kcarr @ 02/09/09 08:50 PM

I agree it is important to make speed actually matter and making more variety there is a good thing. One thing I really want to see when it comes to ratings is actually making ratings matter.

For instance lets say I have a WR with 80 or so spd and say 99 route running (maybe like a marvin harrison in his prime but with these rating changes) against a CB with like 90 spd but only like 70 man coverage ( maybe a rookie with good speed and physical ability but not developed yet).

If I am beating him with slants, hooks, and other quick 3-7 yard routes then if I run a slant and go or hook and go he should occasionally bite on these routes and get beat.

These double move routes like this shouldn't be just another streak route that only works if your WR is faster than the CB. These double moves in real life are basically a slower but better route running WRs way of beating faster but less skilled DBs. This will also go a long way in helping route running TEs be more effective. Therefore speed would not be the ruling rating like it is now. This could really add variety to the WRs. If you then make bigger recievers or recievers who can jump higher or win more jump balls have those skills stand out, make fast recievers good at getting deep, just make everyone play like they really do. That would be a real improvement.

# 59 Unforgiven @ 02/09/09 08:50 PM

I like this. We were having too many "solid" players in the 90's , where only elites should belong

# 60 Effington @ 02/09/09 08:55 PM

On top of speed ratings seemingly counting for more with these changes, I would also speculate that ratings in general could outweigh gameplay, similar to how NCAA works when Delaware State plays at Florida. I think this needs to be treaded carefully, since the NFL has much more parity.

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