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OS Roundtable: If You Could Add One Feature To Madden...

If you could add one feature/do one thing for the Madden NFL series, what would it be?

Bob Kollars: Online Co-Op seasons. If EA would implement the ability to have three or four guys on the same team, and run through an entire season on the same team playing different positions, it would take this title to the next level, for me at least. As much as I liked this years title, if EA would add this feature, it would add some much needed longevity to next year's game. Online leagues have been a nice addition, but they largely still have somewhat of a disconnected feeling to them.

By adding online co-op seasons it would allow a group of friends to enjoy the experience truly together and further the "gaming together" idea. Take a look at the popularity of FIFA Pro Clubs/OTP, and the ability to play a season together, and work your way up through divisions. This mode in FIFA is wildly popular, and I believe it would be even more so in Madden.

Matthew Coe: If you've played NBA 2K14 on next gen consoles then you know where I'm going here. The MyCareer mode is the highlight of the game in my opinion, and in an era of increasingly multi-player features being added, I would welcome a single-player story driven career mode in Madden. The current implementation within Connected Franchise Mode just isn't very engaging. I'd call it something like Madden: Path to the NFL.

Imagine working out at the NFL Draft Combine and then hearing (ala NBA2K14's Real Voice) Adam Schefter, Chris Mortenson, Todd McShay, and Mel Kiper Jr. break down your strengths and weaknesses and then project your draft position. Then the tension of the draft and where you might go. Dealing with the introductory press conference, rookie OTAs, training camp, pre-season, and trying to make a difference on an NFL team. An NFL career mode that is done in the same vein as MyCareer would be a huge selling point. Real Head Coach voices, NFL personalities all weighing in on social media, team mate disagreements, dissension, earning your coordinator's trust, I mean think of all the intriguing possibilities that are there.

Steve Noah: I'd like to see more jostling between the receivers and defensive backs. We need to see more animations when fighting for position, more hand fighting and animations to show players battling for the ball. I'd even go a step further with it and implement defensive players tugging at receiver jerseys (of course we'd love to see more penalties, but that's another subject) or getting their feet tangled up. We need incomplete passes because of good defensive play, not because a receiver or defender drops the ball. If a receiver is going over the middle and gets obliterated, we should definitely see a few more drops in those situations. Bring in different animations for tall receivers vs. short defensive backs and vice versa. Make player size matter more. Simply put, we need more ways to improve the defensive side of the ball, as the game feels too offensive friendly.

Jayson Young: Rather than piling on more unnecessary back-of-the-box features like this year's Precision Modifier, my wish is that Madden NFL 15 simply fixes the many broken features that are already included in the game.

Even after three title updates, auto substitutions still do not work in Madden NFL 25's franchise mode. Formation-specific substitutions continue to reset after every game instead of being permanently saved. Injuries rarely occur away from the ball, making offensive linemen invulnerable. Additionally, if a team only has two quarterbacks on its depth chart, both QBs become immune to injury. Many sliders, such as quarterback accuracy, interceptions and pass coverage/pass reaction, seem to have little impact on gameplay. The holding slider appears to only affect passing plays and kick returns, as holds are seldom called on designed running plays. Faulty tie-breaking logic still places the wrong teams in the playoffs.

With franchise sales figures continuing to decline, Madden's long-term health on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One would be best served by taking a year or two to tackle the series' longstanding issues before EA Tiburon attempts to fit any more Jenga blocks onto the trembling tower of code that is Madden NFL 25.

Caley Roark: While it might be completely superficial for some, I'd welcome a complete overhaul of Madden's presentation. The context that authentic and meaningful highlights and pre/post-game packages add help create a true "universe" that I can fully invest in.

While NFL 2K5 did it best for football, Madden could take cues from the NBA 2K series and recent NCAA Football games. Specifically, I'd love to see narrated half-time and post-game recaps, complete with score updates from around the league.

I'm sure EA could put either ESPN or NFL Network branding to use, to create a weekly highlight show that we'd want to watch (for me, the twitter feeds aren't getting it done).

If none of that is feasible, at least they could put in reaction shots that aren't canned (and repeated) animations but rather part of the natural flow of the action on the field.

Zachary Arthur: This one is very easy for me. I would absolutely love for Madden to put in a Create-A-Play feature. We all feel like we have what it takes to be that next great coach, and Madden has always had such an opportunity to put in Create-A-Play and let its players see how good they really are when it comes to strategy.

I have a world of ideas in my head when it comes to plays, and I would love the opportunity to see them on the virtual gridiron.

Chris Sanner: All of the above features are great, but the biggest thing this series (and all sports games) needs is a full slate of sliders which not only work, but let you actually define your on-field experience. I'd like to think being able to adjust and tweak different parts of the game would be very possible, allowing you to set diffculty levels for each individual piece of the game -- to allow for the best fan to fan experience as possible.

 

What about you? If you could add one feature/do one thing for the Madden NFL series, what would it be?


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Member Comments
# 1 cusefan74 @ 02/10/14 04:29 PM
How about if you are gonna have an owner mode then let us hire/fire our staff and watch cpu vs cpu games to see how our team is. Most of all I would love to see a good game. They need to fire the whole Madden team and start over from scratch. New people to design the game and new ideas as to what goes in the game.
 
# 2 Gotmadskillzson @ 02/10/14 04:34 PM
Completely editable CPU AI and rosters.

For rosters I want to be able to edit EVERYTHING from race, to skin tone, to left hand or right to body type, height and weight.

For CPU AI, I want to be able to edit the CPU coaches mindset. From what plays they call on down and distance to who their primary WR is and how often they look to give that guy the ball. Also edit the ratio of pass and run, edit the ratio of blitzes, how often they run zone or man coverages.

Give me a fully EDITABLE game like Madden USE TO BE like years ago.
 
# 3 SVCbearcat10 @ 02/10/14 04:35 PM
No huddle system like NCAA. It's so inconvenient with how it's set up now. Then if you call an audible, you can't change the play again until everyone is lined up and/or the QB is finished going throw a fixed animation. You can move more quickly and get a better play call by huddling up. I'm pretty sure NFL QB's have access to the entire playbook when in no huddle with the personal on the field. NCAA allows this, why can't Madden when it's the same company!
 
# 4 SageInfinite @ 02/10/14 04:38 PM
Realistic animations and interactions.
 
# 5 metallicarl @ 02/10/14 04:51 PM
It was said before......ability to edit EVERYTHING(plus draft classes)!!!
 
# 6 vannwolfhawk @ 02/10/14 05:00 PM
I agree with steve and chris as far as most important for me. I've passed on the last 2 years of madden due to the fact of lack of advancement within playbooks, defense, cb/we interaction, d line play. The game killer for me was when I ran curl routes against Richard Sherman all game and completed 9/10 EVERYTIME they were in man coverage. Even moving coverage sliders to 100 it didn't change. I know the same thing go's for out routes as well.

I talked about defense last year and all I heard here was its an offensive league now a days. But look at the Super Bowl and what the Seahawks D did to the best offense ever supposedly. Defense still wins championships and it should be redone and a main focus. You can't overpower offensive side of the game EVERY year and not put any counters or the same effort on the other side of the ball.

I know this thread says if you could add 1 feature but I can't pick just 1. Fix sliders to work properly and each person can customize the game and difficulty to their own liking. Putting passing acc at 0 should mean balls being thrown in the dirt. It's a simple solution if sliders worked correctly. Man coverage at 100 should mean no cb gets beat.

1- But I'd like adaptive AI on defense. No way I run curl routes every play down field and complete them all against best cb in the league.

2- add cb/wr interaction, physics, etc. I want to see better press coverage.
Like steve said, tugging, fighting for ball, different animations for taller receivers vs smaller corners.

3- I want to be able to play as d line and feel like I can wreak havoc if I have a mismatch. Swim, power, spin, or speed rushes.

4- completely redo special teams! Field goals, blocking schemes, etc. Is it even possible to block a fg? I realize it's rare irl...

5- give us ability to edit coaching schemes/playbooks. If like to see teams play true to life with schemes like dick labeau used or what you saw the Seahawks play with tight bump coverage, 8 in the box, zone under, with back safety help. Is this possible without hot routing? Not sure cus like I said haven't played in 2 years, but maybe cover 1 or robber do this? Anyways, I don't think the playbooks have changed much in 10+ years.

These areas in itself being fixed for me would make me happy and purchase 1st madden in 3 years. Long story short focus on defense! I'm really hoping LOB gets on the cover and they put focus on wr/cb interaction! That would be my number 1 feature if I had to pick just 1...
 
# 7 BSchwartz07 @ 02/10/14 05:09 PM
Adding just one feature to Madden is like asking to add one player to a 1 win team... They really need to blow it up and start from scratch...
 
# 8 asu666 @ 02/10/14 05:17 PM
I'd like to see the presentation enhanced a lot.
 
# 9 rudyjuly2 @ 02/10/14 05:35 PM
Much more player and position specific animations so the games looks and feels more authentic and organic.
 
# 10 gameface1324 @ 02/10/14 05:38 PM
Pre-play options ala NCAA to run clock, go for fumbles, etc. Its a pain to run out the clock on this game
 
# 11 ec1015 @ 02/10/14 05:40 PM
I'd like to see the CFL with all the teams, stadiums and rules.
 
# 12 Jakeness23 @ 02/10/14 05:53 PM
Let's see...

- Improved physics-- this game currently does NOT run on RTP, there are numerous problems with their system.
- Less of the hyper awareness of the CPU and MORE awareness for your own team.
- No more routes that lead a player out of bounds.
- Bigger field.
- Bigger difference between player speeds.
- Team tackles; right now if an animation starts and someone else comes in; the initial tackler just falls off AND gets no credit.
- QB pocket escape moves, to step up or sideways quicker. If a QB could do juke & spins while still behind the LOS, that'd be great. Especially with guys like Cam, Wilson, Luck, Kap; and then Johnny Manziel coming in next year,
- More customization in CAP and team relocation
- Expansion teams
- Definitely some improved graphics and much, much more animations

Couldn't keep it to one, this game has a lot of problems. I have a blog about some problems as well. Guess I should post this on a wishlist as well...
 
# 13 Iceman87GT @ 02/10/14 05:54 PM
One thing? Actual Onside Kicks!

I know others have probably had different experiences but I rarely see warping of the ball into the hands of a player (i.e. balls that should have been tipped but not caught being caught or in some cases balls that should not have even been touched by a certain player being caught by said player), but pretty much every single Onside Kick attempt I have made has involved the ball warping right into the players hands. I've managed to recover one once, and only saw a realistic recovery one other time.

Its frustrating enough that players are forced into a single Onside Kick formation when there are dozens of formations used by teams. Even worse is that no matter what you do the ball will only go to one player, the majority of onside kicks are directed towards the second level nowadays with the occasional attempt to bounce one off the front line, yet no matter how hard you kick it (direction is irrelevant because you can't change that), the same guy (who is usually the 3rd WR on a team's roster) gets the first (and because of the warping pretty much the only) shot at the ball.

I could deal with the direction of the ball being predetermined (even if the direction it is predetermined to go in is unrealistic in today's game), if the warping wasn't so rampant.

I want to see many changes made to the game, but this is the one that has annoyed me the most (and it seems like at least the warping could have been fixed in an update).

Breaking the concept behind the round-table here are some other things:
1. Uniform Re-Designs - we can build new stadiums but can't get new uniforms unless we move the team? Truth is I'd be happy with the ability to switch to the Falcons old uniforms (the throwbacks they wore from 2009-12, right now I can recreate those (using the 1960s pants, 70s helmets, and 90s Jerseys), but don't have an away option so while I'd like to rock their throwbacks full-time I currently can only do so with a Home and Alternate, having to settle for their current away jersey)

2. More interactive Depth Chart/ - When I run a system that switches between formations that use 2 SS and 1 FS and 1 SS I'd like to be able to set it up so that my FS of choice would line up at SS when I make that switch to a 2 SS formation. Additionally In a Pistol formation that uses 2 RBs I'd like to be able to easily switch between using 2 HBs and using an HB and a FB from the play selection screen (switching packages as opposed to pausing and going into Depth Chart).

3. Better Commentary - I'd like to see a crew that involved Gruden (but that is unlikely to happen because of his likelihood to return to coaching in the next few years leaving Madden with a need to re-fill that position), but I'd thoroughly enjoy having 2 different crews to switch things up. One thing that I really enjoyed about Madden 10 was the change of audio we got with the intro of Collinsworth, I actually enjoy his real-life commentary, and in the end I don't think he translates well to games (Much Like Corso his insight comes from real-time observations which are hard to recreate in an audio booth months before any football would be played, so we wind up getting canned sayings that quickly become stale), but it was refreshing for me to hear him instead of Madden. It would be great to see 3 different broadcast styles (or even just 2) replicating the difference in broadcasts we see every week in real life. AFC matchups on CBS and NFC on CBS, when the 2 conference collide the away team determines the broadcast (i.e. Titans @ Green Bay = CBS Broadcast), with a possible 3rd broadcast style being NFL Network or ESPN. Breaking it up visually and audibly would go a long way in preventing the presentation from being stale. We need new non-play interactions to boost the presentation value but Phil Simms and Jim Nantz are going to get stale quickly no matter how good the cutscenes are. Also it would be nice if I Simms din't berate me for not picking up enough for the 1st down on 1st down, criticizing me for padding the stats when I pick up 6 and set up 2nd and 4 is absurd, and that's just one example of odd lines being triggered.
 
# 14 UH53 @ 02/10/14 05:55 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by metallicarl
It was said before......ability to edit EVERYTHING(plus draft classes)!!!
I second that!
 
# 15 willz1985 @ 02/10/14 06:02 PM
i would say the ability to create/edit/upload/download draft classes. but then there'd probably be another situation where so college student complains about his "likeness" in and not getting paid for it, then we'd lose madden as well as NCAA.....
 
# 16 RandallB21 @ 02/10/14 06:07 PM
I would like to be able to use a teambuilder type mode along with historic logo's/uniforms/helmets/ and create custom leagues. Call it League Builder or something unoriginal like that.

I always want to bring back the Houston Oilers, LA Rams, LA Raiders. I know I can do it in M25 but it's a pain to take over in owner mode, then go through the relocation process. I would rather just have the option in the exhibition mode and then carry it over to the CC.
 
# 17 cattlekiller @ 02/10/14 06:19 PM
I'm with Bob Kollars on this.
American football is a true TEAM sport, where working in conjunction with others is more critical than most other sports.
Yet we can't play the main game mode with our friends on the same team.I also know that some if not all of our friend circle normally likes the same things as us,its whats makes us friends to begin with.There is s good chance that our best friend who loves football like you likes the same NFL team.

Every year Madden comes out I look for this feature and every year I put my money back into my pocket.I have no interest in playing in an online franchise versus my friends,I want to work with them not against.
 
# 18 Senator Palmer @ 02/10/14 06:23 PM
Custom packages. I'm not talking about the ability to set subs outside of playing a game because that's too limiting, I'm talking about the ability to create my own personel packages any way I want. I can't tell you how long I've wanted to create a nickle pass rush, or take a tweener linebacker with pass rush ability like Bruce Irvin, or Akeem Ayers, and built a package for him.

We've got custom playbooks now, there's no reason not to have this.
 
# 19 kehlis @ 02/10/14 06:26 PM
I just want dreads.
 
# 20 coachmac75 @ 02/10/14 06:33 PM
Free practice mode (real practice mode) for Online Connected Carreer.

Current practice is for players developpement to get XP whihc is good, but we obviously miss a true practice mode on CCM with custom playbook to really have a valuable practice with your team.

With current game you have to maintain a mirrored team of your CCM team which is really annoying and time consuming.
 

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