Player progression/degression?

[davidandjordan]

Only one thing will make me even try this game. Have they fixed player progression/degression? Last year they took a step forward, but considering how far back they had fallen it really didn't help much. I'm tired of putting up Pro Bowl numbers with a guy and his overall rating stays the same or actually goes down. And I'm tired of old guys never getting any worse. Has this been fixed?

Last year, progression was quite literally at random. Degression only occurred if a player was older and suffered an injury. So in other words, a healthy RB would never see a ratings decline all the way to the point of his retirement. Likewise, an average 30 year old QB who suddenly put up Pro Bowl numbers would see a slight ratings progression, if any. I remember taking Michael Vick and putting him on the Raiders. I wantd to rejuvinate the guy's career. I ran for tons of yards and had a 90+ QB rating with him and all of his numbers actually went DOWN the next season. I simply gave the game up after that.

[Deelron]

Some would disagree with your assessment of how it is broken, as discussed in this recent thread.

[davidandjordan]

Yeah, none of that really seemed to address the issue. It seemed to be either guys who sort of got it or guys who felt like they needed to defend Madden for whatever reason. I thought progression/degression was great on regular XBox atleast through '07. You did awesome with a QB for a couple years and he'd be up to 90. He got old and lost arm strength. RB's didn't get faster, but they did gain better awareness and ball carrying skills if you played them and they did well. When they hit their 8th year in the league... bam... they're speed and agility went down a little bit every year after that.

Some of us want guys to go up based on performance because we like GMing more than we like playing. I want to develop a QB, lose him in free agency, and have him be pretty good on another team. I don't want my 70 ovr QB to never go up because his potential sucks even though I put up 4,000 yds and 30 tds with him. Guys go up year in and year out on Madden based on their real-life performance, so why not the same in the actual game, right? If it's in the game, it's in the game.

Here's a question to toss. According to Madden a couple year's ago, LT's speed was like 94. I played for several seasons and even upon his retirement, his speed was still 94. The guy was like 34 or 35 at RB! They haven't just kept making Madden games with LT's speed at 94. He got old. His numbers went down naturally. Why can't the game be the same? Why can't RB's go down around 30, receivers around 33, QB arm strength/mobility around 35, etc.? I don't think anybody can argue that RB's should have the same speed as a rookie that they do as a 33 year old. That's kind of absurd.

All I'm wanting is some examples from this year, or someone who's played a few years into franchise mode who cares more about franchise mode than whether or not the shadows look good on the field during gameplay. Can anyone who cares about the depth/realism of franchise mode comment on this?

[PGaither84]

Quote: Originally Posted by davidandjordan

Yeah, none of that really seemed to address the issue. It seemed to be either guys who sort of got it or guys who felt like they needed to defend Madden for whatever reason.

The ironic thing is, you are the one who doesn't "get it." if the game is working correctly, players should perform to their ability, a little higher with better team mates and a little lower with worse team mates. You appear to have a disconnection between production and progression. As a player progresses, he will be able to perform for you better, not the other way around. You said you want to raise up a good QB, you can do that by finding a gem late in the draft. that's what potential is all about. This player has the potential to be great. It's up to you to help him reach that potential. You are acting as though every single player has the potential to be great and you have the magic to bring that out of every single player. That simply isn't the case.