Madden NFL 12 Blog - Franchise Mode in Madden 12

[JaySmooov]

Quote: Originally Posted by Broncos86

There's a vast difference between a lack of disk space on the DVD (6.8GB max, or so) and bad code (injured reserve). Storage didn't need to be an issue with IR and the like. This was, IMO, more due to a priority list, and these issues were shoved further and further down until someone (Looman) decided enough was enough. This is all conjecture on my behalf, of course. Either way, franchise rosters are not stored on the DVD; they're stored on the HDD. To say that an extra 5MB couldn't be spared to make IR work is folly. It was a choice, not a limitation.

Regardless of if it's folly, or a choice, the EA team still has to make business decisions when it comes to these things.

So, maybe it WAS a choice. But, did it REALLY affect the game THAT much? The expanded rosters are a big deal, but mostly to the sim gamers. I have friends who didn't play Madden 11. Not because of a lack of dynamic commentary and a incorrect IR, or undesirable Franchise mode, but because Adrian Peterson didn't run over everybody, like he did in Madden 10, or because of the Gameflow feature. Never mind the fact that my friends didn't even take the time out to simply TURN THE FEATURE OFF, they were simple turned away because it wasn't easily accessible to the casual fan.

Like I've been saying, EA has to walk a fine line between being pro-sim and being pro-casual. Madden, and EA, can't afford to alienate one group of fans, especially the casual gamer who simple wants to have a good time.

I'm pretty sure around 60% of Madden sales are casual gamers, AT LEAST. So what do you think EA would rather lose: 6 dollars, or 4?

That's why the 2k team can create pro-sim titles, because they've always created sports games (not sure about before NFL 2k5 [I loved that game, as well as Madden. Nice change of pace] but I'm sure someone can confirm) geared towards the sim gamers. There will still be aspects for the casual, usually YOUNGER gamer (example: The Blacktop option w/ the Dunk contests and 1v1 - they even feature celebrities.) but it's mostly a pro-sim game. 2k has never sold as much as EA, but the majority of their sales we're probably pro-sim gamers.

Regardless, this is great timing for EA, with the lockout situation, for them to overhaul the Franchise mode and make it WAY more realistic. No one wants to see a lockout, but if football isn't being played, people are gonna seek Madden more than ever, and the more realistic is feels, the more EA will attract fans for future installments.

We should just embrace the game for what it's looking like now, although I know it is hard to let go of Madden's past

[JaySmooov]

Quote: Originally Posted by LorenzoDC

He has his own blog too where he did a bit of an expanded version of this. This link tells a little more about scouting and stuff, I found it interesting.

Thanks, great read. I found out Tim Tebow will be the Broncos QB of the Future, though I kind of thought he would be anyway, haha.

Also, great to learn about how practice could be used. I was on the fence, didn't really know why it was a big deal. But thinking now, if I'm on the fence about two WRs or DBs, I can go into practice and see how they hold up in various situations.

Also, glad he told Looman the trade logic needed to be tuned. McNabb would never go for a 3rd round pick. To compare, Santonio Holmes was traded for a 5th rounder, I believe, so you could imagine he's a 4th rounder for a desperate team, at the most.

Wasn't really a fan of him trading Chris Cooley for Vontae Davis though. I think EA should have teams place more value on certain guys on the team, but that may have not been tuned yet. I don't think the Dolphins would trade Davis for many guys, as he's a good CB and a 1st rounder.

[Thinking Out Loud]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

I hear you, but still doesn't negate the fact that the developer of FM mentioned memory as a hindrance to past FM features recently in an interview.

This is not directed at Roadman but at this general notion of implying that the info EA employees supply consumers about Madden, is a creditable reference to it being true. I am attempting to state this in mature manner, so I can both vent my frustration but be constructive.

If anyone was to check my posts for the last 4-5 weeks, I was becoming increasingly more excited about Madden 12 every week. That changed a few days ago when I accidentally stumbled into a next-gen Madden PR/marketing "history lesson". At this point, I am optimistic about the fact that "new blood", Adembroski and Cam Weber, have been brought in along with the hardcore Madden gamers that are being used multiple times in this dev cycle to test the game but I am realistic about company rhetoric.

I have nothing personal against any EA football dev and I understand they are just doing their jobs. IMO, part of their jobs as developers, is to put the best "spin" on the companies product, whenever speaking publicly. Therefore, it's our jobs to be informed consumers and to rely on information from historically creditable sources inside the company, objective sources outside the company and/or our own first-hand experience.

I think the stuff they have announced this year, especially DPP, has the POTENTIAL to make Madden 12 the most immersive and organic football game experience, to date. However, as with the potential of anything, the challenge is applying it and all the reasons/excuses in the world don't change that fact.

After 6 years, NOBODY at EA has been able to apply the potential of great, innovative ideas, into NEXT-GEN Madden, for whatever reason. This is NOT a shot at the EA football devs but a realistic summation of the last 6 next-gen years. I think Looman's work from HC 09 speaks for itself and even the other devs work on last gen Maddens. So after 6 unsuccessful years, IMO, of great ideas and loads of PROVEN video game programming talent, trying HARD to fix next-gen Madden, there is a CHANCE it might be broken beyond complete repair. That may not be THESE developers fault or the consumers problem but if true, it is what it is. LOL

So until somebody or groups of bodies actually conquer this challenge, Madden info taken with a grain of salt should supply a healthy dose of skepticism.

[WB1214]

Being able to control all 30 teams and then edit rookie ratings makes this a win. Now I can control who gets drafted where and what their ratings will look like. Great job!

[Thinking Out Loud]

Quote: Originally Posted by JaySmooov

.....Like I've been saying, EA has to walk a fine line between being pro-sim and being pro-casual. Madden, and EA, can't afford to alienate one group of fans, especially the casual gamer who simple wants to have a good time. I'm pretty sure around 60% of Madden sales are casual gamers, AT LEAST. So what do you think EA would rather lose: 6 dollars, or 4? That's why the 2k team can create pro-sim titles, because they've always created sports games (not sure about before NFL 2k5 [I loved that game, as well as Madden. Nice change of pace] but I'm sure someone can confirm) geared towards the sim gamers. There will still be aspects for the casual, usually YOUNGER gamer (example: The Blacktop option w/ the Dunk contests and 1v1 - they even feature celebrities.) but it's mostly a pro-sim game. 2k has never sold as much as EA, but the majority of their sales we're probably pro-sim gamers.....

I understand what you are getting at but NBA 2k11 seems to have found a simple compromise by providing a 'Simulation" setting. No complicated slider set required but is available for those who want to use it.

Madden could simply do the same thing and make the "out the box" setting as pro-casual as they want, without constantly alienating the pro-sim gamers, like they have the last 4 years, having NO factory setting "in the box", for them at all.

[georgiafan]

Here is my Madden story and where I'm at now. I'm a huge NCAA fan so it's the game I play and will play a game every night for about 6 months. I'm not good at playing 2 football games at the same time and I like to get the most out of my money espically with sports game bc the value drops so much after 12 months. In 2008 I bought both Madden and NCAA and in 2009 NCAA and Head Coach. Both of those years neither one I got deep into bc I was so hooked on NCAA.

After the NFL draft and seeing the falcons make the big trade for Julio I started thinking that about how good they are gonna be in Madden. Also my 2nd fav is the team the Lions and I have yet to play a game with my Stafford in the NFL. I then dusted off my copy of Head Coach after the draft and started up a new franchise. The off season was just super fun and I said I would gladly pay 60$ for updated roster + ability to play the games + better graphics.

So I started following the info on here and the hit about everything on the head from Head Coach. My bday is in june so I may have someone get my the game from amazon so I can get 20$ to use on games.

[RGiles36]

Quote: Originally Posted by Thinking Out Loud

This is not directed at Roadman but at this general notion of implying that the info EA employees supply consumers about Madden, is a creditable reference to it being true. I am attempting to state this in mature manner, so I can both vent my frustration but be constructive. If anyone was to check my posts for the last 4-5 weeks, I was becoming increasingly more excited about Madden 12 every week. That changed a few days ago when I accidentally stumbled into a next-gen Madden PR/marketing "history lesson". At this point, I am optimistic about the fact that "new blood", Adembroski and Cam Weber, have been brought in along with the hardcore Madden gamers that are being used multiple times in this dev cycle to test the game but I am realistic about company rhetoric.

Two things. One, I think there is some truth to what you said in the first paragraph. We've heard a lot from the Madden devs the last 3 years, and there are def some statements you can look back on and poke a hole through. It is what it is.

Two, I'm a little confused as to how you can call reading through an old blog a history lesson. I know what you're getting at , but let's be honest: the main objective of the blogs is not to keep it real with us, it's to generate interest in an upcoming release. Simple as that. Some people (not you in particular) seem to take on this notion as if they've been mislead from year to year. With just about any videogame that comes out (especially sports games), the general theme of a new-feature blog is going to be, "Remember how frustrating xyz feature was last year? Yea, we fixed that and added a gazillion enhancements to it. That's why Madden 2024 is going to be better than Madden 2023!!" It happens every year -- and it's no different than in the blog you linked to a few days ago.

I'm not saying to not be cautiously optimistic in regards to Madden. I just feel that the idea that franchise has been upgraded is more substantiated now than it was going into M10.

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by Thinking Out Loud

This is not directed at Roadman but at this general notion of implying that the info EA employees supply consumers about Madden, is a creditable reference to it being true. I am attempting to state this in mature manner, so I can both vent my frustration but be constructive. If anyone was to check my posts for the last 4-5 weeks, I was becoming increasingly more excited about Madden 12 every week. That changed a few days ago when I accidentally stumbled into a next-gen Madden PR/marketing "history lesson". At this point, I am optimistic about the fact that "new blood", Adembroski and Cam Weber, have been brought in along with the hardcore Madden gamers that are being used multiple times in this dev cycle to test the game but I am realistic about company rhetoric. I have nothing personal against any EA football dev and I understand they are just doing their jobs. IMO, part of their jobs as developers, is to put the best "spin" on the companies product, whenever speaking publicly. Therefore, it's our jobs to be informed consumers and to rely on information from historically creditable sources inside the company, objective sources outside the company and/or our own first-hand experience. I think the stuff they have announced this year, especially DPP, has the POTENTIAL to make Madden 12 the most immersive and organic football game experience, to date. However, as with the potential of anything, the challenge is applying it and all the reasons/excuses in the world don't change that fact. After 6 years, NOBODY at EA has been able to apply the potential of great, innovative ideas, into NEXT-GEN Madden, for whatever reason. This is NOT a shot at the EA football devs but a realistic summation of the last 6 next-gen years. I think Looman's work from HC 09 speaks for itself and even the other devs work on last gen Maddens. So after 6 unsuccessful years, IMO, of great ideas and loads of PROVEN video game programming talent, trying HARD to fix next-gen Madden, there is a CHANCE it might be broken beyond complete repair. That may not be THESE developers fault or the consumers problem but if true, it is what it is. LOL So until somebody or groups of bodies actually conquer this challenge, Madden info taken with a grain of salt should supply a healthy dose of skepticism.

I know you weren't taking a shot at me as you described, no need to kill the messenger, lol.

There's three sides to every story, the truth, not the truth and somewhere in-between. It's up to each individual to pick their poison.

I'd like to feel that with the great HC09 produced by Josh Looman he will pull it off for Madden as well.

Time will tell.

I would think people like Shopmaster(who pointed out that draft picks were a bit high for vets) would help out like he did.

Ah, ok, I agree with RGiles on this one too.