Suspensions Should Exist in Sports Video Games

[RaychelSnr]

Come September 7, when the first Sunday of the NFL's latest season arrives, the league's reigning leaders in sacks (Robert Mathis) and receiving yards (Josh Gordon) will be no-shows. Former All-Pros, Ray Rice and Aldon Smith, likely won't be suiting up for week one, either.

Their absences won't be a result of injury or retirement, which are currently the only ways an athlete's services can be lost in Madden NFL 25.

Instead, commissioner-mandated suspensions will likely keep four of the NFL's star players from competing during -- and beyond -- the league's opening weekend.

Suspensions for unlawful off-the-field behavior continue to dominate sports news, yet they still do not exist in licensed sports video games.

Read More - Suspensions Should Exist in Sports Video Games

[TypicalPhenom]

Used to be in NCAA, don't remember the year(s), but I loved it. When you recruited, there were grades and character attributes so you could recruit a great talent with a risky history if you chose to. Then there would be academically ineligible players and suspensions for off field behavior. I can't remember all the details, but I enjoyed that aspect very much. I'd love to see it in games today.

[PantherBeast_OS]

Something like this is borderline on whether this should be in a video game or not. To be honest I don't care what happens off the field in a video game. All I care about is game play wise and injuries. There is a such thing is going to far when it comes to putting stuff into a sports video game. It's already hard enough for EA to get a half decent Madden game out now days. Why add stuff like what happens off the field and all that. Main focus should be on what goes on the field and not off it. Plain and simple. That's just my opinion.

[Iceman87GT]

I skimmed the article so I don't know if this was mentioned but the players union for the NFL would never approve this.

I would love to see the feature implemented but players would have a problem being assigned a certain rating (even if it may be accurate, you'd be painting some as problem players when they may not actually be like that anymore).

I mean players complain about ratings cab you imagine if said ratings labeled them a detriment to their team of the field. Also how would this be determined? Ray Rice was a model citizen until this offseason, and dies the fact that she hit him first mean he falls under the C category whereas if it was unprovoked he'd be a D or F?

It's an idea that is great in concept, not so much in execution, and even if it were 100% accurate (doubtful it would be that efficient of an evaluation) the various player unions would still protest that aspect of the game.

[H to the Oza]

Dont forget Daryl Washington

[DaBum]

Doesn't EA (Madden) omit a player from the game if he is suspended for a year already? I remember M.Vick and a few other instances where a player that was suspended would not be on the default roster but would be added through updates later in the year. But if he's still in the NFL he should be accounted for.

[brianski71]

I whole-heartedly agree with what you're saying. But, I think you're barking up the wrong tree. As others have said, I'm not sure I want off-field issues a part of my on-field game anyway, and there's ZERO chance any players' union would sign off on this. What I would like to see, however, is penalties/suspensions for illegal plays on the field/ice. I'm thinking mainly NHL here, but with increased NFL penalties for headshots, it'd probably be applicable for Madden, too. I feel like in NHL, I can run around and headhunt and hit from behind without much fear of significant penalty. Sure, they've added the 5 minute major/game misconducts, but they're called randomly and sporadically at best. I'd like to see consistent crackdowns on illegal hits in the video game (which I'm sure the real-life league would willingly endorse and sign off on.) I'm less likely to do these things if I'm risking a realistic suspension. Especially if the game was to track "repeat offenders" and give out even lengthier suspensions for dirty hits. I think this is much more likely to happen than suspensions for off-field behavior, and I'd rather see it this way, since it's within our control as a gamer.

[KBLover]

Quote: Originally Posted by Legend Killer

Something like this is borderline on whether this should be in a video game or not. To be honest I don't care what happens off the field in a video game. All I care about is game play wise and injuries. There is a such thing is going to far when it comes to putting stuff into a sports video game. It's already hard enough for EA to get a half decent Madden game out now days. Why add stuff like what happens off the field and all that. Main focus should be on what goes on the field and not off it. Plain and simple. That's just my opinion.

While true that it's hard for EA to even get the between-the-lines game right, I think it means they (or if anyone else ever gets to make an NFL game again) need to step up their game, not that we gamers should lose on options.

As for the question, yes, I think they should be in the game. They are part of the sport, just like injuries. And, like injuries, there should be a setting/toggle so that the gamer can turn them up/down/off at their whim.

At the minimum, put in a way to "manually injure" a player and put it as an "injury". That way, a player can either come up with a way to determine it, or follow any suspensions that occur in real life even if the game itself never generates any.

After all, some suspensions occur as a result of on-field behavior, even if you want to limit it to just what happens on game day.