Two Weeks of Madden 09, and Official Patch News!

[SoxFan01605]

Quote: Originally Posted by xV3L0CiTY

Personally...I think they say that just to "cover their ***". God for bid something would happen that wouldn't allow DLC.

lol...I think it's 50/50 (as in 50 percent "let's cover our a$$ and 50% MS). I remember reading and article awhile back about all the uproa MS was causing with the DLC feature. I believe MS gets a percentage of all DLC put through the network (not 100% how it works across the board, but I know they got money for the DLC that article was covering). If EA is offering free DLC with the amount of content intended, I'm sure MS would put up a fight. It's probably nothing that a little money couldn't solve, and IMO it would fall on EA to make it happen from that aspect, but I could clearly see why MS would hesitate. Whether or not the same would/does apply to Sony, I don't know.

What I do know is that those types of decisions will be made by people higher on the corporate food chain than Ian, but he'll be the one to face the wrath of all of us disappointed and angry gamers who don't get what they want. This kind of touches on the recurring argument that pervades each thread involving communication from Ian. Some think he shouldn't be thanked or is thanked "excessively." Others think he should be constantly commended for the work he does. The reason so many of us thank him is because he "faces" us all when he isn't required in any way. He is treated by some as if he represents everything bad about EA, when in fact he genuinely seems to want to get this series on track. I myself thank him for those reasons, not simply for fixing what many correctly say should have not been broken in the first place. I perfectly understand why some are frustrated to the point where "enough is enough" and they don't feel anyone from EA deserves anything. What I don't understand is the handful of people who are so personally offended by those who don't share that view.

[nookiebear]

Quote: Originally Posted by sois

You fail to see that EA HAS happy customers. I would say 95% of the purchasers of this game are happy with it. The only ones who complain are the ones who expect more. We are lucky to have the ear of the head of development. They could release the same exact game every year, broken or not, for the next 10 years and they would still make millions. PS: I hate the car analogy people keep bringing up. The car is Madden. We have no other "car dealerships". If your only possible mode of "transportation" (football video game) suddenly got an unexpected upgrade (patches), you should be thankful.

No other car dealerships - well, we all know that's the oldest NFL computer game arguement in the book

This monopoly EA has is not good for games, IMHO - some competition might give them a kick up the bum they need

The frustrating thing is the new Madden is good. Really good, so those basic problems are even more frustrating

I am thankful, but I won't applaud a man on here for basically cleaning up basic errors

[jhawkmike]

I'm disapointed and frustrated with EA, but some of you need to get a little perspective. There are real injustices in the world that are worthy of your anger, and this isn't one of them. When you get this worked up about a $60 toy, you come across as a spoiled child.

About the freezing issue. I haven't had this happen to me yet. I have started two franchises. In the first one, I simmed every game and made it to about the 7th season before I then quit because it wasn't any fun without player progression/regression. I started a new franchise where I play every game and I'm still in the first season with that one, so we'll see if I run into problems in the second season.

I wonder if those of you who are having this happen have older 360s? Is it happening for PS3 people too? With my first Xbox 360, both NCAA 2007 and 2008 would randomly freeze up. It could happen in a menu or in game, and it occured about once every 5 hours. I thought this was solely the fault of the game because I didn't have this issue with any other title. But then my Xbox completely died one day, and with the replacement that MS provided me with, the game would no longer freeze, not once. Just something to keep in mind. You might try doing some testing. If you determine that this is a problem that doesn't occur on newer 360s, then you might be able to persuade MS to replace yours.

I have a question about the patch as it relates to progression. Future15, I know said that there were no chages to the database schema, and so we wouldn't have to delete our restart our franchise. So does this mean that once I apply this patch, player progression will be fixed in my current franchise? If so, I think I will hold off completing my frist season until the patch comes out so that my players will progress.

[jhawkmike]

Quote: Originally Posted by nookiebear

This monopoly EA has is not good for games, IMHO - some competition might give them a kick up the bum they need

I think that EA still has plenty of incentive to make a good game. I won't say that the exclusive deal with the NFL has had no affect, but I think its significance is often overblown. For the most part, EA has never had any competition for NCAA Football.

A good analogy is the NFL itself. The NFL has a monopoly on professional football, but they still have incentive to put a good product together. They don't have direct competition, but they still have competition because there are a million other things you can do with your time and money.

[adembroski]

Here's the disconnect I'm seeing.

There seem to be three types of people in this thread.

The EA attackers-- People who are using Ian as the "personification" of EA and are sort of attacking EA through him.

The Ian Attackers-- unjustifiable. People who are blaming Ian directly.

The Thankers-- People being indirectly attacked for being appreciative of EA's current effort.

I can actually somewhat understand the first group. They're disappointed in the product and lashing out.

The third group, I'm part of. I appreciate Ian's efforts for a very specific reason: Ian had nothing to do with the problems he and his team are fixing.

This is where the second group are the guys that are in the wrong here. Ian was not on the 2009 team, he was not responsible for the problems that exist, but he IS fixing them. Why should he NOT be thanked for fixing something that wasn't his fault in the first place?

If Ian is guilty of anything, it's putting faith in folks who hadn't earned it.

[Kevin462606]

Quote: Originally Posted by jhawkmike

I'm disapointed and frustrated with EA, but some of you need to get a little perspective. There are real injustices in the world that are worthy of your anger, and this isn't one of them. When you get this worked up about a $60 toy, you come across as a spoiled child. About the freezing issue. I haven't had this happen to me yet. I have started two franchises. In the first one, I simmed every game and made it to about the 7th season before I then quit because it wasn't any fun without player progression/regression. I started a new franchise where I play every game and I'm still in the first season with that one, so we'll see if I run into problems in the second season. I wonder if those of you who are having this happen have older 360s? Is it happening for PS3 people too? With my first Xbox 360, both NCAA 2007 and 2008 would randomly freeze up. It could happen in a menu or in game, and it occured about once every 5 hours. I thought this was solely the fault of the game because I didn't have this issue with any other title. But then my Xbox completely died one day, and with the replacement that MS provided me with, the game would no longer freeze, not once. Just something to keep in mind. You might try doing some testing. If you determine that this is a problem that doesn't occur on newer 360s, then you might be able to persuade MS to replace yours. I have a question about the patch as it relates to progression. Future15, I know said that there were no chages to the database schema, and so we wouldn't have to delete our restart our franchise. So does this mean that once I apply this patch, player progression will be fixed in my current franchise? If so, I think I will hold off completing my frist season until the patch comes out so that my players will progress.

It happened to us on ps3
I never sim whole seasons so I do not know if this is an issue, I have played through two franchises and both times it has gotten to around week 2 of season 2 and began freezing up every time I tried to save, through quick save or manual. So, good luck, I really hope it works for you.

Also, I do not mean to criticize Ian or anyone else, personally, I guess I just do not see what everyone is so happy about. Progression being fixed is great, I am all for it. I would be thrilled to be able to see all of the improvements made to the game through patch 2, even the field degradation. It all sounds like it would add extensively to the in game experience. My problem, however, is that the in game experience never comes anymore, just a perpetually frozen screen, this just seems like a major issue to me, maybe I am wrong though. What with 95% of the people out there being happy with this game and all.

[Anti Honor]

Great news. Especially the possible DLC. I haven't really played the game much yet, because I've been playing NCAA, but I'm looking forward to starting a season, once the patch comes out.

Thanks.

[DubTrey1]

Now this info is a reason for me to buy instead of rent.... Thanks Ian (I hope)