Madden NFL Designers Podcast #2

[jfsolo]

Quote: Originally Posted by Senator Palmer

Did I hear them say that Franchise mode was the top game mode that has gotten the most play since the game came out -- off of the obvious "play now mode"???? Thought it didn't get enough play from Madden 10 to warrant a big focus for Madden 11 development? Now it's getting a lot of run after barely being touched? Go figure. Good podcast. My inner optimist is starting to churn.

When they mentioned Franchise mode not getting enough play in Madden 10 they only mentioned Online Franchise mode. They never said anything about Offline franchise mode. They just used the small Online Franchise numbers as the primary justification for not doing much to Franchise mode for M 11. For whatever reason I think they got the idea in their heads that once they created Online Franchise mode, this would cause most Offline franchise folks to gravitate toward that mode. This was obviously totally erroneousness thinking on their part.

The people who liked/wanted Online Franchise, (or Online Dynasty in NCAA), are/were quite vocal in their demands for these modes, but their numbers were never really legion.

Its my belief that the tendency to focus on Online aspects are sadly fueled by Peter Moore's desire to squeeze more dough out of folks through DLC/Micro-transactions.

[Palo20]

Quote: Originally Posted by jfsolo

I would say that its for multiple reasons. The CPU QB almost always moves to the right to buy time or try to escape. Also, when a back stays in to block, it seems like most of the time the default first read is to the left side of the offensive line when the RE is coming from. So he gets chipped a whole lot more then the LE.

I've definitely noticed the QB moving in the pocket to the right. I wish they were smarter about where they moved in the pocket. Too many times they drift to the right, then throw back across the field to the FB sitting in the left flat for a 1 yard gain or so.

[Crimsontide27]

To play devils advocate, we hear this same song and dance every year and look where we are at today.

The EA devs have lost all credibility with their podcasts, tweets, interviews etc in light of the difference in what they say, and what is on the shelves the next year.

The time for talk is over, its time to translate words into action.

[PhillipR24]

That podcast is pretty condescending.

[kjcheezhead]

Quote: Originally Posted by shigogouhou

I'm curious what the cutoff percentage is regarding "Nobody plays this mode, let's not upgrade it" and "This mode is played enough, let's focus on it." I mean, for me, two of the three "main" modes (online franchise & superstar) I WOULD play the most, I hardly ever play because they are so lacking in features & functionality...but by not playing them I'm contributing to their lack of upgrades...

This concerns me as well. My favorite mode would be online franchise, however it's so lacking and connection issues/lag is a huge problem as well. It would make sense to focus on this mode since offline franchisers could still play single player online franchises. It looks like this mode is going to get very little attention again tho because according to their data no one uses online franchise in its current state.

Just because no one is playing a mode as it is in madden, doesn't mean it's a mode no one wants to play.

[jyoung]

Maybe the reason online franchise numbers are so low is because the feature itself is so incredibly barebones and limited.

[raiders81tim]

After listening to this podcast I'm completely convinced Madden will never be the game I'm looking for as long as these are the people working on it. The most successful sports titles this gen are shooting to be the absolute best sim possible. While it seems these guys are going in with the idea that a complete sim wouldn't be "fun enough". Madden will continue to be a complete joke.

[Palo20]

Quote: Originally Posted by raiders81tim

After listening to this podcast I'm completely convinced Madden will never be the game I'm looking for as long as these are the people working on it. The most successful sports titles this gen are shooting to be the absolute best sim possible. While it seems these guys are going in with the idea that a complete sim wouldn't be "fun enough". Madden will continue to be a complete joke.

I did find it interesting that they lauded NBA 2K, then went on to almost dismiss creating a football sim of the same caliber.

I thought this Madden team's mantra was to create the ultimate sim, so NBA 2K should be the standard rather than an unreachable goal.