Madden NFL Designers Podcast #3

[Ian_Cummings]

Quote: Originally Posted by frankrizzo380

man im just clueless after listening to this guys, i mean this game is named after John Madden, this man IS football, im pretty sure that he dosent want a watered down product with his name on it on the shelves, im just lost right now.

I really don't understand what you are talking about here...can you provide some more info?

[Ian_Cummings]

Some responses / questions...

- WE CAN'T TALK ABOUT SPECIFIC FEATURES FOR MADDEN 12. You hopefully know that by now. Quotes like "Taken together, however, I see them very carefully attempting to set expectations." are just wrong. IT IS DECEMBER, WE HAVE TO BE CRYPTIC. If you are the type of guy that is going to get fired up about not enough talk about specific improvements, then I suggest you don't listen to the podcast.

- Nowhere in the podcast are we saying it's going to take multiple years for you to see any improvements, or that 12 won't have any. See point above, and I can say we have been working on Franchise improvements for some time now.

- "And as far as that "cant make drastic improvements in one cycle" BS....". Where did we ever say that? I 100% believe that drastic improvements can be made in one cycle.

- "I guess after these podcasts, it just looks to me like Madden isn't gonna be a game I'm gonna ever like on these consoles." Does that statement seem a little ridiculous to anyone else? After a podcast that discusses ZERO REAL FEATURE ADDITIONS you aren't going to like Madden, EVER? I always hoped that this forum would eventually be a great place for feedback and ways to improve the game, not the sensationalist extremism that it can quickly descends into.

- There is nothing more frustrating to me than people not actually listening to the podcast but jumping on the opinion bandwagon of another. Please guys, we are spending the time planning and recording these SPECIFICALLY for the Madden community...you could at least give us the respect of listening to it and forming an opinion of your own.

Maybe we should just stop doing these for a while if too many people aren't able to cope with the lack of real information and turn that into a negative thing. That's not what we want out of these at all...we just want to give people a behind the scenes look at the development process and decision making. Thoughts?

[BlueNGold]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ian_Cummings_EA

Some responses / questions... - WE CAN'T TALK ABOUT SPECIFIC FEATURES FOR MADDEN 12. You hopefully know that by now. Quotes like "Taken together, however, I see them very carefully attempting to set expectations." are just wrong. IT IS DECEMBER, WE HAVE TO BE CRYPTIC. If you are the type of guy that is going to get fired up about not enough talk about specific improvements, then I suggest you don't listen to the podcast. - Nowhere in the podcast are we saying it's going to take multiple years for you to see any improvements, or that 12 won't have any. See point above, and I can say we have been working on Franchise improvements for some time now. - "And as far as that "cant make drastic improvements in one cycle" BS....". Where did we ever say that? I 100% believe that drastic improvements can be made in one cycle. - "I guess after these podcasts, it just looks to me like Madden isn't gonna be a game I'm gonna ever like on these consoles." Does that statement seem a little ridiculous to anyone else? After a podcast that discusses ZERO REAL FEATURE ADDITIONS you aren't going to like Madden, EVER? I always hoped that this forum would eventually be a great place for feedback and ways to improve the game, not the sensationalist extremism that it can quickly descends into. - There is nothing more frustrating to me than people not actually listening to the podcast but jumping on the opinion bandwagon of another. Please guys, we are spending the time planning and recording these SPECIFICALLY for the Madden community...you could at least give us the respect of listening to it and forming an opinion of your own. Maybe we should just stop doing these for a while if too many people aren't able to cope with the lack of real information and turn that into a negative thing. That's not what we want out of these at all...we just want to give people a behind the scenes look at the development process and decision making. Thoughts?

You must have really been missing this place, huh?

IMO you guys should continue to do the podcast. Your intent is in the right place. Yes, there are people that can't appreciate things like these and their voices always seem to be the loudest ones, but there are still plenty of people that do appreciate stuff like this. It would be unfair to take that away from those people.

Now I'm not saying a lot of the people that post in this specific forum don't have the right intent either, because (for the most part) they do as well. They just want the best football game possible, but maybe some people don't express that in the best way.

Anyways, if I have any say at all in this, my vote is to continue doing these podcasts.

[Flamehead]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ian_Cummings_EA

- WE CAN'T TALK ABOUT SPECIFIC FEATURES FOR MADDEN 12. You hopefully know that by now. Quotes like "Taken together, however, I see them very carefully attempting to set expectations." are just wrong. IT IS DECEMBER, WE HAVE TO BE CRYPTIC. If you are the type of guy that is going to get fired up about not enough talk about specific improvements, then I suggest you don't listen to the podcast.

I made that comment. With all due respect I stand by it.

We've been through enough cycles to know that you have to be cryptic in December. It's a given. I certainly wasn't expecting anything specific.

But again, taking all those comments together, I hear EA staff emphasizing time...lots of it. Conversely, I don't hear any talk of committing to much of anything. And I'm not talking about specifics like you are above, I'm talking even about generalities.

I respectfully submit you appear to want it both ways. You want the luxury of not committing to anything (even in general) because certain things may not make it in, you have to be cryptic this time of year, etc., but then you seemingly get discouraged when you see responses where people are less then enthused with all the "time" talk repeatedly thrown out there (especially in this podcast alone). This repeated use of "time" along with the history of using that time for other features nobody asked for is just wearing thin.

I for one am not "fired up"--I'm more or less somewhat tired. Again, with all due respect, this podcast had lots of talking, but not much was said. As another poster said, instead of telling us what the "challenges" are, why not tell us what you can do? But there again, you have to be cryptic, can't commit, etc. (unless it's MUT apparently).

It goes both ways. I'm sorry you're discouraged regarding some of the responses here, but in many regards, this podcast wasn't very encouraging either when looking at the sum of the statements.

I'm sure you guys mean well, but surely you can understand where some of the disappointment is coming from.

[rooney8]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ian_Cummings_EA

Some responses / questions... - WE CAN'T TALK ABOUT SPECIFIC FEATURES FOR MADDEN 12. You hopefully know that by now. Quotes like "Taken together, however, I see them very carefully attempting to set expectations." are just wrong. IT IS DECEMBER, WE HAVE TO BE CRYPTIC. If you are the type of guy that is going to get fired up about not enough talk about specific improvements, then I suggest you don't listen to the podcast. - Nowhere in the podcast are we saying it's going to take multiple years for you to see any improvements, or that 12 won't have any. See point above, and I can say we have been working on Franchise improvements for some time now. - "And as far as that "cant make drastic improvements in one cycle" BS....". Where did we ever say that? I 100% believe that drastic improvements can be made in one cycle. - "I guess after these podcasts, it just looks to me like Madden isn't gonna be a game I'm gonna ever like on these consoles." Does that statement seem a little ridiculous to anyone else? After a podcast that discusses ZERO REAL FEATURE ADDITIONS you aren't going to like Madden, EVER? I always hoped that this forum would eventually be a great place for feedback and ways to improve the game, not the sensationalist extremism that it can quickly descends into. - There is nothing more frustrating to me than people not actually listening to the podcast but jumping on the opinion bandwagon of another. Please guys, we are spending the time planning and recording these SPECIFICALLY for the Madden community...you could at least give us the respect of listening to it and forming an opinion of your own. Maybe we should just stop doing these for a while if too many people aren't able to cope with the lack of real information and turn that into a negative thing. That's not what we want out of these at all...we just want to give people a behind the scenes look at the development process and decision making. Thoughts?

When it comes to franchise mode people only want to hear how it will be fixed and when. Six years with "frankenstein franchise mode" has worn peoples patients and alot that was said in the podcast about franchise mode was said two years ago.
I think the fact you can't give out any definate information at this stage is only going to leave us guessing from the impressions we get from the podcasts. Which will probably have us guessing wrong but it's gonna happen.

[Ian_Cummings]

Quote: Originally Posted by Flamehead

As another poster said, instead of telling us what the "challenges" are, why not tell us what you can do? But there again, you have to be cryptic, can't commit, etc. (unless it's MUT apparently). It goes both ways. I'm sorry you're discouraged regarding some of the responses here, but in many regards, this podcast wasn't very encouraging either when looking at the sum of the statements. I'm sure you guys mean well, but surely you can understand where some of the disappointment is coming from.

Fair enough then, we'll stop the podcasts, since we can't tell you what we can do.

[rooney8]

Quote: Originally Posted by Flamehead

I made that comment. With all due respect I stand by it. We've been through enough cycles to know that you have to be cryptic in December. It's a given. I certainly wasn't expecting anything specific. But again, taking all those comments together, I hear EA staff emphasizing time...lots of it. Conversely, I don't hear any talk of committing to much of anything. And I'm not talking about specifics like you are above, I'm talking even about generalities. I respectfully submit you appear to want it both ways. You want the luxury of not committing to anything (even in general) because certain things may not make it in, you have to be cryptic this time of year, etc., but then you seemingly get discouraged when you see responses where people are less then enthused with all the "time" talk repeatedly thrown out there (especially in this podcast alone). This repeated use of "time" along with the history of using that time for other features nobody asked for is just wearing thin. I for one and not "fired up"--I'm more or less somewhat tired. Again, with all due respect, this podcast had lots of talking, but not much was said. As another poster said, instead of telling us what the "challenges" are, why not tell us what you can do? But there again, you have to be cryptic, can't commit, etc. (unless it's MUT apparently). It goes both ways. I'm sorry you're discouraged regarding some of the responses here, but in many regards, this podcast wasn't very encouraging either when looking at the sum of the statements. I'm sure you guys mean well, but surely you can understand where some of the disappointment is coming from.

It was actually quite a negative podcast.
If I can remember time constraints were mentioned alot. It takes 3 times as long to add some things now as it used to. The code left by the previous team is making it difficult for some things. I got the impression the team isn't as big as it used to be. Not the things I wanted to hear.

[Jono078]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ian_Cummings_EA

Fair enough then, we'll stop the podcasts, since we can't tell you what we can do.

No no no lol..

I quite like listening to your guys visions and then watching it all unfold in due time.

I've said it the whole time, I believe in you and your team to get Madden right. Can be frustrating at times, for both us and you guys I imagine.

But by all means keep up the podcasts, I like listening about anything involving developing Madden / games really.