Online Communities Took Precedence Over Online Franchise in Madden NFL 12

[XtremeDunkz]

You just have to find the right franchises. I play in 4, yes 4, OF's that are filled with 32 people each, advance every 3 days, and finish 5 seasons each madden edition with full free agency and salary cap system. It can easily be done.

[Icarus2k9]

Quote: Originally Posted by TNT713

And in defense of the 'excuse,' the biggest knock on Online Franchise is the same reason most leagues fold before finishing a season. People!!! It's tough to get 32 guys together to complete their games. Like most leagues, losers quit and leave the entire league/franchise holding the bag. EA can't fix this because they don't have access to the root cause. No software in the world will make the unreliable reliable or sore losers instant sportsmen...

I think I was in the last board discussion when you brought this up, but one of the major sticking points it seems is this constant reference to 32 player franchises. I know that's the dream, but why does it have to be? You might not be able to scoop up 31 diehards, but you would agree a number of people have a small friends list of players who may be interested in setting one up.

If EA was willing to make the mode robust and allow full offline customisation online (I'm talking sliders, either universal or tailored for each player) then you wouldn't mind playing the CPU and that 32-player dream becomes less important. I'm a Packers fan, my friend is a Steelers fan. We would have to organise five games maximum in four seasons. But because there's no locker for saves any more, we're not allowed to have a good shared franchise.

If EA are saying that the mode can only be a success if you can get 32 players rolling and rocking in the wild west that is the internet, no wonder it was doomed to failure in its current state.

On topic, thanks Chase for getting this nugget out of him - though I occasionally wish you guys would go one step further and call them on it then and there rather than later as part of your analysis. I don't know how possible that is, but nice work anyway.

[GiantBlue76]

Quote: Originally Posted by xtremedunkz

You just have to find the right franchises. I play in 4, yes 4, OF's that are filled with 32 people each, advance every 3 days, and finish 5 seasons each madden edition with full free agency and salary cap system. It can easily be done.

You nailed it. All of this stuff is just the same old excuses. I'm also getting really tired of the argument that OF is not used. That's complete and utter nonsense. To be blunt, the mode was implemented poorly. It's incomplete and offers nothing resembling a franchise mode. I think it would have been better suited to not even post these types of articles. Tiburon blew it (again). I think the online communities is a good idea, but I still don't see how this revolutionizes how I will play madden online. Online leagues introduced in 2000 by ea and in 2004 by 2k revolutionized how I play sports games, this will not. I also don't see how they are going to regulate how someone gets booted from a community. Once again an incomplete mode. What would have been better would have been built in rules and fair play rules that force you to abide to them. That's what I thought this was going to be. This is not much different than a regular lobby.

[TNT713]

Regardless of whether we like the decision or not is irrelevant... EA has given us access to the hows and whys of their decision making process and their decisions make perfectly logical business sense. When did telling the truth about your decision process amount to being an excuse?

Later

[iamgramps]

Quote: Originally Posted by NAdkins01

As EA should note from EVERY response on here. Nobody plays the team play for any extent of time. This community feature is a complete waste of resources. I will stick with NCAA and their REALISTIC online dynasty this year. Looking forward to Madden 13 (if they get off their asses)

I understand your frustration, but OS is only a small voice in the Madden community, and I believe EA makes decisions based off telemetry; therefore, they may go with what the numbers show. Can the numbers be skewed? Maybe, but there is no other justifiable way to measure the success of a games feature.

Remember, Madden sells millions, and out of those people only a small amount even know that these types of forums exist, at least in St. Louis. I know at least 30 people who play Madden on a regular basis and not one had ever heard of sites like this one. So, for every person that want online franchise, there are possible 3 that don't care or don't know how and where to voice their complaints. I'm not excusing EA, but I understand why they made this decision.

[ChaseB]

Quote: Originally Posted by Icarus2k9

On topic, thanks Chase for getting this nugget out of him - though I occasionally wish you guys would go one step further and call them on it then and there rather than later as part of your analysis. I don't know how possible that is, but nice work anyway.

What would you like me to call Anthony on here? He's not the one that made the sole decision to not update Franchise mode. My analysis after is not really hard hitting or really combative in nature in this case either. They know they are/will take heat for not updating Franchise mode.

And this isn't me being defensive here either, by all means tell me what you think you would want to see more out of with certain interviews?

[XtremeDunkz]

I wish someone who had access to these guys would ask them about what they went on and on about during Madden 10 release. The fact that OF was amazing because it was all server side and they could update it at ANY TIME, even after the game has been released to add new features during the year. EA could save so much face by adding features to OF as soon as they are ready this coming year.

[GiantBlue76]

Quote: Originally Posted by TNT713

Regardless of whether we like the decision or not is irrelevant... EA has given us access to the hows and whys of their decision making process and their decisions make perfectly logical business sense. When did telling the truth about your decision process amount to being an excuse? Later

Why is it that it's always the case that in order to get one basic feature we need to sacrifice something else? I'd love to know why we couldnt get both online franchise improvements and online communities? Wait, I forgot, online communities prevented then from working on it, from working on gameplay areas and also audio. That is weak. It is what it is. League manager will get us through this year.