Madden NFL 15's Five Areas Which Need Improvement for Next Year

[RogueHominid]

I'd have to agree with Hitchens that the list seems off to me.

They have to get the OL/DL thing right. It's still not, as evidenced by the rampant sacks problem and the still-off representation of the interior of the pocket.

They have to get QB play right. They have yet to capture the proper middle ground between the Robo QB and the QB in this year's game that can't seem to figure out when to rush a throw or throw the ball away.

They have to get sliders right so that the description of the slider matches its in-game effects and does so in an intuitive way. This year is better but sliders are still nowhere near as clear and effective as they should be.

They have to allow the kind of customization that other top-shelf sports titles in the current generations allow. Madden is embarrassingly behind on this point and it's not clear why.

They have to improve playbooks, especially defensive ones, so they're more robust.

I could go on, but I'd put each of these issues in the "most important" list.

A problem here is that while other games have taken the "lets get this right the first time and then polish what works each year," Madden has taken the "lets keep taking things out and adding new things and never really get to the polishing stage" approach. I don't think that's a good approach and it shows in the consumer's feeling that Madden proceeds by fits and starts and has lacked a consistent, coherent vision due to regular changes in leadership.

I actually think M15 is fun and is largely a good game, but Madden is still nowhere near the game that it should be.

[asu666]

I'd like to see scores from around the league and more stat overlays.

[UNMLobo]

Beyond game play improvements here are two things that hinder enjoyment:

Player creation and editing - All other sports games have deep player creation tools. Previous generation had "Game Face," which helped. Having only preset heads for player creation and Connected Career mode hurts when you have high definition capabilities.

Commentary - This needs a serious overhaul. If Nantz and Simms are too expensive to get back in the booth to create better commentary, get another team. The problem is that the commentary is very repetitive and doesn't fit the action on the field.

[Dynastyyy]

Quote: Originally Posted by 4thQtrStre5S

I believe a lot of the things us SIM players want in the game, like proper penalties, fumbles, blocked FG's or Punt's etc, are left out because the Head to Head/Tournament people would raise hell....EA is trying to cater to two different groups with this game....Really they need two games; one for the tournament people that do not want games decided on bad passes, penalties, fumbles, blocked punts, etc; and then another game for the SIM players who want all that is in the NFL in the actual game....With sliders and on/off options... Actually it would be easier to just add features with the on/off ability and then fix sliders and penalties and game play...

Tournament players should just be playing with longer quarters to decrease variance and bs ball hogging. Unfortunately most tournament players and players in highly competitive online CFM's aren't patient and would rather play more volume in a day as opposed to a higher quality more realistic game.

The online CFM I'm playing now is at 6 min Q's with 20 second clock accel. There are times when I've had 4 possessions in 3 quarters ( I run no huddle alot bc of this). Because of the implementation and improvement of clock accel EA should've made the standard Q's longer because clock accel is on by default. The most realistic timing I've found is 7 minutes w/ clock accel to 25 vs another human and 8 minutes w/ clock accel to 25 vs CPU. Being able to use the "chew clock" option in the 4th has made the game much more fun.

[superxero27]

Quote: Originally Posted by SVCbearcat10

There needs to be signature coach styles. Yes, playbooks are different. However, when I play the Eagles, I do not feel like I'm playing a Chip Kelley system. It seems like everyone plays the same and moves the same. It really makes the game boring after a season.

The thing about that is EA did a pretty decent job at that with NCAA in its last iterations. Teams that use Oregon's playbook go run spread read option no huddle fast fast all the time, Bama grinds it out, Wazzu and Texas Tech chuck it like crazy, and Georgia Tech options rarely throws.

So its not like they can't do it...

[Dynastyyy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Trojan Man

I'd have to agree with Hitchens that the list seems off to me. They have to get the OL/DL thing right. It's still not, as evidenced by the rampant sacks problem and the still-off representation of the interior of the pocket. They have to get QB play right. They have yet to capture the proper middle ground between the Robo QB and the QB in this year's game that can't seem to figure out when to rush a throw or throw the ball away. They have to get sliders right so that the description of the slider matches its in-game effects and does so in an intuitive way. This year is better but sliders are still nowhere near as clear and effective as they should be. They have to allow the kind of customization that other top-shelf sports titles in the current generations allow. Madden is embarrassingly behind on this point and it's not clear why. They have to improve playbooks, especially defensive ones, so they're more robust. I could go on, but I'd put each of these issues in the "most important" list. A problem here is that while other games have taken the "lets get this right the first time and then polish what works each year," Madden has taken the "lets keep taking things out and adding new things and never really get to the polishing stage" approach. I don't think that's a good approach and it shows in the consumer's feeling that Madden proceeds by fits and starts and has lacked a consistent, coherent vision due to regular changes in leadership. I actually think M15 is fun and is largely a good game, but Madden is still nowhere near the game that it should be.

I agree with you but Madden is what puts food on the plates of the EA employees, every year. They have a monopoly and it'd be a business catastrophe if they ruined the cash cow that Madden & the NFL has evolved into.

Their game alone is in a massive tent/gaming area within the gates of every
stadium in the NFL, nothing else. Honestly, while I know 2k15 will be a great game and I'll probably get it I am a little bored with 2k and not anticipating the release at all because I don't see it being much different than 2k14. I've bought Madden for 26 years straight and am always pumped up when we get into Auguest. It's really a tradition by now.

[treq21]

It sure is sad how we are always talking about next year in the Madden forum. And it has been that way for a long time.

[Steel4Reel]

Quote: Originally Posted by treq21

It sure is sad how we are always talking about next year in the Madden forum. And it has been that way for a long time.

While I agree...Even if the game was great, I think people would still be talking about next year soon after it came out, because with a football game, there will ALWAYS be room to make it better.

However, the reason most talk about next year so much is because they dont really enjoy THIS YEARS game.

I dont think its so much about talking about next years game as much as it is talking about the SAME THINGS every year hoping it will FINALLY be fixed NEXT YEAR.

Instead, it would be nice to be talk about new things getting added in future installments, instead of continually hoping fundamental aspects of the game of football will finally be represented well in Madden, or hoping that things that have been broken forever (such as sim stats and animations) will be addressed.