Madden 16: Is Connected Franchise Sacrificing Realism? (Roundtable)

[charter04]

The biggest problem I have when the goals, xp progression system is the same issue I have with the idea that stat's should increase a players skills or ratings.

Just because a player has a break out year doesn't always mean they should be rated higher.

Sure if a players is in fact better then they should be rated higher. If a QB works on his footwork gets more accurate for example. But, it's not always seen in just stat's. Some offenses can help a QB's accuracy or stat's.

There should to be a way to work with a certain player in the offseason to help him get better at say RTE or his catching. Your coaching skills could make you a QB guru or whatever and get boost in this. Plus each player should have a hidden potential rating. Tim Tebow will not be a great accurate thrower no matter who works with him. Have a coachability rating too.

Things that move toward reality not further from it.

Take DeMarco Murray for example. Did Murray really get better during this past season compared to last year? Or did he have a great offensive line and stay healthy?

Even if he did get better it wasn't because he had 100 yards and 3 td's in a game. It was because he naturally got better at seeing the hole or practiced to get better at other things.

Why would his speed get one point bump just because of a great year.

If real life worked like Madden Emmitt Smith could have had 95 speed by 1996. LOL. Not much realism there.

The way EA re-rates players during the season and the CFM progression system are unrealistic.

So IMO the current goals/progression system are 100% not sim.

[Mauer4MVP]

Great article and definitely could prevent me from getting the game. I say it every year, but it's tough to pass on it. The NFL fever is at an all-time high come late August and the game comes out before any other blockbusters.

I'll wait until more details come out, but I'm definitely not encouraged by the direction.

[Dazraz]

The direction the Franchise Mode is taking is starting me wishing that EA would include a straight forward Season Mode as in the NHL series.

[Cowboy008]

I was looking forward to hearing about Madden 16 but now after reading what they have done with CFM and it being so goal oriented I think I'll be passing on Madden this year.

[PacMan3000]

I really didn't want to get sucked into all the Madden hype this year, but after reading and thinking about the CFM features, I figured I'd post my $.02.

Here's how I see it--at least for me.

When I play franchise mode, at the very end of the day, I do it for the same reason Herm Edwards coached--I play to win the game. As a result, my hope is that by winning the game, my players played well. And if that's the case, my players progress appropriately.

The new CFM features have it backwards. It's telling you that the goal of franchise mode is to improve your players, and as a result, the hope is that you win some games too. That's not how it should be, again in my opinion.

When it's 3rd down on the goal line, with the game on the line, do I really want to be thinking about the fact that my WR needs a touchdown to meet a progression/XP goal? Do I really want that influencing my gaming decision? The fact that you have to even consider an individual's personal development while playing a team game seems...distracting.

Again, I play franchise mode to win games and build what I hope can be a dynasty. Of course, I want my players to progress and regress when appropriate. But I would much rather have a ticker telling me the scores of other games in CFM--because I "play to win the game" and other teams' final scores and standings impact my ability to pursue a Super Bowl trophy--as opposed to a ticker telling me how many catches my WR needs to get 2000 XP points.

Yes, these new CFM features crush realism and immersion. But they also just don't seem practical. It's like wearing your underwear on the outside of your pants. These features are OK on their own, but they need to be under the hood, not front and center on gameday.

[cthurt]

I feel if they took the same route as 2k did with their assocaiation mode and make it a sandbox type of mode where almost everything is controlled by the user a lot of the complaints Madden recieved wouldn't be a big deal, but it seems as if they want us to play CFM their way.

[4thQtrStre5S]

Quote: Originally Posted by charter04

The biggest problem I have when the goals, xp progression system is the same issue I have with the idea that stat's should increase a players skills or ratings. Just because a player has a break out year doesn't always mean they should be rated higher. Sure if a players is in fact better then they should be rated higher. If a QB works on his footwork gets more accurate for example. But, it's not always seen in just stat's. Some offenses can help a QB's accuracy or stat's. There should to be a way to work with a certain player in the offseason to help him get better at say RTE or his catching. Your coaching skills could make you a QB guru or whatever and get boost in this. Plus each player should have a hidden potential rating. Tim Tebow will not be a great accurate thrower no matter who works with him. Have a coachability rating too. Things that move toward reality not further from it. Take DeMarco Murray for example. Did Murray really get better during this past season compared to last year? Or did he have a great offensive line and stay healthy? Even if he did get better it wasn't because he had 100 yards and 3 td's in a game. It was because he naturally got better at seeing the hole or practiced to get better at other things. Why would his speed get one point bump just because of a great year. If real life worked like Madden Emmitt Smith could have had 95 speed by 1996. LOL. Not much realism there. The way EA re-rates players during the season and the CFM progression system are unrealistic. So IMO the current goals/progression system are 100% not sim.

I agree 100%...Player's physical abilities shouldn't really increase in the NFL, in this case Madden, but the learned abilities like awareness for offense and Play Recognition on defense can be taught...You can teach a player better route running techniques or zone coverage skills, for example...

The way EA does ratings to show player improvement eliminates the system of a team that can make a player look better than he really is; shall we go back and look what happened to WR Alvin Harper of the Cowboys after he left for big money in Tampa Bay and a #1 receiver position? He failed cause he was not a #1 receiver, he was a counterpart to Michael Irvin..

EA uses Speed to show player betterment because, IMO, Speed is the ultimate factor in Madden....I am willing to bet I could drop all rating to 5, and put speed to 99 and win games; we already know that the offensive line will block well with diminished ratings...

[trey2k198003]

I love being in control of how each player can it does progresssnd not leaving it up yo the CPU if I pass for 3000 yds with a low rates guy he'd get a 3-5 rating boost in the older versions in this xp system term I can truly make a sixth round pick into a starter if I wanna put in the work and get his xp up and not just hope the CPU will have him make a big jump the confindence is ok could have been better but we will see but I do love the xp system. So I guess I'm saying the way I play madden is more real cause I control my players progress yea if I wanna run up scores and stats for xp I can do that but I don't so it's not that big a deal