What I think EA should do about Madden

[nightowl_80]

Instead of the email they sent out, even now it’s really not too late. What they need to do is take a page from 2K. They need to take a year off and rebuild this game, it has come to more of a $60 roster update every year

I know NFL and EA has an agreement to release a new game every year, and if I was NFL I would be mad as hell

What they should do is Draft Day release an update that updates Stats/ schedules / coaches

First day of preseason they should release a roster every week. The digital stores aren’t going drop the price any so they will still make money, stores has them at 30 dollars, and that’s a fair price for anyone trying to get a new game.

I’m getting really tired of them putting their eggs in MUT and not care about the other modes they have to offer because it doesn’t get them more money. Here is the news flash if they don’t do something about the other modes they will lose money eventually because people are really tired of paying for a 60-70 dollars of their hard earned cash for a roster update.

I am getting to that point but, because it drives me crazy that you can’t fire a coach and they don’t do coach updates when they do roster updates (which makes no sense to me) I buy the new game on sale.

Thoughts?

[PhillyPhanatic14]

NBA Live planned to do that and it never came back.
PES tried to do that and they completely ruined their game.


It sounds good in theory, but I don't know how successful it would be. Regardless, we all know EA isn't sacrificing a year of guaranteed profits to make their game better. Like most AAA videogame franchises right now the companies have no incentive to make good games because they make so much money even when their games suck and they constantly take advantage of their players. Also, if you follow MUT at all this year you'll see that they don't care about that mode either. It's been in a constant state of brokenness since launch.

[canes21]

To get a quality game out, EA needs to redo many areas of the game. However, as long as Madden keeps printing them money annually, there isn't much incentive to overhaul any areas of the game. Whether the game sells well because the silent majority actually enjoy it, or people buy it more because of the NFL shield, or because they love football more than they hate Madden, none of that matters. The game sells well and the NFL and EA only care about sales in the end.

In a hypothetical world, though, I think EA should really be rebuilding the entire game from the ground up. What I wish would have been done is they took the opportunity with the new college game to give them an excuse to have a team behind the scenes completely building a brand new football game foundation. This would be building the locomotion from the ground up, a completely new trench system to revolutionize line play, new coaching AI, roster building AI, a franchise foundation allowing for more feature-packed and immersive gameplay off the field, etc.

Once they have it ready to go for Madden and the CFB game, they release both games on the brand new football engine they built, legacy issues are gone, we have new gameplay systems that were built specifically for the challenges EA knew they'd face, and most of us are happy because we have two football games that are finally feeling modern and polished.

Unfortunately, I don't think that is the world we live in. I am not against your idea of EA basically giving us a roster update one year to allow for them to rebuild the game, but like I initially said, as long as sales continue to be at the level they are annually, EA doesn't have much incentive to change anything. While EA can go and mess up and kill off plenty of other beloved franchises like they have for years now, the NFL shield is simply too strong. As long as the game somewhat functions and is the only NFL game in town, it's going to sale.

[nightowl_80]

Quote: Originally Posted by PhillyPhanatic14

NBA Live planned to do that and it never came back. PES tried to do that and they completely ruined their game. It sounds good in theory, but I don't know how successful it would be. Regardless, we all know EA isn't sacrificing a year of guaranteed profits to make their game better. Like most AAA videogame franchises right now the companies have no incentive to make good games because they make so much money even when their games suck and they constantly take advantage of their players. Also, if you follow MUT at all this year you'll see that they don't care about that mode either. It's been in a constant state of brokenness since launch.

I have not touched MUT because I honestly don’t care, I’ve tried and it’s not for me. It’s pretty sad that this game is going downhill

[Madden08PCgmr]

If they made another playable version, I would stick with it and pay for a roster update/stat pack every year.

I would pay more for retro rosters/mods/stat packs.

As it stands today, I'm content to never buy another EA product as long as I live.

[reverend_heat]

Quote: Originally Posted by nightowl_80

Instead of the email they sent out, even now it’s really not too late. What they need to do is take a page from 2K. They need to take a year off and rebuild this game, it has come to more of a $60 roster update every year I know NFL and EA has an agreement to release a new game every year, and if I was NFL I would be mad as hell What they should do is Draft Day release an update that updates Stats/ schedules / coaches First day of preseason they should release a roster every week. The digital stores aren’t going drop the price any so they will still make money, stores has them at 30 dollars, and that’s a fair price for anyone trying to get a new game. I’m getting really tired of them putting their eggs in MUT and not care about the other modes they have to offer because it doesn’t get them more money. Here is the news flash if they don’t do something about the other modes they will lose money eventually because people are really tired of paying for a 60-70 dollars of their hard earned cash for a roster update. I am getting to that point but, because it drives me crazy that you can’t fire a coach and they don’t do coach updates when they do roster updates (which makes no sense to me) I buy the new game on sale. Thoughts?

The crazy thing is they could do this and not even skip a year and just not tell anybody, just release Madden 24 with a few cosmetic UI changes etc, barebones differences. It wouldn't make a bit of difference in sales, people blind buy this game every year without fail. Squeeze in an extra year of actual development and people would be none the wiser and the sales would be exactly the same.

[nightowl_80]

Quote: Originally Posted by reverend_heat

The crazy thing is they could do this and not even skip a year and just not tell anybody, just release Madden 24 with a few cosmetic UI changes etc, barebones differences. It wouldn't make a bit of difference in sales, people blind buy this game every year without fail. Squeeze in an extra year of actual development and people would be none the wiser and the sales would be exactly the same.

Well I would notice, because I’m really not thinking about getting another Madden game. So unless it runs through my ps5 as an update, then I’m not going to a store of any kind to get M24

[Hooe]

Electronic Arts pays too much for the NFL and NFLPA exclusive simulation licenses to take a year off. Besides, Madden is already being rebuilt, albeit in a sustainable modular manner that doesn't throw out the baby with the bath water.

Madden NFL as a software project today is basically a Ship of Theseus. Every development cycle, different components are ripped out and replaced with something that delivers better results. We've watched this play out in real time over the past couple years; for example, run blocking, pass protection, and wide receiver - defensive back interactions have all seen remarkable upgrades over past few Madden games. The new animation system implemented into Madden 23 greatly improved the game's responsiveness to player controls and the dynamism of various player interactions all over the field.

It would admittedly be nice to see a similar level of forward progress in Franchise mode.