Can we find some commonground? - jkra0512's Blog

jkra0512's Blog

Can we find some commonground?

Posted on August 15, 2011 at 06:30 PM.

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Although much has been said on the topic with two sides bitterly fighting out, it�s time to finish it once and for all: Is NCAA Football �12 out of the box, a success? In my mind, no. I have plenty of points, some of which, I have heard has happened and others that I�ve directly been affected by.

However, first we first need to understand why we come to these discussion boards, which is to debate about the games we play, not lecture, not banter, but to talk over with one another. Our passion is what urges us to buy a $60 game each year to play and, in some cases, judge. I will be the first to say that I absolutely loved NCAA Football �11, however, I�m disappointed in �12.

I�m not here to bash EA Sports or Tiburon. The company as a whole makes good games, but many times they lack polish. For instance, I love Dragon Age, Battlefield and NHL, all of which are great EA products that are polished for the most part. NCAA Football �12 is a game that lacks polish.

In the forums, there seems to be two areas of thought:

1. The game is great despite its flaws
2. The game has flaws that can�t be overlooked any longer

I fall into the second group, because it seems that EA either ran out of time/money to polish the game or was just too lazy to give the game a once-over to see which areas are suffering and need attention.

For instance, I�m all for presentation and I love the team-specific entrances, but, I feel, they should not come at the expense of freezing issues and flawed AI. Many people complain about the �Psychic DBs� and �Super LBs,� which are legitimate gripes as I have seen them from time to time. But, I have come up with my own slider set to help alleviate that for myself. Though, I still think they shouldn�t be in the game regardless if you choose to use sliders.

Since we are on the topic of sliders, many people have found that some of the sliders are backwards or show minimal change. Again, I feel that some of the sliders are inverted because as I tested my own set, I increased many of the sliders for the CPU, but they were playing worse. But, when I decreased them below the default 50, they were getting better. Not all sliders are like this, but some of them. Specifically, the QB Accuracy slider I found is backwards in my opinion. Good QBs were completing fewer than 50% of their passes when the slider was over the default 50. However, when I brought it down to 40, the CPU began completing over 60% of the passes, which is exactly where I like it.

The main problem I have with this is that this isn�t the first year the sliders have been inverted and I believe EA �fixed� it one year with a patch. However, it still crops up, which shows me that they care little about polishing the game, but look to implement the latest and greatest feature they can add to the back of the box. I agree putting, �Sliders that actually do what they are originally supposed to do,� doesn�t exactly scream �BUY ME!� But, for loyal customers who have endured the worst parts of the game, they deserve to have minor parts of the game work as they are intended to.
Freezing is another part of the game that many have sought answers for. I own the PS3 version of the game and only had the game freeze on me once. My buddy, who owns both versions (he has other friends who play Online Dynasty on both systems) said his Xbox version constantly freezes on him. Freezing issues are unacceptable with any game. Fallout: New Vegas constantly froze on me to the point where it became unplayable and I traded it in. Sadly, for some NCAA Football �12 players, they�ve gone the same route.

There are many likable aspects that we can be excited about in this game. I love the 3D grass, coaching carousel and the no-suction blocking and tackling. EA markets these features pretty heavily, as they should because they are new features, but one of their main calling cards is extremely flawed (coaching carousel) to the point where it�s flat out no fun to play. Some people are reporting that their coach is being fired at a small school even after posting a great record and completing many of their goals. Plus, since their coaching prestige is so low, they can�t find another job. Something is not right there.

Which brings us to customer care. I�m not happy with the way EA has handled their game, post-release. But, I also understand it. Why would you take on the consumer wrath when you can start working on the solution? A simple, �Hey we see some of the mistakes, we are working on a patch right now, we�ll release a statement with the fixes soon,� would have sufficed. Instead, EA stayed mum and angered many people (myself included) even more. Also, releasing �your numbers� before giving your customers the patch notes wasn�t the smartest business move. It just shows that you care more about the money than the consumer, even if that is true, you still shouldn�t admit it.

We are a passionate group here at OS and that is what has kept me here year after year. Plus, we are an intelligent lot, for the most part, who are capable of carrying a great discussion and exacting change. This year though, is different. It seems more people are at each other�s throats trying to prove the other side wrong. Both sides are right and both sides are wrong, but no one should ever try take away somebody�s happiness. Likewise, others shouldn�t try to totally discount dissenting point of views.

Someone once told me that if you don�t pick a side, then what in life are you fighting for? I thought that person was so intelligent, then I realized that you don�t have to pick a side to be effective and respected.

I don�t think I wasted $60 on this game, but I don�t feel like I got full value either. I love certain parts of the game, especially when you are in a battle that makes you sweat, you begin to second-guess each play and execution is of the utmost necessity. People can sit around all day trying to pick a game apart. You can do that with EVERY game, not just this one. The best way to go about telling EA is to either make your money talk or contact them directly in a professional manner. If you�ve exhausted all options, just don�t buy the game next year, wait until you see what others say about it, or rent it. (Playing the game before purchasing is always the best option)

Those of you who say, �If you don�t like it, then don�t buy it,� may need to re-think that line of thought. For many people, they thought the demo represented the final product, or at least close to it. However, there were little changes here and there that could have added up for people. By the time they noticed, they had already bought the game. They do deserve to voice their opinion on the game even if it is different from the "accepted" view. It's what makes OS and its members great!

Most review sites gave this game a very favorable rating, which was based on the pre-first patch of the game. I don�t doubt that many of the issues people are having now, were not in the review copy. But, for some individuals, they rely on the reviewers and review sites they trust the most to deliver a just examination of the game.

As a result, people come in with preconceived notions of the end product. From this very site it was said that �Super LBs� are gone/ toned down from both the reviewer and those who received the game early and gave their impressions. However, from my experience, if you don�t play with the sliders, LBs do some pretty super things, like defy gravity to bat balls down, regardless of the difficulty level. ( I know it's a video game and gravity is a relative term, but you can�t promote realism and not include a fundamental law of how the world works!!)

At first, I wanted to blame the reviewers and those who gave their early impressions of the game because they weren�t all that truthful. However, after standing back from the situation, I realized that they weren�t critiquing the same game as I was playing. I�ve long thought that the best reviews don�t come out until two weeks to a month after the game has been released. After this game, I think that still holds true. We will never see that, because gaming magazines and websites don�t make money writing reviews for �old� games. Every site is in a rush to get the first review to drive traffic to their site, so they can make more money. I get that and I don't blame them for it, but it's a lesson I JUST learned and I will trust myself more before random people with the same interests on a website from now on.

So where do the consumer go? Like I said before, if you don�t like a game/series then you have two options, don�t buy the next iteration or write a professional response to the company making the game. As a result of this year�s iteration of NCAA Football, I am not buying next year�s game. But, I�m not going to sit here and condemn those of you who will buy the game regardless. Who am I to tell you what to do with your money? If a few people out of the masses don�t buy the game next year, it won�t hurt EA�s bottom line, I�m sure it won�t even phase them, but it�ll give me less of a headache.

Comments

# 1 rudyjuly2 @ Aug 16

I think a lot of the sports games, particularly as the console life span is getting stretched, are games that should be bought on a two year cycle. Devs never seem to produce big changes after they initially create a game and we just get tweaks year after year. Some years are better than others but those that are frustrated with some of the issues get more frustrated as they often see the same flaws year after year. Some can accept them and others can't. I'm falling into the latter category. I doubt I'll buy NCAA 13 next year unless the progress is significant. Even then I may rent or wait for the first patch. The dev team has been really sloppy with things upon release with NCAA imo.

# 2 jkra0512 @ Aug 16

I hear ya Rudy! I completely agree with you my friend. BTW, I look forward to the week 2 match-up between ND and Michigan this year!