labguy's Blog
1) NCAA released and I am in full swing having fun in a few online dynasties.
2) Derek at League Manager has talked me off the ledge with his promises to make up for EA's laziness (my words not his) by implimenting all the tools needed for a true salary cap structure.
So although my respect for the Madden team has pretty much bottomed out due to getting the shaft for the second straight year, I let my anger subside.....well until I read the latest blog from Chase (see link below).
http://www.operationsports.com/news/...madden-nfl-12/
It is not Chase's fault. I appreciate the work he does and has done here. But to read Dimento's review of how the Online Community development pushed Online Franchise aside just infuriated me again. Why the hell would you add a new feature and leave another feature incomplete for the SECOND year. Who puts an incomplete feature in a game and ignores it for two years? So the article obviously ticked me off, but it did another thing....it made me think about the last few development cycles and see what has made the cut and what hasn't. I personally think it is a sham that the flagship title for EA has to have such a severe limit on added features and upgrades each year, but that is for another blog.
So without further ramblings here is a quick review of Madden major additions since 2009. (I chose 2009 as the starting date because that was the first year NCAA had the online dynasty feature)
2009 (The Wasted Year)
- Collinsworth added as announcer. - I give this a plus.
- Madden IQ - One of the largest negatives ever.
- Rewind and backtrack - Negative
- Online leagues - Negative. No stat tracking or playoffs made it junk.
2010 (The future is bright)
- Pro-Tak - Even though flawed I give it a plus because they attempted to address a critical area.
- Fight for ball - A push
- Added new Qb ratings - Plus
- Extra Point - A plus. While it was not perfect it was a solid start to what I thought would be a great halftime show. Strangely it got canned though.
- Co-op - A plus. A good start for multi-player gaming. Not perfect, but ground work to build was laid.
- Online franchise - biggest plus for me ever. I had been waiting since the PS2 merge error days for something like this. Although disapointed the EA team talked of server side adjustments and their own disapointment that salary cap and free agency did not make the cut. I felt confident it would be addressed in the near future.
2011 - (The shaft part I)
- Game Flow - Negative. The feature may have been a decent idea, but it was largely flawed. The AI was not good at selecting an appropriate play. Another attempt at the casual crowd. Which is fine if it did not always have to come at the expense of the core guys who bought Madden for years.
- Gameplanning - Negative - I tried it, but when the AI calls for all streaks when I am at the 5 even though it is not in my red zone plays then I have to scrap it.
- Team play 3 vs 3 - Positive - I did not use it, but EA showed they were building on the co-op so it did appear to they had a plan to eveolve the feature.
- Gus Johnson - Positive. Needs tuned. Not every play is that dramatic, but a good step.
2012 (WTF)
- Offline Franchise upgrades- positive. I was happy the offline franchise guy's were finally thrown a bone and got a lot of upgrades. I was never overly sympathetic for their complaints though because they had the Head Coach game. But with that being said their time was due.
- Pass defense improvements - positive for everyone
- Communities - Negative - Not a horrible idea in general, but really this was more important than finally adding a salary cap and free agency to Online Franchise? You know the one ignored since it was added in '10.
I think reviewing this shows several things. One EA truly has lacked a concrete plan or vision of where they want their Madden game to go. They may claim they have a vision, but if you look at how they have used their development time you will see that his not the case. How much time for online leagues in 09 only to be scrapped a year later? How much time for the Extra Point halftime show? Again to be scrapped. Online franchise put in and then ignored for two years. Is this really part of their vision? NCAA seems to keep building on their pieces each year. Not Madden. It is jump around and see how we can capture more casual gamers. It is a good thing there is no competition or EA would find out what happens with you ignore the core gamers. For every 1 new consumer they would get, the would lose 3 core gamers. Luckily for them they are the only game in town. Maybe that is why they don't care if they alienate me and my other online franchise gamers.
All I know is if it was not for Derek at League Manager I would not be purchasing Madden 12. EA should give him a percentage of cash for every gamer who buys Madden and uses the LM site for at least a full season. It is awesome what he can do with a small team of passionate developers without compensation. Normally I would make a dig at the EA team here for being less passionate, but I can't speak to their passion and/or lack of it. Maybe they are passionate and just lack vision or follow through. Maybe the "powers that be" at EA are the problem. I don't know. I just know ignoring a feature for two years is BS....especially coming out and telling everyone it is because communties was a must and it will change my life forever.
Ok thanks for anyone who read this lengthy post. I realize I jump around, but I am not a journalist...just a passionate football gamer who is upset for the 2nd year in a row. Feel free to leave feedback both positive and negative.
# 1
Steelers30 @ Jul 26
Just one thing I have to comment on is the gameplanning, the ability to go into the CPU's gameplan and edit it to my liking, eliminating the streak and jail break plays that make the game unenjoyable. That is a plus. Makes playing NCAA 12 difficult.
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