News Post

NCAA Designers Step Up to the Plate

01:14 PM - July 21, 2008 by RaychelSnr

For what seems like an eternity, EA football gamers have been clamoring for more interaction with the developers of NCAA Football and Madden. This year, those gamers got their wish. Check out how the developers handled the pressure in Erik Westfall's article, NCAA Designers Step Up to the Plate.

Quote:


	"In a growing trend around the internet, a number of video game developers and designers are making their presences known on various community forums. EA Sports has done this for a number of years, most notably through Ian Cummings and more recently Phil Frazier. Well we have a newcomer to the arena - Adam Thompson (OMT on the OS forums)."

Game: NCAA Football 09Reader Score: 7/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS2 / PS3 / PSP / Wii / Xbox 360Votes for game: 95 - View All

NCAA Football 09 Videos

Member Comments

# 1 osubucksfan47 @ 07/21/08 01:17 PM

Thats what I like, that they are taking the time to listen to their customers and respond to both positive and negative feedback. If they hadn't done so, maybe the roster problem wouldn't be patched as quickly.

# 2 OMT @ 07/21/08 01:35 PM

# 3 kohlrums @ 07/21/08 02:20 PM

can they make a patch for the ball not rotating when you pass?

# 4 jwb0581 @ 07/21/08 02:29 PM

I was hoping this thread would be about NCAA designers stepping up to the plate to patch the rampant online dynasty problems.

# 5 bartolet7 @ 07/21/08 02:29 PM

Well, I for one am very appreciative of Adam's presence on the boards this year. He's been a great source of information and insight into the workings of the game while fielding countless questions about how it works, what EA's doing to make it better, and what they're doing to try and fix it where it's broken. I've found that when I'm browsing the various threads that I always stop when I see that distinctive "Angry Football" avatar and read his post. Sure, we may not always like or agree with his answers to our questions but at least he's HERE to ask. That's not always been the case.

The level of involvement we've seen this year from all the programmers has been outstanding and I hope they continue the trend in the future.

Kudos, Adam!

# 6 KG @ 07/21/08 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwb0581


	I was hoping this thread would be about NCAA designers stepping up to the plate to patch the rampant online dynasty problems.

same

# 7 labguy @ 07/21/08 02:45 PM

I think having EA staff on the boards is great! I think it will help not only with patches but also as a tool to guage what features the community wants to see in future releases. I encourage people with negative opinions to keep it professional and not attack these guys and to throw out a suggestion along with the negative feedback. If you think the AI for pass defense is poopy then just add what you think would make it better. I don't think the EA guys expect for 100% glowing feedback from us. They know there are some things they can do better. I just don't think ANYONE would want to be called a lazy piece of crap and such. Be critical if you want just keep it on point and be specific. EA sucks a$$ comments aren't going to make the games better. Ok I will get off my soapbox now.

# 8 Solidice @ 07/21/08 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwb0581


	I was hoping this thread would be about NCAA designers stepping up to the plate to patch the rampant online dynasty problems.

patches just don't spawn from thin air, they have to be made and tested. and thats only after they find what the problem is and what is causing it.

# 9 BoomerSooner11 @ 07/21/08 03:17 PM

I am glad Adam is on here, better than nobody and getting zero insight on whats to come.

# 10 ewto16 @ 07/21/08 03:18 PM

HAving the EA people on the board is great, but if the product still turns out like crap, it doesn't really matter.

Rosters being broken and, now apparently, online dynasty being broken are pretty big things to have broken out of the box.

It continues to seem as if EA has one not very well trained person that does testing for about 8 hours and declares the game done.

# 11 TopCop7980 @ 07/21/08 03:38 PM

If Im the President at EA and Im reading all these responses about problems in my game then I would call all my testers in my office and give them the ole "YOU'RE FIRED!!" line.

# 12 Spanky @ 07/21/08 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TopCop7980


	If Im the President at EA and Im reading all these responses about problems in my game then I would call all my testers in my office and give them the ole "YOU'RE FIRED!!" line.

I'm not convinced the problem is the testers. It's entirely possibly that the testers did discover many of these bugs but that the executives didn't want to put forth the time and resources necessary to fix them, thinking that these bugs won't appreciably affect sales.

But assessing fault is irrelevant at this point.

I realize patches take time and that the EA guys on this forum can't reveal what is being patched until they know for sure that the particular bug can be fixed. But I'm hoping they will keep us updated with the latest info. If I know now that the sliders mess can't be flixed I'll be more inclined to trade this in toward Madden (assuming that game isn't all f-ed up again). But if I'm told by EA that the sliders can and will be fixed, then I'll keep the game.

Because I really feel the inoperative sliders is the only thing that's screwing up the game experience -- at least for me. That's assuming the roster mess is fixed. Though I am somewhat upset that EA chose to take out about 30 mascots on the 360 version. They're used to be about 73 and now there's only about 40 or so. Why do you keep taking things out when you should be adding?

# 13 spit_bubble @ 07/21/08 05:20 PM

NCAA Designers Step Up to the Plate?!

It's funny how this article portrays the developers as doing us a favor.

Oh gee, thanks.

**** that **** man, we're helping them! For free no less.

If only consumers knew the power they hold... Things would be a lot different. Instead they continue to fall victim to all that's cast.

# 14 TopCop7980 @ 07/21/08 05:34 PM

nothing to say

# 15 KG @ 07/21/08 05:41 PM

what a bad start for 09 fball games on OS for EA. I appreciate that OMT longs on and answers questions. Pretty crazy considering he gets asked things that are out of his department but you have to know that his company is a magnet for criticism, some warranted, some not.

# 16 Solidice @ 07/21/08 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vic5451


	EA is a freaking joke. A corporate entity if there ever was one. Worried only about their profit and loss statements. As if charging $60 every year for a buggy, recycled, non-innovating game weren't enough, now they've taken to the practice of filling their games with product placement like Coca Cola or Old Spice or Under Armour or Preparation H. "Greed! Greed! $$$$$ More! More! We want more! $$$$$ !" How you sheep continue to dish out your hard earned money to these charlatans just baffles me. And now you're giving this company kudos because they send some lackey to go onto some message board and say "We're going to realease some patch one of these days".

lol. you should play an Ubi Soft game. you never see product placement as bad in games like theirs. every car/truck/van is a Dodge, movie ads everywhere, etc.... EA is not the only one that does this you know. every company is out for profit, its dumb not to, they wouldn't be a business if they didn't.

# 17 bullcats @ 07/21/08 06:29 PM

Alright if you have stepped up to the plate now get a hit. Patch some of these issues that are holding a great game back. I am saying to rush out a patch, just make sure you get one done that corrects some of these glaring issues, hopefully before September.

# 18 BoomerSooner11 @ 07/21/08 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Solidice


	lol. you should play an Ubi Soft game. you never see product placement as bad in games like theirs. every car/truck/van is a Dodge, movie ads everywhere, etc.... EA is not the only one that does this you know. every company is out for profit, its dumb not to, they wouldn't be a business if they didn't.

Haha, so true.

# 19 agte @ 07/21/08 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vic5451


	Hey, Operation Sports: "Tell me how my *** tastes." Sincerely, EA Sports

Nobody is holding a gun to your head....if you don't like it, leave

# 20 Solidice @ 07/21/08 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vic5451


	Hey, genius: Ubi doesn't come out with a Rainbow 6 game every year, do they? And when they do make a new one, they have to build new levels, new environments, new music, etc. It's a new game. Not like EA's recycled football games that have the same stadiums, same commentary, same player models, same everything. So if Ubi wants to make a little extra money out of product placement, that's alright by me because they're actually working for it. Besides, their product placement is integrated into the game, such as a Dodge Ram sitting on the street for you to blow up. They don't say "This game is brought to you by Dodge: Moving Forward" like EA does with their Coke or Old Spice ads. It's not surprising to me that a simple minded fool like you would counter my previous post with your predictably feeble "They're a company that looks to make a profit". A person with an intelligence quotient higher than that of a walnut would know that there are degrees to things. Hence, you can have a hospital that can turn a nice profit while still taking good care of its patients. You can have a game company that makes a nice profit while still keeping their main focus on great game innovation and fresh ideas instead of their main focus being their marketing campaigns and their stock price. Until you become a less stupid person than you currently are, feel free to avoid addressing me any further.

"simple minded fool", you know nothing about me. do you always take posts on a forum so seriously?

and for this "They don't say "This game is brought to you by Dodge: Moving Forward" like EA does with their Coke or Old Spice ads." they do this is real life TV broadcast of football, why not a video game based on it?

and Vegas 2 is a rehash of Vegas 1, with new "Features" and "redesigned" maps from older Rainbow Six games. its the same engine in the background.
next time I'll use !'s $'s to make my post look more attractive like yours. and yes i know there are exceptions, I'm not dumb.

and using your "A person with an intelligence quotient higher than that of a walnut" would know that not everyone that works for EA is the same way, you are just generalizing, just like those hospitals that "care" but still make profit, i bet you not everyone there cares.

« Previous12 3 4 5 Next »

More Links

NCAA Designers Step Up to the Plate