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Madden 12 News Post


Ian, Donny and Josh discuss the future of Madden, mostly talking about Franchise mode, but also touch on quite a few other things.

What did you like/dislike about the latest podcast?

Here are a couple of links.

Game: Madden NFL 12Reader Score: 6.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / Wii / Xbox 360Votes for game: 44 - View All
Madden NFL 12 Videos
Member Comments
# 81 PhillyJim76 @ 12/11/10 10:37 PM
What I don't get is, if Madden's dev team wants to do these podcasts, why would they stop doing them based upon negative feedback by SOME people? It just propogates the opinion that they are thin skinned and can't deal with criticism.
 
# 82 RumbleCard @ 12/11/10 10:37 PM
ugggh I'm somewhat reluctant to give my opinion because I don't want to come across as being combative (and I do enjoy the podcasts) but I was left with the impression that the higher ups at EA have done their job here. It kind of funny...listening to the podcast I wasn't really listening to the promise of an ever evolving game that I've played year in and year out but I was more listening to guys who have jobs...just like we do. It was more shop talk than game talk.

Profit. I think I heard that angle hit on time and time again in the first few minutes of the podcast. Paraphrasing here "This is what we're doing digitally to profit" "we're taking this idea in this direction to be diverse and profit" "this is idea is gone and never coming back because it's not profitable" "remember how good HC was...we created a game with just about everything we wanted in the game but were only marginally profitable" "profit...then we can profit and finally step three profit".

I don't mean any disrespect nor am I trying to speak in absolutes but I wonder if the passion of Madden is a lost art and has been replaced with trying to build a machine or an engine so to speak that is all about profit. I guess it just reaffirmed what we already know and that's cash is king. It just seems like we're in a state where what goes in to the game good, bad, gimmicky or other isn't done so for the betterment of the actual game, or step forward but more so on the presumption that something is done because it's potentially driving profit. Or not done because the costs of change out weight potential profit. Regardless of the fact that something might make the game better.

There are games that have done things that are contrary to what might be precieved as the most diverse profitable avenue but still cash the proverbial cow on it...NBA2k rings a bell. MMA 09 was another sucess story that was contrary to what most analyst viewed as potentially successful. I'm left wanting the higher ups to care more about the game and the passion because if you do that the "profit" is likely to take care of itself. Hopefully that's not fantasy land.

Most of us aren't kids here. A lot of us work and at work, for most businesses, it's profit and nothing more. Its why 90% of us do it every day. I guess I just miss the heart of Madden.
 
# 83 PhillyJim76 @ 12/11/10 10:51 PM
I got that, but in life you are never going to have 100 percent of the people on board with what you are doing. If you want to do these, do 'em! Don't worry about some people not being happy!
 
# 84 khaliib @ 12/11/10 10:54 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by khaliib
Well it seems like Franchise is what gamers want the most.

Good to Ian jumping in on the thread about comments.

With that being said, Ian, when the time comes to put out information/videos about Madden 12, instead of a flood of visual upgrades, online features or new casual gamer injections, would you guys go deeper into what the Dynasty will offer?

Also, what we're finding on the NCAA side is that gamers are very smart and are finding things to enhance gameplay through their extensive testing.

With staff being limited, why not allow gamers the ability to test an open editor on the current Madden?
This way you can get direct gamer feedback on thresholds and boundaries within the game if given access.

With so many complaints, it allows the gamer to really have "Some" input into next years game.

Ian, there is an abundant of FREE staff (gamers) here willing to man hours of tinkering and testing to help you guys provide the best football gaming experience.

We're here. Let us help you beyond worded suggestions noted on gaming forums.

Did I mention it wouldn't be cost to EA.
That's FREE workers.
From a business point of view, it gets no better than that.
Free Labor!!!

Oh well, I can only offer an alternative to customer complaining (some are true), but many times s good idea simply falls to the wayside.

I'll be renting 1st as I've done since '07.
Unfortunately, I have yet to invest $60 in a Madden since '06.
I guess what frustrates me, is that those posts that push Dev's buttons seem to be the one's they reply to.

I posted this earlier in the thread as an alternative to notating what my dislikes are.

So I'll give this another try and see if a response might come from you guys.
 
# 85 roadman @ 12/11/10 10:54 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by RumbleCard
ugggh I'm somewhat reluctant to give my opinion because I don't want to come across as being combative (and I do enjoy the podcasts) but I was left with the impression that the higher ups at EA have done their job here. It kind of funny...listening to the podcast I wasn't really listening to the promise of an ever evolving game that I've played year in and year out but I was more listening to guys who have jobs...just like we do. It was more shop talk than game talk.

Profit. I think I heard that angle hit on time and time again in the first few minutes of the podcast. Paraphrasing here "This is what we're doing digitally to profit" "we're taking this idea in this direction to be diverse and profit" "this is idea is gone and never coming back because it's not profitable" "remember how good HC was...we created a game with just about everything we wanted in the game but were only marginally profitable" "profit...then we can profit and finally step three profit".

I don't mean any disrespect nor am I trying to speak in absolutes but I wonder if the passion of Madden is a lost art and has been replaced with trying to build a machine or an engine so to speak that is all about profit. I guess it just reaffirmed what we already know and that's cash is king. It just seems like we're in a state where what goes in to the game good, bad, gimmicky or other isn't done so for the betterment of the actual game, or step forward but more so on the presumption that something is done because it's potentially driving profit. Or not done because the costs of change out weight potential profit. Regardless of the fact that something might make the game better.

There are games that have done things that are contrary to what might be precieved as the most diverse profitable avenue but still cash the proverbial cow on it...NBA2k rings a bell. MMA 09 was another sucess story that was contrary to what most analyst viewed as potentially successful. I'm left wanting the higher ups to care more about the game and the passion because if you do that the "profit" is likely to take care of itself. Hopefully that's not fantasy land.

Most of us aren't kids here. A lot of us work and at work, for most businesses, it's profit and nothing more. Its why 90% of us do it every day. I guess I just miss the heart of Madden.
I think the message is loud and clear. It's not time to have a coronary before the holidays with these podcasts. Take them with a grain of salt with little nuggets of information. Heck, I think this is the first time we've heard little nuggets of info this early. ie they work 98% with MUT and 2% with FM. What? What podcast was this specific information leaked?

Wait and take the aggression and hold out until you have enough concrete information when it's made available to you. Do this, and your blood pressure will drop considerably.

Once you can process the information when given, then you can kick, scream and yell to your hearts content within reason.

And I guarantee that not everyone will be a happy camper once the FM or game play information is released.

A) It should have been in the game before
B) Why wasn't this feature added.
 
# 86 Ian_Cummings @ 12/11/10 10:56 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhillyJim76
What I don't get is, if Madden's dev team wants to do these podcasts, why would they stop doing them based upon negative feedback by SOME people? It just propogates the opinion that they are thin skinned and can't deal with criticism.
I don't give a crap about that opinion...it's just your opinion. We deal with criticism...every hour, every day. I don't want to do them if they aren't reaching their intent, which was to engage the community in a new way. We are trying to just be honest with how things work behind the scenes, but since many don't like to hear that and just turn it into a negative thing, then it isn't achieving the intent.
 
# 87 Ian_Cummings @ 12/11/10 10:57 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by khaliib
I guess what frustrates me, is that those posts that push Dev's buttons seem to be the one's they reply to.

I posted this earlier in the thread as an alternative to notating what my dislikes are.

So I'll give this another try and see if a response might come from you guys.
We continue to look into ways of utilizing the community and getting feedback earlier. We can't unfortunately just hope to use you for free labor.
 
# 88 roadman @ 12/11/10 10:58 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhillyJim76
I got that, but in life you are never going to have 100 percent of the people on board with what you are doing. If you want to do these, do 'em! Don't worry about some people not being happy!
Again, I will ask, what's the point of critizing in December when all the cards are not on the table?

If you don't like something February-July, that's fine, that's the time to criticize, but not now when there isn't anything specific in front of us.
 
# 89 PhillyJim76 @ 12/11/10 11:00 PM
Since many don't like to hear that....again, why be negative? There are more than enough people who like what you and your team are doing, witness Madden being the top sports game of November for evidence of that. Like the guy above me just said, reply to the positive and ignore the negative.
 
# 90 RumbleCard @ 12/11/10 11:20 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by roadman
I think the message is loud and clear. It's not time to have a coronary before the holidays with these podcasts. Take them with a grain of salt with little nuggets of information. Heck, I think this is the first time we've heard little nuggets of info this early. ie they work 98% with MUT and 2% with FM. What? What podcast was this specific information leaked?

Wait and take the aggression and hold out until you have enough concrete information when it's made available to you. Do this, and your blood pressure will drop considerably.

Once you can process the information when given, then you can kick, scream and yell to your hearts content within reason.

And I guarantee that not everyone will be a happy camper once the FM or game play information is released.

A) It should have been in the game before
B) Why wasn't this feature added.
I didn't have any unreasonable expectation. I wasn't of the belief that we were shortchanged by the podcast. I don't have high blood pressure and I'm not all worked up over this.

I'm not entirely complaining here either. Just an observation based on my gut feeling after hearing the podcast.

I'm certainly holding judgment on the game especially this early. I'm not saying your accusing me of being one of the dozens of whiners here but I was hoping I could get my .02 across without being lumped in to that category.

Ultimately I'm hoping this will be a significant break out year for Madden and Franchise mode. I just wish that upper management profit mindset wouldn't trickle down so much.
 
# 91 moylan1234 @ 12/11/10 11:34 PM
All due respect to the devs, but I'm confused by all of this would you rather have people lie and say everything is roses?
 
# 92 Ian_Cummings @ 12/11/10 11:52 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by moylan
All due respect to the devs, but I'm confused by all of this would you rather have people lie and say everything is roses?
Yep, exactly what we want.

I wouldn't mind a Christmas card either.
 
# 93 BlueNGold @ 12/11/10 11:55 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by moylan
All due respect to the devs, but I'm confused by all of this would you rather have people lie and say everything is roses?
I don't think it has anything to do with that.

It has everything to do with the fact that a ton of people in this thread were ready to write Madden 12 off because 1 person made a ridiculous statement that there would be no changes to franchise mode from what they gathered out of the podcast or something like that.

When you get crap like that, I can see why Ian gets pissed. At the same time though, every game deals with people like this. Just look at NBA 2K11. The best basketball game ever, but there are still plenty of people that are ready to pounce on it. Not as bad as some of the people in the Madden community, sure, but my point is it's just the nature of forums. I'd hate to see these podcasts get cancelled because of that, but it's up to the people doing them.
 
# 94 moylan1234 @ 12/12/10 12:25 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueNGold
It has everything to do with the fact that a ton of people in this thread were ready to write Madden 12 off because 1 person made a ridiculous statement that there would be no changes to franchise mode from what they gathered out of the podcast or something like that.
I don't think anyone rushed to judgement based solely on this podcast though. it's just the latest thing to come out. people are frustrated by what they see as a lack of progress with the game. again i'm just confused as to why the podcast is taking all the heat here.
 
# 95 BlueNGold @ 12/12/10 12:31 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by moylan
I don't think anyone rushed to judgement based solely on this podcast though. it's just the latest thing to come out. people are frustrated by what they see as a lack of progress with the game. again i'm just confused as to why the podcast is taking all the heat here.
Well talking about a "lack of progress" in a thread about this podcast, which like Ian and others have said they can't go into detail about Madden 12, makes no sense to me.

Why not wait until some info about next year's game comes out or use the other Madden 11 threads to talk about a "lack of progress"?
 
# 96 moylan1234 @ 12/12/10 12:39 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueNGold
Well talking about a "lack of progress" in a thread about this podcast, which like Ian and others have said they can't go into detail about Madden 12, makes no sense to me.

Why not wait until some info about next year's game comes out or use the other Madden 11 threads to talk about a "lack of progress"?
again it's just the latest thing to come out and they're combining what they heard or didn't hear in the podcast with the last 4 or 5 installments of the game and yes I agree they're getting ahead of themselves, but that's kind of par for the course around here
 
# 97 roadman @ 12/12/10 12:39 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by moylan;2041929648it's j
people are frustrated by what they see as a lack of progress with the game.
And that there is the rub.

Like Blue n Gold, I'm wondering why the frustration levels are high in December for a game that comes out next August with podcast that give you little to no information.
 
# 98 kjcheezhead @ 12/12/10 12:42 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ian_Cummings_EA
Some responses / questions...

- WE CAN'T TALK ABOUT SPECIFIC FEATURES FOR MADDEN 12. You hopefully know that by now. Quotes like "Taken together, however, I see them very carefully attempting to set expectations." are just wrong. IT IS DECEMBER, WE HAVE TO BE CRYPTIC. If you are the type of guy that is going to get fired up about not enough talk about specific improvements, then I suggest you don't listen to the podcast.

- Nowhere in the podcast are we saying it's going to take multiple years for you to see any improvements, or that 12 won't have any. See point above, and I can say we have been working on Franchise improvements for some time now.

- "And as far as that "cant make drastic improvements in one cycle" BS....". Where did we ever say that? I 100% believe that drastic improvements can be made in one cycle.

- "I guess after these podcasts, it just looks to me like Madden isn't gonna be a game I'm gonna ever like on these consoles." Does that statement seem a little ridiculous to anyone else? After a podcast that discusses ZERO REAL FEATURE ADDITIONS you aren't going to like Madden, EVER? I always hoped that this forum would eventually be a great place for feedback and ways to improve the game, not the sensationalist extremism that it can quickly descends into.

- There is nothing more frustrating to me than people not actually listening to the podcast but jumping on the opinion bandwagon of another. Please guys, we are spending the time planning and recording these SPECIFICALLY for the Madden community...you could at least give us the respect of listening to it and forming an opinion of your own.

Maybe we should just stop doing these for a while if too many people aren't able to cope with the lack of real information and turn that into a negative thing. That's not what we want out of these at all...we just want to give people a behind the scenes look at the development process and decision making. Thoughts?
This quote is from a post of mine. I'm not making the assumption based on the podcasts alone, I'm basing it on my disappointment in 09-11 along with what I am attempting to "read between the lines". I used to be a year round Madden player, I traded my used copy of 11 in back in September.

I think podcast #2 you posted you weren't "gung ho" about adding things like individual bump/run and shading and teired play calling.

This podcast hints that online franchise has also been put on the back burner a bit.

Added together, I've already gotten enough of an idea that only my love of football gaming makes me bother following this game at all.

To put it simply, if you are considering stopping the podcasts because of posts like mine please don't. I probably wasn't going to like what I was going to hear no matter what you said. No point in denying the madden fans you do have in order the please disenchanted ones like me. I just won't post on them anymore.
 
# 99 BlueNGold @ 12/12/10 12:48 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by moylan
again it's just the latest thing to come out and they're combining what they heard or didn't hear in the podcast with the last 4 or 5 installments of the game and yes I agree they're getting ahead of themselves, but that's kind of par for the course around here
And exactly why this is the first time I came into this forum in a long *** time. Too many people here want to go crazy the second they see the word "Madden". Not trying to make this a blanket statement, because there are plenty of knowledgeable and smart posters here that are just trying to help get the best football game possible made, but their voices (or posts I guess, lol) get drowned out by "the others".

I still can't believe that at one point we had full-on interaction with about 2-3 Madden devs (including Ian) and now we're lucky to get 1 post from them interacting with the community and not posting something that involves news. It's definitely not their fault and I can understand why, but it would be nice if things could go back to the way they were pre-Madden '09 and '10 release, where I think the community and devs here made a huge amount of progress on building a true sim football game.

Anyways, this probably isn't very on-topic, so I'll end this post here. Again, hopefully Ian wants to continue the podcasts, because IMO there is no harm in doing them and there is plenty of good to come out of doing them.
 
# 100 bukktown @ 12/12/10 01:59 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ian_Cummings_EA
We continue to look into ways of utilizing the community and getting feedback earlier. We can't unfortunately just hope to use you for free labor.
Its not such a bad idea really.
 


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