04:36 PM - November 5, 2014 by RaychelSnr
It shouldn't surprise you that Madden NFL 15 has a penalty problem, in the sense that most penalties are just never called in the game. With the default sliders, it is highly possible you won't see a single penalty called during a game. Most OS'ers agree that more penalties would add to the game and not subtract from it.
The popular theory is that EA doesn't have penalties called in the game because the randomness of penalties would ruin the experience for the average user. From talks I've had with Madden developers past and present, there is some credence to that being the case for the lack of actual penalties in the game.
What is baffling though, is why penalty sliders can't account for more variability where you can get to a more realistic penalty count while keeping the default game as separated as possible from penalties. Next year, it would certainly benefit the game if EA Sports could deliver a set of sliders that more adequately gives users the power to create a game experience more suited to the real NFL with actual 1st and 20s being possible.
Perhaps this could be where the all-mysterious (and oft-useless) AWR rating could finally play a hand in things on a tangible level on the field?
What do you think could be done to balance the needs of casual gamers who may not want a realistic number of yellow flags being thrown with the more hardcore Madden fans who demand more realistic handling of penalties?