Madden NFL 16 News Post

Donny Moore, the 'Madden Ratings Czar', Leaving EA

11:28 AM - July 2, 2015 by RaychelSnr

Donny Moore, aka the ‘Madden Ratings Czar’, is leaving Electronic Arts as he will be “pursuing other interests.”

In an official statement on Twitter, Moore said, “After much thought & consideration, I have chosen to step away from @EASports & announce my retirement as the Madden Ratings Czar as I have opted to pursue other interests. I am especially grateful of the opportunity to rate players for some of the greatest fans in video games today. After 16 years, it is finally time to hang up the czar's mouse pad! #Czartirement"

For Moore, this ends a long tenure as the guy running the ratings and updates for Madden. Moore’s tenure spanned 16 years at EA Tiburon, which means he was easily one of the most tenured at that studio. There is no word yet on who will be replacing Moore, but we do expect an announcement soon.

The ratings position occupied by Moore has been a staple of Madden’s internet presence for years. Moore’s ratings oftentimes drew criticism, but the weekly ratings updates were always hugely anticipated by fans, despite what ire they may have drawn.

The ratings this year will likely still come in the same pacing as previous years, and it will be interesting to see if any differences in how much players move up and down the scale happens without Moore at the helm. We’ll certainly be watching it going forward!

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Member Comments

# 301 wpgjets23 @ 07/07/15 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bloobloouk


	I gather that CFM is unplayable at present with the current FBG rosters as the draft classes are overpowered. Of course this would no longer be an issue if they were the default and the draft class generation system was updated to reflect that. This is only reason I haven't played with FBG's rosters - I'm a CFM player and they currently don't fit.

Thank you. I was thinking that might be the case, so I'll continue to play NCAA 14.

# 302 JO122194 @ 07/07/15 01:40 PM

Great News! Donny has wayyyy to many 90s in there. I'm a fan of the ratings of FIFA and 2k where the majority of great players are 80s with only a few elite players getting low 90's. I think issues with gameplay have been a result because of this and hopefully they move to a better rating system. Probably wouldn't happen this year tho

# 303 crenk @ 07/07/15 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeuceDouglas


	It sucks that something like this is based on such a "wow" factor when it comes to the casual audience. "Aaron Rodgers is a 90?!?!?!?!? What do you mean a 90?" It wouldn't matter if 90 was the best QB in the game, he still wouldn't be seen as rated highly enough and I think that's something they need to try and get out of peoples minds. There has come this stigma with 99 and breakout players that I wish they could break but I just don't see it happening. I think getting rid of the overall would definitely be a positive move. Especially considering there's now a playercard that gives you most of the important attributes. It would force people to know or at least focus more on the player rather than some arbitrary number that really doesn't mean a whole lot. Whether you get rid of it altogether or change it to something like a bar from MVP Baseball, something needs to be done and it seems like they're at least somewhat aware of it but don't really have a plan as of yet.

Yes, the 99 should be reserved for that once in a generation player that is "the best of all time". If you were to play a 30 year franchise you would see maybe 10 players reach a 99. The way it is now if you load up current rosters you will probably see dozens today, over a 30 year franchise probably 100's of 99's. I am a huge pats fan and love Brady. I think he is an all time great but im not sure I would rank him at a 99 at any point in his career. If I did it would for a year or two stretch.

Thats another issue once a 99 rating is achieved it should be short lived. That should be the absolute peak of a once in a generation player. Most of their career should be spent in low to mid 90's with a peak rating of 99 and then back down to mid low 90's. Using Brady as the example. It would be the Moss, almost perfect season. That was the greatest season I have ever witnessed by a quarterback, brady was as perfect as a QB can get, but it was short lived. That was his peak year, his 99, but you cant sustain that level for long.

In Madden once somebody like JJ Watt or Tom Brady or whoever hits a 99 Rating they stay there, for years and years and years of a franchise which is to me unrealistic.

# 304 crenk @ 07/07/15 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeremym480


	This was pretty much what I was thinking as well. Although my other thought would be the simplest of simple solutions which is to have both ratings (Madden Classic Ratings and FBG Ratings/"Stretched Ratings") in the game; and when you load up a roster/CFM you get to choose which ratings system that you want to go with. That would appease each side... The side that wants to play with the over inflated ratings and the stretched ratings side.

Or even simpler, let us edit mid CFM, EA has to do nothing in terms of ratings and they dont even need to pay Dan, which if I read his words right, is not really his motivation on this anyway, so I mean no offense. He wants what is best for the sim gamer.
So EA has an easy solution to keep the tourney/cheesers happy with the out of the box jacked ratings and gives sim players the ability to have the community make the sim ratings with little outlay of resources on their part.

Seems like such a no brainer EA, COME ON

# 305 redsox4evur @ 07/07/15 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crenk


	Yes, the 99 should be reserved for that once in a generation player that is "the best of all time". If you were to play a 30 year franchise you would see maybe 10 players reach a 99. The way it is now if you load up current rosters you will probably see dozens today, over a 30 year franchise probably 100's of 99's. I am a huge pats fan and love Brady. I think he is an all time great but im not sure I would rank him at a 99 at any point in his career. If I did it would for a year or two stretch. Thats another issue once a 99 rating is achieved it should be short lived. That should be the absolute peak of a once in a generation player. Most of their career should be spent in low to mid 90's with a peak rating of 99 and then back down to mid low 90's. Using Brady as the example. It would be the Moss, almost perfect season. That was the greatest season I have ever witnessed by a quarterback, brady was as perfect as a QB can get, but it was short lived. That was his peak year, his 99, but you cant sustain that level for long. In Madden once somebody like JJ Watt or Tom Brady or whoever hits a 99 Rating they stay there, for years and years and years of a franchise which is to me unrealistic.

There is one year I would rate Brady a 99 on a starting roster 2008. He had the great 2007 season. Led the team to the most wins in a season and postseason combined. Perfect record in the regular season. He had 4806 yards and an NFL record (at the time) 50 TD's.

# 306 jeremym480 @ 07/07/15 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crenk


	Or even simpler, let us edit mid CFM, EA has to do nothing in terms of ratings and they dont even need to pay Dan, which if I read his words right, is not really his motivation on this anyway, so I mean no offense. He wants what is best for the sim gamer. So EA has an easy solution to keep the tourney/cheesers happy with the out of the box jacked ratings and gives sim players the ability to have the community make the sim ratings with little outlay of resources on their part. Seems like such a no brainer EA, COME ON

I'm a huge proponent of editing... I want the ability edit everything mid-CFM Attributes, Names, Equipment, Playbooks, even coaches... everything! With that said, we need ratings to be in-line across the board throughout the life of CFM. I know you could download Dan's roster, but I certainly don't want to spend hours upon hours editing rookies each season.

A couple of potential solutions to this:
a) draft class share
b) something similar to this idea

Spoiler

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4thQtrStre5S


	IT would be perfect if the program could just take the ratings of the current roster used in CFM, for example and then auto generate new players within the averages of the players currently being used in game...Then anyone could create any set of player rating values and any auto generated players would match up...

c) give us a web-based roster editor similar to NCAA's Team Builder so you can edit faster
d) All of the above

# 307 crenk @ 07/07/15 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeremym480


	I'm a huge proponent of editing... I want the ability edit everything mid-CFM Attributes, Names, Equipment, Playbooks, even coaches... everything! With that said, we need ratings to be in-line across the board throughout the life of CFM. I know you could download Dan's roster, but I certainly don't want to spend hours upon hours editing rookies each season. A couple of potential solutions to this: a) draft class share b) something similar to this idea c) give us a web-based roster editor similar to NCAA's Team Builder so you can edit faster d) All of the above

I would love any of those options, doing the draft editing myself is not ideal but I would do it if I had to...

# 308 forme95 @ 07/07/15 03:57 PM

Good, now lower the ratings so that it's harder to get a player to 99 ovr.

Sent from my HTC One mini using Tapatalk

# 309 sir psycho @ 07/07/15 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RexDEAFootball


	Hold on guys. When I said 'competitive balance' I am referring to overall game balance. User vs. User and User vs. CPU. When we have tried these types of ratings changes in the past, it would negatively impact that balance to the degree that I was not comfortable moving forward with it for the good of the game. Competitive balance (overall game balance and playability) is inseparable from generating authentic outcomes. The two go hand in hand. When I referred to 'community sourced' ratings, that could mean anything. It started out with us reaching out to the most respected and well known ratings sites out there. Don't automatically assume this will turn into a PR driven 'cover vote' style thing, that is not our intent. We want to figure out the best way to involve and utilize the community moving forward in generating a ratings system that represents the best thing for the game. Finally I want to mention that Donny Moore shared this vision of fewer elites and greater ratings spread. It is a shared goal we are actively working towards.

I really appreciate that you take the time to read and occasionally respond on here. I guess I did rush to judge too quickly, and probably overreacted at what I heard(although, I'm definitely not alone in that on here

). I've been let down by the game for so long that it's easy to get carried away by any perceived negatives. It's nice to read your explanations, they definitely helped ease my concerns. Anyway, thanks for responding!

Oh, and if you read this...hire Dan!

# 310 charter04 @ 07/07/15 06:33 PM

I'm playing a game on my twitch channel using the FBG rosters right now. All default All pro settings. www.twitch.tv/charter04

# 311 ggsimmonds @ 07/07/15 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RexDEAFootball


	Hold on guys. When I said 'competitive balance' I am referring to overall game balance. User vs. User and User vs. CPU. When we have tried these types of ratings changes in the past, it would negatively impact that balance to the degree that I was not comfortable moving forward with it for the good of the game. Competitive balance (overall game balance and playability) is inseparable from generating authentic outcomes. The two go hand in hand. When I referred to 'community sourced' ratings, that could mean anything. It started out with us reaching out to the most respected and well known ratings sites out there. Don't automatically assume this will turn into a PR driven 'cover vote' style thing, that is not our intent. We want to figure out the best way to involve and utilize the community moving forward in generating a ratings system that represents the best thing for the game. Finally I want to mention that Donny Moore shared this vision of fewer elites and greater ratings spread. It is a shared goal we are actively working towards.

Thanks for paying attention to us and taking the time to respond. You are ok in my book. I like the direction you guys are seeming to take with the gameplay.

That said, I do have an issue with the above bolded portion. Is it really something that is a goal you are working towards? This is not authentic blocking AI or something of that nature. Altering the ratings range should be easily done in a single cycle.

Now for my speculation: Does the team want to change the ratings distribution but certain parties aren't keen on the idea? Not going to provide names or anything, but starts with an M and rhymes with sharketing maybe? I don't expect you to respond to that lol

# 312 DCEBB2001 @ 07/07/15 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charter04


	I'm playing a game on my twitch channel using the FBG rosters right now. All default All pro settings. www.twitch.tv/charter04

Charter - I'm watching you scroll through your player list right now and it is so cool to see my ratings in this game!

# 313 Playmakers @ 07/07/15 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by forme95


	Good, now lower the ratings so that it's harder to get a player to 99 ovr. Sent from my HTC One mini using Tapatalk

Why does the overall rating matter?

I personally think way too many people get caught up in the overall.

IMO EA should adjust the gameplay to be more tendency ratings driven as opposed to overall ratings.

They should leave the overall rating out of the equation and just rank players by skill set.

For example Power back vs Speed back.....why even bother with a overall just categorize the RB and let his tendency/skill set dictate his production and how he performs on the field based on his usage/system he's in.

I understand you can't do away with numbers entirely but to me i've never felt much a difference between a guy rated 91 vs a guy rated 81 overall.

Instead of using a number system for example QBA deep 80 why not just lable his effectiveness as as AVERAGE on DEEP PASS and code the game to render better realistic results

As it stands right now you can give a guy 60 on DEEP Pass and he'll still be on target more often than not because of the engine/mechanics in Madden very rarely renders any off target throws unless you damn near dummy down the game play SLIDER which shouldn't be that way IMO.

# 314 charter04 @ 07/07/15 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DCEBB2001


	Charter - I'm watching you scroll through your player list right now and it is so cool to see my ratings in this game!

I'll play more at some point. It's nice that both QB's threw in the 60's as far a percentage on default All pro. Also the Cowboys felt like a better team no doubt. I had trouble stopping Murray and that offense. The Pats Seahawks was totally different though. I won on a late jump ball to Gronk.

# 315 kehlis @ 07/07/15 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Playmakers


	Why does the overall rating matter? I personally think way too many people get caught up in the overall.

I'm with you but gave up fighting this fight on this website years ago because it's just not understood.

Do this day, no one has ever been able to answer my question of "What attribute does overall affect on the field?"

# 316 ggsimmonds @ 07/07/15 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kehlis


	I'm with you but gave up fighting this fight on this website years ago because it's just not understood. Do this day, no one has ever been able to answer my question of "What attribute does overall affect on the field?"

It is not quite an attribute but I'll answer: playing time.

# 317 kehlis @ 07/07/15 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ggsimmonds


	It is not quite an attribute but I'll answer: playing time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bucky60


	Overall matters because the CPU uses it for setting up depth charts, signing free agents, and overall is used in all contracts, both user and CPU.

I'm talking more in the context of conversations with people regarding why their favorite players on their team are rated so low.

I also don't like that it affects the things it does but understand overall is never going away.

# 318 ggsimmonds @ 07/07/15 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kehlis


	I'm talking more in the context of conversations with people regarding why their favorite players on their team are rated so low. I also don't like that it affects the things it does but understand overall is never going away.

Not sure if you caught my cheekiness, forgot my emoticon lol.

I was not referring to the AI roster management but instead the legion of gamers who only sort their depth chart by overall without looking at anything else (except maybe speed).

# 319 charter04 @ 07/07/15 11:02 PM

doing some more streaming with the FBG rosters. www.twitch.tv/charter04

# 320 Yukon46 @ 07/08/15 08:34 AM

The question I have for this whole topic is....

Can we still do something to Madden 16's ratings ?
And CFM's future ratings ?

I just want the ratings to make Sense !!!

Can we get the players moving at the proper Speeds on the base roster... and have the CFM draft classes match that model built off the Base roster ???

Because of Madden's history of over-speeding...I have serious doubt this has changed to the level it should be. Which in turn tells me the future draftees in CFM's will still be built on that over-speeded Base roster model....and the cycle continues.

Now I am sure you have already determined what all the combine numbers will result into what ratings for incoming draftees.

SO I am asking the EA Dev's...

Did you take that scale and apply it completely to the base roster ?

Then use the %totals from the new base roster as the model for creating draftees ?

The point being....
If the scale says a 4.50 equals 86 speed.......there cant be 50 guys on the base roster who ran a 4.50 that have an 89 speed.

If you get the Physical Ratings on point.... that alone will make gameplay better, and will even lower some overall ratings in the process.

These are the things that always dont make sense in the Madden rosters...if everyone is rated properly for their physical ratings, it will balance out.

Can something like this be done to Madden 16 ?

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