Meh I have a Friends List and Forums so that I can play Madden/NCAA "the way we want to play it, with the people we want to play with". This thing just SMELLS like an EPIC FAIL!Originally Posted by Paakaa10
Community =
:rolleyes:
While EA was apparently doinginstead of getting online and offline franchises to be 100% the same.
I know I'm going to be the minority opinion in this thread. For a site which is mostly NCAA Football fans--myself among them after NCAA Football 11 far outclassed Madden NFL 11--there was bound to be something in the news release process which would change the positive reactions to the far other end of the spectrum.
For the sake of argument, let's say that there were only four potential outcomes that could have played out with regards to offline Franchise and Online Franchise in Madden NFL 12; I'm leaving out the "both offline and Online Franchise get 100% of everything" because personally I don't think that was ever a possibility in this cycle:
- Offline Franchise gets significant upgrade this year, Online Franchise does not.
- Online Franchise gets significant upgrade this year, offline Franchise does not.
- Offline Franchise and Online Franchise both get minor upgrades which are derided by the fanbase expecting more out of both.
- Neither offline Franchise nor Online Franchise are internally 100% up to standards; upgrades for both get postponed to Madden NFL 13.
It would appear that scenario #1 has taken place; which, of the four, makes the most sense to me overall. In the Madden NFL 12 podcasts which were a staple earlier this year, it was said that the three most-used modes in Madden NFL 11 were:
- Offline Play Now.
- Online Play Now.
- Offline Franchise.
Every other mode was far behind those three in terms of the usage metrics.
Does the sub-standard Online Franchise--compared to offline--have a hand to play in that? Certainly. But let me run with a metaphor here...
A housing developer has two plots of land and $1,000,000 to work with. Plot A has garnered significant interest, with hundreds of people interested in buying a house there. Plot B has 10 people interested. The smart play is to put a significant investment into Plot A--offline Franchise--while Plot B gets left-overs to a certain degree. No businessperson--no matter how shrewd their presentation--would be able to land even 30% of the overall money for the plot with less interest.
Knowing that offline Franchise is where the usage lies, EA SPORTS made a move to involve leagueManager--a fan-made system that will have unprecedented access to server information--in the Online Franchise mode for no charge aside from having people work with LM on implementation.
This allows LM's development with Madden NFL 12 to serve as essentially a "beta test" for how Online Franchise will inevitably be updated in Madden NFL 13. There's still a lot that hasn't been spelled out regarding how Online Franchise and leagueManager will be tied together and I'm interested to learn more. People are arguing now that there's no excuse for Online Franchise to get no love in 12, so another failure next year would be a risk that I don't imagine can be taken.
I'm not saying that it's okay for Online Franchise to be untouched; I'm saying that I understand why that is the case and I can begrudgingly appreciate what is being done in the interim. Outcome #3 would've been bad, and outcome #4 from earlier in this post would've been suicide for the Madden NFL franchise; seeing no improvements in either version of Franchise would've sent the community over the edge, and I would completely understand.
It's just a shame that offline Franchise gets the improvements it has needed for a while and developer Josh Looman is treated as a messiah by the Madden community until--less than a month later--he's made a pariah and is getting death threats because only one version of Franchise mode is getting those improvements in a development cycle which runs less than a year.
Perhaps but the reason why Online Franchise lags way behind is b/c the most COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY SUCKS.
I may go try to find the quote but EA employees (perhaps former now given the exodus) said something along the lines of online franchise would be "easy" to update/change b/c it was on servers.
Well if it was/is "easy" I can think of only one reason why EA didn't do a major upgrade to BOTH offline/online franchise make them 100% the same and call it a day.
That reason is simply EA wanted to toot its own horn in 12 with all the "great" things they did to offline franchise.
Then turn around do a simple "copy/paste" like job with the code and put it into online franchise and then toot their own horn with all the "great" things they did to online franchise.
That's 2 years of hype for 1 year of work when they previously admitted that updating online franchise was "easy".
I conceded that point; I said that a probable reason for Online Franchise being so little-used is because it's not up to offline standards. I understand.
I've seen a lot of people touting quotes from the development team in interviews about how easy it would be to update and upgrade Online Franchise from years past. I can't dispute those things being said either.I may go try to find the quote but EA employees (perhaps former now given the exodus) said something along the lines of online franchise would be "easy" to update/change b/c it was on servers.
Well if it was/is "easy" I can think of only one reason why EA didn't do a major upgrade to BOTH offline/online franchise make them 100% the same and call it a day.
That reason is simply EA wanted to toot its own horn in 12 with all the "great" things they did to offline franchise.
Then turn around do a simple "copy/paste" like job with the code and put it into online franchise and then toot their own horn with all the "great" things they did to online franchise.
That's 2 years of hype for 1 year of work when they previously admitted that updating online franchise was "easy".
But I honestly don't think it's as easy as saying that development of these things was intentionally slowed just for the sake of PR. If anything, it's become clear over the past few years that it's a PR disaster within the hardcore communities when these things don't get any love.
I can't imagine there's anybody involved who thinks that gamers are going to be thrilled and enamored with EA if Online Franchise in Madden NFL 13 is just a copy-and-paste job of offline Franchise in Madden NFL 12. There will be high expectations--just as there are every year--for major improvements. I hope they deliver.
In the meantime--being somebody who is more likely to play an offline Franchise than an online one--I'm still excited to see what's changed offline for Madden NFL 12.
I do not intend this to sound like a slight on Tiburon, because it could be read that way, but just a commentary on expectations in general. I don't think EA has any hope of meeting the expectations for Online Franchise. Not now.
Last year it was "franchise wasn't touched, but it will be next year!" That was a pretty high bar to set. This year it's "Online Franchise still isn't up to par, but it will be next year!" That's an even higher bar to set, especially considering what online franchise was already lacking. I would expect that next year Online Franchise will be closer to Offline. But I don't think it will have everything. I'm not sure it can, quite honestly. But the level of expectation from the hardcore community will be that it must.
And that's going to be damn hard to reach.
There is very, very little that I would guess is "simple" when it comes to porting Franchise features over to Offlline Franchise. It's certainly not as easy as copying & pasting.
Twitter: @3YardsandACloud
Perhaps not. I know diddly about computer programming and making video games. However, I always try to turn it into a profession I do know (law).
If I tell a client (customer) something will be "easy" to accomplish you damn well better believe it is so...... "easy" that I have a 0% doubt in my mind that I can accomplish what I say (which is why I rarely say things like "easy" and the like as few things are really easy in the law and i am sure the same applies to video game making).
I guess I'm just mad b/c: (1) EA's Madden employees/experts said it was "easy" to upgrade/improve online franchise; (2) NCAA (which is the same company as Madden) has a completely functional an fun online dynasty mode (other than the coaching K - which we have now it has had just about if not everything in offline also at least an option in online dynasty for MULTIPLE years now)
Moreover, as EA's "client"/customer I have every right to be upset/pissed what have you when they promised YEARS ago something was "easy" to fix/upgrade and the damn mode has barely (if at all) been touched since it was installed.
Bottom line, IF I made a promise like that and failed to deliver my client(s) would leave and take their business somewhere else. EA shouldn't be surprised when their customers do the same.
Nobody's saying you can't be mad about it. Looks like you'll be saving some money this summer. That's one way to send a message about what a product needs to do to earn your money.
And I'll give you this, at least; you have remained consistent throughout the news process of Madden NFL 12 that you would not be interested in the game if the Online Franchise mode didn't receive the same features touted for offline. I can respect that.
Yeah my favorite part of Madden/NCAA is the dynasty/franchise. I play both offline and online and really enjoy both. However, online dynasty when with a good group of guys is REALLY fun and more competitive than just playing the CPU which I never expect to be competitive with me unless I find a magic set of sliders heavily in favor of the CPU and that often leads to a "cheesey" feeling game.
IMHO that is the BIGGEST thing EA is missing with Madden right now. Perhaps I (and people like me) am not their "target" audience with Madden. I've often heard others say that they get the impression from EA that NCAA is more for my crowd and that Madden is geared more towards the online play now/east room/tournament gamer crowd.
I simply will not buy Madden unless/until 100% of offline franchise is at least an option to turn on in online franchise. (well maybe excluding popcorn prices although I don't see why it couldn't also be in the game)
I really didn't care about Online Franchise. I'm just not seeing enough additions to Franchise, in general, that are going to make me want to play a game that is so much more arcade like than NCAA (which is really saying something), that I just don't see myself playing it when I have a FAR more realistic feeling football game already that has coaches changing jobs and bringing in new systems with them.
Which is the same for Madden once you find a solid sim community and leagues. I hate playing the CPU in both and preferrably wouldn't like to adjust 585 different slider combinations just to get a "realistic" type feel for a game. Either eway nothing trumps playing another user which the CPU cannot emulate.
I'm on the fence about the 2nd part, regardless of which both games are geared towards the people playing them turn them into the kind of games they are. You can be cheesy in both and have both games play arcadey. I get the sim experience from Madden but I do feel it has catered to the "casual" type players more than anything. This year I have heard from reputable guys (Shopmaster) that it will have features the hardcore guys have been looking to get back since PS2. And that the game doesn't feature any of the gimmicky features that it has in the past.
I haven't played franchise since the 2004 version and that is because I was playing games alone then. Ever since finding multiple leagues in a strictly sim community I am a part of I've never needed offline Madden anymore. That is why ever year I will continue to preach gameplay fixes first and foremost. That should be 1st in every football game though IMO.
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