We Need More From Madden Online

[RaychelSnr]

In what is quickly becoming both the OS Staff's dog on Madden day, Rob Fetter checks in today with a look at why Madden's online modes are disappointing and what it will take to rectify the situation. Check out his thoughts in his article, We Need More From Madden Online.

Quote:

"Online Leagues. Really that’s it? When online leagues were announced originally, I thought that was enough -- at least it’s something new that we haven’t had before with Madden. I’ve been conditioned by EA to just take my little additions they add, thank the company, and move on to be happy with saying, “it’s a step, maybe next year.” But I don’t think that I can do that when it comes to Madden this year. "

[Ram209]

Not only are they 5 years behind 2k, you cant even call it a league its really a tournament!

[onebmf044]

I posted a thread earlier this week about this very thing. Why can we not get a franchise mode instead of the boring leagues? A franchise is where it is at

[labguy]

"In Madden where there is no competition, it has taken EA longer to do less."

Amen!!! I can't believe the flagship title Madden does not have an online franchise feature and baby brother NCAA does. LOL. I am sure EA has big meeting to lay out a 3-5 yr plan on what new features to add each year. How they have avoided any real online features of substance is beyond me. Of course being the only NFL title in town helps. The sheep that we are we keep lining their pockets.

[Ruffy]

I could care less about the 2k whining about what we dont have...your game doesn't exist so you don't have that either.

If Madden next year copies NCAA online dynasty and has their own online franchises (with trades, fantasy draft, nfl draft and FA signings) then the game will truly be epic....until then its good...maybe great but not epic.

NCAA has been great so far with myself and a friend who lives many miles away playing through a dynasty and chatting it up in the lobby while we recruit and sim any games...are only NCAA wish is if we could get hired and fired like offline.

[hoodlum10]

i think the online leagues are terrible and near impossible to keep running with evrybody active but as far as gameplay is concerned, i like madden more than ncaa

[musHA]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ruffy

I could care less about the 2k whining about what we dont have...your game doesn't exist so you don't have that either. If Madden next year copies NCAA online dynasty and has their own online franchises (with trades, fantasy draft, nfl draft and FA signings) then the game will truly be epic....until then its good...maybe great but not epic. NCAA has been great so far with myself and a friend who lives many miles away playing through a dynasty and chatting it up in the lobby while we recruit and sim any games...are only NCAA wish is if we could get hired and fired like offline.

True Fanboy right here!!! Then you guys wonder why EA continues to sell you guys beta copies with numerous glitches like freezing, wide receiver direct snap, and disconnecting just to name a few. You guys need to wake up and realize you the consumers paying $60 bucks are being rip offed.

[JayhawkerStL]

There is no doubt that Madden is missing what we all consider an online league. But let's look at what Madden does have.

While I was really unimpressed with what EA is considering league play, I have kind of come around to embrace it. I don't think EA is marketing it very well, but I think it really encourages more pick up and play games within a group of friends. Within that group, you can see who is beating who, and you can play anyone, anytime. My current league has 20 teams. That's 19 games, which is just weird. It just doesn't fit what anyone would consider a season. No week to week games, just a list of people you have to track down and play at some point.

But what if we alter that way of thinking. This isn't a league, it is a play group of sorts. What if I take five other friends that play all the time. Back in the old Madden 94 days, a group of us that would spend evenings playing matches where the winner gets to continue.

Let's take that same group of guys and put them online. There would be six of us, and I would set up the "league" for 11 games. Yes, I said ELEVEN GAMES. That would mean our "season" is 55 games. But the goal is not to finish. It's to keep a database of all of our games! Maybe one night I play a friend three straight games. The next night someone else is on. Over the course of a year, we might get the games in. But in that time, we have this database of information that we get to use as trash talk on each other. In that way, this is really freaking cool!

When we look at it this way, even bigger leagues make sense. If they get bored, they can drop out. If we want playoffs, fine, but I think it misses the point. That's why it might actually make sense to allow duplicate teams, even if it lacks stack tracking. You still get wins and losses and points for and against. That might be all we need.

A bunch of NFC North or AFC West fans could get together and just spend a year bashing each other. I can think of lots of ways this could be useful. It would not be hard to be in more than one league at a time in this manner. Just different groups of guys to play, all the while, avoiding the pubtards. I don't care where I rank among Madden Nation, but I would have a blast seeing how I rank among friends.