Madden NFL 10 Blog: Franchise Mode Improvements

[Guillotine 1]

Quote: Originally Posted by PGaither84

You can see in his chart the Stock of ERTS in the last 5 years adn what has come of EA since the Exclusive licensing deal. Keep in mind that Madden isn't the only thing EA makes, but it is one of it's largest and highest selling products. In the second chart we will also notice the stock of EA prior to the exclusive licensing deal and afterwards in this 10 year chart.

Now is the best time to buy...you guys are great, I can get everything I need on OS...lol

[Bump101]

Quote: Originally Posted by seveb

I don't get it. Guys produce because they have good attributes, not vice versa. I think everybody is harping on age 30 because he mentioned that for RB's, and I imagine other positions have different ages where decline becomes likely. But seriously, football is a young man's game. At most positions, guys on the wrong side of 30 might not be finished, but they're past their prime. The wider range of ratings should help, since a great player can fall off a bit and still be very good, but he'll still fall off. Brainy players will be less affected because awareness and technique won't be hurt... I hope there are rare exceptions, but they should be just that - rare. Just because my guy just had a great year doesn't mean he's still not one year older and one year more beaten up. Just got an idea (obviously won't make it this year), but what if, for example, the amount of career carries a RB has factors into his decline? A guys whose carried the load for 7 or 8 years might have not have anything left, but you might be able to squeeze a couple more years out of a guy who was a late bloomer and rode the pine when he was young. The Durability rating could also play a role. Just a thought.

The thing that's bothering me is the "will decrease a warp speed" comment. So basically, once a player(running back or any position for that matter) turns 30 it's all downhill for that player and it should not be that way. If that's the case, then it would be no Kurt Warner type season from a player in madden 10 franchise.

Look at it this way, when madden 10 is release, Kurt Warner probably is going to have a 90 overall rating or higher. Yet, if we were going off of the new madden 10 logic, if Warner have the kind of season he had in real life, in the first year of franchise in 10, his rating would either decrease "at warp speed", or he probably would retire, just because he's over 30. It just doesn't make sense. I mean if a player get old, I can see him decreasing in certain physical ratings such as spd, acc, agl, etc. But to say a player is going to fall off at warp speed because he turns 30 is crazy.

A player should be judged by what he does on the field as well as other factors. But to say a player is going to decline just because he turn 30 makes no sense. I can put together a list of players in the nfl that's over 30 and still playing at a high level.

And one more thing. There should be some type of way to talk a player out of retirement. The cpu should not decide when one of my players are going to retire. I should at least have a chance in talking my players in to coming back for another year.

[SomeStrangeSin]

ok i dont know what the deal with franchise mode is.
pre created rookies? wtf i want my rookies to be random always soo precreated will have 10 different people to choose from each position. LAME

players getting worse each year after 30? thats complete bs players should inface progress if they have a good year at those ages look at kurt warner.

also sleepers need to be random in the draft and position.

so far i dont like what i have heard in franchise mode they better fix this pre-created rookie bs

[stux]

I totally agree that ratings shouldn't just drop at some specific age. That is totally unrealistic. It is different for every individual player based on:

Use (how many carrier for a HP, throws for a QB, etc.)
Injuries
DNA
performance - Is the player still playing and playing well?

If they make all players hit a wall at the same point and just turn to **** that would be pretty damn lame. There are plenty of players that player well into their 30's and even better depending on the position.

Retirement age should be a larger variable as well. They need to look at the NFL and see how some older players are playing well and see the variables in retirement ages.

You guys have a book to base your book after.......LOOK AT THE NFL>>>>and base the game on reality...that simple.

.....then it would be in the game

[kcarr]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mofficial

Quote: Donny Moore did a lot of good work with progression prior to my joining the team and I’ve been able to keep tweaking it since. Here are the major changes we’ve made so far: • Older players will digress much faster. In fact, when a running back hits 30, he’s going downhill at warp speed. =[ Can players below an elite status go downhill at "warp speed" and elite players just go down a noticeable speed? like decrease over the span of 2 years or so? ... I'm probably biased but i am not looking forward to LT retiring or being no good after my first season in franchise mode this year. Also, can there be like a rating or something for regression? so that way if a player knows he can keep going for a couple more seasons (like Brett Favre and his 23 retirement false alarms) then they won't regress as easily and even if they are old, they won't retire? And on the reverse side if a player is relatively old and knows that they are really regressing, could this make their retirement more inevitable? just some more food for thought. At any rate, GREAT POST! I LOVE WHAT I'M HEARING!

Ok, first off I wanted to point out the fact that he said running backs at that age. They probably therefore realize other positions don't take the same high impact beating that running backs take.

As far as LT goes, I see him probably still being borderline elite, low 90s, his first season. Even if he regresses really harshly (10 points overall) that still makes him low 80s which with the spread out ratings should still be good enough to be effective in a lot of situations. Especially in the case of LT and guys like westbrook their catching ability, their vision, and their leadership and awareness abilities should really allow them to maintain a role on the team for a couple more years.

Sure, when he drops down to an 82, hopefully with lower endurance/stamina/injury type ratings, you will want to start looking to use him less. Maybe lowering his carries more and more, getting a replacement ready, and trying to protect him from taking the beating of trying to run 20 or 25 times a game. This forces you to play more to their strengths once they start to decline if they want to still make the proper impact, somewhat like how bettis was used primarly in short yardage situations at the end of his career.

[cedwebb]

Quote: Originally Posted by lightning_78

We mean that though a lot of guys do drop off around age 30, there are guys like Thomas Jones (who rushed for over 1300 yds and 12 TDs if I remember), Jerome Bettis when he was playing, and guys like LT and Westbrook who are either or almost 30 who are all still playing at a high level. We don't want our 29-year-old HB who just rushed for 1800 yds and 25 TDs (aka Priest Holmes in 2003 when he turned 30) to have that kind of season and then drop from a 97 OVR to a 92 OVR just because he turned 30. Though that's where the potential rating could come in handy if done correctly.

Yeah I hope its not a thing where as soon as they are 30 the switch goes off and boom..your RB dies. I don't think they would do that but at the same time I do want to see a decline in players over 30. What will be KEY I think in this is that even though you have older players, and they loose some physical attributes causing a decline in overall rating, the other ratings such as AWR or experience become a factor. Older players can play longer and lose speed because they become smarter. I hope this is somehow protrayed in 10. I also realize that my 31 year old LB is going to start to lose a step(Ray Lewis) but they should still be able to contribute because of there experience. I would love it if we could sign them vets to a one year deal because they have high AWR to fill a spot until I find a younger fix. They should drop from say a 94 to a 89 just because they loose that speed and acceleration. I hope thats what they are getting at.

[seveb]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bump101

Look at it this way, when madden 10 is release, Kurt Warner probably is going to have a 90 overall rating or higher. Yet, if we were going off of the new madden 10 logic, if Warner have the kind of season he had in real life, in the first year of franchise in 10, his rating would either decrease "at warp speed", or he probably would retire, just because he's over 30. It just doesn't make sense. I mean if a player get old, I can see him decreasing in certain physical ratings such as spd, acc, agl, etc. But to say a player is going to fall off at warp speed because he turns 30 is crazy.

I don't disagree. I think the 30 mark was just for RB's, and it really does make sense there. No one can make a list of really good over-30 rbs. Qb's and OL and stuff, sure, I'm with you, but I don't think that EA was talking about anything other than RB's when they specifically mentioned age 30.

I think guys who rely on pure physical skills (Speed, agility, etc) should be hurt more than, say, a Teddy Bruschi type. I'll go on record and say Urlacher either won't be in the league or will be just another guy (maybe playing weak-side) within a few years.

I just don't want a lot of guys maintaining well into their mid-thirties because then you end up unbalancing the game as good young guys come in. For every guy people think of that held up well for longer than usual, about a bajillion guys didn't.

Edit: Kcarr just said some of what I was trying to say, but said it better.

[dave374]

Quote: Originally Posted by PGaither84

You can clearly see here that when madden 09 dropped there was HUGE hit in EA's stock. however there has been a huge finacial crisis since then as well. The week of 8/25/2008 was the last "high" for Ea and it has quickly gone down hill from 48.81 to the now 19.69 However, you can tell that the wek of 3/02/09 to 3/30/09 it has gone from 15.31 to the now 19.69 I hope all of this helps us Madden gamers understand what confidence and small impact Ian and his crew may be having on the trading floor.

EA's market drop had nothing to do with the games themselves.
Everyone's stock took a beatdown.
No blue-chip company escaped the stock meltdown.