Madden 10 Online Franchise Q&A

by pastapadre
Posted June 9th, 2009 at 2:04 pm

madden10haynesworth

The latest blog posting for Madden 10 offers an Online Franchise Q&A. Questions were submitted via forums and Twitter in regard to the mode. Given that this is a brand new endeavor this is a good opportunity to find out some additional info on it and get a better understanding of why certain decisions were made. Read through the full posting here.

So this week we wanted to take the opportunity to answer some of the most common questions that we’ve been seeing from the community and from the gaming media. Not everyone has a 100% clear idea of what all is included in the mode, and we have also noticed that some folks have expressed frustration over missing features. With that being the case, we felt it imperative to explain a.) why we made the decisions that we did and b.) our plan for the future developing on this new platform.

It looks like a lot is going to fall on having a strong trustworthy commish. That does allow for many of us to get the full experience out of the mode. I still hold a lot of concern for people joining public leagues or with ones that will die out due to an unreliable commish. In its first year Online Dynasty for NCAA Football did incredibly well due in part to being invite only which took out much of that uncertainty by limiting the chances people would run into poor experiences.

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Jay

I don't get how salary cap and CPU trade logic could be missing. They have them in Offline franchise. I understand that pushing the franchise logic to the server side may require porting these modules to a new platform or technology stack. But couldn't they at least hack something in there, perhaps running a trade evaluation service in a virtual machine (emulating the platform that offline franchises run on) and have the franchise server talk to it to evaluate trades and FA contracts.
Jay

I don't get how salary cap and CPU trade logic could be missing. They have them in Offline franchise. I understand that pushing the franchise logic to the server side may require porting these modules to a new platform or technology stack. But couldn't they at least hack something in there, perhaps running a trade evaluation service in a virtual machine (emulating the platform that offline franchises run on) and have the franchise server talk to it to evaluate trades and FA contracts.
http://intensedebate.com/people/rezluk Rezluk

exactly doesnt make sense at all
http://intensedebate.com/people/rezluk Rezluk

exactly doesnt make sense at all
Phototropic

This just went from a must buy to wait and see. I don't get why at a minimum we wouldn't have contracts and salaries to help us manage players, even if they don't mean anything. Also there is no good way to manage CPU teams when you have to cut and sign all their players for them. Hopefully they surprise us with something.
Phototropic

This just went from a must buy to wait and see. I don't get why at a minimum we wouldn't have contracts and salaries to help us manage players, even if they don't mean anything. Also there is no good way to manage CPU teams when you have to cut and sign all their players for them. Hopefully they surprise us with something.
Alex

wowwww, no salary cap,and the player stays with the team forever…
Thats just inexcusable.
If thats the cause wheres the fun in that? There will never be a challenging concept behind
making your team better because there EA didn't include a salary cap
Alex

wowwww, no salary cap,and the player stays with the team forever…
Thats just inexcusable.
If thats the cause wheres the fun in that? There will never be a challenging concept behind
making your team better because there EA didn't include a salary cap
anonymous

Guys they probably don’t add certain features so they can add it in next years game and say that’s the new feature, imagine if madden was perfect, it would be great but no one would buy it year after year if is already perfect, that’s y they implement these new things so they can cal it a “new” feature.
anonymous

Guys they probably don’t add certain features so they can add it in next years game and say that’s the new feature, imagine if madden was perfect, it would be great but no one would buy it year after year if is already perfect, that’s y they implement these new things so they can cal it a “new” feature.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Mr_EA_Sports Mr_EA_Sports

It's amazing to me how EA goes about doing things. I know that they do not watch the games except for ESPN highlights because a lot of good players have mediocre stats while well known players have phenomenal attributes. I like the new rating system but you have to play it true all the way or it's just another flawed system. McNabb is the strongest QB how do I know? Because I seen the McNabb lift over 500 pounds. His short passes leave much to be desired but his deep ball is unquestionably very good. So EA fix the a ratings to truly represent players. Any person with decent vision can see that Brady doesn't have a stronger arm than both Manning and McNabb or JaMarcus Russell. JaMarcus Russell can throw a football 70 yards on his knees yet his arm is weaker than Brady's in Madden LOL. Accuracy is one thing but you have to take into account to who Brady is throwing to on those deep throws. Brady has a 6'4" Moss who catches everything, when McNabb had T.O. his percentage went sky high as well. EA if you need someone to sit down with you and break down film (not ESPN higlights) just typical football plays my door is always open

As far as the online franchise EA you blew it. Asking a commissioner to govern 31 teams on every single player is madness. I'm not a prognosticator but I see a lot of confusion and complaints coming after release in relation to online franchise. The worse part about it is that the game looks good and the offline franchise was fixed to a degree. It's not really online franchise it's more like online season as no team will ever drop a good player. I was looking forward to taking a bad team and turning them over into a perennial winner now what's the point? If you have a team like Philly you are set for 10 years as they are good and young at every position while if u have a team like NE you have a 2 year window as they are pretty long in the tooth. If you have Detroit you might as well not even participate as you are stuck with a bad franchise for 10 years.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Dre2778 Dre2778

I agree with everything you have just said. That was one of the reasons I dropped out of my online franchise because there are so many variables involved. Since Brady has Moss everybody has risen him to god-like levels and clearly anyone can see Moss wanted to be with a contender so he is motivated to play. But when he was with Oakland he quit because he didn't want to be there. Put Moss in Philly and you'll see McNabbs ratings on Madden god-like as well.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Mr_EA_Sports Mr_EA_Sports

Exactly you have to call a spade a spade Brady's arm is good but it is not on McNabb's, P. Manning or Russell in regards to throwing power on the deep throws. Not even close. I see so many flaws with the rating system it's just plain ridiculous. I truly believe that the EA developers look at stats and watch ESPN highlights when determining player ratings. They need someone who watches football objectively and understands how football players are suppose to play. Some teams ask their "mike" LB to just shadow a TE all game and so they receive a lot of stats in the tackle or sack department but they do their job effectively well. On the other hand you have a guy like S. Merriman who freelances every play and can only go after the QB yet because he puts up 10+ sacks a year he has unbelievable player ratings. The best way to determine how good a player is is by looking to see how many plays they run towards their side. Normally in my offline franchise i adjust the ratings accordingly to matchup to what they "actually" do on the field but with online franchise this year the ratings matter even more.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Koach_Vonner Koach_Vonner

Thats GOLD Mr. EA Sports!! Well written response.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Mr_EA_Sports Mr_EA_Sports

Actually I messed up when I was referring to the "mike" LB i meant to say-"does not have high stats". I was trying to make the point that some good football players are ask to just eliminate a certain part of the opposition so they may not receive a lot of stats but are highly effective football players

http://intensedebate.com/people/Mr_EA_Sports Mr_EA_Sports

It's amazing to me how EA goes about doing things. I know that they do not watch the games except for ESPN highlights because a lot of good players have mediocre stats while well known players have phenomenal attributes. I like the new rating system but you have to play it true all the way or it's just another flawed system. McNabb is the strongest QB how do I know? Because I seen the McNabb lift over 500 pounds. His short passes leave much to be desired but his deep ball is unquestionably very good. So EA fix the a ratings to truly represent players. Any person with decent vision can see that Brady doesn't have a stronger arm than both Manning and McNabb or JaMarcus Russell. JaMarcus Russell can throw a football 70 yards on his knees yet his arm is weaker than Brady's in Madden LOL. Accuracy is one thing but you have to take into account to who Brady is throwing to on those deep throws. Brady has a 6'4" Moss who catches everything, when McNabb had T.O. his percentage went sky high as well. EA if you need someone to sit down with you and break down film (not ESPN higlights) just typical football plays my door is always open

As far as the online franchise EA you blew it. Asking a commissioner to govern 31 teams on every single player is madness. I'm not a prognosticator but I see a lot of confusion and complaints coming after release in relation to online franchise. The worse part about it is that the game looks good and the offline franchise was fixed to a degree. It's not really online franchise it's more like online season as no team will ever drop a good player. I was looking forward to taking a bad team and turning them over into a perennial winner now what's the point? If you have a team like Philly you are set for 10 years as they are good and young at every position while if u have a team like NE you have a 2 year window as they are pretty long in the tooth. If you have Detroit you might as well not even participate as you are stuck with a bad franchise for 10 years.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Dre2778 Dre2778

I agree with everything you have just said. That was one of the reasons I dropped out of my online franchise because there are so many variables involved. Since Brady has Moss everybody has risen him to god-like levels and clearly anyone can see Moss wanted to be with a contender so he is motivated to play. But when he was with Oakland he quit because he didn't want to be there. Put Moss in Philly and you'll see McNabbs ratings on Madden god-like as well.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Mr_EA_Sports Mr_EA_Sports

Exactly you have to call a spade a spade Brady's arm is good but it is not on McNabb's, P. Manning or Russell in regards to throwing power on the deep throws. Not even close. I see so many flaws with the rating system it's just plain ridiculous. I truly believe that the EA developers look at stats and watch ESPN highlights when determining player ratings. They need someone who watches football objectively and understands how football players are suppose to play. Some teams ask their "mike" LB to just shadow a TE all game and so they receive a lot of stats in the tackle or sack department but they do their job effectively well. On the other hand you have a guy like S. Merriman who freelances every play and can only go after the QB yet because he puts up 10+ sacks a year he has unbelievable player ratings. The best way to determine how good a player is is by looking to see how many plays they run towards their side. Normally in my offline franchise i adjust the ratings accordingly to matchup to what they "actually" do on the field but with online franchise this year the ratings matter even more.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Koach_Vonner Koach_Vonner

Thats GOLD Mr. EA Sports!! Well written response.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Mr_EA_Sports Mr_EA_Sports

Actually I messed up when I was referring to the "mike" LB i meant to say-"does not have high stats". I was trying to make the point that some good football players are ask to just eliminate a certain part of the opposition so they may not receive a lot of stats but are highly effective football players

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=11830173 Calvin Brinkley

Lol at so many people complaining. It shouldn't be that bad. They already gave us a scenario that could work out pretty well. Just need to make sure you have a good commissioner in your league.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=11830173 Calvin Brinkley

Lol at so many people complaining. It shouldn't be that bad. They already gave us a scenario that could work out pretty well. Just need to make sure you have a good commissioner in your league.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Skihawks Skihawks

I understand everyone's plight but why can't the team owners and the league commish come up with their own system? It happens in every fantasy football league, the lone difference is this fantasy football league is done with virtual players.

I hardly think that the game lacking a cap / FA system is going to ruin online franchise for those that are truly interested. I think EA allowing the users freedom to develop their own system is a good way to go if they aren't certain the system they would implement would actually be a positive experience.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Skihawks Skihawks

I understand everyone's plight but why can't the team owners and the league commish come up with their own system? It happens in every fantasy football league, the lone difference is this fantasy football league is done with virtual players.

I hardly think that the game lacking a cap / FA system is going to ruin online franchise for those that are truly interested. I think EA allowing the users freedom to develop their own system is a good way to go if they aren't certain the system they would implement would actually be a positive experience.
grey

Well on the bright side…the guy did say that it is based off the EA Servers Online…which was done so they could continue working on online franchise mode. Meaning that they will be able to implement things even mid season. While there is no excuse that a large company like EA could not have enough manpower to get something done due to time constraints, perhaps the outcry for Contracts and FA wire will have them working feverishly towards rectifying some of our problems with this mode
grey

Well on the bright side…the guy did say that it is based off the EA Servers Online…which was done so they could continue working on online franchise mode. Meaning that they will be able to implement things even mid season. While there is no excuse that a large company like EA could not have enough manpower to get something done due to time constraints, perhaps the outcry for Contracts and FA wire will have them working feverishly towards rectifying some of our problems with this mode
JB0B0

I doubt they patch this up….EA left it out so that they can say "Madden 11's online franchise has a salary cap and player contracts." It'll be funny when no one buys their game and Ian gets fired…..the guy is a nutcase anyways, he shouldnt be the lead designer…he knows nothing about football

http://intensedebate.com/people/Koach_Vonner Koach_Vonner

I have to disagree with you on that one. Ian has given us alot. Do we need a Salary Cap, and FA? Heck yes we do. But to say Ian is a nut case and fire him. Hell NO!!! Dude he has worked his tale off to get us a lot of stuff. The gameplay looks great. 80% of America is looking forward to this game way more than NCAA. He put in a lot of little things. Think about the lead designers in the past. They didn't give us anything we asked for.

JB0B0

I doubt they patch this up….EA left it out so that they can say "Madden 11's online franchise has a salary cap and player contracts." It'll be funny when no one buys their game and Ian gets fired…..the guy is a nutcase anyways, he shouldnt be the lead designer…he knows nothing about football

http://intensedebate.com/people/Koach_Vonner Koach_Vonner

I have to disagree with you on that one. Ian has given us alot. Do we need a Salary Cap, and FA? Heck yes we do. But to say Ian is a nut case and fire him. Hell NO!!! Dude he has worked his tale off to get us a lot of stuff. The gameplay looks great. 80% of America is looking forward to this game way more than NCAA. He put in a lot of little things. Think about the lead designers in the past. They didn't give us anything we asked for.

alex

man…i wish no one would buy this piece of shit..id like to see wat happens….them bitches said they had no time to put in a salary cap…lmao ..wat a load of donkey shit lol..r.i.p. online franchise….cuz it just died….EA is just 1 big dissapointment…they r good at gettin ur hopes up…then smashing them to the floor….the cover is also a piece of shit….way to ruin tradition…..maybe just slap the entire vikings team next year on the cover…horrible…EA….IF U PUT A SALARY CAP…..U SERIOUSLY HAVE A 10 STAR GAME….THAT NO ONE WILL GET TIRED OF TILL MADDEN 2011……..n u screwed up…n i promise u lost a few costumers just for not addin sumtin so small….A FUKIN SALARY CAP……IF ITS IN THE GAME ITS IN THE GAME….BULLSHIT….BULLSHIT…FUK U EA….FUK U……SUCK A BIG FAT ONE..
alex

man…i wish no one would buy this piece of shit..id like to see wat happens….them bitches said they had no time to put in a salary cap…lmao ..wat a load of donkey shit lol..r.i.p. online franchise….cuz it just died….EA is just 1 big dissapointment…they r good at gettin ur hopes up…then smashing them to the floor….the cover is also a piece of shit….way to ruin tradition…..maybe just slap the entire vikings team next year on the cover…horrible…EA….IF U PUT A SALARY CAP…..U SERIOUSLY HAVE A 10 STAR GAME….THAT NO ONE WILL GET TIRED OF TILL MADDEN 2011……..n u screwed up…n i promise u lost a few costumers just for not addin sumtin so small….A FUKIN SALARY CAP……IF ITS IN THE GAME ITS IN THE GAME….BULLSHIT….BULLSHIT…FUK U EA….FUK U……SUCK A BIG FAT ONE..
http://intensedebate.com/people/xXI_SKINS_IXx xXI_SKINS_IXx

well it is a free country,u dont have to buy the game.
http://intensedebate.com/people/xXI_SKINS_IXx xXI_SKINS_IXx

well it is a free country,u dont have to buy the game.
Legend

All online franchise will be is the same season over and over again so boring with no transactions, can I even pick new coaches? I want to feel like a GM if Im playing franchise, thats what its called right NOT ONLINE ARCADE MODE. Without salary cap, contracts, no good free agents and no trade logic IT SUCKS! This should not have even been put on the game until next year if it's totally useless is all I'm saying! Ncaa imports are a important feature for me too, but this should be addressed last not a major issue. They really dropped the ball on this one Im so mad right now, but what can I do but boycott Madden.
Legend

All online franchise will be is the same season over and over again so boring with no transactions, can I even pick new coaches? I want to feel like a GM if Im playing franchise, thats what its called right NOT ONLINE ARCADE MODE. Without salary cap, contracts, no good free agents and no trade logic IT SUCKS! This should not have even been put on the game until next year if it's totally useless is all I'm saying! Ncaa imports are a important feature for me too, but this should be addressed last not a major issue. They really dropped the ball on this one Im so mad right now, but what can I do but boycott Madden.
aaron

well at least they have pro tac hahahaha …..never fails with madden and im sure once this thing is released its gonna need some patches cause ….tada… the morons that make the game didnt test it out good enough .but hey at least they have pro tac…. lol what a joke
aaron

well at least they have pro tac hahahaha …..never fails with madden and im sure once this thing is released its gonna need some patches cause ….tada… the morons that make the game didnt test it out good enough .but hey at least they have pro tac…. lol what a joke
abau1130

Ok, so before my draft i found this website that has the great changes in a players overall when their position is changed for example, Lamaar Woodley (OLB Pittsburgh Steelers) changes to a 98 overall when changed to the Defensive Tackle Position. In an online franchise, how do you change players postion. HIghlighting their name and clicking edit player doesnt exist in ONline Madden 10 Franchise Leagues, and in the depth chart, his name doesnt show up how do you do it?
abau1130

Ok, so before my draft i found this website that has the great changes in a players overall when their position is changed for example, Lamaar Woodley (OLB Pittsburgh Steelers) changes to a 98 overall when changed to the Defensive Tackle Position. In an online franchise, how do you change players postion. HIghlighting their name and clicking edit player doesnt exist in ONline Madden 10 Franchise Leagues, and in the depth chart, his name doesnt show up how do you do it?