How important is it to the Madden Community to have accurate and consistent player ratings/attributes?
For the last couple of days, I have been trying to come up with an answer to this question. I am actually starting to lean towards an answer of, "not very important."
Here is my thinking:
1. It seems that only a small percentage of the Madden Community is actively involved in the Madden Ratings Debate.
2. Of the Madden fans that do contribute to the Madden ratings debate, most of them only focus on OVR. Very few of them actually suggest increases/decrease to attributes. As long as the focus stays on the OVR rating, it leaves the door open for EA to continue putting out inaccurate and inconsistent attributes.
3. The tourney/highly competitive Madden gamers tend to just use the highest rated teams year in and year out. They don't have much loyalty to their favorite NFL team when it comes to picking who to use in Madden. These players are concerned with ratings/attributes only to the extent of finding a team that gives them the best chance to win.
4. The lack of loyalty to a gamers favorite NFL team, results in them not getting involved in the Madden ratings debate for that team. Having more fans point out inaccuracies in the ratings/attributes for all teams, will result in a better game.
- Additional info (1/19/12 7:24am) About #4, I didn't mean that fans should decide player attributes. I meant more input would mean more attention to other teams. More attention may result in more accurate ratings for that team. I understand that a lot of fans are Homers and should not rate their own team, but that doesn't mean their favorite team doesn't deserve the same attention as more popular teams. Sorry I didn't make that clear.
5. Only a few EA Game Changers appear to have a true passion for Madden ratings/attributes. Don't get me wrong, the EA Game Changers are great, but it seems more of them are concerned or specialize in other aspects of the game. I would argue that attributes impact gameplay as much as any other part of the game. Having inaccurate attribute ratings, results in a poor representation of the actual NFL player's ability.
6. Last, but not least. I think some in the Madden Community have just given up on the entire player ratings system. It's been so inconsistent and inaccurate for so long, they don't even bother getting into the debate anymore. If you fall in this category, I strongly urge you to get involved again.
So where does this leave us? I challenge everyone reading this to get more involved. Spread the word about how important you think this topic is. Demand that EA put out a full roster update blog, that not only shows the OVR change, but also what attributes have changed as well. Look deeper than the OVR rating of a player/s, look at the attributes. Look at how those attributes match-up with other players at the same position. I think you will be very surprised at the inconsistency and inaccuracy within those attributes.
Just reading this blog or other blogs is not enough. Let your voices be heard. You can give your input at the following places:
#MaddenRatingsDebate hash tag or @Donny_Moore on Twitter
Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/EASportsMaddenNFL
EA Madden Roster and Ratings Discussion http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/forums/show/402.page
I would recommend twitter or facebook over the EA forum, it's been said that Donny follows those more than the forums. That's all for now and thank you for the support.
I completely agree with all the points you said. What bothers me the most is that some players have had their OVR increase, but there are no changes to their mechanics, thus the player ultimately performs the same way.
ReplyDeleteDan
@MaddenPlayer209
Of all the rating that are in the game, how many of them on a given play actually matter? Take DB's for example. What does it matter they some have low awareness or man coverage rating if they mirror the routes of the WRs.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the difference of having a WR with a high route running rating if he cant get separation at the top of his route against a lesser CB.
What does the QB awareness do? How can I tell the difference in the awareness of JaMarcus Russell and Tom Brady?
The Devs need to come out to the hardcore madden community (sim and tourney guys a like) and to a rating tell us (and show us) how each of these ratings affect a play and how they playout during game play.
What are the ratings at play when my stud DE/OLB can get past a below average OT consistently, or what are the ratings doing that are allowing stud OG to be abused by mediocre DTs.
Honestly I've been playing Madden for easily 20+ years and I have no idea what some of the ratings do.
I understand what you are saying. We can only speculate what some of these attributes are for. It would be nice if EA would give fans a breakdown of each attribute, what is does, and how they rate it.
ReplyDeleteAWR to me is a key attribute. On defense I believe it factors into how well the defenders play their assignment, especially in zone coverage. The higher the AWR the more likely a player is in the correct position to make a play.
The interaction between WRs and DBs has been an issue for the Hardcore community for years. I do believe a higher MCV/ZCV rating matters. It seems that players with a higher MCV/ZCV do a better job at jumping the route, cutting in front of the WR, and staying close to the WR. I don't deny that CBs tend to mirror the route, and as others have pointed out they tend to react on button push not on the release of the ball itself.
In the end, some attributes have a much bigger impact on gameplay in my opinion. Other attributes don't appear to add much at all to the actual gameplay.