Madden to Feature Uniform Fashion Critic in its Fake Twitter Feed

[jaybird2585]

This is why they cant create a good game. They are worried about B.S. like this. Put a good game together first, then add this. Last years was better, but it is 2013, no reason for games from 6+years ago to be better when you have all this new stuff to use.

[Doogie09]

WhoooopIEEE!!! Must be one of the new "features" they'll try to brainwash us with this go around.

[cuttingteeth]

I'm going to have to step back into this healthy (not at all heated) debate here:

Gameplay is what we all desire to be better about the game - that's a fact. I think it's safe to say that's a fact, anyway. So, yeah, any number of people being paid from the set budget of EA overall that isn't making gameplay not only better, but they are designing things to "trigger" based on let's say a randomly odd FA contract...that's a waste of resources. It's all just a bunch of gimmicks/extras that do not make the game better. It makes it different. It does not make it better. I contend that nothing scripted will ever make this game better rather than just different, but even then, it can only be different so many times before it gets redundant. They should all be in one location somehow making the gameplay as perfect and randomly unscripted as possible.

Now, per the whole inclusion of news feeds to help customers/players become more immersed...you have ESPN in your pocket...why not just further the ability like in NCAA 12 where you hear updates from Sportscenter? Let me hear real time/live sports talk. If it's about tennis and BS whatever else, let me turn it off. Give me the option of a real time ticker of my season/league or per real life or the option to turn it off, too. There. Perfect. Done. It still doesn't help gameplay, but at least it's a fully realized idea instead of halfway doing it because that's all coding for scripted triggers really is.

[bucky60]

Quote: Originally Posted by CM Hooe

When did a Twitter feed mutually exclusive from any additional roster mechanics? What's preventing EA Austin from doing both?

Limited resources. They can do both, but they HAVE NOT. First you said the twitter wouldn't take away from resources because game play is developed by a different studio. I was just reminding you that the "twitter fashion" (SMH) studio is the same studio that does CCM and we are missing very significant football mechanics that fall under the umbrella of the same studio. And as far as your question of being mutually exclusive. The answer is resources. Those "twitter fashion" resources could have gone into some significant (CCM) football mechanics. Resources make them NOT mutually exclusive.

Quote: Originally Posted by CM Hooe

Further, how is the Twitter feed, ostensibly a bite-sized news feed with the intention of informing the player of league-goings on and immersing the player into a virtual football world, a "waste of resources" and "meaningless"? Yes, it's obviously EA taking advantage of something popular to further promote their game, but it's a justifiable use of said piece of something popular.

It's priorities. If CCM had the exhaustive NFL football mechanics that it is missing, it wouldn't be such a waste of resources. You know, resources that could have gone into those missing CCM football mechanics. And yes, it's meaningless when so much significant NFL features are missing/incomplete from the game.

Quote: Originally Posted by CM Hooe

It's a matter of priorities; the game is going to come out every twelve months regardless what we want, and the development team must prioritize what's important and work on those things they deem important. I would venture to guess that, particularly in the context of building a new mode from the ground up as was the case with Connected Careers mode, keeping the player informed about the goings-on of a digital league and immersed in its universe are pretty important, more important than minor roster features such as waivers (players on waivers revert to free agents after a short length of time) or practice squad (practice squad players never get to play unless they are called up and they can be signed away by other clubs, they might as well be free agents).

Wait, blanking "twitter fashion" is an important feature compared to the actual unimportant and insignificant NFL mechanics of true roster sizes (practice squad), positions, waiver wire, contract restructuring.

You trolling?

[Hooe]

Quote: Originally Posted by cuttingteeth

I'm going to have to step back into this healthy (not at all heated) debate here: Gameplay is what we all desire to be better about the game - that's a fact. I think it's safe to say that's a fact, anyway. So, yeah, any number of people being paid from the set budget of EA overall that isn't making gameplay not only better, but they are designing things to "trigger" based on let's say a randomly odd FA contract...that's a waste of resources. It's all just a bunch of gimmicks/extras that do not make the game better. It makes it different. It does not make it better. I contend that nothing scripted will ever make this game better rather than just different, but even then, it can only be different so many times before it gets redundant. They should all be in one location somehow making the gameplay as perfect and randomly unscripted as possible. Now, per the whole inclusion of news feeds to help customers/players become more immersed...you have ESPN in your pocket...why not just further the ability like in NCAA 12 where you hear updates from Sportscenter? Let me hear real time/live sports talk. If it's about tennis and BS whatever else, let me turn it off. Give me the option of a real time ticker of my season/league or per real life or the option to turn it off, too. There. Perfect. Done. It still doesn't help gameplay, but at least it's a fully realized idea instead of halfway doing it because that's all coding for scripted triggers really is.

I contend that one could have the finest playing football simulation in the world, but without context or reason to play my games that game isn't going to stay in anyone's XBOX long.

Personally, I want not only a great-playing game, but I also want context as to why my games matter, I want to be immersed in my own digital football universe. I want to watch how my league evolves over time, I want around-the-league information delivered to me in an easy-to-digest fashion so I can keep tabs on the goings-on beyond the games I play. Half the fun of the NFL season is the conversation that takes place Tuesday through Saturday, when games aren't even being played; in a way, it's the best weekly soap opera on television. That people converse on this message board about the league actively when no games are being played is proof-positive of that fact.

The Twitter feed is one such feature which provides such context and immersion. It delivers updates to the players on priority free agent signings, rookie scouting and storylines, breakout performances by players, playoff wins, notable retirements, game results, and so on. To me this is obviously a useful feature. Conversely, a live real-life ESPN radio feed does nothing to this end; it only serves to break immersion by reminding me I'm playing a video game and what I see on my screen is very much not real life. It serves no purpose towards my gameplay experience because it can't comment on my game. To me it is extraneous.

Speaking on a general level, simplifying the overall quality of a game to just gameplay is just that, simplifying. There are other components which make a game great; aesthetic, presentation, atmosphere, immersion, etc. The Twitter feed builds towards the immersion and atmosphere ends. It is not a waste of time, it is useful, it provides a significant contribution to a positive user experience. Taking your position to the extreme, Tiburon (again, specifically Tiburon) shouldn't worry about in-game commentary or presentation because those features are all extraneous to core football gameplay. Is a sports game with no commentary, no instant replay camera cuts, no television presentation, no career mode atmosphere, and so on a game you really want to play? I know it's not one I want to even comprehend.

[Hooe]

Quote: Originally Posted by bucky60

Limited resources. They can do both, but they HAVE NOT. First you said the twitter wouldn't take away from resources because game play is developed by a different studio. I was just reminding you that the "twitter fashion" (SMH) studio is the same studio that does CCM and we are missing very significant football mechanics that fall under the umbrella of the same studio. And as far as your question of being mutually exclusive. The answer is resources. Those "twitter fashion" resources could have gone into some significant (CCM) football mechanics. Resources make them NOT mutually exclusive.

If implementing a new Twitter alias - likely just a bit of content generation and writing a few new hooks for the system - prohibits EA Austin from adding any significant features into CCM, then I will say they are incompetent. However, my view is that the outrage to this is entirely overblown as it is my opinion that adding a new Twitter handle into the already-implemented feature couldn't have taken more than a week for an engineer, designer, and tester, and I'm being generous.

Quote:

It's priorities. If CCM had the exhaustive NFL football mechanics that it is missing, it wouldn't be such a waste of resources. You know, resources that could have gone into those missing CCM football mechanics. And yes, it's meaningless when so much significant NFL features are missing/incomplete from the game. Wait, blanking "twitter fashion" is an important feature compared to the actual unimportant and insignificant NFL mechanics of true roster sizes (practice squad), positions, waiver wire, contract restructuring. You trolling?

Absolutely not. My position which apparently is so disagreeable here is that there's more to a sports video game than the sport itself. Particularly in a career mode context where the user is actively competing against other teams not only on the field but also via team-building, information about how other teams are constructing their rosters must be at a user's fingertips so he may react appropriately and make informed team-building gameplay decision.

Let's consider this from the Madden NFL 13 dev cycle perspective for a second. Let's say that instead of the Twitter feed, that no longer exists because instead the team chose to properly implement a one-week waiver period for players with less than four years of NFL experience (no way to implement a 24-hour window in the current weekly setup) and also a practice squad (ostensibly, extra roster spots, but players here are ineligible to play in games and players may only be on the practice squad if they have less than three seasons of league experience). CCM in Madden NFL 13 now no longer has a means of updating players on game results, players of the week, trade occurrences, free agent signings / releases, scouting activities of other teams, and so on. The player now essentially must operate blind as to what other teams do unless he goes digging for information about player movement, trade happenings, etc.

Is that really better? I don't think so. Again, my point of view is that the player ought to be kept informed of what's going on in his league, and that's more important than minor roster management nuances, particularly when there's a reasonable fallback option (unrestricted free agency) already in place. Again, waived players automatically revert to free agents after 24 hours (and Madden has no concept of hours), and players on practice squads may be signed by any team to the active roster at any given time, so in both cases the players might as well be free agents. It's an excusable omission, IMO, and a low-priority feature to implement. I completely understand and agree with the point of view that there are bigger fish to fry when it comes to implementing a proper career mode.

[cuttingteeth]

Therein lies the ultimate division of us all, then.

There are those of us that played the real game (or always wanted to) and now want to play the "real game" similarly on consoles. We feel it in the center of our souls and say "That's right!" when we hear someone like Herm Edwards say, "You PLAY to WIN the GAME!" We feel it. We understand it. There is no questioning it. It just is and makes all the sense in the world.

There are those of you that have to have more than gameplay on the gridiron, too, though. You need more than competition to keep you interested. Why? I have no idea. In what is the core reason anyone ever truly wants to play in the first place - to compete - you have to have a whole circus surrounding it, too. That's fine. Just know that, that is all extras, though. The game, how you play it and if you love to compete are all what came first.

Extra: Still, no one has made the case that twitter feeds better the game play. It might help you be informed a little better, but wouldn't the devs making sure the menus were easier to navigate work, too? I know...what if...you had 32 team control and could literally see everything for yourself?

[PVarck31]

I don't really think anyone thinks EA is going to cut gameplay resources because of this twitter fluff announcement. I just think people feel like they are being kicked in the nuts when this stuff gets what most people feel is undue attention.