Donny Moore, the 'Madden Ratings Czar', Leaving EA

[DeuceDouglas]

I don't really understand how they think the ratings could potentially break the gameplay. Outside of speed, there isn't much difference when playing and the only thing that could really "break the game" when it comes to them is if they don't account for the toned down speed in CFM in terms of progression or draft classes.

It sucks that something like this is based on such a "wow" factor when it comes to the casual audience. "Aaron Rodgers is a 90?!?!?!?!? What do you mean a 90?" It wouldn't matter if 90 was the best QB in the game, he still wouldn't be seen as rated highly enough and I think that's something they need to try and get out of peoples minds. There has come this stigma with 99 and breakout players that I wish they could break but I just don't see it happening.

I think getting rid of the overall would definitely be a positive move. Especially considering there's now a playercard that gives you most of the important attributes. It would force people to know or at least focus more on the player rather than some arbitrary number that really doesn't mean a whole lot. Whether you get rid of it altogether or change it to something like a bar from MVP Baseball, something needs to be done and it seems like they're at least somewhat aware of it but don't really have a plan as of yet.

[Mr.Papercut]

You have to remember Madden still has UT. Applying these ratings to that is considerably more of a waste of time, because Madden truly loves to produce those 99ovr legend cards for no reason at all. Of course, games there are more "competitive".

[Sheba2011]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mr.Papercut

You have to remember Madden still has UT. Applying these ratings to that is considerably more of a waste of time, because Madden truly loves to produce those 99ovr legend cards for no reason at all. Of course, games there are more "competitive".

There are millions of reasons why they produce those cards all of them start with $. Ratings are marketing for EA, especially in a mode like UT. People will spend hundreds of dollars on packs of virtual cards in hopes of getting that 99 OVR "Legend" (i use "" because many of the players were never actual legends and are just older players) card.

[sir psycho]

Just read through all of these posts since Dan reported back on his conversation with Rex, and most of what I want to say has already been said.

Bottom line, I can't say how disappointed I am that after all of this talk from Rex about how he wants to make everything more sim, we hear that "competitive balance" is more important than accuracy. That flat out sucks. I was honestly expecting it to finally be going in the other direction. I know, it might not end up being as bad as it sounds, but it definitely is disappointing.

The scariest thing is that they're actually considering using the Madden community for crowd sourcing with ratings.

It's too bad that there is no chance of them completely buying into Dan's system.

[jeremym480]

Quote: Originally Posted by vannwolfhawk

Dan, 1st off they should try the rosters with your ratings. I saw no issues that broke gameplay. It only spread ratings out and separated superstars from average joe's. It made game 1000x more realistic and better. To hear they are skeptical I say they need to try them and see for themselves the difference. Knowing your ratings produce low overalls (we all know that doesn't mean anything) and that people, fans, players will freak why not a simple solution of recalculating and coming up with a new formula for overalls? So we use lower spread out real data for ratings for areas such as speed, strength, acceleration, agility, etc. then with recalculated formulas that even with a 82 speed and 81 accel added with other specific positional ratings could still produce higher overalls? Couldn't this be a simple recalculation of formulas to produce this so everyone wins. It's probably harder than that but could this not be feasible? Then we have tom Brady with 98 overall but he has real ratings with the data backed up in the areas I mentioned above. Maybe even make speed, strength, accel, agility not even factor in for overall ratings? It's just spread out to separate players appropriately in key areas that in itself is a game changer. Idk just thinking outside of box...

This was pretty much what I was thinking as well. Although my other thought would be the simplest of simple solutions which is to have both ratings (Madden Classic Ratings and FBG Ratings/"Stretched Ratings") in the game; and when you load up a roster/CFM you get to choose which ratings system that you want to go with.

That would appease each side... The side that wants to play with the over inflated ratings and the stretched ratings side.

[poster]

Being able to edit ratings during cfm is probably the one thing keeping me from purchasing the game. They have made improvements, but so much more could be done with community rosters with ratings from Dan's database or suggestions over the years from community guys like Gotmadskillsson, khaliib, Playmakers and others that have improved the way the players play and animate during the game.

I'd love to get immersed in a franchise mode again and don't want to spend my time editing ratings all of the time, but it is better then being forced to use their system.

[RexDEAFootball]

Quote: Originally Posted by sir psycho

Just read through all of these posts since Dan reported back on his conversation with Rex, and most of what I want to say has already been said. Bottom line, I can't say how disappointed I am that after all of this talk from Rex about how he wants to make everything more sim, we hear that "competitive balance" is more important than accuracy. That flat out sucks. I was honestly expecting it to finally be going in the other direction. I know, it might not end up being as bad as it sounds, but it definitely is disappointing. The scariest thing is that they're actually considering using the Madden community for crowd sourcing with ratings. It's too bad that there is no chance of them completely buying into Dan's system.

Hold on guys.

When I said 'competitive balance' I am referring to overall game balance. User vs. User and User vs. CPU. When we have tried these types of ratings changes in the past, it would negatively impact that balance to the degree that I was not comfortable moving forward with it for the good of the game.

Competitive balance (overall game balance and playability) is inseparable from generating authentic outcomes. The two go hand in hand.

When I referred to 'community sourced' ratings, that could mean anything. It started out with us reaching out to the most respected and well known ratings sites out there. Don't automatically assume this will turn into a PR driven 'cover vote' style thing, that is not our intent. We want to figure out the best way to involve and utilize the community moving forward in generating a ratings system that represents the best thing for the game.

Finally I want to mention that Donny Moore shared this vision of fewer elites and greater ratings spread. It is a shared goal we are actively working towards.

[Sausage]

Quote: Originally Posted by RexDEAFootball

Hold on guys. When I said 'competitive balance' I am referring to overall game balance. User vs. User and User vs. CPU. When we have tried these types of ratings changes in the past, it would negatively impact that balance to the degree that I was not comfortable moving forward with it for the good of the game. Competitive balance (overall game balance and playability) is inseparable from generating authentic outcomes. The two go hand in hand. When I referred to 'community sourced' ratings, that could mean anything. It started out with us reaching out to the most respected and well known ratings sites out there. Don't automatically assume this will turn into a PR driven 'cover vote' style thing, that is not our intent. We want to figure out the best way to involve and utilize the community moving forward in generating a ratings system that represents the best thing for the game. Finally I want to mention that Donny Moore shared this vision of fewer elites and greater ratings spread. It is a shared goal we are actively working towards.

Thanks for some clarification; hopefully you eventually move towards a more ratings spread roster updates.