Some Madden NFL 18 Game Style Details Revealed - Arcade, Simulation, Competitive

[SolidSquid]

Quote: Originally Posted by DeuceDouglas

According to Rex it's the most played mode by a wide margin. Whether that's by the amount of users or by actual play time is unknown though.

I'm not sure if you can start a new MUT team or have multiple MUT teams but I'm pretty sure those CFM numbers are fluffed due to being able to create multiple CFMs. For example as soon as the game comes out I start a Bucs franchise and a second Giants fantasy draft franchise.

[DeuceDouglas]

Quote: Originally Posted by SolidSquid

I'm not sure if you can start a new MUT team or have multiple MUT teams but I'm pretty sure those CFM numbers are fluffed due to being able to create multiple CFMs. For example as soon as the game comes out I start a Bucs franchise and a second Giants fantasy draft franchise.

You can but it takes having another GT/PSN. I've seen people on Twitter mention using farm accounts for MUT so that could definitely inflate the numbers a little bit more. With CFM it's really unknown though. Usage could be anything from # of users to # of seasons or hours played. I'd be interested to know how it works because it's possible that according to them I've played like 60 seasons of franchise when in reality I didn't even make it through my only real one.

[JayhawkerStL]

Quote: Originally Posted by SolidSquid

I'm not sure if you can start a new MUT team or have multiple MUT teams but I'm pretty sure those CFM numbers are fluffed due to being able to create multiple CFMs. For example as soon as the game comes out I start a Bucs franchise and a second Giants fantasy draft franchise.

And I have a CFM or two every year. I don't remember the last time I got through an entire season.

I am looking forward to what seems to be a cool Play Now mode with updated stats and rosters. If they get that right, I" might not even look at CFM.

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by Armor and Sword

Well said. Despite everything, I have enjoyed Madden since Madden 25. I went through a down period with it after the move to PS3.....it was not until Madden 25 that I felt I had the game I loved on the PS & PS2 back. I have dabbled in online leagues, MUT, Draft Champions and those modes are also a lot of fun. But I always come back to offline Franchise for my money. And I find ways to enjoy the hell out of it. And I don’t make demands on the developers. I give them feedback and constructive statements on ways to improve the game for a segment of their base. And Franchise is the second most played mode on Madden next to MUT. So it is not some small part of the Madden community. A dying breed? Maybe.....but we are not dead just yet.

Well said, too.

Especially the dying breed part, not put out to pasture, yet.

[OhMrHanky]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

Well said, too. Especially the dying breed part, not put out to pasture, yet.

U know, even with online gaming which, obviously, makes it much easier to play other people (although, possibly without the satisfaction of beating a real friend, just playing randoms most of the time), every single video game, whether sports, shooter, action, etc, has to have a single player mode that gives enough for the single player experience. Because, that's the base unit. U can always add modes for multiplayer to encourage multiplayer, but, really, every vid game made needs to focus quite a bit on single player. For sports, the main base of offering anything related to the sport, itself, is a season. Every sport has a season, playoffs, and a championship (soccer is a little different, but if u include champions league, etc, it's pretty close, lol), so every sports game should START with this mode. People can argue over which mode deserves the most attention, but, again, at the very base level, every sports game needs this mode in some fashion or form. After that, u wanna create MUT? Fine. U find more money in MUT? Fine. I actually played MUT for the first time this year, and totally got into it for a minute. I didn't play online at all, though, lol, cause I still don't care for how others play the game. But, I actually enjoyed it and will play it in 18, as well. But, my first priority is to take my dirty birds to the super bowl!!! And, after last year's real super bowl, im REALLY cranked to get them that W!!!! Lol.


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[T4VERTS]

Kind of a rambling post, but based of the discussion of CFM being most played mode I had some thoughts. My understanding is CFM is the most played mode in a couple ways, one being user retention. CFM people tend to play later into the release and come back game to game. You see them try to add new MUT content year round to keep MUT users engaged because they don't have the same staying power. For instance, MUT has daily login packs and sets. They need to get MUT users back into the game each day like CFM guys come back to play league games every 48-72 hours. I personally think this is a bit of a meta manipulation, because what your doing is artificially propping up your daily login figures.

The devs do not deny that CFM is the most played mode (they have multiple in house CFMS), or that they have a very loyal following, the disconnect comes when consumers forget that they are a for profit business who's job is to make as much money possible for their share holders. Understand, EA wants CFM guys to play both MUT and CFM. They want CFM guys to bring their passion into MUT, this is why you see MUT packs given out as part of the game. They don't need to give the MUT guys free stuff they will come play anyways, and probably buy packs as they go. They want the CFM guy to open a couple packs, get a couple good cards, and be interested enough to keep going.

CFM still holds a very important roll in Madden's business strategy. CFM users are a target market they want to convert, and with that they need to keep the CFM user coming back to have a chance to convert them. This is why you won't CFM disappear as some like to think, and you won't see new features stop either. What you will see simply is a slow upward trend rather than a straight shot upwards in advancements.

As a CFM user you have to understand where you fit in a business plan and accept it. If the same CFM users buy the game every year, revenue never increases but actually decreases overtime because of inflation. If CFM users are dead set on not paying for any additional DLC (which is a different topic), then you have to understand advancements will not come at the rate many want them to. If you believe you should pay no more, and get equal or more development time than modes that can generate more revenue then your are being ignorant to the realities of the business world.

Full disclosure...I am a hardcore CFM guy.

[Hooe]

Quote: Originally Posted by T4VERTS

Kind of a rambling post, but based of the discussion of CFM being most played mode I had some thoughts. My understanding is CFM is the most played mode in a couple ways, one being user retention. CFM people tend to play later into the release and come back game to game. You see them try to add new MUT content year round to keep MUT users engaged because they don't have the same staying power. For instance, MUT has daily login packs and sets. They need to get MUT users back into the game each day like CFM guys come back to play league games every 48-72 hours. I personally think this is a bit of a meta manipulation, because what your doing is artificially propping up your daily login figures.

This is quite literally the exact opposite of what was previously described to me by my colleagues who previously worked on Madden as late as M17.

MUT has better retention due to better user onboarding, daily content updates, and special promotions. The first-time user experience is relatively short guided process which clearly explains the mode to new players, provides them easy challenges which are fun to complete (most of the time the first challenge has to do with replicating a scenario from the past year's Super Bowl), and gradually opens up more of the mode (sets, daily events, PvE challenges, PvP challenges, salary cap) to new players as more things are explained to them. This lets them get a feel for what they are doing without getting overwhelmed and without accidentally stumbling into an ***-kicking online at the hands of a MUT veteran. Further, Daily Events and collection building gives MUT players something new and rewarding to do every day, and pack promotions like Most Feared, Big Freeze, and the Easter Egg Hunt have been incredibly successful in bringing back old users as well. Salary Cap Ranked adds a level of complexity in team building for elder players to keep them in the game as well, as does the new Chemistries mechanic. MUT is actually incredibly well-designed from top to bottom.

On the other hand, Franchise has suffered from a massive user retention problem because it was never built with new users in mind. As of Madden 16, half the mode's users weren't even getting through the first preseason. The first-time user experience was previously non-existent; the game dumped new players in the mode and basically told them "here are a bunch of options, figure it out, good luck". This is why features such as Big Decisions, Weekly Training, and Play The Moments were added: Big Decisions guides new users to different points of the mode easily and in a manner which helps them successfully operate their franchise; Weekly Training stands in for daily events in always providing players something to do in a given week with rewards upon completion; and PTM gets users further along in the mode faster. Retention has apparently improved 100% year-over-year according to Rex thanks in part to these changes. I still doubt it retains better than MUT because the first-time user experience, though better now, is still pretty overwhelming; the first thing you see in franchise once you get past setup is a massive screen with like 15 actions on it (be it Big Decisions, depth chart, news, or what have you) and unlike MUT there is no actively-guided on-boarding whatsoever.

Admittedly we could be talking past each other as to what retention means; I come from mobile games, where retention is how long a brand-new player keeps playing a game. If CFM retains elder players better than MUT retains elder players, fine, but MUT is easily the better-built mode for general-case new user retention.

To the general spirit of your post, Franchise is indeed important because it's the most-played mode by total users, and apparently by a large margin. To that end Franchise is probably responsible for more people buying the game in the first place - especially at release (Madden has two major revenue windows wrt copies sold, release week and Christmas) - and a user obviously can't spend money in MUT if he doesn't buy the game in the first place.

[jfsolo]

Quote: Originally Posted by T4VERTS

...What you will see simply is a slow upward trend rather than a straight shot upwards in advancements. As a CFM user you have to understand where you fit in a business plan and accept it. If the same CFM users buy the game every year, revenue never increases but actually decreases overtime because of inflation. If CFM users are dead set on not paying for any additional DLC (which is a different topic), then you have to understand advancements will not come at the rate many want them to. If you believe you should pay no more, and get equal or more development time than modes that can generate more revenue then your are being ignorant to the realities of the business world. Full disclosure...I am a hardcore CFM guy.

This is the undeniable reality of the situation. I think that the younger CFM heads are more likely to be okay with monetizing the mode in order to get more content, but IMO, so many of the older peeps will resist it to their dying days. As a old head myself, I've given up pining for the good old days of franchise development and am open to a new approach.