Madden NFL 12

[Rodster]

Good grief cheap skate as many games as you buy? I don't play online much either, but xbox live is a no brainer.

It's like $0.14 a day.

or less than a cup of coffee.

It's more out of principal than money. The same reason I don't buy DLC. But here's the rub. Some games you can download rosters without a Gold account and others you can't.

PS3 FTW !

[Lancer]

Rod - there are 2 day trail XBL codes, you can call to get one. Call XBL and say you'd like to try out XBL Gold and wanted to know if they have any 2 day trails and they'll give you one.

[MizzouRah]

or less than a cup of coffee.

It's more out of principal than money. The same reason I don't buy DLC. But here's the rub. Some games you can download rosters without a Gold account and others you can't.

PS3 FTW !

I just don't play many games on our ps3, it's more of a "movie" machine.

[Brando70]

I've been pretty happy with All-Pro defaults. I have the game on Slow and Speed Threshold at 35, and with those two adjustments I feel like it plays a very entertaining game of football. The lower speed threshold allows for more separation between faster and slower players without throwing game balance out of whack, while the slow speed makes it easier to see plays develop.

I'm also getting challenged. I'm 2-4 in my Bears franchise. After a pair of bad losses where I threw a combined nine interceptions, I changed things up against the Vikings and had my first turnover-free game. I went up 17-0 at the half thanks to a spectacular 58-yard bomb to Johnny Knox and a WR screen to Hester that he broke for a 50-yard TD. But I got too conservative and the Vikings chipped away with three FGs to make it 17-9, and then tied it when Peterson broke free for a big TD run and made the two-point conversion. They kicked another FG to make it 20-17 in the fourth, but I drove to FG range and kicked a tying FG to make it 20-20.

In OT, I won the kickoff, but had a drive stall on a third-down conversion that just went short. I stopped the Vikings, but on 4th and 2, they called a fake punt run and just made the first. McNabb then scrambled for a big run (he killed me all day with his rushing) to set up the winning FG, 23-20. It was a tough loss but such a fun game, and that's what's propelling this year's Madden for me -- I'm having a lot of fun against the AI for the first time in a long time.

[Brando70]

Just won a game on a kickoff return, the first one I've seen. I was at Tampa in my Bears franchise, and in a very defensive game, the Bucs tied it at 16-16 on a 43-yard FG with one second left. The AI did a regular kickoff, and Hester returned it from two yards deep in the endzone. I found a seam, outran one defender and the kicker and took it all the way. It felt pretty rewarding -- I got a great block from Johnny Knox that opened a hole for me.

[JRod]

Most fun football game since 2k5.

I restarted another franchise with the new rosters. Against the Raiders the score was 14-0. The last touchdown was a fumble for a return on next to last possession by the Raiders at the 5.) Against Cincy (Iit was 21-18. With a block FG for a touchdown. I recovered a fumble late in the 4th to bring it to 3. THEN, on 3rd and 8, they run it and get a first down with no timeouts left and with 1:30 left. Game over.

Pretty much the eb and flow of football is captured.

The 7-0 game wasn't filled with 10 ints or 5 fumbles. Drives were stopped. What stood out in the Raiders game was in the 4th, the defense was swarming to the ball and not letting receivers gain possession on a pass, or if it was a catch, not letting them gain any yards. Against Cincy it was the opposite. They weren't a powerhouse but the defense wasn't "swarming".

Madden is so much fun, NHL felt like a chore.

[Brando70]

JRod, I think the ebb and flow comment is spot on and why I'm enjoying this Madden so much more. Each game has its own feel instead of all the games feeling very similar. That's a big step for the series because the outcome variety is what makes the top tier games like The Show and NBA 2k so great. Madden's a ways away from their level, but the fun factor is definitely there this year.

[Danimal]

Have they released a tuner set or something? I played the 1st game in season 2 last night. I had played all of pre-season last week. I noticed my guys getting tired after one series, half my defense was subbing out by the second drive. I have my fatigue and sub in / out sliders tweaked to get good results but I've never had players fatigue this fast.

Also maybe it's me but is there one good f***in screen in franchise mode that shows roster breakdown. Why do I need to page through each position, I want to see them all on one screen.

[HipE]

I just finished the most fun playoff run I can remember having in a Madden game, after going 14-2 in the regular season and earning the top seed going into the playoffs.

I opened the playoffs against the Sanchez-less Jets. I beat them 20-14 in a game I never trailed in, mainly on the strength of a kickoff return TD to open the game by Emmanuel Sanders. LT ended up running for 130 yards, but Brunell was pretty ineffective and I finally managed to avoid turning the ball over in a game.

I then hosted the Chargers in a snowstorm in the AFC championship game, and quickly fell behind 17-7 in the first half due mainly to 3 fumbles. I got a TD right before half to pull within 3, which was setup by a tipped Hail Mary being caught by a diving Hines Ward. I then tied the game 17-17 in the 4th before kicking a FG as time expired to win 20-17.

The Super Bowl vs the Saints was great, I could not stop Drew Brees in the first half and fell behind 14-7. Then for some reason the CPU decided to pull the patented EA screw game against itself, and I scored three defensive TDs (two off fumbles, one off an interception) in five plays to open up a two touchdown lead. This was especially crazy considering I had only scored four defensive touchdowns all season up to that point. The Saints did mount a nice comeback complete with going 2/2 on two point conversions, but I held on to win 38-30. There was some pretty cool Steelers-specific postgame commentary that I won't spoil, and the postgame celebration as a whole was very well done and a fitting payoff for winning the title.

In the regular season, I ended up throwing for 3,367 yards with 28 TDs and 34 INTs with Big Ben, good for a lowly QB rating of 69.7. I led the league in rushing with Rashard Mendenhall who had 334 carries for 1,803 yards (5.3 avg) and 21 TDs. Mike Wallace was leading the league in receiving through eight games, but I lost him for the season with a torn pectoral muscle in my ninth game. I won the NFL Defensive MVP with Lawrence Timmons, who had 18 TFL, 8.0 sacks, 4 INTs, 8 DFL, 3 FF, 3 FR and 1 TD.

In terms of teams stats, I finished 18th in total offense but first in PPG at 27.0. Defensively I finished first in total yards, rush defense, pass defense and points allowed. I finished first in sacks with 49, first in fumble recoveries with 16, and second in INTs with 23.

Overall, it was as much fun as I've ever had playing a season of Madden. Even though I only lost twice, I pulled a few of my wins out at the very end, especially towards the end of the season and in the playoffs. I got great variety in terms of how the games played out from week to week, and I'm looking forward to starting a new franchise right away with a weaker team.

[TCrouch]

I wondered that myself, Dan. After reading that they probably weren't going to do anything about the "rainy day" franchise games for Oakland, I decided to bite the bullet and play through a season and then just move them and put them in a dome for the rest of the franchise.

Lo and behold, I played the Jets in week 3 (I had already played the preseason and weeks 1 and 2 after the roster update), and it was SUNNY! Lost 24-10 that was much worse than the score would indicate. I couldn't run, couldn't pass, and was pretty inept in general.

Then I played the Patriots WITHOUT TOM BRADY...and still barely won, 17-10. But again, it was a sunny day.

So I don't know what to say. I hadn't ever had a sunny game at the Oakland Coliseum before, and I had 2 in a row yesterday. If they didn't stealth change something, then I'm completely baffled on what would have happened. I don't even know how they could change something like that with a tuner set, so I'm just left scratching my head.

[Danimal]

I don't want to cluter this thread with OF updates so for the guys playing go to the other board here at dsp for updates. Almost ready to go.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=14990

[snaz16]

Here's something important about sliders, you need start set from the level you wish to play at. If you start at all-pro, it seems certain things are locked in at all-pro even if you change sliders. For example, I was editing a set but had the base at Pro. As soon as I entered the game, I noticed the kicking meter was set at the Pro speed.

According to what I read at O.S. and EA forums if you bump up any setting in a given group (passing-3 catagories for instance) you have to adjust down 1 or both of the other 2 settings so that it equals or is less than the total of the level which your playing at,or the level goes down,i.e. if your at AP it drops to pro. That is why your kick meter slowed down,and I waxed the Bengals in game 1 of my Browns season. I bumped pass protect to 55 from 50 and in essence dropped my level down to pro. Went back to default AP and lost to the Colts 22-13 , where the Colts kicked 5 FG and 1 TD. I scored 1 TD and 2 FG. Don't see that to often in a video game.

[JRod]

I wondered that myself, Dan. After reading that they probably weren't going to do anything about the "rainy day" franchise games for Oakland, I decided to bite the bullet and play through a season and then just move them and put them in a dome for the rest of the franchise.

Lo and behold, I played the Jets in week 3 (I had already played the preseason and weeks 1 and 2 after the roster update), and it was SUNNY! Lost 24-10 that was much worse than the score would indicate. I couldn't run, couldn't pass, and was pretty inept in general.

Then I played the Patriots WITHOUT TOM BRADY...and still barely won, 17-10. But again, it was a sunny day.

So I don't know what to say. I hadn't ever had a sunny game at the Oakland Coliseum before, and I had 2 in a row yesterday. If they didn't stealth change something, then I'm completely baffled on what would have happened. I don't even know how they could change something like that with a tuner set, so I'm just left scratching my head.

Running also felt different. HUM running on all PRO default was tone way down. Could just be a placebo but it did feel something changed but who knows.

[Lancer]

If there is a new tuner, wouldn't there be a message that asks to download like NHL does?

[JRod]

For guys that find All-Pro too easy. Why not drop all the hum ratings down 10 to 40. The way Madden has done difficulty they just move the HUM sliders around, or so it seems.

So it seems logical to just move them in unison in-between the All-Pro level or 50 and the All-Madden level of 25. I haven't tried this but I am going to try it at 40.

[Brando70]

I wondered that myself, Dan. After reading that they probably weren't going to do anything about the "rainy day" franchise games for Oakland, I decided to bite the bullet and play through a season and then just move them and put them in a dome for the rest of the franchise.

Lo and behold, I played the Jets in week 3 (I had already played the preseason and weeks 1 and 2 after the roster update), and it was SUNNY! Lost 24-10 that was much worse than the score would indicate. I couldn't run, couldn't pass, and was pretty inept in general.

Then I played the Patriots WITHOUT TOM BRADY...and still barely won, 17-10. But again, it was a sunny day.

So I don't know what to say. I hadn't ever had a sunny game at the Oakland Coliseum before, and I had 2 in a row yesterday. If they didn't stealth change something, then I'm completely baffled on what would have happened. I don't even know how they could change something like that with a tuner set, so I'm just left scratching my head.

Running also felt different. HUM running on all PRO default was tone way down. Could just be a placebo but it did feel something changed but who knows.

Liquid AI, perhaps?

[Lancer]

not sure if this was mentioned but it looks like there is some cheese rules online.

I was playing a guy tonight who kept going for it on 4th and using the same blitz play.

Then like in the 2nd qtr, the game ends and I get a message that the player as been booted for 'excessive grieving'. Whatever that means.


Anyway, I got the win.

[Millennium]

Have a Ravens franchise going, and I am loving default All Pro. Only exceptions are NOT gameplay sliders:

Fatigue 57
Injuries 43

Penalties-All Penalties at 100 accept False Start-60, Holding-52, Clipping-52, Face
Mask-54, Roughing The Passer-54

Auto Subs -

QB 0/1
RB 80/85
WR 70/75
FB/TE 70/75
OL 20/25

DE 80/85
DT 80/85
LB 75/80
CB 60/65
S 60/65

And I am having fantastic games, that really feel different each time. I posted my first three box scores http://www.operationsports.com/forums/s ... stcount=39 (linking to the post, because they are done in HTML which isn't supported here).

Had 8 sacks against the Steelers, but none in a loss to the Rams. Had no interception in St. Louis, but got 4 against the Titans. Even get good penalty numbers.

Really, really enjoying this year's game.

[Millennium]

not sure if this was mentioned but it looks like there is some cheese rules online.

I was playing a guy tonight who kept going for it on 4th and using the same blitz play.

Then like in the 2nd qtr, the game ends and I get a message that the player as been booted for 'excessive grieving'. Whatever that means.


Anyway, I got the win.

Excessive Grieving is just too much lag. Dewiel (EA Community Manager) explained it on Twitter a week or so ago. Sounds worse than it is, but whoever is lagging the most gets the boot.

[greggsand]

I was playing a friend & I had to pause when my baby woke up. He paused. I came back. We played. Baby cried again. He paused for me. Played again. He paused to get a drink & the game ended for "grieving". At least I got the win....

[Brando70]

Finished my first season with the Bears 8-8. Threw way too many interceptions and took too many sacks, especially early in the season. Really enjoyed the on-field gameplay on All-Pro defaults, although I may bump CPU pass accuracy up a little next season. I thought it was cool how some milestones were announced (Gus Johnson said something about Julius Peppers recording his 100th career sack). However, I broke the single-season sack record in the second-to-last game with Israel Idonije and it passed without comment.

I got to the offseason and have to wonder how much time EA put into franchise despite their assertions that it was a point of emphasis. Like others have said, the free agent system, while challenging, is a total gimmick. The player scouting system also seems the same way because you can't learn anything about a player without selecting them for scouting, but the number of scouting opportunities was way too limited. By the time I reached the fifth round of the draft all of my scouted players were gone and I was flying blind.

Player progression also still seems arbitrary and not related to performance. Young players with high potentials go up, older players with lower potentials go down, with little regard for performance. Idonije went up a point despite a record-setting season and still being only 31. Other players on my team who didn't play particularly well went up significantly because of youth and high potential.

I still like the game and will probably play a few seasons as the Bears, but I can't see playing a franchise the way I would something like Front Office Football or even Head Coach. Madden's franchise just seems too limited despite the improvements.

[tmdba37]

Finished my first franchise season as the Bears at 14-2 on All Pro defaults last night. I lost to the Steelers in the Super Bowl 24-21.

Before I fell asleep, I started my off-season work and found it odd that they no longer had real coaches to hire for my assistant positions--most of the head coaches were there, but the bulk of assistants were either made up or what I assumed were names of current and former EA employees (including a former high ranking member of their production team). Not that big of deal, but this is something they always featured before so it just seemed odd that it wasn't something they could just port over from last year's model.

Overall, I think this game is very challenging and would be happy if all they messed with in this next production cycle is around presentation--especially the audio, improving offline franchise by building and refining on this year's advancements (I especially love the hot/cold streak concept) and finally putting some development time in the online franchise.

As been noted time and time again, the audio can be downright distracting at times. . .I think they need to rethink it and make all of their comments shorter, fewer in volume and try a better effort to improve timing and accuracy. Some of the sound bites--especially those by Collinsworth--can go so long that they will start at the replay of one play and then end after the next play has finished. . .I've literally had plays end, prompting one of his rants, scored on the next play and have lined up for the XP before his rant ends. . .they should have done a much better job of either editing what he says or just letting him know that you need to get in and out around 12-15 seconds. Additionally, I'm surprised that they didn't have multiple drops for each team's offense and defense. . .I've been told 23 times now that Brian Urlacher is the key of the Bears D and Matt Forte is the key to the offense--both true but not so absolute that they needed to be repeated every time out.

One funny thing though that I have noticed is that often times where you (or the CPU) start inside the 20, Gus Johnson always says the starting yard line twice. . .something like here they go from the 12--on the 12. I'll have to write down the exact phrasing because I am paraphrasing here, but it's kind of a fun bug in comparison to the hot mess they created with the audio beds.

[Pete]

I am really enjoying Madden this year and think it is a good game of football. I play strictly offline against the CPU.

The only real problem I have with the game, other than the horrible commentary, is I am having no success with the longer pass plays. I have some success with hitting receivers deep over the middle but deep on the sidelines is a mess. It seems like the outside deep ball always becomes a jump ball.

Anyone have any advice or succes with this? I am playing as the Raiders so I have speed on the outside. Maybe I am holding on to the ball too long, holding the button too long. Just can't seem to figure it out.

[Lancer]

Turn off the commentary it makes it more enjoyable to play.

The jump balls are there for most or all of the teams this year. You can't really get past it but I've had some good long td's where the WR caught it in stride. Just take control of your WR when he stops for the jump, and then time your jump and if he's a good WR he'll catch it.

I can't believe you're the last to post in this thread in over 2 mo. I think the last few years, I've only played madden about 2-3 weeks after it was out and then just shelved it. Then I'll go back to playing it during playoff time. I guess that's how the game is nowadays, with all the other gaming options there are now post Madden, it's no longer that one game you play for some months anymore.

If you told me 3 years ago I'd be playing soccer games during Thanksgiving break instead of football................

[Rodster]

I turned off the commentary the day I got it. It's broken and gone from bad to worse over the years. I was one of the few who wanted them leaving the radio guy alone because I feared this commentary. That was tolerable, this is just awfully bad.

On to the game. This is the first Madden where I just can't play the game like I used to in years past. For the longest time I felt I could beat the CPU anytime I wanted so I usually played on either All-Pro or All-Madden. This year is different maybe because the reduction of suction blocking but the game feels more organic and usually I have to work for a successful drive and hope I can put points on the board.

Madden 10 was and is still my all time favorite and this one is right up there with it. I would love to have a Madden game with NBA2K commentary and Backbreaker physics plus animations.