This is the [longwinded] complaint I submitted to EA Support. What do you think?
Dear EA Support Tech Guy,
I know that you probably are not in any way affiliated with EA's game development branch. I kindly ask that you pass this question on to somebody who will have a say in the making of Madden 2010 (and please ask them to contact me).
Thank you...
Dear EA Game Developer Guy,
You probably don't know it, but I have serious beef you. I recently purchased Madden 2009 for the Xbox 360 on the release date (just like I was forced to last year). You see, I am an avid football fan. Therefore, I obviously love playing football on my video game console. My friends also love to play football on the Xbox 360 and we get very immersed in the competitive spirit of the game, holding tournaments amongst ourselves and bragging about our online records.
Imagine my dismay a few years back when I found out that my beloved 2K sports NFL game could not produce any more fine NFL games as they had been doing because your capitalist overlords decided that they wanted to make pure profit from the joy of others. I understand that money has become the driving force of every aspect of our lives, but it comes at a terrible cost. The fierce competition between the Madden developers and the 2K Sports developers at least kept both parties on their toes and kept the feature lists churning. In the past few years, your game has really broken my spirit - playing Madden 2009 has resulted in dozens of thrown controllers, swipes at the tv, and loud outbursts of profanity. I ask that you please take the time to sit down and make the following improvements to your game (or allow 2K Sports to continue producing NFL titles):
1)Block in the Back - this is a penalty in the NFL. Please teach this to your referees and to your offensive linemen, who have a penchant for shoving me down from behind after I have beat them around the outside and am just a few yards from sacking the quarterback.
2)Outside slant routes going out of bounds - A receiver or a running back should not head straight out of bounds after catching a slant pattern. This is not what NFL players are paid to do. Even if their momentum is carrying them towards the sideline, they do everything in their power to stay in bounds when the defenders are nowhere to be seen.
3)Increasing/Decreasing difficulty - The player I control should not slow down just because I am on a higher difficulty. Take the time to improve the opponent AI and have the computer players perform their jobs better as the difficulty increases. It is utterly absurd to see a cornerback and safety get burned by a fairly mediocre tight end, and on the flip side, to see a second string Defensive End catch up to Brian Westbrook (who I am controlling).
4)Superstar Mode - a brilliant idea, the execution needs serious work. It has been relatively untouched from 07 to 08 to 09. The repetitive nature of this mode really frustrates players and lacks any enjoyability. Practice mode consists of doing the same play over and over again, games are fairly uneventful if you're a wide receiver or a running back (because you barely touch the ball), and the offseason consists of nothing more than playing the mini games and answering multiple choice questions for your agent or a press conference.
5)Computer AI - players run horrible routes to the ball carrier, often times running directly behind them and then chasing them, rather than cutting them off on their way to the end zone. Offensive linemen should not watch as the blitzing linebacker waltzes past them - too often have I seen two linemen double teaming a defender instead of picking up the obvious blitz.
6)Gang tackling - a great addition to the game, but if I'm tackling a player backwards behind the line of scrimmage, my computer teammate should not come up and tackle us both forward ahead of the line of scrimmage.
7)The Madden Cheat Machine - admit it, the 4th quarter turns on "God Mode" for the computer, right? There is no reason that my players should fumble more often, drop more balls, or become more prone to injuries (leading to time outs) late in the 4th quarter, while the computer team seems to receive a significant boost in performance when I have the lead.
8)Halfback Direct Snap - I called and complained about this broken play earlier to one of your EA Support agents (after a 40 minute wait) and I am sure that nothing will come of it because I doubt that anybody at EA who has any say in the game even speaks to customers. I have lost too many games online to talentless 10 year olds who have discovered that if you change your playbook to the Buccaneers's playbook and choose the halfback direct snap, hold Right Trigger and a receiver button, the ball will teleport into the hands of a receiver who will gain 3-5 yards every time. This play has single-handedly tarnished my online record (3 of my 5 losses are attributed to this phenomenon). Please, give me a single instance of the ball teleporting from the center into the hands of a receiver and I will drop this off my complaints list.
9)Madden Moments - love the idea! Why can't you restart a Madden Moment? Why is it necessary for me to quit to the main menu and sit through loading screen after loading screen when I can restart an actual game without having to do so?
...I will leave it at that for now, though I have a nice long list of other minor changes that are needed to fix the game. Remember, if you don't want to put in the effort to actually improve your game, don't tout a features list full of lies (Recording an instant replay is not a "new" feature - it's something that you pulled from the game a few years back and decided to plug a watered down version into Madden 09 and Sliding offensive linemen was a feature in the PS2 version of Madden a couple years back).
I know that I will not be getting a response to this query any time soon (because you hate to face the truth that you are releasing a sub par product and forcing football lovers to buy it) so I will keep posting it and contacting EA about it until I get a response - I am like a stubborn, petulant child in that way. Email me with any additional information or if you have any questions:
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Regards,
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