Madden ’12 Franchise gets upgraded

Desides · May 16, 2011

Gentlemen.

Indeed, many of the additions and changes meet longstanding community requests. The biggest change, however, is a dynamic player ratings system that will reduce the robot-like consistency of performance seen in players in past years. It was nice to rely on with performers like Peyton Manning, but dispiriting to play a franchise with a young talent like Detroit's Matt Stafford and rarely see-or contend with-the kind of breakout performance that makes every week so compelling in the NFL.

Other sports simulations have implemented the dynamic ratings concept, notably MLB 2K11. In Madden, players ratings will fluctuate from week to week, their swings governed by a new consistency rating. A common example is Philadelphia quarterback Michael Vick, who had a number of highlight reel performances last year, mixed with games in which he looked rather ordinary. "One week you might see the 90-rated Michael Vick, another you get the 70-rated Michael Vick," Looman said. "We want to make people feel like the players aren't robots. They have bad games, good games, and this carries over from week to week.”

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The next Madden will also expand rosters to 75 players, their pre-season limit, Looman said. This will create a deeper player-management experience in a couple of ways. "In franchise mode, it makes the preseason worth playing," Looman said. Armchair GMs will be evaluating prospective players on a week-by-week basis, unlocking portions of their ratings and attributes after each game, ultimately making a decision whether to keep or cut the player. (This system of concealing and unlocking ratings is also how rookies will be scouted prior to the draft.)

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• Player Roles: Last seen in Madden NFL 07 on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, roles such as "quarterback of the future," "mentor" or "fumble prone" provide a quick thumbnail of where players fit in on the team and, more importantly, alter their attributes accordingly. Mentors provide an attribute boost to younger players, while deep-threat receivers make their quarterbacks more accurate, for example. Roles fluctuate, and are won or lost during every offseason. There are 20 different roles.

• Changing Teams: Before the offseason begins in Franchise mode, you can switch the team you're controlling, or take control of multiple teams up to all 32.

• In-Franchise Practice: In Madden NFL 11 and past versions, practice mode existed solely outside of Franchise, where rosters and depth charts were different. Gamers had to export their team out of Franchise mode if they wanted to practice plays with it. Now, at any point during the preseason, regular season or playoffs of Franchise mode, you may practice with your team and its up-to-date roster.

• Trading draft picks: Another huge community request, future draft picks (up to one season in the future) will now be a consideration in making player trades.

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AI-controlled teams will now draft according to identifiable franchise preferences (for example, the Oakland Raiders' penchant to draft for speed). Additionally, they will apply overhauled logic to their existing personnel in the offseason. In re-signing players, they'll evaluate his potential more realistically, and whether the team can do better drafting his replacement. In the past, a player like 49ers quarterback Alex Smith would be perpetually re-signed if the team had no other option on the roster.

There will also be a "cut dead weight" logic for players under contract, who in prior Maddens would be kept on the roster until their deal expired. In Madden 12 the Redskins may judge Donovan McNabb to be over the hill and release him before his contract is up.

The upshot of these changes is the free agent pool in the second and succeeding years of Franchise mode will be a lot more varied and useful to players trying to solve deficiencies in their roster or take a chance on value-priced performers. They'll be signed through a bidding process lifted from the old NFL Head Coach management sim of four years ago. That will make free agency go a lot more quickly - three minutes, versus the 15 minutes it took in Madden 11.
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More features and details at the link.

MikeHoncho · May 16, 2011

Holy ****, they brought back features from 4-5 years ago! No way! I'm so psyched! Bro, the only thing that could possibly make this any better is if they add a new cover athlete and update the year on the case!

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