Madden '10

[Kageho]

Oh and by the way, the game is pretty awesome. The ratings actually matter in this version of Madden. Probably my favorite one, gameplay-wise, by far.

Yeah, you really need to pay attention to finer things. I've currently got a WR that was 55, now 60, but his route running sucked.

But you know what? His awareness is the best on my team at 77 and his beat press release is 86. While his catching is 66, as long as I use a touch pass, he'll catch it 9 out of 10 times. With his awareness being so high he knows more or less where to be for a toss (his route running is left to be desired), but his beat press means that if a person tries pressing him, he's pretty much good for 10-20 yards easily.

<_< And yeah, Smith turned out not to be my season savior. I went from my 6-2 start to a 7-9 finish. Totally upset about hat.

 

[Wario Lemieux]

I went from my 6-2 start to a 7-9 finish.

 

[tonyjaymz03]

So for those of you who ordered the SI deal, you won't be getting the game for at LEAST another month. We talked to customer service and asked about this and apparently they got overflowed or something and can't even ship them out until early September, and from that point it'll be 4-6 weeks.

Cancelled right away and picked up the game at Gamestop. So that's at least two lies on their end- the "free" Madden game, and in the e-mail that was sent to acknowledge it said that they would ship as soon as the credit card was processed. And to top it all off, after cancelling the order they said it would take 30-60 days to receive a refund. Calling the bank first thing in the morning to dispute the charge and at least get a credit or something. That's some BS.

Oh and by the way, the game is pretty awesome. The ratings actually matter in this version of Madden. Probably my favorite one, gameplay-wise, by far.

Mother Fucker

 

[Fartsauce]

My 2nd game online (first was against someone i knew, so this was my first against some random) was against some douchebag who picked Vick and the Eagles, I took the Falcons, and suprise suprise he kept running the ball on me all game. He kept blitzing me on defense so i was able to post up some passes and take the lead. With the score 29-22, he decides to pull more cheese running with Vick on me and gets the touchdown. Then, he gets a 2 point conversion to take the lead with 11 seconds left. I'm pissed off thinking I lost the game. He decides to throw a low kick at me so kill time leaving me with decent field position. Last play of the game I throw up a 4 vertical hail mary. Miraculously I find the endzone and win the game. The best part of the whole story was the dude leaving me a voice message calling me a homosexual and that I suck. God do I love these people online.

 

[tonyjaymz03]

I love people that try to play that way, because I'll just set up a QB spy and vick won't get anywhere

I love playing smart football against idiots online..I remember in last years version I played this kid, and ran the ball, punted the ball when I needed to, things like that. While he was always going for it on 4th down, always trying for 2 points etc. I destroyed him 35-0 and he left me a message calling me, and i quote, a "Goose fucking turd homosexual"

 

[Vitamin X]

Yeah, these sort of people are the people that Madden was marketing to with last year's game, for sure.

 

[Kageho]

I went from my 6-2 start to a 7-9 finish.

If you would've picked a Bronco from last year that would've been a better choice. I actually was leading my division and then lost it to the Patriots. <_< Damn HQ and his Pats! So my next season sucked even worse. This time I went 4-12. Why? This is why:

After my first game, I'm down a QB, 2 WRs, a DT, a FS, and a LT. After the second game, I lost another WR, a CB, a RE and a TE. After the third game, I lost an ROLB, a HB, and a FB. After that, I basically gave up. I switched my back over to WR just so I could field a team, because if you put a player on IR it doesn't free up a damn spot so you can sign someone else. ._. You can cut injuried players, but all the bonus on contract must be paid and charged to you for the upcoming season as a penalty, instead of the cap number.

So when I cut my injuried QB Dingle (I love you NCAA), I got smacked instead of 200k, the full 1 million in bonuses. The amount this angers me is undescribable.

I'm like this close to restarting and just running my Falcons, instead of blowing up a team that's down on its luck.

 

[Wario Lemieux]

If you would've picked a Bronco from last year that would've been a better choice.

I was referencing Detroit's 2007 season, where they did, in fact, start 6-2 and end 7-9.

 

[Broward83]

So when the fuck did the Titans become some monster of a team with an O-line that allows next to no penetration and an entire defense that ballhawks and jumps routes all day?

Fucking seriously..

 

[oldskool]

In my Franchise, the Vikes lost both Jackson and Rosencopter to injuries in preseason, so they had to re-sign Frerotte to play QB for them. Well....Frerrote just went down, and now the Vikings just had to use Chris Kluwe, yes, their PUNTER, as the starting QB against the Cards.

4-24, 53 yards, 6 INTs.

In mine, the Bengals' O-line was banged up, so the kicker & punter played at left & right guard all game.

Unfortunately for me I'd turned holding penalties off, so those two douchebags just hooked my DTs all game and there weren't any flags. I thought that was a nice touch, having the penalty animations actually happen so I can go into replay & watch my guys get violated rather than the arbitrary "uh, he held" random number generation when a block happens.

In other offline franchise news: fuck the salary cap.
My Panthers are fucking ravaged, we have ~$47 million in cap penalties. I had traded Delhomme & Peppers to make some cap space because Delhomme was dropping like a rock (80 OVR to start, 79 year 2, broke his leg halfway through the season and was 76 OVR at the end) and Peppers was just starting to drop off and it seemed like a good idea to move him at 96OVR rather than waiting for a bigger drop. News flash for oldskool: cap penalties from trades actually exist and they hurt a lot. I had to trade Steve Smith, Chris McAllister the free agent CB that was averaging 9 INTs a year, and half my offensive line just to make enough cap room to sign my draft picks, and all those moves will have big-ass cap penalties for me next season! Yaaaaaaay.

Speaking of draft picks, TRTSMers, don't forget to Edit Player & see if they work better at an alternate position! I drafted a MLB that turned out to be 79 OVR in the 4th round. Pretty good, until I edited him on a whim and found out he turns into a 89 at DE with the same B potential as before. Draft steal! Makes up for the ~35OVR WR I drafted in the first round last season.

 

[Just Burny]

Does anyone know how the scouting works? the manual is bullshit & online isn't much better. I selected 18 guys to scout & played my first playoff game but it still said weeks scouted 0. I guess I'm missing something else with staffing or something

 

[Kageho]

If you would've picked a Bronco from last year that would've been a better choice.

I was referencing Detroit's 2007 season, where they did, in fact, start 6-2 and end 7-9.

Wow... I totally forgot about that.

In other offline franchise news: fuck the salary cap.
My Panthers are fucking ravaged, we have ~$47 million in cap penalties. I had traded Delhomme & Peppers to make some cap space because Delhomme was dropping like a rock (80 OVR to start, 79 year 2, broke his leg halfway through the season and was 76 OVR at the end) and Peppers was just starting to drop off and it seemed like a good idea to move him at 96OVR rather than waiting for a bigger drop. News flash for oldskool: cap penalties from trades actually exist and they hurt a lot. I had to trade Steve Smith, Chris McAllister the free agent CB that was averaging 9 INTs a year, and half my offensive line just to make enough cap room to sign my draft picks, and all those moves will have big-ass cap penalties for me next season! Yaaaaaaay.

Kinda curious, but why didn't you either a) try re-signing them or b) keeping them to start the new season, but trade them away for cheap rookies with high potential or draft picks? If you are going to take the hit anyways, stock up on second rounders (don't grab firsts) and go nuts during the draft.

If you go the draft pick route, I'd really recommend booting up NCAA and using it to replenish your rosters. Because its the only way you'll get some good potential picks in the 4-6th rounds.

Only downside though, is you'll end up with a ton of fullbacks on the FA.

Speaking of draft picks, TRTSMers, don't forget to Edit Player & see if they work better at an alternate position! I drafted a MLB that turned out to be 79 OVR in the 4th round. Pretty good, until I edited him on a whim and found out he turns into a 89 at DE with the same B potential as before. Draft steal! Makes up for the ~35OVR WR I drafted in the first round last season.

Actually you should watch that. Sometimes when you switch a player from one position to another position, you'll lower the awareness to below 50 to nearly the 30s maybe 40s. IF you hit the 50s, then great. But any lower and you are going to have some major problems concerning that.

And there was a 35 over in the first round? How the hell does that happen?

The only thing I wish is that after the draft, anyone not drafted would be an FA, instead of like the second to fourth rounders who didn't get signed. I would like to be able to find some cheap B potential guys.

BTW, don't even bother keeping C potential guys. I've had an SS for two years at C potential and 77 OVR at SS. The man has STILL not gotten better.

Does anyone know how the scouting works? the manual is bullshit & online isn't much better. I selected 18 guys to scout & played my first playoff game but it still said weeks scouted 0. I guess I'm missing something else with staffing or something

You can only scout during the season. Speaking of that you should need about 6 weeks to scout all 18. So if you go 4 weeks, you can nearly get everyone covered more or less. Just use the remaining weeks on the guys who especially want to go after or have interest in.

 

[Matt Young]

Chris and Canadian Guitarist, if you play your games, we can advance early.

 

[oldskool]

If you would've picked a Bronco from last year that would've been a better choice.

I was referencing Detroit's 2007 season, where they did, in fact, start 6-2 and end 7-9.

Wow... I totally forgot about that.

In other offline franchise news: fuck the salary cap.
My Panthers are fucking ravaged, we have ~$47 million in cap penalties. I had traded Delhomme & Peppers to make some cap space because Delhomme was dropping like a rock (80 OVR to start, 79 year 2, broke his leg halfway through the season and was 76 OVR at the end) and Peppers was just starting to drop off and it seemed like a good idea to move him at 96OVR rather than waiting for a bigger drop. News flash for oldskool: cap penalties from trades actually exist and they hurt a lot. I had to trade Steve Smith, Chris McAllister the free agent CB that was averaging 9 INTs a year, and half my offensive line just to make enough cap room to sign my draft picks, and all those moves will have big-ass cap penalties for me next season! Yaaaaaaay.

Kinda curious, but why didn't you either a) try re-signing them or b) keeping them to start the new season, but trade them away for cheap rookies with high potential or draft picks? If you are going to take the hit anyways, stock up on second rounders (don't grab firsts) and go nuts during the draft.

If you go the draft pick route, I'd really recommend booting up NCAA and using it to replenish your rosters. Because its the only way you'll get some good potential picks in the 4-6th rounds.

Only downside though, is you'll end up with a ton of fullbacks on the FA.

Tried re-signing, they wouldn't budge. Peppers I re-signed earlier to a 7 year deal so he was content to sit on it, and Delhomme's advanced age meant he only wanted a 2-year deal that made the cap situation far worse. Plus the trades I got for them were too good to pass up; I got Detroit's pick in the 2nd and 3rd round (the #1 selection in each round, mind) and TE Pettigrew who developed into a 91OVR beast with the run blocking capability of an above average offensive lineman for Peppers, and Delhomme snagged me Pat White, but it cost me a couple fourth-round selections (#31 & 32 in the round, since I foolishly made a trade with the AFC champion Colts to snag their 4th rounder)

Speaking of draft picks, TRTSMers, don't forget to Edit Player & see if they work better at an alternate position! I drafted a MLB that turned out to be 79 OVR in the 4th round. Pretty good, until I edited him on a whim and found out he turns into a 89 at DE with the same B potential as before. Draft steal! Makes up for the ~35OVR WR I drafted in the first round last season.

Actually you should watch that. Sometimes when you switch a player from one position to another position, you'll lower the awareness to below 50 to nearly the 30s maybe 40s. IF you hit the 50s, then great. But any lower and you are going to have some major problems concerning that.

And there was a 35 over in the first round? How the hell does that happen?

The only thing I wish is that after the draft, anyone not drafted would be an FA, instead of like the second to fourth rounders who didn't get signed. I would like to be able to find some cheap B potential guys.

BTW, don't even bother keeping C potential guys. I've had an SS for two years at C potential and 77 OVR at SS. The man has STILL not gotten better.

Yeah, I needed a WR to replace Muhammad, it was the end of the first round, and I just grabbed the "best player available". 94 speed and not much else.

As far as awareness goes, the move to DE wasn't a big deal because I always control the defensive ends, so it doesn't come into play as much as it would elsewhere. I'll keep an eye on the other guys I keep moving around, though.

 

[KingPK]

If there's one thing Madden needed to steal from 2K5, it's the contract system where you could choose how a contract could be given out (frontloaded, backloaded, balanced, etc.) and see how your cap in future years would be affected.

 

[BruiserBrody]

What level do you guys play the CPU verus? All-Madden FTW?

 

[fazzle]

I just use Madden IQ level still.

 

[oldskool]

I've got it on custom, started at All-Pro and I've been monkeying with it since. Turned CPU QB Accuracy down a little, turned down INTs on both sides because of the pursuit angles unexpected bug (they put in a Pursuit rating so defenders can be differentiated by whether or not they take the correct angle, but every offensive player has shit for a pursuit rating so a ton of INTs turn into huge returns & pick-sixes because the offense is too stupid to take a proper angle and they just let the defender blow by them), and that's about it.

 

[Kageho]

What level do you guys play the CPU verus? All-Madden FTW?

Pro with adjusted sliders. I can't stand All-Pro because sometimes is just to f'n cheap. Works just fine doing that.

 

[Vitamin X]

Fight for the fumble is indeed executed horribly. If you're not on it in a split second, it's impossible to win.

I remember this being mentioned and thought about it as I've played Madden now enough to hate the absolute hell out of this feature. It always starts out with the other team in command of the fumble and you're smashing buttons futilely until you inevitably lose, over and over again. Horrible.

And even worse is the "Could This Be The One?" Madden Moment, which attempts to give the Lions their first victory of the year. Nevermind that none of the Madden Moments contain the rosters which executed the moments- big deal in this one since the Redskins D is vastly improved from the one the Lions nearly beat- but the Lions really are just horrible. And the best quarterback isn't even starting! (Stafford is the #2 behind Culpepper)

 

[KingPK]

I don't really mind Fight For the Fumble as I've won and lost some. I do hate the fact that it means that you fumble a LOT more now. I had Fred Taylor fumble three times in one game.

 

[oldskool]

Wow, everybody sucks at button mashing. I win about 80% of the fights for the fumble I get myself into, regardless of what side the meter starts on. I only lose when it's way in favor of the opponent or when the button to press changes so frequently that I keep mis-hitting and giving them a bonus.

 

[2GOLD]

The total lack of intentional grounding is what is pissing me off. I'm losing two sacks a game because the quarterbacks all turn into Tom Brady vs the Raiders. It's annoying as hell to watch them just float one into an offensive linemen and no flags being thrown.

As for the ones with the Madden update, anyone mind checking if Ben Patrick is on the Cards or in free agency now? I totally was going to get rid of Scheffler and put him on the Broncos but he's not in the game. I suppose I could create him using tweaked Madden 09 stats but I'd rather find out if he made it in the update since I can accurately re-create Harrell with all his numbers available to me.

And I am officially calling it: Free Agency is broken.
Watching the Vikings be down to four offensive linemen and watching them sign their THIRD fullback tells me something is very wrong. Apparently the stupid line of thinking that went into the draft is in full effect there. Just dammit! I want to love this game but the longer I play it, the more I realize with all the errors and bugs and total mistakes that it isn't worth 30 dollars let alone 60.

 

[Broward83]

Re: Free Agency...

Eagles let go of both Kolb and McNabb in one year of my free agency.

Also..Vince Young is floundering away in FA while Tim Tebow leads the Titans now.

 

[Wario Lemieux]

So when the fuck did the Titans become some monster of a team with an O-line that allows next to no penetration and an entire defense that ballhawks and jumps routes all day?

Fucking seriously..

Proooooobably last year, when Kerry Collins was sacked 8 times despite being as mobile as the empty bottles of Jim Beam that litter his locker, and when they were tied for 4th in picks. I have some concerns with realism myself - Dallas keeps Marion Barber around because Felix Jones can't run people over, EA - but the Titans blocking well and ballhawking isn't really baffling.

 

[Matt Young]

Wow, everybody sucks at BUTTon mashing. I win about 80% of the fights for the fumble I get myself into, regardless of what side the meter starts on. I only lose when it's way in favor of the opponent or when the BUTTon to press changes so frequently that I keep mis-hitting and giving them a bonus.

I'm good at button mashing, but I've lost more than I've won because I'm used to the feature being turned off in my offline franchise, so it rarely fails to catch me off guard.

As for Brody's question, I'm playing on Pro offline, but it's too easy. But All-Pro is cheap, so I will probably do the Madden IQ. Sucks that I have to play on All-Pro to get achievements.

 

[Wario Lemieux]

Matt, I think your All-Pro hatred is purely skill-level related. For me, All-Pro is cake, and All-Madden is "cheap".

 

[BruiserBrody]

I dunno about the PS3 version, but its kinda annoying for me on the PS2 to not have full control over where to switch guys positions to permanently

I wanted to run a 2 TE run package with 2 O-linemen as the TE's (QB is shit need running help)

 

[Matt Young]

Matt, I think your All-Pro hatred is purely skill-level related. For me, All-Pro is cake, and All-Madden is "cheap".

No, there's video proof out there of the computer cheating to "level the playing field" at the 2 higher difficulties. It's certainly not skill based, because I used Madden IQ last year and got All-Madden for most of the categories.

 

[Wario Lemieux]

I found one video complaining about All-Pro, and it was cheating for the human player. James Harrison looked like an idiot*, Dan Kreider threw a block that knocked two guys completely out of the play without touching either of them, and Arizona's right tackle threw two equally wicked blocks, including one blind. If you want to find videos of All-Pro cheating like All Madden cheats, against the player, I'll watch them, but that's all I could come up with.

*Moreso than is normal for James Harrison