The Madden NFL Off Topic Thread

Paully D · 24-04-2014 4:32pm

Madden 15 seems to be very quiet. No promotion at all yet, not even a cover vote announcement. There also has been apparently been no Madden Game Changer events either.

Pasta Padre speculates that they might be drawing it out to coincide with the NFL doing the same with events during the offseason, but also suggests that EA have not confirmed their contract extension with the NFL as an exclusive. Interesting.

http://www.pastapadre.com/2014/03/28/start-of-madden-nfl-15-promotion-has-slipped-well-beyond-the-cycle-norm

Usually by this point in the year not only has the upcoming Madden been officially “announced” but the marketing cycle kicked off with cover related activities. The trend of fan voting to choose representatives for the cover has lost significant steam as of late however and it seems evident now that Madden NFL 15 is unlikely to feature a tournament and may go away from fan cover selection completely.

Previous cover campaigns and tournaments have been announced in February (as early as the 1st of the month) with candidates rolled out that month and into March when the voting would begin to coincide with the NCAA Tournament.

Last year’s cover tournament was listless despite the presence of legends and 64 candidates. The number of voters participating has slid while number of votes has risen due to expansion of the process. It’s fairly easy to collect the numbers they did when there are 62 individual pairings to vote on by the time it’s over.

The NFL has shifted some of its events to spread out more evenly activity during the off-season. Madden may be following suit by beginning a media blitz later in the year especially with the window more wide open due to the lack of an NCAA Football title that would require marketing coordination between the two properties. There’s also the question of whether another company may have secured the NFL license to consider, given that EA Sports would not confirm their extension as exclusive, which would cause them to be more guarded in what information was made public so far in advance of Madden’s release.

PerrinV2 · 28-04-2014 6:12pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLlfmaCfmDY

http://www.easports.com/madden-nfl/news-updates-gameplay/article/madden-15-release-date

helimachoptor · 28-04-2014 6:22pm

Underwhelmed with that

Knex* · 28-04-2014 6:30pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73Q7QHPcsv0

giffney1991 · 28-04-2014 7:11pm

It is supposed to be a complete defensive overhall...

guns4all · 02-05-2014 11:36am

Anyone have any inkling of who they might choose next year as their team?
Or teams they are gonna avoid like the plague!!

Think ill be picking quite late, and am looking for a team to develop as the seasons go on.
A bit of cap space would help as well.

Ill be avoiding the Raiders I think as I dont rate Schaub. Same goes for Matt Ryan and the Falcons.

May take a stab at Buffalo, Arizona or Minnesota myself

Knex* · 02-05-2014 12:12pm

The draft could have a big say in it, for me. Wonder who's gonna take Manziel :P

If Texans took Teddy B, I'd be very tempted to go them. Browns could be another good shout.

I'd avoid Panthers at all costs. Newton's contract up for renew and zero receivers.

guns4all · 02-05-2014 7:31pm

Knex. wrote: »

The draft could have a big say in it, for me. Wonder who's gonna take Manziel :P

If Texans took Teddy B, I'd be very tempted to go them. Browns could be another good shout.

I'd avoid Panthers at all costs. Newton's contract up for renew and zero receivers.

Yeah looking forward to Johnny Football tearing it up next season and hopefully his team drops far enough for me

Paully D · 02-05-2014 8:23pm

As Knex says, the draft will have a big part in it. Depending on where the rookies land will change a lot. The first rounders especially are easy to upgrade to top players quickly.

Cardinals and Rams would be decent to use, probably the two I'm most attracted to at the minute considering my likely draft position and without putting a whole lot of thought into it.

Good, young defenses, Palmer and Bradford are more than usable, and with the Rams you've got two very high draft picks coming so likely another two 90+ players OVR after season one. Another good thing about them is that you're guaranteed to have at least two other human opponents in your division with the 49ers and Seahawks, and given the lack of players we're likely to have due to people switching over, that will certainly be one of the main things I consider when picking my team. I'd probably end up having to put a trade together for a better RB if I got either of them though.

Mikeyt086 · 06-05-2014 2:36am

Re-entering the league at presumably mid-to-low draft pick I really think I'll take the Jags on again this year. Building the Jags up on Madden 13 and capping it with a Super Bowl and MVP for Tebow was a ridiculous amount of fun. It just didn't feel the same with the Cowboys in M25 (and it wasn't the game, I liked 25 more). I doubt the off season moves will be enough for someone to take an early punt on them, even with the improved O and D line and hopefully a fresh rookie QB, losing an elite Madden RB like MJD should see them slide.

Paully D · 09-05-2014 4:08am

So how about the Browns for Madden 15 then lads?

09-05-2014 4:09am

Paully D wrote: »

So how about the Browns for Madden 15 then lads?

i called them man

empacher · 09-05-2014 4:16am

After playing madden this year, I'm going to base my pick on salary cap, contracts, defence, I don't rate offence highly in madden. I tend to have to build a team to fit my scheme.

Paully D · 09-05-2014 5:11am

Axton Fancy Wool wrote: »

i called them man

Fine, I'll take the Vikings! :pac:

PerrinV2 · 09-05-2014 7:21pm

helimachoptor · 09-05-2014 8:43pm

Titans have a great o line tbh, the guy controlling the qb is useless though!

Mikeyt086 · 11-05-2014 3:07am

I absolutely love the Jags draft for Madden. It's literally tailored to my game.

We drafted Blake Bortles for QB in the 1st round. A huge Big Ben type QB with a cannon for an arm. Should be easy to farm XP for his accuracy and consistency and then we're flying.

2nd and 3rd round we got two excellent WRs in Marquise Lee and Robinson. Lee in particular I can't wait to use, and to go along with Cecil Shorts III it will be an excellent speedy WR core.

The O-Line has two new units to mould, along with Luke Joeckel who I'm sure will develop quickly.

Our late picks were on D, one of them was an outside linebacker who ran a 4.52 40 yard dash. This pleases me.

Can't wait now!

Paully D · 11-05-2014 12:05pm

Mikeyt086 wrote: »

I absolutely love the Jags draft for Madden. It's literally tailored to my game.

We drafted Blake Bortles for QB in the 1st round. A huge Big Ben type QB with a cannon for an arm. Should be easy to farm XP for his accuracy and consistency and then we're flying.

2nd and 3rd round we got two excellent WRs in Marquise Lee and Robinson. Lee in particular I can't wait to use, and to go along with Cecil Shorts III it will be an excellent speedy WR core.

The O-Line has two new units to mould, along with Luke Joeckel who I'm sure will develop quickly.

Our late picks were on D, one of them was an outside linebacker who ran a 4.52 40 yard dash. This pleases me.

Can't wait now!

You'll be doing well to land them I think mate. Good chance someone will snap them up early-ish IMO for all the reasons you've listed and especially as they're likely to be in a division with all other human teams.

adrian522 · 11-05-2014 1:58pm

Mikeyt086 wrote: »

I absolutely love the Jags draft for Madden. It's literally tailored to my game.

We drafted Blake Bortles for QB in the 1st round. A huge Big Ben type QB with a cannon for an arm. Should be easy to farm XP for his accuracy and consistency and then we're flying.

2nd and 3rd round we got two excellent WRs in Marquise Lee and Robinson. Lee in particular I can't wait to use, and to go along with Cecil Shorts III it will be an excellent speedy WR core.

The O-Line has two new units to mould, along with Luke Joeckel who I'm sure will develop quickly.

Our late picks were on D, one of them was an outside linebacker who ran a 4.52 40 yard dash. This pleases me.

Can't wait now!

Colvin was a good pick as well, assuming his injury wont carry over to Madden.

Raoul · 11-05-2014 10:43pm

Mikeyt086 wrote: »

I absolutely love the Jags draft for Madden. It's literally tailored to my game.

We drafted Blake Bortles for QB in the 1st round. A huge Big Ben type QB with a cannon for an arm. Should be easy to farm XP for his accuracy and consistency and then we're flying.

2nd and 3rd round we got two excellent WRs in Marquise Lee and Robinson. Lee in particular I can't wait to use, and to go along with Cecil Shorts III it will be an excellent speedy WR core.

The O-Line has two new units to mould, along with Luke Joeckel who I'm sure will develop quickly.

Our late picks were on D, one of them was an outside linebacker who ran a 4.52 40 yard dash. This pleases me.

Can't wait now!

Not meaning to be unfair to you but I sort of hate the whole xp thing. Madden really need to tone down certain things such as impact blocking and big hitter stuff and being able to boost up particular traits to make your players much better. Fair enough to do it to a certain extent but sometimes for me I think it makes the game a bit ridiculous. Without the sliders it was desperate, all you had to do was pump up your impact blocking and you would have an unstoppable run game. Perhaps I am slightly bitter as I didn't boost mine up as much as I should have early on.

empacher · 12-05-2014 1:13pm

Totally agree. Bumping wide recievers release to 99 and them breaking dpuble coverage easily is a joke. It sickens me when people beat Revis in man coverage based on speed alone has madden doesn't seem to think route running has a major effect on things.

Knex* · 12-05-2014 1:18pm

Two valuable XP tips I've just picked myself up. Cheers fellas :pac:

Mikeyt086 · 12-05-2014 8:29pm

Raoul wrote: »

Not meaning to be unfair to you but I sort of hate the whole xp thing. Madden really need to tone down certain things such as impact blocking and big hitter stuff and being able to boost up particular traits to make your players much better. Fair enough to do it to a certain extent but sometimes for me I think it makes the game a bit ridiculous. Without the sliders it was desperate, all you had to do was pump up your impact blocking and you would have an unstoppable run game. Perhaps I am slightly bitter as I didn't boost mine up as much as I should have early on.

Yep the franchises could do without it but I don't expect it to be gone any time soon. Adds an almost RPG element to the career. As always with EA games the balance is a bit off, of course next year it will be too extreme a counter and those traits will be too weak and others will be too strong.

Mikeyt086 · 13-05-2014 3:36am

Paully D wrote: »

You'll be doing well to land them I think mate. Good chance someone will snap them up early-ish IMO for all the reasons you've listed and especially as they're likely to be in a division with all other human teams.

Maybe I can sweet talk my way into some sort of unspoken deal where nobody takes the Jags and I make everyone sigs again.

Paully D · 17-05-2014 4:48pm

The cover vote is well under way, with the 2nd round vote open until the 22nd. Only a few weeks until we know who wins it:

http://www.espn.go.com/nfl/feature/maddenvote

First round winners:

No idea who will win it, Sherman if I had to guess, though I'm sure it would be very "convenient" (;)) if Kuechly was to win it given that he was the main man for the first trailer and there is likely to be a focus on defense this year.

adrian522 · 17-05-2014 4:51pm

If Sherman is in the cover I ain't buying it.

helimachoptor · 17-05-2014 5:02pm

Cant see if being anyone else than him!

17-05-2014 5:05pm

Don't care who's on the cover once it's not an eagle tbh it rarely works out well for a player

adrian522 · 17-05-2014 5:05pm

I'll prepare my letter of resignation in that case.

PADRAIC.M · 17-05-2014 9:04pm

Best damn corner in the league (mediocre corner in Madden)

mikemac1 · 17-05-2014 9:07pm

Time for some love for the defense on Madden covers

I hope Keuchley wins it but it'll be Sherman

Paully D · 30-05-2014 11:24pm

It's Sherman v Newton in the final.

I'm surprised Cam made it so far to be honest. I'd prefer Sherman to get it, defense needs some Madden cover love as Mike says above :pac:

Polomalu in 2010 was the last defensive player on the cover and he had to share it with Larry Fitz, Ray Lewis in 2005 was the only other one ever in the history of the series.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/feature/maddenvote

PADRAIC.M · 30-05-2014 11:40pm

If Sherman wins does my team pick go up a few places?

Paully D · 31-05-2014 7:11pm

A proposed settlement has been reached between athletes who appeared in the NCAA games and EA Sports. Each athlete would receive $971 for each series of the game they appeared in. They're just waiting for a judge to approve it now.

31-05-2014 11:25pm

Paully D wrote: »

A proposed settlement has been reached between athletes who appeared in the NCAA games and EA Sports. Each athlete would receive $971 for each series of the game they appeared in. They're just waiting for a judge to approve it now.

sweet does that mean we may end up seeing more ncaa football games released?

Paully D · 01-06-2014 12:28am

Axton Fancy Wool wrote: »

sweet does that mean we may end up seeing more ncaa football games released?

I'd doubt it mate.

The settlement is just for the players who were featured from 2003-present day, but one of the lawyers representing the players said the below:

Aragon declined to comment on the reported amount of the settlement, but did provide a few details about the nature of the agreement between his clients, EA and the CLC.

"That's not us. We didn't tell them to do that," said Aragon, when asked to comment on EA's cancellation of next year's college football title. "We would be fine if they published a game."

According to Aragon, there's no language in the settlement agreement that prevents EA from continuing to develop and publish college football games. In fact, said Aragon, "There's really nothing about future name, image or likeness use [in the agreement].

"There's nothing stopping [EA] from making the game, so long as they don't use players' names, images or likenesses. Or [they could] pay the students, which they didn't really agree to," said Aragon.

So while it looks they'd be free to make another NCAA Football game, they're extremely unlikely to bother as they'd end up getting hit with another lawsuit.

adrian522 · 05-06-2014 9:53am

The news we've all been waiting for....

http://www.ninersnation.com/2014/6/4/5781400/madden-15-screenshot-colin-kaepernick-tattoos-picture

Finally.

guns4all · 05-06-2014 9:55am

adrian522 wrote: »

The news we've all been waiting for....

http://www.ninersnation.com/2014/6/4/5781400/madden-15-screenshot-colin-kaepernick-tattoos-picture

Finally.

Now just work on making it good.

adrian522 · 05-06-2014 10:03am

guns4all wrote: »

Now just work on making it good.

Nah, that's more of a Madden 16 thing.

PerrinV2 · 06-06-2014 3:27pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUiBJy150rg

http://www.easports.com/madden-nfl/features?utm_campaign=mad15-social-global-ic-yt-kuechly-features-endslate-060614-yt-vid-site-ramp&utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&sourceid=mad15-social-global-ic-yt-kuechly-features-endslate-060614-yt-vid-site-ramp&cid=22103&ts=1402061864028

Paully D · 06-06-2014 4:12pm

Looks great, though all of these trailers do. I'm looking forward to seeing some proper gameplay at E3 (hopefully). Focus is definitely on defense this year:

Deliver on Defense

Set the tone on defense with more control thanks to an all-new arsenal of pass rush moves, contain the open field with intuitive tackling mechanics, and play as a team with redesigned zone and man coverage logic all while being immersed in the play from the other side of the line, with defensive player lock cameras. Madden NFL 15 delivers on defense.

The cover vote winner is announced at 11pm our time on SportsCenter. If Newton loses again that would be 3 years in a row he's been beaten in the final.

empacher · 06-06-2014 4:53pm

That video is a load of ****, marshawn lynch would run keuchlys ass into the dirt.

Knex* · 06-06-2014 4:56pm

Newton challenges Sherman to a game of Madden

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5z3eVAbl90

Paully D · 07-06-2014 12:41am

Sherman wins the cover vote. I'm sure there'll be more than a few people hoping that the Madden Curse strikes this year mind :pac: I'm personally glad that defense gets represented on the cover in what should hopefully be a return to a decent level of defense in the game this year.

Cam was great craic at the reveal, he really had the crowd going. Three cover vote losses in a row for him now. It's crazy how popular the game is when EA/ESPN can pull off big reveals just for a cover vote like they did tonight.

The cover does look rubbish at the minute but I'm sure it'll be jazzed up.

guns4all · 07-06-2014 7:21pm

Can someone post a link for cheap xbox live?
Ones that email them to you quickly

helimachoptor · 07-06-2014 7:43pm

Cheapxboxlivecodes.com

Got a new one last week, had it in 5 mins

tripperman · 08-06-2014 12:17pm

Hi i bought madden 25 in the last two weeks, and i found when playing it freezes up for a few seconds, is this a fault in the game or my xbox360?

Paully D · 08-06-2014 1:36pm

tripperman wrote: »

Hi i bought madden 25 in the last two weeks, and i found when playing it freezes up for a few seconds, is this a fault in the game or my xbox360?

Hi mate. I have never experienced any sort of freezing with it, aside from a bit of lag when playing online but that's a connection issue. Where does it freeze for you? Is it in game or on the menus etc? Did you buy the game second hand? If so, it may be a bit scratched.

Pudsy33 · 08-06-2014 1:38pm

Clear the cache on your hard drive, should sort it out

tripperman · 08-06-2014 2:09pm

Paully D wrote: »

Hi mate. I have never experienced any sort of freezing with it, aside from a bit of lag when playing online but that's a connection issue. Where does it freeze for you? Is it in game or on the menus etc? Did you buy the game second hand? If so, it may be a bit scratched.

got it new, just as the ball snaps into play it freezes,

The Madden NFL Off Topic Thread

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