I'll get to that in a sec.
But earlier, back in Feb he also discussed new QB ratings in Madden 10:
Here's a snip:
Our next big change for the QB position was the addition of some new ratings. For countless years we've basically had Throw Power, Throw Accuracy, and Awareness as the only ratings for the QB position, so it's very hard to differentiate the players correctly and have them perform more like their real-life counterparts with just those few. For example, a superstar like Tom Brady or Peyton Manning would previously have a very high Throw Accuracy rating like a 98, well that had to be the case for a 5 yard screen or a 65 yard heave! Here are our new ratings:1. Deep Ball Accuracy: Determines the accuracy on deep passes (streaks, deep posts, etc)
2. Medium Passing Accuracy: Determines the accuracy on medium passes (outs, corners, etc)
3. Short Passing Accuracy: Determines the accuracy on short passes (quick smash, flats, etc)
4. Throw on the Run: Creates a modifier to accuracy when the QB is throwing on the run. Every QB will take some sort of accuracy hit when throwing on the run, but a QB that has a high rating here will take a smaller hit.
5. Play Action: Determines the 'effectiveness' of Play Action for a QB, i.e. how often they can fake out or freeze the defense (which is obviously weighted against the defenders Play Recognition ratings)
With Donny's new philosophy on ratings, the addition of these ratings immediately made the game play VERY differently than in years past. Chucking up the deep ball with a QB with high throw power but bad accuracy is definitely a recipe for disaster!Now, I have no idea of Ian and Team Madden can pull this off. I really have no idea what to expect.
But this is the number one issue I have had with Madden and NCAA's gameplay for years now -- QB accuracy -- or lack thereof.
This is a BIG, BIG deal. For me, anyway.
It says that these guys "get it" -- who knows how well they can do this stuff, but they clearly get it.
Here' sa quote from the Donny Rating post, "Every position and every rating has been re-scaled to expand the range of numbers we are dealing with. The Overall Rating for your average NFL player has dropped. Your Joe Average linebacker who was 80 OVR is now dropped down to 70. "
That is spot freaking ON.
And this: "In Madden NFL 10, WR SPD range is currently 70-100…CB is currently 75-99. So as you may or may not tell, the SPD range has been pushed down, in our opinions, to better reflect the “sim-gameplay” style that Ian and Phil have been telling you about all winter long. This SPD change has been updated for each position, so it makes a huge game play affect. Ian and I had a game the other day where Earnest Graham broke one up the middle for a 55 yard touchdown run… and he could not be caught!…E-Grahams’ Madden NFL 10 current SPD rating….80 SPD. That should give you a good sense of what is possible with the new ratings."
OK back to the QB stuff.
I don't want to cut and paste this whole thing -- you need to see the pic yourself, if you haven't already. Scroll down to the part about 'accuracy 'algorithms' right after the new ratings I posted above.
Will this fix the "every damn deep pass is right on the money" problem that has plagued Madden/NCAA since the dawn of man? I don't know.
But I love what I am hearing.
The new Vision cone is back and...colorful.
Here's the kicker -- this is all tied back into those new QB ratings. I disagree with making yellow more accurate than green as it flies in the face of all gaming logic -- green = good, right?
Who knows how all of this will mesh together, and while I have always like the cone in theory but I always found it clunky to use, the changes the team is making this year show me that they really are trying to take Madden to another level -- and I have not been this excited about an EA Sports football game since NCAA made the next gen leap and landed on its face...
Ok bad example...
