I've played Madden for about a decade and I have seen the game progress each and every season (beside that first season on the N64 where they didn't have the NFL's approval and all the teams were generic, etc... that was horrible!) But I know that it'll improve once again this year. As far as what I would absolutely die for... read on...
This will probably be big so I'll start the thread off with what I would like to see done to PRESEASON, ROSTERS, and PLAYERS. I'm a stickler for REALISM, so...
1. Preseason should stay but the way the games are played should definately be fixed. First off, in each Preseason game the starters play different lengths... First Game - one quarter; Second - two quarters; Third - only a drive or two; Fourth - at least three quarters. LET THE THIRD STRINGERS ON DOWN PLAY!!! The comp should sub them in too.
2. There should also be the Hall of Fame game and if possible games overseas such as in Japan.
3. The teams should have the actual roster limits which is 53 players and not 55. In addition, the teams should have an 11-man practice squad just like the real NFL. Position requirements (found in Breakdown) should not exist. Real teams determine how many of each position they possess... if someone wants to be wild and go with 53 receivers then it is their loss.
4. Preseason roster should exceed 53 and after the Third Preseason Game you should be forced to trim your roster down to at most 65 players (like the real NFL) and after the Fourth Preseason Game you should be forced to make the final cuts to reach the max of 53 players and then sign on practice squad members. If EA's baseball game has enough room for Minor League teams etc. then Madden should be able to hold all the extra players.
5. On this note, make training camp/preseason position competitions (such as between 5 HBs on your roster) be worth something extra as far as the increase in attributes. I know this is like the regular Preseason progression but I think it should be factored in to be more productive.
6. Sticking to rosters, injuries to your own team should occur more. I have gone three seasons in my Franchise without a serious injury. C'mon! I like the challenge!
7. INJURED RESERVE should actually work like it is supposed to. On the Gamecube once you place a player on IR you gain his value as far as money goes which adds to your CAP but it does not free a roster space for a new player. If your roster is full you have to release someone. Very wrong
8.As far as PLAYER GRAPHICS, I like what I see coming up in Madden 2005, but I am sure that eventually they will add such features as Headgear (like skull caps etc...), different mouthpieces, and the way the jerseys are worn. Some players tuck the jersey sleeves under their pads while some let the sleeve hang (a lot of Quarterbacks) and some cut theirs (Linemen.) Different Neck Extensions would be cool also, like the super long extension that LB Brian Cox used to wear.
9. Players drafted and added into Madden should automatically change their numbmers to the appropriate range for their position (i.e. QBs 1-19, WRs 10-19, 80-89). If someone continues to play the game long enough all the players eventually will be wearing weird numbers and it will pretty much be a Pro Version of NCAA.
10. Player information such as when they were drafted, how they were obtained, and when they were obtained SHOULD NOT BE ERASED once you edit the player. This is a horrible bug in the game which makes things a bit annoying, especially when you are just trying to go through the rosters to adjust some rookie's number cos he is a LB with the number 1.
Okay, enough for now. I'll continue this later.
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