It’s that time of the Madden cycle again, EA released their Gridiron Notes revealing the Madden 21 Franchise “Updates” on June 30th, 2020. It’s an absolute joke, simple as that.
First off, in the Franchise article, they led with Face of the Franchise details. THAT IS NOT FRANCHISE. They simply did this to make it LOOK like they were at work with franchise. The first three-quarters of the article is just about Face of the Franchise, the storylines that are available. Also, WHOOP DE DOO WE CAN BE ON THE FREAKING RICH EISEN SHOW. Not to mention all the bullet points for franchise are literally patch notes.
Madden 21 Franchise “Updates”
Now that you can see all the brand new “updates” let’s see just how many of them can be put into a damn patch.
New X-Factors
We got these in a Madden 20 patch. Remember the new offensive line abilities that were added?
Updated Wildcard
This is the only one that’s kind of debatable but shouldn’t be a real marketed feature as it’s happening in the NFL. EA has the exclusive simulation rights so this basically needed to happen. Not giving EA any credit here.
Updated Rookie Contracts
I could do this in a franchise mode. If they can add 5th-year options in a patch and a player’s new contract in a literal roster update this is not impressive. Simply expected.
Changing Abilities and When They’re Available
EA basically said they’re changing the abilities for each position and when they get them. Again, this could be done in a patch because they’ve added abilities in patches before.
Fixed Logic for Dev Upgrades
This was a constant issue and complaint for most members of the franchise community. Offensive linemen were unable to go up in development in Madden 20. It was also glitched for corners and tight ends (corner who led the league in INTs wouldn’t go up in dev). I appreciate the bug fix but it’s exactly that, a “bug fix.” Bug fixes are for patch notes, not for features in a new game.
Updates to Back-end Depth Chart Philosophies
Depth chart updates, sounds like patch notes.
Position Specific Archetypes for Offensive Line
I actually really like this. It sounds like the age of moving an 88 center to OT and them still being an 88 (give or take a couple overall points) is gone. You don’t see a center just becoming a tackle and not losing a step, it’s extremely difficult. I honestly like this change and I’m unsure about how easy this is. So EA gets some credit here.
Fixed Fictional Coaches Having Wrong Playbooks for Their Scheme
Remember that fictional coach that always had the Falcons playbooks? Well sounds like they’re gone. It’s a fix that was needed but still, sounds like part of patch notes.
Final Thoughts
Madden has been memed as just being a roster update with some new stick feature and that still rings true now. We don’t care about having Snopp Dogg or Rich Eisen in the game, we want improvements. Franchise fans want coaching carousel that was in a game made in 2013!!! Or how about better scouting? If NHL 18’s scouting was put into Madden, fans would be extremely happy. EA needs to step up their game, if you want change hurt them with your wallets and don’t buy the game.
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