Official Madden 17 Thread - Connected Franchises Online League Info

[Dont Taze Me Bro]

Yea, i would be looking to get into an xbone league. I know some people threw around the idea of one late last year but it never turned into anything.

 

If someone decides to start one PM me. 

 

PS: Im not very good but enjoy playing other people rather than playing the CPU all the time. lol

 

Yeah, our dreams were shot down earlier this year.  I know I got you and Skinsfan added, couple of others on Xbox One.  We can start a league up.  

 

Momma said (sounds like i'm quoting the Water Boy) that he was going to pick it up on XB1 and has some friends on there that play, so maybe we can get them in a league with us.  

[TSO]

Okay, be honest guys... is Madden really, truly improved? Like, wow factor is actually, uhm, a factor? 

 

This is the first year since I can remember that I haven't ran to pick up the new Madden (or 2k) the first day it came out. I'm so worn out from their lack of progress, especially in comparison to other sports titles and current generation titles in general. 

 

Worst thing the NFL ever did was sell the rights to exclusivity.    

 

How are Oline/Dline interactions? I know they've been working on DB/WR interactions... how is it? Any obvious exploits? 

[Dont Taze Me Bro]

Sub, it's hard to tell right now about any exploits since it's only on day 2 of release.  I'm sure there will be some money plays on both sides of the ball that work.  Honestly, I feel a lot of true exploits have been avoided the last couple of releases (25 and 15), I've noticed less disconnect glitches (almost non-existent in my online experiences), smarter AI, etc.

 

Now will the little kiddies figure out a near unstoppable pass play to some stud WR (like Dez, Megatron, etc.)?   Of course they will, that is almost always guaranteed, every year.  But I've always found that minimal in my online gaming experience and usually, I can figure a way to stop most of the cheese, if someone truly is cheesing.  

 

Last year, I could run all over anyone, almost at will.  The running game is a lot tougher this year, seems like it plays out like it should based on how the actual player/team plays irl.  RGIII was passing like he would in a real game (i.e. making a lot more bad throws, missing open WRs, etc.).  

 

It looks like they really improved, at another level when comparing it to the last 3-4 installments.  The DB/WR battle, from what I can tell is realistic, at least as realistic as it can be for a game.  Will some kid spam a lob pass to Megatron and always aggressive jump catch it?  I haven't seen that work yet, but I'm only 2 games and one series in as far as online play goes.  

 

Like I said, I didn't encounter that many cheese players last year online that I couldn't force to quit or break them by halftime.  And the OL/DL battle/match-ups are improved, imo.  Gotta hit the gaps at the right time or you will get stuffed for no gain or a loss.  I broke off one 40 yard rush with Morris, but my blockers opened up a huge hole and I made a LB miss before the safety knocked me out of bounds.  

 

I'm loving it.  I'll let Momma jump in with his opinions on here as he probably pays a little more attention to the fine details than I do.

[Momma There Goes That Man]

I about died when I was playing on EA Access on Xbox and threw a deep ball up and the S sort of grabbed my player and pulled him down but I hit Y to Aggressive Catch and as he's falling the WR reaches around and snags the ball one handed as he's falling onto his back. They actually threw a pass interference flag on the S too. I was sold at that point on, even if one handed catches are rare but more common in this game, it was an awesome moment.

[Momma There Goes That Man]

Good stuff Taze, one thing about the Running game that has been improved over recent years is that the Arabs don't get stuck on the OL like they used to. Once thing we've all hated since they added the physics engine is that the RB hits a hole and falls flat on his face after slamming into his OL or just gets locked into the back of the OL until tackled

There are two improvements to that, one is that if you get caught up, the player automatically sort of rolls off the OL and tries to go through the hole. I can't tell yet if this is random or user controlled actually or if you are able to point it a direction. It's happened to me a few times and was greatly appreciated.

The other is that if you hit the right bumper, the back will "get skinny" and it helps hitting the hole and not getting stuck or clipping a linimen as you go through.

Both features seem to really be helpful and avoid some frustrations in the past.

There is also an in depth RB tutorial as well that helps read the defenders and find the holes as a RB. Makes it feel more realistic because with the speed changes we've mentioned, you can just explode to the outside, you want to read and follow your blockers and the play concept. It's a fairly realistic 3 yard pop, 5 yard pop, etc grind it out until a hole opens and you can hit a 15+. Feels very rewarding. Also the gang tackling and improved physics while running really add to the realism. Your RB is getting tackled after a 5 yard pickup and as he's going down he gets smashed by another defender and his body moves appropriately for that impact.

I haven't checked the DL OL interaction a lot yet. Nothing ridiculous or unfair or just dumb jumped out at me so far. Seems balanced. Sometimes there isn't anything you can do, other times you get a jump and can snuff out a play. OL does seem to do a better job of making a pocket this year. The DE or OLBs don't get to the QB in 2 seconds like past years. Well, they probably still do against the Redskins lol.

[codeorama]

The biggest thing in this game is the new way of receiving. The receptions are much more realistic. You can actually throw a ball up and have a chance at going up and getting it. Love it.

[skinfan2k]

what we should do is have an informal league?  i am on xbox 1 too.  maybe we have a 8 man bracket and keep playing mini-tournaments?

[Dont Taze Me Bro]

what we should do is have an informal league?  i am on xbox 1 too.  maybe we have a 8 man bracket and keep playing mini-tournaments?

You talking about just selecting teams as are?  I'm down for anything.  Just elaborate

[Momma There Goes That Man]

The biggest thing in this game is the new way of receiving. The receptions are much more realistic. You can actually throw a ball up and have a chance at going up and getting it. Love it.

Yeah it was so frustrating previously when lob passes would pretty much mean your WR stood there and waited for the ball to hit him in the lap while the defender always high pointed t

[Dont Taze Me Bro]

Just finished 3 online ranked games on XB1......undefeated

 

Game 1 - I played with the Titans, played the Broncos.  I put Peyton into retirement. Won 27-14

 

Game 2 - I played with the Seahawks, played the Cowboys.  Boys are tough this year in Madden.  When I finally figured out what defense worked best against them, score was 7-7, and I had just stuffed them on 3rd down and forced a FG.  Guy disconnected, I got the win.

 

Game 3 - I played with the Colts, played the Seahawks.  I pulled out the win with 12 seconds left in the game.  Ended up winning 18-15.  I got a pick on my 4 yd line on his opening drive.  Moved the ball down well, got a FG.  He then moved the ball on me, went for 2 and went up 8-3.  I missed and overthrew a wide open Fleener on a hot route streak for a TD at the end of the half, was pissed.  Marched down, scored, went for two and went up 11-8.  He milked a lot of the 3rd and 4th qtr and went up 15-11, gave me 44 seconds.  I Neck Bearded that punk ass for a TD with only 44 sec and 1 time out.  

 

They might as well as named this edition:  McDonalds 16, cause I'm loving it!

[Momma There Goes That Man]

Lol Taze. You notice the new roster update knocked the Colts down to an 80? That's the same rating as the Redskins.

Only the Jags, Raiders and Falcons are lower rated as 79, which in pretty high for the worst teams.

Andrew Luck really is that team's only hope

[nemocystem]

Damn...got it on PS4 because it seemed the cool kids were all there, now I'm thinking i might trade it back for an XB1 version because 1) i much prefer the XB1 controller, 2) my XB1 is in my studio where i can play uninterrupted at 300MBPS, & 3) my time is more limited on the PS4 because my son plays Minecraft on it, & i'm grabbing MGSV for the PS4 also.

Now I'm gonna free agent this biotch, & test the market, as it were. Who needs an extra player more?

[Spaceman Spiff]

RG3 does suck this year.  Two games in, I benched his ass and put in McCoy.  I was expecting to put in Cousins but McCoy is actually ranked slightly better.  

 

Took the team right down the field for a score.  McCoy was 5/5.  He's definitely not that great though, a couple times last night I had receives open on crossing patterns with ample time to throw and threw it way in front of the receiver right into a defender for a pick.

 

I haven't been into Madden for the past few years, last year I think I played for about a month and then never picked it up again.  Certainly not as into it as you guys seem to be but this version is a lot of fun and the new passing/catching is pretty cool.  Bullet passes don't work at all anymore, there's a learning curve and it's been giving me fits the past few nights.  I'm pretty good with gunning it on crossing routes and getting some RAC yards but it's the deep routes and the fade routes that leave me a bit perplexed.  I'm playing on All-Pro and I think I should move back down to Pro to get my skills up.  

 

Balls that used to go to defenders and batted down are now picked off almost every time.  Gameplay is a lot more realistic, I think.  Some of the animations are pretty ****ty, I've seen some running backs just get hit at the line and practically sit down.  I downloaded my copy to my Ps4 on Monday at midnight and twice I've had the menu freeze after a game, that's been the other thing that I've been annoyed with.  The music just plays and that rotating football in the background just keeps rotating with no menu at all.

 

It's a lot of fun though, I really like it and I'm glad that it's a challenge again.  My defense is pretty stout, I like using Jason Hatcher on player lock at the line, he almost always takes on two guys and frees up Kerrigan and Galette to do some damage.  I just need to get the passing and catching down.  The aggressive catch seems to work fairly well, it's nice to be able to see receivers actually go up and get the ball.  

 

After some initial issues with the running, I made some changes at the line.  I do max pass protect even on running plays, it seems to give the line a bit of a burst.  If I'm going to run to the right I make sure the line shifts right and it helps get a corner.  I ripped off a 65 yard run with Morris last night using that.  

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

This game is hard as **** lol

Or the Skins just suck

[S.T.real,lights,out]

what we should do is have an informal league?  i am on xbox 1 too.  maybe we have a 8 man bracket and keep playing mini-tournaments?

 

Put something together bro and im down. lol

[Dont Taze Me Bro]

@spaceman - my recommendation is to keep it on All-Pro, all the online ranked games and most (assuming it can be changed) connected franchise leagues will be at that setting.  Playing against CPU AI on pro will be way to easy and you will still have to adjust to the AI controlled players speed and abilities.  That's my personal opinion.  Years ago (talking 2003-2005) I wouldn't hop online right away and would play a quick game against the computer.  I would make them the best defensive team (was Bucs or Ravens) and use the Skins and set it on All-Madden difficulty.  I would play until I could move the ball and convert and score more often than not.  Usually 2-3 games total.  Then I would hit it up online and it made it easier since it was all-pro.  Just my opinion.

 

@Brave - it's harder this year, but easy to catch on.  If anything, it's more balanced and realistic.  There is going to be some level of player skill where some kid can take say the Raiders and whip ya while you're playing with the Seahawks.  But, this year, say for the average/above average player, who knows football and mixes up plays, and knows how they should be executed, the teams and players on the teams play extremely closer to how they have performed irl on the field.  

 

The Skins are 75 overall (least when I looked Tuesday night) and them and RGIII play like it.  And when you play a team that's ranked 90 (like GB) with someone that knows how to play, they play like they should play against them.  It's a lot harder to take a bad team and beat the best team.  I can't tell you how many times last year that I beat the living hell out of the Seahawks with the Redskins online ranked or forced the little kiddies to quit because they couldn't move the ball or stop me.  It might evolve to where ones skills are improved enough to do it, no doubt, talking about evenly matched players playing different ends of the spectrum as far as team/talent.

 

@Skinsfan2k & STreal - Lets do this.  We just need to establish some minor rules/settings since it will be unranked (injuries on, fatigue on, qtr length, etc.) and I think we should go through and look at the rankings (overall, off and def) and pick teams to use that are fairly evenly matched.  Then come up with some way to randomly assign the teams, though not sure how we could do that online or on a forum board.

[KDawg]

My ass is struggling hard with Skins pass D. Can't get the D off the field. CBs never in position.

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

My ass is struggling hard with Skins pass D. Can't get the D off the field. CBs never in position.

I dropped D Hall to slot corner and just run press.

I'd rather get beat occasionally than get picked apart methodically and never touch the ball. I just started this strategy and it's helped a lot.

[Dont Taze Me Bro]

My ass is struggling hard with Skins pass D. Can't get the D off the field. CBs never in position.

 

I switched Culliver to CB1 and Amerson to CB2, put Hall in as CB3/Nickelback and that seemed to work pretty well for me.  Also played a lot of zone, cover 3 drop out of the 46 Bear.  Especially when they got in the red zone.  

I dropped D Hall to slot corner and just run press.

I'd rather get beat occasionally than get picked apart methodically and never touch the ball. I just started this strategy and it's helped a lot.

Should have read this before I posted lol.  Yeah, Hall is slow this year and breaking down and that translated to the game.  I also start out controlling a DT usually, then when the ball is snapped, wait for him to throw it, start spamming circle, then play the ball with holding triangle and it yields a lot of broken up passes or INTs.

[Dont Taze Me Bro]

If you guys don't use custom playbooks, you need to read up and start doing it imo.  You just pick one as your base, then you can remove any plays/formations from it and add any formation/play to it that is in the game.

 

Especially helpful on defense cause out of 500 plays (max) they usually sit around the 300s.  I pick a team with a 3-4 base (Bills, Ravens, etc.) then I go in there and add in all the 46 formations and plays (3 formations), some extra nickel packages (ones I like that aren't included in some books like psycho) and four or five 4-3 formations.  Gives me a lot more looks to use and figure out how to stop what they are doing.  

 

I wish online ranked didn't show the previous plays used, I think that is ****ty.  It gives away what you did instead of making them pay attention and learn football formations/plays.  If you start using a play too much, they see it, shows the zones (if its a zone play) and allows them to come out and exploit.  That is if you're spamming it.  

 

Which I've always been a "don't like it?  ****ing beat it then" kind of player.  If you cant look at the personnel on the field and see that I'm in a 46 and see after the snap that my players are in a zone, then you shouldn't be playing football.  I don't mind mixing it up, but if the other player can't recognize what I'm running and wants to keep trying his cheesy same play on offense that is not working, they don't deserve to be "assisted" and gifted my play call.

[Momma There Goes That Man]

Custom playbooks are the ****. Im going to set mine this weekend when I can spend more time on it. The default defensive playbooks are pretty limited in that they don't allow much flexibility for different situations and schemes. Since you can individually sub out players for formation, it makes it easy to quickly swap in and out certain players in certain sets for specific scenarios. Also, audibles are so important. I go through and set 4 audibles in every formation. Its a necessity. 

 

Also, I hate showing the previous play online too. I don't like giving away trade secrets lol especially on defense. On offense, you can get around it some with a quick no huddle.

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

I've never really experiment with custom play books

I will now. Thanks

What do you suggest offensively ?

[RonArtest15]

Heard the game is really good.  I'll probably pick up when the actual season is closer and they have a roster update to reflect final cuts. 

[Dont Taze Me Bro]

I've never really experiment with custom play books

I will now. Thanks

What do you suggest offensively ?

 

Pick a base playbook that suits your style of play.  Since you can literally create your own entire playbook (if you pick one, then delete all the plays and add from scratch), it doesn't really matter.  But if you want to set-up one quick, it's already pre-set based on the team, then you can delete some formations and add ones that you like that aren't in there.

 

On PS4, I used Carolina as my base for offense.  Then took out the wildcat and few of their other formations.  Added in a lot more Pistol and Strong I formations and some shotgun ones.  On Xbox One, I used Green Bay as my base, added basically the same formations.  

 

Defense it doesn't really matter, just pick a team and add what they don't have.  If you pick the Redskins, it's base 3-4 and it will have a variety of nickel formations.  Just go in and add a bunch of 4-3 formations, 46, other nickels, etc.  Tons to choose from and add.  It's better to have more than just what one team offers on defense.  

 

And maybe it's just me, but I've found that using just the team specific defensive playbook, I feel limited to what my opponent is doing.  I love the 46.  And depending on how good the defensive backs are on the team you're playing with, can frustrate the hell out of your opponent.  They see the box stacked, assume blitz/run stop, drop back to pass and you laugh as you have only 3-4 rushing the rest in man with safety help on the backside.  

 

I wish my favorite play on defense was still in the game, but it's been removed because when people can't beat something or figure it out and cry, why not just remove it :/   Even though any play can be stopped or beaten, with patience and time.  It was the Cover 2 Hawk out of the 46. 

 

I will admit, it almost wasn't fair using it against players that couldn't figure out how to stop it.  Again, though, not my fault.  I got so many nasty messages during/after games lol

[Dont Taze Me Bro]

Looking at the overall ratings as of right now on XB1, I grouped them into three tiers:

 

Tier 1 - (rating 72-79) - (16 total teams) Skins, Saints, Texans, Titans, Vikings, Bears, Bills, Browns, Bucs, Falcons, 49ers, Giants, Jags, Jets, Raiders, Rams

 

Tier 2 - (rating 80-84) - (9 total teams) Steelers, Bengals, Cardinals, Chargers, Chiefs, Dolphins, Eagles, Lions, Panthers

 

Tier 3 - (rating 85-91) - (7 total teams) Seahawks, Broncos, Colts, Cowboys, Packers, Pats, Ravens

 

I don't think there will be much difference in an extra advantage as far as the lowest ranked team vs the highest ranked team in each tier.  Like Titans (72 ovr) versus Texans (79 ovr).  I did beat the Broncos (89 ovr) with the Titans, so anything is possible depending on your opponents skill/knowledge.  But two evenly skilled players, one using GB the other using the Raiders, most likely the one using the Packers will win.

 

Anyhow, we can choose a tier and sign up for a team.  And if we pick say Tier 2 and someone wants to use a Tier 1 team, then that is ok.  We just can't use a team in a Tier higher than the one we pick for the first tournament.  We can have multiple tournaments, one for each tier, then maybe a free for all, where any team and anything goes.

 

Y'alls thoughts?