A-Dub

Embarrassingly, I can't even play on intermediate. Back to beginner for me, I suck at video games more and more every year.

Are the Be a Pro achievements out yet? EDIT - Also, is GameFace going to work this year? It would probably be the first time it would since it was introduced, so I'm not expecting much.

Alright...almost three weeks in. Those who had complaints/praises, what say you now? Personally, I've gone back to NCAA. I appreciate the offensive variety and NCAA feels more like real football. Offensive line AI is atrocious in both; traps and guard pulls are near impossible except for my favorite play, the buck sweep. I feel like the patch for NCAA fixed a lot of the defensive back and linebacker issues we talked about in that thread. Maybe the Madden patch will fix that. Honestly, I'm considering trading/selling Madden for FIFA right now.

I generally keep my philosophies. If I need to, I take advantage of the "Change Positions" portion of the offseason and move an outside backer or two into the middle position. As far as receivers go, as long as they're good you can probably survive a year or two in a spread system. Best playbook I've found thus far has been Miss. St. So much fun with a fast QB, even more fun when you start at Baylor.

I've always tried to play contain and face-up the fellow with possession. It's been pretty much the one aspect I've understood that crosses over from American football defense. I just keep over-pursuing in this one. I'm sure I'll get it sometime. I'm currently addicted to the demo and I can tell I'm getting better. It was just a bit of shock, I guess.

The game spells it "defence."

I would never deny the point that I'm horrible at FIFA, but 12 is still about threefold harder than 10 was. At least on the defensive side. I'm American, I refuse to spell it your way.

Holy wow. I haven't played since FIFA 10, and the game is totally different. I can't compete at any aspect of the game. Even as Barca against Dortmund. I'm simply atrocious.

I like Tampa Bay much more in real life than I do in Madden. They have very slow receivers for a Madden team, running backs too. I always love the Packers, obviously, but I've been doing a franchise with Buffalo that has been challenging. I haven't been able to get a decent QB to replace Fitzpatrick until I sold the farm for Cam Newton after year 2. I've found that QBs make this game infinitely easier. Using Rodgers or Brady is like using a chainsaw to cut down a tree compared to the hatchet of Fitzpatrick or Alex Smith. It isn't impossible, but have fun.

You can download pretty good rosters in the NCAA game; all your draft classes have the correct names then.

I'm the opposite way. My offense has about 7 or 8 three-and-outs every game, but my defense is filled with ballhawks and reasonably good run defenders. Maybe, since I spend so much time around football in real life, its a little different for me. As far as kick returns go, I generally make it to the 20-25. I've ran 2 or 3 back in my two years of franchise with the Bills. They're certainly less frequent this year, though.

Anyone notice a major increase in defender going THROUGH a receiver, sans collision, to intercept or bat down a ball? Seems like half my incomplete passes and 3/4 of my interceptions are due to that.

By year 3, yeah, they are.

How often can you scout guys? I scouted my 15 guys in week one and I can't select anyone in at least the next two weeks. Is it 15 per regular season?

I would recommend NCAA before I recommended Madden to a first timer. Especially this year. There's a far greater chasm between the best and worst teams in NCAA than there is in Madden so you can get used to the game by playing teams that are far worse than you.

EDIT - Double post.

I'm not a big fan of the franchise menus. Having to jump into the main menu is irritating enough, but combine it with having to go back to the "play or sim" screen every time I leave a roster or free agent page makes it worse. How does scouting work? I set the first week of scouting up, but after I got the initial rating for them, I don't know if I'm supposed to scout the same guys again right away or if I can even select new guys to scout. Any tips?

I think it's basically so you can keep track of who's beat who and who has the best record within a set group of people. Also, were people really expecting a yearly sports title, ESPECIALLY one under the EA Sports banner, to not have glitches and bugs day one? Not that I'm defending it, it's utter bullshit, but if you're going to get in a pissy about it, don't buy it until the patch drops. Its for record keeping, but its also for people to have a group to play in where they know everyone plays in "good faith," or at least it isn't some random kid. You know what you're getting, basically.

I would think if you turned up the aggression on defensive playcalling under "Coach Philosophy," you would have a defense that suited your athletic players more.

Aaron Rodgers does the title belt when he has a rushing touchdown. 'Nuff said.

The only blocking problem I have is the O-line occasionally releasing their blocks a half second too early and I get stuffed. Only started happening a lot once I got a job in the SEC though. If it weren't for the super backers, I would be decimating teams. I guess I can't be too mad that their evening it up, but make the coverage better instead of relying on super backers. That said, I'm loving this game. I've already gone through an embarrassing number of years in dynasty, helps that the games fly by when you're a coordinator.

The super linebackers are worse than they've ever been, I think. You can't even lob over them because they can literally fly...I kind of want to put them at WR...

I had a game in which I was up four, then down three with 2 minutes left. I returned the kick for a TD, then let them drive for a TD with about 40 seconds left and I unleashed two bombs, the second of which had some massively blown coverage and got the go-ahead score. FSU's offense is either one of my favorite video game offenses ever, or they're going to be really good this year. Maybe both.

I thought tonight's was the best episode of the season. Just reminded me of so many people. Stellar episode.

I was completely out until that last montage there. Looks like developers are in on this. I'm at least interested now.