"This is basically 'Dungeons and Dragons' for sports fans."
February 24, 2015 12:01 PM Subscribe
How Madden Ratings Are Made (SL538)
I have been waiting to read an article with that title for almost my whole life.
posted by penduluum at 1:20 PM on February 24, 2015
posted by penduluum at 1:20 PM on February 24, 2015
Not a football guy, not a video game guy, but very interesting read nonetheless!
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 1:32 PM on February 24, 2015
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 1:32 PM on February 24, 2015
I thought D&D for sports fans was fantasy football.
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:40 PM on February 24, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:40 PM on February 24, 2015 [4 favorites]
If they worked in alignment too, it would be so awesome.
"Ndamukong Suh: CHAOTIC EVIL."
Heh.
posted by Harvey Jerkwater at 1:43 PM on February 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
"Ndamukong Suh: CHAOTIC EVIL."
Heh.
posted by Harvey Jerkwater at 1:43 PM on February 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
"Ndamukong Suh: CHAOTIC EVIL."
Are you sure he doesn't just have Chaotic Evil epic intelligent cleats that cast crushing despair, waves of exhaustion, dimension door and slow spells while also stepping on people?
posted by srboisvert at 2:40 PM on February 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
Are you sure he doesn't just have Chaotic Evil epic intelligent cleats that cast crushing despair, waves of exhaustion, dimension door and slow spells while also stepping on people?
posted by srboisvert at 2:40 PM on February 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
I thought D&D for sports fans was fantasy football.
No, Blood Bowl is fantasy football.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 2:42 PM on February 24, 2015 [3 favorites]
No, Blood Bowl is fantasy football.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 2:42 PM on February 24, 2015 [3 favorites]
“The unfortunate thing for Madden is that a lot of [its] player ratings are opaque,” USgamer senior editor Kat Bailey told me. “There are so many systems going on that you don’t always know which [ratings] affect which [systems].”
Back in '98 on N64's Kobe Bryant NBA Courtside, my brother would insist on putting the "fat-e-gu" rating at 0 when creating custom players. He explained that he did not want chubby players with a lot of extra weight.
I'm honestly not sure when he figured out what the "fatigue" rating actually was or why his players always seemed so tired.
posted by Harms at 4:28 PM on February 24, 2015 [3 favorites]
Back in '98 on N64's Kobe Bryant NBA Courtside, my brother would insist on putting the "fat-e-gu" rating at 0 when creating custom players. He explained that he did not want chubby players with a lot of extra weight.
I'm honestly not sure when he figured out what the "fatigue" rating actually was or why his players always seemed so tired.
posted by Harms at 4:28 PM on February 24, 2015 [3 favorites]
This was a fun read; I knew they did regularly updated stats but I too had no idea it was mostly just one guy's work. That's kind of ridiculous and wonderful, like some goofy character detail from an older Gibson novel.
My exposure to Madden is entirely through Bois' work, though I grew up playing some of the older NES and SNES generation sports games. I've fiddled with a couple more modern games with the sim/stats focus in the last few years out of curiosity, but they never stick, I think partly because I'm just not invested enough in the underlying sports to really wonk out on the sim side or to feel like I have a great grasp of the pure gameplay tactics. I love the idea of mucking around with simulated sports, I just don't seem to care very much about participating in the actual simulation or embracing realistic franchise stuff.
I played a bunch of Base Wars when I was a kid, me and my little brother, pitching and batting and robot-fistfighting through great big chunks of a baseball season at a go. For a long time I thought what I wanted was an update, modern take on that game but at this point I think mostly what I want is to be able to just temporarily be 12 again and play some more of that dumb old game like it was new and the most exciting thing available.
posted by cortex at 6:53 PM on February 24, 2015
My exposure to Madden is entirely through Bois' work, though I grew up playing some of the older NES and SNES generation sports games. I've fiddled with a couple more modern games with the sim/stats focus in the last few years out of curiosity, but they never stick, I think partly because I'm just not invested enough in the underlying sports to really wonk out on the sim side or to feel like I have a great grasp of the pure gameplay tactics. I love the idea of mucking around with simulated sports, I just don't seem to care very much about participating in the actual simulation or embracing realistic franchise stuff.
I played a bunch of Base Wars when I was a kid, me and my little brother, pitching and batting and robot-fistfighting through great big chunks of a baseball season at a go. For a long time I thought what I wanted was an update, modern take on that game but at this point I think mostly what I want is to be able to just temporarily be 12 again and play some more of that dumb old game like it was new and the most exciting thing available.
posted by cortex at 6:53 PM on February 24, 2015
Hidden detail from the article: while Mike Vick has some undeniable physical skills, his 'football-awareness' is somewhat less than that of the average Madden player.
Ouch.
posted by box at 7:13 PM on February 24, 2015
Ouch.
posted by box at 7:13 PM on February 24, 2015
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Although, I consider this is a missed opportunity because they did not ask this guy about Ethan Albright's angry letter about being the lowest rated guy in the game [nsfw, funny]. But that joke letter does raise interesting questions about how they figure stuff out, like which offensive lineman would be better in zone or man-to-man coverage. I guess this Moore guy just makes it up, though it sounds like he might use some templates.
posted by dios at 1:17 PM on February 24, 2015 [1 favorite]