23 v 24 v 25 Opinions

I last played Madden 23, got to a 99 ovr F2P, took huge advantage of the glitches that I could (1/10 cost eggs, UL Ltd. Only, etc.) and generally enjoyed it. I skipped this year‘s Madden for university scheduling, and I’m seeing this year that egg rolls aren’t existing yet, presents were bad, and general discontent. I am considering getting Madden 25 coming up.

So my question is, compared to last year in terms of ease of profitability from packs/promos, team overall ease of upgrade, communit-benefiting glitches, etc., is this madden better, worse, similar? And do we think that next years will be as enjoyable or easy as last year?

Thank you all, sorry for the text dump lol.

Rerolls in general have been pretty bad in 24. I'm not sure if there was a single one that was recommended. Not sure if there's been any standout packs besides the ones that offer a guaranteed champ or something like that which you of course have to pay for.

I feel like you could make a decent profit most weeks if you had a good sense of if there was going to be an ovr jump on Thursday.

I don't think we've had any major glitches like the LTD/Eggs in 23. Maybe the super bowl event staying longer than advertised but even then you still had to play games to profit from that.

Promos TTs made it even worse to be a casual this year.

Honestly, I doubt next year will be any better in fact I could see it being worse if they monetize promo TTs even more

Breakluna said:

Rerolls in general have been pretty bad in 24. I'm not sure if there was a single one that was recommended. Not sure if there's been any standout packs besides the ones that offer a guaranteed champ or something like that which you of course have to pay for.

I feel like you could make a decent profit most weeks if you had a good sense of if there was going to be an ovr jump on Thursday.

I don't think we've had any major glitches like the LTD/Eggs in 23. Maybe the super bowl event staying longer than advertised but even then you still had to play games to profit from that.

Promos TTs made it even worse to be a casual this year.

Honestly, I doubt next year will be any better in fact I could see it being worse if they monetize promo TTs even more

Do you think I should maybe find another game? I don’t really want NCAA as my favorite part is making the team and using every player imaginable like with UT, but if it’s going worse than 23, and likely to be worse next year, i might have to skip huh?

olivesat3am said:

Do you think I should maybe find another game? I don’t really want NCAA as my favorite part is making the team and using every player imaginable like with UT, but if it’s going worse than 23, and likely to be worse next year, i might have to skip huh?

If it's not something you would enjoy, yeah look for a new game. Ultimately, this is just my opinion. Next year could be the greatest year in Mut history. Now I don't think it's likely going to be, but it could happen. It's fine if you enjoy something others don't.

If you're on the fence, there's no harm in waiting for madden 25 or whatever it's called to come out and see what people think of it then.

olivesat3am said:

Do you think I should maybe find another game? I don’t really want NCAA as my favorite part is making the team and using every player imaginable like with UT, but if it’s going worse than 23, and likely to be worse next year, i might have to skip huh?

Unfortunately, there's simply no other choices for "simulation" football video games out there and EA knows it.  I don't have decades of recent, historical Madden Ultimate Team knowledge to help you compare and contrast, but I have zero qualms stating that this is easily the worst year in recent memory, basically across the board, covering all the important points you mentioned.

EA has basically given up on even pretending to try, it's more and more of the same, low-effort, constantly recycled, buggy ass gameplay.  Only small bonus is that Superbowl / Combine theme teams remain absolute high end, surpassing all of the recent magic 99 golden OVR cards that have begun trickling out.  I've had 98-99 SPD players across all my skill positions for nearly two months and see no real reason to move on.  I don't envision a scenario where this improves next year, or at any point prior to May 2026 when the exclusive NFL license is due to expire.  EA had originally stated this was a "make or break" year for them, which I'm foolish enough to believe actually meant something -- however, that was pure corporate speak to cloak the sheer greed and money-grubbing horrendous pack offers.

Don't come back, unless you are a glutton for punishment.  This game is in a sorry state, the RPO cheese-fest infects ALL levels of gameplay, including the MCS Finals.  There's no semblance of fair, balanced, let alone competitive gameplay anywhere to be found.  Just some ramblings of a MUT-addicted lunatic, don't mind me.  Hope something here was relevant for your purposes.  My advice would be to RUN, run far away.  Check back for MUT `26, hoping we at least have rumors about the contract extension talks between EA and NFL/NFLPA, et cetera.

This was the worst madden recently in terms of content/communication/effort with MUT on EA's part that I can remember. So much so that I have no interest  in next years version at all. If this non sense is what we have to look forward to going ahead I'll pass.

peatrick said:

Unfortunately, there's simply no other choices for "simulation" football video games out there and EA knows it.  I don't have decades of recent, historical Madden Ultimate Team knowledge to help you compare and contrast, but I have zero qualms stating that this is easily the worst year in recent memory, basically across the board, covering all the important points you mentioned.

EA has basically given up on even pretending to try, it's more and more of the same, low-effort, constantly recycled, buggy ass gameplay.  Only small bonus is that Superbowl / Combine theme teams remain absolute high end, surpassing all of the recent magic 99 golden OVR cards that have begun trickling out.  I've had 98-99 SPD players across all my skill positions for nearly two months and see no real reason to move on.  I don't envision a scenario where this improves next year, or at any point prior to May 2026 when the exclusive NFL license is due to expire.  EA had originally stated this was a "make or break" year for them, which I'm foolish enough to believe actually meant something -- however, that was pure corporate speak to cloak the sheer greed and money-grubbing horrendous pack offers.

Don't come back, unless you are a glutton for punishment.  This game is in a sorry state, the RPO cheese-fest infects ALL levels of gameplay, including the MCS Finals.  There's no semblance of fair, balanced, let alone competitive gameplay anywhere to be found.  Just some ramblings of a MUT-addicted lunatic, don't mind me.  Hope something here was relevant for your purposes.  My advice would be to RUN, run far away.  Check back for MUT `26, hoping we at least have rumors about the contract extension talks between EA and NFL/NFLPA, et cetera.

That’s my main problem that they KNOW they’re all we have. I quite enjoyed my time on 23, especially with the glitches letting me afford end game players and such. Everything I’ve seen this year with “make or break“ just makes me dread 25, which sucks because I really want to play it.

olivesat3am said:

That’s my main problem that they KNOW they’re all we have. I quite enjoyed my time on 23, especially with the glitches letting me afford end game players and such. Everything I’ve seen this year with “make or break“ just makes me dread 25, which sucks because I really want to play it.

I keep telling people to please come to my house and slap me silly if i'm still here in August/September discussing pre-orders for MUT `25.  I think there's some potential to scoop the game for ~$35 around Black Friday or Christmas, on sale, then casually try to enjoy it.  But to take a deep dive and try to keep pace with anything resembling competitive online H2H MUT gameplay is beyond frustrating.  EA has us all by the balls.  The game isn't designed for the masses, i firmly believe MUT caters to the small ~1% or so of whales and content creators that spend the big bucks, often hundreds upon hundreds of dollars (per week/month).

I don't understand how anyone can take this seriously and hope to ever have a fair, balanced, let alone competitive gameplay experience... especially hoping to compete for tens of thousands of dollars.  There's no real skill at play, it's purely who can exploit the horrendous in-game mechanics, abuse sideline throws/catches, roll-out glitches... heck, at this point, the RPO cheese-fest is a welcome relief.  I'd much rather try to shoot a gap with my USER and hope to get a lucky tackle on Angry Runs Bo before he breaks it big than figure out how to prevent, let alone stop those sideline and endzone "catches" -- i break up the pass each and every time, but buggy ass MUT almost always counts those drops as a completion, because EA logic.

I dunno, you know what you are getting into at this point.  You're obviously doing your homework and informing your decision-making.  I guess there's always uhhh, Wild Card football or this Legend Bowl.  Maybe someday Maximum Football will re-emerge.  Perhaps with the advent of AI, some independent or third-party creators will be able to drum up a passion project.  I'd love to play one decent (modern) NFL game before i leave this earth.  I'd settle for basic, working gameplay at this point.

peatrick said:

I keep telling people to please come to my house and slap me silly if i'm still here in August/September discussing pre-orders for MUT `25.  I think there's some potential to scoop the game for ~$35 around Black Friday or Christmas, on sale, then casually try to enjoy it.  But to take a deep dive and try to keep pace with anything resembling competitive online H2H MUT gameplay is beyond frustrating.  EA has us all by the balls.  The game isn't designed for the masses, i firmly believe MUT caters to the small ~1% or so of whales and content creators that spend the big bucks, often hundreds upon hundreds of dollars (per week/month).

I don't understand how anyone can take this seriously and hope to ever have a fair, balanced, let alone competitive gameplay experience... especially hoping to compete for tens of thousands of dollars.  There's no real skill at play, it's purely who can exploit the horrendous in-game mechanics, abuse sideline throws/catches, roll-out glitches... heck, at this point, the RPO cheese-fest is a welcome relief.  I'd much rather try to shoot a gap with my USER and hope to get a lucky tackle on Angry Runs Bo before he breaks it big than figure out how to prevent, let alone stop those sideline and endzone "catches" -- i break up the pass each and every time, but buggy ass MUT almost always counts those drops as a completion, because EA logic.

I dunno, you know what you are getting into at this point.  You're obviously doing your homework and informing your decision-making.  I guess there's always uhhh, Wild Card football or this Legend Bowl.  Maybe someday Maximum Football will re-emerge.  Perhaps with the advent of AI, some independent or third-party creators will be able to drum up a passion project.  I'd love to play one decent (modern) NFL game before i leave this earth.  I'd settle for basic, working gameplay at this point.

The catering to whales and content creators is exactly my issue too. regardless of rpo cheese and x-factor cheese and everything, I have enjoyed every madden I’ve played - gameplay wise - over all the other possible football games because the movement is smooth and “realistic” for the most part. My biggest issue is always the HEAVY Pay to Win aspect every year. 23 at least we had huge glitches that let me catch up to the whales, but it sounds like 24, and likely 25 even moreso, will lack these, and I’ll forever just be price-locked out of all the crazy players that I want, which is all I really desire from ultimate team, the ability to throw whatever players I wanted on a team. 
sucks man, might have to skip 25 sadly and just forego my sim football cravings