Do you think AKA X factors ruined Madden 23

Martyr1968 said:

Yeah..the thing is, I want to be able to beat man or zone using real football strategy and knowledge. When I coached and played, if the D was playing man, we  a lot of  techniques and routes that work well. Some work in Madden but abilities override all that. Zone is worse and less realistic in Madden, there are a host of zone X factors that throw football strategies out the window...

When I played as a pass rusher I learned how to get leverage, etc...shading used to be a big part of Madden and I was ok with that because it works IRL also depending on the lineman. For example, I played against guys like Lane Johnson (in his prime he was even quicker than he is now)....those guys you have to take an inside rush to because you are not getting around them, they are quick with footwork. But put unstoppable force on your DE and you don't have to shade or anything.

I think zone is, in ways, better in madden than real football.

for example, if you are in a  cover 3 in real football, vs a smash concept, something will ACTUALLY get open. You are reading the outside corner and high/lowing them with the hitch corner combo. In madden, things like that never work.. The flat just guards the hitch, and the third will always guard the corner. The X factors for zone don’t really matter- if ur running a flood concept, as long as you clickon and free form down, u can always avoid the KO. 
 

There is just a big difference in beating zone in madden vs real life. In madden you basically just make a combo where 2 things will basically *always* get open, (think bunch verticals, bunch flood, mesh post, crosser slant combos, etc.) and make a read of where their user goes. In real life it’s about stressing one defender, or a whole side of the field.

QB283 said:

Didn't realize you actually played football.

I too wish there was more football strategy around the game. Instead of a "meta" formation I would prefer to learn how real NFL offenses and defenses work, what adjustments to make, etc. Right now I have a basic understanding and that's enough strategy to win me most games: recognizing a Cover 2 or Cover 1 look, 1 on 1 matchups, motioning blockers on read options. But I wished the game emphasized these areas and actually taught players how to play the game properly rather than Youtubers exposing massive glitches which create an unguardable blitz or offensive formation

I played football and baseball through college and coached afterwards.

Madden was not always like this actually. There was a decent resemblance to the real game for a few years, but it has become an arcade style game even on comp settings.

PaCounterGo said:

I think zone is, in ways, better in madden than real football.

for example, if you are in a  cover 3 in real football, vs a smash concept, something will ACTUALLY get open. You are reading the outside corner and high/lowing them with the hitch corner combo. In madden, things like that never work.. The flat just guards the hitch, and the third will always guard the corner. The X factors for zone don’t really matter- if ur running a flood concept, as long as you clickon and free form down, u can always avoid the KO. 
 

There is just a big difference in beating zone in madden vs real life. In madden you basically just make a combo where 2 things will basically *always* get open, (think bunch verticals, bunch flood, mesh post, crosser slant combos, etc.) and make a read of where their user goes. In real life it’s about stressing one defender, or a whole side of the field.

IRL it's about floods and confusing the defender....more than that, the smartest receivers can figure out pockets where defenders just aren't. I think the best receiver (and he's not actually a WR) I have seen in the current era at this is Travis Kelce. He just knows where to sit or go in a zone and find every soft spot. In the past guys like Largent, Rice, Lofton, Cris Carter, Andre Reed, for example were incredibly good at knowing how to beat zone. Then you have those special guys who could shake anyone in man and could just outrun or jump a defender in man or zone but they may not always get open - yet you'd throw to them anyway ( Calvin, Moss, Rice as well, TO, Irvin, Bruce for example)

I think they just need to separate divisions out a bit more where if you run active xfactors maybe split divisions into more arcade vs comp where maybe allow 12 ap for comp and earn xfactors vs 15 ap and 3 xfactors. the mix of sitting in the same plays over and over, while having a player that is going to play lights out with no user control gets pretty boring. I like the overall mental warfare of the game where you stop them and they swap play, if it's quad father you can literally stop them and they will just no huddle over and over til something breaks and if you stop them they quit, then the next player will do the same thing. same thing with play calls, like every game is tight and the deep ball down the middle or multiple corner or bench routes. lol.

As a concept, I don't mind them. The ones you've listed are super annoying to stop, but can be stopped in the right scenario. I've been playing since 20 so this kinda is homage to the NFL 100 xfactors (like Randy Moss's or Eric Dickerson). But at the end of the day, while it's hella annoying to deal with, it's just another puzzle piece to figure out.

Aka cards are the most OP cards in the game hands down. I wouldn’t say they ruined the game but they’re top tier for sure. when the quadfather/henry cards came out they became must have players to compete with everybody else. And those two are still the starters on at least 90% of the top teams I play against.

whiplash13 said:

I sort of agree with this.  You can barely play the game these days.  Last night on my PS5, I had to get kicked out a dozen times and had to go back into Ultimate Team.  It happened when I tried to access sets and the Season/Comp Pass.  This is a fairly regular occurrence too.

It didn't used to be as bad as it is now thats true, but because it has gotten worse it makes everything that much harder to play against, like the xfactors and abilities. I don't mind the abilities or the aka players when the games working properly which is maybe 25% of the time. Today's glitch was losing all my chems and boosts during a superbowl game. It's fixable with a reset but damn just one of the many things messed up.

It’s called corporate greed and you NERDS keep buying these packs EA puts out there so it will never stop. Next year you’ll have to pay a fee to kick off the ball. STOP BUYING YOUR TEAM AND PLAY THE GAME

shlongtoolong said:

It’s called corporate greed and you NERDS keep buying these packs EA puts out there so it will never stop. Next year you’ll have to pay a fee to kick off the ball. STOP BUYING YOUR TEAM AND PLAY THE GAME

STOP WORRYING ABOUT HOW OTHER PEOPLE SPEND THEIR MONEY

Martyr1968 said:

IRL it's about floods and confusing the defender....more than that, the smartest receivers can figure out pockets where defenders just aren't. I think the best receiver (and he's not actually a WR) I have seen in the current era at this is Travis Kelce. He just knows where to sit or go in a zone and find every soft spot. In the past guys like Largent, Rice, Lofton, Cris Carter, Andre Reed, for example were incredibly good at knowing how to beat zone. Then you have those special guys who could shake anyone in man and could just outrun or jump a defender in man or zone but they may not always get open - yet you'd throw to them anyway ( Calvin, Moss, Rice as well, TO, Irvin, Bruce for example)

yeah i agree.

The abilities and instant Xfactors have made a mockery out of the sport.  It is the farthest thing from a sim game that John Madden would‘ve envisioned.