OnlyOneBeerLeft
Fuck em
http://askmadden.com/sim-ballers-vs-freestyle-ballers-and-why-both-sides-are-wrong/
From Askmadden.com, I actually agree with both sides I enjoy sim but sometimes like going and playing with freestyle guys.
From Askmadden.com, I actually agree with both sides I enjoy sim but sometimes like going and playing with freestyle guys.
Whats happening guys? Hope you are all not having too hard of a time waiting out these last couple weeks until the game drops….it gets harder with each passing day, but we all know that it is part of the experience of the game coming out each year.
This time around, I wanted to take a look at an issue that divides the community like East and West Germany during the Cold War: The argument of what constitutes the word “Sim†during any given game of Madden. It, of course, is short for “simulation,†and the easy thing to say is that it means to play Madden with an NFL football style of play.
The Sim Ballers
What exactly is an “NFL†style of play though? Is it to never use the same play too many times? Any real life coach would tell you that it would be stupid to mix up your attack when the defense can’t stop one particular type of attack.
Does an “NFL†style of play involve not scrambling out of the pocket? Or never going for it on 4th down? Or even using the same blitz time after time if the offense cant pick it up?
Of course none of these things are true, but they are the most frequent argument I will see “sim†guys make, and it gives the term a bad “crybaby†image.
In my opinion, true competition loving, non crybaby style “sim†guys just want a game that is well balanced. Even if it doesn’t perfectly mirror a real NFL game — just a game that doesn’t become dominated by some stupid gimmick(s) every single year.
After the elimination of the FB dive and 3 and 4 man nano blitzes, the only true exploit left in Madden that causes all of this unbalancing is obviously the Rocket Catch. It’s all anybody cared about when the demo came out. †Can you RC?†“Is there L-Trigger on 360?†“Can you do it at all on PS3?â€
The Freestyle Ballers
Tourney people talk about how they “want the community†to grow, but they need to realize that it will never reach its full potential until Madden isn’t dominated by illogical gimmicky tactics year after year. Of the people who buy the game, 99% do so because they are football fans and respect the strategy of the game. A lot of them would probably love to play competitively too, if they thought for one second that someone simply raping the A.I. of the game wouldn’t cancel out any sort of football strategy.
People will never decide to just play nice and not use any sort of legal advantages they can get, though The game will have to force them to, or tourneys would have to put certain rules in place. I couldn’t believe this week when I actually saw guys on boards talking about banning the use of the L-Trigger on 360 at tourneys this year. It’s a step in the right direction I think. Real life sports leagues put new rules in place all the time to create more varied and exiting competition — why cant competitive Madden? The RC was effectively wiped out from ps2 for a reason, and it will be eventually on the new game too.. I just don’t know whats taking so long.
To get some different point of views, I questioned some accomplished tourney players and EAFL members to see what they think about this whole sim vs. win at all costs issue.
Koampapapa is the first guy in the EAFL ps3 majors to pull of a perfect 19-0 season, he said:
“I think that the day of “sim†play is closer than we think. I feel that based on the feedback from those who already have Madden 2010, this year’s Madden is a huge step up from 09. With 09 the way it was, I doubt that it’s perfect, but it shows that Ian and Co. are moving us in the right direction.â€
The EAFL’s Shodown also added that:
“There will always be AI faults in programming unfortunately. The only thing we as fans of Madden can hope for is that they’re so minuscule that it doesn’t impact the way the game is played.â€
Koampapapa went even further with:
“As with any Madden, sim play normally comes onto the tournament scene early on, and as glitches and other A.I. faults become discovered, the tournament scene turns ugly. For 2010, I think we can expect the tournament scene to stay SIM for a significantly longer period of time than 2009. I doubt that 2011 will be perfect either, but it’s possible that 2012 or 2013 will be able to showcase, if not exact SIM play, then at least a major-glitch-free tournament scene year round.â€
I then talked with Stevo, a very accomplished and level headed tourney guy. He thinks that even with advancements in tech, Madden will never be glitch free, saying:
“I don’t think it will become more sim. There’s always gonna be a strategy that is more effective than others, that will be used at a high rate. It might be a play, a route, a formation, a glitch… [whatever] it may be. As people say, ‘as long as its money on the line,’ players are gonna do whatever they can to win it.â€
Our very own J-Bev even chimed in too with a response I really liked:
“Based on the RC and the glitches that have been found within the first the first week of the demo coming out, I would have to say there is no way that Madden will ever be 100% sim. There will always be an exploit that a tournament style baller uses and everyone will have knowledge of that exploit because of Madden websites. Madden will become what MLG lets it become. If MLG decides one year to ban RC or another large non-sim tactic then maybe one day we will see sim Madden tournaments, but until that day arises, Madden will continue to be a game of who has the fastest blitz, or best user catch.â€
I applaud this guy for not thinking that a banning of the RC at tourneys would be so ridiculous to do. It would make the community EXPLODE! True user catching is back in Madden 10 too, its not that easy to RC by accident anymore like it was in previous next gen efforts.
EAFL 360 member and tourney player SGibbs and KOTC Wayne aka “Da Butcha†are both extremely smart and tough players. With Wayne being a guy I’ve had the pleasure to talk to extensively. He has traveled the country and played some of the biggest names in the history of the community(Big Gene, Houseshoe, Yung Gunz, many more). He has used gimmicks, but has always recognized them as what they are, and has always iterated to me that he knows Madden would benefit greatly without them. SGibbs shares his opinions saying
“I do believe that one day the bridge between tournament and sim players alike will shorten but for now the SIM player is a few years away from the elite level.â€
Wayne like I said was in agreement with:
“I would say A.I. faults will dominate the game for a few more years until that get everything figured out.â€
Encouraging words from guys who have all seen the face of just how down and dirty Madden can get at the money making levels of play.
Thanks to all who gave me their opinions, and also to you for taking the time to read.
- Jon Deloz
