For the most part, when sports gamers play online, they typically prefer to play with people they know rather than pair up with complete strangers. Of course, there are those who like to be challenged by foes they have never played against, but having to deal with annoying issues like disconnections or uneven matchups does give reason to avoid certain aspects of online play. EA Tiburon understands these predicaments, and for Madden NFL 12, it is introducing online communities to give players the ability to organize groups with their friends and modify games to their liking.
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We had the opportunity to talk to Anthony DiMento, designer at EA Tiburon and the man behind this feature. We began our discussion of the new feature by having him explain that the majority of people who play online typically play head-to-head matches against their friends. One of the features that was removed from Madden 11 was the ability to send ranked invites. Based on the feedback, EA discovered that a large group of people not only used invites to play with their friends, but they also used the leaderboards to track their stats against each other and wanted an easier way to do both.
With online communities, gamers have the ability to invite their friends into a group and adjust their online games to the way they want to play. If your circle of friends is the dedicated, hardcore Madden bunch, then you'll be able to adjust the game's settings to reflect that. Conversely, if you want an arcade-like experience, then you can adjust it in a similar fashion. Within each group, stats will be monitored, thus giving members the ability to brag among friends to see who, in fact, the best Madden player is.
Users will be able to join up to five different communities, and the settings within each can be adjusted in a number of different ways. Each created group will have a commissioner who will be able to set up the group, invite people, and also assign others as managers. Managers, along with the commissioner, will be able to make changes to the settings. When asked if online communities would incorporate Online Franchise mode (because that particular mode wasn't as widely used), we were told that online communities are limited to head-to-head matches. At the same time, online communities are not mandatory. So, those who either don't play a lot online or don't have a large group of friends to play with shouldn't feel pressured to join a group.
DiMento mentioned that EA hopes to have a dedicated social site in place when Madden NFL 12 is launched at the end of August. While the site would allow you to track your stats per group and obtain other bits of information, any adjustments regarding members joining or leaving a particular group or modifying in-game settings must be done within Madden.
The Madden skill levels will also see changes when the new game is launched. Because people might be in different communities and have completely different play styles, your level is based on your performance in that community and not overall.
Another issue being addressed is the dreaded disconnects. In past Madden games, if a person "accidentally" ended his game prior to the first half, no record of the match was kept. This time, though, if a person disconnects for any reason and at any time, it counts as a loss for that person. Although this probably won't eliminate the problem altogether, it may help those wanting to play against a fair opponent.
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Considering the pedigree that the Madden franchise has, addressing the online aspects of the game is a very smart move by EA Sports. Although we have yet to see the online community aspect in action, what is being promised should make playing with friends even more enjoyable. Expect to hear more about this new feature as we approach launch, the game is in everyone's hands, and a GameSpot.com community is created.
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