written by OggieBoog
First and foremost I would like to say I have no issues with the so called “nanos” and “glitch” blitzes. I’ll be putting the word nano in quotations because that’s the term that majority of the community uses. Hardcore underground/tournament players refer to them as screamers or gap pressure. Real nanos haven’t been around in Madden in a long time. If “nanos” are in the game I will use them and run them until my opponent proves he can stop my heat on a consistent basis. Is it realistic? No. However, if it’s not against the rules I’ll use any tool necessary to win. You play to win the game. It’s only “cheese” to most people if something is effective and somebody has to change their game plan to adjust to it. But that’s what real NFL teams do. They come out with a game plan but ADJUST. They don’t whine or cry because the other team isn’t playing to the way they want.
The only time I have a issue with a blitz like that is if you can’t slide protect and block a running back against it. If I slide the wrong way or forget to block my running back I deserve to be punished. Edge heat can be unslideable but that’s not a “nano”. Edge heat is fine to most people because it doesn’t cause the lineman to just stand still and ignore anybody coming in. Rex and the development team brought in a new Nano Detection System this year. If the AI believes you are doing something to manipulate a free rusher in a unrealistic sense it will cause that rusher to pause in the gap. You have to find more organic ways to bring pressure. You can still get B gaps to come in if you overload one side of the offensive line. But it’s realistic.
My thoughts on the new detection system? I like it. In my personal opinion EA is doing this to help grow Madden as a eSport. They’re trying to reach out to the entire consumer base by doing this. The hardcore competitive guys make up a much smaller percentage compared to the “sim” style type players. Did they level the playing field in that aspect? In some cases yes but other big eSport franchises do the same. It’s a level playing field but it’s up to the player(s) to put in the time and effort to become great. The other franchises have bigger payouts as well. By targeting the entire Madden community in doing this it opens up the doors for bigger sponsorship’s and endorsements from bigger companies. Which in turn leads to bigger payouts for Madden. People will be more inclined to watch Madden if it has a realistic aspect to it. I honestly believe that Madden could be huge. Could there be a million dollar payout to a single winner in one tournament alone? The possibility is there.
Overall with the new zone improvements it still gives the more competitive guys to create a skill gap. The hardcore tournament players are great because they adjust well and are always 1 step ahead of their opponents. What EA did is welcome back the true chess match of Madden. Great players will stay great and bums will be bums. I spoke with Zan who’s a EA game changer and the creator of Forward Progress Madden about the subject. Zan has been a huge contributor to the Madden community for years. I asked what his thoughts were on the big debate. He responded by saying this, “I’m completely unaffected by it. I’ll adapt. It’s unrealistic that they freeze. But honestly, unblocked DL in real life are taught to look screen or trap…so they freeze for a sec…just like the NDS system. But it’s also unrealistic that we’ve run 3 man unslideable DT walk in a/b gaps for the last 10 years. As for it being good or bad for the e-sports. We need to realize that a group of 300 underground players isn’t the “Madden Universe”. 6 million people buy the game each year. We say things like “we will always adapt”. Okay…then welcome in the mindset of the 6 million people that buy the game. Welcome in the new era of competitive madden. Put your money where your mouth is and adapt. We’ve said we adapt better than average players for years. No better time than now to prove that statement to be true.” I believe they took a step in the right direction for the community and I feel we’ll see the big payoff for it in the years to come.
Thanks again to Zan for being willing to give his thoughts on the matter. Make sure you guys follow Zan at his Twitter, Twitch and YouTube below. He puts out great content year in and year out.
Twitter.com/ZAN_4PM
Twitch.tv/4wardprogressmadden
YouTube.com/4wardprogressmadden
If madden wants to become an esport they need to have top players. The top players are leaving this game because the skill gap is non existent. Blitzes created a skill gap. Good players would have good blitzes. But a good player also knows how to block blitzes. Any person can run a blitz but they probably don’t know how to block it and that is what creates the skill gap. It separates the good players from the bad. As I saw in a mrgolden sports video. The casual players (most people) buy madden because it is the new game out. But when the next big thing aka 2k Fifa 17 they go and play those games. These people are not loyal to the madden franchise. And these are the people that ea is catering to. They complain to Rex about nanos. They are not the people that will be good at this game. If they really want to become an esport they need to create a skill gap. I don’t know if blitzes are the solution but IMO they create a definite distinction between a good player and a bad player. About the level playing field. This game is a level playing field. If you wanted to send a blitz you could quite easily do so. Most people choose not to. Them they complain because they are getting sacked. They don’t want to spend the time to learn to block the blitzes. That is what makes a good player good. They spend time to learn. They lab their blitzes and how to stop them. The casual players expect to just pick up the game and be good at it. They don’t want to spend time to be good. If they don’t do something about the skill gap this game is going to die. And I just started getting good at this game so I don’t want the game to die out. I agree that more people would like to watch a sim game and that that would result in bigger prizes and sponsorships. But this game will never be sim and people need to except that. People will always have something to complain about. When Ea fixes it it creates a new problem. For example, there are practically no more “deep ball glitches” because the Cornerbacks and safeties don’t bite down on routes. But this means that all deep posts, corner routes and comback routes get open. People will most likely start to complain about this but if they patch it, that will open up the deep ball. People just need to accept the game the way it is and learn to get better. I know I kind of contradicted myself but I think that nanos need to be in the game to make the game harder. Because the game is too easy for anyone to just pick up and be instantly good.
That was my little rant. I went a bit of topic. I just needed to get that of my chest and this post was the perfect opportunity to do so.
Looking forward to your reply,
Calvin