Defense: Add two buttons for swat, one for each hand

GVRH​ 
Regarding the advanced controls...  I think the real beauty of Madden is that anyone can jump in and play at their own level...  I don't mean Rookie, Pro, All-Pro or All-Madden; I mean the level of control they CHOOSE to exert over what happens on the field.  

Take myself...  I User control as much as I can.  I create custom playbooks, reorder depth charts, call the formations, set, plays, protection, hot-routes/adjustments, snap count, movement of the QB, throw with speed vs arc, lead my passes, switch to receivers, and user catch based on where the defender is.  

Take a new player...  He has every thing I just mentioned at his fingertips, but merely picks plays and snaps the ball.  

We are both CHOOSING how we interact with the game...  In the event that we meet, I like my chances; but neither my 30+ years of experience playing Madden nor my hardline approach to the game guarantee victory.  

That said, there are a bunch of overlapping buttons with football acts that are in direct opposition... The Run After Catch (RAC) button is the same as the Dive button.  No reason for that button to be the same.  Same with the Possession Catch button and the Stiff Arm button.  

On Defense, the Play Receiver button becomes the Conservative Tackle button - which makes sense, but the SWAT button becomes the Dive Button, where they mix the safe option with the dangerous option and the action you get depends on exact instant you press the button.  

The Swat should be at the same button as the Strip Tackle button as they both control moving an a defenders hand toward  the ball.  

EA_Shepard​ Is that the old Konami code?!

I may be getting older, but I tried to play some SNES the other day, and it was rough. Our brains, over the last 30 years, have been wired to hit more buttons. The more advanced the games get, the more advanced the controls get, so when you swap from one game to another, you have to rely on muscle memory.

Madden NFL on SNES - pressing B to hike, using the D-Pad to move, and A/B/Y for audible selections

The real, only true muscle memory you ever need to know - ⬆️⬆️⬇️⬇️⬅️➡️⬅️➡️BA Start

MaddenUniversity​ Yeah man, I'm getting up there too and I totally agree with you. I don't play competitively anymore, so the incentive to learn new mechanics this is definitely low priority for me. I still often use O/B to switch as well because that's what we've been doing in Madden for the last couple decades and that's a muscle memory habit pretty hard to kick. It's not that I'm not willing to use Switch Stick, but it's not where my mind first goes in that situation tbh.

 I remember QB vision and I literally don't know anyone that liked that. With QB vision, that right hand (specifically the thumb) was asked to do too much with that specific mechanic. Having to adjust vision and then transition the thumb over to a button to make a throw wound up being too conflicting and negatively impacted the timing of throws. Decent idea, just not one that could be well incorporated.

In terms of how you would hold the controller, first off, anyone capable of using both index and middle fingers to execute inputs is god tier talented imo, lol....I literally cannot do that. But with this specific mechanic, and how it relates to holding the controller ultimately, I don't think how you hold the controller would be severely impacted. Essentially you'd wanna hold it just like you were playing COD almost, with that left index consistently hovering that left trigger while your right hand does most of the dirty work, constantly trasitioning between the RS and buttons while that right index opperates the right trigger for speed control. With this mechanic and how the controller layout already is though, I don't see how we hold the controllers being severely imapacted. I just don't think it'd really change how we're already holding it. But without trying it, we may never know either. EA would have to tinker with it and have it playtested.

EA_Shepard​ Yeah absolutely things can get confusing when you bounce between games and whatnot. I have to admit that I literally have this problem all the time. Especially if it's been awhile since playing a different game like Skyrim, I often have to refer back to the controls of different games to get refamilarized with them. I do eventually settle back in, but like riding a bike I guess, it can be uncomfortable at first. You do present a very interesting question though. I don't know if I have a great answer, but there are a couple of points I wanna touch on concerning the question:

1. (Re)mapping: Swapping back and forth between different games and different controls can absolutely be a pain, and when the controls are intricate enough as with games like Madden, FIFA, or NBA 2K, it absolutely can be a barrier for entry and really scare people off with the amount of time and effort it can take to get good with them. I'll come back to that point in a minute, but this is where I'd like to say, that anytime I've been able to remap my controls within a game, it's made it 100% easier to get going with the game and settle in. Almost all of my action/RPG type games are mapped out to be as close to "souls-like" games as possible, and many follow the same mapping protocols upon release to make entry easier. So you'll find now that with a lot of action/RPG types games that attacks are almost exclusively R1/RB and R2/RT now: COD, For Honor, Dark Souls, Elden Ring, God of War, etc....all similar mapping. Idk if remapping is something Madden could ever introduce, but all I can do is note that it's very helpful when game swapping and trying to get use to a new game.
2. Advanced Controls: So I had mentioned above about games like Madden, FIFA, and NBA 2K having very intricate controls, and how that can be a barrier for entry. With these types of sports games, in order to have the level of immersion you find in sports, I do wanna start by saying that I think these advanced level controls and mechanics are probably neccessary. However, it comes right back to, the more you add, and the more advanced they become, the more difficult it can be to appeal to casual gamers and entry level players. I found this to be a problem trying to pick up NBA 2K again just recently. So much advanced controls can be daunting to learn. Ultimately there were moments it made me not want to play as some overlapping with the Sq Button was becoming extremely frustrating. Sometimes adding more is just not the solution, and I'm willing to admit that it could very well be the case with what has been presented here. One thing I'll say that Madden has done very well though, is keeping those classic and very simplified controls in tact for these newer and less advanced players, and with that being said, as long as those are maintained, idk if the addition of this would neccessarily be terrible either as long as they have access to the more simplified controls still, as with the classic passing system availability.

Regardless of those two points, I do still feel a lot of it I just going to come down to player adaptability and the willingness to put in the time and work to make the use of the newer advanced mechnics as you would have to practice anything else. We saw this with both Switch Stick and Free Form Passing, that although it made a lot of people angry, the pros and people who really want to play the game at an advanced level put in that time and effort and are better players because of it. From a development aspect, I also understand that it could take some time to code it in and tinker with it to get it working optimally, and that's not always fun from that side of things either, but I do feel it has the potential to make the game better to an extent that it could prove well worth it.

Anyway, idk if I touched on your question in the way I needed to, but that is just some additional thoughts as I contemplate it more in depth. Either way, talking through it has definitely been hepful and productive!

Thanks for the replies EA_Shepard​ and GVRH​ 

Yeah... I'm an old man.  That last thing I want to have to do is think about what my fingers are doing as I play, so I use my first 100 games every year to 'train' my fingers to new techniques - but only after they've been in the game long enough to justify learning a new mechanic.  

I still haven't adopted the Switch Stick...  I don't like having my fingers off the icon buttons that long, so I still switch primarily with O/B.  I have started integrating a D-Pad switch and I like it much more than switching with the R-Stick.  The time it takes to register which player and get my thumb back to the stick in the proper position feel more natural, BUT, I have noticed a slight slowdown when I'm chasing a receiver across the field as I'm moving the stick from neutral to a full speed run.  

Back in 2007, I wrote a paper about how QB Vision was a bad addition...  In it I identified two ways to hold the controller.  One where the index finger works both the shoulder bumpers and the triggers, another where both the middle and index fingers operated the bumbers and triggers independently.  

Would one of these grips be necessary to play using the 'enhanced' swat mechanic?

Later

GVRH​ And I learned that one the hard way. The boss was always like, "And what do you suppose we do?"

We could fix it? 😂 OR let someone know who can fix it? That is when you know not to bring up issues unless you have solutions. The older you get, the more things change.

EA_Shepard​ Yeah I'm guilty of the "it's broke" one liners myself unfortunately, lol... I will say though as I've gotten older that it's become less frequent thankfully, and I much more enjoy trying to come up with solutions to problems.

It's exciting to see what they'll be able to get implemented this year! I'm just glad we've been able to be helpful. I feel that I've seen a pretty good handful of people this year putting out a lot of really good feedback...and if it's making your job easier; all the better!

UtahUtes32​ Oh for real, I see things like this a lot in games and it isnt something I would take note until you actually see it, then you just cannot unsee it!

GVRH​ All good, believe me. I would much rather spend my day reading details in a novel rather than one liners of - its broke fix it...

I have already summed up a huge amount of M27 feedback from this board, so that makes my job so much easier lol.