Madden 27 Superstar Mode Suggestion

To the EA Sports Madden Development Team,

I am writing as a Senior Project Manager and a dedicated player of your football games. This document provides a strategic analysis of why Superstar Mode is fundamentally unplayable for your most engaged customers and offers solutions to address this issue.

The mode is a failure because it is built on a design philosophy that actively fights the player. It intentionally removes player agency, deletes our investment, and forces us into a broken, repetitive, and unrealistic "story" that shows a profound disconnect from what football fans actually want.

Part 1: The "Slap in the Face" – The Broken CFB Import

This is the mode's #1 failure and a breach of trust with your community.

• The Problem: The marketing promised our "Road to Glory" would continue. The reality is that you are destroying our career.
• The Evidence:
• Ratings Nerf: 99-OVR, Heisman-winning legends from CFB import into Madden as 65-66 OVR rookies. This is not a "head start"; it's a "slap in the face" that invalidates dozens of hours of our time.
• Achievements Mean Nothing: All our CFB stats, records, and awards (Heismans, etc.) are deleted. Madden only imports our name, appearance, and college.
• The 'Why': You are deleting our story to force us to play your "rookie" story. This is the core reason the mode is "unplayable."
• The Solution:

1. Honor Our Investment: A 99-OVR CFB player must import as a "Generational Prospect" (80-82 OVR) with an X-Factor.
2. Make Records Matter: The commentary must reference our Heismans. Our college stats must be logged in our "Career Stats" page.

Part 2: The Core Philosophy Failure: Stop Removing Player Control

You are actively fighting your players by locking them out of basic game functions.

• Exhibit A: Locked Sliders & Settings
• The Problem: Sliders, penalties, and game settings are "greyed out" and locked.
• The Solution: Unlock all sliders and settings. If I want to "write my own story" as a 99-OVR player on Rookie, let me. This is the most basic form of player agency.
• Exhibit B: Locked Football Mechanics
• The Problem: It is "crazy" that a rookie QB cannot call hot routes or audibles.
• The 'Why': This is a profound misunderstanding of football. You are locking a fundamental game mechanic behind a "coach rep" grind. Every real-life rookie QB can call a hot route.
• The Solution: Immediately unlock all basic pre-snap mechanics. Progression should focus on attributes (improvement), rather than regaining basic game functions.
• Exhibit C: The Unrealistic "Grind" Economy
• The Problem: Forcing professional athletes to "pay" (with "Cred") for their own cleats, gloves, and visors.
• The 'Why': This is anti-realistic. It's an artificial grind (taking an entire season to "buy 1 item") designed to push players toward microtransactions.
• The Solution: Unlock all on-field equipment from Day 1.
• Exhibit D: The "Forced Story" No One Asked For
• The Problem: The "forced interactions" and repetitive, buggy cutscenes are a "real turn-off." The mode is a "Press A" chore, not a game.
• The Solution: Scrap the linear story. Replace it with a simple, College Football-style weekly menu.

Conclusion: The Path Forward (The "Director" Mode)

The fix is to pivot from a "story" to a "sandbox."

1. Give Us Control: Unlock all sliders, editors, and on-field mechanics.
2. Honor Our CFB Career: Make the import actually matter.
3. Integrate with Franchise: Stop building Superstar as a broken, separate app. Make it the "Player" mode within the main Franchise ecosystem. This instantly gives us all the stats, league news, and logical AI that are currently missing.

Stop forcing a bad story on us. Please give us the tools and let us write the career we want.