Re: Why did Madden get rid of play designing?
The play editor was pulled because of FEAR... Mind you that was a fear of people designing glitches and using them in online games, despite most people being unable to detail the difference between good play design and one that breaks the programming. Basically, any play that is hard to counter is considered a glitch...
Case in point, in Madden NFL 2004 there was a way to beat Man Under 2, which at the time was the most popular defensive played called in online games. The technique, initially called the Wally-B (after the guy that used it in tournament play), used the Playmaker feature to assign a Flat route to a Flanker. That flanker, was then sent in motion across the formation but instead of clearing the line, the ball was snapped as the Flanker reached the TE inside shoulder. The defensive players manning up on the TE and WR would swap coverage (a technique commonly referred to as Banjo), usually causing a linebacker to cover the WR who reverses field back to the flat. The TE, and sometimes the DB that is now covering him, would preform a natural rub that created a ton of separation in the flat. The Quarterback could often deliver the pass quickly to the wide open receiver in the flat. This was the first play to be called the "Motion Glitch."
Up until that point, no one had ever seen this technique employed in the NFL in quite that way. Of course, there were rubs used in compression sets and Trips, but they rarely involved motion. It took 11 years before the first "Motion Glitch" was seen in the NFL, when the Dallas Cowboys ran the Wally-B concept with playaction against the Detroit Lions in the 3rd quarter. The play worked almost EXACTLY the same in real life against the Lions man coverage as it did in Madden 2004. The defender ran with the motion man and over the top of the linebackers and had his back turned as the flanker reversed field and caught the pass in the flat. Joe Buck, who was doing the play-by-play for Fox Sports, made specific mention of how odd the play looked. Kevin Ogletree, the motioned flanker, caught the pass in the flat - WIDE OPEN - and sprinted until he was knocked out at the 1-yard line. The play was so close to being a score that Jason Garrett challenged the play (he lost the challenge)...
The next, and only other, time that the Wally-B was used in an NFL game was later that same season. The Lions, who almost gave up a touchdown to the Cowboys, liked the play so much that they tried the Wally-B concept against the Carolina Panthers, but the Panthers were in a Cover 3 Sky zone coverage. The cornerback followed the motioned flanker, but when the ball was snapped the corner bailed into his deep third and the Strong Safety rotated down to the flat. When the flanker reversed field and caught the pass, he had two defenders on him in an instant and was tackled for a gain of 3 yards. John Lynch, who was FOx Sports color commentator for the game, specifically mentioned the play from the Lions vs. Cowboys matchup and that the play WOULD HAVE WORKED if the Panthers had been playing Man Coverage...
I mention all that to say that different coverages existed in Madden 2004 that were not victimized by the Wally-B, some were even man coverage primarily. As a matter of fact, many man coverage defenses of Madden 2004 avoided the pitfalls of the Wally-B, because the technique relied on two defenders in man coverage preforming the Banjo technique. If the defense called a play with the LB aligned over the TE was blitzing, the Wally-B didn't work. If the defense called a play with the LB was covering the flats, the Wally-B didn't work. Even if the defense called Man Under 2, but lined the LB assigned in man coverage to the TE inside the DB covering the flanker (via shift or otherwise) when the ball was snapped, the coverage wasn't Banjoed. All MINOR defensive adjustments available to any player that wanted to use them, but most people wanted to complain about their ONE unadjusted defense getting beat by a well designed concept...
The phenomenon of complaining about things being overpowered forced EA to yank the Play Editor... Instead, we were given the ability to make our own Custom Playbooks (of which I am an AVID USER), but the choices of stock plays are redundant and geared toward 5WR and Shotgun formations (which I don't use).
Thank you for giving me the chance to spread the word about why we still can't design our own plays... Lots of people forget that every play was designed by someone to specifically take advantage of something their opponent is doing. Heck, Chuck Noll designed his Trap play on a napkin.
Later
