Salem, OR — Are you ready for some football!? That time of the year is finally here, a brand new football season. This season is a special one as the league enters its 20th season, that’s right twenty! As much as Madden has its issues right now and with uncertainty into what will happen after this version of Madden, the league will continue to do its best to provide all users the best experience possible.
Before we announce when the league will kick-off Season 20 there are a couple of rule and league changes users should know about:
Player Edits
Last season the league allowed users to edit player names, going forward users will no longer be allowed to edit player names. Some users abused it after being told not to use nicknames or unrealistic names, others skipped ahead and created players that were not in the NFL yet, which will add extra stats/years to their real-life counterpart on our site once we add career stats.
Next, QB animations. Previously users were allowed to edit players throwing motion to gain an extra step in the way their QB released the ball. This would lead to QBs throwing in a style that was unrealistic to their real-life counterparts, therefore going forward users will no longer be allowed to edit QB throwing animations. If you want to read more about QB throwing motion and how, surprisingly, that’s one area EA tried to make as realistic as possible, check out this link – https://www.ea.com/games/madden-nfl/madden-nfl-20/news/gridiron-notes-6-21
League advances
There will be no more early advances, period. Last Madden the league would advance when all user games were finished, which caused several issues. At times users were unaware we advanced, even though it was announced in the league’s discord channel, other times people would grow inpatient waiting for 1 or 2 users to play since the league advanced early and the biggest issue, it wore people out when the league began to play 3 to 4 games in a span if 6-7 days. So, for all those reasons the league will only advance on scheduled days and times, the one exception might be during playoffs.
Advances are every Thursday and Sunday at 10 PM PST.
League Seasons
Last season the league set a new record in the number of seasons played on any given Madden. In Madden 20 we played a total of 4 seasons, that was a total of 64 games for all of the users, and for some, it was even more games if they made the playoffs. The number of games clearly burned a lot of users, many just lost interest, and to make matters worse, the quality of Madden right now is down the tubes. Because of those reasons, we will enforce our previously set rule of just 3 seasons in Madden.
This could change if users in the league vote to play more and show a high interest by being constantly engaged with the league, commenting, and creating content, until then we will keep it at 3 seasons.
SuperStar abilities/X-Factors
In Madden 20, EA introduced SuperStar abilities and X-Factors. The league had them on for all of Madden 20 and the results were overblown stats. We had guys punching players as they ran unrealistically up the field, we had guys who could catch a ball every time they activated the “Mossed” X-Factor, then there was “Escape Artist” another one of EA’s “great” ideas where QBs could run for more yards than their team’s starting running back!
So, for all those reasons and more we will be turning off SuperStar abilities and X-Factors indefinitely or until EA shows there is a real balance in the way SuperStar and X-Factors abilities are handled.
Custom Sliders
In Madden 20 the league used default sliders, the results were not good. This Madden the league will return to using custom sliders. The slider setting will be shared in our discord channel and will be edited as needed, which will usually be after a Madden update.
Kick-Off
Last but not least, Kick-Off for season 20 will begin this Thursday, September 10th, time to be determined. EA has stated that week one rosters will be released this upcoming week but did not give a specific date. Once the rosters are available we will be able to announce a set start time.
I like these changes, no more x factors đź‘Ťđź‘Ť.
Yes! Hopefully, it leads to less of the overblown stats we saw last Madden.
Great stuff! Very excited about our upcoming season.
Having no xfactors will definitely be a game changer this season
In my Bart Scott voice, CANT WAIT!
Excellent stuff
Tears of Joy! Love the concept of Xfactors but becomes too Arcade like