Welcome to Madden 24.
For those that do not know me, this is my third year doing an XP sliders thread and my fifth year making XP sliders. I think my XP sliders really grew in popularity last year with 80,000 views on here. Now I don't care about views but if even a small percentage of players used my XP sliders and it improved their franchise experience, that is a win to me!
I am excited for Madden 24. We have new sliders to customize our experience.
That being said, let's just dive into it.
I had to adjust my thinking and approach this year with the XP sliders as there are more factors than in the past. Luckily, I was able to get a weekend with the beta this year and really was able to dive deep. I had an initial set of numbers all lined up but as I was looking at everything last week, there was definitely room for improvement.
Before we get to the XP sliders and the progression/regression sliders, let's talk real quick about the draft class sliders. I will make it simple. Everything I tested was on default settings for the draft sliders. But, because these are on default, any setting for these will work because I accounted for the adjustments. Just like you have to account for 6 focus player slots now and the new mini game XP boosts.
We next need to ask a few questions.
How long does the average player play a Madden franchise? I would say anywhere from 5-7 seasons. There may be some outliers higher and certainly many lower, but that is going to likely be your average and what we work from.
Ok, Funky, but then why do we run 10 year sims to test XP sliders? We shouldn’t. I have danced around this question for a few years now but I am going to come out and be blunt about it. The 10 year only sim to see where everything is and adjust on that only, is wrong. Flat out wrong. If we are playing a franchise for 5 years, why does it matter where the league is only in 10 years? It doesn’t.
How many of you play 10 seasons on a single Madden version? Very few.
I spent a large part of my time with the beta doing testing. If I set numbers to be where I want the league to be in 10 years only, guess what? In 3-5 years it is nowhere close to the 10 year mark. No where close at all. This proves what I have believed to be true from the beginning. Testing in a year to year environment is the only way to go. It takes longer but gives us more accurate numbers for long term stability. And that is what we want. Stability.
Side tracking for a moment as discussing stability. It appears as if EA has finally squished the franchise save corruption bug. Hazzah!
The system of doing 10 year sims only is flawed. Despite what everyone who tests this way only says otherwise.
Ok, that was blunt. I understand that. But it needs to be made clear that the original way users have done XP sliders, since their inception, has been wrong.
Funky, don’t you do 10 year sims to get your numbers? I do not do a single 10 year sim. I look at data year to year. This ensures that the league stays within parameters for the duration of a franchise. I will do a few 10 year sims at the end to ensure numbers hold true but I don't and will never use it as my source to get numbers. But this is in a single file. Sim 10 years. Assess. Sim a second set of 10 years. But I will never adjust numbers from that single 20 year sim source. That adjustment source belongs to the year to year data I compile in years 1-10. I stop and I assess yearly. Repeatedly. I am retentive like that.
But that aside…
Now to the good stuff.
XP Sliders:
Ok so first things first. These numbers are going to look weird when you first look at them. On top of the regression sliders, EA very much adjusted regression in this game as whole. It has impacted a lot and a ton of adjustments needed to be made. Even from the beta to release version. The overinflated base roster ratings also are a factor.
I really feel I have set forth my best work on these sliders yet.
Trust the numbers. Trust the settings. Trust the process.
Star: 320
Superstar: 70
X-Factors: 50
QB: 70
HB: 74
TE: 76
WR: 76
FB: 88
T: 76
G: 72
C: 74
DE: 82
DT: 76
MLB: 76
OLB: 72
CB: 74
FS: 78
SS: 76
K: 100
P: 100
Age Progression XP Rate Sliders:
20: 100
21: 100
22: 100
23: 100
24: 100
25: 100
26: 100
27: 110
28: 110
29: 100
30: 100
31: 100
32: 100
33: 100
34: 100
35+: 100
Offense Regression Rate Sliders:
QB: 120
HB: 100
TE: 110
WR: 100
FB: 100
T: 100
G: 120
C: 110
Defense Regression Rate Sliders:
DE: 110
DT: 100
MLB: 110
OLB: 110
CB: 110
FS: 100
SS: 100
Special Team Regression Rate Sliders:
K: 100
P: 100
Age Regression Sliders:
26: 100
27: 100
28: 100
29: 90
30: 90
31: 110
32: 110
33: 110
34: 100
35+: 100
Draft Quality Sliders:
Do what you want. That is the beauty here. Customize your universe how you see fit!
Progressive fatigue was turned on for all testing.
That's it. Those are the sliders and a bit of a rant mixed into the middle there.
They numbers do look odd but EA really messed with regression. Even at this level, you still see a bit of inflation in ratings but nothing like you would with the numbers at default.
At this point, these numbers are final. Feel free to ask questions about the numbers or the process. But per usual, I will not entertain statements like 'you should…,' 'why haven't you…,' etc. This is nothing personal. It is confidence in knowing my numbers are right and that I trust the process I have set forth.
I hope there are once again those that can use these. That alone makes the hours put into this worthwhile.
Happy Madden 24 gaming everyone!
