Rom, thanks for the detailed explanation of how player growth is
suppose to work. Unfortunately the reality of how the growth system is working appears quite different, and it's extremely disappointing that no one at EA including yourself bothers to acknowledge the issues - despite the massive number of posts devoted to this problem, many of which include detailed information of our own experiences that act as
irrefutable evidence that the logic behind the growth system is not working as it should.
For example, in your explanation you wrote the following:
Players grow based on their playing time, their performance and their age.
And also:
Players get the closest to realising their full potential between 25 and 28 years
That’s also when they grow the most
That makes sense and is a solid basic model for growth.
If only our experiences matched that model, consistently.
In my most recent CM for example, after 1.5 seasons the two players that have grown the most for me have both been 28 years of age (both are +3). Is it not curious that the players that have grown the most for me are both at the end of their peaks?
Having two 28 year olds grow 3 points would not be so strange if other players were developing at similar rates, and yet nothing could be further from the truth! Not only do I have a young squad but many are listed as having "high potential" and have performed relatively well for me. And yet - and yet! - of these "high potential" youngsters
less than half a dozen have grown at all in 1.5 seasons but just as many have gone down in OVR!!
In fact, in my most recent match one of my top substitutes, and sometimes starter, dropped -1 in OVR! Not only does it make absolutely no sense for players to be decreasing in OVR for any other reason than old age (Form - one of the many features you guys have removed - is NOT related to player growth, or at least shouldn't be.), but it also makes absolutely no sense when one player - who has seen match time, is listed as "high potential," and is only 23 - goes down in OVR, while other players who have yet to see the pitch remain unchanged.
I have now played a total of approximately six seasons in CM, on both the 360 and PS3, both pre and post patch, and I can report with 100 percent certainty that player growth is not functioning properly -
instead player growth appears somewhat random, inconsistent, and rarely reflects what could be expected based on what we read on the player growth screen or what we see from playing matches.
It is clear a problem exists. Considering the popularity of this topic since release, and considering the massive popularity of this game mode, it's a fair assumption that at the moment you have a large number of unhappy customers. It would be appreciated if not only EA acted accordingly, but it would be nice if you guys at least acknowledged the issue to us, and at least tried to give the impression that you care and are looking into a fix.
Last year MM was not fixed and we were stuck with the 2 billion dollar debt bug among others. CM and its small number of features was sold to us as being a necessary start over to avoid working with the old bug-filled code. You appear an intelligent person, and I think you can see that
it is not only the moral thing to do but the right business decision to adequately address the community's concerns.
