While fans of Madden NFL 23 yearly complain about the small and incremental changes in madden gameplay and modes such as Franchise, the Madden The Ultimate Team community usually remains quite committed, with the mode generating millions of dollars in revenue for EA every year. Once known as fully pay-to-win, Madden Ultimate Team introduced more player-friendly aspects to the mode that make it easier for players to earn items without spending money, but Ultimate Team can still learn a lot from MLB The Show‘s Diamond Dynasty, which excels at keeping players engaged with great content that can be earned simply by playing the game.
madden Ultimate Team and Diamond Dynasty are card collecting modes that allow players to build dream teams made up of today’s players and legends from sports history, along with some future stars. There are many similarities between Madden NFL 23 Ultimate Team and MLB The Show 22‘s Diamond Dynasty, but some minor differences make Diamond Dynasty a much better experience for most players.
How money works in Ultimate Team and Diamond Dynasty
In-game currency is how packs, upgrades and player items are bought in the market, and Madden Ultimate Team has a lot of currency, with three different types of virtual currencies used in it Madden 23. MUT Coins are earned by playing games, Training Points are earned by redeeming cards or taking on Challenges, and Madden Points can be purchased from the online store. That may seem a bit overwhelming to some fans considering getting into Ultimate Team for the first time, and the reality is there’s a better way to handle currency, which MLB The Show 22 has caught.
Simplicity sometimes goes a long way in gaming, and Diamond Dynasty captures this perfectly with its in-game currency called Stubs. Stubs are used for anything a player might want to buy within Diamond Dynasty, including packs, individual players, cosmetic items, equipment for a Create-a-Player professional, and more. Stubs can be purchased in the MLB The Show 22 online store, but they are also earned relatively easily in most game modes and can be earned very quickly if the player focuses on featured programs in Diamond Dynasty.
On the other hand, Madden Ultimate Team gets downright confusing with currency. Players use coins to buy specific players in the auction house, but selling the same player quickly will earn you training points. Some packs can be bought with MUT points and others with training points, and only a few can be bought with coins. One type of currency would go a long way in making the mode more inviting for more players, increasing player engagement in Ultimate Team, and helping more fans build better teams.
Madden Ultimate Team not only encourages spending real money more than Diamond Dynasty, but once the player spends the money, it is much more of a gamble that they will get something good for it. In Madden 23, players can purchase Madden Points used to purchase packs, which provides a chance to draw a good Ultimate Team card or item, but no guarantee that the player will get anything useful. In Diamond Dynasty, players can use Stubs to buy packs for the same kind of opportunity, but they can also spend those Stubs directly on the market to a specific player they want. Madden 23 would benefit from unifying currencies and make it easier for players to know what they are getting when they spend their money.
Bring more customization to Madden Ultimate Team
MLB The Show 22‘s Diamond Dynasty does a good job of giving gamers a sense of ownership and identity, and both stats and customizations help achieve that. In modes like Ultimate Team or Diamond Dynasty, everyone’s team is at least slightly different from the others, so the more the developer can highlight those differences, the more a player will feel a bond with their own team. With Diamond Dynasty, players can completely design and customize their team’s uniforms and even the stadium they play in, giving fans a sense of identity. In Madden 23, Ultimate Team players only have the option of uniforms that already exist in the NFL or specially designed uniforms that EA Tiburon releases. More customization in MUT would go a long way.
Stats are important in sports, and dedicated Diamond Dynasty or Ultimate Team players develop a bond with their players, so a better stat tracking system would make MUT a lot better too. In MLB The Show 22, Diamond Dynasty players can see the stats of every player they’ve ever had in their lineup, even if they only had one at bat as part of the squad. It’s a fun way for gamers to look at the performance of certain players, see which players have been on the active roster the longest, and build more affinity with the players on their roster. Madden 23 could use that in Ultimate Team.
Use the recommended program model
Madden Ultimate Team took a step in the right direction Madden 23 with the addition of the Field Pass, but the new Battle Pass-like reward path is still falling short MLB The Show 22‘s Recommended programs. Field Passes give fans items, players, or currency for completing tasks in Ultimate Team, such as earning challenge stars, scoring a certain number of touchdowns, or opening packs. There are three or more active field passes in Madden Ultimate Team at any given time: one for the current season, one for competitive online play, and one or more field passes designed around current card themes, such as elite superhero themed cards or cards with a Halloween theme.
MLB The Show 22 has mastered this model and has made it as easy as possible for fans of Diamond Dynasty as there is always only one Recommended Program running. In addition, each mode in the game, Diamond Dynasty or not, provides the player with XP for the program. Diamond Dynasty featured programs often feature some of the best items in the mode, and most players use it to build their teams with diamond-level items. Madden 23 would do well to learn that the idea behind this type of passing is to keep players on the game. The rewards should be based on the player interacting with the product in any way as that keeps him loyal for longer.
Madden NFL 23 is now available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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