Connected Franchise Mode: A Rebuild

[Mattanite]

I hope others would agree, I would buy a more sim style football game as described in this post, without the official license (so different teams and players) over casual-Madden. I like football first and foremost, having the right names for things is just a cherry on top. Look what Backbreaker managed to achieve.

[jeremym480]

Quote: Originally Posted by CM Hooe

If you want me to be real about it, with respect to my personal experience with NBA 2K (I have none with The Show) - no, NBA 2K's franchise mode does not work. I have never completed a single season of NBA 2K. In a single-player franchise setting I've never even reached the all-star break. The mode doesn't hold me for that long because it is a slog and a grind through lots of games which don't individually feel important. Yes, the mode has all the authenticity nods in the world, and NBA 2K's franchise mode indeed has more authentic out-of-game mechanics than Madden does - be it Bird rights / player options / team options on contracts, player morale, more robust play injuries, owner media credibility, multi-team trades, summer leagues, presentation bells and whistles, I'm sure I'm missing a bunch of other things - but what good are all those things if the game can't keep me engaged in the core experience long enough to finish even half a season? If I'm never touching these things, do they even exist? How valuable are these things if I never see them, really? The changes to Madden's franchise mode upcoming for this year, on the other hand, I'm looking forward to more than ever, because the game will actively give me reasons to keep coming back on top of the core loops which already exist. It doesn't entirely rely on me to build my own narratives like most sports games do, it will present the important action items to me, tell me why they are important, and tell me the real consequences of my decisions on the game state. The game will also actively facilitate my touching all of its pieces by helping me get through games faster. Getting through several seasons and touching all the parts of the mode is a very reasonable possibility for me now, and the game will keep actively motivating me to want to do this. A game that actively motivates me to keep playing it has a better design than a game that doesn't.

Does something like MUT really exist if I never touch it? It's all just a matter of preference. Just because I don't get into MUT or you don't get into NBA 2K's MyLeague doesn't mean that much in the grand scheme of things. It just means we enjoy different experiences with our sports games.

For the record NBA 2K has an option to shorten seasons (The shortest is a 14 game season and you can make every playoff series 1 game if you so choose). You can use the simcast feature to watch games as the unfold and intervene whenever you want. If you don't want to deal with all of the in-depth features the game offers, then they have the options to automate it. If one person doesn't want to worry about that stuff that's their prerogative, however that's no reason for the devs to completely leave it out for the people who do want a deep gaming experience. Personally, I can thank 2k for teaching me about most of the NBA's contracts. They're complicated, but I know quite a bit about them now, whereas I know very little about the NFL outside of the franchise tag and signing players.

Most of this falls in the "different strokes for different folks" category because for me the more in-depth the better. I'm still playing 2K16 now. I took about a one month hiatus when Uncharted 4 and EA UFC were released, but now I'm back to playing every single night. I actually liked M16's gameplay, but I stopped playing it around the end of October and haven't touched it since. The game just didn't have any life, unless you're in an online league.

I get that there making everything accessible is important for the "pick up and play users", but are those are normally causal players and are those players going to be playing the game more than hardcore players? Why cater to them when there's going they're likely to just jump ship when the next big game comes along? I would venture to guess that most of the players who play CFM the most would prefer a deeper experience because the more there would be more to do and less of doing the same things over and over causing you to get burned out.

...And I do have some hope that Rex and company are starting to build towards a more in-depth CFM. Editing and practice squads in a good first step, but they need to do much more in order to make the game engaging for me offline. Player morale, realistic contracts, a much better injury system (ie off the ball injuries) and coaching carousel would be a nice second step.

[Rocky]

The thing is, alot of the things that the OP was talking about was done in a EA FOOTBALL GAME! No reason for NCAA 04 to have a better franchise/dynasty mode than Madden in 2017.

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by jeremym480

Does something like MUT really exist if I never touch it? It's all just a matter of preference. Just because I don't get into MUT or you don't get into NBA 2K's MyLeague doesn't mean that much in the grand scheme of things. It just means we enjoy different experiences with our sports games. For the record NBA 2K has an option to shorten seasons (The shortest is a 14 game season and you can make every playoff series 1 game if you so choose). You can use the simcast feature to watch games as the unfold and intervene whenever you want. If you don't want to deal with all of the in-depth features the game offers, then they have the options to automate it. If one person doesn't want to worry about that stuff that's their prerogative, however that's no reason for the devs to completely leave it out for the people who do want a deep gaming experience. Personally, I can thank 2k for teaching me about most of the NBA's contracts. They're complicated, but I know quite a bit about them now, whereas I know very little about the NFL outside of the franchise tag and signing players. Most of this falls in the "different strokes for different folks" category because for me the more in-depth the better. I'm still playing 2K16 now. I took about a one month hiatus when Uncharted 4 and EA UFC were released, but now I'm back to playing every single night. I actually liked M16's gameplay, but I stopped playing it around the end of October and haven't touched it since. The game just didn't have any life, unless you're in an online league. I get that there making everything accessible is important for the "pick up and play users", but are those are normally causal players and are those players going to be playing the game more than hardcore players? Why cater to them when there's going they're likely to just jump ship when the next big game comes along? I would venture to guess that most of the players who play CFM the most would prefer a deeper experience because the more there would be more to do and less of doing the same things over and over causing you to get burned out. ...And I do have some hope that Rex and company are starting to build towards a more in-depth CFM. Editing and practice squads in a good first step, but they need to do much more in order to make the game engaging for me offline. Player morale, realistic contracts, a much better injury system (ie off the ball injuries) and coaching carousel would be a nice second step.

Yep, 100% behind this written word. I would like a more robust CFM and my games already take 1 hr and 15 minutes as I'm still playing 16.(hoping to pick Madden up for 30 bucks if BB has the same deal as last year).

As long as CFM has a save point preparing for the draft, during the draft, negotiations, etc...., I'm all for a robust CFM.

I just don't have time to spend a few hours in one area of the game with a family and work life and that is where the different strokes for different folks come in.

[Millennium]

So...Hi.

Going to derail for a second. I know it's against the TOS, but I'm pretty sure I'm allowed to for the time being.

Why can't the entirety of this group understand differing opinions? I get it - there are guys that will always love Madden, there are guys that will never like Madden, and there are guys in between trying to make decisions.

Sage was banned rightfully. I brought him back as a second chance (which I do with many users). But taking a pot shot like that uncalled for (and I'm pretty sure Sage knows that).

Bucky/Big FN Deal/CM Hooe - This is the rivalry that will never end. I love watching you guys constructively argue with each other but it always seems to reach that point where someone thinks "I don't have anything left to say, but I have to win this argument". All 3 of you are right in your own ways about the game, but you have to realize that fact. You all have a valid voice - learn that the others in this situation do as well. Other people see the 3 of you start to devolve from constructive to repetitive then start piling on their side of the argument. Be better than that as all 3 of you are seen as sort of a 'tip of the spear' constructively to your side of this.

In short - be constructive voices, then move on.

[bucky60]

Quote: Originally Posted by Millennium

Why can't the entirety of this group understand differing opinions? I get it - there are guys that will always love Madden, there are guys that will never like Madden, and there are guys in between trying to make decisions. Bucky/Big FN Deal/CM Hooe - This is the rivalry that will never end. I love watching you guys constructively argue with each other but it always seems to reach that point where someone thinks "I don't have anything left to say, but I have to win this argument". All 3 of you are right in your own ways about the game, but you have to realize that fact. You all have a valid voice - learn that the others in this situation do as well. Other people see the 3 of you start to devolve from constructive to repetitive then start piling on their side of the argument. Be better than that as all 3 of you are seen as sort of a 'tip of the spear' constructively to your side of this. In short - be constructive voices, then move on.

Thank you very much for the bold!!!!!!

[SageInfinite]

Just would like to post publicly that I appreciate the reinstatement and that my post was not meant as an attack. I apologize to DeuceDouglas for derailing his incredible thread and idea.....

[Sphinx]

I think one main issue that many of us (myself included) fail to realize is that EA did essentially try out a game for the sim minded people. They put out NFL head coach and while I don't know the exact sales numbers, I think we can safely assume that it did not sell as well as Madden. This could have been contributed to many things but I think the main reason is, we are the minority when it comes to football. We want all of the franchise features that NBA 2k has , that MLB the show has, but we want them in Madden. But we aren't a larger enough body of people to truly warrant the shear amount of man hours needed to plan,program,implement and test out the features. We get a few new things here and there. But I believe it would take a full rebuild to the CFM entirely.

Which seems like an easy enough thing except it's not, development cycles are a pain in the butt to deal with. I know first hand how difficult it can be to add new features into software and the various steps involved before something can be implemented. For all of the things list by the OP (which are awesome ideas) it would probably take a good year of planning/analyzing data/coding and then an additional year to get all of the programming done and testing complete. I think the last thing any of us wants is a rushed product just for the sake of having some cool features that may or may not work the way we want.

Ultimately it would have been awesome for us if Head Coach had sold better and could have been turned into a yearly or every other year title. But it didn't and wasn't. Maybe someday Madden will fit all of our needs and we won't have to have these discussions anymore. Until then, we should try our best to enjoy the games we have, be it, Nba2k, MLB or Madden or Heck even those who still play NFL2k5.