CFM Reminiscent of Downfall of MLB 2K Franchise?

[baconbits11]

Quote: Originally Posted by Sheba2011

Many of them did stick around or were transferred to different divisions within EA. Don't forget they also had a very large team working on Longshot for this year's game, which received as much attention as a stand a lone game would. So they were essentially developing 3 games at the same time.

They were developing three games anyway when NCAA was being produced, so not a good reasoning on why quality and features are being overlooked

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[mykelmosinee]

Quote: Originally Posted by Sheba2011

Many of them did stick around or were transferred to different divisions within EA. Don't forget they also had a very large team working on Longshot for this year's game, which received as much attention as a stand a lone game would. So they were essentially developing 3 games at the same time.

See...therein lies the problem. That mode had better be freaking AMAZING if what you say is true.
Knowing their record for such things, though, it'll be mediocre, or have enough problems or bugs that it'll be considered broken. Then we'll hear "it's just the first year, we didn't have enough time/resources to implement the things we really wanted...just wait until next year". Yawn

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[brandon27]

Quote: Originally Posted by RogerDodger

Frostbite taking away resources would have been acceptable in two situations - first, that the graphics simply blew us away, which so far they haven't. The sidelines are still the same, lined with almost motionless zombies. The intros to the field are bare bones with a small group of players running out. Second, the reason that franchise has had little attention isn't actually frostbite at all - they shifted their franchise resources to NBA Live. My level of acceptance takes a hit bearing in mind of those two facts I've mentioned.

I don't know, to me that's irrelevant. I'm sure it's not like they copied everything they'd done in Ignite (or whatever it was called) and pasted it inside of Frostbite and called it a day. I'm sure there was a bunch of work that had to go into that, beyond just visual upgrades, I'm sure there was a bunch of other work involved in the transition to Frostbite.


Yeah, resources apparently got shifted elsewhere, and I do agree with you there in regards to that being something to take issue with. But, maybe they were able to shift those resources due to the fact that the transition to Frostbite took more work than we all know, which may have prevented the effective use of those resources on CFM, or other stuff until the Frostbite transition was completed. So, if they were potentially unable to work on things because of Frostbite, maybe that opened up the opportunity for resources to be shifted. We don't really know.


I get it though based on your second point.

[kjcheezhead]

Quote: Originally Posted by PhillyPhanatic14

Anyone who used to buy MLB2K games knows that the last 3-4 versions of the game were literally a roster update and nothing else. The company didn't even pretend to make back of box features and just released the same game multiple times. The lack of attention paid to CFM the last few years (especially in comparison to the PS2 days) reminds me of this approach where EA is literally not even touching the mode. The additions this year could have been implemented in 1-2 weeks and the dev team had 52 to work on the game. It's embarrassing how little progression there is in this mode and I wonder if they'll continue this trend of not touching the mode in future games and attributing it to a lack of resources.

Madden did something very similar on the PS2 consoles imo. Madden 05 and on had nearly identical franchise modes. I feel like that's kind of the goal. Get gameplay where people are content with it, and release a yearly roster update with a fresh coat of paint. Each disc pressed is basically a crisp $50 bill and with digital salsa they don't even have to make discs, they can just watch the bank account fill up.

[Rebel10]

Quote: Originally Posted by kjcheezhead

Madden did something very similar on the PS2 consoles imo. Madden 05 and on had nearly identical franchise modes. I feel like that's kind of the goal. Get gameplay where people are content with it, and release a yearly roster update with a fresh coat of paint. Each disc pressed is basically a crisp $50 bill and with digital salsa they don't even have to make discs, they can just watch the bank account fill up.

Madden '05 and on having nearly identical game modes is because the Xbox 360 came out in November 2005, and so the focus shifted to developing for the next generation of consoles. Madden '05 (Release August 2004) was really the last full-focused Madden of the PS2/Xbox/GC generation, and Madden '06 (that abomination) would be the first Madden for the next generation.

EA, and most sports game developers, follow that pattern where they shift to the next generation once that comes out, and games released on the previous generation still get roster updates, slight bug fixes, and some features here and there, but for the most part, the focus is on the active generation. For instance, Madden continued to be released on the PSX (PSOne) up to Madden 2005, despite the PS2 coming out in 2001 and Xbox in 2002. It was effectively the same game as Madden 2000.

Madden '05 running on PSX:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi9bjPHomiY

Pretty crazy to see pixelated Brady on the Patriots.. I only ever remember playing as Bledsoe in that era.

You'd hope that Madden '17 wouldn't be the last Madden for this generation

[RogerDodger]

Quote: Originally Posted by Rebel10

Madden '05 and on having nearly identical game modes is because the Xbox 360 came out in November 2005, and so the focus shifted to developing for the next generation of consoles. Madden '05 (Release August 2004) was really the last full-focused Madden of the PS2/Xbox/GC generation, and Madden '06 (that abomination) would be the first Madden for the next generation. EA, and most sports game developers, follow that pattern where they shift to the next generation once that comes out, and games released on the previous generation still get roster updates, slight bug fixes, and some features here and there, but for the most part, the focus is on the active generation. For instance, Madden continued to be released on the PSX (PSOne) up to Madden 2005, despite the PS2 coming out in 2001 and Xbox in 2002. It was effectively the same game as Madden 2000. Madden '05 running on PSX: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi9bjPHomiY Pretty crazy to see pixelated Brady on the Patriots.. I only ever remember playing as Bledsoe in that era. You'd hope that Madden '17 wouldn't be the last Madden for this generation

I suspect the current generation of consoles will now 'evolve' as opposed to a completely new launch of a brand new system. That will make it much easy to offer continuity.

[triplechin]

I dont know anything about MLB 2K but unfortunately now EA has UT to look towards and such. Franchise mode is still not significantly ahead of franchise modes from the past. I hope we get a rehaul next Madden because XP will not allow franchise to progress.

[baconbits11]

Another thing to be upset about is that CFM was supposed to save development time because the mode was integrated with online and SuperStar Mode. They said at the time it would be easier to add on to it, instead of developing three different modes. So there is no excuse for EA to not be delivering.