APFL ?

[QB16]

The game's league is called the APL... which is strange since the 'F' for football is not present in there. Also strange is that the Developer told me a different name in the 2KSportsFootball interview. I think he called it the APFA or something.

There was clearly no focus on the direction of this game. They did nothing to develop the league concept and after having played a season and winning "The Championship" I can say that this was one of the most poorly put together concepts I've seen in a while, just because the focus was so lacking. Winning the championship or just playing the season in general is a waste of time as there is nothing exciting taking place at any point.

With the competition now bascially offering what 2K8 has and more (besides its gameplay), this game is not going to get any more attention from the masses... not that it REALLY was before, but... the sales numbers are looking bad right now and it's only going to get worse because the word of mouth has not been good; and $59.99 an underdeveloped league is not what people are going to risk the money on. What a shame.

[lav]

Some of my ideas for a franchise without breaking away from the legends theme:

1. Legends never "retire." They're legends. We're already dismissing reality by playing with these former players.
2. The offseason/draft could be handled like Arena Football. You just sign fictional free agents and created players.
3. Non-legends progress over their career. At the end of they're time in the league they either have reached "legend" status or they retire.
4. I'm not so concerned about front office stuff as I am league history and records. So, it might not be a bad idea not to pay the players. Instead of salary cap, there could be an ability/ratings cap similar to the way we make teams now. I.E. No more than 2 gold, 3 silver, etc.
5. As players progress and move into the different tiers, you'll need to decide which ones to keep and/or release. When trading you'd need to keep in mind how many players you have at each tier (gold, silver, bronze, and then maybe a separate rating system for the non-legends).

I think it's very doable without changing the entire format of the game.

And yes, I've had the week off and I've been thinking about this...way too much time on my hands.

[P.D.]

Quote: Originally Posted by ForeverYoung

a) have a separate Legends Mode like the current single season in 2k8 b) add a franchise mode w/ generic players c) give the user the option to include the legends in the franchise d) draft generic players which if good can become legends

franchise mode with just generics?? hmmm NO THANKS

I honestly dont understand people's desire to want a franchise mode. TT didnt do a good job with franchise mode in 2k5 . so leaving it out for this game is a blessing..

[mercalnd]

Quote: Originally Posted by lav

Some of my ideas for a franchise without breaking away from the legends theme: 1. Legends never "retire." They're legends. We're already dismissing reality by playing with these former players. 2. The offseason/draft could be handled like Arena Football. You just sign fictional free agents and created players. 3. Non-legends progress over their career. At the end of they're time in the league they either have reached "legend" status or they retire. 4. I'm not so concerned about front office stuff as I am league history and records. So, it might not be a bad idea not to pay the players. Instead of salary cap, there could be an ability/ratings cap similar to the way we make teams now. I.E. No more than 2 gold, 3 silver, etc. 5. As players progress and move into the different tiers, you'll need to decide which ones to keep and/or release. When trading you'd need to keep in mind how many players you have at each tier (gold, silver, bronze, and then maybe a separate rating system for the non-legends). I think it's very doable without changing the entire format of the game. And yes, I've had the week off and I've been thinking about this...way too much time on my hands.

I like your ideas.

[lav]

Quote: Originally Posted by P.D.

franchise mode with just generics?? hmmm NO THANKS I honestly dont understand people's desire to want a franchise mode. TT didnt do a good job with franchise mode in 2k5 . so leaving it out for this game is a blessing..

You make a great point. The 2k5 franchise was pretty raw.

[Trevytrev11]

Quote: Originally Posted by P.D.

franchise mode with just generics?? hmmm NO THANKS I honestly dont understand people's desire to want a franchise mode. TT didnt do a good job with franchise mode in 2k5 . so leaving it out for this game is a blessing..

But that is your opinion. There are a ton of people out there that want some sort of a franchise mode. Even if Online is the future of gaming, the majority (or close to it) still primarily play offline. With that being said, these gamers need something to come back to or something with some lasting appeal. Now I'm not downplaying the lasting appeal of this game because as many have discovered you can have fun creating non-stop teams and playing this game in so many different ways. However, as someone who enjoys franchise mode, I can say that it's nice to play something and work toward a goal or an ending. It's like playing Metal Gear and spending hours on it and eventually beating the game and being treated to an actual ending. Not just playing level after level with no direction. So you take your franchise, and depending on where the stand, compete for a championship or try to build the team over the course of a few seasons so that they can complete for a championship.

Sure 2K5's franchise was flawed....but that doesn't mean that they can't either fix it or scrap it and start a new one from scratch.

I understand that you and some others don't play franchise and could care less, but that isn't the opinion of a lot of people on these boards.

I don't play a ton of games on Xbox live and probably would have bought this game regardless, but because of that I wouldn't be opposed to people arguing over online play as I know that there are a lot of people who demand this in todays games. I just don't get the "my way or the highway" view of things. "If I don't like it, then it's stupid".

[Trevytrev11]

They could go two seperate ways with this:

A) Some sort of fantasy league franchise that includes the Legends from the past. Using the OP's ideas of how to include them into the league.

B) Some sort of generic franchise that exlcudes legends. This way, players can get a more realistic franchise experience without players from 20,30 and 40 years ago in their league.

[JRod]

You could regenerate legends when they retire. Although when you see E. Campbell in the draft that's a little too obvious.

The game needs a multi-season mode not some sort of gimmick like you would see in NFL Street.


Here's my idea and the could copy WE for the most part. You have a league that you set-up. You could have 16 teams or 32 teams. Then after each season trades and contracts are signed. So if you have John Elway for 3 seasons but he doesn't want to sign another extension he becomes an FA. You earn money by winning minus the money you pay for player's salaries.

I don't really know how they do a draft after each season unless you had player aging and retirement.

Lastly they need to have an ESPN-like magazine feature. Football isn't only want happens on Sunday it's the lead-up to the game. Will KEY PLAYER X be available to play on Sunday following last week's injury. If you have a weak spot, you could have position battles during the week. Maybe some sort of interaction with the press.

There's so much that they can do, I just hope they expand upon it,