Rex on Franchise Mode (10/26)

[NimitsTexan]

Quote: Originally Posted by JayhawkerStL

Everyone lamenting the loss of franchise is pretty much right. It's gone. But that doesn't make the other modes not fun. And it doesn't make EA evil for going with the flow.

Of course EA is not evil. But, for a player like me, the other modes are absolutely no fun. I have never and will never be an online/Mut/whatever palyer. I want a single player, "disconnected" franchise that can be my fantasy football world where maybe Aaron Rogers is not the bane of the Cowboys' Superbowl hopes. I want realistic contracts, variable, non-xp based players progression, etc. Players like me have no interest in online or "connected" content, avoid "paid content" games generally, and are likely to stop playing if CFM becomes based on micro-transactions and "leveling up."

[DJ]

Do we expect too much from video games today? I do believe a lot of the problems many of us have had with, specifically, sports games, is tied to there's no competition in the industry anymore. We have one football game, one hockey game, one baseball game, two basketball games (but let's be real, NBA 2K is the only game in town) and two soccer games. Publishers now have to try and appeal to everyone, and doing that is going to leave certain gamers frustrated and/or disappointed with aspects of the game.

The PS2/Xbox/GC-era was the golden age of sports video games. We had so many options for each sport, ranging from arcade to sim to those that were somewhere between the two. I don't see something like that coming back, so we're going to have to try our best to enjoy today's games for what they are, or move onto something else to play.

[itsmb8]

At this point im just waiting for a football sim to be released on Mac... To me, Madden continues to be stubborn and tries to do its own thing with quirky features that really dont do much to make the mode more realistic. At that to all the features they missed on and all the bugs and issues and everything, its a NO from me. Yet, I still play because its literally the only option I have for a "simulation" football game.

[truedat79]

Basically, what he is saying is that video game companies would rather focus on making compulsive addicts instead of good all around games. Because just like the drug dealer who essentially does the same thing, it brings in the bank. Its sad.

[DaGreatOne21]

Im going to get to the franchise mode part in a moment, but I feel like something else needs to be addressed, and it directly has to do with how franchise mode is lacking. Ive said it before and Ill say it again, EA doesnt care about making great games. This isnt limited to football....this is a problem with all of their games. They care more about making a game that can continue to milk money out of people even after its sold rather than making a game that is truly great.

The question I ask about Madden all the time is "Would Madden sell nearly as well or be anywhere near as popular if they didnt have the NFL license to lean on?" And the answer is a resounding NO. Im not even talking about the EXCLUSIVE license....just the NFL brand in general. Like, if you took that away, would so many people rush out to buy it? No, they wouldnt. EA obviously exploits that. There is no way anyone can even debate that. Theyve done with other brands too like Star Wars, Harry Potter, and even their own original games like The Sims. They built up the Sims brand and then they released Sims 4 with the game heavily gutted so that they could milk more money via expansion packs. Thats similar to what they have done to Madden....except now, they just milk money from people using MUT.

In regards to the topic, Ive accepted that franchise mode is never going to be as deep as myself and others would like it to be, but at the very least, EA should make every that is in franchise actually work right. Even if you want to argue franchise isnt their bread and butter and that they are moving away from franchise mode.....there is absolutely no excuse for a major game mode to be in such bad shape year after year after year. Stats are always messed up. CPU run teams are run terribly and none of the teams have their own unique feel in regards to how they are run, and thats because coaches and scouts have no impacted on the game and most of the ratings mean nothing, Alot of things within franchise are nothing more than disingenuous window dressing to make the game seem deeper than it actually is....from the meaningless ratings, to hiring coaches to pretty much every aspect of franchise mode....it just feels cobbled together and thrown in the game without any real care whatsoever.

Ive heard people argue the point that "most people who play franchise mode dont even make it through one season". On top of wondering how they collected that data, has it ever been considered that a big reason why many dont make it through is because the mode simply isnt good? I mean, Ive quit many franchises early on simply because I kept getting annoyed with the CPU AI....be it in gameplay or how they run a team within franchise.

I could go on and on. Im not trying to bash EA. Im just sick of hearing excuses for why a major mode in their game is in such bad shape year after year. Like I said many times....if they would just make everything that is currently in the game work well, add custom draft classes and make coaches/scouts REALLY REALLY matter, then I could probably enjoy franchise mode. But when the CPU AI running teams lack basic common sense.....its absolutely embarrassing and inexcusable.

[secondsolution]

I used to think that the Madden franchise would always be the game series I would play. Sadly, the past few years they have lost me. The gameplay feels uninspired and franchise is lifeless. Adding in what sounds like the addition of micro-transactions will make me further distance myself from the Madden series altogether.

If they want to monetise franchise mode, I would far rather pay an additional $15-$20 for an in depth franchise mode that will continue on to future iterations. They could include a bare bones, casual franchise mode full of micro-transactions with the base game. I know this won't happen, but I can dream.

I hope there is a decent attempt at an unlicensed game in the future. Its clearly difficult and from what I can gather, we are just a vocal minority which means it wouldn't translate well for sales.

[PhillyPhanatic14]

This sounds stupid. When I play online I don't care about other people online and their leaderboard crap. I'll play H2H or MUT if I care about that. Franchise is about simulating the real NFL.

Make the mode more realistic. That will keep people engaged. It's seriously not as complicated as he is trying to make it. That dude who posted that sick blog on OS has it right. That's what CFM needs to be. Not leaderboard junk.

[Cato06]

Well this is terrifying if this is going to be the focus of CFM for the future. I guess I'll play ball though Rex and try to come up with some positive ideas to help out. But first and foremost I think your mistaken why we play franchise mode and why we continue to beg for updates and for EA to improve it. We don't play franchise mode to win super bowl after super bowl. In fact a ton of us are completely happy with never winning the super bowl in single player CFM because it's the pursuit, the grind, and the game bringing us into the journey of being a NFL Owner or coach or player that keeps us playing. If you can't accomplish bringing us into that world that I will call "NFL atmosphere" than we will continue to be bored with this game. It's the same feeling when you read a really good book. Obviously The overall goal is to finish the book but the fun part is the journey it takes you through. How DEEP was the book? How DETAILED was it? How INTENSE was the story? did it keep you on the edge of your seat? Right now the journey of CFM is about as interesting as reading a dictionary.

This brings me to my point. In order to keep me engaged in CFM you need to create that NFL atmosphere. It's needs to be deep, it needs to be detailed, it needs to be intense. Some of these ideas may seem Old school by now but it's also why we continue to ask for them year after year.

1) Presentation is the only way to create the world we live in when playing madden. I'm not talking about camera angles, or fans holding signs, or the weather effects, or pylon cams. I'm talking about pregame shows, legit halftime shows, post game shows, NFL draft presentation, and a Weekly sports center show. If you want people to be more engaged in CFM than you gotta start bringing the NFL world to them. I play CFM and other franchise modes to feel like I'm In my own little world of playing coach/GM. The reward for this comes through the presentation and making me feel like I'm actually living in that world. making us dig through multiple menus to find stats, draft prospects, standings, awards, injury reports is not making me feel immersed into the league. No one will ever feel immersed if we have to always look up every bit of info in our league. Bring the info to us through sports center type shows.

2) The playoff and super bowl atmosphere needs to be different from regular season. Dramatic intros to the game like NBA 2k does for its playoffs. Fans should be louder, have a screen shaking effect or something on every play. Show cut scenes of hyped up fans on big plays. Make me want to come back to the playoffs again. Make me feel like it's worth it to sign that big free agent the next season to get back to the playoffs. Gaining more XP is not going to make me want to keep playing the game. Getting myself back to the excitement of that big game is going to make me feel like it's worth playing over and over again.

3) How bout having some creative ideas like having the opening celebration on Thursday night when your super bowl banner gets lowered In your stadium after winning the super bowl. Little things like that make you feel rewarded. Not seeing the same on field celebration after the game over and over again. How bout let me walk around the raft or trolley car during the parade with the trophy. Have it be part of a special "sport center parade edition" during the offseason that's televised with sportscasters.

If you really have to go the "be rewarded with XP" route than maybe give us some sort of crib mode. Let us buy things to upgrade our coach/GM. Or maybe buy a team plane to help the team be rested or something. We could save xp to buy a trophy case or badges for our coach to convince players to sign, not retire, settle for less money, etc. just go the NBA 2k route I guess.

4) I always thought coaches and coordinators, stadium facilities should be the deciding factor that determine players progression. Upgrade your facilities to increase strength stamina or injury rating. Balance the xp spent on your coaching staff or facilities. Coaches should have ratings like players on how well they develop players. Then there should be a practice breakdown every week on how much time you spend on certain tasks. How much time in the film room to raise awareness for the game. How much time running hills to increase stamina for the game. And each coach has its ratings that help improve those ratings depending on how good they are. Kind of like MLB the show coach ratings.

Bottom line is winning the super bowl in CFM is getting boring because it's the same damn presentation year after year. You guys don't change anything. You add pylon cams and act like it's this new big feature to presentation. Making CFM guys feel rewarded is not going to be through gaining reward points so we can buy our coach a new pair of shoes, we will feel rewarded by bringing us into a deep, immersive, detailed career mode that continues to surprise us and not be so predictive.

im also gonna refer you to my presentation post that focus more on how the playoffs and regular season games should differ from each other.

https://forums.operationsports.com/f...sentation.html