Rex on Franchise Mode (10/26)

[UpNorthCatsFan]

Let’s start a discussion then though XP isn’t the best idea how would you improve player progression then?


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[RogerDodger]

I've posted this before but it's worth repeating. I'd like them to add something like the old 2k VIP. Allow us to play against other players like you race against other drivers in Forza Motorsport. That would certainly help make AI better if it's informed by the tendencies of those whose VIP you download. Coaches could have a VIP so that when you play the Patriots, you get Bellichick's VIP. Or your buddy's VIP if you are playing against him but he can't get online that week.

This would make a massive difference to the longevity of franchise mode for BOTH offline and online users.

[CM Hooe]

Quote: Originally Posted by jfsolo

Clint said on Twitter that Franchise mode retention is up even over 17, which of course they said did very well. So it would seem that the OS, YouTube, and Twitter echo chamber is not indicative of the actually health of the Mode.

Mhm. Turns out that accessibility to and usability of a mode is very important to its popularity.

Quote:

Given EA's company wide emphasis on "live services" content, Clint, Rex, and John will obviously have to fight really hard to add any of the more hardcore football features every year, and they are probably going to lose most of the those battles, but they will win a few too because they will fight for them. A lot of other teams would just tow the party line.

It's not "devs vs suits". That's lazy woe-is-us mentality.

In addition to being hardcore football heads, Clint, Rex, and John are also video game designers who know full well themselves that they have to balance the hardcore gamer feature set with means by which new players can engage with said features in a way that's easy to understand, learn, and master. Even with the recent investments in usability and accessibility with Play The Moments / Big Decisions / Things To Do / etc., there are still far more people who don't understand how to play franchise in Madden effectively than those that do.

For example, one thing about Madden which came to light to me over this weekend for me is that many people just don't understand how to manage the salary cap in franchise. With the exception of my brother and myself, every user in my online franchise made it a point to re-sign every single pending free agent on his team, regardless of age, position, or OVR. Obviously none of us here on OS would do that and we all understand how to manage the salary cap, the importance of the rookie draft to building teams and managing the cap, and so on. My friends though simply don't know what they are doing and don't know any better.

Left unchecked, my brother and I, who do understand how to manage the salary cap because we follow the NFL incredibly closely, run circles around our friends with respect to team management because we understand what we're doing. Our friends don't, and - this is the important part - the game makes no effort to help those people along in that respect. We have to enforce artificial house rules on each other to give our friends a chance and level the playing field. In this way, Franchise is still very weak. Players shouldn't have to read a giant manual or rely on arcane knowledge passed down from friends to learn how to play; it's 2017 and none of us have that much free time anymore, games need to respect their players' limited time budgets. To that end, there is going to inevitably be more investment in the area of teaching people how to play Franchise while playing Franchise going forward, despite many advances on the accessibility front over the years which have indeed helped as Clint himself has messaged.

Quote:

People here are finally coming to terms with the reality that the depth and development of CFM is not going to be what many here prefer, and they will of course make their purchasing decisions accordingly.

They'll get there but it's not going to be as direct of a path as people here want it to be. And they'll indeed purchase or not purchase the game accordingly.

[Ueauvan]

if they dont want to provide what would be deemed a normal franchise mode then let someone else develop it with a license
the nfl is about a franchise over time gaining fans, notoriety, fame etc. this vision is complete rubbish except for their wallets
the nfl needs to realise that ea just arent producing what was assumed would be when the sole license was granted
i want to develop my roster, coach some games, develop my playbook, players and coaches. invest in my stadium, facilities and community, and for my franchise to realise some profit. all this within the cba, rules etc. thats a franchise mode, and i want to play this offline when stick skillz arent not the most important factor. i watch red zone and play 1-3 games during that time and doing other franchisy things.

[oneamongthefence]

Why not have an option to have paid cfm leagues? I'm sure there are a ton of ultra competitive leagues that would pay for things like extra scouting points or more xp. The owner just sets a toggle whether it allows microtransactions or not. That could make it a more profitable mode which in turn could allpw more resources to be put back into it. Everybody would win.

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[triplechin]

Quote: Originally Posted by UpNorthCatsFan

Let’s start a discussion then though XP isn’t the best idea how would you improve player progression then? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Check out my signature and give me your feedback if you would

[CM Hooe]

Quote: Originally Posted by oneamongthefence

Why not have an option to have paid cfm leagues? I'm sure there are a ton of ultra competitive leagues that would pay for things like extra scouting points or more xp. The owner just sets a toggle whether it allows microtransactions or not. That could make it a more profitable mode which in turn could allpw more resources to be put back into it. Everybody would win.

Pay-to-win is terrible game design, especially on console, double-especially in online competitive games. Buying more scouting points / more XP is very literally pay-to-win. Tiburon would be wise to avoid it.

Avoiding pay-to-win is one big reason why a salary cap feature was added to Ultimate Team. The salary cap minimizes the ability of pack rippers to win games simply by virtue of having more disposable income.

In addition, game features which reward the user for not playing the game is also not good game design. The user should always have to play games / perform some task successfully to earn rewards (XP in this case) as to encourage the user to keep playing the game. Buying XP short-circuits this loop.

[triplechin]

To move my suggestion from the other thread to this more appropriate one, I believe the best way would be to implement a similar "level" concept from FIFA where you can earn things such as:

Celebrations that can be triggered after a TD like FIFA after a goal.

Different colored balls, cleats, and jerseys (confused if the NFL won't allow it or if Rex doesn't think it is a good idea).

Unlock historic teams, all star teams, fictional teams, etc.

You could even unlock certain scenarios if they brought back Madden Moments.

Just some ideas off the top of my head for now