Now I know it's kinda early to start talking about 2010..I mean Madden 09 isn't even officially out yet....But after reading that Donny Moore has joined the Madden team and is officially responsible of "Franchise Mode", it got me thinking of possible changes that I would like to see done to our beloved mode.
I'm going to dub this the "Unofficial Franchise Mode Wish list"...I'll start off my listing some ideas that I've been writing down lately (some may already exists in other games...some may not), then it's pretty much open for discussion and you guys are free to pitch in any ideas. Now that we've got that out the way, let's begin!
As a franchise mode gamer I like what most other sports gamers like, realism. Let's be honest here, Madden's franchise mode hasn't really lived up to that fact. Well I propose the following:
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True Broadcast style presentation. Let's get some energy and emotion from our booth guys. I want to hear the broadcasters actually get loud and excited when something amazing happens. We want more superlatives when describing some of the best athletes in the league. We want the crowd to cheer and chant...I want to feel the difference when I'm the visiting team at Qwest Field. Which brings me to my next point...
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Home Field Advantage. We want to feel the emotion of the fans and the crowd when on the road. I don't know about you guys, but I don't want every road game to feel the same. I'm not asking them to implement the same system used in NCAA, but something that portrays how LOUD the home crowd is. Shaking controller maybe? Perhaps the announcers could be overshadowed my the noise in some way?....Anything that can you feel a slight discomfort when playing in a hostile environment...speaking of hostile.....
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Rivalries. Ever been at an Eagles vs Cowboys game? How about Raiders vs KC Chiefs? Believe me these teams define the term "hostile". We want to feel the emotion in the players. Bigger hits, bigger plays, bigger efforts, taunting....Not overdone of course...I want the crowd to get louder than ever. I want rivalry games to mean something. I'm not sure how they're implementing it this year...but I'm sure it's nothing that involves player and crowd emotions.
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Monday Night Football. Need I say more? I know this may be a stretch, but how about Mike Tirico and company just for the MNF broadcasts? That would sure add some realism to it. Once again, all about flash, pizzazz (sp?)....Emotion, emotion.....All of the previous ideas could be implemented here to make these games feel spectacular....
- And of course the normal requests.....Pre and post game shows....I mean a REAL pre and post game show....not just some video highlight on demand. 2K5 anyone?
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A true front office. I want coach to GM interaction all season long, but mostly during the offseason. I want players demanding contract extensions. Holdouts. Maybe some "Team morale" system could be implemented where if one superstar player is unhappy it affects other guys on the team (Team chemistry?). Player interaction with the coach. Maybe some kind of email system where the players can contact the coach during the season and offseason to express their concerns and demands. Every coach or managerial decision should affect the team in some way. Player fines....It doesn't have to be for getting arrested or nothing...something along the lines of " Randy Moss has been suspended for 2 games for violating the League's personal conduct policy". Players miss games, whether it's injuries or suspensions.
Nothing should be predictable in a franchise. On the other hand though, we don't want the whole team getting suspended either. Nor do we want this to happen too often. But every once in a while a player suspension here and there could force the user to think about depth at a specific position when dratfing....
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The draft. Hiring a great scouting team should be the difference between success and failure. Not that I'm saying that great scouts aren't wrong sometimes but it should matter. I want a true scouting system. We should be able to bring players in for work outs....And I don't mean no stupid 40 yard dash drills....Think the old gen Madden drills. Want to see how great that receivers hands are? Throw him some balls, see how he does. How about that QB that everyone's high on? Have him throw some balls around, see how accurate he really is...
Either way, we should be able to make some kind of connection with the players in question. I hate drafting guys I know nothing about. I propose something similar to NCAA's system. A designated amount of hours should be given each week during the season and offseason to scout players. During the offseason, the same amount of hours could be used to work out certain guys and your scouting team or GM can interact with the HC on how they feel about these players. Positives and negatives after each work out.
Draft day surprises....Draft day in the NFL is full of drama. I want to experience that drama. I want CPU to CPU deals involving players and draft picks. Not just current draft picks, but future ones as well. If there's a player on the board that the Jets want I want them to try and move up to get that player by making some offers to either me or other teams. I want all these transactions to be displayed on some "sub screen" where I'm always aware of what's going on. Bring the crowd reaction back...I want to hear the boos and cheers of the fans... How about we see a virtual crowd (generic maybe) in the draft room. Let's bring the draft room to life! We want post draft transactions as well. Offseason is all about transactions, drama, more transactions and surprises.
Draft busts and gems......Not like it was done last year. I want players that every scout expected to do good to "flop". I want to be able to draft a running back in the 6th round and have him become a superstar. Not everyone drafted in the 6th round should be rated a 56 OVR. How about some surprises here and there? Tom Brady anyone? Or is Ryan Leaf your type? I want to draft players that have great overall ratings but that are injury prone. Injuries are prevalent in the NFL, I don't want it to become an annoyance where everyone keeps getting injured. But I want to draft a great receiver that can't stay healthy every now and then....Something like that would make me pay more attention to the "Injury" rating.
Well that's all I can muster right now...I know this is a lot right now(Heck I can't believe I typed all this myself).. I know that some are great ideas and some aren't. I also know that some can be done and some probably not. Look at it as a "Franchise gamer's dream game" if you will.
Your thoughts?
08-05-2008, 08:07 PM
