Impossible Franchise?

[Valdarez]

I'm into my 4th year. There are items that ruin the fun with the gameplay issues aside, primarily the commentary which completely ruins the immersion and makes games feel extremely repetitive, and then the in game overlay Ads popups which are random, but when they rear their ugly head completely ruin the gaming experience and infuriate me in the process. I rarely listen to the commentary any more, choosing to stream music to my 360 and listen to it instead. Kind of sad.

I just started my 4th year in Franchise, and I have found the new team management and CAP requirements to be an extremely realistic and challenging aspect of the game. It's one of the best improvements in the game, though it was very discouraging to learn that there's really no need to scout players as the pentagon that provides an overview of a player is pretty good at helping pick top players.

The game is geared towards being like managing a real team, so it's nigh impossible to keep the same players. I find that I start trading my older players (unless I really desire to keep them) in order to stay under the cap, typically going with rookies which are cheap. For this reason I find that Draft picks are just as, if not more, important than trading for players. Lots of strategy in this area. Kudos to the Madden team in this area.

If you are having trouble staying under the cap, do this:

1. Sort players by their CAP hit for the current year.
2. Sign the ones that hit it the most to longer contracts or trade those players away.

That will give you more cap room.

As for making it more fun, trying using some sliders. I use the NFL Simulation Sliders, and typically use the All Madden Challenge with some of the Power Player Rules from How to Make Madden More Challenging. It makes the game more realistic and more challenging, which in turn makes it more fun for me.

[sammcculloch]

choose a young team and use draft classes

[P. Hays]

Quote: Originally Posted by Azcardinal32

The problem is they have nothing in franchise to make it seem like real life. As repetitive as the tony bruno radio show got, it did help the game seem "real" they need something like that again or to use media updates like they did in Head Coach 09.

Oh man I forgot all about the Tony Bruno show. For the time it was cutting edge. of course he would stay some of the dumbest stuff.

I keep my franchise fresh by getting a young quarterback that I really enjoy playing with. I used to switch like every year or so but I found that if you stick with one quarterback that you really like you wont get bored as quickly.

[o Mass Murda o]

im in yr 4 of my seahawks franch and loving it. ive beat the patriots in the SB twice in yr 1 & 3. ill prolly make it to at least season 6. ive completely rebuilt my oline thru the draft and let sum expensive vets go, have a beast of a rb thru the draft in his 2nd year and beasting(MVP, offensive rookie of yr), just got my qb situation somewhat cool thru the draft this past offseason for me to drop expensive and old hasselbeck after this yr (already extended him 2 yrs ago) and ive made various other changes.

ive done trades and draft pick changes to fill needed holes without spending a ton in free agency, etc. wrestling the cap every year is actually fun and a challenge. this 5th yr coming up is looking good cuz ill be dropping hasselbeck and sumbody else (cant remember) and its gonna save me $19 mill in salary next yr to actually use my 1st rd pick this yr. ive been trading my 1st pick away for the last 2 yrs to save money and usually pick up an xtra 2nd or 3rd rd pick.

ill go another yr or two with it tho for sure to see how my team does with a new qb at the helm. i also have another franch in yr 1 offseason and i have the bengals and dolphins under my control and will be drafting soon.

if u want it to stay fresh, try running with 2 diff teams in the same franch. i really like that. im also in process of tweaking my sliders now since ive gotten way too good for stock all pro. im now in between all pro and all madden. trying to give myself realistic challenge without dealing with all maddens complete BS. its working as ive had some close games.more work to do tho....

[maddenfalcon]

Quote: Originally Posted by o Mass Murda o

im in yr 4 of my seahawks franch and loving it. ive beat the patriots in the SB twice in yr 1 & 3. ill prolly make it to at least season 6. ive completely rebuilt my oline thru the draft and let sum expensive vets go, have a beast of a rb thru the draft in his 2nd year and beasting(MVP, offensive rookie of yr), just got my qb situation somewhat cool thru the draft this past offseason for me to drop expensive and old hasselbeck after this yr (already extended him 2 yrs ago) and ive made various other changes. ive done trades and draft pick changes to fill needed holes without spending a ton in free agency, etc. wrestling the cap every year is actually fun and a challenge. this 5th yr coming up is looking good cuz ill be dropping hasselbeck and sumbody else (cant remember) and its gonna save me $19 mill in salary next yr to actually use my 1st rd pick this yr. ive been trading my 1st pick away for the last 2 yrs to save money and usually pick up an xtra 2nd or 3rd rd pick. ill go another yr or two with it tho for sure to see how my team does with a new qb at the helm. i also have another franch in yr 1 offseason and i have the bengals and dolphins under my control and will be drafting soon. if u want it to stay fresh, try running with 2 diff teams in the same franch. i really like that. im also in process of tweaking my sliders now since ive gotten way too good for stock all pro. im now in between all pro and all madden. trying to give myself realistic challenge without dealing with all maddens complete BS. its working as ive had some close games.more work to do tho....

why play if you won in your first year?

[RayAllen20]

maddenfalcon, haven't i taught you anything. Use the search engine to look for threads called, 'Coaching Legacy' and 'The Way to Play Franchise Mode'. I created both these threads and it allows for franchise mode to be more exciting for you. Check them out, I guarantee you'll like them.

[stlstudios189]

I try and keep it fresh by playing as an AFC team (the Browns always) and a NFC team this time I am the 49'ers I don't get through as many seasons but, it works for me.

[cujo70]

Quote: Originally Posted by bigdfan76

I'm having a great time with my Cowboys franchise. Jusy started my 7th season. Here are some of the things that keep me interested and having fun. 1. Speed it up a little- I usually sim 8 games and play 8 games. I really enjoy offseason stuff. This also helps in the next reason. 2. Turnover- Meaning how much my team changes. I let Romo go when his contract was up. Ratliff is gone, Newman. Its keeps it fresh 3. Getting better and customizing my sliders- I enjoy realistic run blocking and actually being able to get a sack but I still want a challenge. It's an ongoing process, keeps me alert and keeps me improving. 4. I change up my playbook every so often- Like I'm looking for the perfect combo between my coaching staff/playbook/personel and MY play style. So far I've used the Cowboys and Titans playbooks on offense. I'm about to switch to the Saints. My HC and OC have varied, Monte Kiffin HC, Wade Phillips HC, Kurt Warner OC, Norv Turner OC and currently my fav, Jeff Fisher HC. My D playbook has been Dallas and now the Ravens. I've been using Zach Thomas ofr my D coordinator for quite awhile to improve my MLBs since i run a 3-4. 5. Use different draft classes- I used NCAA draft classes for the first 5 seasons, which are improved and fun to use. I then switched to the Madden random classes which I am looking forward to very much. Hope some of these reccomendations help. I understand why you get uninterested after awhile, it happens to the best of us. These things keep me WANTING to get to my next offseason. I mean I've got guys I drafted turning 30 soon!

I agree keep it fresh ,customize sliders to get a good game, i got thru 14 yrs last year going for all 30 this year