A Little Love For Franchise Mode Please

[havokeff]

Now maybe I am alone in this, but I love the hell out of Franchise mode. Perhaps there are others out there like me that loathe playing online and just like to sit around a veg for 27 years of team building or maybe not. Either way, this year FM has taken a giant step backwards. Or at the very least lots of little steps.

I don't normally like just making lists, so I will try to avoid it, but it may be a good place to start with this issue. I will hit a subject and then list the issues that either have never been addressed or have, for some unknown reason, been removed when they were already working or fine.

Lets start with at the beginning.

For the last few years, in order to get an accurate representation of the NFL, you have had to control all 30 teams. The reason? No ability to edit coaches.

For the last 5 years the 49ers have ran a 3-4. For the last 2 years, with Mike Singletary as a coach, they have run a 3-4. Green Bay and Mike McCarthy run a 3-4. Miami runs a 3-4. Denver. etc.

Now last year, if you picked one of these coaches, you had to go change their scheme to a 3-4 to get the correct production out of your players. That is fine, but what if you don't pick that team? Turns out the Ravens are back in a 3-4. Yet the default in the game is a 4-3. Which is why Haloti Ngata gets 22 sacks from a DE position, when he should be getting 4 or 5 as a DT/End. (NOT a NT, a discussion for another time)

OK, so on to my point. Last year, you take control of all 30 teams and just deal with a very slow offseason. No big deal. This year however, two things have changed that have made this infuriatingly frustrating to do.
-The ability to set CPU/User for each team you are controlling is GONE.
-The ability to set Offensive/Defensive schemes for each coach is GONE.

Now, when you pick 3-4, it is universally set for all teams. When you move the slider to a run heavy offense, it is universally set that way for all teams. What?

So now, you have the Patriots running as often as the Dolphins or Niners. The Saints now pass as often as the Ravens. C'mon now.

Now when you control each team... they are all universally CPU or USER, you can not select individually which teams the CPU has control of in the off season for specific tasks. I.e., I used to be able to set the Raiders to Human control for everything, set the Vikings for Human control on just free agent signing and set the Titans to all CPU control. This year? They are all either CPU for a specific task or all Human, meaning you have to either control every team you picked or give up complete control.
This is a huge step backwards by just omitting a feature that was already there for what seems to be, no apparent reason.

Next up is the coaching. Why was one of the best features of franchise mode taken out years ago and never returned? I am talking about the ability to CHANGE TEAMS. Sticking with one team for the duration of FM is nice, but since the salary cap gets ridiculously easy to manage, it is also boring as all hell. Yet years ago you acted more like a GM/Head Coach and could sign with a new team and build them up as your old team crumbled from the heights of glory. Now THAT was rewarding and made FM far more entertaining and fun than it is today.

Back to the current version. What happened to the coaches pictures in the off season staffing mode?
I know what Rex Ryan looks like and if I have him take over as head coach of the Browns, I want to see his face, not a black silhouette. Seriously, this is an easy one. It was there last year... why is it not there this year. Another step back.
(And on this note, if you are going to have Terrel Owens start coaching... use his profile picture that is already there saved on the game's disc.)

Salary Cap. Look, by year 5 the cap is a joke. You can have every draft pick signed for 7 years, (Something that never happens) and every good player you want on your team and be 20 Million under the cap. It is ridiculous. Simple rule: More salary cap space, more salary wanted by the players. It seems to me that this is literally a math problem.

Another issue that isn't really a major concern, but for the last couple of years has bugged the CRAP out of me is the off season stadium options, or lack there of.
Vandelay Bank and TeeMaker Auto whatchit can't sponsor ever damn stadium. I mean, christ, product placement is everywhere in this game, EXCEPT for the place where it is the most visible in real life.

Stadium/Team relocation. This is great because, eventually the Jaguars will move to LA or the Chargers will move to Anaheim or what ever... but you can't just MOVE the team. You HAVE to make a new team. What? Ever heard of the Raiders? The Colts? The Rams? Teams move without changing anything other than their city. It happens quite often actually.

Which brings us to the third part. My gawd, with all the downloadable doohickeys, you would think that someone in the last five years would make a logo pack so I can stop making the Vipers or Centurions every time I decide to relocate a team.

And now the fourth issue in this symphony of ineptness. Could I please just build a new stadium without having to relocate? I swear I remember this being a feature at one point. How many new stadiums have we seen built in the last couple of years... The Cardinals, Cowboys, Giants/Jets. The Bears got a remodel. The Niners have a stadium in the works and I am sure I am forgetting some. THESE TEAMS DID NOT HAVE TO RELOCATE TO GET A NEW STADIUM.

PLAYOFF STATS. Pretty simple. 30 years of playoffs adds up to a lot of freaking games. (330 if I'm not being a ******)

A list of Super Bowl winners... I KNOW that used to be there.

Rivalries that change. If I am stomping the Raiders as the Chargers for 15 years straight, that is not a rivalry. Yet if that same Chargers team has gone 2-2 in the playoffs against the Ravens 4 years in a row, THAT is a rivalry. Being in a division with another team does not make a rivalry. Think the NFC West of the 80's. No rivalries there. Now thing 49ers/Cowboys in the 90's. THAT is a rivalry.

Stats.

More coaches.

NO VALET TRANSPORTERS IN 2011 PLEASE.

Finance options that actually have an impact (like they USED to if I recall correctly)

I really want to go one here, but I feel like I am just rambling at this point.
I also understand that not every single feature can be addressed every year, but these are issues which I feel have been overlooked or just flat out ignored, for years now.

I also saw the Cummings interview in which he just recently said that FM is going to be addressed. I hope this is the case.

Just a little love for the franchise mode please.

[rickmitchell22]

I can't love any type of mode that produces the type of sim stats a madden season does. I'm getting 100-150 more sacks per season than the league average, among other things.

[gamertom]

FM is suppose to be addressed this year, BUT I highly and strongly doubt they will address any of the things you brought up.

[debauchlord]

Quote: Originally Posted by havokeff

words

Your post is great because nothing there is too overwhelming for people to implement and I agree with everything, especially those putrid logo packs.

[R9NALD9]

Great post man! I couldn't agree more!

I'll bet that with the franchise mode revamp for next year it will all be major stuff like improved extra point shows etc while these smaller yet more important points will be overlooked...why? because they don't sell games

it sucks

[GlennN]

I'll settle for them to let me do my job as GM. Stop telling me I don't have a minimum number of safties or tackles or whatever; there is no such thing as a minimum amount. Stop telling me I cannot exceed 10 draft picks a year. Stop making players disappear if I go over the roster limit. Ugh, sometimes this game frustrates me. Not to bring up any other game around . . . (cough) NFL2k5 . . . but these things have been addressed quite well years ago.

[spfhelmiii]

Um, I'm pretty sure you CAN control 32 teams with just 1 or more set to USER. You just have to go in and set it after starting the franchise. Hold RB to select the team, go into the Settings, and change everything to User. Once you back out and change it to another team, they stay at CPU.

[ajb3313]

Quote: Originally Posted by GlennN

I'll settle for them to let me do my job as GM. Stop telling me I don't have a minimum number of safties or tackles or whatever; there is no such thing as a minimum amount. Stop telling me I cannot exceed 10 draft picks a year. Stop making players disappear if I go over the roster limit. Ugh, sometimes this game frustrates me. Not to bring up any other game around . . . (cough) NFL2k5 . . . but these things have been addressed quite well years ago.

I made a post in another unrelated thread that I think meshes really well with what you've said here:

Quote: Originally Posted by ajb3313

Off topic (kind of), but this just contributes to my larger theory that whenever -- if ever -- the next overhaul of the franchise mode comes, the key component should be freedom of customization. I think offline franchise mode should allow you to shuffle division alignments, customize weather on a game-to-game basis, customize yearly schedules, establish a certain amount of expansion teams (this would require a larger free agent pool and bigger draft classes, among other things), and the ability to play certain players out of position -- corner at receiver, for instance. I've never understood why all of this can't be optional. It just adds an element -- you can have a franchise going that follows the NFL's current structure, or you could theorize a scenario where, say, a new commissioner is appointed and a league-wide reconstruction of the divisions is proposed and passed. Why not? Its a video game. I'd go as far as to say offering broader customization of this stuff would do more to attract casual gamers than making every game a score-fest.

If I would've fleshed that thought out more it would have included exactly what you mentioned. The Bengals didn't carry a fullback on their roster two years ago and might not again this year. So why should I have to use a roster spot on one if I don't like?

The whole roster management function needs a retooling. It starts with eliminating the unrealistic minimum/maximum requirements. Beyond that, a practice squad should be added (or at least a toggle option). Trades should be allowed to include more than 3 players/picks. Yes, teams should be able to carry more than 10 draft picks. There are a ton of roster management restrictions or limitations that should either be eliminated completely or turned into simple customizable options.