So, in a nutshell, what's wrong with Franchise Mode?

[RajonRondo]

Progression is terrible...
The Draft classes are to godly...I mean, having a avg of 5 guys per draft with a rating of 87-90 is just stupid.
The imported draft classes are to weak...
No improvements...pretty much been the same the last few years.

cant wait for NFL 2k12

[canes21]

Quote: Originally Posted by RajonRondo

Progression is terrible... The Draft classes are to godly...I mean, having a avg of 5 guys per draft with a rating of 87-90 is just stupid. The imported draft classes are to weak... No improvements...pretty much been the same the last few years. cant wait for NFL 2k12

2k can't make an NFL game next year....

[JohnnyNutman]

it lacks the overall depth that it should have.

brief examples:
- progression (it would be nice to track a players progression throughout his career as well)
- sim stats (they have improved this on offense, but it needs constant refining)
- player personalities affecting team play (ala T.O.)
- better roster control (not been forced to have 10 OL; been able to create custom packages for ur team)
- realistic roster requirements (larger off season max player limit; 53 player active list w/ 45 man game day roster).
- realistic free agency period
- in depth draft scouting (i do admit that even the current system has still evolved over last gen).

[adembroski]

"What's wrong with it?"

There aren't a lot of technical answers to that. Two years ago, or last year after the last patch, there were serious technical issues, but those have been cleared up for the most part. Sim engine works ok, CPU doesn't make the same stupid decisions its made in the past in the draft and free agency. Progression is functional.

A better question is, "What's right with it?"

Again, really nothing. It's 16 games, a post season, free agency, draft, progression, all that. Once again, it's perfectly functional. But that's all it is. Manage spread sheets, point A, point B, rinse, repeat. Coming from the same group of individuals who produced NFL Head Coach 09's amazingly in-depth and immersive career mode, it's a huge disappointment.

There are bugs, of course, but nothing unforgivable if the mode were deep and entertaining. Its not, so the bugs are just annoyances that get in the way of getting any enjoyment out of it.

Imported draft classes aren't as bad as they're made out to be by a lot of people, but it does over-nerf a couple of positions, which is annoying. If QB weren't one of those positions, it wouldn't be quite as big a deal.

As others have said, IR doesn't work right. It opens up the cap space the player takes up, but not the roster slot.

I think what bothers a lot of people is that they're not really asking for NFL Head Coach 09, they're asking for a working IR and good NCAA imports and a bit of out-of-game presentation (newspaper headlines like NCAA has would be something, at least). In the grand scheme of things, these aren't huge requests.

[Meast21Forever]

biggest nutshell i've ever seen.

[blklightning]

simply put - it's boring.

edit:

and you should be happy to know that ian cummings agreed with me via twitter. so madden '12 may finally bring a true franchise mode to next gen.

[Xpider]

1. No holdouts.
2. mid-level player contracts are ridiculously expensive
3. Lack of injuries for player-controlled team.
4. ATROCIOUSLY written draft classes.
5. Progression
6. No restricted FA.
7. Broken IR
8. All teams, unless controlled by a player, is defaulted to a 4-3 def during simulation, and a 300 DE who's supposed to play in a 3-4 can get close to 20 sacks a year, which leads to...
9. Badly generated stats
10. Need to add in option to hire/fire GM, and coaches should have a lot more influence on players.
11. Way too easy to make money, they should make it harder for players to keep a team together.
12. Poorly written AI.

I could go on and on.

[Bellsprout]

Quote: Originally Posted by Xpider

11. Way too easy to make money, they should make it harder for players to keep a team together.

I actually disagree with this one. The NFL basically prints money, I can't imagine it's all that hard to make money as a team.