Is there enough new features in franchise to make it replayable?

[Thinking Out Loud]

Quote: Originally Posted by Trojan Man

I'm surprised to hear some say no. This looks to be the most robust offline franchise offering that Madden has had since I've been playing it. New draft classes with a much more challenging scouting program will go a long way for me toward making this mode playable long-term. It was too easy this year to load up on gems in the draft, so the game got stale due to a lack of challenge in the off-season. Sounds like they've fixed that. As far as in-season features, dynamic player performance is going to be huge, I think. I play MLB 2K11, which has this feature, and it's awesome. Every game/series really does feel different when you've got guys moving in and out of hot/cold streaks. When you extrapolate from the individual case and think about the fact that large chunks of your team will be going hot/cold at different rates, then you have a REALLY interesting feature. What if your OL goes hot, then your HB, and all of the sudden you have a dominant running game for half the season? Then, what if both go cold and then your star WR does as well down the stretch? Now you can't run and your passing game is hobbled. The number of permutations you could have on this theme could make all the difference from a replayability standpoint. Those are the big ones for me, but I like pretty much everything they've added. When you couple the additions here with the fact that most of them won't be implemented online, the real question to me is whether or not online franchise has enough features to be a playable mode long-term.

With Player Traits/Tendencies being implemented for ALL modes, including online, that has the potential to provide long term playability across the board. Different players, have different on field habits, in different situations. So if Player Traits/Tendencies replicate these reasonably well, any game, in any mode, could equate to "Any given Sunday".

[RogueHominid]

The bolded section is sort of tangential to my main point, which is to say that offline franchise now has more than enough stuff in it to make me want to play it for a long time.

I can't think of much that I'd want them to add to make the mode even better. I'm not a fan of radio shows, I don't need newspapers, and I could care less about concessions and advertisements. What I care most about is gameplay, customizability, and a challenging and rewarding system for team building. I'm stoked to see how these features are implemented.

[notque]

I run a text sim called http://deeproute.com

Can you create a list of things you want in a franchise mode? If you do so, I'll add as many as possible to my text sim.

[Argooos]

I think this will seriously increase the replay value. I'm the kind of guy who likes to build a team from last place to super bowl champ over a long period, but with Madden 11 I don't think I ever made it past season 3 with a team. I just kept starting new franchises because the game got so stale after a while.

These new features should truly make the game a lot more fun to play. I usually control every aspect (except playing the actual games) for every single team in addition to my main team because I don't trust the computer AI to make intelligent choices. With the new improvements, I may actually turn over some of the GM duties to the AI (especially the draft - that was always tedious to do for all 32 teams). That alone should increase my desire to play more seasons.

The only new feature that worries me a little is the new free agency bidding period. From what I've read, once you start, you can't pause it and you have to act quickly or you will not get a chance to bid on all the players you want. This is contrary to the reason I play games like Madden and franchise mode in particular. I like games where I can pause at any time and take my time to think over decisions. Free agency is one of those times I'd really like to be able to take my time to think. Having a timer on bidding is also rather unrealistic, because real life-GMs have days or weeks to think about signing free agents, and have entire staffs helping them. Forcing us to make decisions on free agents quickly will actually hurt the replay value for me. Now, if we had the option to change the free agency mode to untimed....

[bichettehappens]

Quote: Originally Posted by Argooos

The only new feature that worries me a little is the new free agency bidding period. From what I've read, once you start, you can't pause it and you have to act quickly or you will not get a chance to bid on all the players you want. This is contrary to the reason I play games like Madden and franchise mode in particular. I like games where I can pause at any time and take my time to think over decisions. Free agency is one of those times I'd really like to be able to take my time to think. Having a timer on bidding is also rather unrealistic, because real life-GMs have days or weeks to think about signing free agents, and have entire staffs helping them. Forcing us to make decisions on free agents quickly will actually hurt the replay value for me. Now, if we had the option to change the free agency mode to untimed....

What you could do, and what I've done in the past is prior to entering the free agency period, go to Player Management and you can look at all the available free agents beforehand and plan out who you want to bid for.

I've done this because I seem to remember one year (can't remember which Madden) I was in free agency and looking around at different positions taking my time when it auto-advanced to the next day, so ever since then I plan it out ahead of time. I imagine you will be able to do the same in 12, at least I hope so.

[Argooos]

Quote: Originally Posted by bichettehappens

What you could do, and what I've done in the past is prior to entering the free agency period, go to Player Management and you can look at all the available free agents beforehand and plan out who you want to bid for. I've done this because I seem to remember one year (can't remember which Madden) I was in free agency and looking around at different positions taking my time when it auto-advanced to the next day, so ever since then I plan it out ahead of time. I imagine you will be able to do the same in 12, at least I hope so.

Oh I do the same of course, but I still just don't like being rushed in a video game. I play games like this to relax, and I want to be able to take my time while I play - pause and have a snack, etc. If I am not able to pause or leave the free agency screen until the phase is over, that will bother me.
Also, since I usually control all 32 teams this new feature might complicate things a bit.
I'll just have to wait and see how it actually works in practice. I'm sure I'll find a way to live with it, especially with all the other great additions to franchise mode.