Franchise Blog?

[mdgoalie37]

Quote: Originally Posted by Fu Man Ching

Coaches change. Which we haven't had the option to this. If they would just make everything eqaul to last gens franchise people would be happy. Looks like it is getting. there. I would like to see EA use the player roles they used on last gen in a more advanced way. When it comes down to it. There are a lot of things they could do to franchise mode to make you want to play it longer and also draw you into the whole experience of owning/building a team.

Right, coaches change - but really how does that affect your franchise? Plus, in a video game, it's hard to really see the effects of a coach unfortunately.

I feel like I'm arguing to argue because I want a franchise mode that is fun as well, but I'm not really sure what people really want. I have no interest in adjusting hot dog prices. I have no interst in changing ticket prices week to week (doesn't happen IRL, season tickets are already paid for 2008, at least for the Eagles). I have no interest in making minute changes that really have no effect on my team at all.

I didn't really get to play with franchise too much the last two years as because these were the only two Madden games that I didn't finish a single season. I re-started, probably 5-6 times and never finish and finally game up. I'm hoping that isn't the case this year.

[Fu Man Ching]

Quote: Originally Posted by mdgoalie37

Right, coaches change - but really how does that affect your franchise? Plus, in a video game, it's hard to really see the effects of a coach unfortunately. I feel like I'm arguing to argue because I want a franchise mode that is fun as well, but I'm not really sure what people really want. I have no interest in adjusting hot dog prices. I have no interst in changing ticket prices week to week (doesn't happen IRL, season tickets are already paid for 2008, at least for the Eagles). I have no interest in making minute changes that really have no effect on my team at all. I didn't really get to play with franchise too much the last two years as because these were the only two Madden games that I didn't finish a single season. I re-started, probably 5-6 times and never finish and finally game up. I'm hoping that isn't the case this year.

What do coahes affect in real life. Come on. Mgoalie. It's not too hard to see what I'm saying. The franchise mode has been so bland that raising hot dog prices would be exciting. Call me a fool.But I liked some of things they were doing in last gen. I liked player roles such as injury prone team leaders. There are so many things that they could do that I don't want to start listing them all. I just expected the next gen to be so much more. Madden 06 last gen made me think that madden 07 next gen would be crazy good. WE all knew what happened and continued to happen.

[thudias]

I hope this turns out well for us.

[TJdaSportsGuy]

You must be talking about giving us the ability to change teams because coaching changes are there. They have been for a while. You can hire and fire your own coaching staff at the end of every season. The coaches who are let go by other teams will frequently sign on to coach other teams. Example - last year in Madden, after my 1st season, the Ravens cut Brian Billick loose (like in real life). He wound up going to the Falcons after they let Bobby Petrino go. And with that...the Falcons began running the Ravens' defense playbook.

[mdgoalie37]

Quote: Originally Posted by Fu Man Ching

What do coahes affect in real life. Come on. Mgoalie. It's not too hard to see what I'm saying. The franchise mode has been so bland that raising hot dog prices would be exciting. Call me a fool.But I liked some of things they were doing in last gen. I liked player roles such as injury prone team leaders. There are so many things that they could do that I don't want to start listing them all. I just expected the next gen to be so much more. Madden 06 last gen made me think that madden 07 next gen would be crazy good. WE all knew what happened and continued to happen.

I'm not sure if either you didn't get what I said,or I'm not getting what you are saying. Yes, obviously coaching changes greatly effect things in real life. In a video game it is difficult to represent this type of change. Most of the teams seem to run pretty much the same schemes in the game.

As for the player roles - I do think this is a nice feature. But does it actually do anything? You can sit around all day and adjust all of these items, but what does it really do in the game? What did it do last gen? Frankly I'd rather not waste my time with this stuff if it doesn't actually have any effect whatsoever.

I have NHL 08 and I played my starting goalie, I don't know, 8 straight games. Then I give him a game off and I get an email from him that he isn't happy with his playing time and wanted a trade. So I ignored it, still playing the backup every so often, the back end of back to back games and such. No mention again of playing time or a trade again. It meant nothing, just words on a screen.

Now if you can get these items in, and make them actually matter, then perhaps we'd be on to something. Maybe Head Coach will do all of this stuff and it will actually have an effect on the outcome of a game/season, I don't know. Between NCAA, Madden and in September NHL, I won't have time for Head Coach and I'd rather play the game than do the peripheral stuff and watch/coach/sim the games. Just my 2 cents.

[DLaren]

Quote: Originally Posted by mdgoalie37

Right, coaches change - but really how does that affect your franchise? Plus, in a video game, it's hard to really see the effects of a coach unfortunately. .

Ahem...

Quote: Originally Posted by Josh_Looman (HeadCoach Lead Producer)

Yes. Each coach has his own unique playbook and philosophies that match that style of play. If a college coach who runs the option comes into the NFL, he's going to want a fast QB to run his offense. The other cool thing is that when a coach leaves a team for a new job (which ambitious personality type coaches will do), he will take a piece of his old team's playbook with him and he spreads that around the league. And...CPU teams will download plays that the community creates and use those in their playbooks against you. The first time I saw that in-game was a great feeling. It's almost like a Spore like feature in a sports game. And...at the end of every game, as long as you have good coordinators, you will be able to steal plays from their playbook that they successfully ran against you. That way you can grab some of the cool plays other teams are running with.

This is the type of depth and dare I say, innovation, that people have been expecting to be in Madden by now (and maybe it is this year, who knows.). And when you visit the HeadCoach forum and read through the producer threads, you see that the game has much more to offer than just playbooks, it has a lot of the features and options that have been on Madden wishlists for years. So it's only natural for people to be unsatisfied with what Madden has offered thus far when compared to what Headcoach is doing this year.

[Fu Man Ching]

Quote: Originally Posted by TJdaSportsGuy

You must be talking about giving us the ability to change teams because coaching changes are there. They have been for a while. You can hire and fire your own coaching staff at the end of every season. The coaches who are let go by other teams will frequently sign on to coach other teams. Example - last year in Madden, after my 1st season, the Ravens cut Brian Billick loose (like in real life). He wound up going to the Falcons after they let Bobby Petrino go. And with that...the Falcons began running the Ravens' defense playbook.

I'm pretty sure there was a difference in the way that last gen coaching hiring was set up. Also the coaches would affect how much players progressed. If you hire an offensive genius then your O would progress more than your D. This hasn't been in next gen. I also used to get a kick out of the fact that players on your team and in the league would become coaches after they retire. Guess what. that doesn't happen on next gen. instead they left out all the good working features from the old Madden and made a completley new broken Madden franchise. Way to go. Don't even let me start on how bad the trainging drills are on next gen. Cool idea. Unless they are tweaked they are not fun like last gen.

Quote: Originally Posted by mdgoalie37

I'm not sure if either you didn't get what I said,or I'm not getting what you are saying. Yes, obviously coaching changes greatly effect things in real life. In a video game it is difficult to represent this type of change. Most of the teams seem to run pretty much the same schemes in the game. As for the player roles - I do think this is a nice feature. But does it actually do anything? You can sit around all day and adjust all of these items, but what does it really do in the game? What did it do last gen? Frankly I'd rather not waste my time with this stuff if it doesn't actually have any effect whatsoever. I have NHL 08 and I played my starting goalie, I don't know, 8 straight games. Then I give him a game off and I get an email from him that he isn't happy with his playing time and wanted a trade. So I ignored it, still playing the backup every so often, the back end of back to back games and such. No mention again of playing time or a trade again. It meant nothing, just words on a screen. Now if you can get these items in, and make them actually matter, then perhaps we'd be on to something. Maybe Head Coach will do all of this stuff and it will actually have an effect on the outcome of a game/season, I don't know. Between NCAA, Madden and in September NHL, I won't have time for Head Coach and I'd rather play the game than do the peripheral stuff and watch/coach/sim the games. Just my 2 cents.

I know what your saying. You just made it sound like there was nothing else they could do to franchise mode. I agree though that there shouldn't be any thing that doesn't affect it and is just there for aesthetics. I hope that HC's stuff comes over to franchise mode.

About player roles: On 07 Madden Ps2 tthe roles did have affects. If your player got injuries every year he is going to have an injury prone role meaning he is more likely to get injured. They have like thirty different roles. That affect ratings during game play. I was a much more realistic idea than these weapons on next gen. Unless they elaborate and do something with these they are pointless.

Quote: Originally Posted by DLaren

Ahem... I think you're selling the depth of HeadCoach just a tad bit short...Also, if you were to read through the producer thread in the HC forums you'd see that HC has so much more to offer than just creating playbooks

Form the sounds of things> HC sounds great. Ecept one big thing for me. I can't play any of the games myself. HC+Madden=complete game.

[mdgoalie37]

Quote: Originally Posted by Fu Man Ching

I I know what your saying. You just made it sound like there was nothing else they could do to franchise mode. I agree though that there shouldn't be any thing that doesn't affect it and is just there for aesthetics. I hope that HC's stuff comes over to franchise mode.

Gotcha - hey, I wasn't defending anything, just stating what is/was.