MLB The Show 17's Offline Franchise Offers a Slight Upgrade

[sirwoodz]

i love franchise mode...its been better than RTTS these last few years IMO

[ty5oke]

So much left to be desired in franchise mode. I'll still enjoy grinding the season with my team but wish it had more immersion.

[deadlocked]

Quote: Originally Posted by IgotSyphillis

It's fine. It gets the job done. Problem is they laid the groundwork for it being fine almost 10 years ago and have changed very little since then. They already have create a team in DD, so how hard could it be to be able to have a create a team mode in franchise? We all know why that won't happen. Same reason next year we will probably get create a stadium....only in diamond dynasty. It is what it is. Makes it easier on me to only have to buy every couple of years instead of every year.

I'll like to see expansion and relocation added. I would totally relocate the Mets and Angels/Dodgers to NC and Las Vegas! Or tinker with expanding to both areas and more (Mexico City? Vancouver? Calgary? Hawaii?)


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[CaseIH]

Franchise mode does need improved upon, like Spring Training be more life like, and add in more than ballparks outside of 1 for Cactus, and 1 for Grapefruit League. Ive wanted to see atleast High A added and be playable, or atleast add more than 15 extra players, if all they added in atleast 25 players for A ball even if it wasnt playable Id be happy.

Franchise definitely has a ways to go get to where NBA2k Association mode is, and I hope next yr the devs put forth more effort to improve Franchise. I always enjoy it, but I think for me if they dont get back to putting more effort into Franchise mode, to liven it up, it might be hard for me to continue buying it every year. I love The Show, and feel they have the best devs in gaming, but if they get to the point of being consumed with gimic modes for online play like DD, then I'll probably have to quit buying it each yr, if Franchise doesnt start getting major enhancement to it, because Franchise mode is all I play.

[lil frier]

"looking to get a realistic taste of what it’s like"

I don't think this is a positive part of Franchise at all. It isn't what I was hoping for in any way. My favorite thing to do in Franchise mode is run a fantasy draft and make my team that way. I'll run multiple iterations of it before starting, trying to build I like. This game makes that a completely worthless endeavor. Draft results have very little variation early, making it easy to exploit bad talent evaluation and predictable position runs. The game overvalues the heck out of closers, with Kenley Jansen taken top-5 and several others going in the first 50 pick, while Andrew Miller (the highest-rated RP in the game) sits until Round 8 or 9 because he's not tagged as a closer (then I can take him, move him to closer, and his value skyrockets). Payrolls are a mess, as are contracts, ruining a lot of the real-life intrigue (trying to trade Miguel Montero at $14 million IRL is a lot harder than the value-level contract of $35. million he has in-game).

Trade AI isn't better. The quantity > quality method of exploiting trades is still really easy. The roster management is still clunky, particularly with the 40-man mess when you start in Spring Training. I always play Franchise more than anything else in a sports game. I haven't touched it beyond some quick Trophy grabs after seeing how contracts and drafting look. Hopefully the OSFM rosters make things a LOT better, I have faith they will. The CL values might still suck, but at least there could be some degree of realism.

[BobSacamano]

Franchise mode is all I play, and it's all I've ever played, dating back to pencil-and-paper dynasties in RBI Baseball and Bo Jackson Baseball for the NES. I have incredibly fond memories of the various games that paved the way towards a more immersive and realist franchise experience: Hardball 5 brought actual, in-depth stat tracking to the table. High Heat 2001 had actual yearly advancement rather than the single seasons of games past. I remember simming seasons out to 2050 with entire generations of computer-generated players filling rosters. MVP had spring training and actual minor league teams and rosters (a major revelation to me).

It's almost hard to remember this now, and I think we take it for granted, but the Show completely changed the score by implementing real roster management. 40-man rosters, September call-ups, waiver wire rules, option years, the whole nine yards. It was unheard of, and the learning curve was steep for a lot of people. There had never been an experience like it outside of OOTP. It's one of the reasons the Show earned its "realism" tag, and it's one of the reasons I fell in love with the game.

That's a long way of saying... I'm really happy to be where we are, and to have seen this journey all the way through. But then again, those advancements were made, what, a decade ago? I do think it's time for the Show to write the next chapter in the Franchise book. I don't know what it'll be, but I'm excited to experience it.


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[drugsbunny]

Create-a-player in this years show should be the standard in all video games from now until...

[BigOscar]

Pretty disappointed with what I've seen so far. I get that they didn't have time to implement new features, it's annoying, but I get it. But to not fix existing problems is just pretty unforgiveable imo. Then to add in new ones like the computers new found love of pulling starters really early and letting relievers stay in when they are getting slaughtered is just, urgh. I like the idea of the new money system, but it's poorly implemented and doesn't give you anywhere near enough information. That at least has potential going forwards.

I'm still going to play the hell out of it, because I'm all about franchise, but I'm hugely disappointed with their efforts this year in this mode. They need to fix the pitcher logic, particularly with quick counts pretty sharpish but I have no expectations that they will.