PS BLOG: Everything New in MLB The Show 18’s Franchise Mode

[WaitTilNextYear]

Quote: Originally Posted by KBLover

It's a bit of a gamble and I see what you're saying. But who are these people who will quit playing Franchise (or The Show)? Will most franchise players ever either jump to OOTP and wave goodbye to The Show, or sit on, say 18, when 19, 20, 21...come out if they still don't have the big things they are hoping for (perhaps buying them on the cheap and used just as carryover insurance and not supporting SDS in the process)? Or will they complain (often rightfully) about the mode getting overlooked.....as they pay $60 again? Even reading the board and not really having a dog in this particular fight, it seems that a lot aren't feeling the hype/energy/mojo/love but are getting the game anyway? Even in that 09 vs 18 post...the OP is getting the game...as he posits a lack of big change in 9 years... So whoever is making this decision, be it SDS or the parent company, is guessing that hardcore player will keep coming back...or they would have left for OOTP already (i.e. the people who don't need to play/see the game so OOTP is fine vs "the same" in another year of The Show). And if that's the case, why not try to make a play for another demographic to play the mode? I really wonder if franchise players have actually moved on from The Show and in what numbers. If it's not much movement...I can see why they made this gambit. We'll see if it pays off and what the response is in 19.

That's the million dollar question. I do sense more "OOTP only" sentiment on OS and elsewhere this year, but that's really not actual hard data. We'll need to see what the sales are like for both games before any hypotheses can really be put forward about how this plays out. I think OOTP working on its graphics is making it easier than ever for people to make this migration, however.

Quote: Originally Posted by 1908_Cubs

While I understand this premise, I don't necessarily agree with it. Because I can say this: I am not very interested in card collecting in other games. I have Madden, NBA2k, and NHL as well. I have played perhaps, 8 minutes of those card collecting games combined. I felt the same way about DD until last year. But the additions that were added, the changes to things like conquest and the added nuggets for offline play, I gave DD a chance. And truthfully, I have a good time. I even played a few of the online seasons looking for some new cards. DD didn't become my main mode, as I still put far more time into franchise and RTTS, but I found some real enjoyment there. I'd argue I'm not the only one who didn't think they'd care about DD, but found themselves finding enjoyment in the mode over the last 2 or so years. I think you can thus, say, there are people who franchise mode may not appeal to because of the cost of entry barrier: the difficulty, the added depth, the lack of understanding. If you can lower the cost of entry, add quicker ways to play, and make the process easier, you may find that while the cross-over never pushes Franchise to the level that DD has reached, that it will increase. I'd prefer to see a deeper, more rich experience myself. I don't blame anyone for it. But I don't think the idea of trying to get more people involved is a bad one, either. If you can get more play time into franchise, and more people...you're going to see the dev team go back and spend more time into adding rotating schedules, expansions, ballpark creators, and etc. But those are time consuming changes, and I think they need to find the reason in terms of player count, to really add that stuff in there.

You're actually making my point for me a bit, while disagreeing. lol.

I'd argue you're getting sucked into DD more because they are adding content and putting a ton of work into it to make that mode more attractive to you and others. Quite the opposite of what's going on with Franchise mode.

[1908_Cubs]

Quote: Originally Posted by WaitTilNextYear

That's the million dollar question. I do sense more "OOTP only" sentiment on OS and elsewhere this year, but that's really not actual hard data. We'll need to see what the sales are like for both games before any hypotheses can really be put forward about how this plays out. I think OOTP working on its graphics is making it easier than ever for people to make this migration, however. You're actually making my point for me a bit, while disagreeing. lol. I'd argue you're getting sucked into DD more because they are adding content and putting a ton of work into it to make that mode more attractive to you and others. Quite the opposite of what's going on with Franchise mode.

To a certain extent, I agree. But the additions they added made me want to give it a try: basic things like offline modes. I can't say I'm a hardcore DD guy, so I can't speak for them, but I'd guess that offline modes aren't huge for the hardcore DD group (based on youtube streaming of the DD community, it seems they chase the difficult, rare cares you can only get playing things like ranked seasons and battle royal, modes I have only really dabbled in). Those things lower the cost of entry for me, because I have little interest in playing online against people (I'm 30, and a teacher. The last thing I want to do is hang out online against little kids haha. That's my daily job).

I also think they've done an okay, not a great, but an okay job of adding things for the more hardcore group. Retirement logic and prospect fixes are under the hood things that I appreciate. I think if they can get more people interested in the mode with streamlining and making things quicker, they can begin to justify larger scale franchise fixes. As much as I love those modes, there's a significantly lower numbers of streamers on youtube who stream franchise than DD (and RTTS) and I think that reflects many of the statistics they say (players are most interested in DD and RTTS). At least it's my hope. It seems like they're trying to appease both with under the hood things and stuff like phases. Hopefully that will mean less of the easy stuff going forward and more of the hardercore fixes.

[WaitTilNextYear]

Quote: Originally Posted by 1908_Cubs

To a certain extent, I agree. But the additions they added made me want to give it a try: basic things like offline modes. I can't say I'm a hardcore DD guy, so I can't speak for them, but I'd guess that offline modes aren't huge for the hardcore DD group (based on youtube streaming of the DD community, it seems they chase the difficult, rare cares you can only get playing things like ranked seasons and battle royal, modes I have only really dabbled in). Those things lower the cost of entry for me, because I have little interest in playing online against people (I'm 30, and a teacher. The last thing I want to do is hang out online against little kids haha. That's my daily job). I also think they've done an okay, not a great, but an okay job of adding things for the more hardcore group. Retirement logic and prospect fixes are under the hood things that I appreciate. I think if they can get more people interested in the mode with streamlining and making things quicker, they can begin to justify larger scale franchise fixes. As much as I love those modes, there's a significantly lower numbers of streamers on youtube who stream franchise than DD (and RTTS) and I think that reflects many of the statistics they say (players are most interested in DD and RTTS). At least it's my hope. It seems like they're trying to appease both with under the hood things and stuff like phases. Hopefully that will mean less of the easy stuff going forward and more of the hardercore fixes.

I think we're just gonna have to agree to disagree mostly. I would argue they have not really done an "ok" job of adding things for the hardcore group. And if you read what these people are saying, you'll see that. A lot of that. All over OS and Reddit and Twitter etc. A massive amount of "so they did nothing to Franchise mode again?" sentiment. Moreso than I've ever seen and it's not even close. OS has never been this divided on the eve of the game's release. Not by half. It's usually so much more positive than this.

My personal opinion is their work has been lacking--almost to the point of being comical. Small logic fixes are nice. Making the menus look nicer is nice. But these are not headlining/carrying features by any stretch of the imagination. These are the little garnishments you sprinkle in on top of the actual meal itself.

As for streamlining leading to some utopia of Franchise mode, again, I don't see it. Not at all. Streamlining --> more people --> more investment for those of us who play is putting the cart before the horse. It's very speculative and untested. That's about the nicest thing I can say about that thinking. My own opinion is they need to appease the long-term Franchise mode players first and let the chips fall where they may with randoms who may or may not ever be drawn to it. Increase the quality of the mode by adding depth and content (with options to toggle on/off auto) and the rest should take care of itself.

Nobody is really debating that Franchise mode is in 3rd place in popularity behind RTTS and DD. But that actually doesn't mean the numbers of people who play Franchise mode is negligible. It's still a large, core group of people who have been with this title for many years.

On top of that, I'm not sure how much I trust SDS' telemetry data. I'm sure it's a useful resource for them and I can't say I understand how it works, but I can imagine all kinds of flaws in trying to measure everyone at all times and what they do. I mean this is coming from a studio that hasn't been able to get their servers straight for several years--why do people think they have a perfectly integrated, flawless data collection system somehow?

EDIT: I'd also add that a lot of the more hardcore Franchise mode players have done a lot of heavy lifting over the years with mods to rosters, sliders, etc. If this cohort of people ever taps out completely, it's a bigger problem for SDS than just losing $60 per head. Because then aftermarket rosters etc aren't as good and people don't end up enjoying the game as much. I hope they recognize this demographic of content creators within Franchise mode and how they add value to the game every year (where would this game be without OSFM for example?).

[livinitup921]

Quote: Originally Posted by 1908_Cubs

To a certain extent, I agree. But the additions they added made me want to give it a try: basic things like offline modes. I can't say I'm a hardcore DD guy, so I can't speak for them, but I'd guess that offline modes aren't huge for the hardcore DD group (based on youtube streaming of the DD community, it seems they chase the difficult, rare cares you can only get playing things like ranked seasons and battle royal, modes I have only really dabbled in). Those things lower the cost of entry for me, because I have little interest in playing online against people (I'm 30, and a teacher. The last thing I want to do is hang out online against little kids haha. That's my daily job). I also think they've done an okay, not a great, but an okay job of adding things for the more hardcore group. Retirement logic and prospect fixes are under the hood things that I appreciate. I think if they can get more people interested in the mode with streamlining and making things quicker, they can begin to justify larger scale franchise fixes. As much as I love those modes, there's a significantly lower numbers of streamers on youtube who stream franchise than DD (and RTTS) and I think that reflects many of the statistics they say (players are most interested in DD and RTTS). At least it's my hope. It seems like they're trying to appease both with under the hood things and stuff like phases. Hopefully that will mean less of the easy stuff going forward and more of the hardercore fixes.

I think you nailed it on the head. When looking at streams, they are almost all DD. I think their data is right and that more people are into DD now than franchise but I would still like them to add at least one feature the hardcore franchise people ask for. No one asked for phases and almost everyone asked for rotating inter league schedules. Just something I think they should consider.

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[Jimmydm90]

Looking over the new features (for the whole game not just Franchise) there really aren't any headlining items. I wonder if the reason for this is that SDS got so shellacked for how buggy online was last year that they had to spend a higher than average amount of time on just fixing things and didn't really have any time to implement anything HUGE.

[Caulfield]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jimmydm90

Looking over the new features (for the whole game not just Franchise) there really aren't any headlining items. I wonder if the reason for this is that SDS got so shellacked for how buggy online was last year that they had to spend a higher than average amount of time on just fixing things and didn't really have any time to implement anything HUGE.

I think the batting stance creator is probably the biggest addition for 18. It'll be great for OSFM, classic roster makers and RTTS.

[Dolenz]

Quote: Originally Posted by Caulfield

I think the batting stance creator is probably the biggest addition for 18. It'll be great for OSFM, classic roster makers and RTTS.

I would argue that the changes to RTTS as for as Player Archetypes and Player Progression is the biggest addition/change.


Of course the biggest addition or change would be stable servers .