Is Online Dynasty the Future of Sports Gaming?

[RaychelSnr]

2008 was a fantastic and eventful year for me. I started a new job. I moved to a new city. I got engaged.

But the best part was that I got to experience one of the better years of sports gaming in recent memory, mainly because of the introduction of NCAA Football 09’s Online Dynasty mode. (Here is to hoping my fiancée does not actually read my articles…)

Although not a completely new concept, NCAA 09’s Online Dynasty provided a glimpse into a probable future of sports gaming. The dynasty/franchise has been highly buzz-worthy on the online front this year and looks to expand into other titles in 2009.

So, is it fair to call the online dynasty/franchise the future of sports gaming? Maybe. Let us discuss…

Read More - Is Online Dynasty the Future?

[KG]

"I can honestly say, without a moment’s hesitation, that this year has been the most fun I have had playing my favorite game (NCAA Football) in four years. The Online Dynasty mode has given the series legs that it otherwise may not have had."

Despite ALL of the flaws this game has I have truly enjoyed this mode. So much so that it is the ONLY reason I and several buddies still play this game. While I agree that it would be hard to implement in a hoops or soccer game I would suggest that it would become a requirement for all games moving forward. Online play is fun (vs the right people) but the ability to manage your team amongst other owners is the ultimate challenge.

[fistofrage]

Re: Is Online Dynasty the Future of Sports Gaming?

Yep, its an absolute must. Its great fun. The recruiting battles are just as fun as the on the field games. The only problem with NCAA is that speed kills. The game is all about speed and it makes the stats ridiculous after a few years. Fix that and a few other items and this game will be the best.

I think it could work in a basketball game too. But all games in a basketball online dynasty outside of tournaments would have to be scheduled on a Tuesday, Saturday Rotation for example. It would become a mess if there were games every day of the week.

[Dame]

Re: Is Online Dynasty the Future of Sports Gaming?

yeah Online Dynasty has been great. I wish it was able to be implemented in all games so i can play against my friends in other sports games.

Regardless of the the Flaws that comes with it, online Dynasty is the only reason NCAA is still getting played with regularity with me

[jwmw9207]

This is by far the greatest year in sports i have ever seen. I am so excited for the future. Fifa has accomplished so many things with the 10 v 10 and online dynasty in football.... I would love a world where we create a person and join a league. the league has a draft and every player has a position and team. I think this would work for baseball and football..... make it kinda rpg where you customize your player depending on how well you perform in that weeks games.... please developers i am thirsty for online multiplayer!!!

[solson]

Yes I agree online dynasty is great and (part of) the future of sports games. I love it it NCAA09. But the best game out there for online leagues is not made by EA. IT is called SportSims.net. Operation Sport just did a review of it (9/10). It is an online pro football dynasty sim. It goes to show that you don't have to be gigantic corporation put a great game.

[matt8204]

I agree. It's very hard to go back to playing the CPU once you've actually faced human competition in a sports game.

[fjccommish]

"I would love a world where we create a person and join a league. the league has a draft and every player has a position and team."

The online sports MMORPG.

[jwmw9207]

MMORPG?

[JohnDoh]

Great write-up! I am the commish of an SEC-exclusive dynasty and we are about toe nter season 4 and are going strong. The OD is the best thing that has happened to sports gaming in some time.

I think boxing would be another great game to sport online league, per say. You could allow maybe 20 boxers in a league and to start, have a tournament to determine who the champ is and then have a system of matches to determine the #1 contender... and so forth. It would be best to use new, custom boxers instead of names we know. It would add more personality to the online career mode. MMA could use the same concept.

[asu666]

No, the masses will still prefer the single-player Dynasty mode.

[wsu_gb23]

Online play is overrated....I think developers are spending too much time with online components of the game when they should be focusing on gameplay and graphics....I only go online to download rosters and patches....too many punks online....

[buzzguy]

2K's online hockey leagues are similar to the online dynasty, but there are less games to play. Hockey just has too many games for a true "dynasty mode" online, but what they have now is the next best thing.
You can even upload highlights and make trades.

[jwmw9207]

Online play is overrated....I think developers are spending too much time with online components of the game when they should be focusing on gameplay and graphics....I only go online to download rosters and patches....too many punks online....

the reason there are so many punks is because people play alone by themselves from the early 90's and using the really low settings so when they play real people they are bad sports and thus are punks and whiners... believe me i have played plenty of punks but when you actually find a group of good players it is so rewarding. my club team im on in fifa is so enjoyable.

[BlyGilmore]

I think one of the smartest things NCAA did with the online dynasty was keep it to a managable 12 people or less.

In the past games really tried to bring huge mega leagues to the masses, and honestly most people just weren't that interested.

The way online leagues were setup it let you create a league with your friends and run it like and old school dorm league with your roommates on a single console. You keep all of the pluses of your typical offline dynasty while being able to play with a few of your buddies.

That is what other games need to copy moving foward - a small group of 2 to 12ish people all being able to jump in the game and play a competitive league with the occasional head to head game - while not losing any of the bells and whisles like drafting, transfers, free agents, etc.