MLB the Show...Chicken or The Egg
 

I don't post a lot and I'm a nobody here...but I do read these forums every day. Have always wanted to get feedback to the nagging question I have....

SDS research and data seems to show that Franchise is not a mode that is played a lot, so therefore more resources and time are put into DD and other modes. But is it this simple? Is the reason Franchise shows up in their research as not being played as much simply because they have done very little to it in recent years, so therefore fewer people want to play it?

I guess my question has always been...if you put time and effort into Franchise (maybe even put transactions in it that could make SDS money that we would want to purchase), could it actually be a mode that is played by many??

If this is a stupid premise feel free to delete my thread. I just don't accept "most people don't play franchise so therefore we aren't going to put resources into it." Yeah duh...many of us don't play it because it doesn't hold any attraction to us anymore. It almost seems by design. If we don't put any emphasis on the mode then everyone will naturally move to DD.

Re: MLB the Show...Chicken or The Egg
 

It's about making money AFTER the purchase. More or less the same people are going to buy the game no matter what, but if they cater to the DD crowd those players will spend money on stubs or packs or whatever they are called (I don't play DD) and SDS makes money on top of your money.

You cannot monetize Franchise Mode.
That is all there is to it.

One thing I will say is although the devs and the guys you see on the stream are what most people consider to be "the guys at SDS", that more than likely is not who is making this decision.

The suites and business people behind the scenes have probably said, "this is where the money is, build this and not that". It has happened everywhere I've worked and I do not expect it is any different at SDS.

Re: MLB the Show...Chicken or The Egg
 

I don't believe that SDS has ever came out and said that the reason they don't add more things to franchise mode is because very few play it. That is a theory formulated on the forums.

And while the improvements/additions to franchise mode may not be considered back of the box big time improvements/additions/features, they have made improvements over the years. It's not as if nothing is being done to it.

The addition of critical situations, jumping in and out of games, and PHASES were all done in an attempt to attract more users to the mode. PHASES was added last year to help those who may feel overwhelmed by the intricacies of the baseball season feel more comfortable and be willing to play through a season.

This ideology that SDS is purposely trying to move people away from franchise mode in an attempt to remove it and force all buyers to DD is, imo, preposterous.

Re: MLB the Show...Chicken or The Egg
 

I don't subscribe to the telemetry data excuse like others do on this forum. I think it's a simple matter of making a buck after the initial $65 purchase. Diamond dynasty makes millions of additional dollars after the initial $65, while franchise simply does not.

Lets Face it. Nobody is streaming their franchises on youtube. When you type in mlb the show on YouTube the results are either people opening packs or playing road to the show. SDS has adopted an ideology that all of their fans are of this youtube fortnite generation and have completely afforded this demographic all of their attention.

Truth be told our generation (us show fans over 30) I think are less likely to be taken advantage of. I am not saying the generation that we preceded is less smart, but they are more prone to spend money on micro transaction and be okay with things like pay walls. They also get excited by stupid things like people dabbing or doing cartwheels after homeruns. Everything SDS does with this game just goes to show this is their target demographic now and they could care less about us.

Am I bummed out? Yes. Am I mad? No. It's smart business

All I ask is that SDS just stop using the excuse of telemetry data. Most of us are not stupid and realize it is a business decision. It's a "don't piss down my leg and tell me it's raining" sorta thing. Do they really expect us to believe that if 75% of their customer base played franchise that all of a sudden the majority of their resources would be diverted from the modes that actually generate additional revenue for them? Come on man lol

Re: MLB the Show...Chicken or The Egg
 

I think it’s much easier to track DD over franchise for two simple reasons.

They can easily track how many users play online for DD but cannot track how many hours people log offline in franchise.

DD does make them money after the purchase but there ARE NO OPTIONS to do this in franchise other than to raise your budget(which is a whole other issue in it self).

My point is they cannot accurately know the amount of hours played on DD vs Franchise. And they will never know if DD really is the way to make the most money until they have just as many options to buy items in franchise.


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

Re: MLB the Show...Chicken or The Egg
 

Say it again, boys:

Microtransactions ruin everything.

Re: MLB the Show...Chicken or The Egg
 

They really don't force microtransactions on you in DD ironically enough. It's very accessible without buying stubs.

Re: MLB the Show...Chicken or The Egg
 

True. I guess I'm just jaded from the direction my beloved NBA 2K is going.

I swear, if there's another Great Video Game Crash, microtransactions will be one of the main causes.