Franchise Mode: The Show vs. NBA 2K
 

I played NBA 2k for the first time in a long time and the difference between franchise modes is staggering. Here are all the options in NBA 2k:

My GM-A GM story mode
My League- Fully Customize franchise mode
My League Online- Fully Customize online franchise mode
Start Today- Enter a season with any team and get up to date rosters/injuries
Season Mode
Playoffs

Options within My League:
-Start at the beginning of the offseason or at the start of the regular season
-Customize any teams jersey, logo and arena anytime
-Restructure the league
-League expansion up to 6 teams
-League rule changes
-Team relocation
-Customized draft classes
-Add historic teams
-Turn chemistry on or off
-Change playoff format
-Complete league history of awards and results
-Pre and post game shows
-multiple announcing crews
-customize adds within the arena

There are more options but you get the point. The point is we all would kill for just one of these options to be in franchise mode. And lack of development time or memory is not a valid reason why they are not being added.

We would even be happy if franchise mode worked properly after year 1 like

-Rotating inter-league schedules but are told it would take too much time.
-Budgets that are not confusing and crippling the deeper you go into franchise
-The draft order and comp picks are correct after year 1 so the player pool doesn't run out halfway through round 5. Not to mention half the players you scout are not eligible that year.

We have been told they develop modes in three year cycles and by my math this year would of been year one of franchise mode. Instead the mode didn't even get its own stream date for the first time.

Nick Livingston gave an interview saying they went into the development cycle wanting to improve franchise mode and instead it lead into a new mode, March to October. The reasoning he gave was because they believed franchise was intimidating to play 162 games and simming your way through it made the user feel like they weren't in control of their team. So they made a mode that is 90% simulated games and you only get to play a full game in the playoffs.

Instead of really making any additions to the mode they have taken away options such as season mode and online franchise.

My point is not to convince people to not buy the game or not play it. And if you read my whole post I should buy you a beer. My point is the reason why the mode is so far behind every other sports game out there is the development team has neglected to put any time or effort into it. And when it was franchise modes turn to get updated they chose to create another mode instead. That should tell everyone where the mode is going in the future with the current development team in place.

Re: Franchise Mode: The Show vs. NBA 2K
 

Do The Show vs. Elder Scrolls next.

As for that beer, I'll have a Barq's

Re: Franchise Mode: The Show vs. NBA 2K
 

This right here is pretty concerning. I didnt see this interview. But if they really came into the dev cycle with the idea to put more focus on franchise mode and then decided it wasnt worth it, that sounds bad for the future of franchise. That's worse than if they were just prioritizing DD or RTTS in the dev cycle. It means they wanted to improve franchise, but the cost-benefit analysis said it wasnt worth their time.

I don't think franchise mode would go anywhere immediately, as they can simply copy and paste over game to game. Though it would probably mean major improvements in the future are unlikely. But what really concerns me is what happens when the game makes the jump to PS5. New consoles are often brutal for yearly releases because copy and pasting isn't an option. All that work has to be done over from scratch and lots of features don't make the cut (see Madden franchise mode). But then we might be looking at a franchise mode that is a shell of the current version. Or worse, the mode goes the way of online franchise.

Granted this all seems alarmist. And maybe we're interpreting Nick's words wrong. I hope so. But that is just my honest reaction from hearing that.

Re: Franchise Mode: The Show vs. NBA 2K
 

I'd suggest holding off a little and base your reaction on John (Nick's brother) Livingston's words, because basing your reaction on how someone else phrased a topic is a little silly, you know?

I'm guessing this is based on what was said to OS here because some of the wording lines up.

To me, it reads that they recognized a disconnect in Franchise - that franchise exists as an (over)abundance of menus and they don't have the features in there that help the user feel connected to their team and the story of its season, so they set out to build those aspects.

In doing so, they may have felt that presenting it as its own mode would get more eyes on it, but that's only my speculation. I personally don't see anything in what they've said here or in their streams that tells me that they didn't think upgrades to Franchise were "worth it".

Re: Franchise Mode: The Show vs. NBA 2K
 

They literally barely mentioned franchise at all which is another concern going forward.

Re: Franchise Mode: The Show vs. NBA 2K
 

This is fair and thanks for the additional context. It's funny because I actually did see that article, but just didnt connect it to what the OP described. Maybe I was a bit dramatic. I just logged on before bed, read that, and was filled with pessimism. Hopefully franchise has a bright future.

Re: Franchise Mode: The Show vs. NBA 2K
 

March to October is a rubbish gadget in my opinion.

But The Show franchise mode is a solid mode and great playing experience.
We just miss an enhanced ia for trades and contracts

Then I wish we could rework the draft scouting, something similar to NHL would be great.

The rest for me are gadgets.

Re: Franchise Mode: The Show vs. NBA 2K
 

I enjoy NBA 2k franchise mode the most and MLB the show's gameplay the most.