Franchise mode consensus.

[Gagnon39]

I find myself in this situation almost every single year, dabbling in the Madden forums trying to figure out if Madden’s franchise mode is for me. I used to play Madden and NCAA religiously. But around Madden 10 or so I just started to lose interest. I buy Madden every other year or so, play it for a bit but really I’ve not been able to truly get into a Madden franchise mode once Madden 2005. I payed though probably 10 seasons on that game and loved it. And I miss the days of video game football.

My question for those of you who play exclusively offline franchise is, how was 20 overall and what’s Madden 21’s franchise mode looking like? Like most of us on here at OS that plat franchise modes, I strive for realism. I know it’s kind of a vague question, but overall what was the consensus on franchise last year and how’s it looking for the up-coming iteration?

Thanks in advance.


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[infinite76]

Re: Franchise mode consensus.

This was my first Madden in years. Franchise sucked till I got the custom draft classes and sliders. It made it playable but bugs like the sim bug when you watch games and it plays the same series over and over but the score and stats accumulate. So the other teams gets a million chances to score and depending on your team, either you get blown out or end up with a unreal amount of sacks and interceptions.

It's ok. But from what I understand it's the same games as last year exactly. I think this year for me, I will probably be more pissed.

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[SuperSeahawks]

Re: Franchise mode consensus.

Overall, I've had more fun and longevity with Madden 20 than any other Madden on the current gen and the previous gen. I've gone through about 20 seasons total when combining all my franchises (about 4 or 5). The X-Factors and Scenario Engine have added to my enjoyment (though the scenario engine isn't fleshed out). Hopefully they can add one or two good features (coordinators, training camp, retooled scouting) in Madden 21.

[iceman43]

Re: Franchise mode consensus.

I miss the real NCAA to Madden tranfer I played both religiously. It's not the same anymore. I was more invested in the players I drafted

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[Detroit Tigers]

Re: Franchise mode consensus.

It’s very fun in that old school, semi-sim way. If you’re looking for it to be like Head Coach or OTTP yeah no. But if you really just relax and PLAY the game - play as in play, like a child - it can be great.

One thing I do now that I wasn’t doing for years was really building a team in my own image. For so long I bottled up any and all creativity, striving for “realism,” that I completely forgot what it’s like to really PLAY these games.

Fire the thing up, identify weaknesses on your roster and address them. Then take special time to comb over your depth charts, make positions changes, cut guys you don’t like, sign FAs that you do, make trades, etc., building towards creating the perfect football team that wins games with optimal efficiency on offense and suffocating defense that throws shutouts on the regular.

Be hypercritical of every playcall, every play, every missed block, every dropped pass; notice the specifics of what happened on a given play (so-and-so missed the tackle there; great play by the DT there) and do things like promote, demote and cut players based on those observations, as necessary.

Can’t stop the pass but #1 against the run? Instead of heading to the sliders, bite the bullet and give up defending the run for a game. Allow 250 yards rushing, who cares? That’s better than allowing 450 yards passing, isn’t it? Prove to yourself that you can even call a good enough game to stop the pass in the first place.

If you want the game to be a hardcore experience you can make it pretty hardcore.

The thing is a football team bonsai tree. I like it a lot.

[Gagnon39]

Re: Franchise mode consensus.

It’s very fun in that old school, semi-sim way. If you’re looking for it to be like Head Coach or OTTP yeah no. But if you really just relax and PLAY the game - play as in play, like a child - it can be great.

One thing I do now that I wasn’t doing for years was really building a team in my own image. For so long I bottled up any and all creativity, striving for “realism,” that I completely forgot what it’s like to really PLAY these games.

Fire the thing up, identify weaknesses on your roster and address them. Then take special time to comb over your depth charts, make positions changes, cut guys you don’t like, sign FAs that you do, make trades, etc., building towards creating the perfect football team that wins games with optimal efficiency on offense and suffocating defense that throws shutouts on the regular.

Be hypercritical of every playcall, every play, every missed block, every dropped pass; notice the specifics of what happened on a given play (so-and-so missed the tackle there; great play by the DT there) and do things like promote, demote and cut players based on those observations, as necessary.

Can’t stop the pass but #1 against the run? Instead of heading to the sliders, bite the bullet and give up defending the run for a game. Allow 250 yards rushing, who cares? That’s better than allowing 450 yards passing, isn’t it? Prove to yourself that you can even call a good enough game to stop the pass in the first place.

If you want the game to be a hardcore experience you can make it pretty hardcore.

The thing is a football team bonsai tree. I like it a lot.

Yeah, I’m not looking for a full-blown sim. I enjoy the actual playing, but I also love scouting, drafting, building a team, etc.

I just have to know if it’s at least MORE simulation than arcade.


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[Gagnon39]

Re: Franchise mode consensus.

Another question, too. How’s the presentation? I remember the last Madden game I played for just a little while, the camera cut to the coaches almost every time in between plays. And as petty as it sounds, it really sucks that they took out the players walking to the line of scrimmage. I swear, every year I hate modes like Madden Ultimate Team and Diamond Dynasty even more. All it does it take away from what franchise mode could be.

Prior to online modes like MUT and DD, franchise mode Was the focus of pretty much every developer. Can you imagine if we still had that. What if the last 10-15 years developers spent all the time they have on online modes and used it upwards franchise modes. It would be amazing.

But sadly what we get is just leftovers.


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[Detroit Tigers]

Re: Franchise mode consensus.

I just have to know if it’s at least MORE simulation than arcade.

I would say so, yes.

[PunkMonk]

Re: Franchise mode consensus.

Sliders + Custom draft classes + House Rules. = Extremely fun.

[PhillyPhanatic14]

Re: Franchise mode consensus.

Franchise is awesome. This game is definitely worth your time. Closing in on 500 hours in Madden 20 - all of it in solo Franchise. Contract demands are more realistic. The cap slowly increases, as do contract demands, over time. I'm 11 years into my current franchise and i'll probably stick with it until 21 comes out.



As far as Madden 21, it's hard to say. They didn't touch anything in their QB1 mode after launch, even insanely obvious and prevalent bugs, so I would assume they will scrap it for this year. Maybe Franchise gets that dev time & resources, but I've learned to keep expectations low.

[JoshC1977]

Re: Franchise mode consensus.

I've had way more fun with M20's franchise mode than any other...ever.....I've had multiple franchises go out past 5 seasons (my longest before then never made it out of year 3).

Why? Because you can watch your team develop before your eyes. Ratings matter. Skills matter. Storylines will unfold before your eyes.

You can roll with an offline chise, single-team control, and default XP sliders all the way (and if anything, the game plays better once you purge real life players).

The big key though...stay away from custom draft classes. They wreck the balance because people try to give out SS and SSXF dev traits like candy...even the "top rated" class is laughable.

[infinite76]

Re: Franchise mode consensus.

I've had way more fun with M20's franchise mode than any other...ever.....I've had multiple franchises go out past 5 seasons (my longest before then never made it out of year 3).



Why? Because you can watch your team develop before your eyes. Ratings matter. Skills matter. Storylines will unfold before your eyes.



You can roll with an offline chise, single-team control, and default XP sliders all the way (and if anything, the game plays better once you purge real life players).



The big key though...stay away from custom draft classes. They wreck the balance because people try to give out SS and SSXF dev traits like candy...even the "top rated" class is laughable.

Not AFC on Xbox. Their classes are awesome.

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[ML]

Re: Franchise mode consensus.

I just realized there’s no way to track what teams guys have been on before their current one. Maybe I’m missing where to find this?


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[DeuceDouglas]

Re: Franchise mode consensus.

Yeah, I’m not looking for a full-blown sim. I enjoy the actual playing, but I also love scouting, drafting, building a team, etc.

I just have to know if it’s at least MORE simulation than arcade.

It definitely skews more to the arcade side. Scouting is about elementary as it gets with you only scouting three letter grades on each prospect and doesn't really hold a candle to the older Madden's scouting system. There will be news stories on a few players which is pretty cool and give you certain players to keep an eye on. Building a team is still pretty fun as you'll have players progressing pretty much every week and but player development is still heavily influenced by production and awards which is arcadey as well but if you're more focused on playing games than the roster management side of things, you'll probably enjoy it.

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

Re: Franchise mode consensus.

I think Madden 20 was a significant step in the right direction, but it's still very lackluster compared to other sports games in terms of the franchise mode.

The main things that helped this year were far more realistic contracts and a less customize-able progression system (you pick a player type and it adds attributes that result in that player type overall increasing by 1 instead of going in and putting all of their XP in route running for the example.

This was the most I've played an offline franchise in years, but it's still a disappointing experience if you compare it to other franchise modes, including the old Madden franchise modes.