How come us franchise guys cant get what we want?

[SoulAssassin]

Re: How come us franchise guys cant get what we want?

Online franchise was a let down, and offline franchise was simply boring in '10 because it was incomplete. (or at least felt that way)

NCAA may have an inferior engine but its dynasty mode still put Madden's franchise to shame. Madden needs the media involvment of the NCAA-type news headlines, the player chemistry and personality factors like NBA2k, and something to deepen the offseason so I don't just feel like putting in a different game after week 16. Make training camp an actual factor and give us back the mini-game training drills but make them mean something when evaluating players with an expanded preseason roster w/ cut down weeks. Make the draft an actual meaningful event with some sort of rookie evaluation and combine.

[ZoneKIller]

Re: How come us franchise guys cant get what we want?

Theres no challenge to it.No need to worry about losing your team.


As to why they dont have a good Franchise or dont give us what we want?
No clue.Seems to me that every great sport game hs a very deep Franchise Mode.MLB The Show,NBA 2K10

[KBLover]

Re: How come us franchise guys cant get what we want?

I love playing offline franchise, but I'm curious what others expect in offline franchise?

-True scouting. Have the scouting agency you hire impact how well/accurately you see your players (how many ratings "unlocked" and how accurate they are) as well as players from other teams (same things) and how accurate they are when they report on scouts (potential bar, round projection, reported ratings), and how fast you get those reports back (faster might not always be better, but every agency works at their own pace)

-Player Development. Bring in some kind of practice/prep system/training system to improve players off the field. Have player ratings possibly change constantly. Include performance (since scouts look at production as well as ability) as a factor, but not the be-all of progression/regression. Have it where sometimes players just "click" and rapidly grow. Have it where guys just "lose it" (especially after a very severe injury) and take a fall in ratings.

-Better Injury system. Have the training staff you higher impact how well guys maintain their abilities while on the mend (better rehab), have injuries impact some ratings more than others. A bad shoulder will impact movement of arms (throwing, stiff arm, blocking) more than how well you spin or your field vision. Likewise, having a leg injury will impact mobility more so than your hands. Have injury ratings based on body part (some guys might have/develop bum knees, fragile shoulders, prone to concussions, etc) and trainers that have different skills in working with different parts (back specialist, all-around average, good with legs and arms, etc)

-Playbook editor. Like HC 09. Enough said.

-Play editor. Like HC 09. Enough said.

-Player Morale coming back.

-Players have expected roles/positions. For example, a DE could prefer to playing standing up and prefer being an OLB (the whole Suggs and is he a OLB, is he a DE thing comes to mind). A TE might think he'd be better as a WR. If he doesn't get to, he'll be disappointed, especially if he struggles as a TE. A player might NOT want to be the #1 WR. He might rather be the slot guy instead of having to face the top CBs all the time. He might feel that's what's holding him back, you putting him at #1 and making him face "too much" adversity.

-Either do away with positions and have all skills listed, or keep position and list only skills relative to that position. A scout is not going to scout a QB on how well he kicks or run blocks. On the other hand if all skills are shown, his position will show in his skills, so no need to have it limited - his profile will suggest his position. For example, a player with high throwing and AWR lends himself to being a QB. Basically, put anyone anywhere, just suffer the consequence of your decision. If I want to put my 1st overall QB at MLB - so be it - I should suffer the consequences of my stupidity (bad morale for playing outside his preferred position/role, bad morale for sucking - he feels like he's being embarassed out there, high injury chance, etc)

-Better contract talks. No more of this "guess the contractz11!!11! LOLOMGNOPEIWON'TSIGNTHAT!!111!!1 x 100" crap. True negotations with offers and counter offers. Incentives. Front/back/even loaded. Guys who will take less because they love their situation or the city. Guys who want more because they think they would be highly sought after (whether they would be or not depends on skillset and performance).


Stuff like that is what I want just off-the-field in franchise mode. Basically off-field franchise should be a like really good, deep, text-sim game. That's pretty much the view I have.

[btemp]

Re: How come us franchise guys cant get what we want?

+1

EA's practice of ignoring Franchise - they're most popular mode - drives me crazy.

[Flamehead]

Re: How come us franchise guys cant get what we want?

As time goes on, this elephant in the room will continue to get bigger.

EA can spin and "we assure you this..." and "we assure you that..." all they want, but the proof is in the pudding. And until the proof is there, the pudding will taste the same.

[lgxjames]

Re: How come us franchise guys cant get what we want?

I honestly think they know all of this, but in the 4-5 years they've been on this Gen of console alot of it hasn't been put in...I think that speaks volumes about the code they're working with.

To think they just continue to read all of this and turn they're head I think is kinda ignorant on my part, It must be something about the process they just can't tell us, Maybe they would have to completely rebuild the game to do some of those things..and im sure they don't want to do that

[Argooos]

Re: How come us franchise guys cant get what we want?

-True scouting. Have the scouting agency you hire impact how well/accurately you see your players (how many ratings "unlocked" and how accurate they are) as well as players from other teams (same things) and how accurate they are when they report on scouts (potential bar, round projection, reported ratings), and how fast you get those reports back (faster might not always be better, but every agency works at their own pace)

-Player Development. Bring in some kind of practice/prep system/training system to improve players off the field. Have player ratings possibly change constantly. Include performance (since scouts look at production as well as ability) as a factor, but not the be-all of progression/regression. Have it where sometimes players just "click" and rapidly grow. Have it where guys just "lose it" (especially after a very severe injury) and take a fall in ratings.

-Better Injury system. Have the training staff you higher impact how well guys maintain their abilities while on the mend (better rehab), have injuries impact some ratings more than others. A bad shoulder will impact movement of arms (throwing, stiff arm, blocking) more than how well you spin or your field vision. Likewise, having a leg injury will impact mobility more so than your hands. Have injury ratings based on body part (some guys might have/develop bum knees, fragile shoulders, prone to concussions, etc) and trainers that have different skills in working with different parts (back specialist, all-around average, good with legs and arms, etc)

-Playbook editor. Like HC 09. Enough said.

-Play editor. Like HC 09. Enough said.

-Player Morale coming back.

-Players have expected roles/positions. For example, a DE could prefer to playing standing up and prefer being an OLB (the whole Suggs and is he a OLB, is he a DE thing comes to mind). A TE might think he'd be better as a WR. If he doesn't get to, he'll be disappointed, especially if he struggles as a TE. A player might NOT want to be the #1 WR. He might rather be the slot guy instead of having to face the top CBs all the time. He might feel that's what's holding him back, you putting him at #1 and making him face "too much" adversity.

-Either do away with positions and have all skills listed, or keep position and list only skills relative to that position. A scout is not going to scout a QB on how well he kicks or run blocks. On the other hand if all skills are shown, his position will show in his skills, so no need to have it limited - his profile will suggest his position. For example, a player with high throwing and AWR lends himself to being a QB. Basically, put anyone anywhere, just suffer the consequence of your decision. If I want to put my 1st overall QB at MLB - so be it - I should suffer the consequences of my stupidity (bad morale for playing outside his preferred position/role, bad morale for sucking - he feels like he's being embarassed out there, high injury chance, etc)

-Better contract talks. No more of this "guess the contractz11!!11! LOLOMGNOPEIWON'TSIGNTHAT!!111!!1 x 100" crap. True negotations with offers and counter offers. Incentives. Front/back/even loaded. Guys who will take less because they love their situation or the city. Guys who want more because they think they would be highly sought after (whether they would be or not depends on skillset and performance).


Stuff like that is what I want just off-the-field in franchise mode. Basically off-field franchise should be a like really good, deep, text-sim game. That's pretty much the view I have.

Great List, here's a few more I would like to add:

* Player Substitutions: Should be available outside of the game. Ideally it should be in the gameplan section of the franchise hub.

* Sliders: Have sliders similar to the HB1/HB2 slider for each position. That way you could have DEs and WRs sub out not on the basis of fatigue but on the basis of gameplan.

* Roster Limitations: Expanded rosters in preseason.

* Roster Limitations: Practice squads.

* Roster Limitations: IR should free up a roster spot.

* Progression: Should occur at the end of the preseason. This would make the pre-season matter. As it currently stands the pre-season games have no impact on franchise mode. Pre-season progression would make this part of the game quite fun.

* Progression: Should occur several times throughout the season. I propose once every 4 games. This way a single game wouldn't overly influence progression. The reason this must be in the game: in the NFL, starters lose their jobs due to poor play. This does not happen in Madden. Depth charts set at the beginning of the season will remain unchanged right through to the playoffs barring injury. This is very unrealistic.

* Progression: Offseason progression should not be stats based. Assuming in-season progression is added, offseason progression should be based entirely on age and potential.

* Suspensions: There should be events throughout the season such as "player X has been suspended by the league for doing Y". Plenty of players are suspended all the time in the NFL. Why is this not represented in Madden?

* Players: Add a new rating indicating how much of a "problem player" each player is. This rating could even be a hidden rating (like potential used to be). It would determine how likely that player is to hold out of contracts, cause team distractions, or do things that get them suspended.

* Roster Limitations: I should not be required to have a minimum number of players at any position to start a game in franchise mode. As long as the depth chart is filled I should be able to fill my roster as I see fit. Why do I have to have 10 O-linemen when real NFL teams use 7 or 8?

[jazztrumpet5]

Re: How come us franchise guys cant get what we want?

I too am a diehard offline franchise guy - have been since implementation - and I'd just like to sign this. There are so many concepts they could throw in that have already been said, and I hope they do.

I DO, however, enjoy the direction they're taking with the draft. I loved having "characters" that, with a little imagination, had some personality. Knowing that Jack English was in the upcoming draft made me really think about tanking the season in order to get my franchise quarterback (as the Chiefs) instead of continuing with Cassel's limited ceiling. Of course, being the Chiefs, that wouldn't be too difficult... I just like that part of it. I felt like I could do my scouting offline and strategize (even though it might be construed as cheating). If they could find a way to allow the player to do more of that in-game, that'd be great.

More along a simple line, I really feel like I could have played Madden '10 a lot longer if the damn season stats were realistic. I worked my butt off in games on high difficulty to get my man Jamaal Charles over 100 yards, but to find out that 4 guys ran for over 200 yards at 10ypc REALLY pissed me off. I still am in disbelief that EA would let that slide and not come out with a fix for it. Just pathetic QA, in my opinion.

So, for me, even if they only added a couple things next year, if the stats are realistic, I'm sold. You know, until I find something else to complain about.

[dmick4324]

Re: How come us franchise guys cant get what we want?

I'd love to see position specific chemistry ratings. Obviously the most important would be the OL. The Jets had a HUGE advantage in their running game this year because of the consecutive games the O-line played together. This is so important in the running game because of the obvious rhythm and feel for eachother the line has gotten.

You can add position specific chemistry that could tie into a player's personality. If there's a RB corp chemisty then if there's a selfish starter losing carries to an up and coming RB then the chemistry of the team should suffer.

I've also posted about position specific drills in a different thread. Along with benefits that you could get from doing these drills it could also boost the chemistry rating of that position. Running drills for the O-line could increase their chemistry quicker. This would add a reward for practicing each week. But with these position drills there has to be a risk also, limiting how many positions you can train each week would be an option.

[KBLover]

Re: How come us franchise guys cant get what we want?

Great List, here's a few more I would like to add:

Nice list for you too. I can't believe I left off the Roster Limits thing. That drives me crazy too.

[rootofalleli]

Re: How come us franchise guys cant get what we want?

I've also posted about position specific drills in a different thread. Along with benefits that you could get from doing these drills it could also boost the chemistry rating of that position. Running drills for the O-line could increase their chemistry quicker. This would add a reward for practicing each week. But with these position drills there has to be a risk also, limiting how many positions you can train each week would be an option.

Madden had weekly drills before, as I'm sure we remember, and for me this feature can be both good and bad.

I like to customize my team and make some decisions. Sometimes I really DON'T like to do chores, however. If I want to play 2 or 3 games in a row without doing a bunch of drills, I don't want to have to sacrifice progression. We'd need to be able to quickly sim drills and get decent results without fighting the interface. I can't be bothered with something clunky and awful:
"Select Weekly Drills Menu"
"Simulate drill #1?"
"Yes"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes"
"Select Weekly Drills Menu"
"Simulate drill #2?"
"Yes"
etc.

If the repetitive min-maxing stuff comes back into the game, we really should be able to check off a few boxes and get it out of the way in a minute when we want to. Mini-games are fun a lot of the time, but I hate it when they become a time-devouring duty.

[yopis]

Re: How come us franchise guys cant get what we want?

If you make offline franchise too good with all the bells and whistles then people might not buy yearly.If you make the focus and bells and whistles online, then you can shut the server down and make people upgrade.That's the way it's going just really slowly.They are not stupid they are just stalling for time is all.

[dmick4324]

Re: How come us franchise guys cant get what we want?

Madden had weekly drills before, as I'm sure we remember, and for me this feature can be both good and bad.

I like to customize my team and make some decisions. Sometimes I really DON'T like to do chores, however. If I want to play 2 or 3 games in a row without doing a bunch of drills, I don't want to have to sacrifice progression. We'd need to be able to quickly sim drills and get decent results without fighting the interface. I can't be bothered with something clunky and awful:
"Select Weekly Drills Menu"
"Simulate drill #1?"
"Yes"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes"
"Select Weekly Drills Menu"
"Simulate drill #2?"
"Yes"
etc.

If the repetitive min-maxing stuff comes back into the game, we really should be able to check off a few boxes and get it out of the way in a minute when we want to. Mini-games are fun a lot of the time, but I hate it when they become a time-devouring duty.

I completely understand about the time issue and the repetitiveness. I don't know if you've played MLB 10 The Show but they have a menu where you can check boxes for progression. It's position specific you can pick where you want to concentrate progression. You can pick athleticism, fielding, batting, etc. I don't think this would be a terrible idea for people with less time.

I also remember in Madden 09 maybe, that you could just load up on speed on any player. I really like Antonio Bryant and would continuously run him in the 40 yard dash thinking there would be a max speed he would get to but it kept increasing. This ruins the game. I'm not sure though how to perfectly implement but I do like having control over who progresses. Now we'd be getting into progression issues, and I know there are a bunch of threads on that already so I won't get into it lol.

[jimmyy201]

Re: How come us franchise guys cant get what we want?

Franchise also needs to put the restricted free agency back in.

[rootofalleli]

Re: How come us franchise guys cant get what we want?

I completely understand about the time issue and the repetitiveness. I don't know if you've played MLB 10 The Show but they have a menu where you can check boxes for progression. It's position specific you can pick where you want to concentrate progression. You can pick athleticism, fielding, batting, etc. I don't think this would be a terrible idea for people with less time.

I also remember in Madden 09 maybe, that you could just load up on speed on any player. I really like Antonio Bryant and would continuously run him in the 40 yard dash thinking there would be a max speed he would get to but it kept increasing. This ruins the game. I'm not sure though how to perfectly implement but I do like having control over who progresses. Now we'd be getting into progression issues, and I know there are a bunch of threads on that already so I won't get into it lol.

Baseball just isn't my game, but the kind of system you're describing for MLB The Show would be amazing for Madden. I think that people who want to invest extra time on drills should be rewarded, but an efficient sim interface should be there for those who can't spend the extra hours on min-maxing.

You raise a good point too about having some limits. A healthy progression model would allow for X improvement from drills and Y from yearly progress (based on whatever formula) with X and Y not necessarily applied to the same stats. Maybe there just shouldn't be any way to give Braylon Edwards a 95 catch rating (or even 85!). Also, improvement from drills needs to be managed so that you don't see, for example, possession receivers trained up to 90-something speed.

In general, I'd really like to see a Madden franchise mode that I can describe as sleek and efficient. If I let the AI handle something, I'd like to have some confidence that the results won't be governed by some weird martian logic. If I do something myself, I don't want to battle the UI or keep some light reading at hand for the loading screens.