Madden NFL 12 Blog - Franchise Mode in Madden 12

[acreyman]

goin out on a limb here.......but I don't think I have been this excited to buy a game since 2k5. SERIOUSLY! I switched from a ps2 to the xbox just for that game. This game is giving me that same feeling. I just hope everything works correctly.

[GoodImmigrant]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Blog - Franchise Mode in Madden 12

Has anyone clarified the improvements to the coaches? In other words, what's new about the coaches?

[Hova57]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Blog - Franchise Mode in Madden 12

Has anyone clarified the improvements to the coaches? In other words, what's new about the coaches?

they have strengths and weaknesses that affect the team. I think there's more to it.

[crob8822]

Finally pre-season games have meaning

[GoodImmigrant]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Blog - Franchise Mode in Madden 12

they have strengths and weaknesses that affect the team. I think there's more to it.

yeah, that's what the franchise blog said, but how will it work. is it like +1 AWR -1 CTH? a trade off? just like that?

[natewest23]

I hope in this years Madden......in the Pro Bowl game each player has their original team helmet on! All these changes to Franchise mode got me kind of siked! Im ready for NCAA 12 and Madden 12!

[jvalverde88]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Blog - Franchise Mode in Madden 12

Okay they got my attention, I really liked M11 but couldn't get into it because Franchise mode was so stale. Honestly IMO I thought Post Patch M11 played better than Post Patch NCAA 11.

[rooney8]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Blog - Franchise Mode in Madden 12

I wonder if team distraction role is back in. Would mean player morale is back as well.

[Icarus2k9]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Blog - Franchise Mode in Madden 12

Dipping back into the behemoth that is this thread....

After a lot of thought and cyclical breathing to calm down somewhat, I realised without a specific feature being included I may still actually be on the fence about this Madden.

Does anyone know if there's a way to hide potential? Too many people have commented on this in the past to suggest it's not an issue for some that's a real sore point, but M11 was a constant game of "don't look at the screen" in the same way Tiger Woods 12 is being marred for me because of the putting circle. I understand the potential gets revealed after a couple of weeks, but that just means I'll be cutting guys after 4 weeks rather than instantly.

Just one on/off switch in the franchise options screen would make my day

[Sandbox]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Blog - Franchise Mode in Madden 12

Just note that was the last-gen days. They had to scrap everything "extra" basically for the next-gen Madden 06 because of lack of memory, and what did get in was watered down. Basically, Madden has been recovering for about 3 years - up until about 09. After that, mediocrity got unacceptable. But they did make strides consistently. Don't believe me? Check every review for next-gen for Madden, from Madden 06, up until Madden 11.

Stop saying this, that's not what happened at all.

[Skyboxer]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Blog - Franchise Mode in Madden 12

Stop saying this, that's not what happened at all.

Yeah, even the developers (Although it was a BS statement) said they built from the ground up and that's why everything was bare bones.
BS statement because some of the same things, like the RB ICON glitch, was in the "built from the ground up", game.
In any case I don't think I've ever seen them say it was due to memory etc..

[NaturalSelected]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Blog - Franchise Mode in Madden 12

One thing confirmed to us today was you are not going to be able to edit potential, just ratings. Still not sure on height and weight.

Thanks for confirming this. A little disappointing considering that potential drives a lot of things in Franchise, whether or not it's hidden. Still, if I can change ratings, ultimately adjustments can be made yearly if really necessary.

[ChrisHewy]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Blog - Franchise Mode in Madden 12

Franchise Mode Dynamic Gameplans
We***8217;ve also added a pretty cool new feature that makes teams re-evaluate their game plan based on their starting QB in future years.

Take the Colts for instance. In year one, if you control them or face them as an opponent, they will naturally throw the ball more based on their real life tendencies and because they have Peyton Manning on the roster.

In Franchise mode, if Manning gets hurt or retires, the team will adjust their play calling so that they run the ball more if they have a lower rated QB at the helm until he progresses enough to be able to throw the ball 30-40 times a game.
Source - Franchise Mode in Madden NFL 12

Everything else in this blog is excellent news and I'm happy that they've finally given Josh L. the freedom to bring his creative prowess to the mode that made him a "celebrity" in the Maddenverse(HeadCoachverse?)

But the feature quoted above is the one that's the most intriguing to me. I'm very happy to see that this has been included, and I'm going to be interested to see how this all plays out. For instance, with the Ravens, would Flacco finally get more plays that allow for him to have a Peyton-esque control of the offense after a certain number of seasons, and as Rice ages? Also, would a team that has O-line issues and a rookie QB adjust their gameplans to more run and play-action oriented plays depending on the strength of their RBs? Would an Andrew Luck-esque prospect be more pass-happy in year 2 depending on the strength of their reciever corps?

I'm obviously not expecting any answers to these questions, but I'm extremely excited about this as a feature. Props to Josh/AJ and the Franchise team. But the proof is in the pudding, so hopefully these are all executed well and things don't crap out in the 2014 NFL season. Hopefully in Madden 13, the interface is streamlined and scouting becomes more scheme-based(34 vs. 43, traditional timing-based WCO vs. a more vertical offense ala Coryell).

[JaySmooov]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Blog - Franchise Mode in Madden 12

yeah, that's what the franchise blog said, but how will it work. is it like +1 AWR -1 CTH? a trade off? just like that?

I'm thinking it'll be sort of how it was in previous Madden's, when you went to hire a Off. or Def. coordinator. They would have a position of focus (example: Mike Singletary focusing on LBs) and would upgrade specific position-related ratings. Though now, the Head Coaches would probably bring more of a global roster upgrade. (I could see getting a +2 AWR for hiring Bill Belichick/NE Coach) Hopefully it'll be explained more in-depth.

Dipping back into the behemoth that is this thread....

After a lot of thought and cyclical breathing to calm down somewhat, I realised without a specific feature being included I may still actually be on the fence about this Madden.

Does anyone know if there's a way to hide potential? Too many people have commented on this in the past to suggest it's not an issue for some that's a real sore point, but M11 was a constant game of "don't look at the screen" in the same way Tiger Woods 12 is being marred for me because of the putting circle. I understand the potential gets revealed after a couple of weeks, but that just means I'll be cutting guys after 4 weeks rather than instantly.

Just one on/off switch in the franchise options screen would make my day

Where are you reading that potential get's revealed after 4 weeks? If you're talking about after week 4 of the preseason, then that may be understandable. But there's really no reason to just keep cutting and re-signing players until you find all-A potential players.

1) You would seriously hurt your cap.
2) There isn't even a guarantee that the core of your roster, regardless, would have A potential ANYWAY. I'm thinking that most career backup types won't have B potential or A potential this year. Plus, with DDP and progression being production based - ALSO keeping in consideration who led the league at a certain stat AND the age group a player is in, a player with A potential might not even progress after one year, or it may just be slightly. (Example: If the leading rookie rusher is Mark Ingram, depending on how MUCH he rushes for could determine how much he AND the other rookies behind him progress. So if he rushes for 500 and breaks 10 tackles, he may get +2 in the break tackle area and awareness, etc. But If he rushes for 1000 yards and breaks 20 tackles, the points he gains could increase or double. To add to that, if I have the Cowboys and I kept DeMarco Murray on the bench all year, or gave him an insignificant amount of playing time, that wouldn't be enough to warrant progression that year, and I'm pretty sure Murray would have at least a B potential, since he was tabbed one of the most complete backs in the draft. But, if he ran for 200 yards, and 500 was the league high for rookies, then he may get a point here or there.

I'm really thinking this year we wont have a situation where there's all 90-99s across the board because progression is tied to production and age this year, as it should be. A guy may have the potential to be a Hall of Famer, but if he doesn't produce and live up to the hype, he won't be anything more than a bench warmer.
It remains to be seen if this is the case in Madden this year, but it's looking like random guys who didn't play (Example: That Asian QB who ALWAYS kept popping up as the top QB in FA after year 1) wont progress if they didn't play AND produce enough to warrant progression. I mean a guy may even REGRESS if he becomes an underachiever and doesn't get on the field (Example: Darrius Heyward-Bey, so far) or even a flat-out bust (Example: Vernon Gholston)

Only thing we can do is wait and see, but no doubt it sounds promising. A broken potential factor could be a deal-breaker, but if everything works out correctly, we could have the most immersive franchise mode in a sports game ever.

[JaySmooov]

Everything else in this blog is excellent news and I'm happy that they've finally given Josh L. the freedom to bring his creative prowess to the mode that made him a "celebrity" in the Maddenverse(HeadCoachverse?)

But the feature quoted above is the one that's the most intriguing to me. I'm very happy to see that this has been included, and I'm going to be interested to see how this all plays out. For instance, with the Ravens, would Flacco finally get more plays that allow for him to have a Peyton-esque control of the offense after a certain number of seasons, and as Rice ages? Also, would a team that has O-line issues and a rookie QB adjust their gameplans to more run and play-action oriented plays depending on the strength of their RBs? Would an Andrew Luck-esque prospect be more pass-happy in year 2 depending on the strength of their reciever corps?

I'm obviously not expecting any answers to these questions, but I'm extremely excited about this as a feature. Props to Josh/AJ and the Franchise team. But the proof is in the pudding, so hopefully these are all executed well and things don't crap out in the 2014 NFL season. Hopefully in Madden 13, the interface is streamlined and scouting becomes more scheme-based(34 vs. 43, traditional timing-based WCO vs. a more vertical offense ala Coryell).

I know I'm not an EA dev or anything, but I still want to give my opinion.

That was intriguing, even after reading it a second and third time to digest the info. I'm thinking Flacco is comfortable in the offense enough to where he'd throw around 30 times a game. Their offense isn't predicated around throwing the ball anyway, it's more run oriented. But if Flacco were to get hurt, they would tailor the offense down and basically have the back-up be a game manager, similar to how the Steelers treated the Big Ben situation.

Your second point is interesting also. Would a team like the Vikings, who has a rookie QB but outstanding weapons, have more of a scripted gameplan for Ponder until he grows and matures? More importantly, is this limited to just the CPU, or can WE do it as well? I'd like to think Viking fans don't want to throw the kitchen sink at Ponder when playing as him in a dynasty, with all the traits and hot/cold streaks. The same could be said for the Titans and Jags (Looking forward to building around Gabbert ) and Panther fans.

Also I could be wrong, but teams will scout guys and look for guys in FA that fit their schemes (or personalities - Raiders drafting speed). Teams that run a 3-4 won't look for 4-3 outside LBs.