What is the deal with franchise?

[Toupal]

So, I have been playing in NBA 2k's myLeague, and needless to say, comparing it to madden's career mode, it really puts it to shame.

I want to know the communities thoughts on this.

[DeuceDouglas]

Re: What is the deal with franchise?

They consolidated the modes which, at the time, was a good idea but turned out being a huge step back for franchise mode as a whole. The biggest problem with it has been that instead of building on any kind of depth within the mode they chose to consistently go all-in on goals, confidence and XP. Even with things like the overhaul this year in menus it seems like everything is still overly vague and cumbersome. It's just not a well put together mode and could honestly use another complete ground-up rebuild with a completely different focus but that isn't going to happen any time soon.

[msdm27]

Re: What is the deal with franchise?

The deal with franchise (CFM) is: They're trying to save something that is beyond repair.

Good idea, poor execution, to put it simply.

Funny how, for a game that is known for launching things one year and then scratching them shortly thereafter, they've just refused to scratch CFM altogether. It's simply not a good mode! You will find people who enjoy the experience but that's simply because they put all the imagination in the world into making it a decent franchise experience. It's as if the game forces you to employ 32 team control, only that the mode is built to make 32 team control as troublesome as possible :/

But heck, in the end I can understand why they decide to stick with "the vision" of the mode and try to salvage it... What's really discouraging, at least for me, is the fact that even the new things being added are flawed in ways that make you think ZERO time was put into thinking them through.

Biggest example in this year's CFM: Sim-a-win and drive goals

This is something they introduced this year, it's something new... When I read about sim-a-win, I was like "Ohhh snap, that's cool" but then I went to test it and every single score is like 75-3

The drive goals thing... I mean, WOW! This was the main addition to the mode and look how it turned out. I'm not even talking about the absurd confidence boosts... Let's just say that's a bug that could happen to any game (NOT)

What drives me crazy is how little thought was put behind the feature: "Allow less than 30 rushing yds this drive".... Then you go on to allow a 80 yd td pass and all of the sudden... DRIVE GOAL ACHIEVED!

Like seriously, someone should be fired over that... again, that was the main addition to the mode!
I mean, you needed 2 minutes of testing to find out the feature is broken... but nope, nothing done to it after two patches. That just shows a complete lack of awareness and attention to detail.

I'm probably gonna get reprimanded for this but I'll be as respectful as possible: CFM concept was introduced by one person, let's call him PERSON A, and it was, as I mentioned earlier "good idea, bad execution", then when they hired someone else to help turn the good idea into a good product, PERSON A was given a testing/tuning role... Guess what, the game was awfully tuned and bug filled... See a pattern here?

Next year will be very telling for the future IMO... At some point they have to accept defeat with this and get the right people for the job.

[ggsimmonds]

Re: What is the deal with franchise?

It seems the gameplay team understands the desires and wishes of their consumers.

The team behind CFM seems to be oblivious to what the community wants.

[kse79x]

Re: What is the deal with franchise?

It seems the gameplay team understands the desires and wishes of their consumers.

The team behind CFM seems to be oblivious to what the community wants.

I really think some of the Devs should join one of the popular leagues or at least talk to those who run them and play them. I know at least one dev says he plays in a league(s), but if that is the case, I can't imagine him not understanding what is needed to improve/fix/make CFM better.

But maybe it's not a matter of them not knowing. Maybe they do know and just have other priorities or think they can get by with the minimum.

There are a lot of things they could do to make CFM better. But I dont think they feel they need to. When they ignore simple things (Auto_subs that havent ever worked, backing out of certain menus resets the previous screen, the basic MaddenCFM site that hardly allows you to do anything.

[tubaSimulator]

Re: What is the deal with franchise?

I agree, they need to rebuild the entire franchise and when doing so they should have a look at what actually goes on in the NFL and try to replicate that. Rookie training camp, training camp, accurate roster size during preseason, accurate cut days (seriously, how hard is THAT to get right??), more contract options and not just the outdated contract type Madden has been offering for years and so on and so on. Right now if feels like they haven't paid attention to the real NFL for a decade and they're just making stuff up as they go along. That makes for an inaccurate game mode that lacks depth.

[T5063]

Re: What is the deal with franchise?

I'm an offline franchise only player and I'm currently enjoying madden 16 despite all the CFM issues and shortcomings only because the on-field game play is really good.

However, if there isn't a major shift in their approach to Franchise in M17, and I mean a totally new direction, I will be skipping that game. I'm just sick of how hollow the mode is. They made a few changes this year but apart from the scouting everything was cosmetic, underneath the new-look menus everything is pretty much the same. Lipstick on a pig perfectly describes the situation.

[RumbleCard]

Re: What is the deal with franchise?

The whole XP, confidence and RPG aspect of team building is an antiquated concept. They don't seem to understand this.

EA keeps building on top of this "level up" approach and goal oriented tasks which is 100% the opposite direction of what 2K has built. Collectively I believe even the average buyer is looking for a more organic approach to progression and player development.

[Hooe]

Re: What is the deal with franchise?

There is no high-level problem with Connected Franchise, it is not high-level broken.

The design of the mode values three things equally:

- competitive multiplayer experience
- feature parity for both online and offline variations of the mode
- authenticity to the experience of managing an NFL team over multiple seasons

In comparison: NBA 2K absolutely nails the hell out of the third point. However, it has completely separate modes for online and offline experiences - MyCareer is different from MyGM which is different from offline MyLeague which is different from online MyLeague. You can't play MyCareer or MyGM multiplayer, and online MyLeague doesn't feature a draft or free agency. That's not the case with Madden NFL at all; Connected Franchise is the same experience for everyone regardless of desired mode of play. There is value to that being the case.

The trade-off is that, to this point, Madden hasn't nailed point #3 to the extent that other sports games have. It takes a fair amount of effort to make sure everything works online and offline. They will need to do better on that going forward, and I fully expect that they will if the evolution of the core gameplay over the past four development cycles is any indication.

[tubaSimulator]

Re: What is the deal with franchise?

The whole XP, confidence and RPG aspect of team building is an antiquated concept. They don't seem to understand this.

EA keeps building on top of this "level up" approach and goal oriented tasks which is 100% the opposite direction of what 2K has built. Collectively I believe even the average buyer is looking for a more organic approach to progression and player development.

This ^

They had an xp system in FIFA 09 but already in FIFA 10 it was scrapped, I'm guessing because they realized how completely unrealistic it was that you could use points to make a player much better in one or two specific attributes over night. It's like the different departments within EA don't communicate or are even aware of each other's games. They seriously need to learn from each other.

[T5063]

Re: What is the deal with franchise?

There is no high-level problem with Connected Franchise, it is not high-level broken.

The design of the mode values three things equally:

- competitive multiplayer experience
- feature parity for both online and offline variations of the mode
- authenticity to the experience of managing an NFL team over multiple seasons

In comparison: NBA 2K absolutely nails the hell out of the third point. However, it has completely separate modes for online and offline experiences - MyCareer is different from MyGM which is different from offline MyLeague which is different from online MyLeague. You can't play MyCareer or MyGM multiplayer, and online MyLeague doesn't feature a draft or free agency. That's not the case with Madden NFL at all; Connected Franchise is the same experience for everyone regardless of desired mode of play. There is value to that being the case.

The trade-off is that, to this point, Madden hasn't nailed point #3 to the extent that other sports games have. It takes a fair amount of effort to make sure everything works online and offline. They will need to do better on that going forward, and I fully expect that they will if the evolution of the core gameplay over the past four development cycles is any indication.

Yup, that's the problem. Madden has one franchise mode geared towards both online and offline and the limitations of one handcuff the other. For example, offline guys would love a ticker showing out of town scores but you can't have that with CFM because the games aren't played in real time. They are simmed when you advance a week. This is a online design for multiplayer leagues where games are played at different times.

[Hooe]

Re: What is the deal with franchise?

Yup, that's the problem. Madden has one franchise mode geared towards both online and offline and the limitations of one handcuff the other. For example, offline guys would love a ticker showing out of town scores but you can't have that with CFM because the games aren't played in real time. They are simmed when you advance a week. This is a online design for multiplayer leagues where games are played at different times.

NCAA Football 14 pulled off an out-of-town score ticker in online Dynasty just fine, for the record, so it's not impossible. Overall, however, I hear the spirit of your point.

[roadman]

Re: What is the deal with franchise?

Also, Pro-Am in 2k seems to be unplayable or takes a long time to just walk onto.

First, I don't think it's time to cut the ties with a person who just started as the leader of CFM on this Madden.

Second, I think it gives me a bit more hope the direction that CFM might be headed in from this interview that people must have forgot about or didn't see 6 weeks ago from Rex Dickson.

Start listening at the 17:00 mark till the end.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nJlg4SKHfy8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[BadAssHskr]

Re: What is the deal with franchise?

madden keeps my attention for pretty much all of my gaming needs, that being said, i have never had the desire to play the 2k16 games i keep hearing about.

i don't think madden is terrible as it stands, but i'm always welcome to updated changes, etc.

i almost want to buy 2k16 just to look at what it has to offer, it always sounds pretty positive.

[BaseballJunkie]

Re: What is the deal with franchise?

I hope it's just a case of "frying the bigger fish" (gameplay) this year, and franchise/season/playoff modes move up to primary priority for next year. I remember when MVP Baseball first came out the only thing that it had going for it was gameplay. Within a couple of years, it was the best overall baseball game available.


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