Madden 19 Connected Franchise Breakdown

[Steve_OS]

We all remember the days when franchise mode was exciting in Madden. After every game, we’d...

Written By: Josh Houtz

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[feeq14]

Re: Madden 19 Connected Franchise Breakdown

The franchise mode got shafted again. It's incredibly disappointing because sooooo many other elements have been refined and improved. I can't believe I'll be waiting another year for franchise mode to mean something AGAIN. It's fun becuase the game is fun. The new ratings, depth chart stuff, and schemes and tweaks to cpu ai are much better, but everything beyond that is exactly the same. The scheme stuff is cute but shallow. CPU ai still don't seem to game plan much, and everything is static aside from me staring at my coach.

[Therebelyell626]

Re: Madden 19 Connected Franchise Breakdown

My two cents... I've had the game for just over two weeks and Franchise mode is already stale fore me. This is not a good sign. Considering it's the only mode I play this game will probably be out of rotation soon

[Crazy Packers Fan]

This sucks. Franchise mode is the only mode I care about. In the PS2/Xbox days, the biggest flaw with Franchise mode is that it only lasted 30 seasons. Now it's something if I even play 3 seasons. Please, EA, bring back the magic in Franchise mode.

[janspants]

I played Madden for three days and grew tired. I love franchise modes, but this year's Madden is dull. I was excited to try out the archetype player upgrading system, but I cannot figure out how to upgrade my players when I simulate a week. The player progression screen only appears after I finish playing a game. The My Team menu does not list an option to spend player xp, or in this case improve archetypes, as in Madden 18. It's frustrating.

[Smokewood]

Re: Madden 19 Connected Franchise Breakdown

How does franchise mode work online with friends?
In 2012 I remember trying to have a draft at the beginning on the season and being very frustrated that I only had like 30 seconds to make my pick.

Anyone have any good details yet?

I am waiting for 2 friends to buy the game and get ready to go.

[SilverBullet19]

Re: Madden 19 Connected Franchise Breakdown

I played Madden for three days and grew tired. I love franchise modes, but this year's Madden is dull. I was excited to try out the archetype player upgrading system, but I cannot figure out how to upgrade my players when I simulate a week. The player progression screen only appears after I finish playing a game. The My Team menu does not list an option to spend player xp, or in this case improve archetypes, as in Madden 18. It's frustrating.

Not sure why you decided to type this so large...

Anyway, although guys earn XP, they don't earn an upgrade each week. I have had weeks where I upgrade 5 guys, sometimes 1, sometimes none. So perhaps it's just you didn't have anyone to upgrade after simming? You also don't spend XP anymore, you gather XP, and once you have enough for a skill point, you apply the skill point.

Personally, I think franchise isn't deep enough to enjoy without playing the games myself, so I haven't run into this issue.

I think this article is a fair breakdown. There's still a lot left to be desired in franchise, but there are a couple improvements.

[howboutdat]

Re: Madden 19 Connected Franchise Breakdown

"At the end of the day, Madden 19‘s Connected Franchise mode isn’t much different than those that came before. It’s still a watered down version from other sports video games and has clearly been put on the back burner for Madden Ultimate Team."


That sums it all up for me personally as far as CFM goes.Just sad . They have yet to even release the MCA yet , but they sure pushed out a new madden mobile , with new engine and all. Yet the MCA has nothing new , and cant release it .... because its mostly CFM related.... Just rather sad.

[Hooe]

Re: Madden 19 Connected Franchise Breakdown

After every game, we’d rush to see what the latest newspaper said about our favorite team. Shortly after, we would spend our time listening endlessly to the Tony Bruno Show.

We did? I remember those newspapers having cut-and-paste headlines and prefab scripts no better than the Twitter feature we have today (in fact, the Twitter feature is more versatile than the newspapers were, it can more types of news blurbs) and I remember the Tony Bruno show as repetitive background noise.

I'd prefer we were nostalgic for features worth the time reminiscing about.

Nowadays, Connected Franchise Mode has been put on the back burner for more popular modes like Madden Ultimate Team and Draft Champions.

Someone let me know what Tiburon has done in Draft Champions since it was introduced.

Someone also let me know what mountain of changes Ultimate Team has received which have put Franchise "on the back burner".

Seriously, this is a completely false narrative. It's truly disappointing that OS writers are parroting it. A simple comparison of the change logs between Franchise and the other game modes puts this lazy fairy tale to rest quickly.

As to be clear - this is not me calling Franchise mode perfect. It's missing a number of things. There are bells and whistles I want to see added and changed. Let's start our criticism from reality, that's all I ask.

[Hooe]

Re: Madden 19 Connected Franchise Breakdown

That sums it all up for me personally as far as CFM goes.Just sad . They have yet to even release the MCA yet , but they sure pushed out a new madden mobile , with new engine and all. Yet the MCA has nothing new , and cant release it .... because its mostly CFM related.... Just rather sad.

It wouldn't surprise me honestly if the MCA was a single overburdened engineer's pet project. Madden Mobile, on the other hand, has a full-fledged dev team behind it. There's no basis for comparison.

[goillini03]

Re: Madden 19 Connected Franchise Breakdown

We did? I remember those newspapers having cut-and-paste headlines and prefab scripts no better than the Twitter feature we have today (in fact, the Twitter feature is more versatile than the newspapers were, it can more types of news blurbs) and I remember the Tony Bruno show as repetitive background noise.



I'd prefer we were nostalgic for features worth the time reminiscing about.







Someone let me know what Tiburon has done in Draft Champions since it was introduced.



Someone also let me know what mountain of changes Ultimate Team has received which have put Franchise "on the back burner".



Seriously, this is a completely false narrative. It's truly disappointing that OS writers are parroting it. A simple comparison of the change logs between Franchise and the other game modes puts this lazy fairy tale to rest quickly.



As to be clear - this is not me calling Franchise mode perfect. It's missing a number of things. There are bells and whistles I want to see added and changed. Let's start our criticism from reality, that's all I ask.

The change log for franchise will look pretty weak and half baked if you do so. Not to mention the number of hours each mode get dedicated to it during the full cycle will show a discrepancy. I get the MUT generates money, but they put a ton of resources into the mode year round.

[janspants]

Not sure why you decided to type this so large... 
Anyway, although guys earn XP, they don't earn an upgrade each week. I have had weeks where I upgrade 5 guys, sometimes 1, sometimes none. So perhaps it's just you didn't have anyone to upgrade after simming? You also don't spend XP anymore, you gather XP, and once you have enough for a skill point, you apply the skill point.
Personally, I think franchise isn't deep enough to enjoy without playing the games myself, so I haven't run into this issue.
I think this article is a fair breakdown. There's still a lot left to be desired in franchise, but there are a couple improvements.

Thanks.

I simmed an entire season and never had the option to upgrade any player. I even had xp sliders turned up.

[digitalrock]

I am so glad I stopped buying madden years ago...all they care about is pushing MUT for those microtransactions.....In fact I stopped buying EA products and I am not missing much,.

[timhere1970]

Re: Madden 19 Connected Franchise Breakdown

It wouldn't surprise me honestly if the MCA was a single overburdened engineer's pet project. Madden Mobile, on the other hand, has a full-fledged dev team behind it. There's no basis for comparison.

What some people call bells and whistles are fundamentals to others. I have seen some things i like this year but wanting things from over a decade ago i wouldn't call bells and whistles. Franchise mode in Madden is nothing close to what a video game should be for the most popular sport in the country in 2018. Not even close. I will take what improvement i can get but i wouldn't have been satisfied with this franchise mode in 2003.

[Giants4Life]

Re: Madden 19 Connected Franchise Breakdown

Hi there,
Long time reader, first time poster.

I am finding this years franchise pretty much unplayable. Every new feature is hosed and either is broken, poorly executed, or just doesn't work as advertised.

So yea, Franchise stinks this year again and will continue to stink, so how do we fix this? or do we just deal with it year after year after year.