Madden NFL 10: Online Franchise Q&A with Donny Moore

[Matrix-Monkey]

Sounds good. Do you guys have any idea how many major updates you'll do to the mode during the year?

Also could someone please just post a screenshot of the OFFLINE draft and scouting screens. Have they changed at all?

Thanks.

P.S. Ignore the haters you've guys have done A LOT this year. While criticisms are fine some people are way too over the top with their self importance.

[g2thecore]

Quote: Originally Posted by ProjectSRT

Im sure this is a dumb question and has prob been answered somewhere, but i noticed we wont be able to edit players in our online franchise, but what about our OFFline franchise? We can still edit players right?

Yes, this has been confirmed by Ian a while back.

[g2thecore]

Quote: Originally Posted by Matrix-Monkey

Sounds good. Do you guys have any idea how many major updates you'll do to the mode during the year? Also could someone please just post a screenshot of the OFFLINE draft and scouting screens. Have they changed at all? Thanks. P.S. Ignore the haters you've guys have done A LOT this year. While criticisms are fine some people are way too over the top with their self importance.

I'd like to see those too.

[FadeEmAll]

All I wanted was an official word from the developers and it looks like I finally got it. Though the situation is less than ideal, it looks like they may find a way to make it better in time. I appreciate the update Ian, Donny and the rest of the crew. You did a good job putting in Online FRanchise this year and hopefully the first thing you do is look at adding the Salary Cap 1st and then trade logic. Again thanks for the word Ian.

[Joborule]

Thanks for the post, gives some more insight onto whats in store for Online Franchise.

However I really hope that you guys are busting your asses to get contracts and salary cap into online franchise by launch, because the feature will lose it's novelty about what franchise mode is all about. How can you go through full 10 years without having to manage the amount of superstars on your team, or ever have to give a big payday to a performing player? Teams are just going to be stacked with a bunch of 80s and 90s OVR players that aren't going anywhere for half of the 10 years. Sure, it would be nice for people that wants a league where each starter is a superstar, but for authentic pursuits, this mode is going to lose a lot of it's flavour because of this necessity. The mode isn't complete until this is done.

Having online franchise around is nice, but I won't be able to fully get into it until I have to deal with player contracts and salary cap. Thats when the whole team managment aspect kicks in.

[Ian_Cummings]

To be clear...we're not being secretive on 'offline' franchise. We've just been working hard and haven't had time to talk about it. We will report more in the coming months...but to make sure expectations are clear, our franchise goals were:

1. Fix all the things that have been totally broken (progression, cap room, etc)
2. Make CPU teams actually manage their roster correctly (draft, FA, etc)
3. Make every game feel different through different presentation (and CPU AI)
4. Streamline the interface overall
5. Bring important news forward to the user (instead of burying it 10 layers deep in screens) via the Franchise Hub and via the Extra Point
6. Make scouting worth using
7. Make depth matter via ratings stretching and injuries
8. Make the draft interesting again
9. Do a bunch of other small fixes and additions.
10. Get Franchise mode online!

Donny and Josh are the guys to ask here as they own these modes and are way more qualified than I am to answer. But we really wanted to make this mode fun to play again, and make it a totally different experience while traveling around the league and playing week to week. We do that through a number of different avenues whether it is commentary, stat banners, cut scenes, or whatever. Josh made the statement at the beginning of the year about not building a house on a crumbling foundation - that analogy is 100% true...we definitely spent more time on fixing old broken stuff than adding new features...but there's no way we, in good conscience, could put out another Franchise mode with a few more bells and whistles on top while players didn't progress after a good year (for example).

I don't want to make it seem like we didn't do anything with offline franchise...we did...but I also want to make sure people aren't expecting Head Coach 09 in the game.

Any more questions, direct them to Donny.

[FadeEmAll]

I really don't know where this idea came from that they wouldnt focus on offline franchise. The only real question I've had since this process began was would they put online franchise in. It's been apparent to me since the beginning that every aspect of the game would be revitalized...and I'm the biggest "*****" of them all..LOLOL

[ProjectSRT]

You and your team are doing a FANTASTIC job Mr. Cummings. You guys have completely re-converted me to a Madden fan, and i havent even played 2010 yet. Great job, keep up the great work.