What happened to "server based" online franchise updates?

[theironlung82]

from the "ratings czar"

"Above all else, the most important change is that Online Franchise is built around a server-based architecture. What that means is that very little support for the mode lives on the game disc itself?it lives online on our servers. The main reason we went that route was so we could add more features and do extra tweaks and tuning based on community feedback even after the game ships (so our fans don?t have to necessarily wait until Madden NFL 11 for something new to appear)."

http://insideblog.easports.com/archi...0-q-amp-a.aspx

calling a spade a spade









from gamspot back before M10 hit...

"That said, because the franchise information is server-based, it follows that the development folks at EA Tiburon will be able to add features (and, perhaps more importantly, fix bugs) throughout the life of the game. For example, when online franchise was introduced to the press last month, producers told us they were currently in the process of adding commissioner tools that would give a franchise commissioner more control over rosters (presumably for such things as moderating one-sided trades and the like)."

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/spor...&mode=previews

THE COMMUNITY HAS RESPONDED HERE ON OS-IF THE "SERVER BASED" UPDATES ARE REAL-SIMPLY LOOK THROUGH ONE OF MANY THREADS ON ONLINE FRANCHISE-AND FINALLY DELIVER ON YOUR HIGHLY TOUTED "SERVER UPDATES"


This was a highly touted aspect of online franchise, and after over 2 years with ZERO enhancements, i would really apprecite somebody stepping up with a legitimate answer...

[jmurphy31]

I think they had some staitstics that said most people dont play oinline franchsie so I am guessing they never wanted to invest time and resources into something the statistics say people dont care about. (Even though I think more people would play if they had a better online franchise)

[theironlung82]

im up to date with the company's excuses, but when implemented in M10 we were told how "easy" ANY updates would be because sever based no patch is needed...we were told M10 online franchise was bare-boned because they built the "base" server based and would improve....

In ALL there excuses ive never heard what happened to "server based" implementations they advertised to us and the media

[PGaither84]

Quote: Originally Posted by theironlung82

im up to date with the company's excuses, but when implemented in M10 we were told how "easy" ANY updates would be because sever based no patch is needed...we were told M10 online franchise was bare-boned because they built the "base" server based and would improve.... In ALL there excuses ive never heard what happened to "server based" implementations they advertised to us and the media

The thing is, just because you have your answer doesn't mean you have to like it. Simply put, they can do it... they just don't feel it is worth their time right now. It didn't go anywhere, it just isn't being put to use.

I think it is a double edged sword. The mode is boring, why would anyone really want to play it? So, since "no one" plays it, they don't work to make it playable.

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by PGaither84

The thing is, just because you have your answer doesn't mean you have to like it. Simply put, they can do it... they just don't feel it is worth their time right now. It didn't go anywhere, it just isn't being put to use. I think it is a double edged sword. The mode is boring, why would anyone really want to play it? So, since "no one" plays it, they don't work to make it playable.

That is probably as good as an explanation as any.

[Icarus2k9]

Quote: Originally Posted by PGaither84

The thing is, just because you have your answer doesn't mean you have to like it. Simply put, they can do it... they just don't feel it is worth their time right now. It didn't go anywhere, it just isn't being put to use. I think it is a double edged sword. The mode is boring, why would anyone really want to play it? So, since "no one" plays it, they don't work to make it playable.

Looks like that's what happened. Obviously I don't have numbers so this is the purest-cut speculation, but who knows what would have happened if everyone started playing Online Franchise from the start? Maybe EA were expecting greater numbers to take it up after a lot of grousing and quickly discovered not enough people were playing the barebones version. Then as a company do you devote constant resources to update something slavishly for a small fanbase, or concentrate on trying to bring new customers in for M11 when sales aren't being boosted by introducing more "hardcore" features?

Remember also this was the first "online pass" feature ever, IIRC (if not, ignore me) Those numbers using it weren't going to be boosted much by the used market who could go onto play now instead. You also had a lot of problems with International customers in M10 where the codes weren't in the boxes and it was down to ringing a hotline to rectify the situation. I know that's a tiny fraction of sales, but every one counts.

[Only1LT]

I'm confused. If it is a fact that "no one" plays it, and it isn't worth it to put any effort into it, then why are they working on it for 13 at all?

[GiantBlue76]

Quote: Originally Posted by Only1LT

I'm confused. If it is a fact that "no one" plays it, and it isn't worth it to put any effort into it, then why are they working on it for 13 at all?

Because that isn't really a fact. There are a lot of leagues out there. I am a league guy, and I have seen tons of them. TONS. League Manager ran over 2000 of them last year and didn't even really start from the release date. The way we get around the lacking features in OF is to use LM. Otherwise, online franchise is completely unplayable. Since there is no cpu logic, it makes it hard for casual league guys to maintain it if they don't have the full 32 teams. You have to do all of the work to manage the teams yourself (come up with your own salary cap system, keep track of penalties, salary numbers, cuts, trades, picks, etc. etc.). It's an absolute nightmare. That's why when LM came along, online franchise use started to really pick up and with the enhancements to it this year through working WITH EA it will be even larger. The thing that enraged a lot of folks, myself included, was the incredible audacity of the dev team to come out and say that no one used online "franchise", so they didn't work on it. That's like releasing a fancy car with no wheels and complaining that no one drove it so they weren't going to put the wheels on the following year. If something doesn't work or it's grossly incomplete, users won't use it. Then they put the onus on the consumer? The paying customer? It's an absolutely absurd and distorted point of view and it only garnered more angst towards them. Then they bitched about the angst. Head scratching.

In any event, with the improvements to League Manager for this year, I am excited to run my franchise. It's an incredibly fun way to play. Next year their better be one franchise mode that is not online or offline, it's just always both. You can play single player up to 32 other players. They play through the network. That simple. Everybody's happy, including the development team, since they don't have to maintain two separate franchise modes and have duplicate code.