What's truly missing from CFM and every other Franchise Mode

[Kanobi]

As far as football is concerned, Player Personalities is the biggest thing missing from franchise mode. The players currently still seem like bots that don't react off the field to the changing world around them, from immediate roster/coaching staff changes...to players at the same position on other teams getting bigger contracts.

Developers are on the right track with player traits for in-game performance. But they need to develop player mental traits as well. Is this guy a loner or a mentor? Is he a quiet, lead-by-example guy or a rah-rah, vocal leader? Is this guy passionate about the game or is he just a headcase? Then...give those personalities an arc that changes/develops over the course of the players career based on their performance and what occurs around them.

And then take it another step in how those different personalities co-exist on a team...and then how they collectively respond to the coach.

To me, this is what will ultimately immerse gamers in CFM or any other franchise mode. I could imagine being at work thinking about how to deal with benching my aging veteran qb who's deteriorating skills are holding the team back. I drafted him when he was just an immature, out-of-control punk with a golden arm. Now he's got some maturity, gray in his hair, and four Super Bowl rings with this team.

Even if the qb understands the move...will management understand? How about the fans?....Or the media? ...How will this sit with the locker room? I mean...I've had a few players (vocal leader traits) approach me privately and suggest a change at qb but do they represent the majority or the minority?

The above is EXACTLY the type of decisions and thought process that future CFM/ franchise modes should be forcing on the user. That would make every little victory in the game that much more meaningful and emotionally rewarding. Above all it's ultimate immersion in the game because suddenly...the user will genuinely CARE about every player on the team.

[Sturzinator]

Sounds fantastic......but....

You're expecting this from a developer that can't consistently get the wind direction pointer correct or replicate a proper punt into the wind?

[Kanobi]

Quote: Originally Posted by Sturzinator

Sounds fantastic......but.... You're expecting this from a developer that can't consistently get the wind direction pointer correct or replicate a proper punt into the wind?

Yep and any other developer of a console sports game with a franchise/GM mode...

[Rocket32]

If anyone's franchise mode has a shot at getting this great and detailed anytime soon I think it's 2K to be honest. 2K is light years ahead of EA and the The Shows devs in franchise mode depth and detail. If any game eventually reaches that point it will be 2K first in my opinion. Madden is still pretty far off from having the detail and customization 2K's MyLeague has currently so I can't see it making it to that point anytime soon. Especially with the way EA treats CFM and offline.

Plus theirs still huge gameplay issues that need to be fixed such as QB accuracy, sliders not working correctly, CPU punts, and other things. CFM is so shallow it's gonna be a while before we get anywhere near that point. What you described is at a dream franchise mode level of depth and detail in my opinion. I think we are a bit off from that point in all sports games franchise modes.

[underdog13]

When thinking of important features cfm is missing. Off the field player personalities don't really jump to mind. At least in my head.

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[Mattanite]

I love this idea, but it needs to be implemented well or it could cause game breaking bugs. Like when confidence used to give skills over 100 in game. I also love the overall team chemistry/makeup idea, it means you might pick or pass on drafting a guy you think might cause problems or don't sign that free agent if they don't fit the rest.


A limited version might be easier to work with (considering EA) where personalities affect their position groups for a start, like the ageing C for the OL, or the mouthy WR in the receiving group (like a TO).

[ForUntoOblivionSoar∞]

Quote: Originally Posted by Kanobi

As far as football is concerned, Player Personalities is the biggest thing missing from franchise mode. The players currently still seem like bots that don't react off the field to the changing world around them, from immediate roster/coaching staff changes...to players at the same position on other teams getting bigger contracts. Developers are on the right track with player traits for in-game performance. But they need to develop player mental traits as well. Is this guy a loner or a mentor? Is he a quiet, lead-by-example guy or a rah-rah, vocal leader? Is this guy passionate about the game or is he just a headcase? Then...give those personalities an arc that changes/develops over the course of the players career based on their performance and what occurs around them. And then take it another step in how those different personalities co-exist on a team...and then how they collectively respond to the coach. To me, this is what will ultimately immerse gamers in CFM or any other franchise mode. I could imagine being at work thinking about how to deal with benching my aging veteran qb who's deteriorating skills are holding the team back. I drafted him when he was just an immature, out-of-control punk with a golden arm. Now he's got some maturity, gray in his hair, and four Super Bowl rings with this team. Even if the qb understands the move...will management understand? How about the fans?....Or the media? ...How will this sit with the locker room? I mean...I've had a few players (vocal leader traits) approach me privately and suggest a change at qb but do they represent the majority or the minority? The above is EXACTLY the type of decisions and thought process that future CFM/ franchise modes should be forcing on the user. That would make every little victory in the game that much more meaningful and emotionally rewarding. Above all it's ultimate immersion in the game because suddenly...the user will genuinely CARE about every player on the team.

They started going this way back around Madden 25 with the hand-crafted draft classes (but unfortunately they didn't continue the story lines past the draft). But naturally people complained about knowing how good the drafted players would be, which led to numerous online Franchise implosions, culminating in the soul-less draft we have now.

That said, I wish they would bring elements of this back, and beyond merely the draft.

[DeuceDouglas]

Madden 06 for Xbox/PS2 had a morale system that was decent for its time that was somewhat representative of a player personality. If your team was losing or a player wasn't getting much playing time they'd become upset and come re-signing time, they'd absolutely refuse to negotiate or if they were still under contract they'd holdout or demand trades. It wasn't that deep but was something that definitely something that could have been built on over the years to effect things like you mentioned like a benching of a quarterback and such.