Your Franchise House Rules

[gausec]

What are your house rules to make your Franchise modes more difficult? I think it's discussed in previous threads that some of us are looking for a deeper challenge in franchise mode. I'll start with mine.

• No switching on defense, now I have to rely on the CPU to bail me out.
• No trading vets away for picks under a 3rd (unless it's a QB)
• No extending my players till the offseason.

[stinkubus]

I make sparing use of blitzes and I never send more than 5 rushers at an AI QB.

I turn injuries and the salary cap off.

The salary cap should never be an issue for a competent human player to begin with, so the only thing it can do is hamstring the AI. This is exactly what happens. Teams end up carrying so much dead money that top-flight FAs can frequently be had for peanuts. No one with a need at their position will have any cap space.

Injuries massively derail AI development. If you want to see this in action for yourself run a few 10 year sims with injuries on and then run a few more with injuries off. The quality OL, QB, and superstar players at all positions should increase league wide.

[gausec]

Quote: Originally Posted by stinkubus

I make sparing use of blitzes and I never send more than 5 rushers at an AI QB. I turn injuries and the salary cap off. The salary cap should never be an issue for a competent human player to begin with, so the only thing it can do is hamstring the AI. This is exactly what happens. Teams end up carrying so much dead money that top-flight FAs can frequently be had for peanuts. No one with a need at their position will have any cap space. Injuries massively derail AI development. If you want to see this in action for yourself run a few 10 year sims with injuries on and then run a few more with injuries off. The quality OL, QB, and superstar players at all positions should increase league wide.

I never thought about the cap piece. That's a great point! I've often toyed with the idea of controlling all 32 teams to keep things well managed but it makes it less fun. Plus I rationalize it that if the CPU took Love with Rodgers I would of been like what a dumb pick but now just try to have fun.

[trey2k198003]

I really dont have crazy house rules I have taken this and that from others.

At the end of the season I really i let one 80 plus player walk. It is hard, but makes the game fun. If I win a super bowl I will let two people walk.

In the off season I will sign one 85 and up player and 85-75 3 at the most and 75 and under as many as I want. When my team is really good then I will limit my self a little further on FA.

On trades I over pay and make sure the team I am trading is not getting 2 80 plus rated young qbs ya know.

I believe in the sim game so if I am using my RB and he has over 200 yds or getting up there and we are up by alot I sub 300-350 with qbs unless we are in a tight game.

iF i am up by enough I run chew clock earlier than the 4th so I dont run up.the score.

There are alot of ideas out there that are WAY more hardcore than I am if you want to push yourself a little bit more. Go broncos!

[swenk16]

We have a few house rules we abide by to keep the game challenging and keep User teams from quickly creating a powerhouse team.

Each User team is only allowed 4 players that rated 90+ ... this really leads to some extremely difficult decisions when it comes to personnel and what is needed for the team. Kickers and Punters don't count towards it. We also can't trade them away for picks. We would end up stockpiling picks like crazy if we were allowed to do that, so we have to just release them. Because of this, we always clear cap penalties.

We can sign only 1 Free Agent during the FA Signing period ... we implemented this one because we felt like we could literally sign any FA we wanted to and the CPU wouldn't compete much with us for it. We could easily outbid them every time. Since we are only allowed to sign 1 during this time, it really makes us consider who we are signing and how it can help the team. Once the FA Signing period is over and the season starts, there is no restriction to the FA at that time.

No stockpiling picks are allowed ... There was one season I had literally 5 1st Rd picks! So we made a rule that each team can only have 3 1st Rd picks in a 2-year period. Meaning if you had three in one draft, you had to trade away your next years 1st round and were not allowed to have a 1st round pick in the following draft year.

The salary cap is always a non-issue, which is the biggest reason we made the "90-Rule." This basically serves as our salary cap.

It's interesting to me the different things different people implement into their franchises. Everyone is different and each franchise has its' own identity. It's interesting.

[Creasy1010]

I only scout the first two traits for the draft, and rely on those two attributes and the combine to draft

No signing players until end of the season

No coach xp upgrades (trades, scouting, training stuff)

Never switch players on defense as stated by someone else.

I also modify all rookies after the draft (so everyone doesn't look basically the same with equipment, helps add immersion and more of a realistic feel to remember certain players for me)

Sent from my moto z3 using Operation Sports mobile app

[ForUntoOblivionSoar∞]

I get pretty destroyed on defense with Sabo’s mod unless I switch on some zone coverages after the ball is thrown.

I did assemble a super team on my most recent Franchise to see how easy it makes things, but I cheated several times (tanking to get 1sts, trading vets for 1sts, etc), signing free agents I didn’t need, etc. Turns out having three number 1 receivers actually makes offense easy.

Next time; however, I won’t simulate seasons and tank and I’ll see if I can do it honestly.

[Nickda55]

My house rules:

In-Game

Only choose from the 3 plays given to me from the Coach Suggestions Playcall Screen (Do not cycle)

Only aim horizontally for kicking FG's

Only do Fake FG's, Punts when suggested from Playcall Screen

Only go for it on 4th down when suggested from Playcall Screen

I do not No-Huddle (Unless spiking the ball to stop clock)

Franchise:
I only trade with CPU from Trade Block

I do not Scout Players in season (only in the off-season, after Free Agency Stage 1)

When scouting, I have to scout all 3 traits of a player.

I resign players weekly (I do not wait until EOY)

I Auto-Set my Depth Chart (If a player I want to start is below another player I have on my team, I typically cut that higher rated player for CPU)

Do not pause during the draft (Trading up is pretty much impossible, but I enjoy going against the clock to make my pick)

During Free Agency, I cannot edit my bid till I advance to the next week. Keeps me from cheating the CPU.

I think that is it lol. It's a lot of "House Rules" - But I try to limit myself, to make Franchise Team Building a bit harder for myself, and to be on par with the CPU as much as possible.