Biggest Disappointment in 2023: Franchise Modes

[Steve_OS]

It was not very challenging finding things to be bummed out about with sports games in...

Written By: Chase Becotte

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[Instant C1a55ic]

If they could edit the draft scripting in NFL 2K5, I wouldn't play any other football game.

Sent from my SM-F946U using Operation Sports mobile app

[reyes the roof]

The one thing that drives me nuts more than anything else in this game is the amount of injury stoppages. The amount of injuries is fine, but the clock stops way too much. If I have a a lead and I’m trying to run out the clock it’s all but guaranteed that I’ll have a player get injured and stop the clock if it’s under 3 minutes

[Btj98]

I think the biggest reason for this is that all of these franchise modes feel dead and lifeless. From Madden to NBA 2k to MLB the show, none of these games make you feel like you are in your own world with dynamic elements.

The best thing we have currently is NBA 2k eras but even that can be disappointing at times with the wacky CPU. IMO the best franchise modes had a very interactive news feed and and proper player morale systems to make the game feel alive. NFL 2k5, Madden 05-07, NCAA 06, and NBA 2k11-14 had it almost perfect with how dynamic those games felt. Hell even Madden 25 had a great news feed itself especially with it being on the first tab in that franchise mode. MLB the Show has never had a great news feed imo but the games that felt most alive was from MLB 16 -20 when they had the player morale system and I believe MLB 16 was the first to introduce the big trade or signing notification in the mode.

To me all of these dynamic elements from the news feed that the player sees to the players and coaches having actual dynamic personalities , and to even shocking retirements and injuries is what could make franchise mode really be great again.

[darthredskin]

I know it's a tired take but it's been true for the past 10 years. If they put even half the effort they put into seasonal NFT/Ultimate Team modes, Franchise Modes would be in a good place. Outdated broken legacy code and trying to put band-aids on broken bones isn't working.

The only game that has made any substantial progress is 2K with its era mode, which is really freaking neat. Imagine if Madden or MLB had that feature...

[MizzouRah]

I think the franchise mode in M24 is the best in any sports sim.

I'm 6 years into my Broncos CFM and I'm amazed how good the CPU teams are at drafting and signing players. I've been to the playoffs once, last season, and lost in the AFC Championship.

This season we are struggling right of the gate at 1-2.

In past Madden games, once I build a great team, it's SB win after SB win.

[canes21]

Now that franchise mode has been patched and works, I also feel it is in a pretty good place, especially for Madden and compared to games like NHL and The Show. There are still numerous things I would either like to add to the game or overhaul completely. Teams are making draft picks and free agency signings that make sense, they are using their cap space. It's nice to see after the sad state the franchise mode was in for years.

Yes, I would absolutely love to see the morale system and scenario engine expanded on in a major way. I would love to see restricted free agency make a return. I'd love to see GM's be introduced into the game with different profiles that led to them all behaving differently. I'd love to see multi-year plans in place for teams to have versus them analyzing where they sit on an annual level so that they can make moves that set them up better years down the road on purpose.

I can think of a million ideas that would enhance the experience for myself, but I will give credit to EA and say that after the patches and years of frustration, the mode is finally in a spot where I can actually get years into a franchise mode and not get bored because I am the clear best team in the league and can't be stopped. It's nice seeing the CPU build competent rosters that can compete as well as mine. That alone makes the mode better than it has been the past decade alone.

[khaliib]

The driving force behind much of the negative issues we all will note about Franchise, stems from game developers entering into contracts with brands (teams & their assets and/or players) where their game “must” represent these brands in a positive manner.

If you look at every Franchise mode across all sports that’s affixed to a brand, the game is developed so that “bad” teams/players can not exist within the Franchise Ecosystem.

Every branded player/teams is playable to a point where the User can outright accomplish winning the ultimate goal of that sport with little challenge.

There’s no eb-n-flow because game design will not let the interacting experience fall below the designed min digression/regression level.

The ideology is that it is not Fun for a gamer to have to actually grind to win a game, let alone multiple games over the course of the season.

This is very evident in Madden where no matter if your opponent is AI or another User, so many wonky, nonsensical moments occur as their game design forces the game/outcomes into what they call “Balanced” game state, which is their nice way of saying no bad teams/players can exist because it must be fun for all that play their game.

When you look at players/teams across all sports, you’ll notice that there’s little/no “negative” traits/skills applied that have an actual in-game negative impact.

Todays gamers are also the problem because any perceived negative instance that could/does occur IRL, is quickly dismissed, complained and labeled as being an “bug”, “glitch” or “broken”.

God forbid a Colts RB would drop an open, non-challenged catch for an H2H Tournament advancement or an advancement against the AI within a Franchise.

These non-merit contrived tournament terms “Stick Skills” and “Skill Gap” further perpetuate an false ideology that has also flooded over into many Franchise gamers, that unless you’re winning, the game is not functioning properly, thus Not Fun.

Some developers provide User Customization tools within their Franchise Mode to allow gamers to try and achieve greater team/player differentiation, but the game design/coding ultimately will override those attempts, forcing the game into an “Balanced” everyone wins game state.