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

[g2thecore]

Thanks for the update Ian! Hopefully all those goals were met, and implemented successfully. I'm loving that list, and if everything on that list is in the game, and is working to perfection (or close to it lol) then we're in for a hell of a Madden season!!!

Anyways, thanks again for the quick update..Now for that screenshot of the scouting and draft screens...

[Molarmite]

The main thing I want to hear about in offline franchise is how the draft changed. Ian said they wanted to make it more fun, and I'm just curious what that means.

[TyghtWork]

Quote: Originally Posted by 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.

^^ THIS
But im happy with whats in. Played in a pc online franchise,(a long time ago LOL) and loved it. Been waitin for it to come to ps2 now ps3, or xbox360, and now its here. Online leagues are cool, but when you add trades, and a draft. Im loving it!! Wish it had a salary cap, that would have made it 10X better. But, this will work. YES

[lightning_78]

I'm also hoping for offline franchise that the scripted retirements have been removed. I enjoy seeing a Barry Sanders situation happening if team prestige/player morale is low or vice-versa have some Vinny Testaverde's or Junior Seau's. Playing franchise mode and every single time seeing "Ladainian Tomlinson (RB) has retired at the age of 34, after 12 years in the NFL". Especially guys, QBs especially (Manning, Brady), that have 3500 yard and 25 TD seasons but retire because of the game's logic.

[kevster2]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ian_Cummings_EA

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.

From what I have seen so far I think you all have done an amazing job. Thanks for all the updates and taking the time to interact with the community.

[jerryrice4949]

I appreciate the direction of the game but agree with the other poster who said this is really only a glorified online league. I understand that you cannot get everything in the 1st year, but contracts are a must. As far as rosters there is going to be very little strategy. Imagine if NCAA did not have recruiting in their online dynasty, this is the equivalent.

Sure there are house rules but to this will get to the point of being tedious.

I will wait until next year and stick with NCAA for this year.

[Obelysk]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ian_Cummings_EA

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.

Why not? I have played Head Coach 09 a hell of A LOT more then Madden 09 on my 360! They did a hell of a job with it even though it was broken on many areas. Madden 10 improvements + Head Coach 09 = dream football game. I am still buying Madden 10 but I hope I can see more of the good things of head coach on Madden 11. Tell Josh Looman that he should make another head coach game, if he does I will preorder it in a heart beat.

[PantherBeast_OS]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ian_Cummings_EA

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.

Thanks Ian. I was for sure ya'll would some blogs on offline franchise mode sooner are later. But thanks for the heads up.