I am a big fan of franchise modes in sports games. There is something about taking a team and running it as you see fit that makes the winning, and sometimes the losing, all the more satisfying. From playing the games, to trying to sign free agents, to finding a gem in the draft, there is a constant push to improve your team in one way or another.
While I am a fan of pretty much every sports game that there is out there, I think that the Madden franchise is one of my favorites when it comes to their franchise mode, or as it is now called, their Connected Franchise Mode (CFM). It just had the perfect blend of on-field and off-field progression that makes the whole concept of a franchise mode work. I was a big fan of Madden NFL 2017, and poured in countless hours in various franchises taking teams to the top of the NFL mountain.
However, while I did enjoy the mode, there are some obvious improvements that could and should be made to result in a more complete and in-depth franchise mode. Some of the requests I had regarding the mode are supposedly being fixed in the coming Madden NFL 18, such as choosing how to have your Cornerbacks line up opposite the Wide Receivers. However, there is still a lot of work to be done, as the game feels quite shallow at times, something that should NEVER happen in a mode that is supposed to be deep and layered. What's funny is that throughout the years of Madden, many features of Franchise mode that could improve the mode as a whole have already been in the game before. Today, I'm going to list out five of those old features that I believe, if implemented in the game mode, would make CFM in Madden 18 a better one.
NOTE: A lot of these features can be found in more than one of the old Madden games. However, I picked those that I thought best represented the mode.
1) Storyline Central (Madden NFL 2005)
Something that I believe is sorely missing from the Madden Connected Franchise Mode is player personalities. The NFL is a very expressive league, with many players that have an identity for some reason or another. You have the "class acts" like Rodgers and Brady. Those who are more outspoken such as Odell Beckham Jr. There are the trouble makers like Josh Gordon, Martavis Bryant, Johnny Manziel and others. You could argue that half the fun of following ANY sports league is the fact that some of the sports stars can be larger than life. The NFL is no different, especially given it is the the most watched sport in the country.
The players of Madden NFL 2017 just feel empty. There are no repercussions to benching Aaron Rodgers in favor of, say, Brett Hundley, the young backup on the Packers. Rodgers will simply stay on the bench, and when his contract expires, he will STILL re-sign with you if you meet his demands. That is simply not a realistic representation of player management in the NFL. I'm not saying that there should be suspensions for smoking weed and domestic assault like in real life. But players should be able to demand a trade, or ask for their release, or at least express the desired role they want on your team.
In Madden NFL 2005, there was the Storyline Central feature, which gave the players some form of personality. In this feature, you could check on training camp battles on your team, player morale, and more, which was headlined by a radio show hosted by Tony Bruno. Tony Bruno would give the latest details on the league, such as holdouts, disgruntled players, as well as scores and standings. It gave the game life, and the players a soul and personality that I feel the current games are missing. If Madden could make some changes to bring back a feature like this, I believe the franchise mode as a whole would benefit from it. Here is an example of the mode:
NFL contracts are unlike other sports contracts due to the fact there is not often guaranteed money. Guaranteed money comes through a signing bonus, which can be doled out to the player either each year or all at once. The rest of the contract is essentially non-guaranteed. Each offseason, a lot of money is thrown around to free agents, and with the nature of the business, not every deal is going to work out in the team's favor. One option is to cut the player, and take a hit in finances when they have to dole out the guaranteed signing bonus anyway. Or, if the team wants to keep the player, but the contract is just too damaging to their cap, they can opt to renegotiate. The team and the player (and agent) sit down and determine a new salary (which is usually lower than the original) to be agreed on so the player stays on the team. Or, if a player is putting up impressive numbers and are disgruntled with their money, they could want to renegotiate to make more. It is an interesting dynamic, given the money is far from guaranteed like it is in the NBA or MLB.
This is a feature missing in Madden NFL 17, but was around in Madden NFL 2006. This could allow a player to work from out of a contract bind that they might not have necessarily got themselves into. For example, the contract could be a real-life contract handed out that is brutal and unfair for the user to have to deal with. They should be able to fix that. In another example, a more personal one, is switching teams in a franchise. In my franchise save, I was the Jaguars, and as the 4th season ended (2019) I decided to change up my team. I took on the Washington Redskins, and looked forward to working on them next. Except, once I made it to the free agency, I found that I was in the negative for cap space, and really had no chance to fix it. I should be able to renegotiate some contracts. The concept of a player holding out for more money also falls under this. The game would provide an additional challenge in keeping a player happy and on the field by allowing for him to make more the next season and beyond.
I believe that, in total, this mode will only add ANOTHER layer to the game and make it deeper. You could always turn the option on and off for those not looking to deal with contracts like that.
4) Position Battles (Madden NFL 2007)
Position battles are a staple of the NFL, with teams using training camp and preseason performances to determine the starter at a position, or even who is going to have a roster spot on the team, and who is not. An example of this for this NFL preseason is the QB situation in Cleveland. There is the incumbent starter in Cody Kessler, the rookie in DeShon Kizer, and the wildcard in Brock Osweiler. The winner of this battle, who will be named the starter at QB for Week 1, will have won it based off of their preseason game and training camp performance. Madden NFL 17 misses this aspect of the NFL front office gravely. There is no real importance to the Preseason games, and usually just injures some of your better players before the season starts. When making roster cuts, you are making those cuts strictly off of ratings and depth, and nothing else.
In Madden NFL 2007, the game gave a visual guide to who was performing the best in preseason games and in training camp in order to help you determine who should start at said position. With the addition of the preseason roster cuts from 75 to 45, this kind of feature can be expanded to who earned a roster spot, and who shouldn't. While going off the ratings is a fair way to trim a roster, performance should also be kept in mind as it does in the NFL. Personally, I value a player's performance over their ability, both in the game and in real life. This is just another useful feature that could add another aspect of realism to the game.
5) Franchise Goals (NFL 2K5)
Okay, so this is kind of cheating. I said this was a list of old Madden features that would improve the current CFM in Madden NFL 18, but while doing my research for this article I was reminded of some of NFL 2K5's features, and this one would surely result in a more in-depth franchise mode. Plus, this is a feature that could be turned on or off depending on if you choose to be a coach or owner in CFM.
There is a serious lack of consequences in Madden NFL 17 when it comes to poor performance. Sure, you are able to choose at the beginning of the year how many games you expect to win, but such a simple measure of success can easily be replaced with something more, well, meaningful.
In NFL 2K5, the owner would provide you with specific goals to reach in a season, or rather during the tenure of your contract. Many games do this, especially the NBA 2K series in their MyGM mode. These are goals to reach that are an additional measurement for success rather than record. For example, a struggling team should be given the goal of obtaining a 1st to 3rd round pick in order to continue the rebuild. Or, if the team is on the verge of winning a title, or close to it, they should be ordered to trade picks in order to acquire a player that can help them immediately. Some people might not like the more structured rules of the owner, and so it should be a feature you can turn on and off, or avoid all together by playing as the owner. But for many, it provides a measurement of progress for a franchise that is simply missing in the current mode.
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I like the CFM in Madden NFL 17, but I think with these five simple additions, it could become an even more immersive and in-depth mode that will only bring positive feedback their way. People want MORE when it comes to their franchise modes. While Madden continues to cut features from their hallmark mode, they lose fan support in the process. Ultimate Team might be the money maker, but it's not the life source of longevity for the game like CFM is.
While I am a fan of pretty much every sports game that there is out there, I think that the Madden franchise is one of my favorites when it comes to their franchise mode, or as it is now called, their Connected Franchise Mode (CFM). It just had the perfect blend of on-field and off-field progression that makes the whole concept of a franchise mode work. I was a big fan of Madden NFL 2017, and poured in countless hours in various franchises taking teams to the top of the NFL mountain.
However, while I did enjoy the mode, there are some obvious improvements that could and should be made to result in a more complete and in-depth franchise mode. Some of the requests I had regarding the mode are supposedly being fixed in the coming Madden NFL 18, such as choosing how to have your Cornerbacks line up opposite the Wide Receivers. However, there is still a lot of work to be done, as the game feels quite shallow at times, something that should NEVER happen in a mode that is supposed to be deep and layered. What's funny is that throughout the years of Madden, many features of Franchise mode that could improve the mode as a whole have already been in the game before. Today, I'm going to list out five of those old features that I believe, if implemented in the game mode, would make CFM in Madden 18 a better one.
NOTE: A lot of these features can be found in more than one of the old Madden games. However, I picked those that I thought best represented the mode.
1) Storyline Central (Madden NFL 2005)
Something that I believe is sorely missing from the Madden Connected Franchise Mode is player personalities. The NFL is a very expressive league, with many players that have an identity for some reason or another. You have the "class acts" like Rodgers and Brady. Those who are more outspoken such as Odell Beckham Jr. There are the trouble makers like Josh Gordon, Martavis Bryant, Johnny Manziel and others. You could argue that half the fun of following ANY sports league is the fact that some of the sports stars can be larger than life. The NFL is no different, especially given it is the the most watched sport in the country.
The players of Madden NFL 2017 just feel empty. There are no repercussions to benching Aaron Rodgers in favor of, say, Brett Hundley, the young backup on the Packers. Rodgers will simply stay on the bench, and when his contract expires, he will STILL re-sign with you if you meet his demands. That is simply not a realistic representation of player management in the NFL. I'm not saying that there should be suspensions for smoking weed and domestic assault like in real life. But players should be able to demand a trade, or ask for their release, or at least express the desired role they want on your team.
In Madden NFL 2005, there was the Storyline Central feature, which gave the players some form of personality. In this feature, you could check on training camp battles on your team, player morale, and more, which was headlined by a radio show hosted by Tony Bruno. Tony Bruno would give the latest details on the league, such as holdouts, disgruntled players, as well as scores and standings. It gave the game life, and the players a soul and personality that I feel the current games are missing. If Madden could make some changes to bring back a feature like this, I believe the franchise mode as a whole would benefit from it. Here is an example of the mode:
2) Signing Offensive and Defensive Coordinators (Madden NFL 2004)
The impact of the Offensive and Defensive Coordinator in football is non-existent in Madden NFL 17, which is simply not right, as the two coaching roles play such a large deal in real life. A great example of this is Kyle Shanahan. In the 2016-2017 NFL season, Kyle Shanahan was the Offensive Coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons, a team that produced one of the most dangerous and high-powered offenses in the league under his control. After the 2016-2017 which saw the Atlanta Falcons reach the Super Bowl, Shanahan took a job with the San Fransisco 49ers as the Head Coach. This concept of a coordinator turning into a Head Coach is something common in football, and a great way of providing continuous coaching options for the league. The coordinator is in control of their unit (offense or defense), and a lot of the style you see regarding formations and packages are a direct result of their coaching. In Madden NFL 17, they are simple not in the game. You can sign a head coach, a trainer, and a scout, but not a coordinator.
In Madden NFL 2004, one was able to sign coordinators to their staff. However, if the Madden crew really wanted to show the importance of coordinators, they could utilize them like NCAA Football did, with a skills ladder that would provide additional abilities to the players based on their level. It gives the team an observable boost to their talent. Even if they decided not to go this route, I still don't see why coordinators shouldn't be in the game. It just adds another layer of depth into the mode.
3) Renegotiate Contracts (Madden NFL 2006)
This is a feature missing in Madden NFL 17, but was around in Madden NFL 2006. This could allow a player to work from out of a contract bind that they might not have necessarily got themselves into. For example, the contract could be a real-life contract handed out that is brutal and unfair for the user to have to deal with. They should be able to fix that. In another example, a more personal one, is switching teams in a franchise. In my franchise save, I was the Jaguars, and as the 4th season ended (2019) I decided to change up my team. I took on the Washington Redskins, and looked forward to working on them next. Except, once I made it to the free agency, I found that I was in the negative for cap space, and really had no chance to fix it. I should be able to renegotiate some contracts. The concept of a player holding out for more money also falls under this. The game would provide an additional challenge in keeping a player happy and on the field by allowing for him to make more the next season and beyond.
I believe that, in total, this mode will only add ANOTHER layer to the game and make it deeper. You could always turn the option on and off for those not looking to deal with contracts like that.
4) Position Battles (Madden NFL 2007)
Position battles are a staple of the NFL, with teams using training camp and preseason performances to determine the starter at a position, or even who is going to have a roster spot on the team, and who is not. An example of this for this NFL preseason is the QB situation in Cleveland. There is the incumbent starter in Cody Kessler, the rookie in DeShon Kizer, and the wildcard in Brock Osweiler. The winner of this battle, who will be named the starter at QB for Week 1, will have won it based off of their preseason game and training camp performance. Madden NFL 17 misses this aspect of the NFL front office gravely. There is no real importance to the Preseason games, and usually just injures some of your better players before the season starts. When making roster cuts, you are making those cuts strictly off of ratings and depth, and nothing else.
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| An example of Position Battles in Madden NFL 2007 |
5) Franchise Goals (NFL 2K5)
Okay, so this is kind of cheating. I said this was a list of old Madden features that would improve the current CFM in Madden NFL 18, but while doing my research for this article I was reminded of some of NFL 2K5's features, and this one would surely result in a more in-depth franchise mode. Plus, this is a feature that could be turned on or off depending on if you choose to be a coach or owner in CFM.
There is a serious lack of consequences in Madden NFL 17 when it comes to poor performance. Sure, you are able to choose at the beginning of the year how many games you expect to win, but such a simple measure of success can easily be replaced with something more, well, meaningful.
In NFL 2K5, the owner would provide you with specific goals to reach in a season, or rather during the tenure of your contract. Many games do this, especially the NBA 2K series in their MyGM mode. These are goals to reach that are an additional measurement for success rather than record. For example, a struggling team should be given the goal of obtaining a 1st to 3rd round pick in order to continue the rebuild. Or, if the team is on the verge of winning a title, or close to it, they should be ordered to trade picks in order to acquire a player that can help them immediately. Some people might not like the more structured rules of the owner, and so it should be a feature you can turn on and off, or avoid all together by playing as the owner. But for many, it provides a measurement of progress for a franchise that is simply missing in the current mode.
--
I like the CFM in Madden NFL 17, but I think with these five simple additions, it could become an even more immersive and in-depth mode that will only bring positive feedback their way. People want MORE when it comes to their franchise modes. While Madden continues to cut features from their hallmark mode, they lose fan support in the process. Ultimate Team might be the money maker, but it's not the life source of longevity for the game like CFM is.
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