Franchise Mode – Page 2

Two Steps Back – MLB 21 Franchise Mode Trade Logic Might Be Worse Than Before

I was excited about the idea that there were major overhauls in future depth charts based on player potential, etc. That had me ready to finally try to develop my own prospects and pay close attention to the scouting efforts in the first few months of each season before the early-June draft.

The goal was to be turned away when I offered almost any trade for top prospects as the GM of the Indians. My targets were three of the top outfield prospects, and arguably the best prospect since Griffey/Trout in Jasson Dominguez. It wasn’t so much about whether any offer would be taken, if the Indians were to offer Bieber, Jose Ramirez and Franmil Reyes I think there would at least be discussion – not much, but maybe some before they turned it down (if they would). That wasn’t the offer I made in MLB 21 Franchise Mode.

What might be even worse (if possible) is what I offered the Mariners for 2 of the Top 5 Prospects in baseball. I did all of this on the first day of Spring Training.

Below you will find a screen grab of the current Top Prospects in baseball. Jasson Dominguez is listed at #28, but is the most highly regarded.

I was also able to make similar moves for Wander Franco and Adley Rutschman. I didn’t make efforts for Torkelson, but you can probably guess how they would have gone. The fact of the matter is that MLB 21 Franchise Mode Trade Logic is still busted.

The fortunate aspect is we can institute trading house rules as users. This won’t keep the CPU from making trades and roster moves that are idiotic, but at least we can sleep soundly knowing that we aren’t cheesing the trade system to death (if we choose). Let me be clear on this – there is no ‘right’ way to play an offline single player franchise mode. You make the world of your experience anything you want – I will never tell anyone their playstyle is wrong. However, this is one of my worries when it comes to online multiplayer leagues, etc. on top of those that want to have a true simulation experience.

Here are the house rules I have been using since MLB 18 that gave me quite a bit of longevity (3 seasons in 18 and 19 – two season in 20).

Trades/Free Agents During Season –

You have to select the players you want from a specific team before offering your own player(s).
You may make one trade in the initial Spring Training (Two trades in following spring trainings).
You are permitted one trade before the All Star Game and it must not occur until at least May 1.
You are permitted two trades after the All Star Break.
You can only sign a free agent during your first season if your team suffers an injury on the MLB level that requires 60 Day – DL.

Scouting Prospects –

I generally prefer to take the scouting aspect as a personal project, but the more I look at how MLB 17 runs things, I tend to believe that leaving scouting on Auto allows your scouts to actually do what they will do based on their ratings. This also prevents the user from figuring out how to find all of the Top Prospects with ease.

NEW RULE – You have to immediately save the Franchise file once you have finished the draft the first time. This prevents the user from going through and looking at the draft position and potential of every player and simply time traveling to the day before the draft.

In-Game Rules –

There are only a couple basic rules I set for myself for MLB The Show. First, I believe that user control generally makes for a better performing team overall. Once you get settings/sliders that provide you with optimal challenge and enjoyment it is crucial to set up a system that you can follow without second guessing your rules.

Here are mine for MLB 18.

Pitching/Defense – Once you allow the first run you must Quick Manage the remainder of the defensive halves of each inning until the 9th inning. If you wish, you may use your closer if there is a save situation.
Batting – You get THREE strike outs per game. These can be offset if you draw walks. If you strike out twice and then draw a walk you can subtract one of those strike outs. Once you strike out three times you must quick manage each half inning your team is at bat until the ninth inning. You can also allow a home run to reset all strike outs.

MLB The Show Franchise Mode – Sponsorships

For those of you that try to find the little joy that there is to be found in Franchise Mode there is some good news about sponsorships.

They give you money while simming!

There are some sponsorships that are better than others.

The best sponsorships are for offensive categories or the Game Played/Won sponsorships.

While the Silver through diamond ratings are simply levels of money for any given stat – the one thing that matters is that you know your playstyle and your team. If you are one of the few that plays every single game you might have a good reason to switch it up based on those specific aspects you know about your team and playstyle.

There are some things that are worth your time to know. The first is that offensive categories are generally limitless. You get as many hits and home runs as you can – there is no stopping you! However, the same can’t be said for strikeouts or double plays.

Let’s assume all the sponsorships we have are diamond (they are among the cheapest cards in the game compared to Diamond Dynasty Players and Equipment). Let’s say you strike out 10 batters with the strike out sponsorship ($3,500) – that ends up bringing you $35,000 – not bad. If you strike out 20 – $70,000. Usually you have 9 innings to play with and that ends up being $94,500 if you strike out every player in a perfect game.

To make playing defense even less desirable, Double-Plays are worth $20,000 on the diamond tier. These aren’t incredibly common and they aren’t exactly something you ‘try’ to get each game as it means you need to allow an opponent to get on base.

By far, your best option is to either stake your sponsorships with Diamond Home Runs or Runs Scored.

The second thing to remember is what we mentioned first… SIMMING COUNTS YOUR STATS! This is free money for your franchise mode team – don’t throw it away!

Madden 20 – Review and Sliders

The Browns are going to be awesome – DEAL WITH IT!

I pulled the trigger and got one month of EA Access for PS4 the other day. It was a nice way to rent Madden 20 and get a feel for what changed in Franchise Mode this year. The verdict is rather mixed. I was pleasantly surprised by the feel of the gameplay as a whole. There were some obnoxious animations that did happen in my first game or two that made me roll my eyes and even got a bit of a laugh as well. The real eye roll happened after I got a message from Jarvis Landry following a big win (more on that to follow). The worst part I experienced was seeing that the Pro Bowl game existed as a playable feature. Seriously – NOBODY CARES!!!! Why is it that we have more concern about the Pro Bowl than we do about players being named All Pro? If you look into the actual accolades that truly matter in the NFL it is whether someone is considered to be the top performer at their position – not if they are voted onto an all star team that no one cares about.

Starting the season with my beloved Browns was a great feeling. Finally, if I take my team to the Super Bowl in the first season of Franchise Mode, I won’t have the ‘realism nazis’ telling me I need to adjust sliders or play the game with my toes. The change to overall ratings was one of the first aspects I noticed. The available free agents don’t make you drop half of your roster to pick up new guys like in past iterations of Madden where you might find a few guys in the upper 70s or low 80s that you can build into monsters. This year, it really is a matter of picking through a garbage heap if you need to find a replacement – Quarterback is the most noticeable in this endeavor. Having a great backup QB is going to be a nice commodity if you find a gem in the draft. However, you should fully expect to lose a future star if you aren’t willing to pay him.

One thing that hasn’t changed in Madden is the terrible trade logic. I was able to move Duke Johnson to the Eagles for a 1st Round Pick. I was also able to move on from other players and acquire mid to late round picks with ease. This is definitely another year where we will have to implement house rules just to keep ourselves honest.

One addition that is supposedly going to be updated regularly in Franchise Mode (most likely in Cloud Based Franchises if I had to bet on it) is the dialogue options from your players that make demands like more targets or more attention as a whole in an upcoming game. One instance had Jarvis Landry ask me to target him in our game against Baltimore. We beat the Ravens by 20+ points and I targeted him on over 10 passing attempts. He caught four and went for 84 yards – he dropped two on crossing routes and missed an endzone grab in the corner. The others were batted down or overthrown. Here is a rundown of how that went after the game was over.

So it goes, Franchise has added some cool ideas. I hope they get fixed and polished up a bit, but in the long run, I think there are good things ahead.

Moving on to gameplay – here are the initial settings I will be using after play-testing sliders and penalties as well as stat checking some stupidly high scoring games.

The biggest changes from years past is going to most likely be the move of Facemask penalties, I saw over six in more than 3 games. It was happening way too much. Also, Robo QB is back and worse than ever in some ways. I recommend moving the slider down until you get the proper feel for the CPU completion % – currently, I have the slider at 39, but it might have to go to 35.

All of the sliders and settings are set to All Pro for now simply because All Madden still seems to cheat the user rather than provide a real challenge – a big difference, in my opinion.

Originally, I had planned on not buying Madden until I could get it on sale, but in the world of supply and demand – you all demand the Madden coverage, and I am happy to supply it to the best of my ability.

Also, I do not plan on playing MUT for any serious amount of time other than to get easy trophies out of it or to play solo grinds when I want a change from Franchise Mode. It is a pay to win game mode and I choose not to pay. Good luck to those of you that choose to continue with the dark side.

GO BROWNS!

MLB The Show Franchise Mode Has Its Own Demons

If you have been on NoobTubeTV for the Madden CFM coverage over the last few years you will see that there has been little mercy on the shortcomings of the Madden Franchise Mode. I have largely talked up the depth of MLB The Show and the Franchise Mode in general. However, after playing through five seasons of Franchise Mode with the Cincinnati Reds it can’t be understated how broken the game becomes on multiple levels.

Building A Dream Team Is Far Too Easy

By the time you get to 2023 – this can be possible

Like other games, I think you should be able to do whatever you want in your own sports universe. However, for those of us that want a reason to play our franchise with some realism and some challenge, this shouldn’t be able to happen.

I will say this. One thing that definitely happens on top of all of this is big time players sign big time contracts – for the most part. There was one HUGE caveat I noticed and will get to that in a bit. For now, I will show you the reverse Babe Ruth move that happened in one off-season.

Age Regression Is Ridiculous

When I played through my first couple seasons with the Reds I actually kept the team pretty true to what they were when I started. I will have to go back and take a look at certain moves that had been made, but in the end I will say that Joey Votto carried us to the 2018 World Series. He was by far the best player I have used in any season of The Show. The worst part was the very next season his production dropped along with this ratings. I ended up trading him to the Braves and decided to see how he was doing before we started the 2023 season.

To say I was disappointed for him is an understatement. Sure, he is 38 at this point and by no means is he a spring chicken, but he seriously has one job to do. Oh well, not my problem anymore.

Being The GM Is Just Too Easy

One of the things that happens as you play through Franchise Mode is your status as the GM will bounce around in terms of Job Security. The only thing is that once you realize how many teams are willing to make a deal with you for their future stars it is written in the stars for you to create the greatest team of all time.

For instance, I made the trade in 2022 to get Mike Trout on the Reds. His $30 million annual salary was something I thought I could deal with until the next off-season came around and I realized I didn’t have the ability to sign half of the players I needed in order to run the franchise. What ever could I do?!

Well, for one thing – I could trade Trout at 31 years old and 99 OVR for anyone I wanted – as long as the salary involved was comparable. So, this basically meant I had to do a bit of creative trading that would see multiple teams contacted on the same day and many players being a Cincinnati Red for a little under five minutes before they got moved again.

Prospects, Minor League and Renewable Contracts and The Wonders of the Potential Rating

This might be the biggest downfall of Franchise Mode. Trading for those prized coveted prospects on other teams is generally the first move many of us make. The second move we make is to sign them to the cheapest contracts they will accept under the current MLB rules that still manage to function similarly to indentured servitude in terms of sports contracts.

When you get one of those coveted players on your team it is going to be a sweet ride for five to seven seasons before they demand a free agent deal that could break your bank. There should be more safeguards for those of us that want a simulation feel for our franchise mode experience.

Now that the first trailer is here it is only a matter of time before the hype gets even bigger. Here is hoping they actually made some big and much needed changed in MLB 19.

Lamar Jackson and How EA Continues To Screw Up Franchise Mode

EA recently released a list of the top rookie quarterbacks in their annual hype train countdown to the release of Madden. This year, they slipped up and unintentionally commented on their simulation formula for Franchise Mode.

‘Lamar Jackson could be the most interesting QB to play as in Madden 19. If you sim a lot of games in Franchise, he’s likely not the best pick at the moment. But holy hell, his base ratings make him fun…’ for more, go to the page here.

NFL: Baltimore Ravens-Minicamp

The issue with this isn’t that Lamar Jackson shouldn’t be rated higher or lower than anyone else. It is simply the fact that they reference his effectiveness in Franchise Mode to his ratings. What should continue to worry CFM players is this continuing problem with CFM being tied to overall ratings. This would be like saying that Michael Vick would be fun to play with but he wouldn’t do much for a team in a simulation. I’m not saying that Lamar Jackson is Michael Vick, but he is damn close.

This means that EA has not changed their formula of what is important in CFM. It is still driven by OVR. This means you won’t have any players that are low rated to start become anything close to superstars. It also means that the CPU is actually at a competitive disadvantage. As users, we are able to see certain players with abilities that we can take advantage of – speed, trucking, throw accuracy, hit power, etc. We can turn a 6th round 67 OVR player into an absolute beast. The CPU will either cut the player or never play them in a simulation. Take a look at the practice squads in your Madden 18 CFM – the CPU has some BEASTS that never get a chance to play. Many of us would snap up these players in a heartbeat.

Until EA makes Madden CFM more nuanced and less dependent on overall ratings I have a feeling we will continue to experience a rather mechanical and less organic CFM experience.

Franchise Mode – Play The Game Or The Game Will Play You

It really doesn’t matter which sports game you are playing. The moment you start Franchise Mode you had better be ready to make some moves in your omniscient role as owner/general manager/coach/manager/player. If you aren’t controlling every team in the mode you will see the CPU make some trades and sign some players that cause you to wonder if there was a glitch in The Matrix.

I recently started a new Franchise Mode in MLB The Show 18 with the Orioles and had planned on going through the season with the primary roster from a combination of my NoobTubeTV Roster and OSFM. Once I made it out of Spring Training I thought I was ready to rock. I was going to set up a trade block just in case a team wanted to make an offer for a few of my players. I decided to take a look at the Transactions section just to see if any moves had been made by the CPU. There were a couple… but one made me rethink my entire approach.

MLB 18 Trade Reds

The Reds traded away their top prospect, Nick Senzel. Not only did they trade their top prospect with ‘A’ Potential, but they traded him in the division to the Cardinals for a first basemen in Rangel Ravelo that is 25 with ‘C’ Potential. As much as I could chalk this up to the Reds being the Reds, I had a moment that made me realize that trying to keep my roster moves ‘realistic’ would only hurt my franchise experience in the long run. This isn’t the case if the CPU keeps trades down for the most part, but when there are big trades that involve top prospects for nobodies – it’s on like Donkey Kong!

I made my own moves soon after I saw the Reds trade. Seeing that the rumors already have the Orioles shipping Manny Machado by the trade deadline this season (in real life) I decided I would pull the trigger earlier in the season – and I would add a few other players to my rebuild of Baltimore.

MLB 18 Trade Orioles

Some of the elitists on sports gaming forums would be shouting from their ivory towers as wanna-be experts that these trades would never happen. Guess what…? They did and it has been fun as hell to play my Franchise over the last few games with this remodeled Orioles team.

I managed to trade Machado, Britton, and Davis to the Rangers for Nomar Mazara, Roughned Odor and Ronald Guzman. Yes, it was a steal when it comes to obtaining young players that I be the bedrock of the Orioles for a few years. Yes, I feel like this could happen in the real world (why not?). I then also made a trade with the Nationals to bring in a prospect to eventually take over for the absense of Machado in Kieboom. You could say realistically and be correct in the statement that I basically rebuilt my entire roster during the first week.

Yup, I did – and that’s the point. Franchise Mode is YOURS. You don’t have to abide by anyone’s rules if you don’t want to. For myself, I like to play through mine like a story. I have all sorts of different ideas for how I want to see my team develop for my initial three year contract. Everyone should have the same view on their own franchise mode. I think having some house rules is always a good idea. I do have another Franchise Mode that uses my original house rules for MLB 18 (with the Reds of all teams!) and it is a great time as well.

The point of all of this…? When you play sports games from the franchise mode perspective you have to take every moment with a grain of salt. I have had all sorts of crazy things happen…

700 yard passing game by DeShone Kizer
5 HR game by Carlos Santana
The Browns won a game

The world is a crazy place. Don’t get upset when your franchise loses its mind – roll with it and make it your own crazy world.

Madden 19 Will Continue To Be MUT Focused

For those of you that joined in my cheers about the initial announcements regarding Madden 19’s Franchise Mode – please don’t get too hyped. If you look at the pre-order bonuses and such, this game is still obviously focused on the cash cow that is Ultimate Team. In being focused on MUT, there are things that quite simply will NEVER change in terms of gameplay. madden 19 cover

If you watch any of the YouTubers or Twitch guys that post pack opening reactions and footage of them playing online MUT matchups you will see that there is good reason for EA Tiburon to keep the game as loose and arcade-like as possible. I will admit, I have watched a few of the pack opening videos from various YouTube personalities and I feel like I am basically watching a hyped up commercial on EA’s Home Shopping Network. I’m not hating on what makes these people happy or gives them YouTube success – keep doing you and get that YouTube money before they decide to find a reason to kick you off the pay platform.

What I find disconcerting is when Madden continues to push a mode that doesn’t encourage gameplay to become more realistic by default. MUT is not and will never be a mode that encourages Tiburon to make Man to Man coverage a true representation of what we see on Sundays (Thursdays, and Monday’s) in the fall. I can appreciate this aspect as sometimes it gets frustrating in any game to feel like you aren’t controlling the actions of the primary character at any given time. MUT has to remain focused on player control and the arcade style that brings the money well after the game has released.

However, why is it that spin moves and jukes from players result in locked animations from tacklers three yards away? Why do we continue to see AI make gameplay decisions that would baffle a 5 year old? It’s a continuing sign of what EA Tiburon has a true problem replicating – 11 on 11 football. Every time you play against a human opponent it becomes a 1 on 1 matchup, not a true football game. Consider this the next time you switch to the DB in coverage during a long pass down the field. Sure, it’s supposed to be a game that you play, but it doesn’t bode well for those of us that want some semblance of real football.

The spin, juke and other break tackle functions in Madden 18 were so overpowered and glitched simply from the interaction and animation system that I stopped playing the game in early December. I played a few MUT games and even won a championship, etc. At the end of the day, I wanted to play simulation football in CFM (OFFLINE) and I was greeted by such an artificially weak CPU opponent that I couldn’t justify booting up the game.

What do you think? Are you a MUT player or a Sim Football purist? Will the history dictate your purchase of Madden 19?

Madden 19 – They Finally Get It Right On Franchise Mode

After years of begging through my own little piece of the internet EA Tiburon has finally granted some of my wishes. The release of a new trailer and information about CFM has me anxiously waiting for the game to release in August. This is primarily due to the inclusion of editable draft classes as well as a slowly overhauled draft experience. Add the refinements to player progression and regression and you have a mode that might keep CFM gamers interested for more than a few months. Madden-19-Gameplay-1024x576

Here is a quick rundown of the released information on CFM.

Schemes –

While this isn’t actually ‘new’ here are some of the factoids coming out.

Offense has Spread, West Coast Zone Run, West Coast Power Run, Vertical Zone Run, Vertical Power Run, Multiple Power Run, Multiple Zone Run, Run and Shoot.
Defense has Base 4-3, Multiple 4-3, Base 3-4, Multiple 3-4, Tampa 2, 46.
Players will have indicators to show scheme fit (this goes for the draft as well) which is an improvement in terms of simplification.
New Player Ratings will also take effect for some positions – QB has Throw Under Pressure, Break Sack, Break Tackle, WR has Short, Medium and Deep Route Running, and O Line has Run & Pass Block Power/Finesse, and Lead Block.

Archetypes –

Each position has four archetypes (this is much like MLB The Show 18 in Road To The Show, for those that need a reference point)…
An Example = QB can be Scrambler, Strong Arm, West Coast or Field General (you will notice that these were part of scheme fits over the last couple years of Madden).
An archetype that matches a scheme gets an XP bonus.
Each Archetype has its own build under the hood to dictate ratings growth and bonuses (this will be solved on day one).
Some players will have multiple archetypes (unknown if this will be something a player can progress in or be customized into in draft classes, or otherwise).
Skill points can build any archetype, this includes building a player into the archetype you need in your scheme if he doesn’t fit at first (this seems unnecessary).
You can choose Team Captains, which probably means nothing in terms of actual gameplay – the players will have the patch on their jersey. (This is another place for the implementation of my ideas come into play… see below).

Progression –

Players that match schemes progress faster than players that don’t match (this is a bad sign for fans of progression based on production).
Skill Points will give random bumps to player ratings. This is a good thing for online leagues and for those that enjoy some semblance of balance in offline CFM.
You can no longer dictate player traits through XP use!!! This is huge in terms of stopping the abuse of creating a team of under-the-hood All Stars!
Development no longer has ‘Slow’, but it still has Normal, Quick, Star, and Superstar. A small amount of players are supposed to have Superstar development and it can still change from season to season.
Gameplanning and Training is still a thing… Why? Who knows. I have yet to see anyone actually use this as if it were necessary or enjoyable. (Hint to EA Tiburon – Make every game during a CFM season an event unto itself… give us a reason to gameplan or train our team to face someone like Antonio Brown, OBJ, JJ Watt, etc… then maybe we will focus on this!)
Regression has been changed to continue the fix from Madden 18 that saw Speed Ratings for players take a nosedive after hitting 30 years old, etc.

CUSTOM DRAFT CLASSES!!!!!!!!

Can you tell this is my favorite Madden news in over a decade?!
You can choose which draft class you want in Week 3.
You can use a pre-made, created, or imported draft class.
Determine hidden gems, etc. (This kind of thing is a possible game breaker and it makes me wish they would overhaul scouting to make it a bit more realistic and/or difficult to find a gem in late rounds.
The Draft presentation has been changed a bit, there will be a stage with players being introduced, which is a cool add-on.

The custom draft class feature is a huge move that truly opens the mode for more realism. Some might say that it opens up the game for people to scope out Superstar potential or create some sort of all star class laced with a bunch of top talent. Sure, if that is what you really want – go for it. For those of us that want to create a better spread of talent with more realistic depth – it seems that our wishes have been granted by the CFM genie.

Some questions persist and once they can be answered they will be featured here on NoobTubeTV.

Has scouting been overhauled in any way? CFM needs to add a Scouting Department to every team just like coaches and coordinators. I would like to see more depth in this regard and make it more like MLB The Show – whether it be a letter range, number range or a simple +/- rating for players.
Player Morale and Personality needs to play a larger role. There should be badges or sub-categories for players of all types. Someone like Tom Brady should have ‘Leader’ and/or ‘Competitor’ qualities, Dez Bryant and Odell Beckham Jr. should have ‘Diva’ traits or the like. It is an integral part of the game to have these types of players. While I believe a lot of this kind of labeling would be denied by the NFLPA in terms of labeling players as anything other than a position player – it would add much needed depth.
Team Schemes still need work. The idea that a team is going to have the same desired setup for certain players at certain positions is questionable at best. For instance, the assigning of a Left Tackle with Pass Blocking to a Vertical Zone Run scheme leaving the rest of the line as Agile is oversimplifying a scheme at best. This also doesn’t seem to take into account whether or not a QB is left handed – the entire scheme would have to flip in this regard – have they done that? I think not.
User Persona is something they could add to this game and almost make the suggestion for Morale and Personality a thought of the past. Give the user a chance to choose or create a persona within the game. Owner Mode should have labels such as Tyrant (Jerry Jones), Clueless (Jimmy Haslam), etc. The same goes for coaches if that is the route you want to take.

As more information is released expect to find it on NTTV!

Madden 19 Franchise Mode – Only One Direction To Go

As we near the NFL Draft in a matter of days it is starting to leak out of the rumor mill that Madden will be focusing on ramping up the quality of Franchise Mode. Hopefully this means we can expect a bit more depth in terms of how the mode is represented in a few different ways.

madden-nfl-15-screen-19png-e0e9e8 — Because EA is the Johnny Manziel of sports game developers.

They have tried to change how free agency works from the Auction system a few years ago to making offers before advancing and hoping the guy you wanted chose your low-ball offer. Between bad financial logic and worse player and team logic – Madden hasn’t exactly been a beacon of realism for wanna-be GMs.

They must find a way to push gamers in this mode to eventually spend their money on veterans without looking at every 28 and 29 year old player like they are going to become Stephen Hawking at the age of 30. Yes, there is certainly a youth movement in the thinking of NFL General Managers. Yes, this means that drafting top talent over keeping ‘aging’ players is a common strategy. It doesn’t mean that Madden should get a pass in making players in their late-20s and early 30s relevant in Franchise Mode.

On top of the age nosedive in terms of player ratings, the other aspect that needs the most help in Madden is the Draft and Scouting.

Scouting has quite simply been a lazy effort by the developers. It isn’t difficult to find the superstar players later in the draft. It isn’t hard to find the busts in the first round. By the time you figured out the scouting dynamics in Madden 17 you were more than okay with the point reversal in Madden 18 that was supposed to make that aspect more challenging. All you need to do is look for the first rating to be a B+ or higher and you are on your way. It’s not rocket science… and that makes for an insanely boring experience that is arguably one of the most involved and talked about in all of sports.

They must address the lack of immersion in our experience week by week. There is ZERO immersion in Franchise Mode from an overall league perspective. There is no feeling for the salary cap when it comes to managing the team. There is no excitement in Franchise Mode… NONE. The Super Bowl has been the same stupid celebration and musical experience for years.

Madden 18 was the final straw for me as a Madden fan in a lot of ways. It was the only Madden I have stopped playing before the Super Bowl was over. It says more about the staying power of Franchise Mode than anything else.

Madden Ultimate Team has killed what made Madden a fun experience for those of us that don’t enjoy online sports gaming. I am hoping that Madden 19 will make good on their chance to convince me to buy this game as a pre-order for the sake of giving my annual guides for all of you out there.

The Downfall of Potential Ratings In Sports Games

After more than a few years playing through numerous Franchise Modes in Madden, MLB The Show and NBA 2K it is apparent to me that the only truly important rating for a young player in Franchise Mode is ‘Potential’. It is also one of the more argued about topics on sports gaming forums as well.

Madden_NFL_16

I have found that in simulating multiple seasons of MLB 18 (as well as older iterations) that the primary decider for a player becoming a superstar is potential. It often has nothing to do with performance or statistics – take a look at the performance of some older players like Nelson Cruz as you play through a few seasons. While they are still performing at a high level, they will suddenly see a huge drop off in ratings like contact and power as they age by a year… even if they hit 50 home runs the season before.

I have noticed that players with A potential are almost certain to be a lock for being s superstar in all three sports games. Madden has a bad habit of making their franchise overall rating system as broken as anything else they put a number on in terms of ratings.

In the end, my view of the Potential Rating is not that it should go away completely. I believe it needs to be molded to fit each game and sport. Players generally fit into a few different categories of being high potential. While Andrew Benintendi is no doubt a top level young talent, I don’t see him the same way I see Aaron Judge. I believe that potential needs to be weighed more towards player type and player role in all sports games.

It shouldn’t be as simple as saying Player A should be a 99 Overall and Player B should be a 91 Overall in terms of potential. There are some truly once-in-a-generation athletes like LeBron James that defy almost all limitations and are great at almost every aspect of their respective sport.

While a baseball player might look like a 5-Tool prospect, the reality of this is usually that they will be more like a 2 to hopefully 4-Tool guy. As we play through more seasons of our favorite sports games it becomes easier to focus on the potential rating as the most important number by which we judge a player… unless you are talking about age… quite possibly the most lopsided and biased determiner of ratings decline in any version of a sports game.

Although we are able to edit the ratings of players manually in many of our Franchise Mode experiences, we shouldn’t have to take over where the number crunchers have failed us. It is really as simple as applying a new descriptor to each player that highlights their role to a team. This should be a fluid and dynamic description that also serves as a way to lift morale for players on the team. I would like to see the death of potential ratings as numbers and have them become more in-tune with how we look at the changing landscape of players in every sport.