Five Things All Dynasty/Franchise Modes Need: Part II - RaychelSnr's Blog

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RaychelSnr's Blog

Five Things All Dynasty/Franchise Modes Need: Part II Stuck

Posted on October 20, 2009 at 11:46 AM.

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Yesterday, we looked at making Dynasty/Franchise modes a bit more personal. Today, we are going to look at something near and dear to my heart: the offseason.

Sports game dynasty modes simply go from the season to the offseason, which consists of a linear set of events which seem just as static as they are often boring. In pro sports, you draft. In college, you recruit. You can go for free agency, or if you are unlucky enough to be playing a college game, you can set your depth chart and hope for the best.

The offseasons aren't necessarily bad in sports game modes right now, they're just all very similar. No one has been willing to take a risk and do things in a wholly different fashion which is both new and exciting.

Why does there have to be a set and orderly plan? Why can't there be a point to the offseason other than roster building? As a coach/GM, shouldn't you be just as focused as building up your image with the people who are your digital fans as much as the team you are controlling?

This suggestion goes hand in hand with my point yesterday: make the offseason more personal, with more goals to achieve than just roster building. For drafts, there should be expectations of you, ditto for recruiting or free agency. Baltimore fans weren't happy they couldn't grab Texiera this offseason, why shouldn't you face the same pressures?

What do you think about offseasons in dynasty and franchise modes? What do you think could be done differently?

Comments

# 1 rudeworld @ Oct 20

hmmm GM fan ratings... sounds good to me..... maybe you can even do other things during the off season like change uniforms/signs(like lions did this off season).....

# 2 ajaxab @ Oct 20

It may not be your favorite kind of game, but it sounds like you really need to give the Football Manager series a shot. :-) They have the very things you're looking for. Sometimes your chairman will ask you to go out and buy a star player and give you the money to do so. He will get upset if you fail to come through. When you do get that player, the fans get excited and your reputation with them improves.

You are also given different transfer budgets to choose from as well depending on how much confidence you have in your own and your team's ability. If you predict you will finish higher in the standings, you will be given more money to buy players. Of course, that will mean more pressure from your boss. If you predict you will finish lower in the standings, you will be given less money, but there will also be less pressure to win.

All of this comes together to make Football Manager's offseason one of the most exciting times of a virtual season.

# 3 RaychelSnr @ Oct 20

ajaxab,

I play football manager. I'm not wanting this stuff in just one game, but I think this stuff should be universal by now. That's the point I'm making

# 4 ajaxab @ Oct 21

@MMChrisS

That's great, but then I would encourage you to give credit where credit is due and not pass these off as your original suggestions. Sure it's 'only' a blog entry, but there's nothing wrong with citing the source of these ideas. Plus, you might also lead people to one of the greatest games a lot of them have never tried.

# 5 RaychelSnr @ Oct 21

Ajax,

This stuff hasn't just been done in Football Manager, but in some form or another in other games. To say I'm simply looking at football manager and saying it should be done in other games is very false, that's not what I'm doing. Plus, you'll be shocked to hear as great as football manager is, it's still not the be all, end all game many make it out to be

# 6 Imaking332 @ Oct 25

Madden on PS2 has been the closest game I played(not counting Head Coach) to a differentoffseason. They had the Senior All Star game pre draft workouts and also what the next gen version is extremely lacking...restricted free agency.