Chase Becotte: In my mind, it's a simple but hard to pull off concept: feel like you're part of something bigger than yourself. Most every franchise mode has gotten in on adding a fake Twitter feed of sorts, and tries to get you more involved in league-wide news in general, but people who flock to online franchise modes do so in large part to feel like they're part of an actual league.

Playing by yourself can't ever compare to playing with a bunch of friends, but people chirp and hope for things like a league-wide halftime show or weekly show, or replays from other games and so on because they want to feel invested in the happenings within their universe. Right now, no sports game tries to create a world that exists beyond the words in the front end and the games users are playing. It's not an easy problem to solve, but it's one of the biggest ones facing franchise modes moving forward.

Dustin Toms: Honestly, despite every developer's best efforts, offseason modes still need to be adjusted to fit its real life importance.

Free agency is something that has helped turn each sport into a 12-month circus. When LeBron was choosing between Cleveland and Miami, the entire world held its breath. When Ndamukong Suh hit the jackpot on the market, hope was swirling around every fan's fingertips. The offseason grants hope to each organization, but when reflected in a video game it's nothing but a button masher to the start of the season.

NBA 2K16 has put in work to implement Summer League and the Summit, both nice additions. Madden has been constantly trying to figure out the best way to execute free agency, and has done a decent job to keep gamers interested and attentive. But why not take the next step? My idea floats around the interactions off 2K16's Off-Day Simulator (ODS), so bear with me for a moment.

In the ODS, you choose up to 10 connections that will randomly ask for you to hang out. Select the 10 free agents you're most interested in, then balance your work days in the offseason around who you absolutely need to sign. To use the same example, say LeBron is on the market with 12 teams that have plenty of cap room. Obviously each team will choose to spend time with LeBron, but in the end it's still the King's choice. The time you spend with each FA, the answers you give them, the attention thrown their way, etc., can all add up to a leaderboard on where he wants to sign a contract. Think NCAA Football recruitment/scouting, but with massive gains. You need to work for changing the landscape of your team, not sit and pray that your offer might come through when you advance to the next day.

It's a gold mine, and it would add a lot fun to an already great mode.

Kevin Groves: I'd have to agree with Chase in the sense that "Immersion" is still lacking when it comes to Franchise Modes. Not since College Hoops 2K8 have I felt a real connection to my team while being in tune to what's going on around me. Too often these days offline career modes feel like you're the only planet in the universe. How your surroundings impact you is frequently left wanting by either sub-par AI or meaningless clutter (see Chase's point above about fake tweets, headlines, etc...). Perhaps areas like in-game commentary could be enhanced to include news from around the league(s) as well as the situation going on with the team you're in charge of.

Chris Sanner: The biggest challenge any sports game has still when it comes to a mode like Franchise Mode is indeed immersion. The feeling of being in a world that is both dynamic, unpredictable, but lifelike is something that sports games really haven't quite found a way to capture.

I would assume this involves not only realistic AI GMs making moves, but realistic player personalities, a more robust (but not too intrusive) news feature, and more situational commentary in games. For instance, if you have a WR that's simply been a problem and you suddenly see that playing out in the game with him yelling at his teammates -- how cool would it be to then have to decide how to react to his antics?

Some sports gamers may not like that -- but its something that's very realistic for a coach to handle (or a GM after the game). Another thing that has to be considered is team chemistry as well as fan popularity of players. If you have a franchise QB in their prime and you trade him away, you should have to deal with a massive fan backlash. If you truly want a sim experience, player personalities existing within a more connected and robust world are essential for all of this. Motivation and confidence have to be fleshed out more as well -- but there's always a danger to those types of features being overdone or completely breaking a game's balance.

Regardless, off the field and on the field have to begin connecting more -- and the world you exist in needs to be more alive. No sports game does it truly well, so we have a long way to go yet for these features!