MLB The Show 17 News Post

MLB The Show 17's Offline Franchise Offers a Slight Upgrade

06:20 PM - April 5, 2017 by RaychelSnr

While we wait for the The Show servers to continue to stabilize, it’s at least comforting to know there are some game modes where you don’t have to worry about games freezing or being sent to the queue to potentially be lost forever. One of these modes is an updated offline franchise mode that, as usual, has not received quite the amount of attention from the developers as the more lucrative and increasingly popular Diamond Dynasty mode that is keeping all of those servers overworked. However, that doesn’t mean that franchises have been completely ignored this year.

When it comes time to play what can be an intimidatingly long baseball season, The Show has given you a few ways to help you work your way through your team’s calendar. Naturally, you can just choose to play the full 9 innings for the entirety of your 162 games, but going that route will likely take you right up until the release of MLB The Show 18. So it may seem a little funny to say that one of the biggest changes to franchise mode this year is a feature that will actually keep you from playing more of the game itself, but that’s the truth when it comes to the The Show’s new quick manage option.

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Game: MLB The Show 17Hype Score: 9/10 - Vote Now
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Member Comments

# 1 Caulfield @ 04/05/17 06:48 PM

I bet you guys are tired of hearing me fanboy the Show to death, but this is the one aspect of the game I really want to see expanded and am most critical of. Give me options galore and I might just retire from work at an early age and play the Show 24/7/365. I like the quirks that were added this year and I'm glad batter tendency is editable but if I could just get custom inter-league schedules, or even completely turn off inter-league games, well I'd probably never shut up how great franchise is. I havent really felt rushed enough to do quick manage or crit sit yet in my current season, though I have give ita whirl in a few play now games, and when I do eventually need it, it will be nice to have that option. When I do retire for real, I'm gonna want those 90 man rosters increased to 125, but SDS gots plenty time 'cause I dont plan to retire until MLB The Show 2040 launches.
Where's the CountDown Thread for that, link please?

# 2 HenryClay1844 @ 04/05/17 06:49 PM

Franchise mode in MLB the show is miles and miles ahead of the other games I play, EA's FIFA and NHL.

# 3 wisdom less13 @ 04/05/17 07:48 PM

I already have damn near a day and a half out in on my carry over franchise. Love the mode. Can it improve? Sure. I'm not going to bitch about what should our shouldn't be in it. Franchise is the jam in my book...

# 4 porkys8077 @ 04/05/17 08:11 PM

I like the Franchise mode in MLB the Show this. Some people like it and some don't. That's just the way it is.

# 5 Caulfield @ 04/05/17 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by porkys8077


	I like the Franchise mode in MLB the Show this. Some people like it and some don't. That's just the way it is.

I disagree.

Some people don't like it and some do.
THAT'S the way it is.

# 6 IgotSyphillis @ 04/05/17 09:49 PM

It's fine. It gets the job done. Problem is they laid the groundwork for it being fine almost 10 years ago and have changed very little since then. They already have create a team in DD, so how hard could it be to be able to have a create a team mode in franchise? We all know why that won't happen. Same reason next year we will probably get create a stadium....only in diamond dynasty. It is what it is. Makes it easier on me to only have to buy every couple of years instead of every year.

# 7 sirwoodz @ 04/05/17 09:57 PM

i love franchise mode...its been better than RTTS these last few years IMO

# 8 ty5oke @ 04/05/17 10:16 PM

So much left to be desired in franchise mode. I'll still enjoy grinding the season with my team but wish it had more immersion.

# 9 deadlocked @ 04/05/17 10:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IgotSyphillis


	It's fine. It gets the job done. Problem is they laid the groundwork for it being fine almost 10 years ago and have changed very little since then. They already have create a team in DD, so how hard could it be to be able to have a create a team mode in franchise? We all know why that won't happen. Same reason next year we will probably get create a stadium....only in diamond dynasty. It is what it is. Makes it easier on me to only have to buy every couple of years instead of every year.

I'll like to see expansion and relocation added. I would totally relocate the Mets and Angels/Dodgers to NC and Las Vegas! Or tinker with expanding to both areas and more (Mexico City? Vancouver? Calgary? Hawaii?)

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# 10 CaseIH @ 04/06/17 12:19 AM

Franchise mode does need improved upon, like Spring Training be more life like, and add in more than ballparks outside of 1 for Cactus, and 1 for Grapefruit League. Ive wanted to see atleast High A added and be playable, or atleast add more than 15 extra players, if all they added in atleast 25 players for A ball even if it wasnt playable Id be happy.

Franchise definitely has a ways to go get to where NBA2k Association mode is, and I hope next yr the devs put forth more effort to improve Franchise. I always enjoy it, but I think for me if they dont get back to putting more effort into Franchise mode, to liven it up, it might be hard for me to continue buying it every year. I love The Show, and feel they have the best devs in gaming, but if they get to the point of being consumed with gimic modes for online play like DD, then I'll probably have to quit buying it each yr, if Franchise doesnt start getting major enhancement to it, because Franchise mode is all I play.

# 11 lil frier @ 04/06/17 12:42 AM

"looking to get a realistic taste of what it’s like"

I don't think this is a positive part of Franchise at all. It isn't what I was hoping for in any way. My favorite thing to do in Franchise mode is run a fantasy draft and make my team that way. I'll run multiple iterations of it before starting, trying to build I like. This game makes that a completely worthless endeavor. Draft results have very little variation early, making it easy to exploit bad talent evaluation and predictable position runs. The game overvalues the heck out of closers, with Kenley Jansen taken top-5 and several others going in the first 50 pick, while Andrew Miller (the highest-rated RP in the game) sits until Round 8 or 9 because he's not tagged as a closer (then I can take him, move him to closer, and his value skyrockets). Payrolls are a mess, as are contracts, ruining a lot of the real-life intrigue (trying to trade Miguel Montero at $14 million IRL is a lot harder than the value-level contract of $35. million he has in-game).

Trade AI isn't better. The quantity > quality method of exploiting trades is still really easy. The roster management is still clunky, particularly with the 40-man mess when you start in Spring Training. I always play Franchise more than anything else in a sports game. I haven't touched it beyond some quick Trophy grabs after seeing how contracts and drafting look. Hopefully the OSFM rosters make things a LOT better, I have faith they will. The CL values might still suck, but at least there could be some degree of realism.

# 12 BobSacamano @ 04/06/17 12:46 AM

Franchise mode is all I play, and it's all I've ever played, dating back to pencil-and-paper dynasties in RBI Baseball and Bo Jackson Baseball for the NES. I have incredibly fond memories of the various games that paved the way towards a more immersive and realist franchise experience: Hardball 5 brought actual, in-depth stat tracking to the table. High Heat 2001 had actual yearly advancement rather than the single seasons of games past. I remember simming seasons out to 2050 with entire generations of computer-generated players filling rosters. MVP had spring training and actual minor league teams and rosters (a major revelation to me).

It's almost hard to remember this now, and I think we take it for granted, but the Show completely changed the score by implementing real roster management. 40-man rosters, September call-ups, waiver wire rules, option years, the whole nine yards. It was unheard of, and the learning curve was steep for a lot of people. There had never been an experience like it outside of OOTP. It's one of the reasons the Show earned its "realism" tag, and it's one of the reasons I fell in love with the game.

That's a long way of saying... I'm really happy to be where we are, and to have seen this journey all the way through. But then again, those advancements were made, what, a decade ago? I do think it's time for the Show to write the next chapter in the Franchise book. I don't know what it'll be, but I'm excited to experience it.

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# 13 drugsbunny @ 04/06/17 06:26 AM

Create-a-player in this years show should be the standard in all video games from now until...

# 14 BigOscar @ 04/06/17 09:42 AM

Pretty disappointed with what I've seen so far. I get that they didn't have time to implement new features, it's annoying, but I get it. But to not fix existing problems is just pretty unforgiveable imo. Then to add in new ones like the computers new found love of pulling starters really early and letting relievers stay in when they are getting slaughtered is just, urgh. I like the idea of the new money system, but it's poorly implemented and doesn't give you anywhere near enough information. That at least has potential going forwards.

I'm still going to play the hell out of it, because I'm all about franchise, but I'm hugely disappointed with their efforts this year in this mode. They need to fix the pitcher logic, particularly with quick counts pretty sharpish but I have no expectations that they will.

# 15 ARoid1313 @ 04/06/17 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HenryClay1844


	Franchise mode in MLB the show is miles and miles ahead of the other games I play, EA's FIFA and NHL.

Ummm no way

# 16 cch99 @ 04/06/17 10:55 AM

First off I haven't bought this years game yet. I do have last years so reading what I have it's no much different this year but I have to agree with what someone else said that the biggest issue with all these franchise modes is immersion in the League.

To me they make these games so hard to really get a good feel for what is going on in the rest of the league and how you fit into it. The radio show is fine and all but in my opinion these really need to do a better job of headlining great performances during the day/week. Cut in's from other games. Highlight shows at the end of a week and Playoff Preview Shows. Right now yeah you can check out league leaders and look at boxscore but I personally don't want to scour all the boxscores to find out someone pitched a one-hitter.

In my opinion the two best at this were College Hoops 2k7 & College Football. 2k7 had the weekly review, and then the selection show which were great. Added so much and kept you involved more. College Football, even though it didn't have highlights, the score cut ins in big related games were great and I loved the Sports Illustrated stuff. Because it brought out the best performances and other things around the league without having to go through menus to find all the stuff, it was in a nice convenient package.

NBA 2k does an ok job with this with the sidebar stuff but it repeats with three stories about the same thing that I end up just not even bothering with it.

Baseball is a perfect sport and I would think the easiest to make a highlight package from but then again I am not a coder. Also would love to cut to a no-hitter going on or a replay of someone getting the game winning hit especially with division teams and they could allow the opportunity to turn it off if you wanted in the menus so it didn't have to cut away. That to me is the best way to get that immersion factor is to remind you that these other things are going and not make you search to find it and the visuals would make it more real.

To me this is the biggest thing missing from all the franchise modes.

# 17 Mike Lowe @ 04/06/17 11:11 AM

I asked a question in my OOTP review last year:

What will come first? A baseball text sim that adds in modern graphics, or a baseball console game that gets the finer details for franchise mode, etc. right?

Every year, it seems we're creeping closer and closer to the former, surprisingly...

# 18 bonannogiovanni @ 04/06/17 11:29 AM

I don't understand how to enter a critical situation, Do you have to sim the game first from the calendar page?

# 19 pagkerguy8 @ 04/06/17 06:23 PM

if your a game company that's only worried about money money and more money....what are you gonna spend more time on a game mode where someone pays 60 bucks and that's it or a game mode where someone pays 60 bucks and then hundreds and hundreds(if not thousands and thousands) more???

if the very near future you will be lucky to see any improvements in this game or madden now that these more profitable game modes are around

# 20 @legendm0de @ 04/06/17 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pagkerguy8


	if your a game company that's only worried about money money and more money....what are you gonna spend more time on a game mode where someone pays 60 bucks and that's it or a game mode where someone pays 60 bucks and then hundreds and hundreds(if not thousands and thousands) more??? if the very near future you will be lucky to see any improvements in this game or madden now that these more profitable game modes are around

I have solution to that, make a hardcore edition of this game and instead of the solid gold steelbook edition we'll buy their hardcore 'franchise lovers' edition for top dollar.

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MLB The Show 17's Offline Franchise Offers a Slight Upgrade