Long term playability of Madden 12 franchise mode?

[spiker]

We've got a lot of Madden players here. I have been mostly absent from the series for 3 or 4 years now. I got Madden 12 today for $10 so now I'm in it, for better or worse.

My concern is about Franchise mode. EA always finds a way to fuck this up no matter what series we're talking about - FIFA, NCAA, you name it. Player progression is usually borked and CPU AI makes bad GM decisions for the other teams. And when you add all of this up, after about 4 or 5 seasons, the game just becomes a mess of shit.

Anyways, I know it's going to be bad. It just will. It's EA. Madden players, please fill me in on the bad things the CPU does from an GM standpoint. Also, if there are fixes or workarounds (controlling all 32 teams in the draft, for instance), I'd like to know what those are as well. I can't seem to locate a discussion on this exact topic with a Google search.

 

[Berowsk]

You get it for PS3? If so, sign up for 2-2-0.

I was able to download draft classes until 2017. You should look into it. While the players aren't perfect, it definitely makes it so every team doesn't have two over 90 overall running backs by 2020, which seems pretty common in my franchises with the default draft classes. I think progression got a lot better this year though, with performance actually taking an effect.

As for the draft, I think the only workaround would be to control all 32 teams through the franchise and just control one team and sim the rest. If you're willing to wait for the sim, I'm guessing this would be the best option to keep your chise realistic.

 

[spiker]

Controlling every team sounds like the best option to get a solid franchise. How would FA work? I understand it's like a timed bidding game this year. The logistics of switching back and forth to bid on players sounds like a nightmare.

Tell me about this 2-2-0

 

[Berowsk]

Controlling every team sounds like the best option to get a solid franchise. How would FA work? I understand it's like a timed bidding game this year. The logistics of switching back and forth to bid on players sounds like a nightmare.

Tell me about this 2-2-0

http://www.virtualsportsdaily.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?893-2-2-0-Madden-League for 2-2-0. It's one of the two major OF's on VSD. The other would be Turducken football, which I would also suggest getting involved with. The next season of 2-2-0 will be the final one, I don't know about Turducken though.

The timed bidding could be a pain in the ass, but if you're just playing with yourself controlling 32 teams, you wouldn't have to bid against anybody. Honestly, you could sim past that stage and just let all the FAs fall into the first come first serve pool post draft.

The worst part will probably be player resignings, since you'd have to go through each of the 32 teams and give all the guys that should stay new contracts.

 

[spiker]

Is there a period of free agency before the draft where the bid timers don't run? I'd want to address needs through FA before the draft, you know, for realism.

 

[Berowsk]

Is there a period of free agency before the draft where the bid timers don't run? I'd want to address needs through FA before the draft, you know, for realism.

Yeah, I hear ya. I don't believe so. Just place bids on players that you need for the team and don't bid on the same player with 2 teams and let the timers run out.

 

[spiker]

I'll have to sim a season just to see how that works, methinks.

 

[MrBill]

If you are interested in playing a few games a week online and managing your own roster/salary cap, we could get a team for you in the 220. Week 1 of season 4 is just now underway.

 

[spiker]

What are the available teams? Am I able to view the rosters before I join?

 

[Berowsk]

What are the available teams? Am I able to view the rosters before I join?

For rosters: http://xtreme-football.net/220

Bill has a list of open teams somewhere in the forum.

edit: Pretty sure it's:
BUF
IND
OAK
DAL
CHI
TB

Don't take that as a final though.

 

[MrBill]

Open teams - Bills, Colts, Raiders, Cowboys, Buccaneers

 

[Berowsk]

Open teams - Bills, Colts, Raiders, Cowboys, Buccaneers

Who took over the Bears? No contact info on XFN, don't wanna run into a problem when trying to schedule.

 

[Berowsk]

You should totes take the Bills so I can beat your ass twice a year :smug:

 

[spiker]

BUF is okay. Stacked on DL and Secondary but they have a miserable LB core. Pretty average on the offensive side.
OAK is just all sorts of shit. Whoever ran that team before completely mismanaged the roster. No cap room and barely any talent above 80 OVR.
IND looks great off the bat. LOL at that chode from Tampa being a 95ovr QB. The roster is solid though. Lotta players over 90 ovr.
DAL offense looks great. Really centered around throwing the ball. Their draft picks have been terrible though. Outside of Ware, the defense looks avg to ab avg.
TB I like the way this offense is built. Pound the rock and exploit PA. The defense is strong in the secondary and that's about it.

Will you guys tell others to hold off on playing these unowned teams? I will make my decision by tonight. How often is the advance?

 

[MrBill]

Who took over the Bears? No contact info on XFN, don't wanna run into a problem when trying to schedule.

Csonkya has been playing as the Bears and Texans.

 

[MrBill]

Will you guys tell others to hold off on playing these unowned teams? I will make my decision by tonight. How often is the advance?

We have advanced twice a week for the previous 3 seasons, typically on Wednesday and Sunday nights at 10PM central.

 

[spiker]

Come to think of it, I'll pass. I don't want to jump in at the end and I really don't need the stress of a second league. I'm already in the TGS and that has provided me plenty of drama as it is.

 

[spiker]

I'm doing all of the pre-season cuts for every team, which isn't so bad. Only taking me about 45 minutes to go through each round of cuts. I think after the pre-season ends, I will set all the the teams I don't want to control back to CPU controlled until the offseason starts.

Anyone have a good idea for a procedure on trading up or down in the draft? I plan on drafting for every team so gay shit like punters going in the 1st round doesn't happen but I might abandon the idea of trading up or down if it is too complex... and it sounds like it might be.

 

[Aso]

Don't have many answers for you spiker, sorry but I am interested in how this works out for you. The idea of controlling everything like that has always overwhelmed me so it interests me when some decides to take on such a task.

 

[Derrville]

Dont know about you but unless you play on all madden... and I recommend you dont because the CPU is just too overpowering a lot and it will do nothing but frustrate you because of all the bullshit, you probably wont lose and you'll get bored after a season or two. You know, typical madden stuff.