Has EA completely given up on Franchise mode ?

So I finally got the courage to play / sim through a full season in Franchise mode.

Quick question: has anyone over at EA tested the mode even ONCE ?!? The mode is in even worse shape than I initially thought. And what makes it even worse is that many of those issues aren’t even related to the little amount of new stuff added to it.

Things like draft recap. Nothing changed about the draft, it’s the same old presentation we’ve had for years. So why am I now being presented Anaheim’s draft recap once the draft is over, forcing me to manually scroll down to my team, like it’s always been ? Or why am I coming back to the AHL schedule on the main hub, everytime I go to replace a player in my line-up, due to an injury ? It used to bring us back to the NHL schedule, no matter where (NHL or AHL) injury was. Now, the logo at the top says NHL…but everything else, from the calendar to the rankings to the top-scorer is AHL. And I have to press the option button twice to get the correct display. How is this a thing, when it’s never been in previous games ? You pretty much copied and paste the whole mode !

Speaking of editing your line-up, replacing a injured forward in your line-up has always been an issue when said forward is used on the point on special teams, as the game couldn’t even achieve that simple task, even when using using the REPLACE ON ALL LINES function. Now, it’s even worse ! We get warning signs, telling us something’s wrong with our special team units…but once you get there, everything is fine, your injured forward has indeed been replaced by the player you selected and the warning sign just magically disappeared. It’s just forcing us to scroll to that screen (and we all know how fun that is with NHL laggy menus) for nothing.

Oh, and speaking of special teams…has no-one at EA realized that the whole distributor / finisher / puck carrier concept only makes sense if players are being sent to the ice in units of 5 ? Say I’m running a 1-3-1 PP scheme with the Montreal Canadiens, and set it up with Caufield being the finisher, playing on the left side of the net. That slot is considered to be Left Defense. Now, I’m in a game and Caufield needs to rest. I’m sending PP1 forwards with PP2 defensemen. Now what ? I have no finishers on the ice ? Same could happen with distributor or puck carrier. And if it can happen to me, it can happen for the CPU controlled team. So do these things even have a meaning, or are they just esthetics in a poorly presented submenu ?

Now at this point, we all know the limitations and issues with coaching strategies. Not only are we not able to set the strategies the way WE want to play OUR game, because “we’re not the coach, we’re the GM” (which is the most absurd answer ever), but it’s been proven that strategies don’t change, in the edit lines menu, when you proceed to a coaching change. You’re stuck with the initial coach strategy scheme. But now, on top of that, seems like EA has opted to change the way line chemistry is being calculated. It used to be based, at least partly, on your head coach preference vs players preference, in terms of strategy and biases. The more green checkmarks you had, the better (the whole +1 / 0 / -1 system). Now, it seems the only thing affecting line chemistry are X-Factors. I can build a line with a +10 checkmarks over the 15 categories (5 per player) and get NO line chemistry bonus. Which brings the question; what’s the purpose of the head-coach module then ? What’s the motivation for us, as general managers, to go on the trade market or scout prospect in the draft to find the players that fit our stubborn head coach’s strategies on a given line…if those don’t even have an impact at the end ? It makes the whole head-coach module completely pointless…it’s just there to force you to play a system you’re most probably not comfortable to be playing in, that’s it !

And while we’re talking about useless staff…what the hell is going on with Auto-Scouting ? Don’t get me wrong, it’s always been bad, which is why I usually do my own scouting (and even then, the results are random af). I didn’t for this test run though. Started a franchise with TWO 1st round picks, and added a third one via trade. I get to the end of the season, only to realize that my scouts didn’t have ANY information to share with me for SEVEN of the Top-10 prospects ? SEVEN ?!? And yeah, before you ask, I had scouts in their region. I knew all there was to know about Connor Bedard…but not a SINGLE thing about Brayden Yager, when both players are in the WHL. I scroll down the list, and I’m lucky if my scouts uncovered informations about more than 30 prospects in the Top-100. I mean, what the hell ?!? If I’m auto-scouting…I’m expecting WAY better results than that. You mean to tell me that even the dumbest of GM wouldn’t have a good idea of Yager’s playing style, after a whole season ? Come on, EA.

Trade logic is also as bad as it’s ever been. Now I do understand that some of that is the result of poor roster (overall and potential) affecting player’s value. But it goes deeper than that. I shouldn’t be able to trade for a 19-year old, Medium Top-6 forward like Logan Stankoven…for a 30+ fringe defenseman like Chris Wideman and a 4th round pick. Not when Dallas already has, at the very least, an entire pro-roster full of defensemen of Wideman’s caliber, or better. And especially not on HARD trading difficulty. And as bad as this is…it’s nowhere near as bad as goaltender’s trade value. Trading for a legit starter shouldn’t be THAT easy. Even young ELITE goaltenders are quite easy to trade for.

Last but not least (and I can’t believe this is still a thing)…why are some players still not reporting to their CHL teams like they are supposed to ? It was allowed during the pandemic, with the whole taxi-squad. Wasn’t allowed last year, isn’t allowed this year…yet we’re still dealing with it in Franchise mode. Playing with the Habs, I have players like Joshua Roy (QMJHL), Riley Kidney (QMJHL) and Logan Mailloux (OHL) all spending the year in Laval, as healthy scratch, instead of having them play in juniors, for their proper teams. You might say that this isn’t that big of an issue…but it is, because as pro-players under contract, they now count towards the 50 contracts limit. Meaning the game will cut other players from the team, sending them to free agency because of it. And it’s not even something that WE can fix via roster editing.

Record books are still broken, simulated stats are suspect at best, contract negotiations (that show you in advance if / when a player will grow or not), free agency market where you can pretty much get anyone you want, poor team management AI…the list goes on and on.

Franchise mode is in such a bad shape…at this point, it’s nothing more than a calendar forcing you to play a list of opponents in a specific order. Nothing more, nothing less.

So my question is in the title: has EA completely given up on Franchise mode ? Because if so, it would be nice to tell us so that we can move on with our lives, and find our fun somewhere else.