Franchise Mode Initial Thoughts
In my opinion, the conversation system is one of the best additions to franchise mode, I think it will be great for everybody as I actually don’t think you have to use it if you don’t want to. Unfortunately most, if not all of the core problems with franchise mode still exist. AI GM’s are still pretty terrible and there are still no NHL coaches to hire, so you are stuck with what you are randomly given. Since this is still an offline mode after all, I still think we should be able to edit everything to our liking.
The new menu setup is cool, but I think team standings need to be present somewhere on there, maybe make the game day matchup info smaller. I also always find myself clicking R3 to view player info before initiating a conversation, but that takes me to the stats central page. Should be able to view player info from there in order to quickly view what they should work on.
The NMC/NTC are a great addition, combined with the conversation system is awesome in my opinion. Dare I say it even made a little bit of sense when asking players to waive or expand their clauses. One big problem I found is when a player is injured you cannot start a conversation with them and therefore are not able to ask them to waive. Became a problem at the trade deadline.
It would also be nice if there was some more back and forth when a player rejects an offer instead of just the pop up that we have also had. Most players still do not sign until around July 4 either which rarely happens anymore. I don’t think there were any negative impacts on a player when they didn’t reach their goals, in fact once you set them, there wasn’t really any mention of them at all after that. Being able to switch or add a secondary position is cool, but I didn’t have any luck successfully switching anybody’s player type, despite asking almost every player.
I like the fact that I can lock any player into any spot in the lineup I want, will certainly help for those that sim most of the season. I just wish we were able to get the coach to change more when it came to specific strategies, especially with the lack of replacement coaches still available.
From the short time that I’ve played so far, I would say this is probably the best addition to franchise mode yet, I still think they probably need at least a full year to improve on everything else that’s been a problem in the mode for years.
