Franchise Mode Detailed Feedback
Going to start off by saying I have pumped probably hundreds of hours into franchise mode upon yearly releases. Here is a categorized list of some tweaks I think could improve the mode without using a ton of resources to completely overhaul it.
Coaching:
- Give users the ability to turn coaching on/off in the settings before starting a mode. Currently, I am unable to enjoy playing real time games with custom teams in custom leagues because coaching automatically sets my strategies.
- Coaching salary is already broken with owner mode toggled off. Can give a coach 9.99 million and it has no affect on your team.
Trade Negotiations:
- 3 way trading
- “Future considerations” option that can be used in trade negotiations at later dates (I can choose “future considerations” when trading with a team I helped in the past. For example, I took a salary dump from a team, now “future considerations” is unlocked when making a future trade with said team)
- Fixed trade values and higher requirements to dump bad contracts (low elite players should have slightly more value)
- Fluid, year to year trade markets. One year, it can be noted that contending teams are desperate for top 6 centers, and that year, teams may overpay for them. The next year, teams may be looking for top 4 LHD. Etc etc.
- Teams ACTUALLY tell you what they want. If a trade is declined, a CPU will tell you that they are instead interested in one of your centers, because that is what they are currently looking for. Instead of just "we may be interested in x"
- AI controlled CPU teams actually making draft day moves. We see that teams sometimes are willing to trade their top 10 picks, but they don't ever trade them.
Free Agency/Extensions/Trade Clauses:
- Salary needs a re-work. Players care too much about money. (One good season doesn’t warrant teams signing a 3rd liner to an 8m+ deal. Free agency is always over-bloated)
- Career long players willing to take pay cuts to teams they WANT to play in. Patrick Kane makes 3 million per, then asks for 7-8 million during the re-sign phase. Crosby regularly takes pay cuts in real life, but then wants north of 10 million in the re-sign phase. If x player is on the market, he's willing to take 3 million to play for one specific team, but around 7-8 for any other team.
- Fluid, year to year player clauses. If x player only wants to play for a contender, his clause will update yearly based on last seasons playoff results
- Players actually telling you where they want to waive their clause to, instead of the teams being randomly selected once they waive for x amount of teams.
Drafting:
- Ability to pre-select draft order in the rosters main menu. Selecting what players will go where in the draft. X player can go pick number 5, or around pick 5. Maybe even being able to select a range, like picks 5 to 10.
- Ability to edit the players in the draft class menu instead of having to go to separate leagues/teams.
- Some type of ability to remove generated prospects entirely. Even at "low" settings, there still is sometimes elite generated players that mess up realistic draft scenarios.
AI GM's/Coaches:
- Basically, better AI utilization. GM's should make smarter drafting/trading/signing choices. Instead of signing and drafting players they have no business needing.
Player Editing/Player Profiles:
- Ability to set an age and/or season when a player retires in the rosters. Players retire in real life but sometimes go in the sim until they are in their 40s. Looking at you, Kopitar.
- Ability to fully edit players, even inside franchise mode. The mode should feel more like a sandbox if players want it to be.
- Ability to cycle through player profiles to see their trades, signings, and career earnings. If, for example, San Jose trades for Auston Matthews, I want to be able to see the trade that landed him. As well as what those potential draft picks turned into.
