I will preface this will stating and admitting, creating video games are hard. I’ve tried and have failed miserably. It took me four to five hours to just get a person to walk up two steps, and that’s without any training! So suffice to say, everyone that is a programmer, thank you for your hard work and dedication to perfect a craft. And, apologies for having to take something you worked so hard on, and having people crap all over it who have no experience in the field besides being “gamers”, even when in some their time, can’t even do it. Now that’s out of the way, here’s a takedown on how to effectively improve GM modes taking from many other games and also, incorporating old versions from older games that were removed for microtransaction in-game features.

Disclaimer: avid franchise mode gamer in all sports, former competing on teams before there was an Eleauge and formerly high ranked PvP when I had the time to do such a thing; summation, Still got it and I know me some franchise modes and basketball games.

The best franchise mode in my honest opinion was Madden ’05. Utilizing Owner Mode, you had access to Tony Bruno Radio, newspapers with the latest news, dynamic player roles, hiring of coaches from Special Teams-Head Coach which gave player perks and growth, relocation, stadium creation, player hold outs, 4 week player progression, and imported draft class. It was loaded and awesome. Every move you made essentially effected your franchise. This type of direction has now become diminished for all of those who care about Simulated Sports franchises. It has been replaced by a mandatory involuntary ridiculous RPG, automated story which you respond to and put in positions outside of your control, just to win a championship as a GM. Player control is completely out of the window.

The new 2k has a GM Mode you play online in a leaderboard, with a daily limit on what to do. Hard Pass. Super hard pass. There’s a MyLeague feature that is like MyGm of old, but its missing some key elements to make it essential. Live ’19 is missing a lot of key features for Franchise Mode as well, like all draft picks a team possess for the next few years (2k has them incorporated), save adding Player Edit, and Player Progression (wait for it), it’s bare bones. So now lets get into the most essential features needed NBA Franchise Mode.

Player Progression. The key and whole point for creating a franchise is to progress your team into a winner. The player progression in 2k is based on a sliding system, and natural growth, and not player performance. That is ridiculous. You update every roster with a player performance for a rating, and make people spend real money on ” rare cards” in your microtransaction game mode, but a player in franchise cannot level up based on play, outside of the GLeauge glitch where you put a player in the system and they grow plus the player development badges. This made me stop playing franchise mode for that series. I had a team of young talent, had Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (TLC) running point and averaging 30-10-10 on 12 min games on Hall of Fame, with a 100 point game. He started as a 71, ended the season as a 74. It makes no sense.

EA Sports has it right with Player Progression. FIFA you can weekly upgrade your players with 5 drills that will fit your player based on skill games, and now incorporated a playing dynamic potential growth. Taking a young English Football League 2 team and progressing to the Premier League and Europa League to Champions League, thus selling high as well is an awesome experience. Madden, you have tasks to complete to get XP and grow your player on a weekly basis. There is even a dynamic Star game, when you can reach a milestone and a player can become close to an X-Factor for ’20. Taking a overall 69 team and going a perfect season and having those players go from 60’s-80’s sometimes 90’s is the most satisfying experience. And yes, its on All-Madden. Live ’19, you can do game to game tasks, season, and career just like in Madden. Ben Simmons can hit the three on the reg by All-Star break. But for 2k, they used to have player progression during the season. It was the 1st of the month, up to 10 pts. Pretty much took Gerald Wallace, and made him into a knock down 3pt shooter by the end of the season. If you haven’t caught on, I always take the bad teams and make them good. In any sport, Player Progression/Development is essential to having a team grow. Taking it out, doesn’t help the game at all. If a player goes from nothing, and becomes an MVP, they better damn well be bumped up as well as star potential by the end of the season.

The Noise. Blocking out the noise for a pro athlete is essential for team chemistry, overall psyche and player performance. When a player is placed on the trading block, or involved within a trade scenario, the noise happens. 2K does/did a great job of that when trying to move players. Star players would even enter the office and demand a trade. Disgruntled players with concerns of trades, playing time, injuries, free agency, other player additions, team praise, was all met by the media via press conference in to which you can answer. Your answer determines the chemistry of the team and that player’s morale. Effect it negatively or positively, with respective negative or positive consequences. It was unique, true to form, and essential. However, chemistry is not an issue with Live, for it does not exist. At least add in the text series via FIFA. Along with the avatar insiders, its important to have The Noise as a prevalent feature within a simulated franchise.

Relocation/Expansion. In recent years, 2k has provided these features, Live has not. Relocation and Expansion are something that affects every franchise and fan base. The incorporation for this feature is met with high praise. I like moving the teams back to where they were: i.e. Memphis Grizzlies-Vancouver, Utah Stars/New Orleans Jazz; and expanding into Vancouver, East Rutherford, NJ, etc. As are the league meetings that allows for a vote on expansion teams in the offseason. The Noise is perfect for this for it allows uncertainty, and fan loss of faith. The threat should always be there, despite being able to be vetoed by an Owner.

Uniform Selection. The leagues have variety of jersey’s that transcend time, and connect todays generation with the old and provide the latter with a bit of nostalgia. Seeing those ’93-94 Sixers, Vancouver Grizzlies, New Jersey Nets 90’s away, and Seattle Sonics uniforms brings back something special. 2k does a great job at allowing players to change their Branding, Identity and Create a new uniform. However, you cannot choose them as your kit for the season, and only selected per game. Madden offers a front end feature of Create Uniform to mix and match throwbacks, currents and alternatives to give each team an identity that can be saved as the in game jersey. I personally change the Washington Football team’s jerseys to remove the emblem, and use the alternatives to play against in games. Implementing the feature of choosing a kit to use for your identity outside of creating in 2k for branding, is something that teams do in real life, so to sim it would in turn, replicate the game you are supposed to be simming.

Individuality. These games have morphed into an involuntary RPG, where everything is predetermined and narrative set for a player you created. Again, you created. They provided the platform, but pull the strings. Please cut these strings and let the players determine their destiny within a simmed franchise, with no weaselly son’s, billionaire oil baron’s, or capped task limits. Open it up, let us go free and live a real sim with actual results that were an affect on not only team building, but player development, without being strung into a narrative of servitude masking itself as a simmed franchise mode.

Despite all of the wants/needs to put into a sim basketball franchise mode, there are a lot of positives: The realistic salary cap with the explanation, the luxury tax issues (that hardly any fan in certain communities clearly understand when they want a player), unrestricted/restricted free agency, CBA’s, in-game in-season stats (love it for raising that bar), facility badges, GM badges, XP, upgrades, off-season workouts, draft prep, prospect games, trade finders, and all aforementioned positives. As with anything, there is always room to grow. Unfortunately, this will probably fall upon deaf ears and dismissed as another cynic rant by some moron-millennial-simp-clown; but, there’s still hope.

Cover Photo via ballerstatus.com