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By MOF Commissioner
MOF CEO & President
Published Monday, March 31, 2014

MOF vs EA CONNECTED FRANCHISE MODE: THE COMPARISON


A few years ago EA Sports introduced online franchise, and people jumped at the opportunity to create leagues, and run their very own online franchise from the draft to free-agency. It seemed like a hell of an idea, coming from the biggest video game franchise in history. Except, just like anything else, it was lacking a lot. Madden '25 was the second edition of online franchise, and it has improved from last season, but still has a lot more improvements to go, as we know.

Most online leagues that were around before Connected Franchise Mode came about, moved pretty quickly over to that mode. Especially when League Daddy closed its doors in October of 2012. For those who do not know, League Daddy was a third party website that hosted your league. Way before Connected Franchise Mode existed, people used to log onto League Daddy, enter the player stats and game stats manually, and it would populate into League Daddy, standings, stats, records, etc.

The MOF was one of those leagues that has been around long before Connected Franchise Mode came about. The MOF was founded and created in 2002, when the first edition of Madden had the online feature. We were then keeping track of stats and standings manually, with form entry, it was a lot of work to say the least. Then League Daddy came along, and saved us. We continued with league daddy for 10 years, until it closed its doors in 2012. We were then stuck with moving to Connected Career mode on EA sports. Being a league that had pretty much 100% freedom in doing whatever we wanted, were forced to use a mode that was just not compatible with the MOF style of play.

Connected Franchise Mode only let us play 1 game per week, and we had to wait until everyone got their game in before we can advance. Or we can just advance, and sim their game, which wasn't fair. The problem with Connected Franchise Mode, is that it does not take Coaches availability into consideration. We have mostly older coaches in our league, late 20s to mid 40s and even older. Everyone has a job, most of us have families. Time is of the essence and sometimes our schedules do not match up until the weekend. But if you want to run a successful connected franchise, you can't be advancing every 7 days, or you'd never finish. So we were stuck with simming games on coaches who simply were working, or spending time with their families, just so we can advance to the next week. That was one big problem.

On top of that, we had one instance where our Raiders coach was beating the Broncos 21-0 in the 3rd quarter. Unfortunately, the game was disconnected, and the Raiders wound up receiving a forfeit loss 7-0. Even though they were winning 21-0 in the 3rd quarter, the computer decided to give the win to the Broncos, because the Raiders were the ones who lost connection. There was no way to reverse this, no way to reset this game. Connected Franchise Mode does not offer a way to reset games, or designate winners, or even have save points to continue where we left off or disconnected. Which is a very bad feature.

After that debacle, we moved away from Connected Franchise Mode, and contacted one of our long time league members to build us a "League Daddy" if you will. Our very own database, using PHP and SQL, where people can enter their own player stats and game stats manually, and have it populate into a nice standings, player stats, and player leaders graphic. That is exactly what we did in January of 2013. This is what we have been using ever since, and it has been a wonderful experience. We now have the freedom to play as many games per set as we want, we have the freedom to let coaches go on vacation, and we have the freedom to schedule games when we can, and not be rushed.

The MOF is not for everyone, and we understand that. Some people really like the ability to build a team, trade, draft, etc. Also, It does take a little more time to enter your stats manually, and in some cases we enter scouting reports on coaches, however in the end it is worth it because we offer a lot more than Connected Franchise Mode. I wanted to show a side by side comparison to show the benefits that the MOF have over a CFM league:

Features

MOF CFM

League Website

The MOF features a full website with features like Power Rankings, Expert Picks, Weekly Awards, Yearly Awards, and a rich history of Records, and Standings.

CFM uses a generic EA website to track stats and standings, or the use of Daddyleagues which is also a generic website with very little customization.

League Rules

The MOF has an extensive set of league rules that they have perfected and continue to perfect each season. We model ourselves after the most sim style of football possible. If necessary, we can punish coaches who break any rule.

Depending on each CFM league. Very difficult for CFM leagues to punish coaches for breaking a rule. Cannot forfeit games, cannot suspend players.

Radio Show

The MOF features a weekly radio show hosted by the Commissioner and a Co-Host. Its a live 30 minute show that accepts callers, and talks about league topics.

Depending on the league, they might have a radio show, but CFM does not offer any kind of radio show ability.

Weekly Games

The MOF opens 2 games every Wednesday, and they are due the following Sunday. Giving you 12 days to play 2 games, in no particular order. Giving coaches maximum flexibility with their schedule without compromising the flow of the league.

CFM is forced to play 1 game a week, and all games MUST be completed before you can advance. You can choose to advance the week without all games being played, and the games get simulated.

Disconnections

If you are disconnected during an MOF game, both coaches have the option to replay the game from scratch, pick up where they left off (with estimated stats). Or simply end the game (if its close to the end anyway). This gives us the ability to deal with disconnections the correct way.

CFM will award a winner if the game is at a certain point, or it will reset the game. This might encourage a coach to disconnect their internet if they are losing early, for a restart.

Appointing Winner

If there is ever a problem with a coach disappearing, becoming inactive, and not trying to schedule their game. We have the option to simply give that coach the loss when the deadline approaches.

There is no way to appoint a winner in this situation. You have to sim the game and hope for the best.

Trophy

The MOF has a Stanley Cup type trophy that is passed around to each Super Bowl winner. The winner keeps the trophy for 2 months, and sends it back. The Commissioner engraves the new champion onto the trophy, and sends it back out again.

Some leagues might have a trophy that they pass around, it depends on each league.

Change Teams

After each season you are able to change teams to make the league more competitive. Yeah, maybe you were stuck with the Jaguars this season, but next season, you can have the Seahawks. We change it up every season.

You are stuck with the same team, but you are able to build a team through draft, free-agency, and trades. However most leagues have rules in place to make trades and free-agency fair. So you are stuck with the same team throughout the edition.

Forum & Chat Room

The MOF features a league forum and AIM blast chat group, where you can schedule your games, vote on player of the weeks, mvp awards, and talk about pretty much anything.

Depending on the league.

Core of Staff

The MOF has a staff that has been in the league for a very long time. The staff votes on rule changes, and anything that comes up that needs to be voted on. We are a mature group and takes everything and everyone in to consideration, and someone is on the blast chat usually 24/7.

Depending on the league.

Broadcast Games

The MOF has a separate page on the website that allows you to view 32 teams twitch screens to see who is playing a league game. You have the option to click the pop out link and watch as many games as you want!

Depending on the league.

 

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