Update News
MLB 14 The Show Online Franchise Features
March 5,
in the year of our Lord 2014 – Franchise Mode has been
an MLB The Show staple for quite some time now, and this year,
we’re excited to introduce its long-awaited online version. We
took the team-building aspects of Franchise, such as scouting
and offseason contract negotiations, and merged them with the
customizable schedules and divisional alignments of Online
Leagues. We also continued to refine the game logic that governs
trade values, lineups, player generation, and more. Let’s go
over some of the main features in more detail.
FRANCHISE HOME
When you create an Online Franchise, you automatically become
the league’s Commissioner. You’ll get to choose the divisional
alignment, schedule type, Designated Hitter preference and
whether or not to upload a custom roster, among other things.
Once you’re happy with your settings, you’ll need to invite
other players to the league, and also determine what teams will
be controlled by the CPU (if any at all).
CREATE FRANCHISE
Building a successful team in Online Franchise is as much about
what happens on the field, as about what happens off the field.
One of the most important things you can do to remain
competitive is to draft amateur players effectively, in order to
keep replenishing your major league roster with top-tier talent.
To do this, you’ll need to scout players throughout the regular
season so that you don’t go into your live online draft
unprepared. Without proper scouting reports, you’ll have a much
tougher time trying to distinguish between future superstars and
draft-day busts.
AMATEUR DRAFT
The vast majority of your drafted players will need some
seasoning in the minors before they’re ready for The Show, so
we’ve given you access to full minor league rosters. You’ll be
able to move players up and down from Class-A all the way to the
Majors, set training assignments, and also pull-off trades with
other teams. Our trade logic has been greatly improved as well,
so forget about lopsided trades involving three top prospects
for an average major league middle reliever.
MANAGE ROSTER
This brings us to the offseason, which we divided into two
parts. In Part 1, you will handle all of your contract renewable
players, arbitration cases and draft pick signings. Our player
contract logic has received a much needed overhaul, as we made
MLB service time more of a factor when determining player
interest and ideal salary. One example where this is really
noticeable is when trying to offer contract extensions to your
young players. In the past, you were able to sign young
superstar players to extremely cheap long-term contracts, which
is unrealistic in today’s MLB. Now, you’ll still be able to lock
these players up early in their careers, but you’ll have to pay
something much closer to their market value. This type of
contract is becoming much more common in real-life lately, with
teams like the Rays and Braves leading the way, and it was
important for us to incorporate this new dynamic into the game.
CONTRACT RENEWALS
Free agent signings happen in Part 2 of the offseason, which is
divided into an adjustable number of rounds, or advancement
periods. Every team gets a chance to make their best offer, and
then the commissioner advances to the next round.
FA ROUNDS
Players will either sign with a team, or they will remain on the
market for the next round. The bidding wars that occur in this
part of the offseason can become pretty intense, coupled with
the fact that you’re competing against other human opponents
makes the bidding all the more entertaining.
FREE AGENT CONTRACTS
Rounding out the whole package is our expanded record keeping,
as we now store draft classes, retired players, and additional
career stats and awards on the Player Card. In addition, League
Events and Notifications will keep you up to date on what’s
happening around the league, and what tasks you need to perform
to manage your team properly.
RETIREMENT
We’re all extremely happy with the way Online Franchise turned
out, and we hope you enjoy playing it just as much as we enjoyed
putting it together. See you online!