Expansion Team Mode

[esmeet]

I hope my pleas of the past have not fallen on deaf ears, but without having read anything on this topic from 2KSports, I fear this will be another year without my coveted Expansion Team Mode.

As a 29-year old professional who is losing interest in the conventional Franchise mode and who doesn't have enough time to play in on-line leagues, I would be first in line to buy a baseball game that has an Expansion Team mode where an owner selects an expansion city and mascot, designs and builds a stadium, and then goes through an expansion team draft where all the existing teams could protect an increasing number of players each round. What a fun challenge to take a team from the expansion years and try to make them competitive.

Building a team from the ground up like this is not only appealing to many of us who love the "front office" aspect of baseball, but it would significantly increase the replay value of the game.

So, in short, I'm begging the game designers to include an Expansion Team mode in the game. Other than the initial selection of the expansion city and mascot, the rest of the mode would be practically identical to an Owner Mode or Franchise Mode. I realize any new modes take work, but I genuinely feel like an Expansion Team mode would be relatively easy to incorporate into the current game design and would have a significant impact on "replay value" and, ultimately, total sales*.

(*Increasing the replay value of a game means that gamers will hold on to the game longer. If gamers keep their games a little longer, that means fewer games on the secondary "pre-played" market, and that translates to more games being sold on the primary market - and that means more revenues for 2KSports!)


If anyone knows of plans by 2KSports to include an Expansion Team mode, please let me know. I would quite literally pre-order the game as soon as the new game mode was confirmed.

Here's to hoping...

[Trevytrev11]

I agree, this is a mode I've suggested several times throughout the history of this franchise and your pretty much are right on line with what I was thinking.

I think what makes it tough is this:
Expansions usually come in two's in order to keep balance in the leagues (Think Rockies/Marlins, Dbacks/DRays).
The game would have to somehow create a schedule for 32 teams instead of 30 teams. It seems easy, but think how hard it really is to make sure that you play each team in your division X amount of times, you play the other teams x amount of times, etc.) It's quite complex.

I'd be happy if they had a quasi-expansion mode. Where you basically take a team, relocate it, choose a location for the stadium, build/design the stadium and then have a fantasy draft. This would keep the balance in the league scheduling. Maybe all of the players of the team you are expanding go into the free agent pool and then when you get go through the expansion draft, you can choose players from other teams as well as the free agents.

But, I'm with you, as a 25 year old professional ;) this is something I would really enjoy (the full blow version that you suggested). But I'd be happy to just settle for the quasi expansion/relocation that I suggested.

[Flaxseed Oil]

Sometimes I still play All Star Baseball 2004 just cause it had this mode.

[esmeet]

You make a good point about the challenges in creating a schedule for a single expansion team. This is likely the reason why you have to replace an existing MLB team whenever a "Create Team" option has existed.

Still, I think it's something that could be done without too much trouble. The NL has 16 teams with one division having 6 teams and the other two with 5 teams each. The AL has 14 teams where one division has 4 teams and the others have 5 teams each. Adding one new team to either league wouldn't be the simplest task, but I'm sure some of the smart people at 2KSports could design an algorithm to get a team placed into any division a balanced schedule. (i.e., remove some inter-league games or shorten series with non-divisional opponents, etc.)

[Trevytrev11]

They could even set it up in advance and say if there are 30 teams the schedule works like this, if there are 31 teams it works like this and so on. Maybe there would be a limit of 2 expansion teams to make this as easy as possible. Maybe if you decide to expand the league, they automatically add a second team that is controlled by the computer.

Maybe you could also do your own re-aligning of the divisions to balance out the schedules to your liking. That way if you wanted to add a team in South Carolina, you weren't forced to throw them in the AL West. Instead, you could throw them in the AL East, move a team from the east to the central and a team from the central to the west or something.

I'm really into the idea, but I doubt we'll see it in the next two years simply because there is still so much they have to fix with the basic gameplay, which is the bread and butter of the actual game.

[CARDS2501]

you would almost have to realign the divisions like in football have 2 leagues with 4 divisions of 4 teams to make it work and then you might even have to put existing teams in the other league because as it stands now the only league that can take on two more teams is the american league because the NL already is full with 16 teams, but what if you want to create an expansion team in the NL because you don't want to play with the DH or something like that you would then have to shift an existing team to the AL. Seems like a lot would have to go into this and its probably something that would take a few years to figure out a simple way to incorporate it into the game. I like all of you though would personally love to see it.

[CARDS2501]

What I would really like to see them do is put in a full minor league system, a rule 5 draft, arbitration, waivers and a waiver deadline, and also include player options so that you could only send a player down to the minors so many times before he would have to clear waivers just like in the real world. Something else that would be pretty cool would be 3 team trades and not being restricted to only 3 players per side in the trades that we already have.

[esmeet]

To be honest, I don't think it would be too hard to work out the scheduling for any of the Expansion Team mode if the designers did something like TrevyTrev proposed, which is basically having some pre-loaded schedules designed based on whether you choose to add a team to a specific division. They could cap the Expansion Team mode at 1 or 2 teams to avoid having to work out to many iterations of the revised schedule.

TrevyTrev might be right in stating that gameplay issues are going to be the major things addressed in the next year or two, but some innovation in new game modes would certainly go a long way in helping to keep fans engaged and occupied while those gameplay quirks are worked out.

I also agree with Cards2501 in that I'd love to see the minor leagues, rule 5 draft, waivers, 3-team trades, etc. Although I think these additions would add realism to the game, I'd put them as a priority B in my book due to the fact that they're more complicated than many fans would appreciate.

[esmeet]

What I'd really like to see on some of these threads that talk about innovative game improvements is some form of official response from 2KSports indicating that (1) they actually read some of these forums and are taking notes on what their fans are clamoring for, (2) some announcement for whether or not the improvements are being considered or are in the works, and (3) an argument or rationale for why an improvement would not be included in the game.

So...if 2K is listening to these little voices in the forums, please acknowledge us and throw us a bone to chew on.

[CARDS2501]

I am certainly in the minority here because I don't actually play the games much (maybe 10% of the time) I have a lot more fun simming the season and playoffs and taking more of a general manager approach to the game which is why I would love to have to protect players in a rule 5 draft and maybe even steal someone that another team leaves unprotected. I also like what MVP05 did with the create-a-stadium and how you could set the prices of tickets and concessions. Something else that would be nice even if you couldn't have expansion would be to have relocation like moving the Marlins to Portland or Vegas or something like that. They could do that the way the Madden games used to do before they put them on 360 and took all of the fun out of being a GM/Owner. Imagine how fun it would be to have to offer arbitration to players and still keep your budget in line.

[esmeet]

One thing that might be an obstacle in creating an Expansion Team mode would be allowing users to design and build a stadium. Coming up with a number of stadium designs and allowing a near-infinite amount of designs (based on a long list of variables) is a daunting task.

Rather than trying to put together some system for designing and creating stadiums from scratch (though I love that idea, and MVP05 did a decent job with it), the designers could create 3-4 generic stadiums with different characteristics that an Expansion Team could select from. This would still allow the Expansion Team to have a "new" stadium without forcing the game designers to spend a ridiculous amount of time figuring out how each variable design characteristic would fit together.

[sgt thom]

I am certainly in the minority here because I don't actually play the games much (maybe 10% of the time) I have a lot more fun simming the season and playoffs and taking more of a general manager approach to the game which is why I would love to have to protect players in a rule 5 draft and maybe even steal someone that another team leaves unprotected. I also like what MVP05 did with the create-a-stadium and how you could set the prices of tickets and concessions. Something else that would be nice even if you couldn't have expansion would be to have relocation like moving the Marlins to Portland or Vegas or something like that. They could do that the way the Madden games used to do before they put them on 360 and took all of the fun out of being a GM/Owner. Imagine how fun it would be to have to offer arbitration to players and still keep your budget in line.
I am like you somewhat. I think every sports games relentless goal is to dethrone MADDEN! Honestly 2K has been scootin by with there at least from the front office features the game. In 2K5 they advertised create a stadium, but didn't deliver. They payroll breakdowns, but only once source of income. This game is like the XFL you only get paid when you win or at least have a winning season. You only get a million and change bonus if you win the World Series. Some of these free agent players have ridiculous price tags and stay free agents for several years even. There's something to change they should have agents who could bring down the price especially if the plaer is unaffordable. Why did they get rid of that option where you could alter any teams salary? It's better than what they have now. I could go on forever.

[ZosoCub]

I remember coming across a thread about expansion mode on some site, perhaps this one, so I thought it'd be a fun idea to try it out on my own. I got pretty bored with 2k6 in terms of both playing the game as well as simming seasons so I tried this little twist.

It's not nearly as in-depth as some of the suggestions made in this thread, but I think it's worth a shot if you've got that crazy itch to start a franchise from the ground up.

Instead of adding a new team, I decided to take a low-budget team without any elite players to disrupt the natural order of things, so obviously I chose the Nationals. Before doing so, I updated every teams rosters and as many free agents as I could recognize to represent what the 2007 opening day rosters might be. After doing so, I released every player from the Nationals, which was surprisingly liberating, yet rather inconsequential. Now with a clean-slate roster, I could sort through the free agents and choose the best possible class while staying under budget (and avoiding all of the players that I had just released).

It offered a fun alternative to the usual franchise approach, I suggest you give it a try while you wait for a true expansion mode in the 2K series, which I'm disappointed to assume is still years away.

[CARDS2501]

I have tried that and it is fun to do another fun thing to do is to take the Royals or Pirates and try to win the world series within 3 years. It can be done but you MUST trade for Carl Crawford. I think this guy is programmed to be the MVP at least 3 times in his career on this game. Also if you can get ahold of Jared Weaver somehow he never wins less that 19 games and never has an era above 3.00

[esmeet]

ZosoCub's idea sounds like a pretty good "poor-man's" version of an Expansion Team mode. One thing you could do is to pick the worst team in your favorite division, release most of their players, and then go through and pick up a few free agents.

Another option to add a quasi-expansion draft would be to go through each team's roster and "protect" the top n players (you'd have to look into how many players a team is permitted to protect for each round of an authentic expansion draft). You could then go through and select those from those players that would be unprotected and force trades with the computer for those players. (You could use middle-rated free agents as the trade fodder.) Each round, you could "protect" more of the players and try to create a team roster that simulates what you would get with an expansion draft.

If you've selected one of the less-competitive teams in the AL or NL, then you won't really miss not having them in the game, and it's almost as if they were contracted (Bud Selig would be thrilled) and you replaced them with an expansion team (of course, it's in the same city with the same uniforms, etc.). -- I suppose that if there's a create team option where you can replace that team with one you name/create, then this might be as close as we'll get to an Expansion Team mode for the next few years.

I just might give this a try...

Still, if 2KSports is listening, PLEASE make the wheels move to get this highly desirable mode into your games (all of the sports games, not just MLB) as soon as possible.

[bigfnjoe96]

Exclusive Liscence means this unfortunately will never happen, because MLB won't allow-it.

[esmeet]

Really? Why wouldn't MLB let it happen? (Is it because the expansion team wouldn't be officially sanctioned by MLB?) I think the fact that you're allowed to make your own teams and replace existing MLB teams would mean that MLB allows some "fictional" realignment of the way things are in real life.

Do you know why Acclaim's All-Star Baseball 2004 had an Expansion Team mode when they were still using the MLB and MLBPA licenses?

If there's some reason why MLB and the MLBPA wouldn't allow an Expansion Team mode, then I'd be pretty disappointed. I'm not sure what would have changed in the last few years, but I'm hoping that it would still be a possibility.

[Trevytrev11]

Exclusive Liscence means this unfortunately will never happen, because MLB won't allow-it.

What about football or basketball? You can create teams in Madden and NBA 2k7? I guess there isn't a true expansion, but I don't see how the two would be that much different.

[renojedi]

I am glad I am not the only person who wants this mode as well. Oddly enough, ever since I got ASB 2003 I have loved the expansion mode idea. In fact, I have played with a create a team in every other sports game since 2003 (i.e. football, hockey, etc) but no baseball game has allowed me to do it.

I too make up expansio drafts in those games by only picking scrubs from the other teams. I know we may never see an expansio mode like ASB ever again but please 2K developers, at least give us a create a team option. Every year people want it and even some who think they don't do (e.g. anyone who does a fantasy draft really is a proponent of CAT even if they don;t think so).

I'd be more tha happy with a simple CAT to replace the Royals or Pirates like some on the board have discussed. It would add so much to the game just to have my own created team instead of a defacto CAT that still is the Pirates or Royals.

Not sure how much good begging will do but please please please put this feature in ASAP.

[esmeet]

Ben Brinkman mentioned in one of his latest blog postings that the development team is in the middle of the pre-planning for 2k8. He hasn't hinted at any of the features to be added for next year, but I really hope they're reading these forums and picking up on the useful additions to the game that people are calling for.

I agree that an Expansion Team Mode would be a lot of fun and would add a whole new dynamic to the game, but having a CAT option would be a nice consolation prize.

[SteelCityPhils6]

I totally agree with this guy, expansion mode is one of the first things that i look for when i get the game (after checking out the Phillies roster:) ) but here's what i don't get: Allstar Baseball had this on the freakin' N64, and this is now "next gen" so why can't we have these features that were in games 5 years ago? I just wish that developers would quit cutting features, and then when they add them back in it's like "NEW FEATURES, AMAZING!!!" (madden for example with adding challenges back in and acted like it was a new feature) I am super excited about this game though, and seeing as how it's on the 3 year plan as Brinkman says, I would guess that we will see this feature in next year's game or 2k9. oh and did anyone know that this game is coming out on the 27th? haha, jk, that thread has been posted like a hundred times:D

[machoo]

All-Star Baseball had some great ideas behind it, but the gameplay was less than perfect. Between the Expansion mode, Minor Leagues (They had it first), and 4-player capabilities, you'd think someone would pick up on that stuff. Mind you, I guess they did pick up on the minor league thing. We need the expansion mode and 4-player capabilities. They'll tell us "We're working on that for next year", but I heard the same thing last year.

[esmeet]

I haven't heard anyone mention that "they're working on" an Expansion Team Mode. They did mention last year that we could expect 4-player co-op mode this year, but that didn't pan out.

If anyone in these forums (including game developers who might be reading our heart-felt concerns and suggestions) knows if 2k8 will have an Expansion Team Mode, an expanded minor league system, 4-player co-op mode, or some form of mini-games/Spring Training, please throw us a bone here!