Madden 10 Online Franchise FAQ

This comes from the official EASports.com website

Online Franchise

Q: What is an online franchise?
A: Online franchises allow you to join up to 31 of your friends to compete against each other in the same franchise.

Q: Where do I manage my online franchise?
A: Visit the Online Franchise site here.

Q: How do the online franchises work?
A: Each user can create or join up to 5 online franchises. Franchises can either be public or private; they can also be protected by a password.

Q: What is a Commissioner and what do they do?
A: Each online franchise has a commissioner who is given some specific tools, like the ability to remove a gamer from the franchise and advancing a week. A commissioner can also promote another franchise member to the Commissioner status if needed.

Q: Do I have to play with a set schedule?
A: Yes, online franchises use the official NFL schedule.

Q: What are the playoffs?
A: The NFL playoffs commence once the regular season has been completed. 6 teams in each conference make the playoffs. The top 2 division winners receive first round BYES. The higher seed always plays the lowest seed.

Q: How does the online franchise end?
A: You can play up to 10 full seasons in online franchise mode.

Q: How does the draft work?
A: There are two types of drafts with online franchise: Fantasy and Rookie Drafts. Fantasy draft takes place at the very start of your franchise and involves every NFL player in the league. Rookie drafts take place during the off-season and only involve rookies.

Q: What is a Draft Board?
A: The Draft Board allows you to set up your Draft Board in case you cannot attend the live draft. You can rank each position and each player how you want them. Your draft will be based off of your Draft Board rankings.

Q: How do trades work?
A: Trades allow for two owners to swap players from their teams. Up to six players are allowed to be traded at a time. You can make trade offers to the CPU teams.

Q: I was removed from an online franchise and now can’t rejoin it. How come?
A: Commissioners have the authority to remove owners from franchise. This allows Commissioners to maintain the league how they see fit. Once a Commissioner removes an owner from a franchise, that owner is no longer allowed to rejoin. This prevents Commissioners from having to continually remove owners that are being disruptive in an online franchise.

Q: How do I invite an owner to a game?
A: To invite an owner to a game, simply press Start on the Online Franchise HUB.

Online Lobby and Chat Rooms

Q: What are the differences between each of the lobby rooms?
A: The lobby rooms differ by predetermined restrictions that are located to the left of the lobby room list. These restrictions include DNF%, Skill Level, and Xbox 360 Headsets. The DNF% restriction makes it so that users with a higher DNF% than the listed restricition are prohibited from entering the lobby room. The Skill Level restriction makes it so that users with a Skill Level lower than the listed restriciton are prohibited from entering the lobby room. The Xbox 360 Headsets restriction makes a room accessible only by users with a connected Xbox 360 Headset.

Q: What are those icons next to players’ names in the rooms?
A: Those icons represent many things. The three bars represent a player’s connection speed. The more bars the better. The headset icon represents that the player has their Xbox 360 Headset plugged in. Finally, the number represents that player’s current skill level.

Matchmaking

Q: What is Quick Match and how does it work?
A: Quick Match is the easiest way to find an opponent for an Xbox LIVE game. Quick Match matches up those who are in the Quick Match queue. Quick Match will also match you into sessions (games) that other players have created. In both instances, you will be matched up with other players based on your Quick Match settings. If no opponent is found, you have the option of creating a session or searching again.

Q: How does the Similar Skill Level Setting affect my search?
A: The Similar Skill Level setting matches up players that have online skill levels that are within a particular range. The search is done in expanding increments and caps off at 20 levels. For example, the search might begin by looking for opponents within 5 skill levels and then expand to 10 levels after a few seconds, and so on.

Q: What is Custom Match and how does it work?
A: Custom Match allows you to perform a more detailed search so that you can locate the exact opponent or game session that you want to play. Custom Match only searches for created sessions.

Q: What is Create Game Session and how does it work?
A: Create Game Session allows you to create the exact game you want to play as well as define the type of opponent you want to face. After creating the session you have to wait for an opponent to match into your session.

Q: What is the difference between a ranked and an unranked match?
A: For a ranked match all stats are recorded including your wins and losses. Unranked matches allow you to set additional parameters, but none of the stats will be recorded for unranked matches.

Leaderboards and User Leveling

Q: What is the difference between the 10 Overall and the All-time leaderboard views?
A: The 10 Overall leaderboard ranks gamertags solely on their results from 10 games played. The All-time leaderboard ranks gamertags on their entire career because stats are carried over from year-to-year.

Q: What are skill levels, and how do I go up in a level?
A: Skill level is a numerical representation of your overall skill, and goes from 1 to 99. Your skill level is determined by the number of skill points you have. You earn skill points by beating other players. The more skill points your opponent has, the more you will earn when you win. Likewise, if you play an opponent who is far below your skill level, you will get very few skill points for beating them, if any at all.

Q: Is it possible to lose a skill level?
A: While it is possible that by losing you can go all the way back to 0 skill points, once you have achieved a certain level, you cannot lose that level. For example, if you earn 600 skill points you will rise to level 2. If you lose all 600 skill points, you will still be at level 2. However, you will need to regain all those points if you want to rise to level 3 and beyond.

Q: How does the ranking formula work?
A: The ranking formula is based on several factors, including your skill level vs. your opponent’s skill level and the relative strength of your teams. Basically, you receive more skill points for playing opponents who are near or above your skill level and by winning with a weaker team. The higher you go in the rankings, the fewer points you will get for playing newcomers. Instead, in order to progress you will need to play opponents near or above your skill level.

General Questions

Q: What is DNF?
A: DNF stands for Did Not Finish. Basically, this is a measurement of what percentage of games a player did not complete. So if you quit, disconnect, reset, power off, or do not finish your game in some other way, it will increase your Did Not Finish percentage.

Q: What is the difference between a disconnect and a quit?
A disconnect is when your Xbox 360 console stops reporting to the server either because you turned off your Xbox 360 console, reset, ejected the disc, pulled the Ethernet cable, or for some other mechanical reason. It is possible for your ISP (if applicable) or a server to go down, which will also cause a disconnect. A quit is when a player goes to the in-game pause menu and elects to quit through the menu.

Q: In the My Online Info screen, what is SMS e-mail?
A: SMS stands for “Short Message Service.” It is the system used to broadcast brief text messages to mobile devices such as cell phones, pagers, and PDAs. If you have one of these devices and would like to receive various updates to your device, enter your SMS e-mail address on this screen. See your service provider for your domain name. Please note that many service providers will charge you a fee per message in order to receive SMS e-mails.

Q: In the My Online Info screen, what will be sent to my e-mail and SMS?
A: You may choose to have your alerts sent to your e-mail or SMS-enabled device. Also, you can choose to have your game stats emailed to you after the end of a game.

Q: I don’t see my question answered here. How can I submit a question to be added to the FAQ?
A: Simply mail your question to FAQfeedback@ea.com.