Madden 17 Connected Franchise Wishlist

We are at the halfway point in Madden 16, and with the football season now over

and Madden being our last remaining football experience, the excitement and

desire for the next Madden is upon us. It is around this time that we all start

thinking about what can make next year’s Madden even better than it already is.

After hours of brain storming, Madden Bomber League, MBL, has come up with

several key features that we think would make Madden 17 a Madden to

remember.

The main feature of Madden for us, as well as the sim gaming community, is the

Connected Franchise mode. CFM has been lacking the past several couple of

years due to the improvement and love affair with Madden Ultimate Team. While

Madden Ultimate Team has its time and place, the force that has driven Madden

to the point in which it is at now is the enriched content in CFM. And we feel it is

truly time that the enrichment and true feel of being an NFL owner or coach is

brought into the Madden CFM experience.

Draft Improvements

The Draft


Let’s start with the most fundamental building blocks of any team: The NFL draft.

The NFL Draft is one of the most publicized events after the conclusion of the

NFL season. Nobody knows who will be a boom or bust; just educated guesses

can be taken. It’s the same for Madden. The draft is one of the most fun and

anticipated stages in Madden. Chaos constantly ensues in the war room. No

matter whether you are trying to trade up, down, or trade for picks in the following

season, we all love the draft and more work needs to be put into upgrading the

dynamics of the draft.

Draft Board

The draft board was a simple feature in the early days of online franchise that

has since been removed from the game. While the draft board does not need to

be any sort of elegant feature, it is a fundamental aspect and should be in
Madden every year. In the CFM world and community that Madden and EA have

created, full 32 owner leagues are the lifeblood of an ever growing sim

community. With that being said, a draft board is essential because gamers

aren’t always available. Many folks put a lot of time and dedication into running

CFMs, as well as just being a player in a CFM. If we aren’t available to make the

draft, a draft board would solve all those problems.

College Stats

NCAA, and just college athletes in general, are what make the NFL what it is for

years to come. During a Madden season, there is limited amounts of information

given about the upcoming draft class. We get several stories but not much

substance is given. The once up and coming Peyton Manning who is having a

poor season is briefly touched on as we hear his performance against the top

teams in the nation are suffering, but that’s about all. The ride of watching your

#1 prospect grow or fall in his last college season is part of the thrill and

excitement we want to see in CFM.

Scouting

The scouting system received a huge overhaul in Madden 16, and for that

we are grateful. However, it is still not where it needs to be. When scouting a

player, a scout has access to virtually unlimited knowledge of the player. Stats

and achievements should play a part into who and why you’re scouting a

particular player. The Draft has so many unknowns, and drafting that #1 QB we

see a general guideline of their attributes determined by our scout, but what we

don’t see is what they did. No season stats or career college stats are given.

Bringing in the combine was a good idea, but that’s only half the answer. NFL

scouts have a limitless amount of information on these athletes, so why can’t we?

Character and Injuries

Injuries and character issues are an intricate factor in football. When players are

being scouted, some teams stay away from these players regardless of upside.

This should also be implemented in Madden. This will steer CFM owners in a

different direction. With injuries, it will make owners think twice about drafting a

particular player despite their upside. Will you waste a high pick on a prospect

that has a history of getting hurt like RGIII or Sam Bradford? They had all the

upside in the world, but they haven’t been able to stay on the field. With

character issues, it can destroy your team’s chemistry (which we will get into

later). Johnny Manziel is a perfect example of this. Every coach knew what they

were getting into.

Minor Draft Additions

There is also many smaller additions that can be added into CFM to really

immerse you into the feeling of being an NFL Owner or coach. Mock drafts would

be an awesome feature to add, even just mock drafts of the first round that

periodically will be displayed in the news screen throughout the season. The

ticker that is in the bottom of our screen usually displaying real NFL scores/news

is great, but wouldn’t it be even better to show our CFM scores for that week?

And while we are drafting, show who was picked and at what pick.

Overall CFM Improvements

Let’s move forward now past just “The Draft” and move into the broader scope of

CFM as a whole. If you look at CFM over the past few years and over the last

decade of just the franchise mode in general, it has taken steps forward and also

steps back. I believe CFM right now is not perfect, but it has the building blocks

set up that can make it truly a one of a kind experience.

Team Chemistry

Let’s start off with what we in MBL think is the most fundamental and best

improvement Madden 17 can possibly offer. And that is Team Chemistry. This is

something that is essentially already in the game, but only utilized in the MUT

mode. It would make team building an even deeper strategy than it already is

while you now have the added bonus to attempt to make a team “gel” together as

they play together more and build chemistries and connections between players

who have the same scheme and have played on the same team for multiple

seasons.

Schemes

Schemes are something that you have had in madden for several years now but

essentially has only changed the numerical number value of the players overall.

It’s time to make schemes mean something to the team. Players that play under the same scheme receive bonus chemistry, as they already know the system. We think the confidence system in Madden works well, but we also don’t think it ever really turned out to what you in EA have expected it to be. But the system can be easily implemented to be more dynamic by changing this to team chemistry.

Chemistry Broken Down

Chemistry will be broken down into several specific parts and divided by the

groups on your team. Offensive line will have chemistry with each other, D-line

together, secondary; linebackers, and lastly a QB will have chemistry individually

to each WR.

The idea to have a deeper dive into CFM can be accomplished here. Who is

going to create the next Legion of Boom? Who will create the next Steel Curtain?

All these are possible with the implementation of allowing teams to organically

create and develop players to have chemistry with each other; a team that each

players strengths is his counterparts weaknesses. This creates a true team

building experience in the ultimate team building sport of football.

Personality

Every NFL player has their own personality. It’s time to make this “personality”

trait that has been in Madden more organic and actually mean something

now. Personality has been a feature in madden for several seasons, restricted

primarily to the selling of jerseys and things similar, but that’s really where it

ends.

Morale

Morale is something that was again in previous Madden games had but is no longer

available and we feel goes hand in hand with personality. A team, and a player

more specifically, will have higher morale because of several conditions. Teams

that are performing well, utilizing the player, and a player that is playing under his

scheme will attribute to players morale. Morale will contribute to

a player’s happiness towards the team, ultimately linking to our central concept of

team chemistry.

This player now with high morale would have added chemistry with the team

because they are happy to be there, and playing in a scheme they know. Also,

contract negotiating would be slightly easier because they want to be on this

team. On the flip side, a player with low morale would have the opportunity and

possibility to hold out, or decline contract negotiations because they don’t want to

be on the team.

Contract Overhaul

While we are on the topic of contracts, this is a feature that really consistently

gets no love because it is pretty cut and dry. Previously in Madden owners could

decide to front or backload contracts, but unfortunately it is not an option for

owners anymore. Additionally, something we think should be implemented is the

ability to renegotiate contracts. Aging players who have declined in productivity

should be able to renegotiate to take a pay cut to remain on the team. This is

something used in the NFL today and should be able to use in madden as well.

Free Agency Changes and Additions

Over the past few Madden games, FA has seen a few major changes and some not so

major ones. But ultimately there has always been one main thing in common: FA

in Madden has really always been about offering the most money/years and

praying. We’d like to see a deeper dive into FA going forward. NCAA Football

recruiting is a great place to look at for a blueprint. You should be able to give

pitches to FA’s in an attempt to sway their choice. That pitch should be based off

what’s important to the FA (winning, scheme, starting, location, etc.). If you make

a pitch and don’t hold up to the pitch then the penalty can be a decreased

interest from other FA’s in the future, or a holdout (If you incorporate that

previous suggestion).

Also you should be able to queue guys in FA. If I need a LT, I should be able to

offer three guys a contract but only sign one. Some sort of FA planning that says

“LT: Need 3 Order: 1, 2, 3; Number to sign: 1” This would let me offer three guys

and only sign one. Who I sign is based on who are willing to accept, and then my

preference of those who will accept.

Head Coach

Madden has always neglected one of the most important aspect of a NFL team,

the head coach. A coach is the building block and most central part of your team

chemistry. Every coach has their own scheme that should tie directly into the

chemistry of your team. Certain players and coaches simply just don’t work

together. Furthermore, coach challenges should be more in depth and allow for

the user to determine what they are challenging. It doesn’t happen too often, but

there is times in Madden where when I challenge a call, it does not challenge

what I want. The option to choose specifically “Challenge catch” or “Challenge

spot” would be a huge addition that would avoid all challenge problems.

Coordinators

Assistant coaches need to play a bigger role in CFM. What I mean by this is

incorporate offensive and defensive coordinators. They should have some kind of

the effect like the head coaches. When a new offensive or defensive coordinator

comes in, they can completely change the style of offense. Depending on the

success of the offense or defense, coordinators should be able to be promoted to

head coach or test the waters and see if another team is interested in their

services whether it’s as a coordinator or head coach. Take for example the real

life New York Giants and Ben Mcadoo. He came to New York and completely

changed the style of offense. It took a year or two but the offense regained

chemistry under this new system. And now, he is promoted to the head coach.

This could only have boosted morale and chemistry in the locker room as

someone who they have now worked under for two seasons is the head coach of

the team and they will continue to use the same system.

If you have any Madden 17 Connected Franchise improvements you would like to add let us know on social media or in the comments below!

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Madden 17 Connected Franchise Wishlist